Kerry Lynn

Reading to Kindergarten

2012-01-20T21:52:00.000-05:00

Madison took the summer and fall off from reading her books. She wasn't asking to do it and I just didn't want to push her. Last week she saw the book and asked to read it. She was VERY excited to get more stickers. I believe she had read 6 out of 10 books in level 1 last winter/spring and she finished the last 4 in one day last week. I had Chris pick up the level 2 series and she dove right into that. Nana came over one day and Madison read to her. She was so impressed and asked Maddie if she wanted to read a book to her (Nana's) kindergarten class. She said yes and was very excited. She did it yesterday and did a fantastic job! She still mixes up her b's and d's but (almost) always catches herself. I took some clips of her reading to the class and put them together for family to see. Jackson came up to watch her with me. I was so proud of her!!

The best and the worst

2012-01-20T09:07:00.001-05:00

I forget where I was or who I was with but I believe Jackson may have been acting a tad whiny. I was showing my annoyance and someone reminded me (I definitely already knew this) that kids feel so comfortable with us that they feel like they can completely let go in front of us (parents). As much as I knew this I don't think it really sunk in until that moment. It's really hard to be grateful they feel so close to you when the entire store is staring at you because your four year old is screaming at the top of their lungs. That will never be fun. But it did get me thinking on the flip side that some of their sweet behavior is only displayed for parents too. Not only that but things like singing and dancing. Things they would be too embarrassed to do in front of others I get to witness (unless I secretly video it and share it on the inter web). I can't help but feel like the luckiest person in the world that I get to be a part of their world like no one else. Oh and the snuggles and the out of nowhere kisses on the cheek and telling me how beautiful I am. I melt just thinking about it. As much as they love their grandparents and aunts and uncles they save those special things for Chris and me and I am severely grateful for that...even the tantrums.

Darth Vader the ballet

2012-01-16T16:54:00.001-05:00

Can't wait to hear the crap I'm going to get for posting this.

Another birthday party

2012-01-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

A few days after Christmas we were invited to our friend Olivia's birthday party.

Jackson in a new sweater from Santa. It didn't last too long!

How much fun does this look like?

He got in trouble for going down head first after. oh well.

After seeing these pictures of Maddie I realized how long her hair is getting.

God, I love her!

The birthday girl and her Grandmother.

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-03T22:40:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa's tree

Alyssa and Raffe are the only cousins that spend Christmas eve with us

Oh my girl! She couldn't be more perfect!

Papa and Grandma

Nana and Maddie

Aunt Judy and Maddie

Papa, my cousin Tracy, Aunt Judy, Alan being entertained by Jackson

"Fagetaboutit" Papa taught Jackson to say that. I think it's from a g*eico commercial?? But this picture really cracks me up because it looks like my mother is stabbing Chris in the eye with a fork.

Aunt Judy brought this cinderella ballerina for Madison. She sat at the table with us.

Grandma blowing the whistle she got in her cracker

Three generations

My annual creme brule

After my parents' house we went to the O'Connell's to visit like we do every year. They had fun playing in 19 month old Henry's room.

Henry is quite literally the size of a three year old. The picture below makes me laugh. It looks like he's bullying Jackson but he was just climbing up into the chair and leaned on him so he could sit.

Then Jackson read him a book! It was so cute!

And Henry was a bit obsessed with cinderealla. They all had so much fun playing together. Madison and Jackson were throwing themselves on the ground to make Henry laugh and they were successful.

Birthday party for Noah

2012-01-03T22:23:00.000-05:00

Noah turned 5 in November and we went to his party. A fun time was had by all as usual.

They both actually fit in here with the doors closed!

The finished product. The best tasting food I have ever made!

2012-01-03T19:45:00.001-05:00

And here is the recipe

Cooking

2012-01-03T18:21:00.001-05:00

Look out I'm cooking! Reducing something whatever that means.

Sleepover with Noah

2012-01-03T00:05:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago we had Noah sleep over our house. It was the first time they all went to sleep in the same room without needing to be separated! It hasn't happened since but it was cool that it happened at all!Chris bought jiffy pop to make with them. Their reaction to seeing it for the first time was priceless. And his british accent is too cute for words!

Laughing

2012-01-03T00:03:00.001-05:00

I have no idea why this was so funny but they were cracking up. Seriously, if you ever need a pick me up just watch this. You can't help but laugh along.

Never too old to dance!

2012-01-03T00:02:00.000-05:00

Nana Fitzy doing a little dance central on the kinect on Thanksgiving.

Jumping in the leaves

2012-01-03T00:00:00.001-05:00

Maddie dancing

2012-01-02T23:51:00.001-05:00

Crazy kids

2012-01-02T23:50:00.002-05:00

Wedding/Reunion

2012-01-02T23:48:00.000-05:00

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was controversy ridden. I had an invite to my 20th high school reunion AND Chris's second cousin's wedding. Had I not enjoyed high school or the people I went to school with I wouldn't have had any confusion. I would have just gone to the wedding. But I DID enjoy high school. We didn't have a 15th reunion so it had been 10 years since I had seen most of the people. Turns out Chris (and I believe some members of his family) was horrified by my decision to attend the wedding ceremony then drive to Boston to attend my reunion. I didn't make this decision lightly but in the end I really had to do what made ME happy.

So Chris and I drove up to Gloucester during the day to check into a hotel. The Ocean View Inn to be exact and they aren't kidding around with the name. The view from our room was to die for!

We relaxed in the room for the afternoon. I think I even did some work while sitting at a desk in front of the window. I'm pretty sure I just gazed out the window the whole time though.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful and look at that bride! wow!

After the ceremony I dropped Chris off at the reception and drove (my brand spanking new car) to Boston (Actually picked up my friend Susan who was visiting from Chicago). It was at the Back Bay Hotel and the organizers did a great job. There were poster boards spread around the room with cut outs and photos from back in the day. I'm the one in the front with the white shorts.

I designed the invitations that went out to the whole class as well as the matching memorial below.

It seemed like everyone had a great time. I think I was worried that I would stick to my crew of close friends (some of them pictured below) but I was shocked at how very little time I spent with them. We were all social butterflies. I had a blast and there is already talk of getting together again over the summer. 4 hours was just not long enough to talk to everyone.

If you're interested in seeing all of the pictures I took that night you can see them here. I just felt funny singling out some of them to share here.

The time FLEW by and it was then time to drive back to Gloucester. Chris was already back at the hotel and asleep when I got there. I'm pretty sure he wasn't speaking to me.

Some videos

2012-01-01T23:36:00.000-05:00

Now that I have a new iPhone 4 (once the 4s came out the price of the 4 dropped so I grabbed one after using my iphone 3 with a shattered screen for 4 months) I'm taking a lot more quick videos. The HD video recording on my pro camera is phenomenal but not always convenient.

One day I was flipping through the channels and found America's Funniest Videos. I don't think the kids had ever seen it and I KNEW they would love it. I took a bunch of videos of their reactions. This one was hysterical.
I can't even deal with how much this one makes me laugh. He's talking about a Dora episode I think. They NEVER watch that show but we were visiting a friend so he came to tell me about it. Madison skating a couple weeks ago This is a great example of how well they play together. I just love their imagination!

Files

2012-01-01T22:46:00.003-05:00

This is a picture that Jackson drew 11/11 of "Grandma". I absolutely busted out laughing when I saw what was in between her legs!!!!

Jackson and cousin Nicky

The kids had a little sing along at school before Christmas Break

That's Sarah on the right

Their teachers who we love!

A fun day playing at Gigi's house

Santa came to the peabody skating rink

Grandpa and Grandma came with us that day.

These next few pictures were of the Rockettes performance we saw at the Wang Center. They were very tired and did NOT want their picture taken.

Wang Center

I wasn't supposed to take pictures but I'm a rebel like that

Rockettes

Random photos

2012-01-01T22:44:00.001-05:00

iPhone in Lynnfield Center 11/14/2011 This tree hadn't lost a leaf yet!

11/16 I finally broke down and leased a new car. Payments are way cheap and my gas bill is almost half. It's quite a difference from my V8 grand cherokee but I absolutely love driving it. It's a manual and has nice sporty steering. The kids were excited to get a new car but they almost cried when we left our old one at the dealership. I must admit I did too.

2000 V8 Grand Cherokee with 159,000 miles. We bought it in 2001, the year we got married. This car got us to the hospital in 2007 in a horrific snow storm where even the highways were not clear while I was in labor. It also brought our babies home from the hospital.

20 miles! 8 of them were my test drive. It had 12 the very first time I got in it. And note the temp on 11/16/2011.

12/5/2011 and 61!

12/6/2011 63!

12/22/2011 54!

The weather here has been just incredible. Today is January 1st and the temp was easily 55. It was beautiful out today!

Beginning of December 2011

2012-01-01T20:31:00.001-05:00

Lynnfield had their tree lighting ceremony on Dec 3rd. They also have a country store that my mother has a huge hand in organizing and running. I brought the kids there after a few photo sessions in the morning and we hung out there until it was dark. We saw so many people we knew including Jackson's two girlfriends. Mickaela above found him first. Jackson swears up and down that she is not his girlfriend and gets mad if Chris says she is, but she LOVES him. They were chasing each other for the longest time until...

He was busted by his actual girlfriend Sarah. Sarah has been his girlfriend since Sept of 2010. Ridiculous that at 3 they knew what girlfriend/boyfriend was but whatever. It's really cute. Sarah is very sporty and I think that's what he likes about her. They play soccer at school every day (that they're there). Sara's mom and dad tell me that she prays for him every single night. How cute is that??

Lynnfield Common before the tree lighting ceremony

Lynnfield Common after the tree lighting

Through my connections at Boston Parent Bloggers (link in the sidebar) I was able to get complimentary tickets to see Peter Pan 360. The show was incredible and very impressive since it was in a tent. The entire ceiling of the tent was a projection screen. The actors were attached to cables and would fly through the air. With the moving images being projected it looked like they were actually flying through London. I had an extra ticket so Chris's mom came with us. After the show we got a tour of back stage and met some of the actors and puppets.

Tick tock crock

Nanny the dog greeting all of the kids. Love that smile on Jackson's face.

On our way out of the tent the actors that played Peter Pan and Wendy were already back in their regular clothes and stopped to say hello to the group of us. Madison and Jackson wanted nothing to do with them!

December was a great month for me with all kinds of great complimentary events and products. I'm hoping 2012 will bring even more fun opportunities!

Maddie decided she could skate the other day

2011-12-30T11:14:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-28T22:45:00.002-05:00

For Thanksgiving we did the same thing we did the last few years which was Chris's brother's house most of the day for dinner then I take the kids to my Aunt's house where my cousins and their kids are. Above are cousins Alyssa and Sophie born 6 days apart.

All the girl cousins

All 6 cousins. Jackson was MISERABLE because we made him come upstairs from playing xbox to take a picture. I think Madison was trying to get him to smile. Madison's dress was a hand me down from our friend Olivia and Jackson was dressed like daddy.

I believe some sort of bribe was offered for this smile on Jackson

They spent a lot of time running around the house. It was so warm that day!

Nana Fitzy reading to 6 month old Nick

Raphael at 12 years old

He thought he died and went to heaven. This trifle was massive!

After eating a yummy dinner I took the kids to my Aunt's in Salem. My parents were there and my cousin's kids Ben and Jack. It was so warm out that the kids actually played outside in the yard in the dark! They all play really well together and have a lot of fun. They eventually came in for a drink.

