the plant garden

Go West...this is our Destiny

2012-01-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Salt Lake City, UT

Do you ever listen to the Pet Shop Boys? If not, you should. When I started college in utah and my "home base" was Michigan, my sister and I would take flights back and forth from Michigan to Utah for school breaks. Each time we flew to Utah, the song, Go West would pop into my head. Check it out for the best in computer graphics!

Speaking of going west, Josh and I decided we are picking up and moving to Utah! We feel so fortunate for the opportunity. Josh is quitting his job and getting back into science to do a post doc at the University of Utah. We will be living in Cedar Hills temporarily, then probably move up to Salt Lake. When we leave is uncertain. We'll see if we can get our current apartment rented.

All this seems so sudden! Before Christmas things were getting unstable at Josh's work here in Boston. A big client had been lost and there has been talk of lay offs. The minute Josh went into business we both instantly missed science. I'm so excited for Josh to go back to it and work towards becoming a professor.

Also a major plus is that we will get to be with these guys:

(don't mind Noah's dirty look!)

and these guys:

I can't even begin to list the people, places, and things I will miss in Boston. Our kids grew up here. This is the place we have lived the longest as a family. We came here on Noah's fourth birthday. Now he is practically a teenager! Being so far away from family, this is where we have made life long friends. So bittersweet.

My Kiddos Today

2012-01-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to jot some things down about the kids so I don't forget. Being a mom can be SO exhausting, but all these little things about my kids bring me so much joy.

Noah:

Cub Scout night making cookies and getting covered in flour!

Always wears one long sleeved t-shirt and one short sleeved shirt on top. Never wears a coat--takes it of two steps in front of the school, never to put it back on again! Plays doge ball mostly at the park these days. I never want to forget how cute he is when he is on the sidelines. He jumps up and down with excitement while he watches the game. He can never stay mad at Charlie longer than a minute or two. If Charlie accidentally bonks him in the nose or something really painful like that, Noah will get furious at Charlie, but seconds later he apologizes for being mad. Not only does he like to beat Presley at games, but he want to annihilate her! We are working on this one. Poor Presley!! Noah loves graphic novels and reads a whole series in a few days. I can't keep up with his reading. He reads every night in bed before he falls asleep. When I check on him, he is always asleep laying on his right side with his arm resting on the side beam of his bed.

Presley:

So affectionate. I know I can always count on getting hugs and love from her. She would drop everything to come snuggle with me in a heartbeat. She revealed a secret to me that she likes to pretend she's a teacher. We never know what toys to buy her for Christmas or Birthdays because she doesn't really play with toys!! It is so unique! She likes to draw or write or cut with scissors. She also likes books and is becoming more and more interested in reading. Presley is our observant child. It makes me think that I need to be very careful about what I do because a little somebody is always watching me!:) Presley is a sensitive girl, but she doesn't cry so much when she gets hurt. Blood doesn't freak her out. She cries more when she is mad or sad. Presley requires the most sleep of anyone in our family. She would sleep till 8:30 every morning if we let her.

Charlie:

Is really picking up a sense of humor. These days he is my walking blooper reel. He likes to bonk his head or pretend trip and make us laugh about it. He talks in a silly voice to recount a story. He is learning to communicate with his peers more and more. I am noticing they can play together in their little imaginations for longer stretches of time. There are much less arguments or fights because they aren't misunderstanding each other as much anymore. Charlie has this beaming smile that can light up my day. He likes to be with friends and do outings, but is more of a homebody and would prefer staying home, building his train tracks. He and Noah are usually the first to wake up in the morning, usually around 7 am. He likes to come into my bed all stealth like and I have no idea he is even there. He usually will fall back asleep. Instead of grinding his teeth, he STILL makes a sucking sound like he is nursing!

A New Year

2012-01-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

Josh's brother, Justin was in town for New Years. He visited with his cute girlfriend, Hailie. We had a great time getting to know her and seeing Justin so happy. It was also great because Josh and I got to have some date nights! Justin got us all tickets to see the Nutcracker in Boston. We had a nice dinner and watched the show. It was a FUN night! I sat there and planned Presley's outfit for the next time Josh takes her to the ballet. The place was swarming with little girls all gussied up. I love the city at night too.

Then on New Years Eve, our friends Sam and Kirstin took our kids overnight so we could celebrate late. Josh and I had an amazing dinner in the Fenway area, then we took the T to Boston Common and watched Mission Impossible with Justin and Hailie. After that we headed over to the Harbor to count down to the New Year and see the fireworks. It was fun to watch the reflections of the fireworks on the buildings.

I always get choked up when the clock strikes 12 on New Year's Eve. I don't know why. I think I'm totally sentimental. Here is Josh and I trying to keep warm at Faneuil Hall by Boston's Christmas tree. Check out my new Christmas jacket!

A big change in the New year is that Charlie has graduated from the Nursery at church! He is now in the big kid's class called Sunbeams. He was such a good little student, sitting quietly in his chair. Here he is right before church (it was a warm 48 degrees!)

33

2012-01-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

I just had a birthday right after Christmas. It was a really great one with just my kids and Josh.

At 33 This is what I know:

At some point between now and the summer, I will be moving out of student housing!!!
I should never leave my cooking toaster oven unattended.
I am way more obsessed with my kids than I ever thought I'd be. :)
I ran the equivalent of two marathons in the month of December.
I am NOT a neat freak.
I am actually really good with money when I am in charge of the budget.
I don't love cooking (yet).
I fell in love with Kevin from the Wonder Years. (He even has his own Wayne:)

At 33, here is what I want:

To find a new apartment or home that I feel at peace with.
To have a more optimistic perspective about people.
To not judge people based on first impressions (I am wrong too many times!)
To see my siblings more often.

Here's to making this a great year!!

Family Photo Outtakes

2011-12-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

For our Christmas card this year we went to Walden Pond for some family photos. Josh's cousin, Porter was in town so we had him snap a few shots of all of us together. I love how they turned out. I had big plans for all these images, but then fell for the cute letter press cards that only allow for one or two photos. I also liked the black and white photo the best with the card design I chose. So much for coordinating my lipstick color with Presley's sweater! Ha!

Our Photographer

Plants on Wheels

2011-12-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T05:16:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas! I hope everyone out there did as well. We kept everything simple this year. We stayed home and just enjoyed time together. Josh and I promised not to get each other gifts. We set a budget in early Dec and just want to pay off some things asap (he did wind up getting me a fabulous warm coat, though--that stinker!) I totally procrastinated wrapping presents and pulled a late night on Christmas Eve. Santa brought the kids "sports gear" as Presley called it. Charlie a bike, Presley, roller skates, and Noah a skateboard. This will be our LAST Christmas in this apartment since we are no longer affiliated with Harvard. I can't believe it!

Charlie on his new wheels! We were going back and forth on a balance bike, but Santa thought this was easier to get in short notice :)

Presley got loads of jewelry! She insists on keeping it all in a tiny plastic box.

Pres also got a fashion design kit

Noah got the #1 gift he requested. We totally had him worried asking him over and over again, "what game is it again? Was it lego or regular star wars?"

Grandpa and grandma Plant got him a cool science kit

I love how Charlie and Noah wind up sharing their gifts. They definitely get excited for each other thinking of the big plans they have in mind for each present!

I was worried I'd have to return this book for a set of Pokemon cards, but it was a hit! Yay!!

Video games may rot your brain, but my kids have been playing together and getting along so well so they can't be all bad! Thank you Lego Star Wars 3

Charlie and Josh relaxing.

I got this horrible head cold and went through the equivalent of a whole box of tissues. It was awful. I was sitting in church and my nose just turned on like a faucet. Thankfully it is soooo much better today (for my birthday, woot woot!) I made a simple dinner with turkey breast, mashed potatoes, cranberries, green bean casserole, and everyone got a favorite soda. It was really nice.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T04:02:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread Housing Market

2011-12-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

List prices vary:

Some homes come with a car!:

So cute you could eat them up!:

Child with bed hair not included.

We had the missionaries and a friend over for family night last night. Our lesson was building your testimony on a strong foundation. We sang an off-key (my fault :) version of "the wise man built his house upon the rock"

Sunday, Josh taught Presley to play chess. I can't wait for her and Noah to play together. I also hope Pres can beat Noah a few times ;)

O' Holy Night + some comedy

2011-12-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to this annual event. The big New England tradition. I designed the flyers.

I made this beauty:

We also did some awesome Joy School Christmas Events. --they can take Christmas out of the public schools, but they can't take it out of Joy School! Hooray!! The kids and their older siblings participated in the nativity. So sweet.

Some still photos of the "cast"

Man I love that ugly Westgate activity lounge. SO MANY memories here.

