Forgetful Henry

Henry is our dreamer. His head is frequently lost in the clouds. More than once I've found him playing with one shoe on. Why? Because he got distracted and forgot to put the other one on. Who has time for completing a task when you've got so many other exciting things on your mind?

It's no surprise then that he's having difficulty remembering to bring his folder home from first grade. Now in Kindergarten, the teacher makes sure you have it but that's not the case in big kid first grade. He is responsible for filling it with his work from the day and bringing it home. It didn't make it home yesterday....or the day before...or days before that. Somewhat shockingly, I've been patient about it. I have two other kids at the school and know other families in the class so if there was BIG news in the folder, I'm sure I'd find out. I've been trying to keep in mind that September is always a big transition month for everyone. So I asked Henry why he thought he was having a hard time bringing the folder home. He told me that he has an assigned job that he needs to do at the end of each day. He then said, "Maybe next month my job won't be so hard and I can remember my folder." And there you have it. His job (which involves some type of classroom cleaning) is hard for him and he's working hard at it. After a long day of school and a "job," his brain is full.

The thing is I know Henry. I know that his brain is partially full of super sweet thoughts. This morning he spent an hour before school drawing out a thank you card for Isabelle's piano teacher who recently gave him a toy. He hugs me the longest at the bus stop. He is the first one to ask me how my day at work was. He is considerate and compassionate.

So I'm letting the folder go. I'm giving gentle reminders but am not disappointed when the backpack returns home empty. After all, I don't want to risk replacing kind thoughts with folder thoughts in his full brain. The folder will make it home eventually - especially if he gets an "easy" job in October!

What folder?

That Time I Broke Up With My Dermatologist

To make sure everyone is up to speed: I am as fair as they come, covered head to toe in freckles, and my father died of Melanoma Skin Cancer. I have gone to the dermatologist once a year (sometimes more frequently if they are watching anything on my skin in particular) since I was about 15. In that time, I've had maybe a half a dozen moles removed that looked questionable. Checking my skin and having skin exams has become second nature to me.

Fast forward to about two years ago, I changed my primary care doctor to one who was part of a larger network so it made sense to also change my dermatologist. You know how it goes, easier to share records, billing, blah blah blah. So I went to a new dermatologist and didn't really love him. I went back the following year and again didn't love him. I felt like he could have used a little more bedside manners and personality in general. I told myself when I left there that I'd switch to a different one within the practice before the following year. Of course, time and laziness got in the way so when this appointment came up today with him I just went with it. So after looking at me for maybe 5 minutes he comments that he knows I'm fair, have freckles, and are high risk but that he doesn't feel he needs to see me again. LIKE EVER. Say what? I couldn't believe it. He said to just watch myself and if I noticed anything alarming that I could go back and see him. Ummm...how about the moles on my back that I can't even see at all? And at this appointment alone today, I had two changes that I noticed and pointed out to him. Now I know that I can have my primary care doctor check me out at yearly physicals but still. I'm in shock as to how the whole appointment went down. It goes against everything that every doctor has ever told me!

So anyway, that's my skin update. I plan on talking it over with my PCP next time I see him and going from there. Also, regardless of when I need to go back, I'm definitely going to be getting myself a new dermatologist!

Break ups are hard. Skin cancer is harder.

80s Fun!

My brother in law and sister in law recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. Since they didn't do a big bash for the original wedding they decided to throw a party for the anniversary. So we spent this past weekend in Vermont having family fun. There were lots of laughs, lots of food, and lots of beverages. The big event of the weekend was Saturday night, where I'm not going to lie, Tim and I crushed it for the era themed party.

We're like totally rad, right? 80s to the max!

New Family Photos!

I had been thinking for a while that it was time for us to update our family photos. The last ones we took were four years ago and the kids were basically babies. But like a lot of things, I put it on the back burner. That is until I heard that Faye Joyce Photography was holding mini sessions as a fundraiser to support my friend, Lisa Deck. Supporting local business, helping someone in need, and getting great photos? It was almost too good to be true!

