Eva's Special Day

Today was a day Eva had been waiting for for a VERY long time. It was Eva's Special Day at Preschool.

One by one, she watched as each of her seven classmates celebrated their "Special Day" throughout the school year. Since she is the youngest in her class, and they loosely correlate with the student's birthday, Eva had to wait until the last few weeks of school. (Her real birthday isn't until June 28th!)

But it was worth the wait.

Last night she and I made frozen banana pops, her idea. We froze the bananas on popsicle sticks, dipped them in chocolate and then decorated them with rainbow sprinkles. She could barely wait until morning.

This morning, Amanda and Liam woke up at 6 am and went for a bike ride with Dave. I finally woke Eva up at 7 am, gently rubbing her back, and whispered,"E-vaaa... it's your Special Day!"

Her eyes slowly fluttered open... and when the realization hit, she sat bolt upright in bed and exclaimed,"I get to take my banana pops to school!"

The simple pleasures in a 3 year old's life.

I let her choose whatever outfit she wanted, and she smartly picked the flowered navy blue dress from Grandma Jo. (Good taste, Mom. She loves that dress so much!)

Then I swooped her bangs over and fastened them with two pretty barrettes... and, here's the clincher... I let her wear lip gloss.

Eva's favorite part of her Special Day was being able to take a treat for the class!

She was as happy as if she was preparing for a day at Disney World.

Once inside the classroom, her teacher placed a bright blue and yellow crown on her head, with her name and the number 4 in sparkly green glitter. I snapped a picture of her with her teacher before going on my merry way to the doctor for Liam's MMR shot. (Yuck.)


When she got home, she told us that the class sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she got to blow out a candle that was stuck into a mound of playdough.

"Because the candle wouldn't fit in my banana!" she explained.

On top of all that, her daily chore of the day was SONG. That might be her favorite chore to get, other than feeding the frogs.

After lunch, I took Amanda and Eva to the library and playground, where Eva insisted on wearing her Special Day crown. It was funny to hear people at the playground wishing her a happy birthday.

It was a good day for Eva, and I'll bet she's already thinking ahead to next year's Special Day... trying to decide what type of treat she'll bring for the class.

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

We had a really good Memorial Day weekend! It was filled with a combination of social gatherings, and various chores like yardwork, installing the air conditioners and setting up the kids' pools.

On Friday, Dave and I hired a babysitter so we could take a ride on the motorcycle. With the weather in the 80's, it was the perfect way to kick off the long weekend. We took the backroads to Norwell, and stopped off for an early dinner at our favorite new find. It's an Irish pub called The Tinker's Son, and the menu is filled with all sorts of authentic Irish food that we are eager to try. It will take numerous visits to work our way through the extensive menu.

We shared a generous garden salad and an order of corned beef hash cakes. I didn't think I'd like the hash cakes, but much to my surprise, they were similar to crab cakes! We dipped them in a Thousand Island type of dressing and they were perfect.

My entree was a fried fish sandwich (eh, so-so... I should have tried something more adventurous) and Dave got the same thing as last time: baked macaroni and cheese, made with blue cheese and mixed with slow cooked short ribs. This dish is to die for, although we both agreed that it would have been better in the winter rather than on an 80* summer afternoon!

* *
On Saturday morning, we made our annual trip to the fairgrounds for the Spring Pow Wow. We crowded into a hot teepee for Native American Storytelling, which all three of the kids got into this year. Liam was quite fond of the stuffed animal props they used, especially the bearskin and coyote hide. He "woofed" his way through many of the stories, and his enthusiasm seemed to give the storytellers a bit more energy since he was clearly enjoying their performance.

We then claimed our spot outside the perimeter of the performance circle, and ate our lunch while the Native Americans, dressed in full traditional costumes, performed various ceremonial dances.

Liam at his first Pow Wow

They made an announcement that photos and videos of the dancers were not allowed, since it was a sacred ceremony. However, there are plenty of pictures of the event at this site: http://nenewsimages.smugmug.com/Events/Pow-Wow-Marshfield-Fair/17291775_wcQZkG#1312579621_ZQ67766

After a few hours in the sun, Liam started to get antsy so we called it a day and headed home for his nap.