Then the Joy School students sang for us. This one's a MUST SEE:)

I am loving that my kids are keeping that Christmas spirit alive. Maybe I won't be a scrooge after all! Merry Christmas out there!

P.S. I FINALLY sent out Christmas cards yesterday. Don't judge.

Tis the Season...

2011-12-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

I love being a mom at Christmas. In a way, you relive your own childhood through their eyes. Last night we had a church Christmas party and Santa was there. Charlie couldn't take his eyes off of him. He was completely mystified.

I think today was my last day of photo sessions for 2011 (I think). Three sessions in one day! I feel very blessed to have this extra work to help with the school loan payments. Also to make Christmas shopping a little less painful ;)

We made some Christmas cookies today. We might try something new for Santa this year. Hmmm.

Charlie and Noah got haircuts. Can you tell? Charlie is definitely going to get hit with the styling gel before we leave the house for a while.

Presley has been working hard at something.

read her note to Santa:

She is working on not crying when things don't go her way. It is so tough to see someone get the book you wanted or get a gift when you didn't. Poor little Pres. I love that she is making an effort:) How cute is her Christmas list?

Light it Up Like it's Dynamite!

2011-11-19T04:47:00.000-08:00

Presley's grade had a little talent show pot luck last night. Charlie's talent was sleeping through the whole thing! Presley dances with her buddy Ella. They practiced from Just Dance 3. Check out that movement!!

Dear Fall,

2011-11-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready to say goodbye to you. Thank you for showing your colors for so long this year.

We will be thinking of you when we are buried in snow.

Our street is so pretty right now. It seriously feels like a movie set around here sometimes. The colors almost look fake! Today was a good day to enjoy time outside. Presley, Charlie and I went to New Hampshire on Saturday and saw that all the leaves are brown up there now. It's like looking into our future! We had fun doing photo sessions and visiting old friends. Noah and Josh had some quality time together. They got lost in the mall parking garage (together!) and ate out at CPK while positioning themselves to watch the football game. It was a good day.

We are now prepping for a busy week of parent teacher conferences, cub scouting (did I tell you I am the new cub scout master??--any advice would be greatly appreciated), packing for a big Thanksgiving road trip to sunny Florida, babysitting, photo shooting, flyer/poster making, joy schooling, missionary hang outs, visiting teaching, 1st grade talent showing, potlucking and that's it. Sounds like a typical week. Can't wait for a big break. Turkey Day here we come!

P.S. Did you notice I got rid of my music on here? I know some of you are probably breathing a huge sigh of relief :) But if you're like me and like to turn up my blog to clean the house, check out my PLAYLIST button on the right -------------------------------------------------------------------------> (and up^)
I added that new catchy Weezer song to sweeten the deal.

Dish Duty

2011-11-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

I had to share this cute video of Noah and Presley doing dishes. They had no idea I was filming. Presley was having a blast. Listen to her chipper little voice! "The kids at school wash and play, all through the town..."

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

2011-11-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Charlie definitely had the most Halloween activities out of the three kiddos. Between Joy School, play group and wearing costumes to the Children's museums, I can't believe his Target costume held up. First was the Joy School Party:

Even Batman needs to pick his nose from time to time.

REALLY cute. Thanks Jenn for the photos!

This year we carved pumpkins with our German neighbors who had never done it before. We did it a little late in the evening so we had a few crying meltdowns, but our jack-o-lanterns turned out cute:).

Here is Charlie with our neighbor Tilly. These two really loved the pumpkins!

Noah did everything himself. He spent so much time carving away with the safety knife. I couldn't let him use any of our scary serrated kitchen blades. I myself am barely safe with those!

Noah did a great job! He mad a pirate with an eye patch. Presley and I made the witch, but we had to perform a little nose job on her. She still looks great, eh?

Cousins Porter and Elinor came to visit us for the weekend. We did as much as we possibly could in a three day period.

We went to Salem to visit the witch museum, go to haunted houses, and eat carnival food...

We went to gorgeous Walden Pond where Porter took our family pictures for us...

PK and Elli were besties:)

The highlight was taking to the cobblestones and trick or treating in Beacon Hill.

We had Batman (Charlie), Ariel (Elinor), a dead princess (Presley), and a skeleton knight (Noah)-my older kids like to be scary!

Serious business

It was so late by the time we got home-or at least it felt so late, we all went straight to bed before looking through the candy. Before school yesterday, Noah made his tallies. I don't dare sneak pieces of candy from his bucket. I'm sure he has a mental list of how many of everything he has!

Grandparent visit

2011-10-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have so many things I want to blog about. The kids are doing and saying things that are hilarious or just fun to see and I am getting that anxious feeling. These things need to be recorded or they are lost forever!! A giant cell phone photo unload and post would really give me some peace of mind right now! Alas, that will have to wait for another day. More urgently, I wanted to share some photos of Josh's parents' visit last weekend.

Our family is experiencing some interesting changes and prepping for more to come. The main thing is that Josh got a new calling (or job) at church. Josh's parents came out to Boston to be there for Josh becoming a High Priest and now serving in our Bishopric. It was such an amazing experience to have them here and to see Josh get ordained. --Sorry for all the Mormon jargon to those not of our faith. It was also nice to have people express their appreciation for our family to Josh's parents.

The kids just basked in the presence of the grandparents. Al and TK just came back from a Middle Eastern cruise. They had great stories and brought the kids souvenirs from Turkey.

^Here is Presley wearing her Tukish princess hat. Noah got a freaky knife that looks really tough. It was fun bringing that one to school for show and tell. I brought it straight to the principal for permission and he did a gasp/laugh when he first saw it.

So happy. The kids made leaf collages, cleaned there room and wrote welcome signs in the house for grandpa and grandma.

Since Al and TK were here for such a short time, we pulled the kids out of school on Monday and had them come with us to John Adams' house. I babysat that day too so we took the little guy with us.:)

Josh's dad is reading the book, John Adams, so this was especially fun for him. I loved the stories about him. There is something cool about walking on hallowed ground where powerful historic events took place. John Adams went from wanting to be a farmer, to going to Harvard, to becoming a teacher, then a lawyer, then an ambassador, then our second US President. (If you can't tell, I'm no historian, but I am learning and wishing I paid more attention in high school!-boys were way more important!!

Here is John and abigail's home after they returned from living in France where everything was nicer and more extravagant.

The interior layout was really cool. They had little bells in each room that led to the kitchen so the maids would know which family member needed something.

Josh''s dad left to go back to work and TK stayed an extra day. She helped watch the kids while I did photo sessions. Pres came down with a fever and stayed home from school so it was such a blessing to have an extra set of hands. I did a photo session in Beacon Hill and TK and Pres had a little lunch at a cute cafe. I'm so glad PK got the chance to have quality time with grandma TK. Thanks again guys for coming. We had a blast!

Yesterday

2011-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Josh and the kids were home for the day on Monday to celebrate Columbus Day. Josh an I got to spend the morning at the temple. It was so wonderful. It kept reminding me of my wedding day and we had such a great time.

Later on we got the kids and chilled:

We walked to Harvard Square, hung out at the Harvard Bookstore for a good hour, got some Slurpees, and went to Cambridge Common.

Fall is in the air! We aren't in full color just yet, but it is coming. Check my photo blog in a week or so. :)

Josh and the kids had races. It took a couple of minutes till we realized we were in the middle of an ultimate frisbee game. Whoops.

We kept picking berries and throwing them at each other. It's all about love with us, ya know? :)

It was HOT. Weird for October. We spent some time at the Science Center fountains to cool down.

I so LOVE that Josh gets holidays off. It is a humungous plus to life after school. There is a definite day off and day on. I don't have to be as flexible and go with the flow on his schedule. So nice.

Little Scientists

2011-10-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been busy around here. I am teaching Joy School at the moment. This means for three weeks straight I will have five kiddos at my house twice a week. I also started a new job. I am going to be a nanny for one of Charlie's little buddies twice a week. The sooner we can pay off student loans, the better! This economy is not going to get any better for at least a couple years (so my inside sources tell me;)

Anyways, here is some of the Joy school fun for this week:

We got messy! We are studying the earth and nature. we started this week with seeds and plants and moved on to animals. We used seeds to make bird feeders out of pine cones.

We mixed flour, cornmeal, and water to make a paste. Then pasted sunflower seeds into the pine cone crevices.

I think it was the squirrels who liked these the most.

Apples of my Eye

2011-09-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Charlie and I met up with our weekly play group to go apple picking recently. This is one of the many New England traditions that I have really grown fond of. This year, Charlie and I had so much fun. We have gotten into our own little system together that is working for us. We are total buds.

Being at the orchard, though really made me miss this little Miss.

