Day 18: Signs of Spring?

OK, so I sort of slipped behind in my daily photos...again.  It's really hard being pregnant, and having kids, and maintaining all the things I need to do during the day.  I'm just going to go ahead and continue the day count and ignore the fact that I missed a couple weeks because if I try to do it perfectly then I'll completely miss out on recording our days.

I thought it would be fun to have a series of spring photos; Signs of Spring.  I've encountered a glitch though...technically it is spring, but there have yet to be any signs to show us that it really is here.  Here's one thing that usually means spring to us:  Stella.

She comes back from her 'migration' each spring and then we know the seasons really have turned.  This year, not only did she come back a little early, but this is also the year that the snow hasn't wanted to go away.  The snow and Stella don't usually co-exist, so it was weird to have her around while the snow was still on the ground.  Anyway, here she is in her winter glory.  She wanted me to take a picture of her in her snow clothes to send to her grandkids in Florida.

Day 7: Cracker Barrel

 

During vacation week we had a get together at Cracker Barrel with all the kids who used to hang out at playgroups, but are now in different schools.  Here's my kids and Beckie's kids out front as we were leaving. This was the day that I painstakingly gathered up all the barely-used crayons, putting one red, one blue, one yellow back in each box so that they wouldn't get thrown out when the table was cleared.  Jacob carried the crayons to the hostess desk for me and handed to the lady so she could put them back with the other crayons.  But instead she turned around and tossed them right in the garbage.  

I almost had a heart attack.

Does it matter to you if the crayons your kids use are sterile and have never been used before?  I can't figure out a reason why the hostess would have thrown the crayons out instead of just putting them back in the basket.  I've found a place where I can send my used crayons, so I'm going begin a project to collect as many crayons, that would have otherwise gone to a landfill, and send them in for re-use as well.

Day 4: Baby Mally

This is Jacob playing with our friend, Mallory.  Sabine calls her Baby Mally. This is the way Jacob was with Sabine when she was a baby, and I think it's so cute that he's this way with Mallory too.  He is really into babies, which is adorable.  I will be in luck come July.

Day 91: Fall Ball

Jacob is playing Fall Ball this year. He had the regular season in the spring, which was his second year, and this is just a short season, about six weeks long. Anyway, Nate is also playing Fall Ball, but this is his first team baseball. The boys ended up on different teams, but happened to be playing each other in the season-opening game. They also both happened to get #1 (mostly because they're on the tiny side and needed the small size). We thought it was funny that Nate (a Red Sox fan) ended up on the navy team, and Jacob (a Yankees fan) ended up on the red team, opposite of what they would have preferred.

We tried to orchestrate this photo with the two of them backs to the camera, yet with their faces toward each other, scowling as if they weren't really good friends. But they couldn't figure out how to turn their heads without turning their bodies, and then also remembering to scowl was difficult. Still, pretty cute pictures.

Day 88: Happy Birthday Mallory!

(Picture to come)

Day 40: Damsel in Distress

So we went to Camp again for an extended weekend . This time our dear friends, Jen and Dan, and their two boys came with us. It's always more fun when we have company. I ended up taking more pictures of the kids and all the playing around, than I did of the bugs this time, but I couldn't resist this photo. It's a damselfly caught in a spider's web and the spider is getting ready to chow down. It's not that I like looking at dead bugs about to have their guts eaten out, it's just so fascinating that I can't look away - like a gory accident on the side of the road - until I at least get a picture. For this angle I actually had to get into the bottom of the row boat and get my face real close. I should get bonus points for that. Though I love this photo, my main reason for posting it is because I couldn't wait to use the perfect title I came up with!

Day 37: High School, the 2nd Generation

A few weeks ago I had a playgroup here for some of my high school friends and their kids. I've gotten together with high school friends since we graduated, and I've spent time with high school friends' children since they've been in existence, but this was the first time this number of us had been in one place with all of our kids at the same time. Not to mention the fact that one of the moms present was my old best friend whom I hadn't even spoken to in 10 years.

There were five of us moms/former classmates, and eight kids between us. The extra two are my niece, Marisa, and Stella's granddaughter. It was a little mind-blowing. We kept throwing around phrases like, "How the heck did this happen?!" and, "How did we even have enough time to produce all these children?" and, "Look what we did." I like that last one the best, it was sort of a proud statement and it was so different for me than it is with any of my other mom friends. These are the girls who knew me before I had kids. Actually, Jacob is the age right now that I was when I met the first of these moms....weird.