Later in the afternoon we went over to Kim & Eliana's for a backyard cookout. As usual, we had a fantastic time and they doted on our children. Liam had a fantastic time toddling around their yard while the girls and I played croquet, and Dave grilled. After our meal, Eliana brought out all of her manicure items and proceeded to paint the girls' fingernails and toenails. It was probably the happiest moment of their entire day.

Then the girls asked if they could paint Eliana's nails. What a treat that was! Thank goodness they were outside.


Next month, we are attending a SURPRISE 40th Anniversary Party for Kim and Eliana. In anticipation of that, I snapped this photo of them and will have it framed as a gift. (Also pictured in the photo is Kim's sister, whom the kids refer to as Aunt Jeannie.)


This morning we invited friends over to watch the Memorial Day Parade, which passes right in front of our house, and then makes its way across the street to Veterans Park for a ceremony.

**
On Sunday, our friends Kate & Ryan invited us over to their house on the lake for an afternoon of swimming, eating, and backyard games. It is a 10 mile drive, if you use the main roads. Dave decided to take the bike (with the girls in the bike trailer) and use backroads.


I arrived at the party after Liam's nap, and they still hadn't arrived. Since they had left 2 1/2 hours ago, I was starting to get a bit worried. Dave had called me when they were about 2/3 of the way there, so I expected us to arrive at about the same time. As the minutes ticked by, and I was unable to reach him via cell phone, I got more and more nervous.

Then our friends started to become concerned as well.

Finally, nearly 3 hours after they had left our house, they arrived at the party. Apparently Dave had taken a wrong turn and ended up in Plympton! Luckily he had his wallet and was able to stop off at a convenience store to buy the girls a Klondike ice cream bar!

The last time they had this party, we left the girls with a babysitter and rode the motorcycle over. None of our friends had kids then, so it was an "adults only" party.

The atmosphere this year was completely different! Since the last party, almost everyone there had become a parent for the first time. There were babies all over, all of them between 6-19 months old. Amanda and Eva were the oldest kids there, and they enjoyed playing with and "babysitting" the younger ones. The party was fun, but a bit chaotic trying to keep an eye on all three kids.


Dave and the girls ventured down the long steps into the lake and said the water was really warm. It was all fun... until Amanda came out of the lake with a bloody foot. She had stepped on something sharp and the blood was everywhere. The next day, I found a huge gash on Eva's foot as well!

Liam and I stayed in the yard, where the younger set had a pool party. At one point, we had 6 babies in the pool... boys wearing diapers, girls completely naked. The biggest challenge was keeping the kids from drinking the pool water, which probably was more like a "potty cocktail" by the time they were done. (There's a short video of this posted on my Facebook wall, taken by my friend Jennie.)

Liam and his girlfriends, drinking in the pool

**
On Monday, I attended an early morning Zumba/Toning class while Dave ran errands with the kids. Later in the morning, some friends came over to watch the parade with us. It was nice to get the old gang together again. (Amanda went to Preschool with Katelynn and Alex, when they were all just 3 years old.)

Liam, Katelynn, Amanda, Eva, Alex & Anna

It was a very short parade, just 15 minutes from start to finish, but the kids all enjoyed playing together before and afterward. And I am grateful that we only got about 6 pieces of candy tossed to us, because we are still eating Easter candy!

The afternoon was lovely and leisurely... sunny, hot and no plans for the remainder of the day. We had an evening cookout with Omi - chicken, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and rice.

There is an electricity in the air now, with the official start of summer just around the corner. Topless jeeps, with kayaks and surfboards strapped to the top. Music blaring from open windows. Motorcycle engines echoing from all around. The smell of cookouts in the air.

No doubt about it, we are approaching the best time of year in our little beach town, when the weather is finally warm enough for the beach and the tourists haven't yet arrived.

Which reminds me, I need to get over to Town Hall and buy a beach sticker ASAP!

Liam and the "bock"

Liam absolutely loves riding in the bike stroller.

Whenever he finds someone's helmet, he puts it on and very patiently tries to buckle the chin strap. Of course, this is very hard to do because he can't really see what he is doing, much less push hard enough to fasten the plastic latch.

But oh how he tries.

If he can't find a helmet, any old hat will do. He seems to know that when we're outside in the sun or in the bike stroller, we always wear a hat or helmet. Smart kid.

And he seems to equate wearing a hat with having fun.