...and this little dude.

I realized that while I've been in Boston, I've watched my kids grow up. These are the best memories of my life. I am (need to be) determined to live it to the fullest. Ten years from now I am going to laugh at the memory of my 32 year old self. Why did I sweat the small stuff like dishes, the ant trail that's formed under the dining room table, the endless loads of laundry that can't seem to stay folded... Sometimes you just need to ignore it and watch the end of Star Wars: A New Hope with a little buddy. These days won't last forever. Sniff.

When Charlie says "cheese" it looks like he's snarling at the camera!

I have to admit, we associate with some cute people too.

Class is in Session!

2011-09-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here I go again! I am back in the saddle of teaching joy school as preschool to my little one and buddies. I still can't believe Charlie is even old enough for pre-school. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. This time around we are teaching three weeks straight of Tuesday and Thursday classes for three hours each. I don't know what I was so worried about now though. After my first day (today) I was feeling like a rockstar teacher! :) I'm sure it was because of the groundwork laid by those that taught before me, but wow! I got through so much material. I think Charlie actually knows what the Earth is. I didn't think a tiny guy could grasp that (who knows to what extent he gets, but still...) We had a lot of fun and the time whizzed by. These were great kiddos. Here they are at lunch:

I forgot how much I loved the "Earth" unit in Joy school. We went on a nature walk and collected leaves for our pretty collages. It's so fun that little kids force you to stop and smell the roses. They are so interested in examining everything. We are starting to get some great color on trees out here. Mainly yellows, the reds are coming though. I have to credit my friend, Lindsey for teaching me to make these. This kids loved it and I adore how they look hanging in my windows. The lesson said to do this just on construction paper or poster board, but I like this method way better. It's like leaf stained glass.

How to:
SUPPLIES

contact paper- near the kitchen scrubbers and dust pans at Target
scissors
leaves

WHAT TO DO (self explanatory, but here it is anyway!)
Collect the leaves. Then cut two rectangles of contact paper roughly the same size. Peel one rectangle from its paper. Place the leaves in a pretty way on the paper. Peel the second rectangle from it's paper and stick that sheet on top of the other with the leaves. Trim the edges to remove excess leaves hanging out or uneven sides. Hang on your window an enjoy!

Summer Trip part 7: Noah's Baptism

2011-09-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest events of our trip to Utah was at the very end when Josh joined us on our trip and baptized Noah. In our church, children are baptized at age 8. Turning eight years old is a big deal.:) We had been noticing Noah grow and mature so much in the past few months. He is more perceptive and aware of others and their feelings. He is more helpful and conscientious in his decision-making. I was baptized when I was eight and my brother-in-law, Richard baptized me. It was really cool that Josh could be the one to baptize Noah. Noah looks up to him so much. I couldn't think of a better person for my kids to look up to.

Such a great day!

Denise made another awesome cake for the occasion. Noah chose a favorite Book of Mormon story that we kind of tied in as a theme. It was about Samuel the Lamanite. The story is about a person in Ancient America who was standing on a wall getting shot at by arrows. Samuel's faith kept him safe from getting hit by the arrows. I gave a short talk and mentioned Noah's great faith and ability to dodge life's arrows.

We had an amazing meal with almost all of the Utah family.

We gave the little guys lots of red punch!

Here is our group. Thanks for coming guys. It was such a special night.

On a side note: Noah's one request for a family activity was for all of us to play capture the flag together after the baptism. Noah loves competitive games like that. He's got a huge sense of adventure. A storm was rolling in and these dark clouds made it dark earlier than expected. We decided to play anyways in the dark. We played at a park that was in Josh's parents' housing development so it was a block away from the house. It turned out that Noah's team didn't win the game. We all rounded up the kids and Noah went home a little ahead of the group. We got inside and started chatting. I wanted to check on Noah to make sure he wasn't upset about losing and I couldn't find him anywhere. I searched the house for like five minutes. I got really nervous and the guys went out in the neighborhood and started searching for Noah. After a minute or so (which seemed like a eternity) Noah was found a few blocks away! It turned out that Noah to lost in the neighborhood which is very maze-like. He was got pretty scared and was crying when we found him. When we brought him inside he told us that the bishop who was overseeing the baptism an hour earlier had found him after Noah had said a little prayer. Not to get too mushy or anything, but I was so grateful Noah felt like he had someone to turn to when he was scared. Noah felt that his prayer was answered and I believe it was too. We feel very blessed to have God in our lives.

Summer Trip Part 6: Dino Museum

2011-09-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

High on our priority list when we came back to Utah was to spend time with Josh's sister Annalee and her cuties, Madison and JJ. We wound up braving the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point on a discount day. The place was packed!! It was so much fun, though.

Time with family has to be my all time favorite thing.

Musak

2011-09-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

I can't help but notice what a good song writer Alex Ebert is. I'm cleaning this morning with no kiddos at home and you better believe the music is blasting. Just when you wonder if the romance in modern music is lost....

40 Day Dream

Well, I been sleeping for forty days and I know
I'm sleeping 'cause this dream's too amazing
She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be, yeah
One turn and I learned what it really means to see

It's the magical mystery kind, must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oh no, I could die
Oh, now I can die

Hey, I been sleeping for sixty days
And nobody better pinch me
I swear I'll go crazy

(love the line below:)
She got jumper cable lips
She got sunset on her breath now
I inhaled just a little bit
Now I got no fear of death now

It's the magical mystery kind, must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oh no, I could die
Oh, now I can die

It's the magical mystery kind, must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oh no, I could die
Oh, now I can die

Summer Vacation part 5: Roommate Reunion

2011-09-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

It had been way too long since Denise and I had gotten together with Linda and Heather as a group. They were our first off campus roommates. We had known Heather since our moms were pregnant with us. It was such a plus that when we got to BYU, she had such an amazing cousin, Linda that who meshed with the three of us so well. Heather lives just blocks away from the Santa Monica Pier, so once again, we headed to the beach!

Heather's house is a vacation! It was dreamy.

It was so awesome to get our kids together. I had been dying to meet her little Ella. What a DOLL! She was such a seasoned beach goer. :) Gotta love those Shirley Temple curls.

This guy was an absolute terror when we got to the beach. Everything made him cry. He was really mad at the sand, and the boogie board, and the towel, and momma...

...Then this happened:

and it was all good. I guess traveling and staying up late all the time takes it's toll. Poor little guy. He slept for three hours on the beach! (Don't worry, I built a little tent for him right after this picture).

It was so fun to build these beach memories with the kids. They got to see a slice of our childhood

and they loved it! Jack fell asleep in my arms for half the time. What an angel!! I miss all of these guys to pieces. So fun to see everyone's personalities and interestes.

I couldn't believe how interested in reptiles and sea creatures Joel was. He had so much focus with his sand crab searches.

Denise's daughter Anora was so confident in water. She was an excellent swimmer and took to the ocean like a fish! The waves were thrilling to her. She body surfed and boogie boarded like a natural. So cute! Here is a video of here and Denise. I wanted to catch Denise riding a wave, but Anora caught one first, then we got moved by the life gaurd because of surfers.

Watch Anora on the right.

These guys were so cute together:

So hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful place.

That night, we had dinner and Heather's incredibly generous husband offered to watch all of our kids for us while we went out on the town and got dessert. How sweet is that? He had one baby under two, one three year old, his own two year old, a four year old, a pair of six year olds and an eight year old. YIKES! Love ya Chris!!

We shopped around and talked and talked.

we also indulged! Mmmm.

Cute Linda. I really need to do a family portrait session at night in the city. Any takers?? I love those city lights and store windows!

In 1999 the four of us as roommates made a time capsule! How funny is that? We had this vintage suitcase that we filled with magazines, photos, momentos, letters, notes to each other, etc. It was the most hilarious thing going through all that stuff. Heather was laughing uncontrollably! Chris got a million pictures. --Send some my way, will ya?? We were so sweet together as roommates though. We'd write little notes to cheer each other up. We'd help each other out as much as we could. We were there for each other. I think a lot of people must go through this period of adjustment when they get married and suddenly they aren't surrounded by their girlfriends.

The other event of hilariousness was when Noah, Joel, and Anora were sound asleep on an air mattress near where we were up talking. Anora made a little coughing sound in her sleep then rolled over. We went to check on her to find a huge amount of throw up all over Joel's left side! Anora puked on her brother in her sleep and never woke up! since none of the kids were awake and crying, we gave it the green light to pretty much DIE LAUGHING at that one! WE were the ones in tears as we all pitched in to carefully clean up the mess. Not waking a single little soul. It was unforgettable! Chris got plenty of photos of that one too. Ah hem. I'll be waiting for that email mister!

