. . . . . and the REST of April!

Life has been a bit crazy and hectic over the last few months, hence very little writing has been going on. Things have settled down a bit, knock on wood, so I thought I would get caught up as much as I can, starting with the rest of April.

Spring Break: We had been looking forward to Spring Break for quite a long time. Well at least it seemed that way. When you have experienced a New England Winter you will understand what I mean. Jonathan and the boys had been counting down the days, hours and minutes until the Red Sox were back in business, so we got some tickets and went to the game. It started out great. Isaac, Owen and I jumped on the T for a fun ride down to Fenway. We met up with Jonathan and headed over to the park. It felt so good to be back. I love Fenway Park! The smell of the freshly cut grass, the sound of the ball when it cracks against the bat for a home run. The roasted peanuts, sweet candy floss, Richie's Italian Slush and who can forget the Fenway Frank! We had just settled in when the heavens opened up and dumped tons of rain on us. After 1 1/2 hours of waiting the game was called, so we sloshed our way back to the T and went home. The good news is is that they rescheduled for the following afternoon. We had good luck this time just as the 7th inning was coming to a close the clouds started rolling in again. We headed out to miss the traffic and we missed the second down pour. The boys didn't mind much because we were headed to Cocoa Beach Water Resort. It is an indoor water park. We had heard good things about it so we thought that we would give it a try. We had a great time. The boys loved it and so did Jonathan and I. We played on the water slides, floated in the lazy river and relaxed in the hot tub. The best part was after a long hard day of running up and sliding down water slides we got to go up stairs to a nice warm comfortable bed and watch a movie. We wanted to stay longer, but we all have to come back to reality sooner or later.

Butler Elementary Art Show: Every year the PTA sponsors an Art Show for the students to display their creative side. This year was no exception. The kids did such a good job. It was great to see so many different types of art as well as interpretations. Isaac worked really hard on his water color piece and his sculpture. His class talked quite a bit about themselves this year, talking about their likes and dislikes. The differences in their skin color, eye color and hair color. As a result Isaac decided to do a self portrait. I thought that he did a pretty good job. He was a bit upset at the way the mouth turned out on the painting, but that was my fault because I didn't have any paint brushes that were fine enough to make his smile. The poor kid had to use a big bulky brush. Other than that he had a good time creating. After we finished up looking at every ones art, it was craft time. The boys had fun at each of the tables. Owen keeps asking when he gets to go to school and do everything that Isaac gets to do. I just keep telling him soon Owie, soon.

Piano: Isaac started taking piano this last Fall from our good friend Ryan Murphy. I was so excited when Ryan had an opening because I knew what an amazing teacher he is and I wanted Isaac to have a positive experience learning the piano. Isaac has ALWAYS loved music. Even when he was in my tummy, when I would sing to him, he would poke his little fist into my side to let me know he liked it. I believe that there are people who hear music and those that feel it. I love to watch him listen to music because Isaac is a feeler. His body can't sit still when music is being played. Now for the SAD news. Ryan dropped the two sided bomb on us. He had gotten a job as the Assistant Director for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (amazing, great and wonderful news. I was soooo happy for him) and they were moving to Utah (sad, troubling and depressing news. I dislike having good friends move away and I have to find a new piano teacher for Isaac.) Isaac was sad too because he loved learning from him. I guess the good news is that we can see him on T.V. at least two times a year.

Jonathan and I also celebrated our 12th Anniversary in April. Neither of us can remember what we did, we can't claim that we got drunk and don't remember, so I guess we just have to own up to the fact that we are getting older. Maybe we went to dinner?! How depressing is that. Maybe once the Ph.D. is over we will get our brains back. Here's to hopen'.

Easter!

I know, I know! this is late and that I haven't blogged about Owen's 4th birthday. I'll blog about Owen when we have his party. It seems that life has its own time frame and I tend to always be one step behind.

Easter was such a great Holiday this year. For me it was because we had General Conference the week before and I was still on a spiritual high from all of the amazing talks that were given.

We do all of the commercial Holiday stuff on Saturday, that way we can focus on the true meaning of Easter on Sunday, so our celebration started on a rainy Saturday morning. We took the boys over to Shaw's Super Market, for their Annual Easter Egg Hunt. They were so excited it was hard for them to contain themselves, but they tried really hard.

