And Now For More Current Events

I'm still trying to get a chance to go through all of Christmas\New Years pictures to post a few. Since that's old news, I thought it would be nice for a change to actually let you know what's going in our lives more currently. Like over the last week.

We finally started our ski season last weekend. With my new car purchase last month (which I won't actually get until maybe the end of next month), we also got season tickets to Waterville Valley Ski Resort. Our place up there is equidistant (time wise) to Waterville and Loon mountains and it's always a great debate where we'll go. With passes handed to us this year, the decision was very easy! However, we had some business to take care of first. So for the long MLK weekend, we headed up to NH Friday night and took Saturday to take care of a few things.

One of the things we had to take care of was ski equipment. Dylan's in a program at Loon where we invested money last year but get that credit year after year to get new equipment to fit his growing body. While getting him new boots and bindings, I picked up a few new things for me. It's been many years (pre kids) since we've skied on a regular basis and I needed a few things as well. #1 on my list was a helmet. Helmet's were the exception, not the norm, for downhill sports 6 years ago. Now, for good reason, they are the norm. So I got one to protect my noggin'. While Dylan and I shopped, Cade napped in the car with Mike.

My Shopping Buddy

I thought it would be fun to take the boys tubing after that. Neither one of them wanted to. You'd have thought I had asked them to eat liver and onions as excited as they were about it. But dammit, I decided to force the fun on them.

Forcing them to at least pretend to look happy

They stood their ground and came through as promised - they did not like it! Weirdos. So after making them complete 5 runs, I relented. Cade fell out of his tube at the end of the last run and was very unhappy. On the way back to return the tubes, I spun Dylan around in his and he enjoyed that. At least I got 1 true smile!

I had also wanted to take the boys to the ice castle in that area. But thanks to the holiday weekend, apparently all of New England had the same idea for that night. When we left Loon mountain, it took us an hour in standstill traffic and then sneaking out of parking lots and back roads to get to the highway and make our way home (and mind you, it's a VERY short distance to the highway from the mountain). Ice castles will have to happen another time!

Sunday was ski day! I was hoping to get Cade in ski school this year. And though his age is right, his lack of potty training is not. They wouldn't take him for ski school. So, while Dylan spent the day in ski school, Cade spent the day indoors in the daycare. Conditions were kind of gross but Mike and I got in several good runs in before spending some time in the ski shop for more equipment for me. I have finally moved on from the ski boots I've hated since I got them 12 years ago! Yay! And next time I'm at the mountain, I will be demo'ing some skis and hopefully walking away with a new pair of those too!

Waterville Moose and Me

Getting home after that was dicey. Since we don't have traditional tv\cable at our NH place, we wanted to get back home for the football game and then spend the rest of the weekend getting some things done. We knew there was some ice forecasted for the afternoon. There was an ice storm incident last winter that installed the NH house ice fear in us...given our fantastic view, we are also up a steep and winding narrow road. When the ice hit the roads last year, we had to abandon our car down the road from our place and had a hard time getting from our neighbor's house back to ours in those conditions. So setting out for our ski day, I had wanted to get packed up to head home so we could leave straight from the mountain. Unfortunately (per usual), we were running on the late side and unable to do that. In order to get the kids checked in for their programs on time, we had to go back to the house for our belongings after our ski day before getting back to MA.

And our worst thoughts had come true. Road conditions were terrible in our condo's area! Many cars\trucks\minivans weren't making it up the road. By some miracle of good driving and a kick-a** car (I'm very thankful to Mike's Durango and driving skills), we made it up to our house. I was all set to tuck in for the night but Mike didn't want to get even more stuck with 5-8 inches of snow predicted to fall on top of the ice overnight. Against my better judgement, we loaded the car to try and get back home. We also packed extra stuff to prepare for the very real possibility that we might have to abandon the car and hike back (snowshoes, backpack to carry Cade, extra clothes, snacks).

We had a talk with the boys before leaving that they had to be absolutely silent so Daddy could concentrate. No tv, no talking. Before even making it to the end of our road, this is how they looked:

Apparently they weren't worried. The fatigue of a busy day on the mountain overrode any fear we may have had. And with their silence, I was very tense and Mike was very focused. And again, by some miracle we made it down unscathed. We thought the worst of the trip was behind us as the major roadways seemed to be fine. I'm not sure what we were missing because we had absolutely no problems on the way back, but NH had lowered the speed limit on the highways to 45 and we saw a ridiculous amount of cars on the side of the road that had skidded out. Not like on the shoulder side of the road, but down in the trees and snowbanks. Apparently there was a ton of that happening Sunday night because I read that NH ran out of tow trucks to help folks! It was definitely a tense ride and we were all happy to get home.

