It's school vacation week. Again. If you're keeping track, here in the Northeast the kids have vacation at Christmas, again in February, and one last time in April. I would love to say that I enjoy school vacations, but I simply do not. I enjoy not having to rush out the door every morning to either drive Meg and Drew to school or get Meg on the bus, but that is where the enjoyment ends. Meg hates school vacations. She'd rather be at school. So she is miserable for days on end and drags the rest of us down. It's really hard to be cheerful when your child is screaming how much she hates being home with you.
Today on this Patriot's Day (a holiday only for people in Maine and Massachusetts), here are happy things that make me cheerful:
Coffee
My cell phone
Sharpies (and yes, I have almost every color imaginable)
My camera (Canon Rebel xsi DSLR)
Books
Clean laundry
Smiling kids
Big hugs
This blog
Scrapbooking (this is all I use)
Coffee
Did I mention coffee?
Do you have a list of happy things? I'd love to read about them!
Showing posts with label happy days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happy days. Show all posts
Monday, April 19, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Weekend happiness
Our weekend was busy but so nice. We spent Friday night and most of Saturday doing this:
That is the referee checking Meg's jersey number because she scored a GOAL!!! Three for the entire weekend!
My kid is so darn TALL!
The boy and his dad
He's finally got some speed
This photo of Annie cracks me up. She started jumping just as I took the photo!
It was a great weekend.
That is the referee checking Meg's jersey number because she scored a GOAL!!! Three for the entire weekend!
My kid is so darn TALL!
The boy and his dad
He's finally got some speedAnd then we got to do this because it was 50 degrees. In Maine. In Winter.
This photo of Annie cracks me up. She started jumping just as I took the photo!
It was a great weekend.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Extraordinary
Yesterday was just an ordinary Tuesday. We put Meg on the bus to go to school, puttered around, then headed to a friend's house for a playdate for a couple of hours. We came home, had lunch with Doug, and the kids played/whined/fought until we walked down to get Meg from the bus (a first since last fall). The late afternoon and early evening were a mixture of homework, piano practice, tv, dinner, reading. All the usual stuff.
In the mix of all that ordinary were tiny little extraordinary things that made me happy. Like Drew getting the girls boots and coats ready for them before we went to his friend's house and instead of yelling "no me do it MYSELF" they said "thank you Drewie". Like Annie running up to me later in the day, throwing her arms around me legs and saying "me love you Mama". Like Meg grabbing my hand and holding it the entire way home from the bus stop. Like watching all four kids run around like crazy fools after a bit too much Valentine candy after dinner.
Much of my time is spent dealing with the ordinary~cleaning cat boxes, doing laundry, refereeing fights, taking and picking children up from school. But when the little bits of extraordinary are thrown in there it adds a spark to my step and warmth to my heart. I wonder what extraordinary things today will bring?
In the mix of all that ordinary were tiny little extraordinary things that made me happy. Like Drew getting the girls boots and coats ready for them before we went to his friend's house and instead of yelling "no me do it MYSELF" they said "thank you Drewie". Like Annie running up to me later in the day, throwing her arms around me legs and saying "me love you Mama". Like Meg grabbing my hand and holding it the entire way home from the bus stop. Like watching all four kids run around like crazy fools after a bit too much Valentine candy after dinner.
Much of my time is spent dealing with the ordinary~cleaning cat boxes, doing laundry, refereeing fights, taking and picking children up from school. But when the little bits of extraordinary are thrown in there it adds a spark to my step and warmth to my heart. I wonder what extraordinary things today will bring?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Fall fun in photos
Saturday after Meg and Drew had hockey (oh yes, it's THAT time of year again) we went on a quest for pumpkins. I was hoping to find a pumpkin patch to avoid going to Pumpkin Land but even in the middle of farm country there were no pumpkin patches to be found. So we ended up at Pumpkin Land. It has moved from its previous location since we went two years ago and I was pleasantly surprised. The new location is bigger, so even though there were a gazillion people there on a gorgeous, mild Saturday afternoon, it didn't feel that crowded.
Before I post the photos, let me tell you about Izzie and her little photo spread. Izzie LOVES lambs and sheep. She sleeps with two pink "shaky" lambies, one of which is a little more loved than the other (so thank goodness she has two). She cries when she sees a sheep in a book. Her addiction is a bit much, but she's 2 1/2 so we'll just go with it. Annie and I came upon the sheep first in the barn, and she immediately whirled around and asked "where Izzie?" She KNEW that we had to get Izzie into the barn to see the sheep. You'll see why as you scroll down.