Owen's age group got to go first. There were about 5 little kids and over 300 eggs to be found!! Needless to say they all scored big time. Owen was so overwhelmed by all of the eggs that he found he kept saying: "mom, what am I going to do with all of these eggs?" "I am going to have so much candy my tummy will be hurt." Isaac was beside himself of course because he could see all of the eggs, so he ended up going on a walk around the store with Jonathan so that Owen could find the eggs by himself. He was a good little hunter. He kept saying "mom I am going to be a spy, like in my 'I SPY' game." He was a great little detective. In the end I think he found about 45 eggs.

Isaac's hunt started shortly after Owen's was finished. He was the only person there until the very last minute then 2 little girls showed up. I think that he was a bit bummed because he wanted to find both of the golden eggs so that he could give Owen one of the prizes. How sweet is that. He is always looking out for Owen, OK maybe not always, but most of the time. Isaac was like a mad man looking for the "Golden Eggs". He wanted to find one so badly. I mean really when you are a 6 year old little boy you can't be out smarted by a little girl. We had to keep telling him that even if he didn't find one of the golden eggs that he had some great treats and that hunting for the eggs was the real fun. But the poor kid got my one track mind and was not to be detoured from finding an egg. As to not keep you in suspense!!! This story does have a happy ending! He found one of the "Golden Eggs" behind a can of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes. It was well earned because it seemed like it took forever to find it. He also found about 75 other eggs full of candy. After pictures with the "Golden Egg" he was off to choose his prize. He chose the "Incredibles" DVD so that he and Owen could both share it. But we were not to be confused that this was his very own DVD and he could watch it whenever he wanted to and he didn't have to ask. Yeah, right like that was ever going to happen, poor little tyke his heart was crushed when we told him that no matter who's DVD it is mommy and daddy own the DVD player and t.v. so he always has to ask before he can watch it. Ahh, the days of independence are ever drawing near.

After the Hunt, Isaac had a Master's Piano Class. I will blog about that later, but while we were gone the "Easter Bunny" came and dropped off their Easter Baskets. When we got home they were beside themselves with joy to see the candy and games that they got and then to our suprise there was a box at the door from Nana and Papa filled with stuffed animals and a few little treats. (Thank You Nana and Papa, we know how busy you are and we appreciate all of the time and love that went into the gift box!!) Don't worry I didn't let them eat ALL of the candy that they had obtained. I took pretty much all of the candy from the hunt and bagged it in little cute flower bags for my nursery kids at church. It was awesome I love killing two birds with one stone. I got rid of a ton of candy and made my little munchkins happy at church.

Sunday was a good day. We woke up and made a wonderfully yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and orange juice, then we got ready for church. Jonathan and I sang in the Easter Program. The songs that Teresa (choir director) chose were very much inspired. I think that a lot of us needed to hear the message that they spoke. It was quite powerful and we received quite a few compliments. The boys did a great job sitting in the pews. I looked over a couple of times and saw them conducting us. It was quite funny. After church we had dinner over at Andrew and Rebekah's house. Which was so yummy. We all brought something to share. Our contribution was Sweet Corn Bread, Creamy Mushroom Rice, Granny B's Sugar Cookies, and Homemade Almond Marshmallows Dipped in Milk Chocolate Gnash. (I am never going to get this last 15 pounds off of me!!) It was fun to hang out with family and enjoy the holiday. I love to celebrate Christ centered holidays, sometimes it is hard to keep Christ centered in the day to day of everything, so it is wonderful to have the holiday to bring him back to the center of daily life. We hope that you all had a beautiful and peaceful Easter Holiday.

So Much for Knocking on Wood!!

A few weeks ago I was talking with one of my girlfriends about the fact that boys tend to play hard with their wrestling, karate stunts, jumping off of high places and anything else they try to experiment with. I also commented on how I was surprised that Isaac and Owen hadn't had any broken bones from all of their stunts. I even knocked on wood as not to jinx myself. A lot of good that did me because a couple of weeks later I hear a deadly cry coming from Owen and sure enough he and Isaac had managed to break his foot on the side of the couch in the living room. The poor little guy was so sad and in a lot of pain. He was a real trooper while getting his cast on. Everything was new and he was a bit nervous about what the Dr. was doing to his foot and leg, but he kept a stiff upper lip through the whole ordeal. The best part for him was when he got to see his bones in his x-ray. Later that night we all decorated and signed his cast. It made a long day a bit more happy! :)

Christmas and New Year!

