Oh Hot.

We make pizzas most Saturdays and tonight Mike was putting Tabasco sauce on his. Our boy was asking over and over to try it so Mike put some on his pizza and then asked me to film his reaction because he knew it would be entertaining because when he ate chili flakes it sure was. Well now he knows he doesn't like Tobasco sauce but we also may have ruined pizza for him.

A week in pix: 

4 nights this week our girl fell asleep on the floor while we watched TVor listened to music and seemed to sleep quite well during the night. I don't if they are connected but she's coming into her little body and has chunked up a bit. She's doing really well. We go to the libraries for a special Toddler time every week and this week they made crowns and built castles with blocks. The weather was really nice so we spent lots of time wandering around outside and pulled out the bubbles. We went to the local kid's science museum this morning and he had a blast playing with the exhibits and checking out the ants. Then we took a long walk this afternoon where I took that last shot of Mike and McKay. Then we came home and had pizza. Now I am going to bed so we can do it all again tomorrow. Oh wait, even better, it's church ;)

Happy Birthday to me

I had a great bday this year. The day before, there were no bills and 3 cards for me in the mail. That night, after Mike got home from work I headed out to a night sans kids to wander around the bustling town of West Lebanon, NH. It was actually really fun, wandering around by myself with no agenda. In the morning, Mike got up with Lars and they made some berry pancakes and I opened my cards and the parcel from New Zealand Liz sent with some of my favorite goodies ( and this sweet little knitted dress for our girl). Mike shifted his day around and came home at 10:30 for the rest of the day which was the best. He took our boy to Library time and I enjoyed a long shower and then Mike thought we could go to Target since my sis sent me a gift card and my parents sent me a little money. Yay! Hey, it's the simple things. The day was warm and perfectly spring-like. We got some lunch and wandered around Target. I got a new water bottle, a top, a wooden car toy for boy, and this dress for our girl. I loved hanging with my little family. As if that all wasn't enough, Mike booked a relaxation massage at the Inn for that night which was divine. We ended the day, getting the kids into bed and watching "Hugo" quite visually cool.

I had all the ingredients to make my traditional red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting but was too tired to make it so did it the next day. I have almost single handedly eaten the whole thing by myself over the week. Kind of grosse but it only happens once a year. Mike filmed the cake lighting but it was kind of funny because he ducks out of singing ( he does not like singing) so it is just me singing to myself although our boy chimes in perfectly at the end. I think March 7, 2012 was the the recipe for the perfect bday.

Oh, and we can't forget this dance... Man, this makes us laugh. He is such an excited little guy.

5 months.

5 months yesterday on leap day. I don't feel like a lot has changed this month but that's just because I am with her all the time. She is very alert, responds to her name right away, has rolled over a few times on her own, has lots of smiles and giggles. She does this thing when she's on her back and lifts her legs and head off the ground like she is doing the "hundred" from Pilates. She seems strong to me but I don't know. Her sleeping at night leaves something to be desired and I am a zombie-always. Her brother  hugs and kisses her and is such a cool helper with her, surprisingly so. Remember when we were taking pictures of him on the bed? Doesn't he look huge now? He is full on toddler, this one, and has been particularly moody and frustrating to me this week. I can hear him up in his room flipping through his library books, one about tractors (he loves everything working and trucks) and one about drawing pictures with Chalk. 

We got our first real big snow of the winter today on March 1st so it's a bit anti climatic but still kind of fun. I doubt it will stay around long since it's meant to rain this weekend. We spent a couple hours wandering around in it this morning so we are all feeling exhausted now but I must forge ahead and deal with the complete mess that is my closet/nursery. I am hoping they both stay asleep long enough for me to get it done.

That's my life. 

40 is the new awesome.

This past weekend, all the girls in the family were able to meet up in Boston to celebrate Joy's 40th and some fun time together. We are super lucky to have quite a group of close friends in Boston who know lots of fun things to see and do and have cool landlords who let their Vermont friends stay in the vacant apartment next to theirs (Thx Rob and Lani!) After we picked her up from the airport and were awaiting the rest of the VT crew, we met up with our good friends at the Highland Kitchen - a bustling/cool family run joint serving American comfort food. I had my first shrimp gumbo. It was delicious. I've always wondered what it was.

Then we met up with McKay and K80 and got settled into our weekend accommodations and basically chatted until the wee hours of the morning. We hadn't gone to the grocery store like we planned so breakfast was hilarious with a cantaloupe I brought, some bread K80 baked, some spread McKay added, and some other random bits but enough to get us ready for the day in the city.We walked down to the T stop and headed down to Back Bay where we wandered around the Boston Public Library and down Newberry Street (were Joy got a hand treatment at Lush and McKay tried on blue at Aldo). We hunted out the sales racks wherever we wandered.

For lunch, we made our way to Max Brennar that serves up some amazing chocolate and delectable goodness. I had these incredible waffles with red berries citrus salad, milk chocolate ganache, and vanilla crumbled ice cream--yes! They brought out Joy this little bday chocolate and candle for a cool touch.


We wandered a bit more but headed over the common to get tickets to see "The Artist". My girl was getting ready for a nap so I fed her and she fell dead asleep so I thought it was going to be fine but the minute we got in the theatre and the ads began, her eyes popped open. She sat gazing at the screen for a while but once the movie--the silent movie-- started I could tell she wasn't going to have it. So with her first squwack I headed down to the entry aisle and watched what I could holding her and swaying--a lot. I saw enough to understand all the accolades. The music was infectious and we hummed it the rest of the weekend and glad we saw it, seeing as how it won Best picture, the next night.

After a long day out and about we took the T back to the apartment. We went and got groceries to accompany a yummy lasagna K80 made and brought down. We feasted and then watched, "Moneyball"--another film that was up for Best picture. It's a good watch and then I think we stayed up another hour or so chatting so the next morning we slept in and lazed into the morning by watching "Crazy, Stupid, Love" while everyone slowly got up and had a yummy breakfast of fresh fruit salad and bagels. Chelle sure can cut fruit up into the best fruit salad. I have seen that movie so many times since coming out it cracks me up every time.

That's when we attempted some group shots with my camera timer and remote. We sort of got it, at least good enough to remember the occasion. McKay headed home and the rest of us drove over to Cambridge and met up with Amy for some Ivy League wanders through Harvard Square. We browsed around the COOP bookstore and Amy took us to get hot chocolates at Burdick's . Of course, this is from a non-chocolate person but it was INTENSE. I had a taste of Chelle's dark chocolate and I could hardly get it down so glad I got the milk chocolate. After more wandering we topped the day off, with some mexican and made our way back to the apartment in time to tune into the red carpet pre-Oscar show. It's tradition in our family and we called Mom to chat about the first few dresses we saw. My favorite was Gwenyth Paltrow in the Tom Ford cape dress and I would like Rose Byrn's bob but there was a lot of discussion on the gowns of the night which I am too tired to go into further.

We had our ballots and Oscar Bingo (Chelle got it first and a black out) and snacked through the show. We  stayed up late once again but Joy had to be the airport by 4:30 AM so it was a short night. It was a fabulous weekend with a group of incredibly cool people.