The big news for Sunday was the introduction of Cade's big boy bed! Cade has been happy as a clam in his crib so I've been in absolutely no hurry to move him out of it. However, I promised our crib to our neighbors who recently had twins so it was time to see if we could successfully move him out of it.

Big Boy in His Big Boy Bed

Ready to Nap

And after a few days, he is doing very well in his bed! I've heard him fall out once but he got back in by himself and there's been no night wandering thus far. We've been catching him in the morning and reiterating that big boys stay in their big boy beds until Mommy and Daddy comes to get him and it's been working. So, so far so good!

On Wednesday, my poor Dylan came down with a little fever. I think it's pretty much the sickest I've ever seen my little boy and it is just so incredibly sad to see! After 2 days of a lethargic, feverish boy, he seems to be past the worst of it and getting back to his usual self today.....and we are now crossing our fingers that no one else comes down with it!!

Cade also met with his speech therapist this week. We got him started in the early intervention program last year and have absolutely loved the services offered. He's been doing a drop off play group every Monday and his therapist comes to our house to work with him every other week. She is an absolutely lovely person and great to work with. But, with Cade turning 3 next week, he's officially handed off from the EI system and onto our Wayland school system. So this week was his last visit from his therapist friend. We are sad to lose her. However, we also really like his new therapist that he'll be working with and his old one lives in our area so I'm sure this isn't the last we'll see of her.

So that's what's been going on with us. My "free time" is mostly been dedicated to planning for Cade's upcoming birthday bash. If I'm able to squeeze it in, hopefully I can wrap up the holiday posts before the big party. Happy Friday everyone!!

Parties, Parties, Parties

December was all about parties. In two weekends, we went to four parties. 

The party season started off with an adults only party. The funny thing about this stage in our lives is that our kids are now the drivers of who are friends become. It's pretty weird...not sure I'll ever get used to it. In any case, through our preschool, we met this great family who has become friends. And they just happen to throw a fantastic holiday party every year. We took full advantage of the night having a sitter, went to dinner with one of our couple friends (also met through the preschool) and then had a great night out at the party. Apparently, it was so fun, we somehow went through a festive evening without taking even one picture. And we were even dressed up all pretty like!

Since I don't have a good party picture, here is some of Dylan's Christmas artwork.
It's very recently that he's started to enjoy drawing so I'm thrilled to see what he comes up with.
On the left is Santa (obviously) and on the right is a Christmas tree (bit more of an abstract interpretation).

After partying the night away, we woke up and started getting ready for our next party. This one is a great annual tradition that we've done for 5 years now - Cousins Christmas! Mike's cousins (on his Mom's side) are all local(ish) and all cool people so we gather all the gang to celebrate the season.

Me, Cade, Cousin Leah and Baby Maggie

The boys absolutely adore baby Maggie (the newest in the cousin clan) and were very excited to not only see her, but bring her some of their baby toys. And they took every one out to show her.

Maggie LOVED getting hugs from her cousins.

More Sweet Hugs

And, thanks to Mike's Aunt Jo (who is a mad picture taker and scrap booker), we were all forced to get a picture together for posterity.

In order from oldest (back) to youngest (front) generation.

Always gotta do a crazy face one.

To start out the official week of Christmas, the next weekend was my big annual work Holiday Party. There was dancing, Santa, lots of food and even video games for the kids. It was a blast!

Never missed an opportunity to hug Santa.

The next morning it was up an at 'em again since were were hosting Mike's family for our family's Christmas gathering. The day included much food, libations and silliness.

Also, the rare picture of my lovely in laws.

Siblings - Maureen, Mike (complete with Christmas star head) and Kristina

Cousins
Emily, Cade, Dylan, Corwin and Jacob
(Missing from this picture is Patrick)

And Here They ALL Are!!

Dylan likes to show Uncle Joe his toys.

My Festive Mantel

Cade and Auntie Maureen

The day also had a very competitive game of mini beer pong between Joe and Mike, complete with audience.

Cuties

We had decided to spend Christmas Day at home with the boys so they could fully enjoy the day with their new toys and, also, to prep for our trip to Texas the following evening. We were very glad to have been able to celebrate the holiday with all of Mike's family the weekend before!

Critters, Lights and Trains

Well, we're well into the new year now and the holidays seem like a distant memory. Just to stroll down memory lane, here are a few other events where we went to celebrate the magical time of year.

