Friday, January 21, 2011
Reagan's 5th Birthday
Reagan chose an under-the-sea party for her birthday. So we decorated the basement for an under the sea paradise with balloons, streamers, and fish all over; played fishy games; searched for sunken treasure; and ate goldfish and birthday cake. Reagan and her friends had a great time and Reagan is very aware that turning five means Kindergarten is almost here.
Why I Didn't Send Christmas Cards
The plan was to take a great picture of the kids and somehow find time to write a Christmas letter, address the envelopes, and send off the perfect card that would of course show everyone how amazing our family is. Achievements, Activities, Vacations--all the braggable bits. Well I failed somewhere around the first task. Take a great picture of the kids. Here are just a few of my attempts. If you click on them you will see some rather humorous faces.
This last one wasn't too bad and I was determined to just use this photo for the card. At least everyone was looking at the camera and smiling, and no one looked possessed.
Unfortunately, step two involved my finding enough time to write the Christmas card. That never happened. Why didn't I have enough time? I think it is because my family is just so AMAZING I just couldn't tear myself away from them long enough to send out the perfect Christmas card. See now you are all jealous. An amazing family AND I saved tons of non available time NOT sending Christmas cards. Hope your Christmas was a merry one--ours was of course, amazing.
This last one wasn't too bad and I was determined to just use this photo for the card. At least everyone was looking at the camera and smiling, and no one looked possessed.
Unfortunately, step two involved my finding enough time to write the Christmas card. That never happened. Why didn't I have enough time? I think it is because my family is just so AMAZING I just couldn't tear myself away from them long enough to send out the perfect Christmas card. See now you are all jealous. An amazing family AND I saved tons of non available time NOT sending Christmas cards. Hope your Christmas was a merry one--ours was of course, amazing.Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Treat
Parent Talk organized a great activity at the new Treat Cupcake Bar. Reagan and I listened to the story, "If you Give a Cat a Cupcake", watched how they make and decorate cupcakes (they demonstrated on a giant cupcake-see below), and then Reagan got to decorate her own cupcake with three toppings. She chose gummy bears, gummy worms, and sprinkles. She let me have a few bites. For some reason she wasn't very hungry at lunch. And in case you were wondering, it was delicious.
Then they had a raffle to see who got to take home the three giant cupcakes they decorated. We won the one from our group!!! Yea! It's been fun watching each of the older kids come home and see the Treat waiting for them on the table. I can't wait until dessert tonight.
Then they had a raffle to see who got to take home the three giant cupcakes they decorated. We won the one from our group!!! Yea! It's been fun watching each of the older kids come home and see the Treat waiting for them on the table. I can't wait until dessert tonight.
Thanksgiving 2010
We had such a great Thanksgiving this year. We had no family in town but had the next best thing--friends that felt like family.
Rachael and I made these cute turkeys Thursday morning. I'm not a crafty person but I am in love with these very personable turkeys.
Here's a shot of all the kids anxiously awaiting our Thanksgiving Feast.
And then I just had to get a shot of the parents taking pictures of the kids anxiously awaiting our Thanksgiving Feast. 
We really had a great time eating some amazing food (everyone brought such yummy food), playing games, chatting, watching football, laughing, and browsing through the Black Friday ads. I am very grateful for the friends that we have made in New England. Same time next year?
Rachael and I made these cute turkeys Thursday morning. I'm not a crafty person but I am in love with these very personable turkeys.
Here's a shot of all the kids anxiously awaiting our Thanksgiving Feast.
And then I just had to get a shot of the parents taking pictures of the kids anxiously awaiting our Thanksgiving Feast. 
We really had a great time eating some amazing food (everyone brought such yummy food), playing games, chatting, watching football, laughing, and browsing through the Black Friday ads. I am very grateful for the friends that we have made in New England. Same time next year?Not Possible
It is unbelievable, but my oldest is 16. We celebrated by going to Treat and picking up some cupcakes and watching Iron Man II. Happy Birthday Geoff, we think you're awesome!
MN Visitors
In November my sister's husband suggested that she take a weekend and come visit us with my dad. We had a great visit so thank you Bart for watching the girls and Loni and Dad for coming to spend a few days with us. Here's some of the fun things that we did.
This is the Louisa May Alcott house, The Orchard House. I took this picture from the car in the pouring rain so the house looks even older and wavier than it is. I LOVED this tour. I've driven by the house many times but had never been on the tour. I loved how the girls were encouraged to pursue their own talents of art, literature, drama and music. The girls put on plays just like my sister and I used to do when we were young. May was an artist and was allowed to draw on the walls. Loni and I laughed about how she (Loni) had gotten in trouble for that when we were young and we have punished our own children for doing that as well. We also got to see Louisa's room where she wrote Little Women. I certainly makes me want to do all I can to foster creativity in the home.