I was just recalling thanksgiving at my Aunt's house two years ago so I decided to pull up the post. It's amazing how much easier they are now and I forgot how emotional that day was.

Continued...

2011-12-17T19:53:00.001-05:00

Aunt Judy's 70th birthday party

2011-12-17T19:06:00.001-05:00

Last month we celebrated my Aunt Judy's 70th birthday at my parents' house. The kids and I went over early to help get ready although there wasn't much to do. Basically we listened to Jackson ask when he could have a cupcake for 7 hours.

That's Judy's 92 year old mother (my grandma) in the middle

It was a surprise party so here she is greeting the kiddos

My cousin's sons were there too. Jack is 7 and was reading a book out loud and Madison and Jackson stood there and listened to him for a very long time. How cute is that?

FINALLY it was time for cupcakes!!

Kaz/Vicks sponsored event

2011-12-16T10:30:00.002-05:00

I was so lucky to be invited to a media event sponsored by Kaz who is the producer of all things Vicks. It was held at Finale in Boston. We were treated to yummy sandwiches and amazing desserts. I'm kicking myself now for not having any hot chocolate since every other review of the event I've read said that it was the best they had ever had.

I think what I was most excited about was to meet Dr. Meg Meeker (linking to her spot on the Today show) and hear her speak to us about some steps we can take to avoid getting sick and also about how to be a more relaxed mother. I think I nodded my head in agreement through her entire speech.

She is also an author. One of her books The 10 habits of Happy Mothers was in our amazing goodie bag (along with lots of Vicks products including the behind the ear thermometer and our choice of humidifier! I picked the one that projects stars on the ceiling!! I can't wait to get it in the mail!) I can't wait to read it. Her other books sound fantastic as well and I will most likely be picking them up. She and I are definitely on the same page in our approach to parenting. I got to speak to her directly for a while too and she is SOOOOO nice. She even offered her email in case I ever had any questions for her. So generous.

As Dr. Meg was speaking you could look around the room and absolutely everyone was on their phone tweeting everything she was saying. I got a chuckle out of that. At first I worried that she would think they were being rude but after reading everyone else's in depth blog posts about what she said I realize they were actually being very attentive. They were able to recall 90% more than I did.

I think one of the most interesting things she had to say was the importance of the humidity level in your home. I really never gave it much thought beyond having dry skin. Apparently viruses have a harder time living when the humidity is between 40 and 60%. We also got a humidity monitor and I can't wait to see what it has to say.

On top of this I got to mingle with my fellow bloggers. People who know me never believe this but I am VERY shy when it comes to groups of people so in the end I never end up talking to or meeting as many people as I would like. I'm one of those that needs people to approach me. At 38 you'd think I'd get over it but it hasn't happened yet. So I'm thankful for those who do go out of their way to talk to me!

I have the rest of the photos I took that day in a flickr album in case anyone is interested in seeing them. If you're interested in seeing specifically what Dr. Meg had to say you may want to read someone else's blog. HAHA. At the bottom of this post (which features my pictures) is a link to a bunch of different "reviews" of the event.

Bruins extra

2011-12-14T00:15:00.001-05:00

We even made it up on the jumbo tron (sort of). Chris got the most of his face on it and although the boy above the words "Aspen Dental" looks like Jackson, it's not. We were REALLY high up and seriously I think it was the best place to view the game. There was one un called for hit on the other teams goalie which started a mini fight and was a definite penalty.

Bruins 2011

2011-12-13T23:59:00.001-05:00

One of the coaches of the kids soccer team happened to own a couple of Dunkin Donuts. He was crazy nice enough to share his kid zone tickets with the soccer team! I have to be honest we are not hockey fans. At all. But we are sports fans and after watching the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in the spring we were definitely excited to go. The cheapest seats you can get at the Garden are $85 so this was an extremely generous gift that we appreciated so much. We took the train in and got into our seats just about at bedtime :-) They did pretty well although Madison was in a horrible mood for the first period. After scoring 6 or 7 goals the game was over. We bought them each a little souvenir. Madison picked out a Stanley Cup small bear and Jackson got a Bruins match box car. They are still some of their favorite toys. The train home wasn't until 10:30 but they really held up very well.
We were so grateful for such a fabulous event.

Holiday card photo shoot 2011

2011-12-13T23:39:00.001-05:00

Once that weird snow storm came through the weather here has been downright amazing. Unseasonably warm for long stretches of time. Just this last week it has started to cool down. It's been a HUGE help with our heating costs. We've barley had to have the heat on up until a couple weeks ago. So I dragged the kids to Brooksby Farm where I had been doing a lot of sessions for clients. I took them to a different area though and it worked out really well. I'll have to remember it for future clients! Overall they were fantastic! They were a little wild though and not cooperating exactly how I would have wanted them to. Thinking back to past years though this year was a breeze and it shows in the massive amounts of usable images for my card (in my header). I had a really hard time designing a card but in the end I splurged on a double sided, shaped, linen texture card. Now that it's out in the mail I can share here. It's been a big hit. :-)

Halloween take 2

2011-12-13T23:01:00.001-05:00

Halloween was rescheduled to the following week due to that crazy snow storm. All the cousins met at Nana's house to trick or treat (again). This picture was taking in Nana's kitchen which is undergoing a pretty major renovation including an addition above the garage for Nana Fitzy to move into during the winter.

Sophia (Chris's sister's daughter), Alyssa (Chris's brother's daughter), Madison, and Jackson. Nickolas (Sophie's brother) slept in the stroller most of the night and Raffe (Alyssa's older brother) stayed at home in his own neighborhood with friends.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

2011-12-09T10:04:00.001-05:00

It was awesome!!!! But, It was late, as we were leaving my mom's house in Lynnfield Maddie reached under a big chair to get a marble that had rolled under, as she pulled her arm out she was cut by a staple sticking down, she was hysterically crying which set our departure time off, the kids fell asleep on the way into Boston, the traffic was HORRIBLE getting into the city which I totally wasn't expecting, I backed into a car while trying to parallel park in my THREE WEEK OLD CAR which turned out to not be a legitimate space and had to leave anyway, I couldn't find a parking garage...in the theater district...ridiculous...I'm so special, it was cold and windy and my mom and I had to carry the kids from the parking garage to the theater because they were so groggy, we were late picking up the tickets, we got to our pretty spectacular seats then I went back out to get food and drinks and by the time I was ready to go back in the show had already started and they wouldn't let anyone in until the first number was over, once I finally got back to my seat Maddie had to go to the bathroom, UGH!!!. Yeah, I know, that wasn't a proper sentence but that's how flustered I felt last night.

HOWEVER, After all of that was able to enjoy a nice glass of wine and watch this fantastic production. I think the most impressive thing to me was the 50 foot LED screen at the back of the stage. It took up the entire stage so all of the backdrops were digital rather than built sets. It was really breathtaking at times especially when the scene moved making it look like the people on stage were moving. At one point there was a NYC tour bus on stage and it did spin around on the stage but the video screen really made it look like it was driving through the streets of NYC. Very impressive! My boy sat on my lap and cuddled with me most of the time and even though he kept saying he wanted to go home during lulls in the show, he was completely captivated when there was a number on. I will always have fond memories of him cuddling me during this show. Madison loved it too and she sat with Grandma (she's such a Grandma's girl!). I kept thinking through the whole thing that this is a memory they will always have. I was so grateful for the opportunity to take them to see the Rockettes.

I need to dig out an old photo of my dad with a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall from 1989. I remember going on a tour but I don't think we saw an actual show.

There is also a 25% off discount for you for the non-peak shows in case you don't win or would like to buy tickets as a gift for someone special!

How to Buy Tickets at 25% off*:
1. Log onto: www.citicenter.org/radiocity

2. Select a NON Peak Performance between Sat, Dec 7^th – Dec 28^th for your 25% off discount:


12/2/2011 at 8 pm	12/16/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/3/2011 at 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm	12/17/2011 at 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm
12/4/2011 at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm	12/18/2011 at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm
12/7/2011 at 2 pm	12/20/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm
12/8/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm	12/21/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm
12/9/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm	12/22/2011 at 5 pm, 8 pm
12/10/2011 at 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm	12/23/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm
12/11/2011 at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm	12/26/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/13/2011 at 7:30 pm	12/27/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/14/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm	12/28/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/15/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm

Bolded Performances = Peak Pricing/no Discount

3. Enter Promo Code: ROXMOM11
*Offer is not valid for Gold Circle - $130 seats, for which there are no discounts. There is a 8 ticket limit on this event.
Pricing Peak Non-Peak
Orchestra (Pit & Rows A-D): $130.00 $130.00
Orchestra (Rows E-O center): $99.00 $89.00
Orchestra (Rows E-O sides, P-EE): $83.00 $73.00

Mezzanine: $83.00 $73.00

Balcony (Rows E-J): $83.00 $73.00
Balcony (Rows K-S): $74.00 $64.00
Balcony (Rows T-Z): $58.00 $48.00
Balcony (Rows AA-FF): $29.00 $25.00

Prices include a $3.00 Facility Fee.

Winner!!!!

2011-12-06T14:41:00.001-05:00

Here is a video of Madison picking a winner. Congratulations Omni!!

Radio City Spectacular at the Wang Theater

2011-12-01T23:58:00.001-05:00

I'm very excited to host my first giveaway! If you're local you're probably going to want to enter to win. I'm going to the show next Thursday and I can't wait to experience it with Madison and Jackson!
A comment will suffice for an entry. Just make sure I am able to contact you. Leave it in the comments if you're comfortable doing that or just leave a comment then shoot me an email at kerry.lynn at comast.net

This holiday season, THE RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR® starring THE WORLD-FAMOUS ROCKETTES® returns to Boston… and if you’ve never seen it before, this is DEFINITELY the year to go! Playing the City Performing Arts Center-Wang Theatre Friday December 2^nd – Wednesday, Dec 28^th!

This year’s show features brand-new scenes and songs, spectacular new sets, dazzling new costumes, an amazing 50-foot LED screen, and an unforgettable new finale! You’ll marvel at the incredible precision dancing of The Rockettes® in beloved scenes like the legendary “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and the stunning reenactment of the first Christmas in the “Living Nativity.” An you’ll adore the new number “Christmas in New York,” featuring a chorus of Broadway-style singers and a life-sized double-decker bus! This year, through new technology and jaw-dropping new special effects, Christmas becomes more magical than ever before!

The prize is includes 4 tickets to the Wednesday, December 28^th 5pm performance and a MEET and GREET before the show with the World Famous Radio City Rockettes!

I will draw a winner on Monday the 5th.

There is also a 25% off discount for you for the non-peak shows in case you don't win or would like to buy tickets as a gift for someone special!

How to Buy Tickets at 25% off*:
1. Log onto: www.citicenter.org/radiocity

2. Select a NON Peak Performance between Sat, Dec 7^th – Dec 28^th for your 25% off discount:


12/2/2011 at 8 pm	12/16/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/3/2011 at 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm	12/17/2011 at 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm
12/4/2011 at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm	12/18/2011 at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm
12/7/2011 at 2 pm	12/20/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm
12/8/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm	12/21/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm
12/9/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm	12/22/2011 at 5 pm, 8 pm
12/10/2011 at 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm	12/23/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm
12/11/2011 at 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm	12/26/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/13/2011 at 7:30 pm	12/27/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/14/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm	12/28/2011 at 2 pm, 5 pm
12/15/2011 at 2 pm, 7:30 pm

Bolded Performances = Peak Pricing/no Discount

Mezzanine: $83.00 $73.00

Balcony (Rows E-J): $83.00 $73.00
Balcony (Rows K-S): $74.00 $64.00
Balcony (Rows T-Z): $58.00 $48.00
Balcony (Rows AA-FF): $29.00 $25.00

Prices include a $3.00 Facility Fee.