We met Faye one Sunday morning at Borderland State park for a half hour session. About two weeks later, she emailed me a link to all our photos online. I'm in LOVE with them. Makes me wonder why I waited so long. Here are some of my favorites...

So nice, right? If you are local to Foxboro, MA and looking for a photographer you should definitely consider Faye Joyce. You can find her website HERE and her Facebook page HERE.

*Photo Credit For All Photos: Faye Joyce Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Pierced Ears!

A week or two ago, Isabelle (age 7) mentioned that she'd like to get her ears pierced. This was quite the change since she had previously said she never wanted to get it done since she was afraid it would hurt. She is my worst shot-getter and constantly in need of band-aids so I figured it would take her a lot longer to come around on the whole ear piercing thing. However, yesterday some what on a whim, she got them pierced!
 

We were out running errands and happened to be next door to a Claire's so I told her would could go in and find out about it if she wanted. She immediately said yes and then once we were in there I figured we might as well go for it. There was only one woman working in the store though so there was a bit of a wait which made Isabelle's nerves creep up and some tears were shed. Nothing crazy though and better than I thought she would do. They hurt her for about 15 minutes after the piercing (which I had forgotten would happen) but since then she's been fine. She doesn't love cleaning them (which I had also forgotten what a pain that was!) but she's so excited to have them pierced. Total big kid stuff!

A New Flip Bar

As part of my purge, we are getting rid of all the baby toys and play houses in the backyard. To ease the blow of it for the children, my husband built a "flip bar" for the kids. You may recall that 3 years ago, he built an awesome swing set for the kids and he also built our sandbox. He's pretty kick ass when it comes to backyard building.

So the kids are flipping, hanging, and jumping away now. I'm pretty sure that a broken limb will eventually be the end result of this new bar but in the meantime we are riding the fun train for all it's worth! 

 

 

 

 

A Spring Time (Picture) Update!

After a brutal winter, it seemed like spring would never come and now it's almost gone in the blink of an eye. While I have a minute, I wanted to post some pictures of what we've been up to!

Opening Day

Isabelle started her first year of softball this year while Henry started his second year of baseball. My husband, Tim, is the assistant coach of Henry's team so they've had lots of Father/Son time together. The majors are definitely not calling for either of these kids but they sure are having fun!

YUM

We've been enjoying ice cream - lots of good to the last drop, ice cream!

 Bunny Ears never get old

We've been enjoying nature. Although I've never been a woodsy girl, I recognize that it's a great way to get the kids out of the house and get some exercise. This summer we have big plans for lots of hikes - and inevitably lots of complaints.

An artist at work

Henry was excited that it was finally his turn to go to The Parched Painter since Isabelle had been twice before. He and I had some one on one time complete with soda and candy!

Game on!

The boys and I participated in the Mother/Son Dodgeball game on the Gilette Stadium field last week. There was blood, there was sweat, there was tears - but it was an amazing night!

Spring is off to a great start - can't wait to see what summer brings!

Purging My Entire House

A couple of weeks ago, someone posted on Facebook a link to a summary of Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Have you heard of it? I had seen people posting about it here and there so I clicked through and was totally sold. If I wasn't as cheap as I am, I would have bought the book immediately. Instead, I went online and reserved it from my library and I am currently number 183 on the wait list, Yup, that's not a typo - ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE! Just goes to show you how popular the book is. Now as is, just from reading the summary I have started DRASTICALLY getting rid of so much in our house that I feel like maybe it's best to not read the entire book. I might be living in an empty house if I got the book right now. That being said, if any locals have it and are done with it - go ahead and drop it in my mailbox!

Anywho, back to the purging. So it sounds like part of the book is nutso (the sock chapter for those who have read it), but some of it really spoke to me. People have so much STUFF. Stuff that we don't need. Stuff that hangs over us and we just can't seem to let go of. Well let me tell you, I'm letting it all go. The gist behind Kondo's book (again, I haven't actually read it) is determining if your personal items "spark joy." Do they currently make you happy? That dress in the back of your closet that you spent way too much money on for a wedding years ago and have never worn again? Thank it for its service and the joy it brought you that night (thanking is a Kondo thing) and donate it. You don't need it. It's taking up space. Let it go bring joy to someone else.

