Survival is a Beast

We found a robin's nest in our neighbor's hedge. It's about five feet up, perfect for peeking in on the progress from egg to baby bird. These eggs were round one and nary a robin made it. Round two is proving a bit more hopeful, with one of four almost ready to fly away. We are very hopeful. It's so amazing to watch the little bird change each day.

Girl in Flowers

Maddie and I had such fun planting these bulbs last fall. We had terrible luck the year before with tulips so it was wonderful to see all 100 daffodils rear their pretty heads.

Another pretty head!

She'll Write Anywhere

The Pool's Out!

Our steamy weekend continued and the water toys had to come out! The kids were beside themselves with excitement.

Blurry, but such joy!

Look at Maddie jumping.

Even Gabriel got in on the fun. He splashed and splashed until he was dripping wet. Unfortunately, after this day, the water toys have gone back into storage while we wait, and wait, and wait, for some warmth.

Mr and Mrs Kemmer

Nathan flew off to Oregon to celebrate the wedding of his mom to Jim Kemmer.

It was a great weekend full of celebration, family and biking.

Sheep Shearing Festival

Every year in April, a local museum hosts a sheep shearing festival, complete with sheep wrangling (or whatever sheep dogs do), a craft show, a May pole, activities for kids and of course shearing. It is super fun and this year, it was super hot which we were glad for but not used to. The kids area had these neat costumes for the kids to play with. Theo is still talking about the parrot that he wasn't able to wear.

We explored the grounds, had lunch and ice cream and then went home for a nice rest.

Yummy toes!

Shadow Dancing

Patriot's Day!

Patriot's Day is a big deal in Boston. There are a ton of re-enactments throughout the city and of course in Lexington and Concord. The biggest one is the "shot heard round the world" before 6am. Thousands of people trek out to Lexington Green to watch the battle, some even sleep out! I dragged Nathan to it 9 years ago when he was at HBS. With my mom in town, we had to experience it. We set our alarms for 4:45 and away we went. Unfortunately, we ended up being about five rows back from the green. By standing on our tip toes, we could just make out a small portion of the battle.






Even though we didn't have front row seats, it was a huge treat capped off with a yummy breakfast at La Provence in Concord. We did find the Elks selling tricorn hats that Maddie and Theo loved.

Theo wore his hat all day and was the hit of the town. The people at Waban Market were going crazy when they saw him.


We then headed down the street to watch the Boston Marathon.

Ever seen a cuter Yankee?

The kids, and Grammie, loved ringing these bells to cheer on the runners. Grammie rang so much she developed bell finger.

This man blew the competition out of the water. It was pretty amazing.

The lady in pink is an American new to the marathon scene. Look for her to win Boston someday.

The men's winner.

A serious Patriot

We had so much fun with Grammie on her visit. Come back soon (and bring Pop Pop)!

Weekend in Vermont

We were so excited to get away for a night to celebrate our 10th. My mom graciously trekked across country to take care of the kids. We jetted out of town early Saturday morning stopping at our favorite coffee shop, Taste. Then it was on to Vermont with a stop in New Hampshire at the LL Bean outlet where Nathan scored some clearance bike gear. We had lunch at the Airport Diner that has yummy sweet potato fries and then arrived in Woodstock at the Woodstock Inn. Nathan has splurged on a suite and the inn had a wine and cheese tray waiting for us. We made a fire and settled in to peace and quiet!

We'd had to cancel the get away when Nathan was busy on his overseas project and the managing directors sent us a gift certificate to use. We decided to have fun at the spa. I had a facial and Nathan an 1 1/2 hour massage! We then went to a darling, very New England restaurant, The Prince and the Pauper. It's been there since, well, since a long time. The pate was amazing so much so that I asked if we could take some home before realizing it may not keep in the car the next day! The next morning we had breakfast at the inn before exploring the town. It was a darling town with two independent bookstores and a newly opened for the season ice cream shop. The homemade ice cream was delicious.

He really does like it.

Then, we stopped at a furniture/pottery maker, Shakleton Thomas (yes, he's related to the Ernest Shakleton), and a glass maker, Simon Pearce. We really enjoyed both factories and were fortunate to have a personal tour at Shakleton and see some glasses being made at Simon Pearce.