Numbers

2011-11-04T20:50:00.001-04:00

Madison and Jackson are all about numbers lately. They've been asking what every number is when we see one on a sign. They're soaking up all the information I give them.
Then one day last week Madison counted to 100 completely on her own. I didn't even ask her to I just heard her start.
Jackson did it a few days later but Madison had to tell him what came after 29, 39, etc. I was impressed!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-04T20:39:00.002-04:00

Halloween was pretty messed up this year. On Saturday the 29th they were predicting a major snow storm that evening and overnight. With most of the trees sill having all of their leaves, the heavy snow was going to be devastating. Western Massachusetts and the Hartford areas (where a lot of my family live) lost power almost immediately as did north of us and a lot of people now 6 days later still don't have power.

Even one town over in Lynnfield many people lost power and I was shocked at the damage when I drove through Monday morning to bring the kids to school. The damage was WAY worse than hurricane Irene two months ago.
My parents yard was littered with LARGE branches. We did have a large branch or two in our yard down but nothing major. We barely even got any snow in Peabody.

So every year since the kids were born we've spent Halloween in Lynnfield in Chris's parents' neighborhood. Since by Monday many in Lynnfield still didn't have power and they were concerned about the danger of downed power lines they postponed Halloween!

Peabody was fine so we went there for the first time! We went in a neighborhood near us where a friend lives. Surprisingly we ended up finding them in the dark!

These pictures are from their dance class last week.

This is from trick or treating.

EEEKK!!!

2011-11-04T18:39:00.000-04:00

Madison has an audition for a commercial for care.com next week!

Running

2011-11-04T11:22:00.001-04:00

UGH! I spoke too soon. My right leg was in agony. I'm pretty sure at this point that it's shin splints. I rested for 9 days. That day I went for a walk with friends and had to run a bit to catch up to Maddie who had gone too far ahead on her scooter. OMG! The pain is ridiculous and I just don't know what I should do.

Friends

2011-11-04T11:12:00.000-04:00

Since meeting Noah at our swim class last spring our lives have pretty much revolved around him. Madison and Jackson just love him. I think the feeling is mutual as when Noah got some pet fish he named them Madison and Jackson! How cute is that??
The session of gymnastics they all took together at the Y in Marblehead is over now and we've switched schools. For the same price they got two extra classes per session. We're now at Yellow Jackets and it was one of the top recommended places in the area. I was thrilled when we went this week for the first time. The place is HUGE and the 3 story high walls are covered with trophies. I really want serious instruction for them and this is where they're going to get it! After Madison's first class the coach said "I see her going places". I must admit she looks like a natural out there. :-) Jackson is great too as is Noah.

Running

2011-10-18T22:54:00.000-04:00

I think I'm finally on track (no pun intended). Last Tuesday I decided to forget about interval training and just run a mile straight (on a treadmill). I took an ice bath when I got home but I was still in agony the next few days! My calfs were killing me! On top of the usual pain I have on the interior of my legs about 4 inches above my ankle. By Saturday I was feeling fine so I went for a 2.25 mile run from my house. I ran the first mile, walked .25 miles, then ran the last mile. Turns out that is a perfect loop around my "block". I was sore after but nothing like after that first time. So Today I did another 2.25 on the treadmill running 1 mile, walking .15, then running 1.1. These are the farthest distances I have EVER run in my life. My pace is pretty much a snails pace (needing to average in the walking doesn't help) but I can't even imagine how I am ever going to get faster!

Have I ever talked about my high school running days?

1000th post

2011-10-18T21:09:00.004-04:00

Almost 6 years ago when I started this blog, I had no idea I would make it to 1000 posts. Although if I had kept up with my original pace of posting I would have made 1000 a while ago. I initially started this as a way to keep friends and family updated on my fertility treatments. Rather than telling the story separately to a bunch of people they could just all come here and read. What I didn't imagine were all the strangers that I would meet because of it. I had no idea people read strangers' blogs. And the funny thing is that it's the strangers that have stuck around and continued reading while my close friends don't even bother.

At this point this blog is completely about preserving memories for the future. With the last 4 and a half years of Madison and Jackson's life having FLOWN by I am so grateful for this documentation. There is no way I would have remembered even 10% of the things I have written here.

If you're reading this I'd really love a comment so I know I'm not talking to the wind. Thanks!

Topsfield Fair 2011

2011-10-09T08:39:00.001-04:00

We went to our 5th Topsfield Fair last week. That place is such a money pit! No matter how frugal you think you're being you're going to spend over $100.

I couldn't believe they willingly went up to this massive robot and weren't scared!

holding a 2 day old chick! I even got video of a chick breaking out of its shell. So cool!

Files

2011-10-09T00:39:00.001-04:00

This was the puppy that Madison was photographed with a few weeks ago. 8 weeks old. I just couldn't get enough of him.

At the farm...

Marini Farm

2011-10-09T00:37:00.001-04:00

I had bought a groupon for a corn maze, apple cannon, pillow bounce, and hayride for four. We ended up going on a really hot day! We were pretty miserable. We brought Raffe with us.

We had never done a corn maze before and I was shocked at how hard it was!

We walked around for a good hour before we asked for a hint from one of the workers there.

September Fun

2011-10-08T15:34:00.000-04:00

These pictures are completely out of order and there are way too many to fix it!

The kids started soccer. They are still too young for our city youth league but we found a neighboring town that starts younger than 5 so we went there. These are from the first day. Their friend Isabella is also playing in the league but on the orange team

Jackson trying to get in there

Jackson getting his first goal ever!

His reaction to his goal

thumbs up to Daddy after the goal

The kids are also taking gymnastics with Noah. It seems to be a great and serious program which is exactly what I was looking for. I wasn't looking for play time. I wanted to have them learning actual gymnastics.

These are two pictures of Madison's photo session with Berroco. I blurred out the knit skirt.

They had their first day of school so I sent them off. At 10:10 I was sitting at the library working when the school called. It wasn't a full 3 hour day that day. I was supposed to pick them up at 10. Oops!

Jackson got a haircut. I'm totally lost as to what to do with his hair. Some people like it short, other people like it longer and I like it both ways so I just can't commit to any particular style. As you can see in the above photos it was looking a little wild so I got him a medium short cut.

At one of Raffe's soccer games with Alyssa

The grandkids minus Nickolas

The baby grandkids

So on their first FULL day of school I took another picture of them. Not sure which one to count.

I was really not planning on the kids doing dance this year. I figured they'd try gymnastics this year then next year they could decide for themselves. I was really kicking myself. Isabella (and her sister who's in a younger class) was going to be taking a class at a school in Wakefield. When her mom told me the price I couldn't pass it up. I asked Jackson if he wanted to do it and he said "YES!!" This is a tap and ballet class. They were SOOOO excited to get tap shoes.

These were taken through the window so they're not great

One day the decided to paint all over their bodies with the bingo dot paint. They wanted to look like rudolph :-)

These are pictures from the day we went into Boston on the train to see cousin Jackie play field hockey

On the duck boat

After being 45 minutes late to the game we finally arrived. Cousin Sophie was VERY excited to see them!

Going to hug Jackie after the game

At our annual Labor Day cookout at Stage Fort Park

Sophia

Alyssa

My boy :-)

Spring/Summer in iPhone photos

2011-10-07T19:32:00.000-04:00

One day Maddie came up to me with a rock in her hand and said excitedly, "Mommy! Look what I did!" Yup, scratched the pain on my car.

One day we were in Boston and saw this street performer. He was in high school and with absolutely no spring board, did a flip over all of these people.

Mother's day waiting for a seat at the diner

The diner had these flowers out for kids to give to their moms. So sweet!

Blowing the train wistle

Nieces Sophie and Alyssa at one of Raffe's soccer games

Asleep on the way to a Revolution game

Driving go-carts on the way to the cape

First time in a batting cage

Jackson took this. You can see him with the phone in the mirror

Noah and Jackson

You can't see the screen but this is where we watched the Bruins win the Stanley Cup. We're totally not hockey fans but we were at a Revolution game that night and they kept us up to date on the score. The revs game ended before the hockey game did so we went out to the courtyard of Gillette Stadium and watched the 3rd period. Even though we're not fans it was a pretty memorable moment.

June 17th was our 10th wedding anniversary. Chris did it up right. He surprised me with a room at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.

We went for a walk around the public garden after we checked in

Then we went back to get ready for dinner at Morton's. We took a cab since it was a pretty far walk. We got a stranger to take our picture which was nice

Morton's was unreal. They had a special menu printed up just for us, they took our picture and printed it right out and gave it to us in a frame. They were so attentive.

After dinner we decided to start walking and see how far we could get before hailing a cab. We walked REALLY far up to the state house then down through boston common and the public garden and back to the hotel

It was a really nice walk and we really enjoyed ourselves

Fourth of July

Hanging out at Nana's riding his "new" hand me down bike.

I love to see them play with my legos

This is 3 year old Max who is much bigger than 4 year old Jackson

Asleep again on the way to a Revs game wearing Raffe's mask

Raffe and Alyssa walking the boardwalk to Good Harbor Beach

Alyssa sleeping at the beach with her toy story toys

Another day at York Wild Animal Kingdom we were able to meet up with our friend S who happened to be vacationing there. The funny thing is that Jackson is wearing S's old clothes (most of Jackson's clothes are hand me downs from S which is amazing!) and he showed up in new clothes that match him exactly. We couldn't have planned that if we tried! S's mom went to UMass (Amherst which is where these shirts are from) and so did my dad which is why I keep that stuff when she gives it to us.

Mini golfing at Richardsons

Nahant beach

Salem Willows

This day at Salem Willows we decided to explore the rocks near the beach. They found this really cool little pool left over from high tide. They were also doing a lot of climbing to the top of the rocks and all over. I was sitting on the beach part watching them. Jackson had climbed all the way to the top and was excitedly waving at me. I was waving back when all of a sudden I saw him fall backwards! I thought for sure he had fallen all the way down the back of the rocks. I ran as fast as I possibly could, climbed up the rocks and found him stuck on his back a little ways down screaming. I could tell it was a terrified cry mixed with a hurt cry. I picked him up and checked him all over. He had scraped his back and when I asked him where it hurt he said, "my head!" I felt his head and there was a huge lump on the back of it. I was so upset. I then had to somehow get Madison to come to me AND get my stuff that was back down on the beach. He was hysterically crying the entire time so I couldn't just leave him alone. Finally someone came up to ask me if I needed help. She gathered my stuff for me and I was able to go down and get it. I was able to find some ice (and popcorn) and he was just fine.