Day 31: Scrambled Boys

Yesterday while we were with the Nate and Harry, we visited the local 'playland'. The boys went on some grueling rides; ones I wouldn't have been able to go on. Here they are on the Scrambler. Puke.

Day 30: Harry's Little Sib

We hung out with Beckie and her boys for most of the day today. It afforded me lots of opportunities to take pictures, and get some more of her belly. Beckie is such a good sport about letting me take her picture, today she even let me get some flesh ones and gave permission for me to use one on here! Don't you just love this picture?

Day 28: Summer Lovin'

This is Melissa, Stella's granddaughter. They were visiting for a week and it was like having a neighbor-playmate for a week. It was awesome. Everyday Jacob and Melissa played with each other. Sometimes Jacob went over to Stella's, but for the most part we had Melissa over here, and I loved having her. She's such a sweet girl, and a good influence of Jacob to boot! When they played in the house, it was so calm and quiet, relatively speaking. I'm told Melissa just loves Jacob and wants to play with him all the time - you know, that she's *sweet* on him. I think the feeling was mutual because he was a totally different kid around her - not like a little punk and whatnot. I can't really describe it; he has other little girl friends that he plays with but this was different.

They've gone home now, 1,500 miles away and I don't know that we'll be seeing them again. Melissa was really sad about leaving and not seeing Jacob anymore. At least for now they can be pen pals...

Day 23A: Oops & the last of the Camp pictures

Well I completely messed up on day 22 and I don't want to cheat and make it look like I didn't miss a day by retroactively posting, so I will just do two for today and call it even. It's been a very, very busy two days. Big playgroup gathering here Monday afternoon, Cousins Party on Monday night, appointment this morning, followed by another playgroup here, this time with my former high school friends, who are all grown women with their own kids - which means I must be a grown woman?

It was pointed out to me by my mother today that I didn't quite finish the text that goes along with the forget-me-nots. I just got around to visiting the page and I'm cracking up at myself. That's what happens when I stay up waaaay later than I should in an attempt to finish up any given computer-related activity. I keep falling asleep, keep waking up long enough to type a word or two, then fall asleep again. At some point during the typing of that post I must have decided to publish it already, photo explanation be damned. I'm going to leave it the way it appears because I think it's hilarious.

What I wrote is: "These forget-me-noys ran all along ty" What I meant to write is that those flowers run all along the edge of the lake, etc, ect.

Anyway, I have so many more awesome pictures from Camp, but I'll just post this one here and save the others for some time in the future.

I've got more pictures of the bald eagle, some cool dragonfly pictures, and lots of photos of us on the lake, but I'm going with the blueberry because that represents the camp experience for me the best. They don't usually ripen until early August, but it's been so hot this year that by the end of our trip Jacob and I were able to gather enough ripe ones to make pancakes with and a batch of muffins. I can't wait to go back up later in the summer and get more berries!

Day 8: Birthday Cake

This year I made Sabine's cake. I sort of had a 'woodland' theme in mind, but as you can see, it more or less turned out to be a bunch of stuff that I'd collected, put on exhibit atop some sprinkles (pond), green fruit roll-up (grass) and crushed up Teddy Grahams (dirt). By the time decorating time came around I was just out of brain energy and it was all I could do to skip the decorating altogether. Anyway, I didn't get much feedback from those who partook of the cake, so I'm thinking it was nothing special.

I don't know how easy the details are to see in this photo because of the decoration behind the cake. That's a tree from Jacob's barn and a teensy watering can, Annie's Bunnies (munching on little bits of fresh kale), Teddy Grahams. An aside: I try not to buy the conventional brands with trans fat, high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring, so there's a good chance that Jacob's never had Teddy Grahams (at least not recent enough that he would remember). So when he was asking for them today, he asked, "Where are the Teddy Diagrams?" It was so cute I didn't bother correcting him.

