New Year's Eve

Our New Year's Eve was SO much fun! Dawn came up with the kids and stayed with us for a few days. We told the kids that there were only two rules...they were not allowed to go to bed that night and they were not allowed to eat dinner, snacks only! They were so excited! We had different rounds of hors devourers staring with chicken quesadillas, mozzarella sticks, then pigs in a blanket, potatoes skins...oh my gosh we had so much food and then came the cookies! We were all so surprised that the kids actually made it! Shortly after midnight they all went to bed, but we had such a great night full of food and fun games. Dawn and I promised each other that we would go to bed early since she had to leave at 9 to be home for work by 5...then came Sing Star. Um yeah, can't really remember when we went to bed; sometime around 3? Kristian was even in bed before us. Well, that's New Year's Eve for ya! Anyway, here are some pics...I wish I had more of the kids. We were too busy having fun!

Me and My Dawny Marie

Me and My Little Baby

Let the Poor Man Retire Already!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Week

We had a very busy Christmas week. Kristian was able to take off, so we spent the whole week down in NY. Since Danielle, Billy, and Alex were going to spend their Christmas in FL this year, we hung out with them and celebrated on Monday night.

Here are some pics from that night:

Me, My Mom, and Sis

The Boys

The Other Boys

Tuesday night Kristian and I took the kids to see my father and Pat.

Yummy Taco Dip!

So Many Great Presents!

Kristian and Dad

Grandma Pat Always Gets the Best Cupcakes!

On Wednesday, we went to the Atlantis Aquarium in Riverhead. The place was really cool and the kids LOVED it! Thanks Nana and Pa! After the aquarium, we went out to eat at TGIF. It was really nice to have a relaxing Christmas Eve. The kids really needed the break since their schedules had been off all week!

On Christmas day, we woke up at Nana and Pa's house. After we opened presents, Merideth and Chris, Grandma and Jim, and Aunt Cathy, Derek and Shayla came over. It was nice to spend time with them. Around 4ish, we went to my mother's house in Blue Point. It was a really nice night! I actually met my brother's girlfriend, Molly, for the first time. She was really nice and if she can put up with my brother...just kidding. He's awesome and I am glad he found someone so nice.

Here are some pics:

T'was the Night Before Christmas

Christmas Morning

Handsome Boys

Gamma's House

Christmas at Home

(A shot of the tree the night before-not sure why the time stamp says 18th)

The Saturday before Christmas, we celebrated at home. Ryan was so excited when he saw all the presents under the tree. This is the first year that he really understood what presents are. As he opened his presents he said, "oh wow! this is great!" Even when Ryan opened a present that wasn't as exciting as the others, like the Curious George book, Ry said, "oooh, Curious George! Let's open another one...". Too funny! We decided to take our time, let them open each present and play with it. Then move on to the next. Ryan's favorite had to be the Geo-Trax train set. He's played it at Kyla's house and has always loved it. He also really liked the Shake and Go Speedway Crash-up thingy we got them; except it didn't go together as it was supposed to. We'll need to return it, but it will definitely be another one of his favorites. Devin's favorite I would say, was the basketball hoop. He loves balls! Easy now, we're talking about a cute little almost two year old, get your mind out of the gutter! Anyway, he had so much fun throwing the basketball in the hoop. And as he is with the football and any other variety of ball, he was really good and accurate!

Here are some pics from our morning:

(First, I just want to say "thank you!" to Jamie for lending us her camera, so we can capture the cute moments of this day...love ya girl!)

waking up

coming down the stairs

oooh! presents!

what'd you get ry?


trains, of course

love to draw!

Santa didn't forget Fred! Who could?

More Cute Sayings

"Too spicy!" -One day, we let Ryan have sip of soda and that was his response, he didn't like it because it was "too spicy!"

"That tastes better."-Ryan always says this when he first tries something. It's cute because he's not really comparing what he just ate to something else.

"I want to pee on the street" -Ryan will just come up with these random requests. We don't let him, of course!