So I've started using the "Does it spark joy?" as I'm making my way through the house. I'm looking at things that I've held on to for years and years that I don't need or want anymore but just haven't been able to get rid of before. I came across a white pocket book and gloves that I wore on my First Communion. I've kept it since I was seven but you know what? I don't need it. There's no joy sparks there so I passed it along. The longer you hang on to things the harder it is to give away. I came across some glass decorations/knick knacks from one of my apartments when I was young and single. They were cute and they were nice but they're not me anymore. They are from another life that I lived before my husband and before kids. So I sat there for a minute, looked at them, remembered the great times that I had in the apartment with friends, I smiled, and I put them in the donate bucket. They don't want to sit in a box in my closet, they want to go live another life on display with some new, young girl.

The memorabilia and the back of the closet stuff is hard to get rid of. You know what's not hard to get rid of though? The toys! So many toys and so little time for the kids to play with them especially come the fall when all my kids will be in full time school. The kids have actually been coming to me this week offering up things to donate since they've seen me getting rid of so much. The purging is addictive.

In the last 4 weeks, I've had a donation truck come pick up a whole bunch of stuff and have made 4 trips to a local second hand store to donate items. I went on Friday to donate items and was back again on Sunday. Once I've packed it up, I need it gone asap. I actually might have a problem but oh man is it freeing. I don't need 9 glass bowls or 12 assorted mugs or 7 plastic platters or 27,000 reusable grocery bags. I've been keeping the things that I use regularly and donating the rest. I can now easily find things in closets and cabinets and drawers. I might just become the poster child for someone who has gone completely insane but man will my house be organized when they haul me off to the looney bin.

So much to donate, so little time

A Kid-Free Night Away

My husband and I spent Saturday night alone in Boston without the children. This is HUGE for us. Isabelle is seven and a half and we've only been away together overnight once since she was born. Our youngest is almost five and he's never been away from us. Now please note, I would drop those kids off somewhere in a hot second if we had the chance. We just don't really get the chance. Both of my parents have passed away so clearly they are not babysitting. Although, Tim comes from a large family, we are the only ones who live in Massachusetts. So before you know it, years and years have passed and you are DYING to get away. With our anniversary coming up this week, I thought it would be a great time to pressure ask my brother if he and his wife could watch them for the night. They said yes and the rest is history.

Tim and I started off by checking into our room at The Omni Parker House in Boston. Everyone there was so nice - the valet, the doormen, the front desk staff. We had one small duffel bag (no extra luggage needed when you have no kids!) and Tim must have been asked by four different people if they could help him carry it. We then went to our room which was a king suite which was so awesome. It's amazing how big those hotel rooms feel when you're not jamming five people into them! We then headed out and did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted for the next 24 hours. We walked part of The Freedom Trail, had dinner in the North End, walked through Boston Common, had drinks in the Theatre District, had drinks in the hotel bar, walked through Downtown Crossing, used the hotel gym, I ate frozen yogurt in my pajamas, and the list goes on and on. That's anther thing when you don't have kids - you can walk SO much and not hear any complaints. It's magical. We had beautiful weather, the hotel was in a perfect location, and it was so nice to unwind and reconnect.

Smiles don't lie

While Tim and I were off living the dream, the kids had an equally awesome time at my brother and sister in law's house. They had pizza, cupcakes, ice cream, munchkins, played outside, and watched TV. What's not to love?

Slip and Slide Heaven

This weekend was definitely good for the soul and a great way to celebrate the (soon to be) nine years since Tim and I walked down the aisle and started our forever together!

*This post is not sponsored. We paid for everything that we enjoyed and I'm simply sharing the details with you.

Daniel's First Red Sox Game!