(I love this silo)
(I know it's blurry but she's so happy!)
(Yup, she KISSED it!)
(We rode a tractor pulled wagon down to the pumpkin patch)
My photos are unedited. If I had a good few hours, I'd upload them to my editing program, Memory Manager (it's a Creative Memories program) and really heighten the colors.
Before I post the photos, let me tell you about Izzie and her little photo spread. Izzie LOVES lambs and sheep. She sleeps with two pink "shaky" lambies, one of which is a little more loved than the other (so thank goodness she has two). She cries when she sees a sheep in a book. Her addiction is a bit much, but she's 2 1/2 so we'll just go with it. Annie and I came upon the sheep first in the barn, and she immediately whirled around and asked "where Izzie?" She KNEW that we had to get Izzie into the barn to see the sheep. You'll see why as you scroll down.
(I love this silo)
(I know it's blurry but she's so happy!)
(Yup, she KISSED it!)
(We rode a tractor pulled wagon down to the pumpkin patch)
My photos are unedited. If I had a good few hours, I'd upload them to my editing program, Memory Manager (it's a Creative Memories program) and really heighten the colors.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Lovely
Doug and I went on a date Friday night. Well, he was more like my driver since I can't drive whilst taking the Percocet. I got my MRI! From what he and I can tell, and this is not at all confirmed by my doctor, it looks like I have two or three herniated discs in my neck. I don't know where things go from here, although I do hope my doctor calls me today to confirm and give me some direction.
On Saturday though we did go on a real date. We split the kids up and left them with their grandparents and headed to New Hampshire for the day. If you're from around these parts, you know that North Conway has some great shopping, not to mention gorgeous scenery. We went here to buy school clothes for the kids. It's just about an hour drive from our home, so after delivering the kids to our parents, we headed out and arrived just at 12. We had a lovely lunch at Applebee's. It was so nice to eat HOT food and just chat. I got all confused and took a second dose of my Percocet when I was supposed to take the muscle relaxant so that made for some good laughs. We held hands, we picked out clothes for the kids, we laughed.
After a few hours of shopping, we left the shopping area and headed to our favorite restaurant, Flatbread Pizza. We always go to the one here in Portland, so we thought since we had a gift card we'd try out the one in North Conway. We got the WORST waitress in the world. Actually, she was quite pleasant but was definitely having a bad night. We were sitting close enough to the brick oven to watch the pizzas being made and could tell that ours wasn't cooking (it was a chicken BLT pizza with a small amount of ranch dressing). After awhile she came over and told us that she'd forgotten to put our order in, but that they were making it and we'd have it shortly. The pizza they delivered was NOT the pizza we ordered. They let us have it while they worked on making our correct pizza, and when they delivered the correct pizza, we got the wrong SIZE! Lucky for us, we weren't incredibly hungry, we didn't have kids to complain and we just had a good time laughing at the bumbling mess. We got our pizza for free! We saved our gift card and will use it another time.
Even though we spent our entire Saturday doing things for the kids, it was just so lovely to do it all without them. We get so hung up in being Mama and Dad that being Kristin and Doug gets shoved into the background more often than it should. It was so nice to reconnect and enjoy each other's company, when so often we're too tired to say more than "boo" to each other at night. A bonus for me was that I felt pretty decent most of the day so I was good company (I hope). I hope we can go on another date sooner rather than later. I really like his company.
On Saturday though we did go on a real date. We split the kids up and left them with their grandparents and headed to New Hampshire for the day. If you're from around these parts, you know that North Conway has some great shopping, not to mention gorgeous scenery. We went here to buy school clothes for the kids. It's just about an hour drive from our home, so after delivering the kids to our parents, we headed out and arrived just at 12. We had a lovely lunch at Applebee's. It was so nice to eat HOT food and just chat. I got all confused and took a second dose of my Percocet when I was supposed to take the muscle relaxant so that made for some good laughs. We held hands, we picked out clothes for the kids, we laughed.
After a few hours of shopping, we left the shopping area and headed to our favorite restaurant, Flatbread Pizza. We always go to the one here in Portland, so we thought since we had a gift card we'd try out the one in North Conway. We got the WORST waitress in the world. Actually, she was quite pleasant but was definitely having a bad night. We were sitting close enough to the brick oven to watch the pizzas being made and could tell that ours wasn't cooking (it was a chicken BLT pizza with a small amount of ranch dressing). After awhile she came over and told us that she'd forgotten to put our order in, but that they were making it and we'd have it shortly. The pizza they delivered was NOT the pizza we ordered. They let us have it while they worked on making our correct pizza, and when they delivered the correct pizza, we got the wrong SIZE! Lucky for us, we weren't incredibly hungry, we didn't have kids to complain and we just had a good time laughing at the bumbling mess. We got our pizza for free! We saved our gift card and will use it another time.