One day we were going to go see our cousin Jackie's college field hockey game in Cambridge. I figured I'd make a day of it so we took the train out of Salem into Boston. We walked around a little bit trying to figure out what to do. Then I saw a duck boat! I'd never been on a duck boat before and knew that's what I wanted to do with them! We walked from North Station to the Museum of Science and bought tickets. We got right on one which was great. They had a great time even though they didn't care about what the tour guide was saying. Once we went into the water the driver asked if anyone wanted to drive the boat. Madison did! So I sent her up there. Jackson said he didn't...until he saw her up there then he wanted to go. So they both got to drive the boat. The driver took this picture with my phone. There was a beaded seat cover behind him that oddly looks like earrings on Jackson. He was wearing the drivers hat.

This day they were playing in their costumes. I love how he was grabbing her hand and helping her up the slide.

During hurricane Irene, we lost a pretty large branch. Jackson was trying to help clean it up. HAHA

Madison and Jackson are taking a gymnastics class at the Y in Marblehead with Noah. I have other pictures to share later.

August fun

2011-10-07T17:51:00.001-04:00

This was taken by my aunt at my cousin's engagement party. I was SHOCKED at how well it turned out!

One day Noah came over and his mom brought painting supplies. She's much more brave than I am. The only paint the kids have ever played with at home are the bingo dots and the following photos will give you a good idea of why. HAHA. It was actually really fun to let them go nuts and make a total mess. Since they were on the patio I didn't mind.

There was no avoiding a bath after all that!

This was another day at Noah's house. They ALWAYS dress up in his costumes when we go there. Madison is always Tron, Jackson is always Batman and Noah is either ironman or darth vader.

This was Grandpa's 60th birthday. 60 sounds so old :-( At least my parents don't act old.

This was another day with Noah at our house. He slept over that night. It was their first sleep over. He started the night out sleeping on a bed I made in their room. Jackson just couldn't settle down though so I had to move Noah out of the room.

One day I had a photo session in Wells, ME so my mom and the kids drove up with me and played on the beach while I did the session. It worked out very well.

After the beach we went to York Animal Kingdom. We just love it there. $4.75 for unlimited rides?? You just can't beat that.

This is Jackson with Noah's baby sister, Honey. He is seriously the baby whisperer. He just can't get enough and they love him. These are Honey's newborn photos I took of her in June.

Firework photos

2011-10-07T17:07:00.001-04:00

Teacher conference 10/2011

2011-10-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

I know I'm in the middle of catching up but I wanted to write about this while it's fresh in my mind. Chris and I met with M&J's teacher this morning. We were so proud. She couldn't say enough nice things about them.

She said that Madison is the most motivated and by far the smartest in the class. She said that she already has the skills necessary to start kindergarten. I welled up when I heard that. I asked her if this motivation is something that usually stays with a kid and she said yes. I struggled so much with school and motivation complete through college so to hear that she won't (or most likely won't) have this struggle fills me with relief. She said she has two friends that she plays with most. Mai (we went to Mai's house once over the summer to play) and the other Madison (who also has a twin brother).

So they have sticker charts with 25 spots on them. Madison was the second one to complete hers (on the same day as the first girl). They get stickers for coloring a picture, or doing some sort of learning game/activity. She now only has 3 more to go on her second! The girl that finished her first on the same day as Maddie is already on her third. I totally want her to beat her! HAHA! The day Madison finished hers Jackson cried because he hadn't finished his yet. I told him I wanted to see his so the next day at school I went in with them. He only needed 5 more and that afternoon he came home with his finished chart. It's so funny to me what a motivation they are to them but I'm so proud.

Then their teacher went on to talk about Jackson. She said he's right on track for his age and is a pleasure to have in class. He's a social butterfly and plays with absolutely everybody. He's honest, fair, and caring. He IS in a love triangle though. Oh my lord! Shoot me now! His girlfriend from last year, Sarah is still in his class and they still like each other but now Michaela likes him too. Jackson is pretty oblivious and just hangs out with them both. Sarah is wicked athletic with two brothers so they play soccer at recess every day. Michaela HAS to sit next to him all the time in class. But the teacher said that Michaela and Sarah don't like each other!! They even give each other dirty looks. WOW!

I'm so proud of my kiddos!!!

July Fun

2011-10-07T15:51:00.000-04:00

July as usual started out with Fourth of July celebrations. We went to the Wakefield parade one day with Grandma and Grandpa

That night we went to the Jordan's Furniture parking lot to see the Wakefield fireworks. I wasn't impressed with the location. I think unless you're in the front row of parking then there are too many cars and light posts and part of the building in the way.

Another night my mom and I took the kids to the fireworks in Danvers and the next night Chris and I took them to Gloucester. We sat on the beach below the boulevard for those.

These are some pictures I got at Hasbro

In the green room

I snuck this picture of the camera monitor

In the car on the way home. With no AC in the car.

Didn't take long for her to conk out. I just love that precious face.

They did a tennis camp for one week M-Th. Monday through Wednesday was hot enough but Thursday was the start of a massive heat wave. I felt so bad for them that day. We spent the entire day Friday in my friend Gia's pool. Even though it was in the sun it was at least cooler than being out.

I love the peach fuzz on Jacksons face. This picture doesn't do it justice but I just want to remember it.

The kids love to mow the lawn with Grandpa

More June fun

2011-10-06T22:16:00.001-04:00

These are the professional pictures of the kids at the studio from last June

Madison and Noah enjoying a show after a swim. It was so cute because Noah brought that bear for Madison to hold. How sweet??

conked out on our bed one night

Another day of swimming at Noah's pool

One day we tried to drive up to Bradley Palmer State Park splash pool. When we got there there was a sign at the road that said it was full. We ended up at Salem Willows at Dead Horse Beach. Jackson had fun climbing on the rocks.

While Madison collected shells

A bad thunder storm was on its way and we got stuck in quite the downpour with bad lightning. I just pulled over and waited for it to pass.

One day we went to Gigi's house to play and her big sister Alex was there. After playing at the house we went to the driving range and got ice cream and the kids ran around in the grass. Madison fell and hurt herself so Alex carried her back to the car. It was so cute.

These are their "birthday" pictures. I forget what number month that was.

Fiesta 2011

2011-10-06T22:00:00.001-04:00

At the end of June is St. Peter's Fiesta in Gloucester. We went up to ride some rides and watch the greasy pole.

The first thing we did was play a water shooting game. I helped Jackson and he won!

House of mirrors

Happy happy kids

Before we went down to the beach to watch the greasy pole Madison played the balloon dart game and popped one! She won a stuffed lobster.

Odd that I'm getting to these photos now because last week the historic greasy pole succumbed to mother nature. Apparently it was damaged during hurricane Irene at the beginning of September. This past Thursday, September 29 we had a bad storm come through that knocked it over.

Running

2011-10-06T21:41:00.001-04:00

After my last update on running I did start c25k again starting at week 2. I was determined to take it slow. I got to week 4 again running "barefoot" this time and the pain was just too bad (when I got to week 4). I took a good month off after that but was still determined to make this work. I started up again a couple weeks ago this time running for 1 minute, walking for 1.5 min. for a total of 20 or so minutes. I did great for the first 4 runs but the 5th one did me in. It felt AWFUL! Now it even hurts to walk. The pain is in my inner calf. It's such a weird place. It's definitely not my shins. My shin splints are actually gone since starting to run barefoot.
So my question is, should I keep running or wait until the pain is gone to start up again??

Hasbro Details

2011-10-06T21:16:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I never ended up posting about the details of Madison's first job at Hasbro.

The job was about an hour and a half away in Rhode Island on July 12th and we needed to be there at 8:30. I was pretty worried about making my way through Boston rush hour traffic AND Providence so Madison and I were on the road at 6:30 am. We got there at 7:30 :-) They let us in and go to the "green room" which I thought was funny. They had a table of food and coffee for us and toys and coloring stuff for the kids. Two other girls the same age came at 8:30. Madison ended up being taken first to get her hair and makeup and clothes done. Everyone was really nice and Madison was so happy. Once she was ready they said they were going to take her to the set and I would have to back to the green room and wait because parents weren't allowed on set. The building was a massive empty warehouse that was so hot! I asked if I could at least go see what the set looked like since I had never seen one before. She said that would be fine but then I'd need to leave.

Once we made our way through the maze of props to the other end of the warehouse we found this adorable girl room set with a bookshelf, a pretty chair and a window with pretty curtains. They were all ready for her and they took her right onto the set. They had her sit on the floor and they handed her a my little pony baby plush toy. After shooting that one for a while they handed her a dragon baby plush toy. There were tons of people there and where it was so dark all around the set no one really noticed I was there. Madison was completely oblivious to me so I think no one was worried about the fact that I was still there so I just stayed and watched the whole thing. People kept coming up to me and telling me how great she was and how she was listening to direction the best they had ever seen. One person told me that the pressure was off to get a great shot because they already had one! I was worried because she was smiling really stiffly. One lady assured me she was doing fantastically, after all, she wasn't crying!

When she was done we went back to the green room to gather our stuff and go home.

The tough thing with these jobs is that no one tells you when the product is out or if their image is being used so I have to try to keep my eyes open. These toys are due out in the spring! It's amazing to see how long the process of launching a toy is!

Modeling jobs

2011-09-30T22:47:00.001-04:00

After Madison's first modeling job at Hasbro (oh crud I just realized I never posted about the experience...I'll get to it later) she was called to a company called Dorel Juvenile Group. The way I understand it they are the parent company of Cosco, Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer, and many other children's safety products.

Madison's first job there was for a step stool. They had a whole fake bathroom set up in this small studio space. Everyone was amazed with how well she followed direction. She was definitely giving stiff smiles until I got behind the camera/photographer. The photographer was great and it turns out we went to college together! We didn't know each other but we were there at the same time and in the same visual and performing arts building. We were probably there less than an hour. It was real easy

While I was there I left Jacksons comp card with them for networking purposes.

I was very excited when a week later they called for Jackson to come in to model for a sit and stand stroller. These images are from that shoot. The photographer loved Jackson and he did such a fantastic job listening and giving nice smiles. I was able to go behind the camera to help too. I found out while I was there that the didn't realize that Jackson was Madison's brother so his call was random, not because I left his card!

A week later he got called back to the same place for another sit and stand stroller but a different brand.

While we were there this time I saw a mock up of an ad from the previous stroller with his pictures on it. Someone said to me that everyone had been talking about how much they loved Jackson from the last time. They told me he is going to be on the box for the Safety 1st sit and stand that is going to be sold at KMart and on the website. They said it would be out at the end of the year so I just need to keep my eye out for it.

We went a few weeks without a call and then Madison got a call from a company called Berroco. They create knitting patterns for some amazingly beautiful and modern stuff. The photographer is really good and actually photographs products in a similar style to my family photography. It's very natural in an outdoor setting. We had to leave our house at 6:30am to make sure we arrived in Westport, MA by 9 which was allowing an extra hour for traffic. We sat in a LOT of traffic and made it there right at 9! The location was at a boathouse residence that was so amazingly beautiful in a rustic way. There was a beautiful large lawn that was just across the road from the water. The whole crew was so nice, hair/makeup girl, photographer, photographer's assistants, stylist, and the employees of Berroco. The four outfits that Madison modeled were TO DIE FOR gorgeous and were perfect on her. I think I was way more excited about this than Madison but they had CHICKENS and a BUNNY to be in the pictures with her. I was just so excited for how the pictures were going to look. Luckily they agreed that I could take pictures as long as I didn't share them (they don't want their patterns being stolen before the catalogue is out) so I have so many amazing photos. Once the catalogue is out I'll be able to share which should be in January. So anyway, then an 8 week old yellow lab puppy shows up! OMG!!! I was giddy! It was so ralph lauren. Like I said though Madison wasn't as thrilled as I was. She was after all the one that had to hold the chickens and sit next to a puppy that wanted nothing more than to chew on her. She was a GREAT sport but was definitely slightly annoyed. They photographed her for a solid 2.5 hours until another little boy showed up to model some of the boy clothes. They had some shots together for another 30 minutes with the puppy and then Madison was done. Two older girl models showed up too while we were getting ready to leave. Everyone was so nice and I have such fond memories of that day. When we got back and told Jackson that Madison got to hold a bunny he was VERY sad that he didn't.
I managed to edit out the product in this image so I hope it's ok to share and then the puppy!!!!

