New Year's Past

I was just over at The Squeaky Wheel reading my friend Jennie's post about our visit to Louisville for New Year's Eve a couple of years ago. I can't resist posting some of the photos we took while we were there. All of this will seem pointless unless you go here to read the accompanying text.

How did I get so laid back about Christmas this year?

I must say that this has been the least stressful holiday season I have ever experienced as an adult. Maybe it's because I'm older, maybe because we've decided not to go overboard with the presents, or maybe just because I've chosen to ignore many of the holiday preparations that agitated me in the past. (Like getting your cards out in time to reach you before the holiday - oh well!)

For instance, today I was planning on finishing up my holiday food shopping. I went to Trader Joe's early hoping to avoid the massive crowds that have been swarming the region as Christmas grows nearer. It actually WORKED - I was in and out (with a detailed list) in a half hour. Yippee!

Next, the plan was to hit the Wine & Spirits store for wine and, well, spirits. Not so lucky. It was 11 am and there was nary a parking spot to be had. Instead of getting frustrated, I opted to drive right on by and head to my third spot, The Head Nut. The Head Nut is a fantastic coffee/nut roaster that is packed with all sorts of spices, baking goods, teas, candies, ice cream and a coffee bar. This is one of my favorite places to go around here. Local and YUMMY.

Anyway, seems like many others had the same idea as me. I snagged the last spot in the lot and headed inside. Big mistake. You see, at the Head Nut, you have to choose what you want from the myriad of options, bring it to the front counter and have the 3 clerks measure/weigh it and price it. That is, unless you want coffee as well. In that case, the clerk has to leave the counter, make his/her way back into the depths of the store to measure, weigh, grind and bag your beans before returning to the counter to ring you up. On a regular day, this takes forever. Today the line snaked almost out to the exit. I replaced my tub of holiday sprinkles and beat a hasty retreat.

Why do I mention all this? Because it didn't bother me at all! Have no idea why, but the Christmas Spirit has mellowed me out this year. Hassles and mishaps seem to be rolling off my back like water off a duck. Keep it coming, St. Nick!

Back in the Saddle

getting the christmas tree

santa's little helpers screwing the tree into the base

hanging ornaments

voila! the star is on!

Please Touch (me) Museum

Yippee! I cannot begin to express how incredibly excited I am that the Please Touch Museum has opened its brand spankin' new doors in Philly. I was first introduced to the Please Touch Museum by my dear friend Jennie Burke and her sister in law (who lived in Chadds Ford at the time). I can't get out of the habit of calling it the "Please Touch Me" museum, since that's what I initially thought it was named! (Thanks, Jennie and Heather.....)

Now, the old PTM was cool, but had rough parking, a long drive, and was a bit worn to say the least. Going there was a very special treat saved for the entire family. Now, however, we feel like we're playing in a palace every time we go. Since it's open at 9 am, we can even jet over during a weekday morning before Nola has to go to afternoon kindergarten. If you're ever in the neighborhood, let's go!

the PTM is in the old Memorial Hall. it's very grand looking.

this is the vestibule. huge and grandiose. the statue of liberty arm is made out of recycled materials and kids can run around in the base.

this is a gigantic restored carousel from a park in philly that was relocated INSIDE the museum. it's really, really impressive when you first see it. rides are only $1!!

declan and daddy riding the traditional horse.

aubry insisted on riding the rabbit. she was very happy about it, too.

nola's favorite part of the museum was the aviation room. kids create their own flying things out of foam shapes, winch them up to the incredibly high ceiling, and watch them flutter down. this was a fun place for all of us, even declan!

Goodbye, Grandma

My dad just called to tell me that my Grandma Pete passed away. I'm so sad, but the lady made it to 94, for goodness sakes!! She was a spitfire and told the funniest off-color stories from her youth (one of the phrases she often used was "ass over teakettle" to describe someone falling).

In recent years, Grandma's memory wasn't what it used to be. I will fondly remember the story she told me while I was nursing Aubry and then Declan. It went down (every single time) like this:

I'm sitting on the couch getting ready to nurse the baby, Grandma's sitting across from me in an armchair. She notices what I'm doing.
Grandma: I didn't know you were nursing!!
Me: Yup, sure am, Grandma. Did you nurse your sons?
Grandma: Oh, yes.
Me: For how long?
Grandma (thinking): I don't remember. But you know what?
Me: What?
Grandma: I gave milk to Henry Ford when I was in the hospital after having one of the boys!
Me: What do you mean? / Really?
Grandma: Oh, yes - I had so much milk that they took it from me and gave it to Henry Ford. And you know what?
Me: What?
Grandma: They didn't give me one red cent for it, either!!!! And he could have afforded it, too!

