An Unexpected Day Off!

On Friday, I had some things to do at Eddie's school... photocopy some flyers and pass them out to the teachers to put in the kids backpacks... so I figured I'd drive Eddie to school. I got everyone loaded up in the car and the car wouldn't start! I'd already called the school and told them not to send the bus... so Eddie got a vacation day! Woo-hoo! We were lucky that it was beautiful outside so we played for a while and rode bikes. It was a great time!

Eddie on his bike. We have a picture of Eddie on his first bike in just about the same pose on this exact spot from when we first moved here 2 years ago... we just looked at it today and compared it to this picture... it's amazing how fast they grow!


Ryan on the Big Wheel saying "CHEESE"!


Kevin pushing his baby in the stroller:


Ryan pushing his baby in the shopping cart.


Kevin again... notice his doggy house in his other hand.


Eddie carrying a load of animals in a trailer behind his Big Wheel:

Spring Fling!

Today we went to a Spring Fling that Eddie's preschool sponsored. We have been planning it at the PTO meetings and the day has finally arrived! The kids had a great time!

Ryan got a duck painted on his face... quack! quack!


Close up of the duck:


Kevin was a lion! Roar!


Eddie was a zebra!


Mom with Kevin and Ryan


The Music Man came to enterain the kids


The Lion Sleeps


Ryan's wiped out!

Our Craft

I forgot to post the finished product of our craft time yesterday!

The umbrella says "April Showers Bring..." (or in our case April SNOW) and the grass underneath the flowers says "May Flowers"

Spring Time Craft Time

Yesterday we had a fun craft time. We started our Spring mural in the kitchen. We had a good time and everyone played really well together.

Craft time!


Ryan showing off his paper cutting skills:


Kevin is cutting a ray of sunshine:


Eddie making a piece of cheese for our mouse to eat! (That is on the other wall... not the spring time one)


We are all in the mood for spring now... unfortunately, though it's April 4th and snowing here in New England! It's very cold out and we are in limbo with our clothes and shoes. Saturday we were in shorts, t-shirts and sandals and today it's winter coats and shoes... not really boot weather but big old shoes! When will the real spring come!?

Doggy and Babies!!!!

Kevin carries around a little doggy house everywhere he goes (thanks to KMV!!!) He LOVES this dog house and all goodies that came in the house. There's the dog, of course.... plus a dog bone and little doggy dish. Kevin's collection continues to grow all the time and right now it includes a Mommy gifaffe, two baby giraffes, two cows and a golf ball. Well, yesterday he was carrying around an empty doggy house looking all over for his toys... until he found them in "his" microwave! The kids have small play kitchen in our kitchen. It has a fridge, a stove, a microwave and phone (what kitchen isn't complete without a phone?) Kevin looked in the microwave and when he saw the missing items, he was so excited, he started yelling "Doggy and babies! Doggy and babies!"

"Doggy and babies!"


All the goodies!


Kevin proudly displaying his doggy!

My work in progress

We had a stressful morning at Story Time... thankfully, all 3 boys are sleeping and I'm vegging out watching Grey's Anatomy (on Tivo) and cross-stitching. Here is my work in progress. I started this before I got pregnant with Eddie. I love this piece and can't wait to finish it and hang it in the bathroom. It will look really nice in a white frame. Maybe like a distressed look to make it more beachy. This is the first piece I have made for myself. I have made many for gifts but this is the first one for me. The only downside is that it's such an expensive hobby. I cross stitch on linen so each piece is expensive plus the fancy dyed thread I used for this piece.. and then there is the stretching and framing! This piece would be over $50 or $60 to get framed. I think I need to learn how to do it myself. At any rate, here it is for all to see. I still need to finish up the alphabet, put in some more stones and some ocean waves and I'll be good to go. Thanks for looking.

Weigh In Results

I was down 1.8 lbs for a total of 9.2 since I started WW 4 weeks ago. I was particulary happy because I didn't get my exercise in last week. This week I will do better! I hope to receive my 10 pound sticker next week. Woo-hoo!