Dad treated us to dinner at Fuji Steakhouse. The kids of course loved it because they put on a show with knives and fire. We loved the food--and the show. Who can resist an onion volcano?
We spent one of the days in Salem where we saw the Witch Museum and The House of Seven Gables. This tour was not as impressive as The Orchard House tour but we still enjoyed seeing the house and garden.
It had been raining all day but I kept hoping it would let up so we could see some scenery as we drove through Marblehead and along the coastline. We had a beautiful drive along Ocean Ave and just as we got to Chandler Hovey Park the rain let up and the sun came out. What a view!
Loni and I snuck away on Saturday and visited The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Isabella was a women with money on her hands and a love of art. This building was built to house her collection. She arranged everything in the museum and in her will she stipulated that everything must remain in the state that it was at her death. The museum is also home to the biggest art theft in history. When you visit the museum you can see the frames still hanging where the paintings used to be.
We also had fun just hanging out and spending some quality time with Grandpa.
Thanks for the visit. Come again soon.
This is the Louisa May Alcott house, The Orchard House. I took this picture from the car in the pouring rain so the house looks even older and wavier than it is. I LOVED this tour. I've driven by the house many times but had never been on the tour. I loved how the girls were encouraged to pursue their own talents of art, literature, drama and music. The girls put on plays just like my sister and I used to do when we were young. May was an artist and was allowed to draw on the walls. Loni and I laughed about how she (Loni) had gotten in trouble for that when we were young and we have punished our own children for doing that as well. We also got to see Louisa's room where she wrote Little Women. I certainly makes me want to do all I can to foster creativity in the home.
Dad treated us to dinner at Fuji Steakhouse. The kids of course loved it because they put on a show with knives and fire. We loved the food--and the show. Who can resist an onion volcano?
We spent one of the days in Salem where we saw the Witch Museum and The House of Seven Gables. This tour was not as impressive as The Orchard House tour but we still enjoyed seeing the house and garden.
It had been raining all day but I kept hoping it would let up so we could see some scenery as we drove through Marblehead and along the coastline. We had a beautiful drive along Ocean Ave and just as we got to Chandler Hovey Park the rain let up and the sun came out. What a view!
Loni and I snuck away on Saturday and visited The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Isabella was a women with money on her hands and a love of art. This building was built to house her collection. She arranged everything in the museum and in her will she stipulated that everything must remain in the state that it was at her death. The museum is also home to the biggest art theft in history. When you visit the museum you can see the frames still hanging where the paintings used to be.
We also had fun just hanging out and spending some quality time with Grandpa. 
Thanks for the visit. Come again soon. Halloween 2010
Here is our picture gallery of costumes from Halloween this year.
First up is our very own dinosaur. At first, Reagan was desperate to be a princess, Cinderella to be precise. But when we went up to the attic to help Lilly find a costume she saw the dinosaur costume. Never heard a word about princesses after that.
Lilly had a very tough time deciding this year. So she was pretty excited when I suggested that she be The Tortoise AND the Hare. Two costumes for the price of one.
Tortoise shell and bunny ears and bunny tail.
Rachael was Little Bo Peep. Ironically, when we were headed out the door to the Halloween party, Rachael couldn't find her sheep. After tearing the house apart, we finally found her sheep.
I decided to be Victoria from the books and movie Twilight. I figured with my pale skin I could easily pass for a Vampire. I even had a preteen cheering section at the party. There are definitely some Twilight fans out there.
Mike was a clumsy carpenter. I'm not sure what motivated this costume other than we owned a bloody rag and an eye patch.
Done for another year. Whew!
First up is our very own dinosaur. At first, Reagan was desperate to be a princess, Cinderella to be precise. But when we went up to the attic to help Lilly find a costume she saw the dinosaur costume. Never heard a word about princesses after that.
Lilly had a very tough time deciding this year. So she was pretty excited when I suggested that she be The Tortoise AND the Hare. Two costumes for the price of one.
Tortoise shell and bunny ears and bunny tail.
Rachael was Little Bo Peep. Ironically, when we were headed out the door to the Halloween party, Rachael couldn't find her sheep. After tearing the house apart, we finally found her sheep.
I decided to be Victoria from the books and movie Twilight. I figured with my pale skin I could easily pass for a Vampire. I even had a preteen cheering section at the party. There are definitely some Twilight fans out there.
Mike was a clumsy carpenter. I'm not sure what motivated this costume other than we owned a bloody rag and an eye patch.
Done for another year. Whew!
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