She always seemed very proud that she was able to help out Henry Ford, but a bit indignant that no money was offered. I got quite a kick out of hearing this same story, the same way, every single time I was in the same room with her while I nursed. I'm sure I will remember this particular conversation with Grandma forever.

I really, really miss her already. It was time, though, and she welcomed it.

Goodbye, Grandma.

this is my absolute favorite photo of grandma.
she's the life of the party and drinking wine through a straw :)

It's official!

Yippee! Finally someone I voted for will be President! Good luck, Obama!

Facebook is bizarre

This is a totally random, picture free post. I'm sitting alone here today waiting for Greg and the girls to get back from Annapolis. Declan's napping and is thankfully feeling better after a looooong 2 days of high fever, snot, sneezing and coughing. So I decide to check out what's going on at Facebook

I look in my inbox and discover I have ANOTHER message from a random person from elementary/middle school in New Jersey. (The first came about a week ago - had a tough time remembering this boy from band/gifted and talented/english class.) This time it's a boy I had band with - he also played clarinet. Now he's living in Hoboken and is a professional opera singer. I actually do remember him because of the clarinet thing and the fact that he had really red hair and freckles.

My question is - how did these people remember me, think to search for me in facebook, and then have the motivation to send me a message? I can barely remember YESTERDAY, let alone people's names from elementary school. I don't really know what to make of it, particulary since I considered myself a pariah during those years.

Tree Hugger

Aubry is going through this phase where she tries to pick up the trees planted on the mow strip. She always asks "Can I pick up that tree?" and I always respond "You can try!". She used to try to pick up the telephone poles too, but stopped when the Verizon man told her to be careful or she'd get a splinter. Instead, she just says "The man says I get splinter when I pick up that tree", and keeps on walking.

This photo doesn't show it, but she's usually wearing a superhero cape....

Cousin Karen, y'all!

the italian market - yay, almond paste!

karen and nola at our house

My cousin Karen and her husband Mark came to visit this weekend. Karen and I both grew up (until middle school) in New Jersey. Our families lived about an hour away from each other, so we got to see each other quite a bit. We both ended up moving away from NJ and she ended up in Texas by way of Tennessee. Needless to say, a visit from Karen is a special thing.

Karen has recently inspired me in a couple of ways. First, she's already run a half marathon and is training for another one in a couple of months. (Not to mention the fact that she teaches kick boxing, has 3 kids and works 4 days a week!) Second, she's a coupon queen but still feeds her family healthy food. She's the one who kick started my recent coupon assault when she sent me the link to Refund Cents

Anyway, my whole family came to Philly to have dinner with Karen, Mark and their friend Billie on Friday night. It was really fun to eat, drink, chat and laugh together. My sister Stacey stayed the night while my parents drove home so they could catch their flight to Ireland the next day.

On Saturday, the cousins (and Billie) went to the Italian Market in search of truly fresh almond paste for Karen's almond tartlets. Stacey and I had quite an adventure getting to their hotel - we nearly ran over Barak Obama on the way!!! Not really - we just got stuck in traffic and watched his 2 security helicopters hover over the street directly in front of us.

The Italian Market was fun, as usual. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm becoming a one trick pony with that excursion, though.....

Field Trip!

Nola had her first school field trip! She rode the bus to the local firehouse and got to learn all about fire safety. She also got to squirt the hose, which was a real bonus. Then she got to pester us for weeks about practicing evacuation procedures and getting smoke detectors for every single room in the house. Go Fire Safety Month!

Did he just say "more"?

We think that maybe Declan's first word is "more". How typical of one of our children to have an oddball first utterance related to his desire for more grapes. Love you, Declan - you can have all the grapes you want!

bags, bags, and more bags.

Have you ever noticed just how many plastic bags seem to make their way into your home? It's really ridiculous when the baggers use a new plastic bag for pretty much every item in your cart. Sure you can recycle them outside the grocery store, but wouldn't it be better to try to STOP using those bags?

It seems that others think as I (and maybe you) do. Last year, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban the use of plastic bags in grocery stores and chain stores. Other cities and towns are not far behind. Some merchants like IKEA are taking the bull by the horns and charging customers for any bags they use. I personally feel that all this is a great idea. IMHO Americans en masse are unlikely to abandon the convenience of plastic bags without coercion.

A few months ago, I pledged to stop bagging in plastic or paper at the grocery store and to use alternate bags. I bought a few paper bag style reusable bags and a zip top cooler at Trader Joe's. It wasn't too expensive - maybe $10 in all. So far, I've done pretty well. I generally remember the bags since I try to keep them in the car at all times. I've even started looking for a small, collapsible bag to keep in my purse for trips to CVS and other retailers.