Our Holiday Season was jam packed with fun and excitement. On Thursday the 18th, Bekah and Scott along with the Reagster showed up before the Nor Easter could hit. The next day on the 19th my dad and step mom Rita flew in. We were lucky that their flight out of S.L.C was in the morning, because by the time they got here we already had 4 inches of snow with another 10 on its way. We all made it home safe and sound, where it was warm and cozy. It is also where we stayed until Monday the 22nd.


After digging ourselves out of all the snow and packing up the car Monday morning, we headed up to Vermont to go skiing at Jay Peak. It was so beautiful and the snow was amazing! It was also extremely cold!! We had to keep all of our skin covered so it wouldn't freeze and fall off. We rented this great condo. I was surprised at how nice it was. We all got settled in while Rita made her famous potato and cheese soup for dinner, along with grilled cheese sandwhiches, it was very yummy. We started to get ready for bed and realized that it was getting really cold in the house, come to find out the pilot light had been blown out by the high winds, we got the pilot light going again and we were toasty warm the rest of the night.

The next morning we got up nice and early so we could be first in line for the lift and to put the boys in ski school. Bekah and Scott came along for the fun, but Dad, Rita and the Reagster stayed behind in the warmth of the condo. Reagan had been sick earlier in the week and we all had gotten or were getting a touch of what he had. It would have been a great site to see my dad on skis. None the less this was Bekah's first time on skies and we had fun remembering what it was like for us our first time down the mountain. Bekah did great after a bit of coaching from Scott and in time she will be a pro. Isaac and Owen had fun in ski school, Isaac more than Owen I am afraid. Isaac was plowing down the mountain and beating me on his second time down. He loves to ski. Owen didn't like ski school so much because I wasn't there with him, but as soon as I started taking him down the "Bunny Hill" he was in heaven. It scared me a bit to see how much he loves the speed. He didn't want me to stop him, so I had to explain to him that if I didn't stop him, then he was going to crash into every ones skies at the bottom of the hill. I think he understood after that because he didn't get so upset when I jumped in front of him to stop. Jonathan and I had fun making our way down the mountain while the boys were in ski school. He was so sweet to go slower for me, because anyone that knows J knows that he LOVES to ski. We had some good laughs at a couple of my falls that I wasn't so graceful on. It was fun to just hang out for a couple of hours with out the boys. I could kick myself though because I forgot my camera at the condo. It was Owen's first time skiing as well as Bekah's!! Bekah forgot her camera too, so I guess I can't feel too bad. But I would love to have some photos of the day. After we had exhausted all of our energies and Scott's skies got stolen we called it a day and started our journey home. It seemed like it took forever. I was so sick from whatever Reagan had had. We stopped and I got some NyQuil to knock me out. I never fell a sleep, but it did help with the nausea.


Christmas Eve was pretty low key. We made "Ginger Bread Houses". They all turned out pretty cute. It was a fun lesson in team work. Maybe next year everyone will get their own. Later in the afternoon, we made a nice dinner and I got to use my new dishes to set the table. The menu was Ham, smashed potatoes, cranberry and almond stuffing, gravy, sweet corn, spinach salad and Strawberry-Kiwi punch with hot fudge brownie sundaes for desert. It was a good meal. Before the boys headed off to bed to dream of Santa and his reindeer, we read Luke Chapter 2. I love this tradition that we have, it helps to keep the true meaning of Christmas in place and not to get caught up in all of the commercial crap that is out there.



Christmas morning was fun. The boys woke up and climbed in our bed. We snuggled a bit and then we were off to take the traditional picture on the stairs. The boys were good and sat still for a couple of snaps, but that was about it, they were too excited to see what Santa had brought them. We spent the next hour or so opening gifts and giving hugs and kisses to say thank you. The rest of the day was awesome. I spent the whole day in my Pajamas watching movies and talking with family. It was a good day.

Our next event was the Boston Pops. The boys got to stay home with a babysitter and the adults got to have a night out. I love the Symphony and I love Christmas music so this event is one of my favorites of the year. It was also fun to go into the city and see all of the twinkle lights that were up. Keith Lockhart conducted and one of our friends was in the choir the music was fantastic and it was fun to be with family.