Zoo Lights - Happens every year at the zoo that happens to be down the street from my in law's house. Therefore, they usually meet us there to join in the fun. I think we skipped a couple of years because, well, it's a night, in December in New England (ie very cold). We tried to find the warmest night possible in the forecast with no other commitments to go. It was a good time, though to my disappointment, we opted not to wait in the very long line to get pictures with the reindeer. But we did get to see some cute baby animals...totally made up for it. In addition to the baby spider monkeys below, we saw baby lynxes all cuddled up together - super cute!

Spider Monkey Family Fun

Bumpa and Cade
Dylan and Me

After seeing the animals, we walked through the light display (passed on Santa since we had other Santa opportunities and then hit the rides. The boys' favorite was definitely the jeep circling the dangerous volcano.

Though they also loved not riding the Spiderman ride....just sitting next to him was quite enough.

And a first for our family, we headed down to Carver, Ma to go to Edaville Railroad. They have some amusement rides but the main event, of course, is riding the train. We opted for the shorter Holiday Light Express Train (they also offer a longer Polar Express Train). The first train of the day, which we had planned to catch, filled up. So we had more time to kill riding the rides to wait for the next departure. It was definitely a cute place but it was also cold...very cold. We were all happy for the opportunity to finally board the train and warm up.

Also, while waiting for the train, Cade saw Santa and insisted we go hang out with him. Cade was really excited about Santa this year and took every opportunity presented (and there were several), to give him hugs.

Santa Hugs

Outside the Train After Our Ride

Edaville was definitely a cute place to check out. I'm glad we made the trip with the boys this season. Plus, Cade's a little obsessed with "choo-choos" so hearing excitedly say "choo-choo" about half a million times that night was pretty adorable.

Starting off the Festivities - The Traditions

Since bringing kids into the world, there are a few things we've done every year during the Christmas season. We visit the Enchanted Village (which is a long running Boston tradition), decorate a tree (obviously) and give Santa a visit (in some form or fashion). This year was no different. In addition to more Christmas fun that's not always yearly, we kicked off this holiday season with our traditions.

The Santa Scene at The Enchanted Village

Cuties Trimming the Tree

Crooked Star, Full Tree, Adorable Boys (and Rudolph)

Also traditional is the annual falling of the tree. Sometimes the cats can be blamed, once a kid, this year a ghost. We never seem to learn to get that thing tethered down the minute it gets put up....we are just reminded once it falls and we have a few ornament casualties.

This year, we got our "real" tree and I finally got my dream of having my "pretty" tree. The real one was filled with our hodge podge of family ornaments. The pretty, fake tree got matching ornaments and was placed in the front bay window. There's not a good way to tie the tree down in there, so I got shatter resistant ornaments and hoped for the best. The cats loved playing in the tree skirt, so it did get knocked down a couple of times, but no ornaments were harmed in the process. We did have to completely redecorate it after one of the falls (thank goodness for Dylan who was an awesome tree decorator this year).

See that face? Trouble.

This year, we saw Santa in a different way than usual - at the mall. We've always done Santa sightings in other ways (most often at my company party), but this year we braved the mall line and the boys had their first opportunity to tell Santa what they wanted.

Patiently Waiting

Santa!

Lots more holiday events to report on. More to come!

Pirate Posing

Well, Happy New Year! December was a completely nutty holiday ride and I'll spend the entire first month of the new year catching up here. We were finally able to catch a breath the last couple of days which has been a welcome change of pace. I also got a chance to look at some of the photos we've taken and will be posting some up this week.

Until then, here's some cuteness to start off the year. Pirate play is a regular occurrence at our house these days. Ships are built, people are attacked, treasures are searched for and, of course, costumes are utilized. Here are some shots of my cute pirates.

Captain Jack Sparrow on His Ship (cat scratching spot)

Davy Jones Looking Very Serious

Arghh!

That Face! (Can you stand how adorable it is?)

Davy Jones (with scary pirate face) and
Captain Jack Sparrow (checking out his bling)

I hope the new year has been ushered in for all of you with good health, great family time, and happy times with friends. Tomorrow real life starts back up with school and work for us. I have mixed feelings about it. Part of me is not looking forward to getting back to scheduled life. The other half of me is very much looking forward to getting back to a more regimented food\sleep\workout routine so that my belly can get back to "normal." Also, the holidays have been so hectic that our "usual" is going to feel like more of a leisurely pace. 2015, watch out, here we come!