We haven't gotten any calls since then but I haven't been holding my breath for any of these. We've got quite a life going on now that school is back in session so I don't have a lot of time to dwell on it. We're just having fun.

Marini Farm Fun

2011-09-30T20:43:00.000-04:00

Since I'm so far behind I'll just start with something current. I had bought a groupon for a corn maze, apple cannon, hay ride, and bouncy thing for four so we went last weekend. It was so HOT!

We brought 12 year old nephew Raffe with us.

We had never done a corn maze before and I was surprised how hard it was. We were definitely in there for an hour MELTING. All of the kids (including Chris) were whining. I swear the only reason we even got out was because we got a hint from one of the workers.

We ended up at 5 guys for lunch. The kids were totally entertained with the peanuts. As in they were playing with them! Making them talk to each other, walking around. It was so cute!

Good Harbor Beach

2011-08-26T23:11:00.002-04:00

We've taken a couple of trips to Good Harbor Beach with Nana (and her resident sticker). My niece and nephew have also come with us and we all have a blast. 12 year old Raf said that he didn't like to swim in the ocean and was acting all bored when we first got there. I grabbed him and made him go in with me. Within 5 minutes he was laughing his head off as we jumped through waves. We were riding waves for a good hour when he said "you make everything more fun". Best day ever.

These are Madison and Jackson's 53 month pictures...

Wells Beach/York Animal Kingdom

2011-08-26T22:59:00.002-04:00

I had a photo session on Wells Beach in Maine (about an hour north of here) last week so my mom and I drove up with the kids. The session was right on the beach so my mom took Madison and Jackson all the way down to the water while I stayed further back with the family. It all worked out very well.

After the beach we went to York Animal Kingdom for the second time in a month! They have such a great time there.

Jackson pouted the entire time they rode the merry go round. He wanted the black horse but Maddie got it.

Why?

2011-07-26T00:49:00.002-04:00

I always remember my mom talking about how annoying the "why" stage is. I've been so scared of this stage and now that we're all of a sudden in full swing of it, it hasn't disappointed. O.M.G. On one hand I love that I get to teach them things on a deeper level than we've discussed previously but the other hand wants to slap myself silly after constantly needing to explain things. My throat literally is sore from talking so much. "Why are we driving slow?" "Because there is traffic" "Why is there traffic" "If you can figure that out kiddo you'll be famous". Most of these conversations happen in the car so I can't remember any of the good ones.

It really amazes me how much information they are willing to soak up. And they remember EVERYTHING!

And with two of them it's totally magnified. Where Jackson may have been satisfied with an answer I give, Madison chimes in with a follow up question which sparks yet another question from Jackson. All while trying to concentrate on driving. Can you say mental exhaustion?

How long does this phase last?

Jackson

2011-07-26T00:24:00.002-04:00

Jackson currently has a few annoying behaviors. One of them is hitting Madison. He'll just haul off and whack her if she's annoying him. I just don't know how to get him to stop. Time outs don't work, swatting him doesn't work (obviously), and my normally effective discipline of going into my room doesn't work since it's not an ongoing behavior. I got a suggestion from a friend to take him to the police station and tell him that's where kids go that hit people. She said the policemen would be willing to talk to him. I actually think this would be VERY effective on him. He would be TERRIFIED, but does anyone know if the police would really do this? Or would they laugh at me?

He's getting smart now and knows how and when to lie. Once again a completely normal behavior but oh so annoying. At this point his lies are completely obvious so it's funny.

One other issue is using naughty words. All of a sudden he thinks it's hilarious to say things like "poo poos", or "shit", or "stupid". Then the most fun part of parenting comes in...disagreeing with the other parent on how to handle the situation. Dad yells and says "don't let me hear you say that again!" Super effective (rolls eyes). I go between ignoring it and offering a different word to say instead. That does work to some extent but I think it's Madison's reaction that he really gets a kick out of. She ALWAYS runs to us "Jackson said stupid"! No matter how many times I tell her to ignore him she won't listen. She's such a rat!

Madison

2011-07-26T00:09:00.002-04:00

I wanted to talk a little about Madison and her current insanely annoying habit. It boils down to the fact that she is incredibly impatient. JUST like her father. If she calls my name and I take a breath to answer her she is already SCREAMING it a second time. Blood. Boiling. Sometimes I have to just leave the room because I'm so incredibly annoyed that I just want to scream back at her. Every single time she does it I explain to her that she needs to wait and that she can't scream my name like that. I tell her a better way to handle the situation. The worst part is when I'm talking to someone else and I don't answer her immediately. I try to actually ignore her to teach her a lesson but who wants to listen to a little girl SCREAM any longer than necessary. She totally understands the need to say "excuse me, Mommy" which she will do after she's been reminded to but she totally doesn't understand that she still needs to wait. Then a fun way to mix it up is when Jackson is also trying to get my attention at the same time. I just keep going back and forth ensuring both of them that I'm listening to each of them. These are fun times I tell ya.

Nothing new in the course of parenting and yet another thing that too shall pass but still worth mentioning.

Jackson got a job!!

2011-07-25T12:23:00.002-04:00

When I was at Dorel with Maddie I made sure to leave Jackson's card with the art people. I'm not sure if that led to the call or not but the next week they called for Jackson. His shoot tomorrow is for a stroller.

Another job

2011-07-17T23:08:00.002-04:00

So the day after the Hasbro shoot I got another call from our agent saying that Madison was called for another job at another company THE NEXT DAY! She said she'd never heard of a new model getting called back to back like that so I'm not holding my breath for more but it was really cool to get that second call.

This second job was for Dorel Juvenile Group for a step stool.

Maddie got the Hasbro job!!

2011-07-08T09:48:00.003-04:00

Next Tuesday I have to take Madison to Rhode Island for her first modeling job. It's about an hour and a half away and we need to be there at 8:30am. EEK! Can you say rush hour? I'm very excited.

I haven't explained any of this to the kids. I just don't think they would understand and I know if I ever had to tell them we were going to have pictures taken they would whine and say they didn't want to go. But I also know that once they're there they'll have a fun time. I also don't want to make a big deal out of it. I just want it to be a casual thing and not stress them out about it. For instance if they went for an audition I wouldn't want them to know it was an audition. I wouldn't want them to feel badly if they didn't get it.

I forgot to mention that it's for my little pony. Not sure if it's for a box or what though.

Madison and Jackson take the stage!

2011-07-08T00:10:00.003-04:00

The week or two leading up to their first dance recital were exhausting! They had so many rehearsals and getting the two of them into and out of their costumes every time was getting old. Plus there was an extra day of getting them dressed for their professional pictures.

The day of the dress rehearsal I snuck this picture in the dressing room. It's missing two of the girls but at least it's got my two in it! This day I actually had my mother and Chris's mother with me to dress the kids because I was in the auditorium taking professional pictures of the whole recital.

At the dress rehearsal I saw them come out on stage and even though I'd seen the dance and heard the song a million times, I unexpectedly had tears watching them up there like such big kids doing something on their own.

In the dance Jackson is supposed to bring these three girl out, leave them, go back stage and get the other two girls (there was one girl missing for this dress rehearsal). Well, he got so excited once he was out there that I heard him yell "Hi Grandma! Hi Nana!" and he completely forgot what he was doing out there. It was so cute! (I'm working on a project using the still images I got at the dress rehearsal that's why the captions are on this one picture)

I'm pretty darn sure Madison was telling Jackson he needed to go back and get the other girl. Look at him standing with his hands in his pockets!!!

The final girl was finally sent out by people backstage because it was obvious Jackson had forgotten her!

Eventually they all remembered that they were there to do a dance and were all desperately looking around to see what they were supposed to be doing.

Again with the hands in the pocket! I was laughing through the entire thing!

So, on Friday (the day before their recital) I had to bring my car to the mechanic. He was just going to be checking it over and giving it right back that day. Of course he found some major issues with the brakes so it couldn't be driven and he couldn't fix it until Monday. Fine. Friday night I almost had a heart attack when I realized their dance costumes were LOCKED IN MY CAR! My car that I only have the one key for. I very randomly found out one day that the mechanic knew a guy who's mother my mother helps take care of. It was such a coincidental discovery and had I not learned that I wouldn't have been able to get the costumes without literally breaking into my car. I was able to call the guy (who I barely know), who was able to call my mechanic and let him know I needed my car unlocked. It all worked out in the end but I was pretty stressed for an hour or so.

So now it's Saturday. Photography and video were strictly prohibited during the recital but Chris and I both managed to sneak a video. We were in the front row and there were some stage lights that were blocking them a bit but it's better than nothing.

Nana, Grandma, Auntie Courtney and Chris all came to watch their debut. Grandpa and Papa happened to both be out of town. Uncle Mike was working and Auntie Kristen couldn't come because she would have had to pay for a ticket for Alyssa to get in too and at $18 a pop, that wasn't going to happen.

Miss Lisa had them meet backstage and rehearsed a bit before they went on. This time it went much smoother. Jackson was so aware of going back to get the other girls that he barely walked the first girls on stage before running off to get the rest.

You'll see a little bridge that Jackson and another girl make. The other girls are supposed to all pass through it but that didn't happen exactly as planned.

I don't think Maddie had a smile on her face at all through the whole thing!

When they left the stage I looked at our family and Courtney had tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.

Oh, and Miss Lisa thought it would be a cute touch to get Jackson a flower to wear but it ended up being a bit of a distraction!

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of them in their costumes on the actual recital day, but here is Maddie with her flowers from Nana and her friend Grace.

Overall this was such a great experience. The kids never complained. They loved going to class all year and loved getting to wear a costume. All three of us absolutely adored Miss Lisa so as long as she's teaching the class they will be in we'll go back to the same school (if they want to do it again).

New cousin for Madison and Jackson

2011-07-03T08:46:00.002-04:00

I have another new nephew! He was born in May and is simply adorable! Big sister Sophie will be 2 on July 17 and is so happy to have a baby brother.

Playing around

2011-07-03T08:36:00.002-04:00

My nephew Raffi had soccer games every saturday this spring so we went to watch him whenever we could. Although it was hard to watch him with Jackson wanting to play soccer the entire time!

He's really showing preference to playing goalie. He's actually a really good keeper. He totally knows who Matt Reis is (Revolution goalie) and wants to be just like him. Hopefully he won't ask to shave his head! This is the post from when we met him last year.

Uncle Mike goofing around

Chris playing with Alyssa

A typical, funny conversation between the three of us

2011-07-03T08:17:00.001-04:00

This video cracks me up!