For one of the boys Christmas gifts we gave them a trip to Build-A-Bear workshop. The week after Christmas we drove to the Burlington Mall and spent the afternoon at Build-A-Bear. Isaac choose an Alaskan Husky later to be known as "Icy" and Owen chose a Turtle later to be known as "Fibby". Over the next hour and a half we stuffed, gave a heart, sewed up, fluffed (bathed), dressed and named the new best friends. Reagan got a puppy dog that he dressed in dental scrubs. It was so much fun to be able to watch them have so much fun. I love giving the boys experiences as appose to just gifts. They mean more to them and they remember the experience of being with us and having a fun day. We ended our trip at the food court so that we could regain our strength after such a long time in surgery. It is hard work creating a new best friend!! :)

For New Year's we had another HUGE snow storm, we got about 10 inches. Luckily Bekah and I made it to Costco for the celebration must haves before the sky opened up and dumped its contents on us and we had to stay in side off the roads. Don't let the fact that we were confined to our home make you think that we didn't have a great time. I will let the pictures speak for them selves. Yah, we are working on Jonathan's addition to sparkling cider. It has been a long road, but he seems to only fall off the wagon on New Year's Eve. We are grateful for all of your prayers on his behalf. I'll have to keep you posted on his recovery.

We were so sad to see all of our guests leave. We had a great time and it was fun to get to know Rita better. I think that it is safe to say that; "We love you Rita and are happy that you are apart of our family". We wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend. We started out at Jonathan's sisters house with fried turkey (Louisiana style), smashed potatoes, warm gravy, candied yams, green bean casserole, corn bread stuffing, tossed green salad, warm rolls from the oven, jell-0 salad, cherry pie, pumpkin pie, peach pie and apple pie. The food was delish and the company was fun.

Later that evening we left on our adventure to explore down town Boston with the boys. Jonathan booked us two nights at the Sheraton. We arrived in our room and it wasn't 30 seconds before the Tasmanian devils appeared. Clothes went flying all over and yells for swimming trunks came from my two little cyclones. Five minutes later they were out the door and on their way to the pool with daddy. I myself stayed behind for a little R&R since I did a lot of the baking for our Thanksgiving dinner. The next morning we headed out for some nutritious breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, then we hopped on the train to take the boys to the 3D version of BOLT. I wasn't too sure what I was going to think of it, but it turned out to be such a cute movie and the boys really enjoyed it. After the movie we decided to take a stab at ice skating on Frog Pond. Isaac was in heaven, it took him a few minutes to become stable, but once he did, he was flying all around we even had a race. Owen on the other hand preferred to have daddy hold onto him and drag him around in circles. He was a trooper. Maybe next year he will be more interested. For Jonathan it brought back all of his childhood memories of playing peewee hockey. As for me, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't fall and break anything. Once everyone had had their fill of the ice we headed back to the hotel to get warm in the hot tub, which is Owen's favorite place to be. I think I got him into the pool a total of 12 minutes. He is a lot like me that way. I love hot tubs and hot showers, even though they are bad for your skin. On the other hand Isaac had a great time swimming and jumping in the pool. I snapped this great picture of him in mid air. For dinner we headed out to the Cheese Cake Factory so that Jonathan could indulge in his favorite "Strawberry Cheese Cake". We tired the boys out so much that Owen fell asleep in my lap while eating his pizza. What a kid. The next morning we once again headed to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Can you tell that the boys were in charge of picking what they wanted. The joy of vacation!! When we were finished we decided that we couldn't leave with out getting a stuffed Lobster and Lobster shaped lollies for each of the boys. We took the train and bus home. It was great to have no worries or cares and just have fun with the boys.

When we arrived home we weren't finished yet. We jumped into the car and headed out to go "Christmas Tree Shopping". We drove over to Lexington to Four Season's. They always have really good trees for not a ton of $$$$. It took us 10 minutes to pick out the tree. It was amazing, we walked in and down one row. I turned and saw it leaning up against a line of trees. I walked over, stood it up and that was that. We put it on our cart and began the ceremonial journey to the cashier, chain saw, twine bin, and finally the top of our car. It was a glorious journey. And a wonderful family weekend.

Crimson Kids Halloween Party!

I think that I am the only person in the Blogging World that has not yet posted about Halloween, so here goes. We started off our Halloween celebrations by going to "The Crimson Kids Halloween Party" at HBS. It couldn't have been more fun for the boys. Most of you know that I am helping my sister-in-law out with her kids during the week, so I packed up an IRON MAN, an Incredible Hulk, a Clone Wars Storm Trooper, a Fuzzy Tree Frog and a Peapod. Lets just say I had my hands full with some very excited boys. When we arrived, we had pizza, fruit and veggies for dinner. Then it was off to painting pumpkins, fishing for prizes, playing super hero's out in the court yard, getting our pictures taken and visiting Daddy's/Uncle Johnny's office to see if he needed any protecting from the evil education wizard. It was quite the SUGAR High, but lots of fun.