Thank you for such an incredible trip you guys!!

Date on the Charles

2011-09-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went on a fabulous, spontaneous date thanks to my friend Brittany. The Bishop (or pastor) of our church in Cambridge is an expert in the history and architecture of the area. Every year he guides a boat cruise on the Charles River. Josh and I wanted to go, but didn't have the energy to find a sitter to watch all three kids. We totally forgot about the whole thing. Then My sweet friend Brittany called saying her and her husband couldn't go and they would love to give us their tickets + watch our kids for us while we went. She called it a late b-day present. Holy cow! It was a wish come true! After a week of drenching rain, today was gorgeous and Josh and I had been postponing date after date lately. This was PERFECT.

Isn't Boston cool?

Don't we look happy? Unexpected dates are the BEST.

This sunset was the reward after putting up with all the rain. I actually liked the rain (as long as I wasn't shuffling kids in and out of the car in it). It is getting me excited for fall. We are already planning a fun Halloween with a visit from Josh's cousin, Porter. Yay for visitors!!

We watched one of the many specials about 9/11 last night. I can't believe it's been 10 years. I was in Mexico doing my student teaching when it happened. It was four months before I met Josh.

Right after the special, the news came on and said NYC is on high alert on bridges and tunnels. They said Boston will be too, just to be safe. It kind of creeped me out. Then we wind up on the river, cruising right underneath most of Boston's bridges!! I was on high alert for any suspicious activity. All was clear:) You can rest easy guys.

Labor Day

2011-09-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

Since Labor Day was the day before the kids started school, we decided to spend the morning getting rooms cleaned and things organized. Josh bought a fire proof safe to keep all our birth certificates and important papers in. I think it was a huge highlight of the weekend for him!

In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Science and saw an Omni movie where the screen is a half dome and you feel like you are in the movie itself. It was "Dinosaurs Alive!" That we actually saw in Utah, but we got to see it with Josh this time and now my kids know all about the amazing finds in the Gobi Dessert (as narrated by Michael Douglas). We also went to the Planetarium and watched the Collision Constellation show. We learned how the moon was formed and what is going to happen to our galaxy in millions of years! We also saw this guy sitting right by us:

He is the creator of Family Guy. Josh thought he looked familiar, then we looked him up on Josh's smart phone. It was the spitting image. Josh heard some other couple ask if he was Seth McFarland. His girlfriend answered no for him, but you could tell she was lying.:)

I snapped some photos at the park where we left our car. This park is one of my favorite photo locations.

Great variety and cool Boston scene with tall buildings, Charles River, The T, and boats. Plus our Bishop from church designed it. So we think it's pretty cool.

There's the museum behind us!

I LOVE this guy. I am really getting used to this "Holidays Off" stuff. Presley took this photo:

Handsomes.

Cutie.

School Started!

2011-09-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, the day has finally come, I have all three kiddos in school! Today Noah started third grade and Presley started first. Charlie is at Joy School at my friend, Danielle's house in MIT housing. Bitter sweet I tell ya!

Presley has the same first grade class that Noah had two years ago. He wanted to be the one to show her where to go. I had to keep a slight distance behind them. They wanted to do it all by themselves. Funny, the second we got into the building, Noah forgot the rest of us and hustled off to his own classroom! I think he got anxious. These guys are going to have a fabulous year. Great teachers, good mix of friends in their classes, and I have to say they did a lot of growing over the summer. They are going to love being back in the classroom to write about their summer adventures.

What's on my agenda you ask? Oh, I have three loads of laundry going, I've got cleaner soaking the whole bathroom, and I need to run some **QUICK** errands--they will be quick because I have no slow pokes to stop at every toy or candy isle. And of course I am enjoying a few moments to blog :). Maybe I'll have time to actually train for the 5K I am still considering for this weekend!

Summer Trip Part 4: Santa Monica & Palmdale

2011-09-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

After Valencia, Denise and I drove down to Santa Monica to meet with our other sister, Sue and her kids (minus one who is on a mission). This was Denise's kids' first time at the ocean. Joel was so into the sea creatures!! Here he is with Susie:

It had been over six years since we had last seen these guys. They were in elementary school when we saw them before! Now Tyler is going to leave for his mission to the Philippines in October and Bri is in High School! They are like rock stars to our kids.

Charlie and I in front of the Santa Monica Pier. I grew up going to this place with my mom and our family and friends. So many happy memories here. This is where my love for California began!

We were so glad to share it with our kiddos.

Denise's little Anora was quite the surfer girl. More on that to come...:)

In a few years we will have our own little high schoolers!

We got to meet my niece Jen's cute little family for the first time. She's got an 18 month old and one on the way. Her husband Ben is a corrections officer keeping the peace in Cali! Check out their photo session here.

My sister, Susie was always the best at french braids! When I was little, she would braid my hair at night and I would lay so still hoping not to mess it up for school the next day.

Brianna has mad skills when it comes to manies and pedies.

Presley and Anora tag team wrestled Tyler. I think to them, he was Prince Charming!

For fun, Brianna gave PK and AJ miss america make overs!

We love our California family!!! I'm so so glad we got the chance to get together. It was such a great experience to have our kids meet such amazing family members. All through college, Denise and I were able to visit for Thanksgiving and watch these guys grow up. We are so proud of them!
L to R: Brianna, Jen, Denise, Tyler, Greg, and Blaine

L to R: me, Susan, Charlie, Blaine (BYU Idaho student body prez!!-had to brag), Brianna, Tyler, Denise, and Jack. **Doesn't Susie look WAY too young to a) be a grandma and b) have kids in their 20's?? I hope I inherit that gene.

Charlie Started Joy School today

2011-08-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Today was the big day for Charlie. He is lucky enough to start school a whole week before the big kids. We are doing Joy School this year for him. He is following in the foot steps of Noah and Presley. I'm excited to be a part of his first year of "school" and see how he behaves as a student. I love how much Joy School has acclimated my kids to a learning environment. They all so far have been able to make the transition into kindergarten so smoothly.We have a nice sized group of five so I won't even need to teach till the end of September. Charlie couldn't be more thrilled this morning.

I let Charlie pick out his own outfit. He chose his cub scout shirt. Classic.

He even has the same back pack Noah had way back in 2006!

I think charlie was being still because he thought I was taking a still photo instead of video.

Summer Trip Part 3: Valencia, California

2011-08-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

is it me, or does every girl dream about taking a fun-filled road trip with her sister?

California here we come...

...with six kids in tow? only if you have a dvd player!!

we drove from utah to california to visit with friends and family. our first stop was valencia, just north of los angeles to visit our sister shelley and her awesome family.

anora with cousin, jordan, shelley and jesse's youngest daughter. they have matching hair!

here is hailey front row as we headed to the farmer's market.

we went to pick up some amazing artichokes (and a giant tray of strawberries that the kids gobbled up in minutes!)

Jesse grilled artichoke that were marinated in lemon butter and covered in parmesan cheese. holy cow! incredible!

We were so fortunate to also get to see our sister, Stacy as well. I LOVE that we all got together. It was an awesome experience.

Shelley decided to be sneaky and surprise us with a visit from our childhood friend, Simple! It was so great to see her and her cute little guy, Liam.

If you're in California, you must take a shot at skateboarding, right?

Noah and Joel, sled style:

Jordan was a cool chick to follow around!

We were loving Valencia. it was so pretty and family friendly.

not only that, but it is where Six Flags Magic Mountain is!

If you can tell by the screaming, the kids had a blast there:

Hailey and Jordan were so great helping with the little guys.

The kiddie rides were perfect for the kids. We had such a fabulous day!

Sweet endings.

Thank you Shelley and Jesse for sharing your life with us. We loved every minute of it!

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes Concert

2011-08-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

A huge highlight to our time in Utah was when the kids got babysat with their cousins an Denise an I met up with Linda to see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes at the Twilight Concert Series in Salt Lake. They were fabulous performers. I couldn't believe we got to see such a great show for free.

Denise and I realized we had some crazy twin coincidences. We got together and find out we have the same sunglasses, sandals, lipsticks, and bangs.

They played all the hits and then some. Not a fan of his propaganda-- I came to hear your music not your opinion, dude. Their performance did not disappoint for sure.

We had FUN!

Did I mention we hit Cafe Rio before the show, then Sonic for drinks after. Then we headed to Linda's closet for a shopping spree of things she was getting rid of. You could spend all day in her closet!

Summer Trip Part 2: Provo!

2011-08-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE this photo of Josh's dad and Charlie. Charlie's middle name is "Alan" after this guy.

My sister, Denise lives in Provo and we got to spend time in her adorable historic home.When did Provo get so artsy? It was really fun. Here is Noah with Joel, getting muddy in the garden.