Last year, my husband took both Isabelle and Henry to their first Red Sox games. Since then, Daniel has been asking when he could go. So this past Saturday was the big day. We surprised him with tickets to the game and the result was...less than amazing! According to my husband, Daniel pretty much complained the whole time which led them to only staying at the game for about an hour. The results are not really that shocking considering he's only 4 and a half and never been a sit still for long kind of kid. I did think the excitement of the game and the junky food would be enough to have him last more than an hour but what do I know? The following day, I gave him an empty ketchup bottle full of water and let him make mud in the yard and it was pretty much the best day of his life. Go figure.

When he got home from the game, the other kids and I acted really surprised and excited when he told us where he went so I think he caught on that it was kind of a big deal. So if you ask him now, he tells it like it was a great day which is hopefully how he'll remember it. My husband, on the other hand, will always know the truth!

Like the other kids, I asked Daniel to tell me about his big day. This is his retelling of the trip:

"Someone got a home run. I got a bagel. I got a Gatorade. I went with Dadda. I got ice cream. It was vanilla and chocolate with sprinkles. The grey team got three strikes."

Want to see what the other two thought of their games? You can read Isabelle's story HERE and Henry's story HERE.

Goooooooooooooo Red Sox!

Blizzard 2015

The blizzard is coming to an end here and we are all no worse for wear. We have power. We have heat. We have snacks. We have wine. What more could we need? Although, we could have gone without all the shoveling, I suppose.

Honestly, I hate the snow with a passion but it's not lost on me how much the kids love it. They are in their glory today. Happy blizzard day, everyone, and to those not hit by it - enjoy!

Snow fun

Don't be fooled by the pic - he didn't shovel at all

A Seven Year Old's "To Do" List

Isabelle and I have this routine where she saves EVERYTHING and every couple of months I go in her room while she's at school and throw most of it away. She's so blinded by how nice and neat and organized her room is that she doesn't miss the random coloring sheets or scrap pieces of ribbon that she HAD to save.

The other day I was cleaning things out and I came across her "to do" list. I'm not going to lie, as an avid list maker, I smiled ear to ear when I saw it. Clearly, she inherited my Type A personality.

Three Reasons You Should Have A Skin Cancer Check NOW!

 (1) It's simple, easy, and pain free.

(2) You can see your regular primary care physician. No need to make an appointment with a dermatologist right away if you've never been to one before. Simply keep an eye on your skin (monthly self checks are recommended!) and tell your doctor of any changes or concerns at your annual visit. They will refer you as necessary. This is also a great way to ensure you get a yearly physical!

(3) It could just save your life. My father passed away of Melanoma Skin Cancer when I was only two months old. He missed out on almost his whole life and left behind a family that would never really know him. Don't let this happen to you or someone you love.

This week I had my annual skin check up. This is your friendly reminder to go do the same!

I Can't Stop Thinking About The Yogurt Man

I was recently at the grocery store and came across a middle aged man staring at the yogurt section. When I approached the display, he said, "Excuse me. Do you know anything about yogurt? What kind should I get?" Come to find out he knew absolutely nothing at all about yogurt. He didn't even know if he wanted regular or Greek. He said he thought he heard that Greek was better. I let him know the nutritional benefits of Greek (because apparently I'm a yogurt expert in this story) but said the taste is off putting for some. After some discussion, he piled up his cart with an assortment of greek yogurts and we parted ways.

However, now I can't stop thinking of this yogurt novice. Like this man is his forties, did he wake up that day and think - Today is the day I will start eating yogurt! Did his wife send him to the store requesting yogurt and he has no idea what kind she likes? Does he have his kids for the weekend and they're going to be pissed when he offers them some Strawberry Chobani instead of their beloved Sponge Bob squeezable tubes? I have so many unanswered questions for this man...

 Spoiler Alert: I buy whatever Greek Yogurt is on sale that week

Spartan Race Recap

On Saturday, I joined a group of friends and fellow boot campers to take part in a Spartan 5K at Fenway Park. Let me tell you - it was pretty gosh darn awesome! It was a bit chilly but once we got going we were fine. There were a bunch of obstacles and events including stair climbing, weight lifting, monkey bars, burpees, weight pulls, spear throws, jump roping (and climbing), and wall climbing. We got views of Fenway Park that were to die for. We did pushups in the visiting team's locker room. We ran through dug outs and Green Monster seats. We climbed a cargo net from the field to the bleachers. It was Fenway like I'd never seen it before.

