Fort Popham

We spent a day at Popham Beach & Fort Popham with my aunts & mom...

Good Eats

When you're in New England, you must eat mass quantities of the following because they are nowhere to be found in the West (man, how I miss them now)...

I am grateful these aren't available in the West. They single-handedly added inches to my waist.

Mmmmm. Creme filled donuts from Dunkin Donuts

I don't know what it is about New England Italian subs. I've tried to find places here, but noone compares.

Time with My Sis

It was nice to spend some time with my sister Jamie in Boston...

My niece Rylie

Family Reunion

My Grandparents and Great Aunt & Uncle both celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. To honor them, we had a huge party and family reunion in Boston. What amazes me about our family is that we can go ten years without seeing each other, yet it seems like no time has passed. They just come up and give you a big hug and kiss (on the lips!). It was so fun to be with them.

Uncle Walter, Grandma Nancy, Auntie Ellie, Grandpa Jim

My grandparents with their children: Lisa (the smart one), Jimmy (the boy), Mary (the pretty one), Carol (the favorite)

And the rest of their posterity

Two of my most favorite people, Auntie Ginny & Uncle Bob

Randy was a trooper

We all stayed in the same hotel - it was a party all weekend. Randy went home after the weekend, and the boys and I stayed with my granparents in Augusta for another week.

World Traveler

I'll be backtracking quite a bit in the next little while. September & October were crazy for me and so I haven't been able to blog. First up, our vacation to Boston & Augusta....

We took the red eye flight to Boston. Totally recommended. Andrew slept almost the whole way (with his head on dad's lap). Joshua, well, not so much. That kid was wired and I think he was wondering why we weren't putting him in his bed. But overall, he did pretty good (except for when he finally did fall asleep on the floor by our feet and had to be wakened when we landed in JFK, I'm sure our neighbors didn't appreciate the bloody-murder screaming).

**And note to the world: When travelling late at night and into the wee hours of the morning, please don't drink and get drunk while EVERYONE ELSE is trying to sleep. It's really not appreciated. You'll have many chances to make fools of yourselves on your vacation. And the drinks will cost considerably less.


Here is our world traveller at the JFK airport. He carried that thing around with him the entire trip.


And here is what Rand & Andrew thought of our layover in JFK:


The beautiful thing. The miracle of it all (and we had a few miracles on this trip). The reason why I totally recommend the Red Eye is when we got to Boston and our hotel room, we drew the curtains and we all slept for 5 hours. That's all it took to get us on a reasonable schedule the rest of the trip. I can't believe how well the boys slept in our hotel room!

The Crazies are Off....

At 11:15 pm tonight, our plane to Boston leaves. We'll stay in Boston for the weekend, Randy will go home, then the boys and I will go to Augusta, Maine to stay with our family for another week. I think if we can get over the trauma of traveling with two small children on the "red eye," we're going to have a blast!

One Last Hurrah

We wrapped our summer up this week by going to Raging Waters one last time. We were able to go at least once a week all summer - Randy was even able to go a handful of times. We weren't able to convince Andrew that the full-fledged water slides were fun and completely safe....maybe next year. I, on the other hand, went on all of them. Even the really scary ones (with a 43-foot vertical drop at 40 mph).

On Saturday, Randy and I ditched the kids and went on a date there-we got a good 1 1/2 hours in before the crowds came and made it unfun. There's something very therapeutic about going on an adventure date without children. To not have to be on constant guard and to have pure fun is just what I needed!

Here are some pictures from the one and only time I brought my camera (we were also able to go with friends and some of their pictures are shown):

Early Mornings with Josh

It doesn't matter when Josh goes to sleep the night before, or if he has a late night waking, he still wakes up bright and early each morning. I think it's so he can see Dad off before he goes to work. And Dad loves to be the first person Josh sees in the morning. There's nothing better than rescuing a happy baby from his crib.

When you pick Josh up from his crib, he scurries to grab his "ky-ky" (his blanky) and his "key-key" (his monkey, not to be confused with his "ky-ky").

Randy eats oatmeal for breakfast every morning while watching Sports Center.

"Ask and It Shall Be Given You"

I picked up this quote from a blog I avidly read:

"It is amazing what two people can do
when one of them is God."

A habit I am still learning is to get on my knees when I'm feeling overwhelmed with my daily tasks. When I ask, I receive the help and guidance I need.

Andrew's New Wheels

Andrew loves his new bike.

Note to future self: Even with training wheels, it takes time to learn how to ride a "big guy" bike. Don't just let your 4-year-old loose when going downhill! Invest in knee and elbow pads.

Autumn Teaser

It's the middle of August and my children were wearing light jackets yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't complaining. It just made me want to get the pumpkin-scented candles out, shop for Halloween costumes, and make soup for dinner.