On Halloween we headed up to Beacon Hill to do our Trick-or-treating. The boys were very excited because they got to ride on the T. We met Jonathan there, while we waited for him, I took a couple of pictures of the boys which I think turned out pretty funny. After we met up with Jonathan we decided to have dinner at Upper Crust for some most delicious pizza. We ran into the same couple that was dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible last year. I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a group picture again. Owen decided that he was going to be shy and not be in the picture. After a quick "Hey, How's it going", we made a date to meet again next year. It will be fun to see if we actually do run into them again. I am not sure that I would recognize them with out their masks on. Any how, we ended up at the Upper Crust and had some very delicious pizza, then we were on our way to meet up with the hoards of people that were out enjoying the ghoulish night air. The decorations were fun to see and we even ran into Sen. Kerry. He tends to only show up on election years. The other three years he had his assistant sit out on the steps and hand out the candy. No, he didn't have big candy bars like some people think he should, this year the spread was the little square packets of skittles. I have had quite a few people say: "You would think that the man could spring for some substantial sized candy with the amount of $$$ he has." I personally don't care one way or the other what size candy he chooses to give out, but I tend not to be too surprised by this actions seeings how during his race for the Senate he bagged on his components for the lack of charitable contributions they gave and when his financials were run he hadn't given one cent to any charity. What a guy!! But I digress, after our journey through the streets of Beacon Hill the boys' bags began to drag and Owen began his melt down, so we headed back to the warmth and comfort of our home.

Happy Birthday Babe!

What type of birthday party does every man in their 30ies want? A Lego Party of course!! Yes, I threw Jonathan a Surprise Lego Birthday Party, and I kept it a surprise, he had no idea. That was an accomplishment in and of itself for me. I don't think that I have ever kept anything from Jonathan for so long. It almost killed me to keep quiet about it.

I invited a few of his friends over to put together the Lego Mindstorm Robot. Isaac and Owen helped out a bit too until they realized that I had a huge pile of Lego's that they could make whatever they wanted. Lunch consisted of a 2 foot long sandwich that I whipped up, chips, and non other than fruit punch. My favorite was the cake. I thought that they turned out really cute. I know all of you manly men are thinking "cute" why would any man want a cute cake?? Well, that is a good question that I don't have an answer too, except that I don't think most men really care what the cake looks like, but more how it tastes. This one tasted pretty darn good. Homemade chocolate cake from scratch with homemade cream cheese frosting. Yummy, yummy good.

After the robot was mostly put together, we invited over the rest of the families for cake, good conversation and a test run demo of the Mindstorm. It was pretty cool watching the robot follow the commands. The best part was watching the kids react to the robot. I thought Isaac was going to jump out of his skin he was so excited. I wish I had a video of him trying to "YELL" the commands to the robot. At first he thought that he could just tell the robot what to do, but we had to explain to him that we had to program the robot with my computer. Children's minds are an amazing trip. The day turned out to be a success. Jonathan was surprised and everyone had a good time hanging out and enjoying each others company.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Clam Bake at Crane Beach

We had our Annual Church Clam Bake at Crane Beach this year. The past 10 years we have had it at Lake Cochituate, but this year we decided to go back to our roots and hold it at Crane Beach. I am so glad that we did. The beach was beautiful and so much fun. Isaac and Owen had a great time running around in the water and digging in the sand to make their Super Hero hideouts. Jonathan had a good time re-living his glory days by playing flag football with a bunch of the guys that showed up. I have to say it wasn't so much "Flag" as it was "Conquer and Tackle" I am just glad that we didn't have any broken bones this time!! I always love watching Jonathan play sports. He has so much talent, I wish that he had more time to play because he really enjoys the exercise and team work that sports bring. As for me I had a good time just catching up with a few of my girl friends. I feel like I am always on the go with an agenda, so when I get to just sit and shoot the breeze it is coveted time for me. I also had fun chasing the boys around by the water and throwing them in. They didn't think that it was very much fun when they hit the cold New England Atlantic Water, but once the shock wore off they would run out and try to get me wet. Isaac solidified his brotherhood with Owen by writing their names in the sand. It is official I have it documented on film for when they get older and want to dis own each other. The food was good, I just wish that I could have had some Lobster. If it weren't for the whole dieing thing I would have gotten one just for me. Oh well, I guess I will have to live vicariously through everyone else. It was such an amazing day spent relaxing with family and friends.