Hat = Fun. Must find a hat ASAP.

Once he has found a hat and put it on, he will stand at the door and say "bock." Bock means bike, and he will repeat it over and over, louder and more adamantly each time.

Last weekend Dave took the girls out for a bike ride during Liam's nap. When Liam woke up, I took him outside in the yard to play. Shortly after we got outside, who should come around the corner but Dave and the girls.

Liam got very excited, thinking it was his turn for a ride. He put on a hat and crawled into the bike trailer. He tried to fasten his seat belt, but gave up. And there he waited... ever so patiently.

And then Dave started up the lawn mower and proceeded to mow the lawn, oblivious to what Liam was doing.

The look on Liam's face as he heard the mower and watched Dave mow was so sad. He seems not only sullen, but puzzled.

Watch for yourself.

And just for the record, Dave stopped mowing about five minutes later after I told him the story. Instead, I mowed the lawn... and he took all three kids to the playground - Amanda on the tandem, Liam and Eva in the bike trailer.

It was a perfect solution, one that made everyone happy.

13 Books Every Child Should Read

I received an email today from our local PBS television station with a link to 13 Classic Books Every Kid Should Read.

I consider my kids pretty well-read. I think we've probably read at least 50% of the books in our town's Children's Library, maybe more. I often put holds on books from other libraries if I receive a recommendation from my mom or one of the children's lit blogs that I follow.

So when I read through this list, I was surprised that we haven't read a single one of these. Granted, they are geared towards children older than mine. But out of the 13 books, I myself have only read ONE of them!

Homer Price. I can vividly remember reading that one summer. I had completely forgotten about it until I came across the title and picture of the book's cover. I never realized that it was by Robert McCloskey! I may have to dig that one up.

What do you think of this list? Are these really the top 13 Classic books?

http://www.ivillage.com/classic-books-every-kid-should-read/6-b-140252?nlcid=rd|05-26-2011|

A Day in Brimfield

Dave took a vacation day on Friday and we spent the day together as a family. Our destination was the Brimfield Antique Fair, which Dave used to do with his father when he was a kid, during his dad's antique vendor days.

Brimfield is about 2 hours west of us. Liam wanted no part of being in the van for that long, so we made a pitstop at a small park. We had fun exploring, walking over bridges and watching the rapids.

Looking for bugs

Peeking through the window of an old rock wall, with Daddy and Liam in the background

Liam was just happy to be outside and free from his carseat. Such a nature boy!

Shortly after we got back on the road, Liam fell asleep and we had a peaceful ride to Brimfield.

As we got out of the van, we realized that it was about 10-15* warmer than it was back home! I soon regretted wearing jeans, and wished I had changed into my "Plan B" outfit like the girls had!

Equipped with a stroller for Liam and the double bike stroller for the girls, we set off in search of treasures. I had no idea how big this antique show would be! It went on forever, on both sides of the road, for as far as you could see.

After a while, all of the booths looked the same. Tattered upholstered chairs with rips in the fabric, silver (tarnished) silverware, old comic books, dresser after dresser, and a million odds and ends. To be honest, it looked like a lot of junk to me. But the prices on some of the things were very expensive!

We were kind of looking for a birdbath for our new little birdwatching area, but not for $650! I found a magazine style rack that I thought would be great for Liam's picture books, at a bargain price of $10. But I didn't feel like carrying it around with us as we maneuvered through the crowds, pushing our somewhat cumbersome strollers.

The highlight of the day came right after lunch. We heard piano music in the distance and followed our ears. We found a vendor who had a few player pianos and the girls were absolutely mesmerized. They slowly walked up for a closer look, holding hands, and stood staring at the scrolling lyrics and funny looking paper. I explained how it worked and neither of them uttered a word for minutes.

And then, stacked on top of the piano, I spotted the other piano rolls. Amongst the Kenny Rogers and Honky Tonk rolls, I spotted Annie. I couldn't believe it!

I pointed it out to Dave, who immediately asked the vendor if he took requests. He said he would be happy to. I fished out a dollar bill and offered it to the man, asking for Annie.

He wouldn't accept the money, and instead told us to put it in Liam's piggy bank. He seemed rather pleased that the girls had taken such an interest in his booth.