Flashback Friday: Oh the Memories

Nastia Liukin & Shawn Johnson just won Gold & Silver yesterday. Oh what a night!

Seeing Mary Lou Retton & Nadia Comaneci in the stands last night brought back the days of my childhood, practicing on the "balance beam" on my neighbor's pool table and making our own Olympic medals out of aluminum foil and yarn.

The Olympics truly are magical.

(Go Michael Phelps!)

Cassanova

It was a typical summer evening. Or maybe not.

After dinner, we grabbed a few popsicles and headed outside to the playground to enjoy the cool canyon breeze. Andrew found his 4-year-old friend Kaylie and they were off. A few moments later, I noticed that Kaylie & Andrew were huddled inside the tunnel of the play gym. At first, I thought they were fighting (at times they get into little tiffs), so I headed over to them just in time to hear sweet, innocent, little Kaylie whispering, "Kiss me..." I didn't quite know what to do or say so I turned around and walked over to Kaylie's mom and said, "Um. I think your daughter is trying to seduce my son." Annette (Kaylie's mom) caught them in the act and said, "Kaylie, what're you doing?" Kaylie popped out of the tunnel, and with all the sass she could muster, said, "It wasn't my idea!"

Well, whosever idea it was, I was witness to Andrew's first kiss.

Later that evening during bathtime, I had this conversation with Andrew:

Mom: Did Kaylie kiss you?

Andrew: Yep.

Mom: Did you kiss Kaylie?

Andrew: Yep.

Mom: Did you like it?

Andrew: Yep.

And there you have it...a four-year-old's summer romance.

4th of July 2008

Um. Yeah. I'm finally getting to our 4th of July fun. This is one of my favorites holidays and we were lucky this year because Randy got to spend the whole day with us! We started a new tradition this year and went to This Is the Place Heritage Park...they had tons of fun activities. Then we headed to Midway and had a BBQ with the fam and fireworks after.

Must Haves For Your Library

I rarely buy books, but every now and again, I run across one that I have to have. Paul Collicutt wrote several "transportation" children's books. The pictures are amazing and the boys can read them over and over and over again - they're entrancing. Each book teaches about opposites and they're simple enough that Andrew was able to memorize them quickly. The only one we're missing is "This Plane." (Hint Hint, Grandmas).


Another book that we discovered at the library was "Everywhere Babies," by Susan Meyers. The illustrations are adorable - they capture babies perfectly. On the back cover, they even have an illustration of a baby sucking his two middle fingers like Andrew did (does). The verse is fun to read. A warning, however, is there are some "politically correct" illustrations of same-sex couples. They're not blatant, but they are noticeable. Of course, my boys have never pointed this out, and I figure if they ever do, it will be a great way to discuss that there are many different types of families out there.

Josh Therapy

If you've been one of the lucky recipients of Joshua's hugs...this entry will make total sense. He flashes one of his heart-melting smiles to anyone that pays special attention to him; and if he finds you particularly friendly, he'll run up to you and give you a hug. And it's not just any old hug, it's a mold-into-your-body-full-on-cuddle-type hug. It's therapeutic to cuddle with Josh - it's serious business to him, and he doesn't take the matter lightly. I'm so lucky - I get those hugs multiple times each day.

Here he is in the arms of his grandma, his favorite person in the world (his dad and me are a close second):

This picture was taken a few weeks ago at a Bees game. As soon as we got there, and grandma was spotted, he wanted nothing to do with me. Those two are kindred spirits, I'm telling you.

Bed Bug

The Devil Made Me Do It

Andrew is four; and he knows better.

He knows NOT to push the "campus police" button on the elevator - or to dump water by the cup-fulls out of the tub - or to play with permanent markers.



However......

If he can get little brother, innocent little brother, to do these things...little brother gets in trouble. Andrew gets to laugh at little brother, while remaining unscathed.


I'm onto you Andrew.

Watermelon, lots of popsicles, many trips to the water park, and very little picture taking...

....that's what we've been up to this summer. I'm beginning to feel the motivation (it might help that my husband has been pestering me on a daily basis) to update the goings on of our lives. Stay tuned...

Red Butte with Grandma

Apologies...

...for the misleading comment on my "My Addiction" post. No, I'm not pregnant. I'm a big time planner, and yes, I'd like to have another baby in the forseeable future.

Time?

Before I had Andrew, I worked as a bank teller. I always wore a watch because I needed it to record the time in a book every time I took cash into and out of the vault. I also had to write down the date several times a day.

Now that I'm a mom, I've stopped wearing my watch altogether. And I never know what the date is.