"I want to sleep in Pa's car."-Another random request, sometimes it's Pa's car, Nana's car, or even ours sometimes, but he's usually obsessed with Nana or Pa's car...he has a car/truck fetish if you couldn't already tell.

"Bunny milk!"- Actually this is something that both the boys say, I believe Devin started it, but we give them chocolate milk sometimes and use Nesquik, yep, the one with the bunny. They realized this and started to call chocolate milk, bunny milk.

"I want some drank."-I don't know where Ryan gets his accent.

"I want milk"-Devin thinks every type of drink is milk. He sometimes gets things confused, like "no" for "yes". Heck, he even calls Ryan, Devin sometimes. LOL!

"A-bool"-That's the way Devin says marble, which he'll say a million times a day since he's addicted to marbles (the marble race game is his favorite). He is a funny little boy and he knows it...sometimes he'll laugh at something in his adorable laugh and then say, "funny."

"Are you excited!?!" or "You ready to have some fun!?!"-I love when Ry says things like this. He'll ask me, Kristian, or Dev, if we're ready for some fun. It just sounds so funny coming from a 2 year old!

Ice Storm

A huge ice storm hit us on Friday night. As Kristian and I were laying in bed, we heard trees cracking and limbs falling. We saw a few flashes of light followed by something that sounded like an explosion...then the power went out. After that at least four other transformers blew out and we were just left there thinking, ok, when is one of the huge trees in our backyard, going to come down on the house. Luckily, nothing too serious happened. The power was out for most of the weekend and thank goodness, Jamie had a generator. Although her power was out too, the generator kept some lights on and her house warm. The great friend that she is, invited the whole family to stay with them. Thank you Wilson family! I always love adventures like this and although it caused us some inconveniences, it was fun! There were five children, four adults, three dogs, two cats, and a partridge in a pear tree. The kids were so excited! Here's a picture of all the kids at their first sleep over:



We stayed with them until Saturday after dinner, when our power was finally turned back on. We did not have cable or internet until late Sunday night. It's so weird how dependent you get on technology. All in all, we were extremely lucky that nothing happened to our house and compared to some of our other friends, we got our back on relatively quickly.

Nicknames

I'd like to always remember the cute little nicknames that we have for the kids. Someday, they'll just want to be called by their names, so I am making note of all of them...even Fred's too!

Ryan

Ry
Ry Bread
Ryboflavin
Ryola
Ry Guy
French fRy


Devin

Dev
Roo
Roon
Devinroon
Devaroon
Schroon
Schroo
Schruben
Schrubie
Ruben
Ruby
Devinstein


Fred

Fredrick
Froo
Rick
Frooschnickins
Freddie
Scraps
Froop
Noodle
Froodle

I'm sure there are more...and as always, will add them if I think of any.

Boston Children's Museum

We decided to go to the Boston Children's Museum in Boston. We were able to get everyone in on our membership, so the only thing we all had to pay for was parking! Not bad! The place was packed! The kids still had fun. I guess I was expecting a little more from it. I am used to the Long Island Children's Museum, which has lots of cool and unique things for the kids to do. This had some too, but just not as much. The kids enjoyed the bubbles and the ball room. I would give it a 7 out of 10 as far as coolness. It was a nice thing to do with the kids though.

Thanksgiving

We had a really nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. Aunt Dani, Uncle Bewb, Uncle Bert, and Alex came up on Wednesday night and stayed until Saturday morning. Kristian decided that he was going to have a turkey themed day. He woke up early and made us all breakfast with turkey bacon. Then he made soup with turkey in it...kinda like a chicken noodle soup, but with turkey instead, and of course, turkey for dinner. Bewb helped out with an app and Alex (Uncle Bert) made the mashed potatoes and an asparagus side dish. Everything was absolutely delicious! Thanks boys! Danielle and I got to spend time with the little ones. We took a hike through the woods in the back and rolled down the hill. When we got back all the men took Ryan and Alex to the playground. The weather was perfect and so was the food and the company!