As we thanked him and began to leave, he suggested that we get the girls a piano someday. That's when Dave told him I was a piano teacher and the girls had several pianos to choose from already.

After a few hours of walking around, the kids had had enough. It was getting hotter and the crowds of people were getting thicker.

My brain was suffering from sensory overload.

We met up with Grampy, who is visiting this week from Tennessee, and Uncle Jason for a quick chat. We bought a bag of $3 kettle corn just to quiet the kids on the long walk back to the car.

And that's when we stumbled upon the greatest treasure of the day: A Library Book & Bake Sale.

I bought a loaf of white bread, which turned out to be incredibly soft and tasty. Dave found a book he wanted to buy, so I started to browse. He informed that he needed to find a bathroom and asked that I hurry with my browsing. Ugh, that's the worst thing he could have said. How could I possibly hurry this along?

I grabbed a few Junie B Jones paperbacks for 50 cents a piece, and then read the sign.

Fill a Tote for $10.

Dave would just have to hold it a bit longer.

I started scanning the titles in superspeed fashion, pulling off books left and right and shoving them into my red cloth tote bag.

I found so many books that would be perfect for Amanda. Twelve volumes of The Boxcar Children. (We are almost finished with Book #3, The Yellow House Mystery.) The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Eleven Choose Your Own Adventure Books, which Dave and I both enjoyed as kids. Seven Magic Tree House books. And... five American Girl books, all about Kirsten, the Pioneer girl.

I couldn't wait to show Dave all of the treasures I had found!

All in all, I got 40 books AND a good quality cloth tote bag for $10.

That really made the entire day worth it for me.

After fighting our way through the Friday afternoon traffic, we stopped off for a dinner of hamburgers and salad. We ended our day at the playground, since we had promised the kids.

Another great day. We all slept well last night, tired from the adventure.

Taking the Time...

A paragraph that Dave had me read, regarding taking time to notice the happy moments.

"Vonnegut had two uncles, one bad and one good. We won’t talk about the bad uncle. But Uncle Alex, the good one, was an insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was honest and he was kind. He was well read. He was wise. If he had one consistent complaint, Vonnegut said, it was that people so seldom notice when they are happy. In the summertime, Vonnegut would sit with Uncle Alex under an apple tree drinking lemonade. They would talk about one thing and another. They would just let the conversation go where it would. And then suddenly Uncle Alex would interrupt the ambling discussion and say, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” So, says Vonnegut as he exited this world, “I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’” May you all find an Uncle Alex or Aunt Alexandra, sit under an apple tree, drink some lemonade, converse about this and that, and for goodness sake if happiness visits you, sit up and take notice."

Mother's Day

I had received explicit instructions last week from the girls, and I was not allowed to go into their backpacks. I heard Amanda telling Daddy that they had to give me breakfast in bed.

So this morning, Dave and the kids got things all prepared and when they were ready, they called me upstairs.

On the bed, they had an array of gifts and cards.


On the table next to the bed, there was an English muffin with peanut butter and a mug of coffee.

Amanda gave me a bag with a cute poem about "rest your head, don't cook, have breakfast in bed." Inside the decorated white paper bag, there was a Special K strawberry breakfast bar (quite tasty!) and a bag of Jasmine tea.

She had also decorated a small treasure box with colorful jewels, for me to hold all of my fancy jewelry. It was really cute!

Eva had painted a birdhouse (a bright construction worker orange, so the birds can't help but find it), with a poem about how her mom feeds her, shelters her, etc. just like a birdhouse does for a bird.

I also got an Olive Garden gift card and a gorgeous pair of blue topaz earrings, to match the necklace I received many years ago.

They couldn't wait to give me my gifts!

I think the most fun things I received, however, were the fill-in-the-blank letters that Dave did with the kids. One by one, he took them to a private room and had them fill in the blanks in their own words.

It's amazing how similar their answers are, when there is no way they could have heard what the other one answered! Dave was astounded and so was I.

Here is Amanda's:

And here is Eva's:

Dave kept asking what I wanted to do for Mother's Day and I couldn't really think of anything. We had gone for a motorcycle ride on Friday, and ended up at a cool little Irish place with really authentic Irish cuisine. And we had both gotten massages on Saturday morning, which was heavenly. Last night we had a backyard barbecue with friends and family.

