Biker Chicks - The Next Generation

I'm fortunate to have met some really great women during my time in Massachusetts. Many of my m more recent friend acquisitions are parents of my kids friends, as tens to happen during this phase of life.  However, I have some great pre-kid friends who have endured through our changing phases of life.  We've shared weddings, funerals, pregnancies and parenting, not to mention to mention job changes, new houses, and looking further back, countless first dates before some of us landed on "the one"   These were the ladies I hiked and biked and camped and triathlon'ed and centuried with - back when we all had time for such frivolity!  We all hope that one day again soon this will be a regular part of our lives!

The down side, of course, is that life is such that we don't live close enough to get together frequently, though we do manage to get together several times a year - without kids or husbands - and we have a standing playdate for a long weekend in October.  This year, we were able to get together, WITH our kids and husbands (and a new love interest for one!)   Matt and I were happy to host, and the house worked out just great for this size crowd.  The coolest thing was that the kids, even though they see each other 2-3x per year, were very excited to see one another and had a blast!

Emily, Laurel and Norah are fast friends... Roddie is a little wired on chocolate!

Claire, Jason, Roddie, Laurel, Norah and Emily watching a movie

I guess it was funny... Claire, Jason, Roddie, Laurel, Norah

Biker Kids, the Next Generation!

The Great Mitten Match Up of 2014!!!

When the weather turned cold, we started to dig into the bin of hats and mitts.  Every morning, there was a crisis over matching mitts.  Then, there was the issue of whether there were any that fit or not.  I bought a few pairs and they just went into the abyss!  before I bought any more, I needed to get a handle on what we actually had already - so I pitched the idea of "The Great Mitten Match-Up of 2014!" to the kids.  They loved it.  To the point that they were obsessed with it for the few days it took us to actually do it.  

So, one Wednesday night, when Matt was at a meeting, we threw all the hats and mitts in a big pile and matched them all up!  It was more fun than it sounds, and now I know for certain that I really don't need to get any more mittens!!  We threw some in the wash and matched up pretty much all of them, picked out a few that were too small.  I think it has the making of an annual affair :)

Adventure Chronicles: Mid Week Fishin' Fun

Matt called me around 4:00 yesterday, saying he was leaving work.  this is early for him, but I guess it wa prom night at the school he's working on, so it was best just to get outta town.  He wanted us to go somewhere, but he was being kind of vague out his plans.  Turns out it was a great plan, how can one argue with this:

He went home and packed up a dinner for all of us, and then took the kids fishing at a local conservation area.  I joined them as soon as I got home and enjoyed a few (tall?) tales about what they had caught before breaking for dinner.

The great thing about this fishing hole is that the fish are plentiful and easy to catch.  I guess Roddie actually did catch a bass of some sort that was a good size, though the majority of the kits were small bluefish called sunnies.

Both Rod and Norah seemed pretty into the whole enterprise, no doubt supported by actually catching fish! It was field day at Norah's school, so she's got a kitty-cat face paint job on, which I think really enhanced the whole fishing experience.

We made it back home before dark and before anyone had a meltdown, though we were cutting it close. It's been a long time since we've felt like we've been living life and not a slave to the house in one way or another.  I joke that we have PTSD from the whole experience, which isn't that far from the truth.  It feels like this spring, we're finally getting back to normal... with 2 kids and 2 working parents, normal is busy enough, but it includes things like fishing (on his own and with the kids) more already this year than in the past couple combined, and we're gearing up for a fun summer!

2014 Apple Blossom Festival

I woke up around 6:00 am on Saturday morning to the pouring, driving rain.  The first thing that popped into my mind was "oh crap!"  Normally a morning like that would be perfect to sleep late, snuggle with the kids and drink coffee with a book.  However, this day we had big plans that included a parade, a soccer game and, oh.. about 30 people coming to our house for a party!  Thankfully, the sun came out moments before the parade started and it turned out to be a beautiful day!  Best of all, for us party planners, the game was rescheduled because the fields were wet!

Our town's annual festival happens in May, to celebrate the blossoming of apple trees, apparently.  I guess there are a lot of orchards in town and probably there used to be a lot more, so I suppose it makes sense. The festival consists of a fair, a parade, which seemingly every kid in town marches in, and of course, the crowning of the apple blossom queen.  Norah, thought, for a short while on Friday, that she was in the running for queen, but didn't see too upset when she realized it was a high school girl.

Each year since we've moved here, we've gone to the parade with our friend Megan, who used to live across the street.  In fact Megan has lived on our street for most of her life, and is a true townie.  Well this year, thanks to Kindergarten, Sunday School and the neighborhood, I knew more people at and in the parade than Megan did... we could be on our way to becoming townies :)

The town soccer kids (and baseball kids, and lacrosse kids, and hockey kids) all march in the parade, and toss candies to the (few?) kids who aren't marching.  Norah was really into it!

Turned out every family showed up for the party!  All of our usual suspects, who have been coming to these get togethers since the big kids were toddlers, plus two additional families who have moved in over the past year or so, both with daughters in Norah's class.   It was the first time we've had the friends from the hood over since the house was done, so it was also our chance to show everyone the house.   Last year, we got a cool picture of all the kids this time of year, so I wanted to try to make it an annual thing.  I wasn't able to get them to line up (halloooo 17 kids line up in front of a swingset??  What was I thinking)  Anyway, they're not lined up, but the picture turned out pretty cool!