Even though we spent our entire Saturday doing things for the kids, it was just so lovely to do it all without them. We get so hung up in being Mama and Dad that being Kristin and Doug gets shoved into the background more often than it should. It was so nice to reconnect and enjoy each other's company, when so often we're too tired to say more than "boo" to each other at night. A bonus for me was that I felt pretty decent most of the day so I was good company (I hope). I hope we can go on another date sooner rather than later. I really like his company.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Good Stuff
I had a really decent weekend. Considering the tone of my last post, I was expecting a lousy weekend but in reality it was good. There was lots of good stuff, like the following:
Isn't it beautiful? I got a very lightweight long sleeve cardigan for her to wear with it. I nearly cried when she tried it on because she looked so grown up. Take a stab at where you think I got it.
- Meg scored a goal in her hockey game Friday night. It was her last game of that hockey session and I was there, her grandparents were there, and as promised, she scored a goal. When she started playing hockey last year she wasn't comfortable on the ice at all; it's amazing how much she has progressed.
- On Saturday Drew had hockey and was thrilled to have touched the puck with his stick during his hockey game. He is so much younger than most of the kids on the ice, so this was a huge accomplishment for him.
- Check out this gorgeous dress we got for Meg for the Daddy-Daughter dance in two weeks:
Isn't it beautiful? I got a very lightweight long sleeve cardigan for her to wear with it. I nearly cried when she tried it on because she looked so grown up. Take a stab at where you think I got it.- I mopped my kitchen and dining room floors yesterday. It was such an accomplishment considering that it's still muddy and snowy and generally GROSS here. And while I was mopping I had windows open and was enjoying the lovely weather.
- Izzie is feeling better which a big thing. When she felt awful she was a cranky little girl. It's much nicer to see her smile.
- We watched a very trippy movie with the kids yesterday. The Last Unicorn. Weird shit.
- If you don't have Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, you should. I'm not a huge Martha fan but the food is awesome. We had the Roast Pork Loin with Carrots and Mustard Gravy last night. HEAVEN.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Friendship
Friendship: The state of being a friend; a friendly relation or intimacy; friendly feeling or disposition.
In my last post I talked about getting in touch with my old college roommate via Facebook. On Wednesday, she called me after we emailed back and forth several times. She now lives in Sweden, with her four children (three girls and a boy, just like me). I think it's been easily 10 years since we have spoken on the phone. I have moved numerous times since leaving college and so has she. She knew of the birth of Meg and Drew, but for some reason I never sent an announcement about the twins, or if I did, it never arrived. Talking with her on the phone for an hour and a half was probably the nicest thing I've done for myself in a long time. We laughed so hard, talking about our kids and our lives, and remembering some of the silliness of college. We talked about where some of our mutual friends are and of those that fell off the face of the earth. For me it was like all those years just melted away and it had only been a short time since we'd been in touch. Our friendship is so precious and I'm thrilled we have rekindled it.
In a few short weeks, I'll be meeting some new friends. I'm heading to New York City and New Jersey for a girls weekend. My first stop will be NYC and I'm so happy to be visiting with my oldest friend, Auntie Nettie. It's been a ridiculous FIVE YEARS since we've seen each other and I can't wait to spend some time with her. It certainly won't be enough and we'll have to get together again sooner rather than later (cough cough Nettie, you're tagged for a trip northward), but I am loving my husband for offering to take the kids for extra time so I can go stay with her.
The second leg of my trip is to New Jersey to meet some brand new friends: AndreAnna, Cass, Kellie and Robyn. AndreAnna invited us all to meet for the first time to celebrate her birthday. I was so thrilled to be invited that I immediately told Doug was I going without even thinking that I DON'T EVEN KNOW THESE PEOPLE!?!?!? But after some thought, I realized that I do know them, just in a different way. We write our blogs, comment on each other's blogs, email or IM each other, pretty much daily. We found that we connect on so many different levels. We're friends. It doesn't matter that we met thru blogs. What does matter is that we became friends. We entrust each other with our thoughts and feelings. We're there for each other when we're up or down. If that isn't real friendship, then I don't know what is. I'm excited and nervous for the trip. It will be like a first date for us all~what to wear, how to act, will they like me in person. But it's also thrilling. I love putting a face to a voice, even if it's a written voice. I love having friends.