Crawling up the ramps under ropes

Weighted Ball Slams

50# sandbag pulls

Wall climbing

Those wall climbs totally did me in. I assume that if you are tall and have great upper body strength they are easier for you. I am 0-0 for both of those and the picture above is one of the smaller walls (crazy, right?). Now my legs may never return to their normal color but I made it up and over every one of those suckers. The bruises just make me feel more bad ass :)

So all in all the day was awesome. There were laughs, there were grunts, there was teamwork, and there was a GREAT sense of accomplishment. We all left that day feeling like we could do just about anything!

Loving life (and the race wasn't even over yet!)

Oh and as always, giving credit where credit is due, my boot camp instructor Carrie is one of the reasons that I was able to accomplish this. She keeps me (relatively!) in shape and honest. If you are local to the Foxboro, MA area join us for some bright and early work outs. Find out more about The Extreme Challenge Boot Camp HERE!

Girl Scouts: Past and Present!

Today, I'm helping out at Isabelle's very first Girl Scout meeting. I started Girl Scouts myself when I was in first grade so it looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Isabelle had been asking questions about what Girl Scouts was all about so I decided to dig out my old stuff. Like a lot of things, I had kind of forgotten all the fun I had in Girl Scouts until I started talking about it with Isabelle and looking over my badges.

Yup, that's right - I was hard core! I actually was a Girl Scout for 12 years right up until I graduated high school. When I was young, I was so very lucky to have great women leaders in my troop and one special mom (Hi, Stephanie!) that I still think of so fondly. With my mom's declining health through the years there were many things that I was able to do through the Girl Scouts that I wouldn't have been able to do on my own. Oh, the fun of camping, Museum of Science sleepovers, Ice Capades, and cookies!

After looking through all my stuff and traveling down Memory Lane, I'm not sure who is more excited for Isabelle to start. So if you need me today, I'll be wearing my sashes around the house and practicing the Girl Scout law ;)

The Most Thoughtful Present Ever

On Saturday night, some of my amazing blogger friends had a surprise, early birthday dinner for me. As if co-planning the big night wasn't enough my friend, Kim, gave me THE MOST special and thoughtful gift. For those of you who attended Listen To Your Mother this year or read my piece, you know how important a specific spool of string and toothpicks are to me. If you missed the piece be sure to click HERE to read it before continuing on this post. Also, if you missed last week's piece about giving Isabelle my old doll house check that post  out HERE. You're going to want to be up to speed on those posts before I show you the present. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute..

Okay, everyone ready? I present to you my birthday present...

That's right - it's exact replicas of the string and toothpicks in miniature form. Here they are with their real life counterparts...

Can you even stand it?! Kim found an amazing woman named Roxanne of Baking in Miniature who created these pieces for me. I mean the snowman bag? Incredible. This is so, so special to me. Also, Roxanne saw my post about Isabelle's upcoming birthday and sent along several dollhouse pieces/accessories as a present for her. I don't even know Roxanne but I love her a whole ton.

My birthday isn't for two weeks but I'm already declaring this the best present. I mean, how could anyone top this? A HUGE thank you to Kim and Roxanne for thinking of and creating such a special keepsake. So amazing.

Passing Along My Dollhouse

Isabelle will turn 7 (yes, SEVEN!) on Monday and for a while now I've been thinking of passing along my old dollhouse to her. When I had outgrown it, my mother had lovingly packed it up and put it in her garage for me. When she passed away, I grabbed the boxes and threw them in my basement. I actually never even opened them. She was so much more sentimental than I was! But, I've known that they've been down there and I've been waiting for the right moment to open up the boxes.

I have no doubt that Isabelle will take fabulous care of my precious childhood keepsakes. Her brothers on the other hand? Not so much. So I went back and forth on if I should bring them up or not. Really I don't want to miss my window with Isabelle. She's never been super into dolls except for her one favorite doll, Kendra. What if I waited until the boys were older and presented her with my dollhouses and she was all, "Umm...Mom. These are lame!"? So I decided that with her birthday coming up that today I would take a look at them while all the kids were at school.