All and all it was super fun, relaxing and couldn't have been done without my mom who's youngest grandson awoke at 4:45. Thank you, Grammie!

Mrs. Bella's Family Wall

I was fortunate enough to be able to work in Maddie's classroom putting together a family board for each child. It was so much fun to interview and learn a bit more about each child and their family.

Maddie's story says:

I'm very happy when I think about my family.

My Mom is a mommy of three kids and is very nice. Daddy is very nice, too. I love him with all my heart. Theo is funny. He's a character. Gabriel is so cute. He can crawl and sit up. I love him.

When I'm at school, my Mom washes the dishes and plays with Theo and Gabriel. My Dad works, works and works. He works on projects.

I was happy on my birthday with my family. I was together with them. We had dinner and cake and ice cream, a great meal together.

I'm happy when I think about the rest of our family - my grandparents and cousins.

I help by making my bed. The rest of the family helps by cleaning up.

Poetry Happenings

The Kindergarten classes at Angier put on a little performance. Mrs Bella's class memorized two poems with motions: My Parents Think I'm Sleeping and Mud, and sang a few songs, our favorite being Upsy Down Town. The kids did a great job.

Goodbye Teeth, Hello Tooth Fairy

Back in January, Maddie's two front bottom teeth popped through. Unfortunately, they were about 1/2 inch behind her baby teeth and her baby teeth had nary a wiggle. She has a tiny jaw with tiny baby teeth and fairly good sized permanent teeth so the dentist recommended that she pull the four front teeth making space for the permanent teeth to move into. Yikes! Luckily, the dentist was fantastic and Maddie had no pain during the procedure. We were very impressed with the teeth once they were out as the roots had not dissolved yet. She enjoyed a day home from school and a visit from the tooth fairy who left four golden dollars!



Ouch!


And not to be outdone, Theo had to have a picture of his teeth taken!

Happy Easter!

We had a lovely Easter. The kids were so excited that the bunny visited. They could hardly wait to run downstairs. The weather was still a bit chilly so the bunny hid the eggs in the house.

And, boy did that bunny outdo himself, he put together an amazing riddle hunt for Maddie and Theo to find their baskets. The clues even made me laugh!

Theo was so exited to open his eggs and find candy! and even money!

Maddie and I went to church while Gabriel napped. Then it was off to an Easter brunch at our friends the Pozens. There were a bunch of friends from Bowen, Maddie's old preschool, there.

Everyone brought eggs for an amazing egg hunt in the yard.

I love this action shot of Theo.

The loot

Sam and Theo

Wonder what they are talking about?

It was then off to anther brunch at the pastor's house who taught the Love and Logic Parenting class I took. It was a very nice group of people and a ton of kids. When we left that brunch, with three exhausted children, Theo said, "Can we come back tomorrow?" It was a joyous Easter!

Hello Underwear!

He did it! Turned three and became potty trained in the same week! We are so proud and relieved to only deal with one boy in a diaper.

The Big 3

The celebration continued on his big day. He picked out his outfit and was so proud to wear an "I'm 3 Today" button. The morning started off really well. Vanessa arrived with a cake and present. There's nothing like cake first thing in the morning!

We went to our Mommy Theo class where a special rendition of Happy Birthday was sung to him. A special dinner, cupcakes and presents ended the night perfectly!

Fireman Theo

We were so excited to celebrate Theo! He loves a good party and being with his friends Sam and Scotty. A fireman theme was in order!

We started the morning at the fire station near our house. Sporting their own fireman's hat, the kids were really excited to see the fire trucks up close, explore the firehouse, slide down the pole and meet Captain Mark and Fireman Greg.

Theo's buddies arrive.

We loved watching Captain Mark slide down the pole! He said it never gets old.

We came home and the kids hopped into their own fire trucks to put out fires and rescue animals over an obstacle course that Maddie set up.

I had to get a picture of the back of the truck with hose and personalized license plate!

Theo was thrilled with his present from his friends. They played with this super cool fire station for a good 1/2 hour!

Then it was time for pigs in a blanket, fruit, juice and of course cake for lunch. The grown ups got a yummy rice salad.

I love watching Theo blow something out. He makes his lips into a flat line and tries his hardest to blow!

"Hooray I'm Twee!" (said like Theo!)