The beach!

We had a perfect beach day last week. It was HOT. I took the kids to Nahant by myself and it was great. I bought an umbrella and attempted to use it but it blew away twice so I put it away.

We spent most of the time sitting in the shallow water hysterically laughing as the waves hit us. We had a mad mud fight. It was so much fun! We were covered from head to toe.

We also ran around in the water chasing each other and kicking the water at each other.

They spent some time digging in the sand near the blanket but not a whole lot.

Maddie's hair is getting so long.

Random thumbs up to the ocean.

Has anyone ever seen a seagull stand on another? They did this for quite a few minutes and even walked around like that.

After three years of taking them to the beach I finally remembered to bring powder with me. I'll never forget again. It works GREAT to get sand off.

On the way home I took Lynn Shore Drive and decided to stop at Red Rock Park. We ran around a little but Maddie was horribly whiney so we didn't stay long.

Jackson rides a bike

Madison and Jackson have both mastered the balance bike. They whip around the driveway on it without touching the ground even turning corners. Since the one balance bike we have IS Maddie's she started to get possessive of it. I've been looking since last year for one for Jackson but just couldn't find one at a price I liked.

I'd always been thinking that I'd just buy a regular 12" bike and take the pedals off for him but he was always just a tad too short for it. I finally went and bought him one at walmart for $39 yesterday. I took the training wheels off as soon as we got home but had no luck getting the pedals off. It didn't matter because all I had to do was hold onto his neck, give him a push, and he was off riding the bike. He even turned corners without falling off. Today he got even better. I showed him that if he went to the top of the walkway he could get enough momentum to do it himself without my help. Crazy stuff.

After this video I took the kids over to the park next to us. I gave Jackson a push at the start of the park's path and he rode the entire path to the other side of the park. Probably 1/8 of a mile. Then he was riding around the basketball court. I'd give him a push and he'd go around in circles 5 or 6 times in a row. Then I told him that if he just pushed a little with his feet he could start to pedal on his own. So he did. He now proficiently rides a two wheel bike and never needed training wheels. I am so proud of him!!!

More random photos

This is our (Chris's) new car. With his new position at work he's on the road constantly. The 99 Wrangler just wasn't cutting it. As much as we both loved that car we had to say goodbye. This is our "new" 08 Jeep Liberty. I like it a lot and it will probably be mine within a year. My 2000 Grand Cherokee is showing its age. So Chris will get another new one and I'll get the Liberty.

The entire roof opens up so at least that is somewhat wrangler like.

More playing in the dirt. This keeps them occupied for so long. We've been thinking we need to get a sand box but I just know the minute we get one they won't use it.

Her dress was so dirty!!

Jackson hitting a golf ball. He's surprisingly good! He asks every day to go to the driving range. He ended up with a blister on his thumb so we had to take a break before we could go back.

Forget a mustache, this day she was wearing a mask!

For years after we bought this house (in 2000) I tried to plant poppies but they would never grow. I got so frustrated that I finally gave up. Out of nowhere this year I noticed poppies growing! There were only two but they were so beautiful! I hope they come back next year!

Visit with great Gram and Gramp 2010

Last week we went to Turners Falls to visit with my mom's parents for the day. Now that I don't work at night we didn't have to be back for any specific time. It was nice to not be rushed.

We went to lunch at a cute restaurant where we randomly ran into my cousin's husband. It was so funny to see someone we know out there. Then we went to the same playground we went to last year so the kids could play and the adults could chat. After that it was time for ice cream followed by a visit to my dad's mother who lives around the corner.

I love this picture of Maddie. That's my Grandpa in the back.

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Another day at home Maddie decided she was going to wear her crown. She even wore it out on some errands. While playing in the yard she started digging in the dirt with a shovel under her swings.

She got FILTHY! It looks like she has a mustache!

She was happy as a clam

Meanwhile Jackson was hamming it up for the camera...

Mother's Day 2010

On Mother's day this year I was the only mother in line at Bagel World. All the other dads were there with their kids getting breakfast for their wives but there I was with Maddie.

Later on we spent some time at Nana and Papa's and then onto Grandma and Grandpa's.

I took these pictures at my parents' house.

My mom took these...

They're all the gift I need anyway.

Ostrich

See the creepy ostrich...

See Maddie run crying from the creepy ostrich...

Random sign on the road

A few weeks ago I was driving through Lynn. I drove by a used car lot and there was this sign. I had to go way out of my way but I HAD to get a picture of it. I've spent my entire life striving for this. I finally have it and I couldn't be happier.