Presley and Anora in the window seat. These two had so much in common.

We also got to spend a day at my alma matter, BYU. Josh's mom, TK is currently a student there so we waited for her to get out of class.

The "Y"

BYU students: past, present, and future(?)

We had a sleep over with Denise and her family before heading out to California for our road trip. D and I relived our childhood by putting sponge rollers in our girls' hair.

Summer Trip Part 1: Cousins and Birthdays

2011-08-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

There is so much to tell about our 3+ week trip to Utah and California. I'll have to pace myself. I'm so excited to get to go through the photos after having to wait a week while we got a new hard drive installed on our computer.

To start out, the kids and I flew to Utah just in time to see a few sets of fireworks in the valley for Pioneer Day. Flying with three kids was pretty good. I think I was just real nervous at first, but the nerves were the worst part. Since we rode Southwest there was no assigned seating. Noah had to sit across the row from me, but he did awesome.

Our first adventure was in Cedar Hills Utah, where the kids got to reunite with some friendly faces:

They all played and played and then got to have movie nights with candy and popcorn till their hearts content!

Next we needed to celebrate their birthdays. We did it in one birthday bash this year. It was a family year.

My sister, Denise made the awesome cakes and cookies to match the invites.

We celebrated at Josh's aunt and uncle's house (Denise's in-laws). They have a community pool right out their back door. It is so perfect for family parties.

Lots of cute cousins!

Lots of silly faces

Lots of "picking up people who didn't want to be held."

PIZZA!! I sure miss that cheap and delish $5 Little Caesar's pizza!!

We filled bellies, then swam. After swimming we hit the pinata.

Love the cousins cheering each other on. That seemed to be the theme for the trip. Lots of love, support and cheering each other on. It was a very special experience.

Noah was determined to be the DESTROYER!

Grabbing the goods. "Everyone look at your cousin and make sure he or she has enough candy!" I loved that. Pinatas can be a blood bath if you don't even out the candy!!

Anora and Yuri. Best Friend cousins.

Linda stopped by to get splashed at the pool and give us some love life updates. Always super fun.

Presents!!

Aaron stopped in on his lunch break.

Happy Birthday guys!!

SO. MUCH. FUN!

Thanks everyone for making that such a wonderful, amazing birthday. You are loved dearly!

Sweet Sundays

2011-07-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is what's melting my heart at the moment.

In less than a week the kids and I will be heading west for a few weeks minus Josh. We are so gonna miss him!

Noah is Eight!

2011-07-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Another Plant birthday has come and gone. Two down, one to go. We went simple for Noah's birthday this year as well. We plan to have a celebration in Utah with all the cousins in a few weeks. We first headed to the store so that Noah could pick out a donut breakfast, ice cream to go with his birthday cake, and two "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" books. Noah has read the whole series three times since school let out. We have two of the books held hostage from the library as we speak!

We let Noah be in charge of the day's meals and activities. It's cute to see how the siblings are actually willing to cater to this for eachother. Noah chose to spend a huge chunk of the day at the park by his school. The kids played in the sand, climbed and ran through sprinkers for three hours! Then his buddy took him to lunch at McDonalds where Noah can proudly scarf down a whole big mac in no time.

For dinner, Noah requesed pizza from Dominoes (we had quite the day of high sodium, sugar, fat, etc.--fun stuff! )Then we opened presents and played with them for an hour before cake and ice cream. Noah got soccer gear and a game.

So glad he's been reading so much this summer all on his own.

My little clown. His humor genuinely makes me laugh. I'm sure he would have been one of my good buddies as a kid. Happy birthday Noah! So proud of the amazing things you do. Maybe I should list some:

You tell me I'm a great chef and try to convince your siblings to eat their dinner.
You are super competitive and have a passion for any game you play.
You are known as a good guy to be friends with. The teacher encouraged kids in your class who were shy to be your friend because you were so accepting of people.
You are FUNNY! When you get in silly mode, you say some hilarious stuff. I need to video tape it more.
You are a hard worker. I never saw a kid try so hard in swim lessons as you did.
You are so creative. You come up with incredible stories and ideas for inventions.
You are so smart! I can't believe how much info you absorb when I think you're not even paying attention!
You are a great (and pesky) big brother. You read to Charlie at night and keep your siblings entertained.
You are a great leader. You seemed to have the capacity to get your whole class to pay attention to the NFL stats last fall and then you started a huge Lego men obsession in your class.
You are a good person. Never malicious and always having good intentions.

Also, I have a new internet guilty pleasure:

Do you pin? Click here to see my account.

take a hike!

2011-07-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

We decided to go hiking to day in the most beautiful weather. Thanks to Josh and his wonderful ideas. --Okay, I admit I was secretly feeling way too lazy to hike. It wound up being so much fun, though. The kids loved collecting and examining all sorts of morsels of nature.

Josh and I took turns carrying chalie for parts here and there. Charlie was on Josh's shoulders for some of the toughest terrain. Josh would have made a great pioneer! I on the other hand felt like carrying my camera was about as much as I could handle! Glad I brought it, though.

We went to Fells Reservation. Who knew Medford, Mass could be so pretty!

This was so good for the kids. Presley was more active than we have seen her in a while. Her face was beet red by the end of the hike. Her fair skin always reveals how hot or embarassed she is! Her and Noah were the best of pals. We need to do this kind of thing more often.

That little face! What a crack up. These guys sure ware me out, but oh how I adore them!! Their daddy isn't so bad either. Thanks, Josh for a fun adventure.

a simple birthday = one happy 3 year old

2011-07-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

I knew what would make Charlie have a happy day on his thrird birthday. Really, it wasn't a lot of bells and whistles. (sorry if you are hoping for a decked out amazing cake and decor to the nines with a smash hit load of friends)

It started with getting the bathing suit on...

That alone makes Charlie totally stoked.

Then we headed over to a sprinkler park.

Telling Charlie happy birthday all day long, then baking his cake and building up the anticipation.

Then we sang him his favorite song, "happy (birthday) to you."

He opened presents, thinking only one of the 3 was his and letting Noah and Presley help and take the other two. Then he wanted to make trades! We had to explain that they were ALL his. Looking back, I think just one present would have been enough. Such a sweet kid.

As for the rest of the days, we have been spending lots of time in swim suits. I don't know why we even start the day in clothes. Today was a beach day with Lindsey who is moving soon. Her and Charlie have a special bond.

good color combo Pres. I love orange and turquoise, don't you?

And of course Noah did something to his arm, forcing us to head to the ER and get him in a splint. Thankfully there is just a lot of swelling and no break. He didn't cry one bit. Such a toughie. He has a splint just to keep from moving it too too much, but can take it off to shower and go in the sprinklers. Yay!!

Josh and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on Sunday. I can't believe it has been that long!! That means a lot of our stuff (including clothes--eek) is that old. I still have serving spoons, kitchen canisters, tables, dressers, mixers, pots and pans, shoes, shirts, skirts, etc. datin back to 2002 and beyond. So so grateful to have lucked out to be with a guy I can get through the ups and downs of life in the city with three kids.

Here are some shots of our 4th of July. We bbq'd with friends and played for hours at the park. Then cam home to the air conditioning and watched movies with buddies. Noah found a $10 bill, that was the highligt for him for sure.

Summa Time!

2011-06-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Time for blogging has been pretty non existent since the kids have been out of school. I accidentally took a little cat nap after dinner tonight so now I'm wired and ready to blog! So far summer vacation has been a juggling act. Running errands with three kiddos in tow, keeping the tv off, and getting ouside the second the weather looks good. The only scheduled item is swim lessons daily at 4:30 which is pretty hard to get to when you want to go with the flow all day. Josh and I decided this is the year Noah and Presley will become swimmers. Our deadline for learning to swim is our trip to Utah this summer.

We have hit the outdoor pool, some parks, the library, and the backyard so far. One thrilling outing we recently went on was a gem of Massachustts in my mind. We went to deCordova, a sculture garden and museum that blew me away!

The outing was also a farewell hang out with some good buddies who are moving to western Mass. This little guy has been Charlie's comrade all year. Their birthdays are a day apart. His mom and I swapped babysitting on Thursdays and Fridays.

I also mentioned on facebook that I finished my photo book. This has been a project on my mind for a while. With everything else I was busy doing it kept getting put on the back burner. I am so so glad I got it finished. It is over 100 pages covering our time in Boston and a few shots from Maryland. It turned out beautifully. I used Blurb and it was so easy and quick.

front cover

back

Other than that, I already managed to get poison ivy somehow and I have been back on the running wagon, listening to a lot of old Offspring, who knew!