(L-R) there's Evie (5), Lauren (5), Allie (almost 5), Connor (5), Cameron (just 5 this week!), Delaney (6), Norah (6), Kayla (6), Kaila (6), Roddie (soon to be 4), Leilani (6), Cameron (7), Connor (7) and Courtney (almost 2).  Missing Genevieve & Sarah (almost 2) who were about at their limit by photo time!

Family Fun: Selfies

Another one of Norah's snow day projects required a couple of pictures.  So we went with Boy/Girl Family selfies... I think they were cool so here they are

Family Fun: My snow angels

There has been lots of snow this winter, but also a lot of extreme cold.  So, while we love the outdoors we haven't had all THAT many opportunities to play outside.  So, when Matt called me on the way home from work the other night and suggested we make use of the floodlights in the backyard to play outside, I only hesitated for a minute (are you crazy???) before responding with , "I'm In"    I think the kids thought we were joking, but we had a good time out there in the cold and dark.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013!

It's been a quiet Christmas here in the new house, as quiet as can be expected with two kids under 6 that is!  Turns out, "not quite 6" is a fantastic age at Christmas time!   Norah both fully believes in Santa and fully understands that he brings good stuff, and I really feel like we got to experience the magic of Christmas in her eyes.  Roddie enjoyed the festivities as well, of course, but I don't think he was nearly as excited as Norah was.  We went to "midnight" mass at 8:00 last night and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open until the end.  Norah was very literally flitting about, she was so excited.  It was her who stayed up "late" to hang the stockings and set up the snacks for Santa and the gang.

We had a nice mix of secular and religious Christmas excitement - they were pretty excited to see that the Baby Jesus had arrived in the manger at church when we got there, and - at Norah's suggestion - we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus before we began opening our gifts.  Mind you, once that was done, it was hard to slow her down as she tore her way through her gifts!  Roddie, as always, was a little more methodical, stopping to play with each gift before moving on to open the next - much to his sister's frustration.  

They slept in until their usual wake-up time of about 7 this morning and were content with a family Christmas snuggle in our room for about a half hour before Norah exclaimed, "We almost forgot to open presents!"  

Santa hit the nail on the head with Rainbow Looms and a faux "American Girl" doll for Norah.  Roddie was pretty pleased with his Imaginext town and keyboard. 

Ready to head to Mass

BFF's forever!

My handsome boy

My beautiful girl

My loves, my family

Family shot, Merry Christmas!

Laying out the goods for Santa

... hung by the chimney with care!

Our musician, playing a tune

Yeah, that's right, they are sharing!

Adventure Chronicles: Family Fun Day - Boston!

I've been itching for a beach day, or more specifically a family fun day,  But between the house and the many many birthday parities we've been invited to lately, it's been tough to find a weekend to go.  In any case, we cleared our calendars for Saturday and plans were set.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't agree - it was exactly as the weatherman predicted - 80 and intermittent clouds.  So, we quickly regrouped, and decided to head into the "Big City" (Curious George reference), with no particular plan in mind.

Our adventure started off with a subway ride - turned out to be just about the highlight of the trip.  Then we wandered around the Common, saw a bubble man and took a ride on the Carousel.  Then we wandered over to the public gardens to check out all the places featured in Make Way for Ducklings.  By then, we were getting a little fried (especially since the kids were up late the night before at their first ever trip to the drive in!!) so we set out to find something to eat.  Our timing was bad, or at least the same as everyone else's as there was a line pretty much every place we tried, so we ended up eating hotdogs in Copley Square, which suited us just fine.

Of course, Copley Square is very near the site of the Boston Marathon bombing that took place earlier this year.  Norah was watching the marathon with me when it all started to happen, so she was aware of it, and we've talked about it on and off since then.  I decided I would tell her that this is where it had happened.  So as we waited for a light to change, I stopped and pointed and showed her, watching her reaction.  After we crossed, I stopped her again, and said maybe we should say a little prayer for the people who were hurt that day.  She looked at me, in a way only she can, and said "Mommy, I already did!  Over there when you showed me"  Of course, I teared up and thought to myself, that maybe, just maybe, we're doing ok with these kiddos!

 

Waiting for our train...

Checking out the Construction along the way

Quack, Quack, make way for ducklings!

Swan Boat Ride

Friday Night Family Fun

Over the past few years we've gotten to know a few families in our neighborhood with kids of similar age.  We get together from time to time (more often in the summer) for a little low key fun.  The fun has evolved as the kids have gotten older, and number of kids has increased over the time we've known each other, with the latest additions coming up on their first birthdays.  It's a good, easy going time and both kids and adults have a lot of fun.  It will be cool to see how this picture continues to evolve as the years go by... I'm sure the group will grow, but I wonder if there will be any more siblings, or just new friends?  My guess is only new friends, but we'll see!

 

 

Back, L-R: Genevieve (9mo, with Marsha), Courtney (9mo, with Megan) and Sarah (1y, with Lisa)

Front L-R: Allie (3.5), Leilani (almost 5), Erin (6), Roddie (2.5), Norah (5), Kayla (6), Connor (6), Lauren (3.5), Jack (5), Evie (4) and Connor (4)

Family Jam Band!

We've been working towards a big deadline at work this week, and I've been getting home a bit late - too late for supper, but still in time for bedtime and a little playing.  Last night, this is what I saw when I walked in:

Family Jam Band, MacSchweitzer style!


Now, it should be noted that I am not usually able to make it past the gate at the back door, never mind the living room, without the kids running and giving hugs and kisses (awesome, right?)  Both kids were playing a minimum of two instruments.. and someone was singing!

 

Of course I was sad that I was missing the fun, but within moments I had not hugs and kisses, but a tambourine and 2 shakers in my hands!  Good times.