I do enjoy feeling responsible for less plastic in the landfills, but I'm also enjoying less bag clutter at home. Granted, Greg doesn't really like using the clear newspaper bags and bread bags for Clover's poop pickup, but that's a small (and funny) price to pay for doing our part.

Interesting articles/places to check out-
An Inconvenient Bag
Greenest Reusable Bags
Green Bag Lady (check out the video section on how to make a bag and a little about the bags)

Kung fu scarecrow

Today we went to the Morris Arboretum for their annual Harvest Festival. The Morris Arboretum is this really great place where you can let your kids roam on perfectly manicured grounds while you have EXTREME landscaping envy. Our neighbors are members, but we feel the pain of our black thumbs every time we go there so we've limited our exposure.

Our specific goal was to make a scarecrow. Last year, about half of our friends on the block ended up going to this event and their front porches were decorated with these great giant scarecrows for the harvest season. All Nola wanted to know was when we were going to get to make one for our house. Your time has come, little one....

at the arboretum

declan likes glue....

aubry stuffed the scarecrow's socks with hay

nola glued on a little "N" button she found in the pile. she looked for an "A" button, but couldn't find one..

almost done - please note who is helping daddy and who (ahem, nola) is in the background chatting with her friend from the block.

our kung fu scarecrow is finished and lookin' fine (and ready to vote for obama)...

aubry posing in front of a neighbor's scarecrow

posing again...

Scenes from a mall

Today was really rainy and gross. Our plans to go enjoy the outside were derailled. Instead, we went somewhere we NEVER go- the mall! This particular mall didn't have anything we wanted to buy, but it DID have a fantastic carousel with 2 levels and lots of different things to ride. Aubry chose the traditional horse, and Nola picked the spinning teacup.

it's hard to get a good photo of someone on a spinning teacup...

riding the double decker carousel

Declan's favorite thing was the water fountain in the middle of the mall. He was totally fascinated by it. Nola and Aubry knew that it was a wishing fountain, so they emptied Nola's purse of small change (brought specifically for this purpose) making wishes.

fountains are fascinating...

Today was a really good reminder for Greg and me that we don't really need to plan anything elaborate for the kids to keep them involved and entertained. We couldn't believe how much fun they had at the mall, of all places!!

An apple a day...

Last weekend we all went apple picking at Strawberry Acres. This outing has been an annual one ever since we moved here to PA. The place we usually go is out near my parents - it's much less crowded than the orchards closer to home. Strawberry Acres also has the added attraction of having a petting zoo and a lunch counter.

Anyway, we went there on Sunday to pick apples. The kids loved it (of course). Nola was especially interested since her kindergarten class is doing a year long study of trees (FOSS kit, anyone?). We took pictures of each type of apple tree and collected a leaf from each for Nola to share with her classmates. It was fun for me to talk to her about the apples/trees/leaves and have her observe them for similarities and differences. I love kindergartners!

The trip's timing was planned specifically for Aubry. Her preschool class studied apples this week and she had to bring in an apple to share. We figured it would be cool for her to have picked her own apple at the orchard.

waiting for the "convertable" school bus to take us to the apples.

on the bus - look mom, no roof OR seatbelts!

who doesn't love picking apples?


yum-fresh off the tree!

The girls had a great time picking lots and lots of apples from the trees. They bit into most of them. And then chucked them onto the ground. Or put them back into the box to be found days later, rotting away (yuck). We spent $30 on apples - want some?

you're looking at $37 worth of produce - most of it apples!

having a bit of a car picnic before heading off to aunt stacey's to pick up 200 bricks.

Oh, I forgot the best part of the trip! My FAVORITE part of this whole thing was when Nola got carsick all over herself and the car less than 2 minutes away from the orchard. That was quite a cleanup. Thankfully, I packed a change of clothes for AUBRY and Nola was able to squeeze herself into them (Nola wears a 6. The clothes were size 4T.) Ahh... parenting!

A Few Milestones

Before I forget, I need to get down some milestones the kids have passed over the past few weeks.

Nola:
She can tie her shoes! We've been trying to teach her the rabbit ears method for a few months now (at her insistence), but she had been unsuccessful every time she tried. All of a sudden last week she wanted to wear her sneakers and sat down to tie them herself. To my utter disbelief, she tied both shoes in double knots within a few minutes!!!! It's amazing how proud you can be of your child when she shows determination and perseverance and finally succeed.

Aubry:
She can whistle (pretty much)! Again, she's been trying to learn how to whistle off and on all summer. Up until recently, she managed to practice only the skills necessary for blowing out birthday candles. About 3 days ago, she came running up to us staying "I'm whistlin'!". Lo and behold, she was!! She's so proud of herself and we are too.