Driving range

2011-07-02T23:12:00.002-04:00

The kids get SOOOOO excited when we go to the driving range. It always amazes me how Jackson can have absolutely no focus whatsoever and still hit the ball so consistently. Maddie is such a girl :-)

Just a sweet picture of Maddie

2011-07-02T22:15:00.001-04:00

Modeling

2011-07-02T21:43:00.002-04:00

Since the kids were born I've wanted to get them into modeling. I was always held back because I didn't know the proper first step to get it done legitimately. Over the years I've connected with people who happen to be in the industry and led me in the right direction. Plus my family was starting to harass me! So I finally sent an email with their pictures to the recommended agency in Boston. I got a phone call to set up an appointment for them to come in and so I could be explained the process. Without going into all the details I decided to go forward with it. They had an initial photo shoot (not with me) to get images for their comp cards and it was a good way to see how they would "perform" in a working situation.

These are a handful of the images we got. They were definitely stiff at first and I was so worried. My plan was to stay away but I could see they weren't getting any good shots so I stepped in and started making goofy faces and jumping around and "hurting" myself in order to make them laugh. It totally worked but I don't know if I'll be able to do that in an actual working environment.

The agency told me that Maddie has a leg up on any competition because of her red hair and Jackson has a leg up because he's a boy.

They were officially "on the market" at the end of May and I just got a call the other day that Maddie is a finalist for a Hasbro shoot in a couple weeks. There is no audition for this so keep your fingers crossed they pick her!

Easter!

2011-07-02T21:30:00.001-04:00

I can't believe I haven't even blogged about Easter. This is just ridiculous.

We spent most of the day at Chris's parents' house with the whole family. The kids had an easter egg hunt that I somehow missed?

Jackson with Papa...

Jackson played soccer most of the time we were there. I literally threw his pants away when we got home. There was no amount of stain stuff that would have removed the grass stains. They were hand me downs and this was his second year wearing them so it didn't kill me to throw them away.

Inside for a little hydration

And cupcakes

Maddie kept herself occupied by collecting all of the sticks in the yard and putting them in the fire pit.

Nana and Papa with all of their grandchildren although they now have a sixth who I'll introduce later.

This kid plays hard!

Alyssa decided to pet Maddie's hair. I'm sure she whined about it at first. She's such a touch-me-not!

After dinner we went to my Aunt Judy's where they got to play with my cousin's kids Ben and Jack. They totally cried when we had to leave!

Random stuff

2011-06-22T23:06:00.003-04:00

So Jackson has been a challenge lately. When he's good it's so hard to imagine him being so bad but he can really be infuriating. I think it boils down to him being VERY stubborn. I have NO idea where he gets that from (looks around whistling). The odd thing is that my mom says that I was a very easy going kid and always took no for an answer (even though I was stubborn) but Jackson just can't handle no. I was given a technique to try by a psychotherapist since time outs just aren't effective with him. They work perfectly for Maddie but not Jackson. Not only is Jackson stubborn but I also feel like he is looking for attention. So the deal is that when he whines or cries I say "I'm going in my room and when you stop I will come out." It doesn't work if Chris and I are both home because Chris refuses to go into our room. He says he didn't do anything wrong why should he have to go to his room? Great. So I can only do it during the day. The first time I did it I was in there for 45 minutes. It was awful. He was kicking the door, screaming, and coming up with every excuse in the book to get me to come out. Every once in a while I would calmly say, "when you stop crying I will come out". I stuck to my guns and he eventually stopped. From then on just the threat of going to my room would make him stop but the handful of times I've needed to go it's been an under 5 minute deal.

But this isn't to say that everything is solved because there are so many situations that don't fit with that punishment. One issue we have is bath time. He absolutely hates it. He whines and cries that the water is hot (trust me it's not) so he won't get in. Once he's in he refuses to let me wash his hair so he just sits in the bathtub screaming. Bath time has always been a nightmare at our house. Maddie is better at it but still manages to have something set her off every once in a while. It's awesome when they're BOTH hysterically crying.

One thing I've noticed is that if I ever leave them with someone else to watch while I have a photo session or if they're overnight at one of our parents' house they are horribly behaved when we get them back

Madison and Jackson's 4 year check-ups had to be the worst by far. It all started out so well. The kids have been so good lately that I didn't even think to bring another person with me. But like I said it started out well. They were well behaved even though we had a ridiculous amount of waiting. At one point we were left in the room for 45 minutes. They had already had their check-ups and were waiting for the dreaded shots. Madison weighed 32 pounds (21st percentile) and was 38 inches (12th percentile) and Jackson was 37 pounds (56th percentile) and 40 inches (17th percentile). Of course they were very antsy and at one point and were going in and out of the room. I was doing my best to control them but a little part of me didn't really care if they disrupted the office because that's what they get for keeping two 4 year olds waiting for that long. So on one of their trips out we happened to see our friend Spencer and his mom going to the room next to us for an appointment. Boy did they end up getting an earful.

So the nurse finally comes back in with the shots ready to go. FOUR for EACH of them. I had discussed it with the dr. and we agreed to get them over with this year that way next year they wouldn't need any. The poor kids had no idea what was going on or what was about to happen. The nurse asked them who wanted to go first and Jackson very eagerly exclaimed, "ME!!!" Odds are he'll never volunteer to go first for anything ever again. I get him on my lap and hold his arm across his body very securely while the nurse stuck him for the first time. He definitely jumped but didn't cry, nor did he cry with the second one in the same arm. The second arm was a different story. OH my god, his cry was gut wrenching. I seriously tear up now thinking about it and it was two months ago. It felt inhumane. The nurse could have been colder but she also could have been much more sympathetic. So in the mean time Madison is watching in horror. Jackson was screaming so loud and for so long and we couldn't calm him down. Finally after 5 minutes of screaming another nurse came in with some stickers and started to talk to him. It actually worked! He was very interested in the stickers and calmed down. So now we get Madison and she's looking at me with such a horrified look on her face saying "I don't want a shot!" It was so sad. So I get her up on my lap. She definitely cried on the first two in the first arm but the third on in the second arm I totally saw the nurse put the needle in, fumble with it which moved the needle all around in her arm THEN push the plunger (or whatever it's called). The scream of terror sounded like we were cutting her with a knife. That's when I lost it. I just started to cry and so did Jackson. He was SO upset by her crying like that. So the nurse finished up with her and the three of us sat on the floor holding each other and sobbing. It was mentally exhausting. Once I had them all dressed we went out in the waiting room to leave to find Spencer waiting for us. He and his mom heard the whole thing and Spencer told her he didn't want to leave before he saw if they were ok. SUCH a sweet kid. Unfortunately since they made us wait so long we totally missed swim lessons that day but I brought them to the pool anyway so they could play with Noah right after the lesson.

My poor neglected blog

2011-06-09T20:38:00.002-04:00

I just can't believe I haven't posted in so long. I know that facebook is killing my blog. It's so much easier to update. I don't like it because if I do post to the blog things are so much more detailed which is better for the future. This on top of the fact that I had 15 sessions including 2 weddings in the last 4 weeks which is absolutely incredible for me but leaves very little time to manage my personal photos and get them on the blog.

For now I'll start with some current things before I forget. Today was Madison and Jackson's last day of school. I am absolutely floored at how fast this year went. Overall it was a fantastic experience. The kids both loved school and their teachers and friends and seeing Nana at school. I think they missed maybe two days of school due to illness (one of which was last week)? I could be wrong but I'm not recalling much more than that. I was sad for them today because I know they are going to miss their friends and I know they don't understand what is happening. The good thing is that they are going to the same school next year for three mornings instead of two and some of their friends will still be in their class. I can't believe in a little over a year my babies will be going to kindergarten. And I know every year from now on is going to go faster than the last. UGH!

Summer is officially underway and we have been to the beach and friends' pools on a few occasions already. Spring here was downright miserable. The continuous rain was just silly. I changed over their winter clothes to summer WAY too early. I always seem to jump the gun on that one but hey, if I'm feeling productive enough to do that major job I go with it.

The one other boy that was in M&J's swim class has now become one of our regular friends. All Madison and Jackson want to do is see Noah. Seriously every single day Jackson wakes up and says "Can we go to Noah's?" which is followed by intense whining when I say no, not that day. Noah's mom is due with a little girl any day now so we do a lot of hanging out at her place which makes me feel bad because she ends up feeding us! They live in a gorgeous apartment complex with a beautiful pool. We felt like we were on vacation as we sat watching the kids play in the water. Not a bad life :-)

I started doing the couch to 5K training program about 5 weeks ago? I downloaded the iphone app and off I went. With my friend Wendy's incredible transformation in the last year (mostly due to running) I was just convinced that running is the only way I'm going to get my weight off. In order for me to be at a healthy weight I need to lose 40 pounds. I knew if I just took off running I would be incredibly pained the next day and then I would just quit so I knew the couch to 5k interval training was going to be for me so one day I just threw the kids in the stroller and went. I was doing great through week 3. At week 4 it was getting tough as the run intervals were up to 5 minutes which for me is a LOT. My shins were really starting to be in a lot of pain. After week 4 I was going to take two days off before advancing to week 5 to rest my legs and that's when I got knocked out with a ridiculous cold (flu?). We all ended up with it and it was miserable but at least it wasn't a stomach bug. I got it two weeks ago and my lungs are just today starting to feel better. I really should have continued walking but I didn't so now I feel like in order to get back into it I'm going to have to go back and maybe even repeat week 3. If I had stayed on track I was going to try to run a 5K in my hometown on the fourth of July but that's definitely not going to happen now. I'm really bummed but I'm definitely still determined to be a runner. I NEED to lose weight!

I'll update soon with some pictures but for now you can go read a blog post about me and my photography business!

Bowling

2011-04-21T22:14:00.002-04:00

The kids had been talking about going bowling for a few days. I'm not sure they understood that there was a place you could go to do it. They've only played it on the iPhone or the Kinect. But once I described the place you go to play they begged to go. We had a little time to kill yesterday afternoon so I took them. They didn't love needing to wait for their turn but they absolutely LOVED bowling and guess what? They BOTH beat me.

The little shoes killed me! So cute!!

Dance class

2011-04-21T22:07:00.002-04:00

We had an observation day in dance class a few weeks ago so I got to go in and take pictures. They were so excited for me and Grandma and Nana to watch them. They have so much fun in that class!

I have no idea what Madison was doing in the following photo!

Random iphone photos

2011-04-21T21:34:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty good about having my camera with me a lot of the time but sometimes I don't and I'm thankful for my iphone in those moments.

Jackson begged me for these carrots. He was so excited to get them and bring them to the table. He even ate a couple which quite frankly I was shocked at. But this was the look he gave them after a short amount of time.

I love this picture. It was taken on M&J's birthday when Chris and I took them to friendly's.

Here I was shocked to find that Madison can draw a person. Once again I never taught her how to do this. At our parent teacher conference a couple weeks ago the teacher said that most kids at this age are expected to be able to draw a head with legs that come right off the head and that's about it. The teacher was thrilled that her people have bodies and even fingers and toes. Since this picture was taken she is now adding lots of hair to her people.

Last week at swim class we stayed after class and swam quite a bit with their classmate Noah. They had so much fun playing together. Madison and Jackson are able to touch the ground in the shallow end and once they discovered that they really started to play around. They even started to jump into the water from the side all on their own! They're getting more comfortable with getting their faces wet.

After we were done swimming we went into the locker room and I asked them if they wanted to take a shower. They've never done that so they were very excited.