Rainy Day Chocolate Chip Cookies!

There is nothing better on a Rainy Day than curling up in a warm quilt with freshly baked Chocolate Chip Cookies. Which is precisely what the boys and I did today. It has been raining like cats and dogs and isn't scheduled to let up until Sunday so we warmed up our home and our hearts with my favorite C.C.C. recipe. If I wasn't so comfortable I would get you the recipe so that you could enjoy the warm goodness too, maybe later. Here's to the warmth and comfort of C.C.C. on a cold rainy day. Yummy, Yummy.

Liven' the Good Life at HBS!

Summer is officially over on the campus of HBS and School is in full swing. We had the "Fall Fling" which use to be the BIG FALL PARTY when Kim was around! The boys got their faces painted in very exciting characters, they both got balloon snakes made for them, which were so cute, they even had a tongue sticking out. Both Isaac and Owen stuffed their faces with heavily decorated sugar cookies (I seriously have never seen so much frosting on one cookie before in my life). Jonathan was in heaven when Isaac brought one over for him to eat. We ate our fair share of chicken fingers, pizza, veggies and dip and juice boxes. I got to see some of my friends from last year and catch up a bit in between "mommy I need this, or mommy I need that". We had a fun time. It is great to be back!!

Owen and I went to the Crimson Kids Fall Parade. It is so much fun. Last year both Isaac and Owen were able to go, but since Isaac is now an official full dayer at school. It was a mommy and Owen outing. We got to see old friends from last year and meet new ones. Owen helped me decorate his "Shrek" scooter with green and white streamers and a big green balloon. When we were finished decorating we headed over to the playground and had a good time on the swings, airplane seesaw, slides and everything else that was there. After a while on the playground we heard the melodious sound of the ice cream truck. Owen was so excited he started yelling "Mommy, we get ice cream, we get ice cream!!" at the top of his lungs. Needless to say he alerted all the other children and they ran over to the truck to commandeer there treats. Owen of course chose "Spider Man". I thought it a bit freaky with the white eye balls sicking out which were really gum balls, but he really enjoyed eating it as well as getting it all over his shirt and pants. When the treats were successfully consumed and safely tucked away in the toddler tummies, we paraded our magnificently decorated bikes and scooters all around campus for everyone to see. Owen and I broke rank and headed over to Jonathan's office to see how is day was going and to show him Owen's decorating job. I had a great time hangn' out with my little buddy.

First Day of School

I can't believe that school has once again begun. My babies are off cultivating their minds with letters, numbers and a plethora of significant knowledge that they will need later in their lives.

Isaac is having a great time in first grade his teacher is Mrs. Blanchard. She is very kind and loves her job. We have lucked out with teachers for Isaac, everyone of them has added to his curiosity for learning and have enriched his life. I am grateful to them for loving what they do and giving my little man the encouragement that he needs.

Owen on the other hand is just beginning his educational adventure and is loving it. One of my dear friends runs a little pre-k school on Fridays to teach letters and numbers to children that are getting ready to go to kindergarten. Even though Owen has two years before kindergarten she was nice enough to let him join this year. Ever since I picked him up on Friday afternoon he has been asking me when he gets to go back to Miss Mary's house.

I feel so blessed to have two amazing little boys that love to learn and invent new things. I am truly excited to see what they choose to become. I'll have to keep you posted . . . . Can you tell that we are TRUE Red Sox fans?????

North and South!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge sucker for a sappy love story, which is why Hannah suggested that I watch North and South. (Thank you Hannah) They also know that I LOVE Pride and Prejudice! Mr. Darcy is such a lovable character with his "faults that can't be laughed at" and he will always have a special place in my heart. But Mr. Thornton has captured another part of my heart. He shows his hard exterior, but his vulnerability is almost enough to make me cry. I just want to jump into the screen and tell him everything is going to be ok and that he will get Margaret in the end. I know, I know I need help. The great thing about love stories at least for me is that I fall in love with Jonathan all over again because I compare these characters to him and I always find the attributes in him that made me fall in love with him in the first place. The tenderness, patience, integrity, honesty, humor, soft kisses and passionate ones. I have so much to be thankful for in my husband. So I send out a thank you to Miss Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell for their talents of insights into the males psyche. I highly recommend watching this movie. Just make sure that you have your warm blanket or someone to snuggle with. Yep, it's that good. You can watch it on youtube if you don't want to wait to purchase it.