Declan:
He's cruising up a storm wherever furniture allows. It won't be long before he's brave enough to let go and go it alone. He already can stand independently for quite a long time. He's also able to transfer from one piece of furniture to another with ease.

Also, today he climbed up an entire flight of stairs for the first time. We were at my sister's house and Declan decided to follow Aubry and the cat upstairs. To my surprise, he SPED up the stairs without any hesitation at all. Go Declan!!!
Go Declan!

That's my girl!

We went to the zoo again today - didn't get to see everything last weekend. My personal favorite moment of the day happened at lunch. We took a break for lunch by the faux choo-choo train (really a tractor masquerading as a train) and the geese started swarming as usual.

For those of you who are unaware of the dangers of zoo geese, let me recount our first encounter with this unique species before I finish today's story.

It went down a couple of years ago when Nola was about 2 1/2 years old. Aubry was still cooking in the mommy oven, and we had all just moved here to PA. We had no friends, so I decided to take an adventure with Nola and go to the Philly Zoo while Greg was at work (please keep in mind that I'm pregnant and really, really tired).

After driving through the scary ghetto that surrounds the zoo, navigating the loooooong walk from the parking lot to the entrance, and seeing a few animals, we decide to stop for lunch. I had packed a healthy meal for both of us - at least healthier than the "food" served at the zoo. We sat down at the picnic tables near the bear enclosures to eat our feast in peace. A very bold and mean Canadian goose decided to see what Nola had to eat - up close and personal. The flipping thing actually started hissing and snapping at my baby girl when she tried to tell it to get away! (Scared the sh** out of her, of course, and she has been terrified of Canadian geese ever since).

Even I couldn't get the goose to back down, so we packed up all the food and literally had to eat on the run. Ever since then, we're always cautious about the geese at the zoo. Vicious creatures!

TODAY we had our secret weapons with us - Greg and Aubry. I sent Greg out as the first line of defense against the geese. He did a stomping thing when they got too close. The geese did a good job of respecting our alpha male and kept a safe distance from us and the food. HOWEVER, Aubry was also there to protect the family. Here's what she did to contribute to our safety....

YOU GO, AUBRY!!

Do-over!

Remember when you were a kid and you could call a do-over if you messed something up? Well, I officially call a do-over on Aubry's first day of school. As you may remember, I was a terrible mommy last week and forgot to take her to class on her first day. Let's forget all about that mistake and start anew.

look, i go here now!

TODAY WAS AUBRY'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!! Isn't that exciting? We were all counting down the days until she could march into St. Faith and meet her new teacher, Mr. Steve. She already knew him from last year when he would often dismiss Nola at the end of the day. We knew she'd have him as a teacher in the Mom's Morning Out program this year, so we spent some time chatting him up last year. Also helpful was the fact that his kids go to Nola's school and we've seen him around town for the past few weeks.

getting ready to leave (nola's helping)

As a result, Aubry was very excited to go today. She loves her new backpack with the special monkey patch on the back (Nola picked out patches for both of them) and has been wearing it around the house for the past week. Today she put it on, velcroed up her mary janes, and was practically out the door before breakfast. I still was anticipating separation issues since Aubry is notoriously emotional and has never been away from us before.

aubry loves her purple backpack!

I should have known better. She had NO PROBLEMS at all!! She happily said "bye mom!" once she got in the Blue Room and climbed on the spring loaded rocking horse. She had a great day and is looking forward to going back in the morning. I love you and your adventurous spirit Aubry Ruth!!!!

mr. steve and aubry at the end of the day

It's a zoo around here

Today we took the troops to the Philly Zoo for the first time this summer. It was a lot of fun and we felt like we were traveling light for the first time ever. Just the Kelty and the detachable bag it came with.

look closely and you'll see all 3 kids

Aubry's potty training these days and we decided to take her to the zoo without diaper or pullup. Needless to say, we went through both changes of shorts/panties and had MANY stops in the restrooms. Oh, and there was also the wonderful time in the toilet stall where she had a massive tantrum about not wanting to sit on the potty because she thought it would flush her down. (It was very helpful when a random mommy in another stall suggested that I cover the sensor with some toilet paper. We used Aubry's hat, but same difference....) After the flushing trauma, it only took several more minutes of skillful negotiations to get her to sit on the seat and do her business. Ahhhh, parenting.

aubry liked the peacock - maybe a little too much

hi, i'm a farmer!

feeding the goats is always a bit, er HIT.

Declan missed his morning nap, but didn't seem to mind too much. I think he's fine with pretty much anything as long as someone is holding him!

sooo sleepy...