Dad's Day, Classroom b-days, and a Charlie modeling gig

2011-06-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of Father's Day was our big crepe breakfast. Josh ate crepes while serving his mission in Norway so I thought I'd make some for him. We had just gone berry picking so I made lots of homemade jam (seriously one of my favorite foods!). We also had butter, homemade whipped cream, powdered sugar, nutella and Norwegian Goat cheese. Everyone in thae family eats theirs differently.

Josh has the goat cheese and jam

On Monday we celebrated Noah and Presley's birthdays in their classrooms. Summer birthday kids get to pick which day they want to celebrate. I brought ice cream sandwiches to Presley's class and chocolate peppermint cupcakes to Noah's. It's been a busy week!

I have to learn to quit filming sideways!

Charlie and I took a stroll to the library. I heard from friends that there is a giant photo of Charlie in the parking garage and so I wanted to check it out. Sure enough, there is little (big!) Charlie at 9 months old. Charlie liked it. He was laughing at how his teethe looked !

Today is the first day out of school. We have big plans for the summer. First up is Charlie's b-day on the 5th. Still trying to figure out how the heck to celebrate.

Video Fun

2011-06-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

Charlie sings, "I got a Dream" from the Tangled soundtrack (sorry, no idea how to flip it!)

Bumper Boats at Kimball Farms when family was in town for graduation. Justin & Charlie were together (blue shirt), Noah was alone (turquoise shirt), Al was alone (brown shirt), TK and Presley were together (white shirt)

Presley doing "Just Dance"

Happy Friday!

Soccer Wrap up

2011-06-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the last game of spring soccer. Noah's team was undefeated with a tie for the last game. It was pouring rain and they played on. Here are some shots before I ran away from the water with my nice camera:

Noah's coach said Noah told him that "it's important to hustle." He noted Noah as a good listener! We got the same feedback from his swimming instructor. Noah got to be the 2nd team captain this year. Meaning he was captain if #1 was gone.

I can't believe how much he has grown up. Check him out in 2006 when he is 3 years old on his first soccer team (I keep reading my old beloved xanga blog lately. I used to be so detailed about my everyday life over there!):

Team Turquoise standing out in the pouring rain! I love that Noah's buddy has his arm around him!

our bedrooms

2011-06-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Since we had some company stay with us last month when Josh graduated, I did a major cleaning and organizing with the help of Justin. I thought I'd take some pictures to remember our house for the future when we move away. The four years in Harvard student housing have been the longest we have lived anywhere as a family. Here is Josh and my bedroom with the floor model, Charlie.

This is the kids' room. Noah refers to it as the museum of kids' artwork! Presley and I made a giant chalkboard with an ugly framed painting from Goodwill, some acrylic paint, and some chalkboard paint.

I have stacks of canvases that I painted over white and let Presley creat some of her own beautiful paintings. Her current specialty is butterflies. Charlie is making a Noah face in this one!

Boston Tourists

2011-06-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

We were Boston Tourist on Saturday. We decided to take the T and hit the Freedom Trail. It was our first time doing it. We inherited a tour book from friends who just moved away so we put it to use. It's hard not to love Boston when you go exploring in the city. It is such a cool place. We saw things that were over 300 years old. You can't find structures like that just anywhere.

We went to the harbor and rode the T boat for the first time. The city seemed so different from this angle.

We had Josh Clement with us from church. He's an awesome guy.

Action shot on the stroller! Presley looks like she's on a roller coaster.

Fanueil Hall

Graduation Day

2011-06-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

WE DID IT!!

I need to take you on a little walk down memory lane to appreciate this...

Back in 2007 when we came to Boston to look for housing, this is what I blogged:

then this:

We only had two teeny kids at the time!

Experiencing Josh's graduation was amazing! We had a super full day. Breakfast in the early morning, then Josh marched with the other phd grads down Oxford St. so cars could honk and congratulate. Then we fought the crowds and walked for miles (yards) around the gate of Harvard Yard, looking for our entrance. We opted not to fight the early crowd for seats to the first event so this was our set up:

GO PhDs!!!

We listened to a fabulous student speech (we didn't get Amy Poehler- boo! that was undergrads the previous day)

Later in the evening was the ceremony at the med school It was much smaller and really special.

My very favorite part was the middle ceremony where the kids walk on stage and got diplomas with Josh. I'll have to post about that later when I get the photos from everyone else.

We've had quite a journey! Glad it has come to an end, but very grateful for it all. So proud of Josh and US.

Fire Station Visitation

2011-05-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

We went to the fire station the other day for play group. Charlie was apprehensive at first, then he got so comfortable, you'd think the truck belonged to him! I love how nice the fire men are to the kids. I think they like being the hero in their little eyes.

As I was looking at this photo I realized I have a few photos of the kids in front of a fire truck. I never in my life thought I'd be a regular at the local fire station! I think I've gone at least five times. One time we were on a walk in Maryland and the fire fighters just flagged us in to come check out the truck.

Here is one of Charlie in his pre-walking days.

Here is Pres during that same trip.

Then I dug up some pics of Noah in 2006 when we lived in Salt Lake. Doesn't he look like Charlie?

Good times.

Meeting Big Papi & a Game

2011-05-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

Josh's bro, Justin is in town for Josh's graduation. Since he's a big Red Sox fan, Charlie and I took him to meet David Ortiz "Big Papi" at our local mall. The event was at Victoria's Secret so we also got to meet a model, Chanel. Look how tiny she is! She's half my size!

Big Papi liked Charlie and rubbed his head for good luck. Notice the new haircut.

Check out the video. We are on the right of the screen, at the 13 second mark, talking to the police officer.

Later that night Josh and Justin went to the game and watched the BoSox beat the Cubs 15 to 5.

They were televised a few times with foul balls coming their way. Looks like they had fun!

little P

2011-05-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I spent a lot of one on one time with Presley. It was so fun. She is such an affectionate little sweetheart. Sure I have my moments of impatience with her when it comes to choosing outfits for the day or having her wait till I have a second to help her (when she wants help, she wants it NOW!), Pres is just the love of my life! She reminds me of me in so many ways.

she's sensitive- I made the mistake of telling her teacher she will cry easliy if she is in trouble. Now I think her teacher notices a little too much and wants Pres to toughen up a bit. Maybe we'll work on that this summer, maybe not :)
she is shy yet loves the spotlight. I went on a field trip with her class and noticed Presley is a big hand raiser! She will raise her hand then get shy when she is called on! I thought it was cute. Her teacher wants us to work on this one a bit too.
she can swing a baseball bat! She was one heck of a slugger at the batting cages and at the pinata at a friend's b-day party.

Here Presley is on the Art museum field trip with her best buddy Kadijah. They are such cute pals!!

Pres was so eager to help me clean on Saturday

Then we went to the laundromat and waited for five loads to wash. Pres was rewarded with a lemonade.

Then here is a video of me putting rollers in her hair! TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME FOR THIS!! Josh's voice is so loud. :)

spoil me why don't you?

2011-05-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I can't help but think of all the women in my life (mother's and non mother's) who influence me for the good and inspire me to be a better person. Thank you, thank you.

Wanna see what Josh got me for Mother's Day?

I had been wanting an ipod to exercise with for a few months now. I ran with it this week and had a blast. Josh was cute to get it inscribed for me. Mom, Wife, Artist, Teacher. He seems to think I'm something special ;).

One of the highlights of our week was a special family home evening that we had with our neighbors on Monday. We strung a string all throughout our house and the kids had to follow the string from beginning to end to find the treasure (ice cream sundae fixings with all kinds of candy and ice cream!) in our neighbor's kitchen. The string was supposed to represent the iron rod or the gospel and following it will lead to great rewards. It was slightly hazardous and we did almost break a lamp or two, but we had fun!

So our week was pretty crazy. On Tuesday afternoon Josh had a big project come into work that had him staying till past midnight a couple of nights and till 10 pm on a third night.

I was on single parent duty running the kids to their activities and keeping things fun on the home front.

Here we are at this awesome building at MIT where Noah has swim lessons for scouts. I was floored that Noah gets to do this for dirt cheep in such a cool place. I am addicted to my camera phone these days!

I'm so glad it's warming up. This was fun. Pizza subs for the kids and philly cheese steak for me.

When Friday rolled around, Josh wanted to get the heck out of town and as far away from work as possible. I didn't blame him.

I'll give you a hint to where we went.

It was beautiful there. Everything I always pictured (including lots of old Volvos!)

First stop was Sharon, VT for a church history lesson. We visited the birthplace of Joseph Smith who was the first president of our church. It was amazing to re-learn about the story of his life.