Goodbye Bunky

Bunky, Kristian's first cat ever, passed away today. He was so adorable and actually my favorite of all their six cats. We had a special bond. Back in the day when I would come over, he'd come right up to me and cuddle up on my chest. He'd purr and since he was bottle fed as a little kitty, he'd make a nursing sound, which he did when he was completely relaxed and comfortable. It was so cute until he'd shake his head and his drool would splatter around. It wasn't too bad...worth having that little cutie snuggle up. He was such a sweet cat, who really lived a long life. Ryan loved him of course...he'd always look for Bunky when we'd get to Nana's house. Good old crunchy Bunky as Nana would say. He will be missed.

SEE Science Center

Today we decided to take the kids to the SEE Science Center in Manchester, NH. We've been there before, but the kids were really little; actually, I'm not sure if Devin was even born yet! The kids had a lot of fun...there was a lot of stuff that was broken and above their heads, but there was still some stuff that they were able to do. They especially enjoyed the freeze shadows, where with a flash of a light, their shadows stayed on the wall...I thought that was pretty cool too! They also had lots of fun with the bubble table. Daddy made HUGE bubbles! There were also some turtles there and other cool things. We used the membership that we got and so we got in free! We're really getting a lot of use out of it...it's paid off already!

Our Silly Songs

Our day is filled with songs. Some that we make up and others that we just sing or dance to in silly ways. I wanted to document these because time passes so quickly and these are the things that get forgotten over the years.

This is the song I sing when I clean their ears. They love getting their ears cleaned...hmmm, maybe this is why!

Mommy cleans the baby's ears, the baby's ears, the baby's ears
Mommy cleans the baby's ears, she makes them nice and squeaky

Another made up song that they love to dance to, or I guess I should say spin to. There are many versions that we've come up with from time to time, but this is the main one.

Spin around, round, spin around
Spin around, round, spin around
Spin around, round, round, round, round, spin around, round, spin around
Spin around, round, spin around
Spin around, round, spin around
Spin up, up and spin down, down, spin around, round, spin around

This one is one that we sing when they get their fluoride drops.

Drop, drop, drop, drop-a-roons
Drop, drop, drop, drop-a-roons
Drop, drop, drop, drop-a-roons
Drop, drop, a drop-a-roon


This next song we sing when we are going to get them dressed, change Devin's diaper, brush teeth, etc...they love to be chased!

I'm gonna, goin', goin', goin', goin' , gonna get you
I'm gonna, goin', goin', goin', goin' , gonna get you
I'm gonna, goin', goin', goin', goin' , gonna get you
I'm gonna, goin', goin' ge-et you

Museum of Science

Jamie, Jen and I took the kids the Museum of Science in Boston. The boys were a little off in the beginning. They both just wanted me to hold them the whole time all while pushing the double stroller! I think since the museum was HUGE it was a little overwhelming, but they seemed to feel more comfortable after an hour or so. I love this museum...I love science, so this place is great! A lot of the stuff was way over the kids' heads, but there were definitely a lot of cool things to look at and do. We watched the Electricity presentation in which they actually made lighting! I thought for sure the kids would be scared, but they loved it! I was surprised to see all of the animals that they had there and of course the kids loved that too. Jamie and I stayed until the museum closed, then we stopped at McD's on the way home...we forgot about rush hour! Us SAHMs don't have to deal with that stuff anymore! The kids were exhausted when we got home and went right to sleep. Fun times!

(Jamie took some pictures, so once she sends them to me, I will post them)

EcoTarium

Kristian and I took the boys to the EcoTarium in Worcester. This place is perfect for the kids. It has some animals and pretty much everything there is targeted for their level. The loved that they could touch everything and just had a great time. It was a little rainy, so we couldn't do somethings, like the train, but it worked out really well that it rained because we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We bought a membership, which was much cheaper than a lot of other memberships I've seen. Plus, we split it with Jamie and so, we'll all be able to get into a lot of different museums for free! When you look at the price of admissions, splitting a $90 membership is totally worth it!

Cute Quotes

Here are some cute things the kids have said, that we always want to remember:

Ryan-

• "Body Butter" (He said this in a sing songy voice for months before we figured out it was Bob The Builder.)