The only things I could think of was that I wanted a clean house and a family picture in front of Dave's Father's Day cherry tree.

As it turns out, I got just that.

Dave spent most of the day putting up a big privacy fence while I cleaned, did laundry, organized and packed up all of the winter clothes. Dave apologized and said this wasn't the way Mother's Day was supposed to go, but in all honesty, I got what I wanted. Now I can relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor, and feel like I actually accomplished something!

The tree always blossoms just a few days before Mother's Day.

Look behind us and you can see the fence Dave put up today.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms, especially my own mom. No one compares to you, Mom. I love you!

Person of the Week

Amanda came home from school on Friday with big news. She finally gets to be Person of the Week in her Kindergarten class!

She has been waiting for this opportunity for a very long time. (There is only one other person who hasn't had their turn yet, and it's Om, the new boy who arrived just two weeks ago.)

According to Amanda, when you are Person of the Week, you get to wear a crown and a special badge. At the end of the week, you get to go to the principal's office, along with the classmate of your choice. The principal signs a page in their memory book and lets them choose a piece of candy.

Also, there is a special assignment: Create an All About Me poster.

This morning, Amanda will be presenting her poster to the class. She is really looking forward to that, as you can see by her expression in this photo that I took before she left.


Mom, I think you will get a kick out of this one.


My favorite cell in her poster is the one about her Velveteen Rabbit. (I could write a whole blog post about Olivia. This is the rabbit that was given to her when she was about 2 years old, from the Marshfield illustrator, Donna Green.)

Just like the story, Amanda keeps hoping that one day Olivia will become a real rabbit if she continues to love and take care of her. She'll sometimes say,"The pink on her nose is wearing off! I think she's becoming real!" Or, "Her whiskers are getting tattered! I think she's turning into a real rabbit!"


Amanda needs two things in order to go to sleep: her nighthat and Olivia.

One day, she insisted on taking Olivia to school to show her friends. I knew it was a bad idea, but she just wouldn't listen.

That night at bedtime, she couldn't find Olivia anywhere. We searched everywhere to no avail. She was distraught and nearly in hysterics. She sobbed and pleaded,"But Olivia NEEDS me! I'm her mama! She can't sleep without me!" I asked her if she left Olivia at school, but she didn't think she had.

As we were tucking her in, she suddenly popped up in bed and exclaimed,"I know where Olivia is! She's in the REFRIGERATOR!!!"

Sure enough, she had put Olivia in the fridge in her classroom, because apparently that's where all mamas store their babies. (???)

The next day, Amanda came home from school with Olivia and a story that she had written. It was all about Olivia and her overnight adventure at school. I wish I could find that.

Here she is after she got off the bus. (She was so excited that she forgot to take her coat off when she got to school, so she wore it all day with the badge attached.)

Our First Campfire

We have a small firepit in our backyard. It's nothing fancy, just a circle surrounded by medium sized stones. I don't think we've ever actually had a fire in it since the kids were born.

Eva constantly asks when we can have a campfire. And a campout. She is obsessed with roasting marshmallows and sleeping in a tent.

Last night Dave made hamburgers on the grill and when he was finished with the coals, he dumped them into the firepit for a quick and easy campfire.

While Dave took the girls around the yard, hunting for long roasting sticks, I gathered up graham crackers and marshmallows. (Instead of Hershey bars, we used chocolate coins that the Easter bunny had brought.)


Well, Eva was in heaven. The smile on her face says it all.


She was just sooo thrilled to be holding her stick over the fire. After about 30 seconds of holding her marshmallow 2 feet from the fire, she announced that her marshmallow was done and she was ready to eat it. We insisted that it wasn't quite done yet; it had to be brown.

But in typical Eva fashion, she refused. She wanted a "white marshmallow, not a burned one" and there was no convincing her otherwise. Although later on, I gave her a bite of my toasty brown one and I think she may have been swayed.

Amanda approved of her traditional s'more. Two thumbs up!

And what did Liam think of his first s'more? Well, I think he liked it...


Until he got the sticky mess all over his fingers, that is. Like his mama, he apparently does not like messes at all!

Sitting around the campfire was a nice relaxing end to our Saturday. I have a feeling we'll be doing this again soon. After all, we still have half a bag of marshmallows left, and you can bet Eva won't let us forget that.