Happy Mother's Day!!

To our friends and family who are moms - hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day! Here are a couple of pictures of the kids today in Boston and at the aquarium. They were extremely sweet and made my day very special.

Sophia was clapping at the harbor seals as they swam by!

Ev actually got to touch a stingray (I did too - very slimy!!)

Baseball Opening Weekend!

Here are few pictures from Holden Baseball Opening Weekend...including the big parade and opening ceremony and Ev's first game and first "at bat" of the season!

April Vacation

Visiting Auntie Kelsey at Quinnipiac

Playing at Elm Park

Ev and Rileigh on the rock wall at the Ecotarium

Sophia and her BFF Kaelyn at the Ecotarium

Ev and Rileigh being silly at the Ecotarium

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to our friends and family! The kids had a great day today - it started rather early though...Ev was up at 5:30am - he was definitely the most excited we have ever seen him for the Easter Bunny's arrival this year - prime age I guess! He was good though - he waited in his room, and was so cute singing to himself, trying to keep busy...Sophia awoke around 6:15 and we all went downstairs to find that the Easter Bunny had, in fact, visited our house, left some treats, and hid lots of eggs! Sophia was most excited about her chocolate bunny in her basket and her little Ariel princess doll. Evan was more excited to find eggs. The kids got all fancied up for church and actually did quite well sitting in church with us this year. We then headed to Nana's house for a lovely brunch and another Easter egg hunt. That Easter Bunny was quite clever and crafty this year with his hiding places. He also took on a healthier approach which surprisingly got rave reviews from the kids - lots of goldfish, raisins, bunny grahams in the eggs as opposed to all candy. (wasn't sure how that was going to go over but they liked that stuff more than the chocolate and jelly beans!!!) We got lots of pictures and actually managed to get a couple where both kids were looking at the camera and smiling! I realized this weekend how important this blog is to me. I went looking for last year's Easter pictures to show the kids how much they had changed and realized that I didn't put any pictures or video on the blog last year at Easter :( We did find lots of other blog posts, pictures and videos from this time last year and had a lot of fun looking back and seeing how much everyone had changed...so my new resolution is to get back into blogging! We hope our family across the miles had a Happy and Blessed Easter!

Sophia had her last dance class this morning although we will be signing up for the next session which starts up again in 2 weeks. It is a little "Mommy and Me" class with lots of music, intro to ballet and tap steps, parachutes, bean bags and stretching exercises. She loves it! I think she likes dressing up in the dance attire and tap shoes the most! And she has met two little girls that will be in her pre-school class in the fall. She was so excited to get a ribbon and a ballerina stamp today. I brought my camera this morning and was able to get a little video - which made Evan SO happy because he has been upset that he always has to go to school on the mornings that Sophia has dance class!

Sophia's First Day of School!

Sophia started "school" this morning! I am going to be working in the office starting next week, covering for a maternity leave for 3 months. Sophia will be going to Wonder Years Learning Center 3 mornings a week while I am working - this is the same place Evan started at when he was 2.9 while I was working. I started her two mornings this week so that she can get used to it. And I had a whopping 2.5 hours in the house to myself this morning - it was heavenly! It went by way too fast though...just enough time to get in an hour's work out, start a load of laundry and tidy up a bit. Sophia didn't cry at all, although she clung to me and resisted me leaving. The teacher held her while she waved at me out the window. They said she was very quiet and didn't speak at all...wouldn't join circle time...stood off to the side (gee, does this sound familiar??? Evan all over again!) She played nicely by herself, played outside and when I went in for pick-up she was having a little snack with another little girl. She seemed content enough and was thrilled when I told her she'd be going back again Wednesday! She told me all about circle time this afternoon and the songs they sang (as if she had participated!!) She is just like Ev - needs time to warm up and very shy around strangers. She will come around though, and probably quicker than her brother did. Yay Sophia! Here are a few pictures of the kids going off this morning.

Happy New Year!

For a change, we decided to take a little get-away to ring in 2012 this year. Jeff had some unused vacation points and we were able to get the last room available in the entire White Mountain area! Ironically, it was at the Snowy Owl Inn, Waterville Valley, which is adjacent to the Golden Eagle Lodge which is where Meg and I vacationed with our mother for many years in our late teens/early 20's! What a great location! Once we arrived, we never had to use our car again until we checked out of the Inn. The Waterville Valley town square was right outside our hotel, which was home to many shops, restaurants and activities. We had a fun-packed two and a half days of swimming (indoors!), hiking, eating and relaxing. On New Years Eve we took a sleigh ride and there were fantastic fireworks right in the town square. The kids had so much fun - they immediately started jumping on the beds when we arrived (Evan has always done that when we have stayed in a hotel...he goes straight for the bed and starts jumping!) Sophia made a new best friend (it was a stuffed snowman in the lobby that she was obsessed with! Every time we passed by she had to stop and gives lots of hugs...so cute!) It was just so nice to get away from the never-ending household chores and daily routines. It was a great way to end 2011 and begin a new year year. We hope 2012 brings good health and happiness to our family and friends!

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year - the kids must have been on Santa's "good list" because they got lots of neat toys that they have been playing with all week. Evan's big present from Santa was a drum set (and Mommy and Daddy got earplugs in our stockings!) He was thrilled! He has asked for a drum set for two years in a row from Santa and the look on his face that morning was priceless! And it really isn't as loud as you would expect - we have already gotten used to it, and of course it came with rules...no drumming while Sophia's napping etc...or else it goes back to the North Pole! Santa recognized that Evan really does have talent and decided to trade in those empty Folgers coffee cans for a real set this year! Sophia was absolutely in princess land - she got a chest full of princess dress-up clothes and shoes from Santa and Evan gave her a baby Cinderella doll and some princess puzzles. She immediately got dressed up as Cinderella and didn't take the clothes off the entire day. The other big gift that the kids got this year was a homemade puppet theater! This has been a huge hit this past week - among Jeff's many talents which always cease to amaze me - he is an awesome puppeteer!! Really! He has had me mesmerized by some of his creative puppet shows, and the kids are loving it! And Jeff actually made the theater out of scrap wood at work and spent the last two weeks before Christmas painting and decorating it every night. It came out amazing! Mommy and Daddy had a light Christmas since we bought each other a new car this fall, although Jeff did surprise me with a new camera. We are getting used to it - it is a bit fancier than our little pocket camera so we are trying to adjust settings etc...to get better pictures. It is taking some time - we have had lots of blurry and dark photos, but I think we got a few good ones from Christmas.

Cousins Arrive!

The kids have been having so much fun with their cousins Emilia and Jack since they arrived from England last weekend. Sophia and Emilia are two peas in a pod cooking in the kitchen, coloring, and playing with the "Little People". And Evan couldn't be more into Jack....and Jack seems to enjoy Ev's company too! Ev has been so cute - rubbing Jack's head and snuggling with him any chance he gets. We are really enjoying our time together so far, and the best part is that they are here for another 3 weeks! We are so lucky to have this bonding time together! I'm sure there will be plenty more pictures to come but here are a few favorites so far!

Happy Halloween!