Another aside: The decoration in the back is a big #2 that had been circulating around our moms' group for more than a few years now. A lot of the kids in our club have had the honor of having that 2 present for their birthdays. I don't know what other families have done with it, other than have it in their possession for a while, but I put it on display as a decoration and make sure to take the birthday kids picture with it. And if I had a nickle for everytime someone asked, "Is that a pinata?"

Fun in the snow

Jacob keeps asking me when it's going to be spring. I tell him that it's already happening bit by bit, and that one day we'll realize that it never snowed again and winter feels like it was a long time ago. Then it will be spring.

It was a good, long winter full of activities and here's to hoping it's on its way out!

Getting ready for winter - pulling the
snowsuits out and trying them on. I
think this one is too big!

Toasting a Happy New/Noon Year with good
friends and 'champagne' in fun martini glasses

Saying goodbye to the Christmas season with
the exiting of the lighted deer.

Sabine stayed obsessed with these deer all day,
every day while they were on the front lawn.

Having them in the house where she could
touch them was like Christmas all over again!

Sleigh riding at Jessica's

Nice, big entrance ramp!

This was actually the only time we got out sleigh
riding this year. Good thing I took pictures.

Jacob actually got out cross-country skiing a lot
this year, that is one thing I sadly don't have any
pictures of.

Being daring in jammies and rubber boots
on the night of one of the first snow falls.

Pond skating: Check

Lastly, just some all-around good, clean fun in the snow.

The Portraits

Back in November (or maybe it was December - I can't even remember, but I do know that Jeff got us the pictures REAL fast) we got our portraits taken by Zach's friend, Jeff. It had been a few years since we even had portraits taken, but Zach re-did Jeff's basement last year and turned it into a swanky photo studio. Zach had always wanted to take me there to see his work so we had some photos taken while we were there.

We hadn't planned to get so many prints, but they all came out so good that we couldn't pass them up! And again, we're not the kind of people to cover our walls with pictures of ourselves, but this'll probably be the last time for a while that we get official portraits done.

I was a little hesitant to post pictures of the photos in their frames because I'm intimidated by Jeff's superior photography and professionalism and I didn't want him to see the kitschy Target frames that some of the photos ended up in. But it's Sabine and she's so friggin cute that there's a good chance one won't even notice the heart bubbles and pastel lines.

Here are the only frames I originally intended to use - Pottery Barn. I knew exactly what I wanted in them and how I wanted the photos arranged so they'd balance, but Zach had a problem with the way I had one frame going vertical and the other horizontal. Somehow I don't think Jeff would disapprove so I convinced Zach. But there was one detail that neither Zach nor I could get over: The background in Jacob's photo is black and it throws off the balance. We had no choice to leave it though because we didn't notice that detail until we had the prints in hand and next to each other.

These last photos are awesome! Well, the family shot isn't really awesome, but I actually like the way I look in it! So we got a print. The one of the kids smooching is the best! I have to take credit for that one though, I've been training them to kiss for the camera.

And there you have the partial reason why we don't really get portraits done - it's just not worth the obsessing about every little detail I can't help but put into the process. But seriously, if you're in the market for portraits, or a wedding photographer, or a nice on-site photo shoot, or whatever, I'll send you Jeff's info and website.

Beanie Goes Skating

This happened over a month ago, and since then I haven't had the time to post about it. Or anything. Life has been crazy! What with Christmas and having two kids. It is unbelievable how much more work two kids are, versus just one. I think I've finally reached the point where I can no longer remember what it used to be like with just Jacob. I've hardly noticed the time going by because life has been moving so quickly.

Anyway, the rink opened in October, but it took us a whole month to get there. We took Sabine on the ice for the first time and she loved it. She was 17 months old then, now she's 18 months and that means it way past due for a Dear Sabine letter. I will get to that before the year is over, that is my end-of-year resolution. That and the 13 other posts I meant to complete in the last couple months.

Jacob's Birthday Party

So Jacob turned six last week! He'd been talking about his birthday party for many months and requesting certain details, themes, etc. I decided that rather than one big party (too many people in the house at once) with family and a few close friends, we'd make this the year that the dreaded 'friend party/family party' split happened. Although, things were so crazy with other celebrations/Halloween/work schedules that we never got around to having the family party.

The last cake request I remember getting from Jacob was a baseball, or maybe it was just the easiest. When I picked Beckie's brain about it she recommended using a mixing bowl to bake it in. I did a large mixing bowl for the biggest part, a round cake pan for what would be the base, and a small mixing bowl for what would be the top.