It's raining, it's pouring...

We woke up to lots of rain this morning. It's all good though, the kids slept in til 7:15 and I have a feeling the darkness was a contributing factor. It was SO nice to be able to "sleep in"!!! We came out to the living room and read some books, the kids worked on fantastic and interesting train tracks and are now watching "The Magic School Bus". Eddie loves reading Magic School Bus books and we thought we'd try watching it so we picked up a DVD last Wednesday at Story Time. It appears to be a hit. It's nice to have a rain day every once in a while, that way you can stay home without guilt! Of course, we could go to the pool, but even I don't feel up to it today. Maybe this afternoon!

As you all know, the time change was Saturday but our cable box STILL does not reflect the correct time. I really need to call them. Ed went out to get the fence sections on Sunday and he got home in the late afternoon/early evening. We were having so much fun outside playing baseball, and then we had a late dinner and let the kids watch Nemo. We finally put them to bed at 9:00 hoping they'd sleep late and get adjusted to the new time. A little while later, we realized it was MUCH later than we thought and after we did the math, we realized the kids actually went to bed at TEN (and not 9)!!! No wonder they were tired the next day; we were all tired actually... that's why it was especially sweet to sleep "late" today. I put "late" in quotation marks because in my book, sleeping late means at least 10 am if not later... However, in a kid's world, sleeping late has different meaning.

I can't believe how fast this school year is going, it will be over before we know it. Eddie's class is working on the letter "Z" this week. They have been doing one letter a week and Eddie is so excited to be on the last letter. It's up on his wall now and he has the whole alphabet! Next week they will be starting numbers. I am wondering what they will be cooking this week that starts with the letter Z. I think it will be something "Zany" and Eddie thinks it will be "Zebra Cookies". We'll see who's right on Friday! Next Tuesday they will have an Easter Egg Hunt at school. That sounds like a lot of fun! School vacation will be the week of the 17th to the 21st. We have some fun things planned. It will be nice not to be tied down to a school schedule. I am trying to get our activities lined up for the summer. I am happy that I was able to get Eddie into Science Camp at the South Shore Science Center in Norwell. By the time I thought to get a camp schedule, it was mostly sold out... luckily, there were 3 spots left in the afternoon session and Eddie will be going with two of his friends for two weeks in the beginning of the summer. They are SO excited! I went there a lot as a kid and I KNOW Eddie will LOVE it! He will also be going for two more weeks a bit later in the summer but he won't be going with anyone... I know he will enjoy it! They only had slots in the afternoon so it will be from 1-4. We plan on spending lots of days at the beach and the pool this summer, I'm looking forward to those lazy, hazy days.

My father was admitted to Fox Chase Cancer Center yesterday for a one week stint of 24 hour chemo. This is his 2nd inpatient week and his 5th week of treatment. Next week will be radiation and then he'll have 6 or so weeks off before he decides if he's going to go ahead with surgery. If you have any extra prayers, please say a few for him that he will be feeling well during the waiting period and that he will make the right decision. Thank you!!!

I think Magic School Bus is wrapping up... Kevin and Ryan are having a grand time pushing around empty laundry baskets and I have enjoyed my computer break. Time to get the day started. I was going to post some pictures but realized I don't have any new ones so I promise to take more in the next couple days so I can post them here! Have a great day!

PS... Wish me luck at my weigh in tonight. I realized that I didn't do a stitch of exercise this week... (I'm SO not a morning person!) I think I will still do OK since I have been sticking to my food plan. I hope to "graduate" to running outdoors this coming week and then I'll either go in the morning before Ed goes to work or right when he gets home. I have my 3 mile route all mapped out. Just gotta do it. I'll post about my weigh in.

TTFN!

April Fool's Day!

I forgot to mention in my Saturday post about what we did for April Fool's Day! Well, Ed and I thought it would be clever if we put some cereal and milk in bowls and put them in the freezer last night... this morning, we added a bit of fresh milk and let the kids at it. Well, let's just say Eddie didn't enjoy it and Kevin and Ryan didn't get it... they were still trying to eat it even after we burst out laughing and yelled "APRIL FOOL'S DAY"!