 OMG - the memories!!!

It was like time had frozen still in those houses. Little trinkets were still in drawers right where I had left them.

Film, anyone?

I had forgotten just how into all things dollhouses that I was. I can remember going to this little dollhouse store with my mom and ooohhing and aaahhhing over everything in the store. 

The tile in the bottom bathroom of the dollhouse? That was the tile from my own bathroom in the house I grew up in. I nearly died when I saw it. Sooooo many memories. Once those memories escaped from those boxes there was no way that I could put the lid back on. So I decided to put away a lot of the small pieces that I knew for sure would get lost or broken. I figured I'd start with the basics and then I could slowly take more pieces out as I learned to trust the kids with it (or maybe never?!).

These pieces for example?

I'll never let them get their grubby hands on them!

Oh, and does anyone need to brush up on any Girl Scout laws?

Can you even handle the teeny tininess?!

Seriously, I can't even stand it. I'm so glad I took them out. Isabelle has been playing with them all afternoon. I conveniently put a movie on for the boys when I secretly presented her with the new addition to her room. Mamma didn't raise no fool!

What's with all the poop?

Everywhere I go lately it seems that I can't escape it...poop follows me.

Exhibit A:

"Make your own poo!"

Ummm...really? The Poo-Dough had it's own full display in the center aisle of good old Walmart. In the same display was also the iFart Shuffle as well for those who need even more grossness than just the dough. 

Then on Sunday, we were at the Providence Children's Museum and we came across this...

Exhibit B:

Yum?

I'm going to need some help with this one. What fake food item do you think it is? Henry says it is a pretzel. I can't even come up with a good guess. Either way, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to eat the real life version of it!

Found: A Nest of Baby Bunnies!

Last Sunday at our church's annual BBQ a baby bunnies' nest was found pretty much AT the entrance to the bouncy house that had been set up. It's a miracle that they weren't immediately trampled. Someone placed a blue crate over it to protect them and that started my obsessive bunny stalking over the last week. I've seriously spent way too much time this past week looking up information about baby bunnies on the internet and just staring at them.

Here they are last Wednesday in the nest:

Adorable or what?

We kept the crate over them during the day (since the nest was on the church/school playground) and took it off at night for the Mamma Bunny to be able to nurse. Did you know that a Mamma Bunny only nurses the babies 1-2 times in a 24 hour period (at night/dawn) and for only 5 minutes at a time. Beyond that the nest is left unattended and the Mamma does her own thing. Luckily, they had Mamma Diane and a few other church workers keeping an eye on them as well.

Here they are Friday morning...

So much bigger in just two days, right?

On Friday afternoon when I picked up Daniel from school, 2 (of the 5) bunnies were out hopping around inside of the crate so I knew they wouldn't stick around for long. So Monday late afternoon, all the kids and I headed back to see them one more time. When we arrived we saw this...

BOOM! My heart exploded

Two of them were out hopping around and super friendly.

Mr. Adorable

This guy even let the kids pet him!

One of them hopped away while we were there - he was ready. By Saturday morning, a friend let me know that the nest was empty. My babies had moved on.

This is where I wanted the post to end but sadly that's not the case. Today, when we got there (yes, between church activities, school, and bunny stalking I am there every day!) one of my bunny friends was found out on the playground who didn't make it. My guess is he was one of the bunnies that was still in the nest Friday afternoon and maybe just wasn't ready/able for life out in the cruel world on his own. So I did what any crazy person would do and I dug a hole and buried him out behind the church. There was talk in the office of just putting him in the dumpster but no way Jose. YOU might throw your dead bunnies in dumpsters or out in the woods but not me. MY dead bunny has a nice rock with a cross on it marking his grave. Yup, that's what I did on my kid-free morning off. I made a nice grave for a dead bunny. What has become of my life?!

BUT let's not end things on a dead bunny note - Let's end them with another adorable picture of his brothers and/or sisters!

Seriously, can you even handle it?!