• "Piece of Ebby" (Another one he said for months before we figured it out...Poison Ivy"

• "The cheese is wet" (He said this when we were pretending we were a sandwich, we were the bread and he was the cheese...he wet himself. It took us a while to get it.)

• "Devin I put you in time out for hitting Ryan's hair" (Ryan thinks it is his job to talk to Devin about why he was put in time out...he tries to beat me to it. This time he was talking to Devin about pulling his hair.)

• "Good Bye poop, have fun!" (As we were flushing it down.)

• "poop noise" (need I say more?)

Devin-

• "More, more, more!", says Devin. I say, "You want more juice?" Devin says, "no!" (His no means yes...watch out ladies!)

• "mom-my! mommy."(his way of saying thank you sometimes.)

Sometimes it's not what you say. It's the way you say it.

• "here it is!"

• "are you ok?"

• "goish mommy!" (cheers)

I am sure there are tons more...I'll add more as I think of them.

Welcome Boo!

This is Boo!

He'll be staying with us a few weeks at a time. He's having a hard time adjusting to his new sister, who is on a sleep apnea monitor. The beeps scare him! So, he'll be vacationing with us from time to time so he can get a break. We love Boo and are happy to have him here!

We had school here today and it was awesome! The kids have grown so much and are actively participating in all the songs and other activities! They even are getting to know the schedule and always remember when the best part of school is next, snack time! We've decided that we are going to video a school day...that'll be really cute to have to look back on! Stay tuned!

I cut the boys' hair today. I think I am getting better at it each time. Still learning, but I get riskier each time I try. I really do my best to try to make then have different hair cuts, but it is hard since I really only know one way to do it. Since Devin is the baby, I try to keep his a little on the longer side whereas for Ryan, each time I go a little shorter. Anyway, I figure since my camera can't take pictures, I can still take like a one second video, so you can still see the boys.

Here's a quick vid of Ry's hair:

Here's one of Dev's hair:

Happy Halloween!

Wow...can't believe how quick Halloween came and went this year! Our day started at 1:25 AM as Devin woke up with a really high fever. Although it went away, it came back and just wouldn't go away, at some points it was as high as 104.8 even on medication!!! At that point, I took him to the doctor and we found out that he had an ear infection in both ears! Poor little guy! We were planning on going to Jamie's house for a Halloween photo shoot, but we decided that it would be best to keep Devin home.

In the evening, Jamie and Kyla, Ryan's best friend, came over to go trick or treating. Even though Devin was ill, we brought him to two houses just for the photo-op. He went home right after and Ryan and Kyla made their way through the neighborhood. Ryan was so excited, you could see it all over his body, he just couldn't keep in the excitement! He pretty much ran up to every door. After a while, Ry said he wanted to go home and get some water, so we did.

All in all, it was a pretty good Halloween. Ryan's costume didn't end up being so bad. We had bought it from someone on Craigslist and the tag said it was 2T, but it was definitely infant size, so I cut off the legs and reused the feet. Pretty crafty, I thought. Devin looked adorable as well, but he just didn't really get a chance to wear it for that long. We're going to have a costume parade at baby school on Monday, so hopefully I'll be able to get some more pics of him in it.

Ryan and Kyla SO excited!



My poor little monkey:




Off we go!



So cute!

Update

The main purpose of starting this blog was really to have a place where I can document what the kids are doing at different ages and also the special, cute things that they do that we want to always remember. Right now Ryan is 2.9 years old and Devin is 1.9 years old. Everyday I am amazed at what they can do and I think it is important to keep track of everything. Unfortunately our camera is broken, but I was able to take off the last of the pictures that were on there, so those are the most recent I have. The video still works though, so I am going to upload a video of some of the things they can do.