Eddie didn't enjoy being on the receiving end of a prank... but he did like playing one on Dad! Eddie and I made some cupcakes and put one in an ice cream cone... frosted it and put sprinkles on it and then asked Dad if he wanted some ice cream.... Dad couldn't figure out why his ice cream wasn't cold... til he bit into it, that is! Eddie LOVED that! And then everyone got a cupcake! Fun was had by all!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Our Saturday

We had a busy day today! We were up and out early doing errands and then we headed to the twins club clothing and equipment sale. We got there later than we had hoped but I still got some great bargains! Here's Ryan playing with a really cool pinwheel we picked up at the sale.






After the sale, we played outside for a bit... Kevin and Ryan took a nap while Ed and I cleaned up the yard and Eddie played outside.

Today was a special day because Eddie and I went on a "date". It was great to have one on one time with him! I let him choose the events... and he wanted to go bowling and out to dinner. We went to Wright Brothers for bowling and Stanney's for dinner.

Here's Eddie at Wright Brothers. He brought along his dog, Doug, who watched from the sidelines:


We found a special spot for Doug to sit and watch from underneath where the balls line up. I made a special mental note to myself not to forget him but we did! Good thing he was still there when we went back:


Here's Eddie rolling the ball down the lane:


Eddie did great! We actually had a tie score (58). Eddie got 9 pins down with his first ball! He actually got a 10 for the first box!

We went to dinner after bowling and Eddie got chicken and french fries. I got a tomato stuffed with chicken salad and raspberry lime rickey! It was quite yummy. Eddie got an ice cream cone but couldn't finish it.

On the way home, as we were pulling into the neighborhood, we saw and awesome rainbow. I pulled over and Eddie got out to see it. Eddie noticed that it was actually TWO rainbows and he said that must have been God's sign to us that both Grandma and Grandpa were going to get better!!!!!! (When Eddie prays for Grandma and Grandpa, he asks God for a sign to let us know he heard his prayers.) And then Eddie said "God must be using some of his powers to make Grandma and Grandpa feel better!"







After we got home from our "date", Eddie and I played the board game LIFE that we picked up at the twins club. It was a lot of fun!

We wrapped up the night with books as we always do...


Good night!

Pizza Pizza!

Friday night we had our usual pizza night! We all helped make the pizza and it was delicious!

Our end of the week update

My goal for this week was to post what we did each day... each day! But I haven't posted since Tuesdays so I'm a few days behind! I think it's so fun to see what we are up to! Maybe next week I will be able to do it every day...

Wednesday is our big library day (although we had already gone 2 more times this week!) Wednesday is story time. The kids love story time and they get to make a craft at the end. FUN FUN!

Here is Ryan showing off his name tag:


Here is one of our favorite librarians, Norma, leading story time:


Listening to the story:


Craft time:


We had a great time... and picked out a slew of books to bring home. The kids love reading and we've read most of the ones we picked out. We came home for lunch... and Kevin and Ryan took a nap. After they woke up, we went to the gym and went swimming. At 4:30, Eddie went to Junior Jump (a fun gym class) with his friend Sam. Kevin, Ryan and I stayed in the pool. Then we all had a very quick dinner at the gym and we headed to the high school. I have been taking a class called 2nd Step. Ed came with us this week. They provided babysitting for the kids. They had a great time! That was pretty much it - after the class was over, we came home and put the kids to bed.

Thursday morning we got up and went to the "BIG CITY" (Quincy Center) to get haircuts for Eddie and Ryan. We go to a great barber shop on Hancock St. It's always a big adventure. Kevin didn't need a haircut but one of these times, all 3 will be getting their haircut and the same time and I think that would be a really neat picture!

Eddie getting his haircut by Bruno...


Eddie after his haircut:


Ryan getting his haircut by Kathy...