My Addiction

I got this harebrained idea some weeks ago that our apartment is just too small. That I NEED a fenced backyard. And a garage. And a basement. And a place to put a third baby. We're on a waiting list for 8 total student 3 bedroom townhomes/houses - we're 3rd in line. The problem is, once a family moves into one of these said homes, they park it for eternity, so we're looking at a 6-month to 18-month wait. Sooo....I've developed this terrible habit of checking Craigslist every few hours, and every time I drive by a FOR RENT sign, I stop and call to find out the price & number of bedrooms. I've yet to find as good a deal as the student homes. So I wait.

And dream.

Dr. Daddy: The First Week

Randy started his residency last week. When he came home Friday evening, he pretty much questioned his decision on becoming a doctor.

This isn't the first time he's said such things, and I'm sure it won't be the last time (and I believe many medical students/residents/doctors have similar feelings on any given day).

After being married to Randy for 7 1/2 years, I know my role well--I listed all of the jobs he could possibly have had (he graduated with a chemical engineering degree, we could have stopped there!). We deduced together that this is the best job for him, that he is way overwhelmed, and that things will get better. That night, we went to a BBQ with the residents and fellows. He is working with the nicest, most down-to-earth bunch of people I've ever met. I left that BBQ feeling comforted, knowing Randy was in good hands. I love their residency coordinator - she is like a mom and makes sure the residents are well taken care of.

Do you want to know another beautiful thing about Randy's choice in residency? He had a three day weekend! We went swimming and did all of the fun 4th of July things we've always done. I'm telling you, Randy is a smart man.

My Photoshop Break

I finally felt inspired enough to fiddle around with our Photoshop Elements software. We got it last September for Randy's India trip and I was excited because it's supposed to be the best photo-editing/digi-scrapping software out there (next to the full-blown version of Photoshop). Too many other things got in the way and, well, the new blog banner is the by-product of my hours of fiddling with it. Although I should be filing, making my cards for Card Night, balancing our checkbook, blogging about my children and the 4th of July, scrubbing someting, etc.--it was a nice break and I learned something new!!

In Memory of Camille

Little Camille is a sweet, 1-year-old baby that I've never met. She is the niece of a dear friend of mine and she died 2 1/2 weeks ago in a drowning accident. I've been reading her mother's blog (who uses blogging to help cope with her loss) and it has touched me so profoundly that I wanted to respond to one of her blog posts:

Take a minute for me tonight and record the little things your kids do right
now. They don't even need to be cute things. Someday when your baby is grown you may even miss the food thrown on the ground or the face wiped on the sleeve.
Cherish the little things. For the little things are the spice in life.

Andrew:

• Andrew is a hard-core back seat driver. He tells me to go, stop, or slow down when the traffic lights change. Randy was following a car ahead of us a little too closely the other day and Andrew said, "Don't crash Daddy!"
• His grammar and sentence structures are still a little off, and it reminds me that he's still my sweet, little boy and that he's not quite a "big boy."
• When he doesn't want to go to bed, he says, "But Mom! I'm bigger now! I can stay up!"
• He's my little buddy. He gladly goes on trivial errands with me while we leave Dad & Josh at home.
• He has an unstoppable urge to suck his fingers whenever his blankie is around. I have to remind him to go put his blankie on his bed.
• Every now and again he'll ask me to sit with him while he's watching Sesame Street. We both usually end up taking a little snooze together.
• Whenever I get the camera out, he gives me the cheesiest smiles & poses. It's hard to get a normal picture of him.

Josh:

• He has this move we call the "Joshy Strut." After bathtime, he gets this sudden burst of energy - he leans forward and starts running up and down the halls. I've yet to get a decent picture of it (he doesn't perform for the camera).
• Whenever I pick him up, he puts his head on my shoulder. He's such a cuddly kid.
• When I ask him to give me a kiss, he leans forward so that I'll kiss his forehead.
• When we're out on the playground, he has to walk every square inch of the area and tries to discover new crevices.
• He started going to Nursery two Sundays ago. He's doing great and when I go peek on him, he's usually playing on the little slide they have. He'll climb to the top, clap his hands, slide down, and giggle, and then repeat.
• He always has a bruise (or 2 or 3) on his head. He just can't keep his noggin' out of harm's way!
• He has very distinct cries, I know what they all mean.

Stephanie, please know that you are changing lives with your faith. I can't even grasp the loss that you and your family are going through right now. I think about you often. I wonder how I'd react. I wonder if I'd be as strong as you are. I go through many emotions, and I'll be honest, sometimes I've felt mad for you. I know you're not mad, but sometimes I go there. Thank you for sharing your pain and your testimony. You have strengthened my testimony of the healing powers of Jesus Christ. I love how you said that you "fully feel His arms wrapped around you" and that you "feel the ministering of nearby angels." My faith has been strengthened and I know that no matter what trials I will need to face in this life, that I will never be alone because I am a child of God. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing with us. You are wonderful.