Then we headed to the Benny and Jerry's Factory for a tour and some delicious ice cream! They had a dish of ice cream there called the "Vermonster" which had all the flavors and costed $44. It was meant to feed eight. We opted out of that one.

Also this week we got Josh's thesis printed. We had to drop off copies all over campus to seal the deal on graduation. Such a good feeling to get that out of the way.

Spring has sprung...

2011-05-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

...the grass is ris, I wonder where the flowers is.

My mom used to say that all the time. Totally makes me laugh. Today, May Day, would've been her 65th birthday. She was way too cool to stick around and get old.

Here the flowers "is" in Cambridge! We are in full bloom. It is actually pleasant to be outside. We are soaking it in.

This totally looks like an Easter hunt, but the kids actually were collecting rocks on our evening stroll.

Finally there was no car parked in front of this blue wall that I want to use for a photo spot sometime. Not a stable place, though. Usually there are too many cars around here.

Random Josh. He is doing well in his new job. It is definitely a learning experience. It seems to be a good challenge for him so far. Definitely not boring. Love having him home all weekend without work runs. Horay!

Check out Noah's new teeth coming in. It's kind of scary to have to deal with adult teeth. These puppies need to be taken care of. Uh oh!

Did I mention we have a new tenant at the Plant house? We are babysitting our friends' mini pincher for the week. He is a big snuggle fan (not so much a food getting taken away from him fan or a help pick him up to get on the bed fan...)

Isn't he the cutest little half pint? It's fun to see the kids take such great care of him. It is really helping us to see what life will be like with a dog some day.

Yesterday we went to a place my friend Kate mentioned to me called Kimball Farm. It was a little mini theme park west of Boston. We did batting cages, pony rides, and bumper boats. It was really, really fun. We enjoyed the green countryside and all these outdoor activities to the fullest.

Future softball babe??

Now that it's warming up, I'm attempting my morning outside runs again. I get to run past my favorite Harvard building which makes it a bit easier:

Easter Events

2011-04-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Our Easter began with a week off from school...

These guys slept in every single day! Charlie had the BEST bed head.

We had an egg hunt with friends in a cool park along the Charles River

We saw "HOP" and got pizza with buddies, went to the Museum of Fine Arts for some Dale Chihuly and kids' art projects, hit up the golden arches (yes McDonalds!) for some playland action on a rainy day, celebrated Josh's birthday by seeing "Rio" and some other stuff that I got pictures of (note: I think this was almost enough to keep the kids from getting bored and getting in the whiny "I don't know what to do" voice) :

Egg dyeing! Sorry for the blur...my quick camera draw makes me forget to check my settings sometimes.

We tried the marble eggs this year. So oily and messy. Next time I'll wait till Josh is home to help with mess control! Some of them turned out real pretty.

Charlie kept plopping egg after egg into the same green container! He was thrilled! noah and Pres had precise plans for each egg. in the end we dumped all the colors in one bucket to see what kind of egg we'd get. They were funny cause they were so anxious to eat their eggs! I guess I need to hard boil eggs more often.

I wanted to teach the kids about the real reason we celebrate Easter (in a fun way that might stick) and found a great idea online. It was a cookie recipe where the ingredients signify different events leading up to the resurrection. Some of the things were cheesy and Josh and I snickered a bit :) but it was fun and the kids remembered a few things.

Our cookies were supposed to be fluffy and pretty, but they were flat!

I didn't get many pics of Easter morning. Our egg hunt required lots of parental involvement. We had a scavenger hunt with clues in the eggs which led the kids to their baskets. The "Easter Bunny" thought it would be helpful to get the kids to work as a team instead of competing. Noah is so competitive and loves to blow Presley out of the water. Then Presley usually will cry--no fun. the scavenger hunt helped, but Charlie kind of wanted to commandeer the whole thing. He'd yank the clues out of our hands to "read" them first. So funny.

Our Lovlies. Yay for pictures Noah, right?

Boston LDS Temple

2011-04-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We got the chance to go to the temple with the kids from our church and help plant some flowers. I totally thought they were going to only let the kids do a tiny bit of work, but they were actually able to dive right in and plant tons of pansies.

In Boston, like a lot of other cities, you can see the temple from the freeway. When I tell people I go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (I'm Mormon or "LDS" for short), they ask me if I go to church in that building off the freeway. The temple is where we get married and do other things relating to family history which we hold sacred. So we don't go there for church every Sunday. You can read more about it here if you are curious.

Josh and I got married at a temple in Utah. We tell the kids, "that is where our family began" so you can say it's a place we hold dear to our hearts :).

Noah is right at home in the dirt! He was struggling cause he had a runny nose and kept needing a tissue, but his hands were all muddy. Poor guy!

So awesome that Josh got to be there. He actually gets holidays off now that he is a working man! (In Boston we celebrate Patriot's Day on April 18th-also the day of the Boston Marathon)

Presley must have planted over 15 flowers. It was nice that she could really get into it!

Here is our group of little workers. (I think one of my three kids is looking at the camera, classic)

Home Girl's Got Style

2011-04-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Presley did some modeling for Hannah's portfolio. I love the cute shots she got. Here Presley is 5 going on 16!

She's way more stylin' than me.

Here's her Easter dress that I've let her wear too early! I wish Easter was at the beginning of April this year.

Can you believe she started out being too shy to take the photos? Then she started to work that camera.

April Haps

2011-04-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Presley and I made these little bird's nests together. If she has a bad day, I love that projects are the main thing that cheers her up. We decided to bring them to hers and Noah's class the next day. I read a "hurray for spring" type book when I brought them in. I love peeking in at their class life.

They are chow mein noodles, melted chocolate chips and Robin's Eggs. Cadbury Eggs would've been good, but they were all out.

THEN, we helped out with a bake sale at the school. I sort of volunteered the women at church to bake ALL the goodies. I knew they'd be excited to help. Sure enough, I had over ten volunteers, baking multiple varieties of beautiful treats. They ranged from vegan, to cholesteral-free, to gluten-free, to over the top candy-filled. I was so excited to show off the goods. We wound up making a good chunk of money on the baked goods alone (we sold pizza too). So exciting.

Here they are filling my car:

Oh, what's that? That doesn't look like my car, you say?

Well that's because it's our new car! I'm thinking of it as MY graduation present. :) It's a Chevy Traverse with all my criteria: fits my kids and friends, fuel efficient, sun roof(s). I am a happy camper and can now handle hand washing dishes and laundromats for another year.

AND THEN... Hannah, my intern had her portfolio show down town. Presley, Charlie, and I took the train to visit and loved her colorful display. She did a fabulous job. Isn't she cute?

Presley's little mug was peppered throughout Hannah's display (see pink frame). She is such a cooperative little model.

Just what the "doctor" ordered

2011-04-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Friday was an exciting day in the Plant family. Josh defended his thesis to his committee to become Dr. Plant. I picked up the kids early from school so we could go downtown to show our support. It was fun to ride the T and talk about our day. We were all so giddy about it being such a special day. When we got to Josh's lab, my nerves took over the giddiness. Josh never gets nervous. I am nervous enough for the both of us. The poor kids had to deal with mega uptight mom for an hour! (they did pretty well considering they had to watch a 45 min science presentation--talk about stressful keeping them quiet, though--yeesh!)

Here is Josh at the end of his presentation. Sorry for the blurry camera phone pic. I was in a big hurry here.

Josh's seminar was advertised all over the building.

After Josh gave his 45 minute talk, the audience was excused so Josh could meet with the committee and get the verdict. We waited in the cafeteria with the Red Sox first winning game of the season on tv (it was a sign!).

Such great views of downtown in that building. The clock was ticking sooooo slowly.

Then Josh came out with the thumbs up.

Introducing Dr. Plant!

Here he is with his PI (lab boss), Mike.

There was a really nice little celebration for Josh in the lab afterwards. Then we headed home where the kids and I prepared a few things to celebrate:

Cake, ice cream, a banner, balloons and Dr. Pepper for the doctor

Tangled

2011-04-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

So... I opted not to purchase an overpriced picture package from the school this year. As cute as Presley looked with her little pose, I have other plans for her. :)

The little kids love the tie-dye backdrops!

Just recently, we rediscovered my old sponge rollers. I never thought to use them on Pres since she has some natural curl. She was so interested in them so we tried them out. We had her sleep in the rollers and everyone was so anxious to see how the curls would look in the morning.

She looks so much like Denise and I as little gals.

We were not disappointed! The curls looked so pretty and stuck in her hair so well. They add so much to her existing curls. They also keep her hair from getting so tangled throughout the day. Presley gladly lets me brush her hair now, knowing I will be putting the rollers in. I think we will make this a weekly event till we get sick of it. :)

Maple Sugaring

2011-03-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went on a little outing to New Hampshire to a Maple Farm. We had a great time once we made it (40 minutes late)... gabbing like crazy to your navigator is never a good thing! We ate an amazing breakfast with fresh, pure maple syrup in this totally rustic restaurant, then had a little tour on maple sugaring. Notice we are still in jackets and lots of layers, booo!