I wrapped them in saran wrap (the keep the moisture in) and froze them (easier to frost). Some trimming had to be done to make them all form into the shape of a ball. While it didn't come out perfect, I think it looked pretty good for a cake-artist novice.

The frosting was what took the longest because, alas, my impatience kicked in and I took them out of the freezer before they were done freezing. So all the crumbs kept chunking up while I was spreading on the frosting.
But there it is. Close enough, right? The red stitching looks different than what I had envisioned, but I didn't have to do it myself so that's the price I pay. Also, the nozzle wasn't fine enough so the lettering was too big to write anymore than Jacob's name and a 6. But it tasted awesome just the same and he really liked it!I got one of those 'all ready to be decorated' crafts because I thought the kids would need something fun to do when they first came in and I was still running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I thought it would be nice if they had a craft to make that didn't fully involve recycled materials so I let Jacob pick one out and he went with the flower pot. I'd intended to dry some of the pumpkin seeds from our garden and put them in little baggies for the kids to plant in the spring, sort of as a little party favor, but that never happened.

I'd wanted to do an outdoor scavenger hunt with the kids, but I was afraid of what the weather might be like so that sort of morphed into a treasure hunt with a twist to take place indoors. I took photographs of certain objects or patterns in the house, printed them out and then cut them into puzzle pieces.

Each 'puzzle' was placed in a baggie (purchased especially for this occasion because lord knows I never have baggies) and then labeled each one with a child's name. The party guests in attendance ranged in age from 2 to 7 so I wanted to make sure every kid got a chance to solve a puzzle and the bigger kids didn't just take over. Forethought, people. I actually tailored each kid's puzzle to their age and whatnot.
The first clue was given out, and it took them an incredibly long time to figure out that the place they should be headed was the milk box on the front steps. And over half of the kids at the party get the same milk delivered that we do, so I thought this would be easy. Within the milk box was the first picture clue. It had to be pieced together and then identified. Once identified, the kids had to find where in the house that object was (eg. a green lattice picture frame). Behind that picture frame was the next clue, and so on.
The kids really liked this activity and I was so excited to have come up with an idea like that, but it took a really long time. The one thing I need to do differently next time is make the puzzles easier! The 2 year old's puzzle was four square pieces, but what I should have done is just give him a plain ole picture in one piece. And then for the rest of the kids I would give them four pieces instead of the sever or eight they got. Plus I cut them up into crazy shapes - will just stick with normal lines and whatnot next time.

The last clue was a picture of our shower curtain, and I'd given that one to Jacob so he could be the one to find the 'treasure'. He could not figure out what the hell it was. Shower much? Anyway, someone eventually did and they tore upstairs and into the shower.
This is the pinata that Jacob and I made from scratch! Ew, please ignore the moldy caulk in the corner. The kids each took a cloth goodie bag and we proceeded outside to beat the crap out of the baseball. It was a natural step from the baseball cake to the baseball pinata - plus what could be easier to make from a round balloon than a round baseball? I love this picture of Jacob hitting it with the bat.
I loved making the pinata with Jacob. He helped with all three layers but the outside layer ended up being a surprise. We did the recommended three layers but when I went to decorate it the night before I got nervous that it would crack at the first hit and only one kid would get a turn. So I added a fourth layer and had to dry it in front of a heater for a couple hours. Then the next day, just a couple hours before the party, it was still not decorated because of the extra drying time. I was running out of time so Zach suggested he'd paint it since he already had the right colors.

I don't know if it was the fourth layer, or the professional grade paint, but that thing was never cracking open. We would have been out there all day, except the string finally came away from the pinata and it landed on the ground with a thud. We all stood there not knowing what to do so I finally picked it up, ripped it open with my hands and tossed it into the air.

That did the trick and no one really cared after that. What I'll do next time is either skip the fourth layer of paper mache or not use such heavy-duty paint. Oh, and definitely secure the string better.

The boys were so tired after the party that they both passed out on the couch after everyone left. And I got to clean up. All in all, I was pretty proud of myself. It wouldn't have my trademark signature if things didn't go wrong. I feel like I've crossed another rite of passage as a mother: The Kid Party.