Last weekend we had a birthday party for our friend Sabine who we met at the grocery store last summer. Her cake was soooo cute.

But the black frosting made it look like a goth party.

After 11 years it was time to say goodbye to our very beat up couch and over-sized chair and welcome a new couch and love seat. With the same amount of seating space the pieces are smaller over all making the room look much bigger. Plus the style of the new ones are more tailored and straight rather than soft and squishy. (that's the old one in the middle of the room making way for the new one)

Jackson on the new couch.

Grandma and Grandpa's

2011-04-21T21:16:00.003-04:00

I took these photos the day after I fell off the horse. My parents had gotten about 20 loads of fill delivered to their yard to fill in a dip in the yard. Madison and Jackson had so much fun playing on them!

This is how Jackson eats a bagel.

Grandpa gave them baths after playing in all that dirt!

Now that all of that dirt is leveled off the yard looks completely different!

Visiting with Jen and Major

2011-04-09T17:31:00.004-04:00

Our first time meeting Major was almost two years ago. We went again winter a year ago. We didn't make it at all last summer and that was just unacceptable. I love this experience for them and I love when we can spend time with Jen. She proclaims she is "not a kid person" but that she LOVES M&J so much and it really shows. It means a lot to me that they are close.

Unfortunately Major no longer lives a few towns away from us. He's about an hour away in New Hampshire. Jen and I finally nailed down a date for us to come up and visit and it was this past Friday. The kids and I drove to her apartment where we got to see where she lives with her boyfriend and their amazing dog Harley. They rescued him just before Christmas. He's 9 and was abandoned by his family. Seriously one of the best behaved dogs I've ever met. And the energy in him, you would swear he was only a year old. We played in the yard with Harley for a bit before walking to lunch near their place. We all had a nice lunch together where upon the waiter placing her cup of milk on the table it spilled everywhere. Even though she got a covered cup she managed to spill it two more times.

When we were done we got in our cars and drove to the barn. We greeted all of the horses that were in the field.

And fed them hay.

While Harley BEGGED for us to throw the big horse ball for him to fetch.

This horse had one blue eye and one brown eye

Jen brought Major back to the barn to get him suited up!

M&J helped brush him again

I think this freshness was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come.

Jen rode Major for a bit

While I endlessly threw a ball for Harley. How can you say no to this face?

Then Jackson got a turn! He was so excited!

You can't see it in these pictures but Jen gave him the reins and taught him to steer. He totally had the hang of it. Jen still had a good grip of Major though.

Then it was Maddie's turn!

Then I asked Jen if I could ride. I've been dying to and was so excited when she said yes. When I was 14 I took english riding lessons from a family friend. 24 years later it really was like riding a bike. I was trying to get him to trot but he only wanted to run or walk. When he would run it was scary! I was pulling on the reins as hard as I could but he took a long time to stop.

The next time he started to run was quite a bit faster and he wasn't responding to me at all. I was bouncing all over the place until my left foot bounced out of the stirrup leaving me nothing to stand on. We were just rounding a corner and the centrifugal force pushed me over. I went down hard. The one thing I remember as it was happening was my head smashing on the ground. It really hurt. My head turned out to be the least of my worries. On the way down I twisted in the air so I landed more toward the right side of my butt then my head hit in the back and I continued to flip over. I'm pretty sure I ended up sitting up on my knees. I remember yelling for Jen to help as he was running but there was just nothing she could do. She and the kids came running over. A car happened to be driving by on the middle of nowhere road and saw me fall so they drove up to see if I was ok. I wasn't dizzy and I could move all of my limbs so I got up and we walked to the barn. Well, I limped. I was pretty sore. By the time I got back to the barn I realized my left foot was in some serious pain. I took off my boot and it didn't look too bad but Jen put some numbing cream on it which really helped. I sat for a little while then got up to put my camera back in the car to find the peacocks feathers were open. I was starting to feel some serious pain in my right hip/butt. It was difficult to walk with an injury on both sides! I had to get a picture though :-)

We hung around for a little while then I had to drag the kids away. We were going to visit Chris's Aunt that lived in a nearby town. We made it there ok. I felt ok driving but getting in and out of the car was really difficult. When we got there Chris's Aunt helped me get them out of the car and inside. Once in she waited on me hand and foot. She got me aleve and water and dinner and ice for my injuries and birthday gifts for the kids that kept them occupied while we were there. I didn't want to leave!

My mom was really concerned when I called her on the way home to tell her and like Chris's Aunt she said I needed to go to the hospital.

It took me an hour to get home and my mom met me there so she could take me to the ER while Chris stayed with the kids.

By the time we got there it was 9pm and they told us there was a 3 hour wait! We went and waited and 20 minutes later they called me into triage. I went immediately for an x-ray.

My left foot was only sprained and my pelvic bone was showing a "line" but the doctor couldn't tell if it was a shadow or a fracture. That's why they get paid the big bucks. But seriously I understood and he said the treatment would be the same if it was fractured or not...drugs.

After a trip to the drugs store I was home a little after midnight. I took one tramodol. I woke up a few hours later because Jackson woke up (like every night). Of course I had to go to the bathroom. When I got up to do that I felt horrible!! I felt drunk and had cold sweats and came very close to throwing up AND I was still in pain! I ended up sleeping on the couch. Since then I've only taken the ibuprofen. I don't feel like it's really putting a dent in the pain though. In the morning Chris was not amused that all this happened and wasn't sympathetic at all. He was calling me stupid and dumbass and idot and was generally grumpy. He left me home alone with the kids to go see Raffe's soccer game. My mom ended up coming up to pick the three of us up to hang out at her house all day. It was perfect. I got to lounge on the back deck in the sun while the kids ran around in the back yard with my parents and got to ride their little cars. We had dinner there, the kids got baths, then my mom brought us back home. We had a revolution game that night but I just couldn't get up and down all the stairs at the stadium so Chris took Raffe.

It's 10:20 Sunday morning now. I've been up with the kids since 8 and Chris is still sleeping.

So to wrap up how I'm feeling...I don't have any pain as long as I don't move. Getting up and down is agony. Apart from my foot and hip pain my tail bone is in a LOT of pain, my neck is killing me, and my inner thigh muscles are like jello (that would have happened if I had fallen or not!).

First swim lesson

2011-04-02T11:15:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to sign the kids up for swim lessons for a while but just never got around to it. When a groupon came up for cheap lessons right near our house I jumped on it!

Their first class was this past Thursday and they absolutely loved it. So far there is only one other boy in their class which I love. Nice and small. Plus the other boy is from the UK and his absolutely adorable to hear the accent come out of a little boy.

They loved the teacher and loved swimming so we can't wait until next week. The only downside was getting them to leave. Jackson had a particularly hard time.

Minnie Mouse, Gigi's birthday party, and random pictures

2011-04-01T21:43:00.002-04:00

Last weekend Minnie Mouse was at the Burlington Mall for a promotional appearance. Auntie Courtney, Auntie Kristen and Nana were taking Alyssa and Sophia so we met them there. We got there just as they were getting to the end of the line. I felt bad cutting in the line like that but we didn't take any extra time as all four of them went to see her at once.

In this first picture they were next in line. Maddie and Jackson were so excited but Alyssa was so sad that she couldn't go right up to her and was being made to wait.

They were in absolute awe of her. Alyssa didn't want to turn around to have her picture taken. She just wanted to look at her!

Minnie kissed Maddie and Jackson on the head and they thought that was the coolest thing!

Look at how he's looking at her! So cute!

Right from there we went to Gigi's birthday party. We were only able to stay for an hour and a half which was a huge bummer. They really didn't want to leave but Chris and I had our first Revolution game of the season that evening.

Gigi totally cried when we sang to her. Poor kiddo!

She recovered quickly though :-)

More random pictures of M&J. They took these of each other!

M&J's birthday party

2011-04-01T21:12:00.002-04:00

We had their party at the same place as we did last year. Only one friend didn't make it because he was sick!

My cake lady did it again. The kids said they wanted polka dots and shamrocks. I told her that and this is what we got! Perfect! $25 for the pair and we barely cut into the second cake :-)

Max and Gigi

Nana and Raffe

At one point we couldn't find Maddie. We were asking around if anyone had seen her. I wasn't worried but did find it strange that we couldn't find her. I ended up finding her in the sand room all by herself!

Olivia, Me, and Nichole.

Uncle Mike and Alyssa on the left, Auntie Stacy and Henry on the right

Jackson "scoring" a goal on Papa during a game of air hockey.

Checking pockets for all the tickets they won. They basically traded all of the tickets for candy which was awesome (not) but Maddie got one of those bird whistles. I hadn't seen one since I was a kid!

After we got home they opened their presents. They got a lot of great clothes for when the weather gets warmer and a few new things to play with. One of their favorite things was a stamp kit! They had never played with stamps before and they absolutely loved it!

(the marker all over the red table is dry erase marker from a long time ago that won't come off)

Random picture of Maddie. I get this tilted head every time I try to take her picture.

Super Moon March 19, 2011

2011-04-01T20:59:00.002-04:00

I heard about the super moon the day before it was supposed to happen so I was really looking forward to going out and getting some shots. I had two photo sessions that day and the entire day was cloudy which was perfect for my sessions but I was worried the clouds would block the moon!

I was so lucky it cleared up! These were taken from the House of the Seven Gables property as the moon rose over Marblehead.

That was it. After that the clouds covered the moon! I was lucky to get what I got.

March 18th. My mom's birthday

2011-04-01T20:29:00.002-04:00

The kids and I spent the day with my mom for her birthday. We hung around her house for a little while where the kids rode their scooters on the newly enlarged back deck.

My mother needed to pick something up at a shop about 40 minutes away so we all went for a ride to do that. It was a beautiful day so when we got back we took the kids to a culdesac near her house so they could ride their bikes for the first time this year. Maddie kept saying she forgot how to ride with no training wheels even while she was riding. Silly!

We went home for a little while to have dinner then met up with my mom and dad at my aunt Judy's for cake.

While we were there I took my camera and tripod outside to take some pictures of the full moon. I was very happy with what I got!

Back inside my dad thought he was being funny with the candles.

She still doesn't have any grey hair!

This is just a random picture of Jackson.

March 17th. Their fourth birthday :-S

2011-04-01T12:16:00.003-04:00

The day of their birthday this year was horribly bitter-sweet. Early that morning my parents had to say goodbye to their dog Tillie. My mom had called me early to tell me that it might be happening so while the kids were in school I was just waiting for her phone call. I was at the library next door to their school when she called. All I heard was crying. I had to leave the building because I was crying so hard. I remember sitting on the steps outside sobbing out loud. No one even asked if I was ok.

I had to pick up the kids shortly after that. I was dreading having to tell them. After getting some advice I decided to tell them that she was gone. It didn't even phase them. HA!

Chris had taken the day off so we went right home to be with him. We ran some errands and had a nice day together but I was was toast from the crying. We had grandma and grandpa, papa (nana was in florida), auntie Kristen, Alyssa and Raffe over for cake after dinner.

Jackson and Raffe were in the corner of the chair wrestling.

I crashed hard that night.

Visit with friends

2011-04-01T11:37:00.002-04:00

Susan and Jonathan were visiting from chicago a couple weeks ago. A bunch of old high school friends were able to get together for dinner which I always love then another day we got together during the day with our kids. They had a ball playing together while the moms drank coffee and gabbed.