After haircuts, we came home for Kevin's speech therapy session. This time we did it outside and it was really fun. Kevin is doing great and coming a long way! Way to go Kevin! They all got so dirty, I had to give them a quick bath before Eddie could get on the bus for school. Then we had lunch, naps and played outside til dinner...

The other night after Kevin got his pajamas on.. he insisted on wearing Eddie's spider slippers. Then he found a party hat from a birthday party we went to... and since he was wearing a party hat, he figured he could have cake! So he went around with his funny outfit on saying "Cake, cake, cake!" It was so funny!


We have been so fortunate to be able to receive lots of hand-me-down clothes from great family and friends. We just got a couple bags full and the kids were so excited to see what there was. I put a couple sweaters on Kevin and Ryan (as seen in the picture) and Kevin kept looking for something in the bucket of clothes. At first I thought he was saying "horse" because there were a couple horse shirts... but he kept looking and looking for the hat that matched his sweater. He's a funny kid. Here are Kevin and Ryan modeling their new sweaters... and Eddie pre-haircut! Thanks to Kelly and her Mom for the AWESOME clothes!


That brings us up to today ... Friday! I took the kids to a great little place called the South Shore Natural Science Center in Norwell. I spent a lot of time there as a kid. They have some animal exhibits inside and lots of trails outside. I know the kids will love it there and I think it may even become our new favorite place! They have some great programs and camps I am going to send Eddie to. He's so excited. Today we signed up for a membership and took a peek around. We couldn't stay long because Eddie had to get to school but it was great to get outside in the awesome weather we are having today! I don't know why but Ryan was very scared! I'm sure he'll come around.. maybe just because it was a new place. I said to him "Are you scared?" and he said "Yes". Silly me because the whole rest of the time we were there, I had to hold Ryan while he said "I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared"... that was the first time he ever said scared and I'm not too sure he knows what it means! It was fun anyway but I couldn't get too many pictures because I was holding Ryan. I did manage to get one while they were having a juice break on the trail. Poor Ryan was crying but when I pulled out the camera, he managed to say "cheese" and then went back to his crying. I didn't tell him to say "cheese", I guess it's just automatic when he sees the camera... can you tell I take too many pictures??? Poor little guy!


Then we stopped by Daddy's work and rushed off to get Eddie to school! Another fun day. I'm not sure what we will do this afternoon... maybe the playground!

We have a big weekend coming up but I think I'll save that for next time... Kevin and Ryan are sleeping, Eddie's at school, it's a gorgeous day and I'm on the computer! I'm going outside! Til next time....

Mom - there's a COW!!!!

This was our big joke today. I took the kids to Peaceful Meadows... a lovely little farm ice cream store... supposedly with cows. We didn't see any. So I told the kids, they cows must be giving milk. The kids ate their ice cream while sitting on a grassy patch by a fence overlooking where the cows should be... or you'd think they'd be... and then about every 5 seconds one of them would say "COW!!!" and I'd say "WHERE???" and then if it was Eddie, he'd say "Giving milk" and if it was Kevin or Ryan they'd say "MILK"... and so it went... "COW!!!"... "WHERE???"... "MILK!" They thought it was the funniest thing EVER! It was a beautiful day and I was determined to get outside. My plan was to go to the zoo but by the time Kevin and Ryan woke up, it was too late and I had already promised them some animals so I figured cows would do - if there were any! Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Kevin enjoying his ice cream!


Ryan enjoying his ice cream!


Eddie enjoying his HUGE ice cream cone!


Kevin saying "CHEESE"


This picture of Ryan reminds me of a high school senior photograph with the way he is leaning against the fence...


Eddie posing for the camera!

Another Tough Run

It's 1:30 PM and I just finished my 45 minute run on the back porch! It was tough again... but I think I'm just getting used to doing 45 minutes. It was great being outdoors... I had the radio on and could feel the breeze through the open windows. It felt good though and even better was being done! What a feel of accomplishment! Next goal is to do a few 5k's this summer!