Ryan

Ryan is such a big boy now! He is pretty much potty trained (we're still working on the poop part of it all) and he is a little chatter box! It's so cute, sometimes he has this southern accent. He'll say, "I wanna ice pack (pay-yak)" or "I wananana this one (wo-won)". Some other cute things he says are: lolidoctor for helicopter; he used to say yaw for yes and now he says uh huh or uh uh for no...it's pretty cute! He knows his ABCs and can count at least up to 10...he knows some teen numbers too. He's actually known how to do both of these for a while. We've gotten a lot of practice counting to ten since he loves to touch cars or trucks he sees and so he can touch them for ten seconds and we count it out...we love his obsession with modes of transportation. He loves to sing and does it pretty well by staying in tune and getting most of the words. He uses his manners pretty regularly, but does need to be reminded to say please now and again...he consistently says, thank you, excuse me, and bless you. He also tells Mommy, Daddy, Devin, and Do-Do (his penguin) that he loves us and sometimes that we are funny...especially Fred except when Fred is misbehaving, he'll tell Fred, "get down!". He's definitely starting to get a sense of humor now. He is very helpful and loving with his little brother and encourages him too! We'll be watching a Baby Einstein DVD and Devin will repeat one of the words they say, like hay. Ryan will say, "that's right Devin, hay!" Too cute! They get along so well, except when Devin has a toy that Ryan wants. He does take care of Devin and will make sure that Devin has his blanket or whatever else he thinks Devin needs. Ryan is also a great helper and an awesome listener. He loves to help me cook and helps clean up too! He is really good at following directions for his age, even if it is for something he really doesn't want to do. We do use Time Out for the times when he isn't such a good listener, but he does great with it and sits there the whole 2 and 1/2 minutes. He's really been getting into dramatic play, where he pretends he is cooking, or that the cars are going pee pee on the potty. It's so fun to watch how much he can do and how really, each week, I notice something different that he does.

Ryan knows his ABCs and 123s:

Ryan sings a song!

Devin

Devin is my little ham. He can be so silly sometimes! He'll make raspberries on my belly and he has this smile that is so cheesy, but very adorable. He also knows his ABCs, but does skip a few letter in there. He can count to ten pretty well too! He is speaking in full sentences some of the things he says a lot are: "are you ok?", "there it is!", "i get it", "cut it", "a kiss". He's also gotten his yes and no confused. He'll say, "I want more." I'll say, "You want more?". He'll say "no"...the way he says no too just makes me melt. He also calls for Ryan and I just love hearing that. One day, Devin called out, "Ry-an" and Ryan said, "I'm com-ing!" I love that they are now talking to each other and really playing with each other. Devin really loves his big brother and loves to share with Ry. He'll just randomly go up to him and give him a hug...so adorable! He is definitely a lover, but you have to watch out though, because there is a dark side to this little cutie...a hug can quickly turn into a bite. We call him a face muncher because he'll open his mouth, put it on your face and make a funny noise. He'll do this to be funny, he sure gets a kick out of it, but sometimes these cute little devilish behaviors aren't so funny. When he gets frustrated, he'll try to hit or bite. He'll get put in Time Out for this and oh my god, he is just too cute sitting there. He does sit, which is pretty good for his age. (Ryan always races to beat me to talk to Devin about why he was put in time out. He'll say, "Devin, I put you in time out because you hit Ryan's hair".) It's so hard not to laugh when Devin acts out like this because he is just so darn cute!!! He has also started to use the potty. He's very inconsistent with it, but he is still so young. He always initiates it and nine times out of ten he'll go! He does have an obsession with shoes and must have them on at all times. It's so funny the things these kids say and do.

Here's Devin trying to say his ABCs and count, but is just being silly instead:

Trey Tour

We saw Trey at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut, and the Orpheum Theatre is Boston. Trey is amazing as usual and it was so nice to see our friends that we haven't seen in a while. We haven't seen Trey in over two years! Phish is going to be playing some shows next year. Of course tickets are impossible to get and so far, we haven't been able to score any. Hopefully something will happen so that we can see them in Hampton.

A Busy Day

Today was a busy day for us. First, I went to yoga in the morning and then we headed to the Pig and Apple Festival in Tyngsboro. They had some games for the kids and we ate some lunch there. We allowed the kids to pick out a special treat and of course, they both wanted a giant, colorful lollipop. That'll take a year for them to finish! After we left there, Kristian had to work from home and so he and Devin went home, so Devin could nap. Ryan and I went to Jen's house for Oktoberfest. So many of our friends were there, we had an awesome time! Kai makes great beer!