At the park

A few weeks ago we went to the playground with Alice. Here are some cute photos of Jackson.

Random photos April 2010

These are from when we went to the Cape a few weeks ago.

A series of unfortunate events

Yesterday was not a good day...

The kids were outside playing and the cat was out too. She's not an
outdoor cat but she's really good and just wanders around our fenced
yard. I was in the front of the house weeding. After a few minutes I
realized it was real quiet. What I didn't know is that there is a hole
in the fence in the back of our house. The back of our house is only
two feet from the property line and fence. The cat went through it and
the kids followed. By the time I realized they weren't in the yard
anymore they were all the way down in my neighbors yard. I ran around
the side of the house to see where they were and maddie was up on
their above ground pool deck. Jackson was next to the pool playing
with the skimmer pole. My heart sunk and I ran as fast as I could down
our long driveway to get to the neighbors gate. At the end of the
driveway is a large tree with a fence running along next to it. There
was room in between the tree and the fence so I ran in between them.
Next thing I knew I was on the ground and my glasses were not on my
face. I didn't loose consciousness but I was pretty shaken. Turns out
there is a two by four brace between the tree and fence at my eye
level i was looking down at the ground because i was barefoot and
disnt want to step on anything. I was definitely more concerned about
the kids so I continued running into the neighbors yard. The kids were
fine so I sat down in a chair to catch my breath. There was no blood
but I wanted to get home. Of course they weren't cooperating with me.
Then I remembered that the cat was missing! I told them we needed to
find the kitty and that got them out of the yard. The cat was still in
the neighbors yard but I was able to get her to come to the fence and
I was able to pick her up. I went inside to put the cat in and check
out my head. everything looked fine so I went back out and continued
weeding while the kids played. After a while I started to feel
nauseous and dizzy. I called my dr and she said I should go to the er.
Ugh. I called my mom and she came up to take me and watch the kids. I
was feeling horrible. The dr at the er was pretty sure I didn't have a
concussion but since I was feeling so nauseous she thought I should
have a ct scan. She was right so I went home. All I wanted to do was
go to sleep. I got home around 4:30 and Chris came home early so my
mom could go to a wake that I was supposed to go to too. I went right
to sleep when I got home. I woke up around 9:30 feeling like I was
going to throw up. I ran to the bathroom where I got super hot and my
hands and feet started to seize up. This has happened before but it is
so painful and this time my mouth and face started to be numb and my
speech was effected. I was yelling at the top of my lungs the pain was
so bad and when my speech was slurred I screamed for Chris to call
911. Of course by the time they got to our house I was starting to get
feeling back. They stayed a while to determine if I had to go to the
hospital or not. Turns out they weren't worried so They left and i
went back to bed. Chris woke me up when he was leaving for work at
7:30. I still feel so nauseous and tired and now have a killer headache.

Some videos

I'm way behind on videos so I figured for now I'd start with some recent ones.

In this one I was trying to get Jackson to say popcorn kernel. For the most part his speech is great but there are some things he just can't get out and the attempt is so cute.

Today we took the kids to the driving range for the first time! I've been dying to do this since they were born. We stopped off and bought them their own real clubs. Jackson is definitely a righty. He didn't swing as well as thought he would but he can still hit the ball!

Poor Maddie looked completely akward. She was able to make contact but I wondered if she'd do better with a lefty club. I was able to get one at the pro shop for her to try and it definitely seemed less akward. I had run out of camera memory so I didn't get a video of her lefty.

After the driving range we played mini golf also for the first time. They had an absolute blast. After two holes of hitting the ball a bunch of times to get it near the hold, Maddie had a better idea. "I'm going to put the ball closer to the hole then get it in." She did that on all the remaining holes.

Revs 2010

The MLS season is underway. We've had a few home games at Gillette already. A couple weeks ago our tickets were upgraded to a suite for some reason. We were up there with other season ticket holders so it must be something they do periodically. Since we weren't going to be confined to our seats we decided to bring the kids.

The suite was huge with plenty to eat and drink. We even got a visit from the mascot.

Maddie heard everyone cheer when the Revs scored a goal and she got very excited.

Most of the time they spent kicking around their soccer balls with this little boy. They were so good at sharing with him.

Then we got another surprise when the goalie (wasn't playing this game) came up for a visit.

We told Maddie to go up to him and give him her ball so he could sign it. That's her holding it up. He was busy with other people so she just patiently stood there holding the ball up.

They both ended up getting their balls signed. The whole night was very fun!