Jonathan 2.5

Kyle 5

Car decisions

2011-03-29T16:46:00.002-04:00

We've been debating what our next car move is going to be.

In 2001 we bought a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 for me. I'm still driving it. Since then it's had a new head gasket (which was actually broken when we bought it and fixed by the dealer), a brand spanking new engine 3 years ago, as well as all the typical brakes, muffler, exhaust, tires, tie rods (whatever the heck those are), etc. The car has had no A/C for about 4 years. Summers are BRUTAL in that car.

Chris had been driving a 99 wrangler until last spring when he traded it in for a 2008 Liberty which was more suitable for his job and all the driving he was doing.

Turns out he's not driving as much anymore and he is heartbroken without his wrangler. He seriously weeps when we see one. It's so sad.

The plan was for him to get another "new" car and me to take the liberty. Turns out neither of us are crazy about the liberty.

So our options are to:

1. Keep the 11 year old 151K (engine only has 20K on it though) mile cherokee for me but put a good amount of money fixing it up (currently it needs A/C, some body work, a complete interior detail, it's making some crazy rattling sound when I accelerate, and I'm sure the mechanic can come up with a fantastic amount of other things.) I really like the car, it drives very well and the V8 engine is like butter.

Chris would trade in the liberty for a less expensive wrangler.

2. trade in the cherokee for a wrangler and I take the liberty

3. trade in the cherokee for a wrangler and trade in the liberty for something else for me (thinking VW or an 07 audi...need awd or 4wd)

Financially speaking #1 would save us a lot of money in the long run but we are ok with the finances of 2 & 3 since it wouldn't be anything different from what we're doing now.

We both can't decide so what do you think?

My wedding dress

2011-03-25T23:50:00.000-04:00

We were visiting with a friend yesterday and she pulled out pictures she took at my wedding almost ten years ago. Maddie was so happy to see them and loved my dress. I said to her, when you get married you can wear a dress like that.". She said, "I want to wear THAT dress.". Today at home I told her I could let her look at the dress and She was so excited! I pulled the preservation box out from under my bed. She was in love!
I told her that maybe when she grew up that she might want to pick out her own dress and she said, "no, I want to wear THAT dress!"

How cute is that??

Sent from my iPhone

Random and visit with Gigi

2011-03-17T08:51:00.004-04:00

Out of nowhere one day Jackson tried to put a crayon behind his ear and said "Dat's wike Handy Manny!" He couldn't get it to stay so I helped him get them to balance.

This kid just loves to make people laugh. He came running into the living room likeone day.

My friend Michelle got a boxer puppy for her kids for Christmas. We met him in January when we went for a visit and oh was he fresh! So freaking adorable. When we visited the other day he so was so much bigger and headed in the right direction behavior wise. I love this dog! The funniest thing is that my friends oldest daughter named him Jackson!

I had fun taking his picture while we were there.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before but I adore the fact that M&J love animals and aren't afraid. I've always exposed them to animals and I'm glad they haven't learned to be afraid. And if they aren't afraid of a large puppy jumping and biting (playfully) then they won't be afraid of any dog!

Jackson and Jackson playing.

Poor Jackson (my son) was horrified every time Michelle would reprimand the dog he thought she was talking to him! He would have such a sad face because she yelled "at him".

Friends since birth! They all play SOOOOO well together. The only issues we need to deal with during our play dates are between my two kids! It is funny though, I feel like Gigi interacts with Jackson more than Madison. Maddie can come off as kind of cold sometimes so I hope Gigi doesn't feel bad about Madison not being more warm toward her.

That day was super foggy. When we went to leave I had to take some pictures of random things.

This is a tree in front of Michelle's house. When we pulled up to the house in the morning Maddie said, "Those leaves are looking down. That tree is sad."

Food

2011-03-12T12:32:00.002-05:00

Random post not well written...

This blog post has some amazing information in it.

I'm not overly strict with how we eat. I do not buy into organic products being necessary. But I do like to learn about different food facts and take them into consideration when feeding my family.

At the moment the "no grain" way of eating makes a lot of sense to me and I've tried really hard to incorporate it. It's easy to feed Chris and myself that way but the kids are a different story. They don't eat bread so that makes it a little easier but they live on TJ's cereal bars, TJ's honey nut O's, TJ's whole milk yogurt, TJ's apple/carrot sauce, mozzarella cheese sticks (I think they're low fat but that's the only version of them), milk (1%), grapes, and carnation instant breakfast.

They do eat boxed mac and cheese once a week at most. I would prefer they eat macaroni with melted cheese on it but they can tell the difference a mile away AND I want to avoid pasta with them.

They will not touch a carrot, a pepper, a cucumber, an apple, an orange, watermelon, green beans, eggs (maddie will occasionally), beef, real chicken (except rotisserie chicken), or anything that is mixed together like a chili or casserole and a million other things I would love for them to eat. Jackson is almost repulsed by food. If we sit near him with our plate of food he will make a horrible face and whine "I don't wike that!!!"

I've always been leery of low fat food. What is the fat being replaced with AND good fat isn't even bad for you! So after reading the linked blog post I have another reason to not like it.

I read a few years ago about soy being horribly bad for you so we don't eat it at all! Well, you know, sometimes it sneaks in there, but i'm very strict about us not eating soy.

I also read a few years ago about dairy not being good for us either. "Casein in milk has been described as a primary cause of mucous, congestion and childhood earaches. Without dairy consumption, there might not be a need for those antidotes." Cutting out dairy products is something I think about a lot! I haven't done it yet though. Seems like a pretty big leap.

And while I'm at it I've been more aware of the chemicals we put on our body through soap, shampoo, lotions, etc. The kids and I are now washed from head to toe with baking soda. It's been three months now and my hairdresser is blown away by how healthy my hair looks. I've cut that expense out of our lives, and those chemicals are not seeping into our scalps and into our blood streams. I heard once that we're brain washed to think that in order for something to get clean that you need suds to do it but that's completely untrue.

Maddie's dance costume

2011-03-02T22:31:00.000-05:00

This is a bad cell phone pic of maddie's dance costume for their recital in June. They are dancing to "going to the chapel" and Jackson will be wearing a tux and top hat and lead all of the girls in the class onto the stage.

Toy Story on Ice (overload)

2011-03-01T09:51:00.004-05:00

I found someone through a friend on facebook that was selling 5 tickets in the THIRD row center ice. I pounced on them. Last year we were relatively far away so I was really excited.

A friend of mine bought the other two tickets for her daughter's birthday.

Madison, Jackson and I took the train from Salem to North Station which is in the same building as the Boston Garden (where the show was) so it was an easy commute. They absolutely love to take the train.

I had goosebumps walking along the ice to our seats. I was definitely more excited than they were.

This picture was taken from our seats.

$42 worth of light up toys that by the end they said they didn't want. Luckily they let you exchange things so I let them pick out new things on our way out. Jackson got a Buzz gun that was half the price of the light up toy and Maddie got a Woody pendant that was a quarter the cost of her light up toy!

I took all of these pictures with my 50mm lens. I was loving how close we were.

When the characters would sit on the side of the ice while others were performing they would turn around and wave at the kids and even touch the ones in the front row. They were SO excited when Barbie waved at them!

The show was fantastic and Maddie cried when it was over. I must admit I had a tear in my eye too.

New windows and lightning and school pictures

2011-03-01T08:05:00.003-05:00

It's time for some construction on our old house. My parents bought us windows for the playroom for Christmas so my dad came over a couple weeks ago to take out the old ones and put in the new ones.

Maddie was serenading Grandpa while he worked on the scaffolding outside.

He got the new window in pretty quick and went home.

Unfortunately after sleeping on it he couldn't continue putting in new windows without replacing the 211 year old sheathing that was rotting underneath the siding.

So the sheathing came off, the new window came out, the new sheathing went on and the new window was put back in. This is where we stand today. The second window still needs to be cut out of the green part and put in.

All this time we've had a whole lot of playroom items in our teeny tiny living room. It's not pretty.

One night a week or so ago we had a mad thunder storm. I took some video out of the window. I was surprised to find some bolts in the frames!

The kids had school picture day a couple of weeks ago. As much as I hate school pictures I was excited about them getting them. I think it's a neat thing to have from year to year. Plus I think the class picture is so much fun to look at when you're a grown up :-)

Within a week the packages were returned to school. I was shocked at the speed and was very pleased with how they came out. I was really worried they would have goofy faces. Although the class picture wasn't as good of them.

Random stuff

2011-02-28T16:15:00.002-05:00

Here's the girl kitty basking in the sun during this long cold winter.

My boy's eye lashes

The kids handed out their first valentine's cards at school. Madison signed her name in all of them and Jackson decorated the inside.

Jackson impressed me and tried to copy the names on the labels. I didn't know he could do that! Sarah is his girlfriend. There was a girl named Emily in their gymnastics class who he said he wanted to be his girlfriend instead but he and Sarah seem to be back together now that gymnastics is over.

Madison wrote all of the names on the envelopes. She talks mostly about Chloe and Mai when she talks about school. Although she really doesn't talk that much about it unless I ask.

And here is Jackson writing his name for the first time!

Remember me?

2011-02-28T08:56:00.003-05:00

OH my poor children. I'm just so far behind! These pictures are from a month ago. For those of you not from around here we have had an insane winter. I can't remember exactly now but I think there were 5 major storms in 5 consecutive weeks. We generally get one or two major storms in a year! The days the storms fell on we only missed one day of school (they're only in school on Tuesday and Thursday) and one day of dance class though.

So here are some photos from after one of the storms.

Chris was throwing them in the air into the snow. They loved it!!

This is our patio table.

We're really hoping the snow is done for this year!!!

Kerry Lynn

Reading to Kindergarten

The best and the worst

Darth Vader the ballet

Another birthday party

Christmas Eve 2011

Birthday party for Noah

The finished product. The best tasting food I have ever made!

Cooking

Sleepover with Noah

Laughing

Never too old to dance!

Jumping in the leaves

Maddie dancing

Crazy kids

Wedding/Reunion

More videos

Some videos

Files

Random photos

Beginning of December 2011

Maddie decided she could skate the other day

Thanksgiving 2011

Continued...

Aunt Judy's 70th birthday party

Kaz/Vicks sponsored event

Bruins extra

Bruins 2011

Holiday card photo shoot 2011

Halloween take 2

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Winner!!!!

Radio City Spectacular at the Wang Theater

Numbers

Halloween 2011

EEEKK!!!

Running

Friends

Running

1000th post

Topsfield Fair 2011

Files

Marini Farm

September Fun

Spring/Summer in iPhone photos

August fun

Firework photos

Teacher conference 10/2011

July Fun

More June fun

Fiesta 2011

Running

Hasbro Details

Modeling jobs

Marini Farm Fun

Good Harbor Beach

Wells Beach/York Animal Kingdom

Why?

Jackson

Madison

Jackson got a job!!

Another job

Maddie got the Hasbro job!!

Madison and Jackson take the stage!

New cousin for Madison and Jackson

Playing around

A typical, funny conversation between the three of us

Driving range

Just a sweet picture of Maddie

Modeling

Easter!

Random stuff

My poor neglected blog

Bowling

Dance class

Random iphone photos

Grandma and Grandpa's

Visiting with Jen and Major

First swim lesson

Minnie Mouse, Gigi's birthday party, and random pictures