Devin's Appt and Day 2

Devin went to a follow up appointment with his pediatric ophthalmologist. Great news! She doesn't believe that there is anything to be concerned about. A couple months back, his left eye would roll up and to the left while his right eye would stay straight. As the months went on, we no longer observed this happening. Thank goodness! He is so young that at this point, his eye is still growing and becoming stronger, so since he passed all his tests with flying colors for the third time in a row and the eye rolling seems to have stopped completely, we are in the clear! We will have another appointment next summer just to make sure everything is still OK!

Ok, so I have to admit, I am a failure once again. I fasted for 43.5 hours, not too bad, but what happened was...I was cooking dinner for the rest of the fam and I accidentally tasted the rice to check to see if it was done. Creature of habit, I guess. Anyway, once I tasted the rice, I just had an overwhelming need to eat dinner. Same as the last fast, this breakdown was not at all due to hunger, but to the craving I had. In my defense, it is really hard to not crave food when you have to cook three meals a day! I guess I have no will power, or I shouldn't totally beat myself up about it, I did fast for almost two whole days. It sure would make it much easier if I could do it with someone. Oh well, I'll try again in a few months and hopefully I won't surrender to the craving (although this time it was more of an accident). Before the accident, I had no hunger and really, do desire for any one food in particular. Even though I prepared three meals a day, plus snacks, I wasn't as tempted as I though I would be. It is hard though when the kids don't finish their meals to not eat their leftovers...such a waste! The birds ate great these past two days! I am not too disappointed in myself. I did learn that each time I do fast, the easier it is to get past the first day and this second day wasn't even that bad. I probably could have done it this time around...maybe next time.

Water Fast- Day One

Today I started the first day of my four/five day water fast. For those of you that don't know, a water fast is where you drink water all day long and do not consume any solid foods or other types of beverages. A lot of people think that it is an unhealthy or dangerous thing to do, but they couldn't be more wrong. This is actually the natural way of detoxing your body...has been done for years and often medical professionals recommend fasting as a means of healing certain ailments. The water will flush out the toxins that have built up in my body.

Today was actually a lot easier than the other first days of my past fasts. I barely had any hunger pains and no food cravings at all! The last few times that I have fasted, the first day was the hardest, but I guess since I've done this quite a few times at this point, those little things don't phase me. One thing I learned about myself the last fast I did, which was a 48 hour fast, was that hunger is mental. Of course part of it is physical, but when you are doing a water fast, you drink water all day long, so the hunger pains are subsided by water. The thing was, that I ended my last fast not because I was hungry, but because I knew we had Cheetos in the pantry and I just can't say no to Cheetos! Pretty quickly after I caved, I was disappointed in my reason to end the fast. Had I ended it because I did not feel well physically, emotionally, etc...or had reached my goal, I wouldn't have been so disappointed. I've learned from that experience and my goal this time around is to complete a 5 day fast, but will not be disappointed if I end it at 4...I always set high expectations for myself, but will give myself a break, if I need it. Anyway, for the next few days, I will use this blog to document how I am doing. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday Kyla!

We spent the whole day at Coco Key Water Resort with the Wilson family! Jamie had some left over passes that she got free from last year. So, we celebrated Kyla's 3rd birthday and the kids loved splashing, sliding and floating all day long! Thank you so much for letting us share this special day with you and your family. Happy Birthday Kyla!

Poor Little Sidney

My family dog, Sidney, died this morning. She was the first dog I've ever had and was the inspiration for my love of dogs. She was beautiful and very special to me and my family. Thankfully I had the chance to spend some time with her at the beginning of this month when we went to New York. She was old and I knew that it could have been my last time seeing her. She had a long life and brought much happiness to everyone that knew her. She will truly be missed, but she leaves behind years and years of happy memories. Sidney, we love you and will always remember you.