In my last post I talked about getting in touch with my old college roommate via Facebook. On Wednesday, she called me after we emailed back and forth several times. She now lives in Sweden, with her four children (three girls and a boy, just like me). I think it's been easily 10 years since we have spoken on the phone. I have moved numerous times since leaving college and so has she. She knew of the birth of Meg and Drew, but for some reason I never sent an announcement about the twins, or if I did, it never arrived. Talking with her on the phone for an hour and a half was probably the nicest thing I've done for myself in a long time. We laughed so hard, talking about our kids and our lives, and remembering some of the silliness of college. We talked about where some of our mutual friends are and of those that fell off the face of the earth. For me it was like all those years just melted away and it had only been a short time since we'd been in touch. Our friendship is so precious and I'm thrilled we have rekindled it.
In a few short weeks, I'll be meeting some new friends. I'm heading to New York City and New Jersey for a girls weekend. My first stop will be NYC and I'm so happy to be visiting with my oldest friend, Auntie Nettie. It's been a ridiculous FIVE YEARS since we've seen each other and I can't wait to spend some time with her. It certainly won't be enough and we'll have to get together again sooner rather than later (cough cough Nettie, you're tagged for a trip northward), but I am loving my husband for offering to take the kids for extra time so I can go stay with her.
The second leg of my trip is to New Jersey to meet some brand new friends: AndreAnna, Cass, Kellie and Robyn. AndreAnna invited us all to meet for the first time to celebrate her birthday. I was so thrilled to be invited that I immediately told Doug was I going without even thinking that I DON'T EVEN KNOW THESE PEOPLE!?!?!? But after some thought, I realized that I do know them, just in a different way. We write our blogs, comment on each other's blogs, email or IM each other, pretty much daily. We found that we connect on so many different levels. We're friends. It doesn't matter that we met thru blogs. What does matter is that we became friends. We entrust each other with our thoughts and feelings. We're there for each other when we're up or down. If that isn't real friendship, then I don't know what is. I'm excited and nervous for the trip. It will be like a first date for us all~what to wear, how to act, will they like me in person. But it's also thrilling. I love putting a face to a voice, even if it's a written voice. I love having friends.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
I'm giggling like a little girl
Things that are making me happy right now:
1. The Red Sox beat the Angels, moving them to the ALCS. The ALCS starts on Friday night, leaving me with 3 whole nights of decent sleep. The ALDS had us up until 1:30 am. That is NOT conducive to good parenting. Trust me.
2. My husband made my pot of coffee this morning AND took Meg to school, leaving me to lounge around. Ha.
3. Facebook. I know, right? Well last night Facebook brought me a friend I haven't seen in 14 years. My college roommate. We last saw each other at graduation, as she was heading back to Germany. We were roommates our freshman, junior and senior years (she spent our sophomore year at the Sorbonne in France). I remember crying my eyes out knowing that we'd probably never see each other again. We kept in touch periodically at first, but with marriages, kids and moving, we lost touch. Last night she found me on Facebook and I've been giggling ever since.
4. Fall. Really, what more can I say.
5. I'm going to NYC and NJ in a month. I'll blog more about it later. It deserves a full post.
1. The Red Sox beat the Angels, moving them to the ALCS. The ALCS starts on Friday night, leaving me with 3 whole nights of decent sleep. The ALDS had us up until 1:30 am. That is NOT conducive to good parenting. Trust me.
2. My husband made my pot of coffee this morning AND took Meg to school, leaving me to lounge around. Ha.
3. Facebook. I know, right? Well last night Facebook brought me a friend I haven't seen in 14 years. My college roommate. We last saw each other at graduation, as she was heading back to Germany. We were roommates our freshman, junior and senior years (she spent our sophomore year at the Sorbonne in France). I remember crying my eyes out knowing that we'd probably never see each other again. We kept in touch periodically at first, but with marriages, kids and moving, we lost touch. Last night she found me on Facebook and I've been giggling ever since.
4. Fall. Really, what more can I say.
5. I'm going to NYC and NJ in a month. I'll blog more about it later. It deserves a full post.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Happy Things
Given that I've been a bit (ok, a LOT) bitchy lately, I thought I'd post the things that make me smile. Really, I do smile.
Watching my babies sleep
Reading books to Meg (we're reading By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Watching Drew play with his cars
Blowing bubbles for the babies
Reading (reading Dark Horse by Tami Hoag)
Scrapbooking with friends
Watching the Red Sox and/or Deadliest Catch with Doug (sigh.....no DC until next spring)
Pedicures
Coffee
Hugs and kisses from my kids
What makes you smile?
Watching my babies sleep
Reading books to Meg (we're reading By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Watching Drew play with his cars
Blowing bubbles for the babies
Reading (reading Dark Horse by Tami Hoag)
Scrapbooking with friends
Watching the Red Sox and/or Deadliest Catch with Doug (sigh.....no DC until next spring)
Pedicures
Coffee
Hugs and kisses from my kids
What makes you smile?
Friday, May 23, 2008
A good day
Yesterday was a good day, despite the gray clouds and the distinct chill in the air.
At 7 am the Lowe's delivery man arrived via pickup truck to deliver the parts for the playset. I was glad they didn't come in a Lowe's truck, as we live on a bumpy dirt road and have neighbors. We didn't want to wake them up. The long bar for the playset was NOT in the truck. Nice delivery man made a call and said he'd head back to get the long bar. BUT, when awesome installer man Roland arrived, he had the long bar with him! A good sign. Roland spent from 7:30 to 4:30 at my house yesterday putting up the playset. It's missing a swing and the parts to put together the kids little table with awning, but for the most part, it's done. I'll post pictures soon, I promise.
Drew had a field trip to the Maine Wildlife Park yesterday, which I chaperoned with the twins. This park is 10 minutes from my house. Even though we were cold, we had a good time wandering the park with some of his friends from preschool and looking for the animals. Annie and Izzie were gaga over the "deahdeahdeah" and the bears. The male peacocks were strutting their stuff and showing off; there is even a white peacock which is pretty amazing.
After prying Meg and Drew from the playset, Meg had a softball game last night. For a surprise, my in-laws came, along with my niece and brother-in-law (he was picking her up from the University of New Hampshire and we told him he MUST come see Meg play). After confusion as to who we were playing (the team on the schedule didn't show, so we played another team whose team didn't show; weird) the game got underway. Meg was 2 for 2. She was 0 for 3 Tuesday night and really frustrated, so she was wicked excited to get 2 hits and have a huge cheering section. And at the end of the game, she got the game ball! She was over the moon. She is 7 and the ages on her team go up to age 12, so we were so incredibly proud. Her coach signed the ball and it's on her bureau in her room. We borrowed a bat and some balls so she can practice this weekend too. I'm glad she enjoys this sport so much. She seems to be a pretty good player so far.
We collapsed at 8:30 after getting the kids to bed, had a dinner of bagel, egg, cheese and bacon and watched some of the Celtics game. Too bad they didn't win. I'll have to give my Garnett bobble-head a talking to today. Now I'm off to take pictures of the playset and watch Drew swing like a fool.
At 7 am the Lowe's delivery man arrived via pickup truck to deliver the parts for the playset. I was glad they didn't come in a Lowe's truck, as we live on a bumpy dirt road and have neighbors. We didn't want to wake them up. The long bar for the playset was NOT in the truck. Nice delivery man made a call and said he'd head back to get the long bar. BUT, when awesome installer man Roland arrived, he had the long bar with him! A good sign. Roland spent from 7:30 to 4:30 at my house yesterday putting up the playset. It's missing a swing and the parts to put together the kids little table with awning, but for the most part, it's done. I'll post pictures soon, I promise.
Drew had a field trip to the Maine Wildlife Park yesterday, which I chaperoned with the twins. This park is 10 minutes from my house. Even though we were cold, we had a good time wandering the park with some of his friends from preschool and looking for the animals. Annie and Izzie were gaga over the "deahdeahdeah" and the bears. The male peacocks were strutting their stuff and showing off; there is even a white peacock which is pretty amazing.
After prying Meg and Drew from the playset, Meg had a softball game last night. For a surprise, my in-laws came, along with my niece and brother-in-law (he was picking her up from the University of New Hampshire and we told him he MUST come see Meg play). After confusion as to who we were playing (the team on the schedule didn't show, so we played another team whose team didn't show; weird) the game got underway. Meg was 2 for 2. She was 0 for 3 Tuesday night and really frustrated, so she was wicked excited to get 2 hits and have a huge cheering section. And at the end of the game, she got the game ball! She was over the moon. She is 7 and the ages on her team go up to age 12, so we were so incredibly proud. Her coach signed the ball and it's on her bureau in her room. We borrowed a bat and some balls so she can practice this weekend too. I'm glad she enjoys this sport so much. She seems to be a pretty good player so far.
We collapsed at 8:30 after getting the kids to bed, had a dinner of bagel, egg, cheese and bacon and watched some of the Celtics game. Too bad they didn't win. I'll have to give my Garnett bobble-head a talking to today. Now I'm off to take pictures of the playset and watch Drew swing like a fool.
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