This day is also Kristian and my 8th wedding anniversary! Hooray for us that we've made it this far. We've had our ups and downs, but are here together still as strong as this day 8 years ago. We've grown so much since then and will continue to grow together.

Trip to NY

We went to NY for the weekend. Keith (Dawn's brother) and Marissa got married. Everything was beautiful! The kids stayed with Nana and Pa and went to the Aquarium. They had an awesome time!

Ecotarium

Jamie, Lisa, and I took the kids to the Ecotarium in Worcester, MA. The weather was perfect and so were the kids. They were so excited to see all the animals and loved being able to touch and play with everything. We can't wait to go back!

We went on the train!



We saw a polar bear!



And a snake!




There was even a giant dinosaur!!



And a playground too!

Ryan and Kyla:


Devin in the sandbox:


Lots of fun stuff!

Murder Mystery Party

Lisa hosted a murder mystery party-chinese take-out. We had chinese food, drank some mai-tais, and got into character. I was Anita Mumm who was a 20 something chinese girl that was trying to scam the wealthy Mrs. Boggs into believing I was her daughter. Mrs. Boggs was murdered and we were all suspects. In the end, we learned the cook was the murderer! It was so much fun! Thanks Lisa for such a great time!

Here is a picture of all of us in character:

When it Rains...

It sure has been pouring on us lately! Kristian got into a car accident...he's ok, but of course the car he hit isn't. The Rav4 has somethings wrong with it too, but the biggest problem of all is that we don't have car insurance! I know, I know, how stupid! We haven't really been able to afford it lately. Yes, it's ironic that now we have probably have to pay 10 times as much than if we had insurance. Anyway, since we opted to follow the New Hampshire motto Live Free or Die (or I like to say Live Free and Die)and not have insurance, we will now probably owe thousands and thousands of dollars to fix the other person's car. It was a Kia, so I guess that's better than a Beamer, but it will still cost us. I bet if it were a Beamer it wouldn't have crumpled so easily though. Oh well, what's done is done and now we wait for the bill...I am preparing my suicide letter now. ;0)

Mom's Weekend Getaway!

A few of us from the group went to Martha's Vineyard for the weekend. I've never been there before and really liked the place. There were cute little shops and great places to eat. We stayed at the Nashua house, which was kinda like a B&B, but not quite. Jamie and I roomed together and needless to say, we had so much fun! Glad to know there are other people out there as crazy as I am! Lisa, Jamie, and I actually went swimming in the ocean both nights, around midnight and one of those nights the remnants of Hurricane Hannah were passing through and the waves were crazy! Hopefully I'll be able to go again next year! We got back on Sunday and I was just so happy to see all my boys and they were just as happy to see me!

I did come home to some bad news. Tom Brady, quarterback of the Patriots and the quarterback of my Fantasy Football team got an ACL injury and he will be out for the rest of the season. I am so bummed about it!

Here are some pics from our weekend:

This is where we stayed:



These are the lovely ladies that I went with (Lisa, Alison, Kyle, Jamie, and me). We had a few...



This is Jamie...she's the best!

Bradstock

Bradstock is a music festival in West Sayville, New York. We sell our pillows there and spend the day drinking and listening to music. We did very well there! Ryan and Devin stayed at Grandmama's house and Grandma Pat and Grandpa Mark came to see them there. They also got to spend some time with their cousin Alex. They had a great time and were on their best behavior! Thanks Grandmama for watching the boys!

Happy 80th Grandma!

We celebrated Kristian's grandmother's 80th birthday with a big party at Kristian's parent's house. We had a really great time seeing a lot of people we don't get to see often. We had so much fun! After the party, I went to help out Sue and Dawn fill the rest of the pillows we needed for Bradstock and we had a company sleepover at Dawn's house.

Parlee Farms

We met Jamie, Kyla, and Preston at Parlee Farms this morning to pick blueberries. The boys love picking fruit! Devin loved eating them more than picking them as he shoveled handfuls in his mouth. We sampled some Apple Cider Donuts that were made there and we also bought some strawberries to bring home. We made a shake with them...yummy!