Here is part of our group

We found out that it taks 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. So much work!

It was so nice to get out of the city for the morning and hang out in the woods. Once we got close to the farm, you can see that half the town had little taps on trees in their yards. So neato.

A night I will NEVER forget!

2011-03-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

I'd like to announce that after just under nine years of being married to a perpetual student, Josh has gotten a JOB!! He got a job with a consulting firm in Massachusetts so it looks like we'll be east coasters for a little longer. So far the plan is to stay exactly where we are at for a year to save money, then buy a home in the Needham area where Josh's work will be. We got the call at 10:30 pm on Friday night. We got Noah and Charlie out of bed to celebrate with some sparkling cider in the hallway. Presley was too far off into dreamland. I bought the cider the day before just in case Josh got the job. I was so worried we wouldn't get a chance to open it! Three cheers for Josh!

Photography News

2011-03-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Since January, I've had an intern from the New England Institute of Art working with me. She has been so much fun. I really lucked out. Hannah's been helping me with everything from photo editing to second shooting. We have been having lots of fun coming up with our latest venture: a photography workshop! We are holding it April 16th. If you want some personalized help with your camera and photo skills, shoot me an email! tereseplant@gmail.com

A Green Day

2011-03-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

March 17th in the Boston area is St. Patrick's Day and Evacuation Day. The kids had school off so we went to the park with friends then we ate at a place called Clover. I brought my camera along since it isn't too often that I have all the kiddos together during the day. They are growing like weeds (or Plants ha ha!)

Noah has actually lost his two front teeth now (can you see the holes?!). The era of tiny teeth is coming to an end. Bittersweet.

Everyone was so happy, enjoying the warm sunshine. We came home, played in the mud, then got the bikes out and rode to another park. I am so excited for spring now!

Luck O' the Irish

2011-03-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have a real fun St. Patricks Day party at our house this morning. We hosted play group and had games, crafts, and food. I got the idea for the craft at Oh Happy Day. Nothing cuter than little kids with beards!

my door sign

We played "pin the gold on the pot!" and hunted for shamrocks all over the house.

Then we ate lots of green things! (and pizza)

It just seems like you MUST celebrate St. Patty's if you live in Boston. Yay for fun with friends!

mid March funk & love

2011-03-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

Are you ever just totally touched by someone's blog? I'm so glad there is enough uplifting stuff out there on the world wide web to outweigh some of the negative. My friend has this blog that completely stops me in my tracks when I read her stories. If you don't already read This Little Miggy Stayed Home, you might want to add it to your google reader!

This week was one of those off weeks for us. Reading Miggy's blog reminded me of how much love we have for our kids and how love can get us through so much. The week was pretty off because we cannot get our after school routine straight!

Here are elements for a perfect storm after school:

hunger
exhaustion
a need to "vent"
anxiousness to not miss out on fun

Number 3- I think kids hold back a lot of emotion at school. When they see mom, they want to unload it all (yipppee:/)

Number 4- My kids will see other kids heading to the park, the treat store, or play dates and so the begging begins!! It's a frantic race to track down friends before they leave for a play date or a deep breath to deal with standing in the cold for 30 minutes so the park can be marked off the checklist.

I had a moment, when it all seemed to calm down (once we got home and fed) where I thought how lucky I am that these guys are so great. I love them, they love me, and they love each other (even after destroying each others' lego creations!) Now I have the weekend to come up with a better afternoon strategy. In mom land, preparedness never hurts. I'll let you know how it goes.

Charlie is practically on Noah's lap, trying to be a part of everything Noah's doing.

...Also, another fun blog to check out is Teaplant Photography. Ever heard of it?? ;) I just updated with a cute, cute, newborn post.

Magic

2011-03-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, Charlie was sick so we stayed in the house all day long. We spent most of the time in the kids' bedroom. I cleaned while Charlie put together Lego men with the pieces I'd find scattered throughout the place. It seemed like magic that we got the place clean when it was such a disaster to begin with. (I know, I should've had the kids do all the cleaning, but sometimes I want it my own way, and Charlie was responsible for most of the mess so I didn't want Noah and Presley have to suffer because of it!)

Check out Presley. This is her "make over" station. She handed me a a card that read "MAKOGR" which was my coupon to get in. I had to wait in the "waiting room" (hallway) while she set up.

I don't expect to get this room on any design blogs! It has that "lived in" feel for sure. I have to say, that when it's clean it feels like a magical place. Everyone wants to be in there. The kids enjoy playing with their toys more and have enough room to spread out with things. Our technique with the Legos is to dump them on the rug so we can clean up easier by folding up the rug and pouring the Legos back in the bin.

Charlie is pointing to his latest OBSESSION. These Lego men and moving them all over this Lego structure. Lucky for him, Noah has been very generous and now lets Charlie touch these guys. Charlie has earned his trust since he cares more about them being safe than anyone!

Scout it out!

2011-03-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

It's official, we have a Cub Scout in our midst! Noah started scouts a few weeks ago and we just got his new digs. I spent the day applying badges yesterday. It took 3 hours to get two on! I thought it would be a snap, bit OH, NO! It probably also took so long because I had a clingy, sick Charlie following me all day. Poor guy. Him and runny noses really don't get along. He yells at his nose saying, "hey, stop it!" when it runs.

Charlie got a little brother scout shirt and Pres just has this girl scout tee from Old Navy. Last night we all went to scouts as a family and Noah did his activity while the rest of us played basketball in the gym. I think I'm really LOVING having an almost 8 year old.

I have to share some other almost 8 year old blessings. we visited some elderly people the other night and prepped the kids in the car before we went in to meet the "grandpas and grandmas". We told them to speak loudly and clearly and to be extra friendly because we wanted to cheer them up. Noah really surprised me with how well he did at this. He introduced himself and his siblings very clearly. He was polite and even told them he was having fun. I was so so proud. I learned a lot from him that night. (I was pretty much kicking and screaming when I heard we were visiting a nursing home for a family night activity--so glad we went, though!)

MFA

2011-02-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

Last week it occurred to me that the kids were going to be out of school the whole last week of February and I didn't have a single plan! I headed over to one of my trusty neighborhood Boston library branches to see if there were any museum passes left. To my dismay the only thing they had left (darn you over-achieving Boston/Cambridge parents!!) were gobs of passes to the zoo- way too cold, and a single pass to the MFA. I would have been STOKED at the MFA pass, but the man said it only covered two adults and it was a coupon not a free pass. I didn't even look at it and put it in my bag. Then my friend Maria told me she heard kids are free this week and there are tons of activities planned for them. I was SOLD! Maria and her kids came with us and her adorable teenage daughter (and friend) was able to help me with Charlie, the stroller, and the green line (the T that you have to step up to hop on that is tricky with a stroller and a million bags!).

I'm still not sure if Charlie got that they weren't mommies. He kept saying "dead mommies." Yeah, other parents are going to be horrified. ;)

It turns out that a lot of the ancient art includes a great deal of nudity. It took me a few seconds to realize that's what these boys were giggling at!! Moving on...

Charlie was first to spot this one^ (hopefully this trip didn't traumatize anyone!)

cuteness

I was a happy camper. FINALLY made it to the MFA--the only museum I really, really wanted to go to here in Boston.

We also brought Autumn, my friend Eve's daughter who was such a huge help and someone Pres totally looks up to.

I hope my kids are this cute when they are teens!

Charlie and I took a stroll through the American Modern art.

Art projects at the art museum = heaven!

So enormous!

Stunning. The kids liked this!

We love our buddies!!
(the hug that will soon turn into a head-lock!)

Our crew minus Charlie and I

I'm such a huge fan of collage. This one was made from hundreds of encyclopedias. Probably the best use for them in these days of the internet!

Let's see

2011-02-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

What can I update with? hmmm. Presley got a CTR ring yesterday at church. Noah got one when he was five and ever since then Pres has had her little heart set on getting one. She said she's never taking it off! CTR stands for "Choose the Right". It's a common Mormon saying kind of like the WWJD fad, but CTR goes way back.

Noah picked out a cute ensemble today so I had to take a pic. The kiddos are on break for the week and I am excited to not be crazy busy and to just soak everyone in.

Noah is a sucker for one on one time. He loves playing board games with me. He is such a cute little buddy. Today he revealed that the 7th and 8th grade girls always tell him how cute he is when he's heading down from the art room at school. He told me, "only the girls say it, mom!"

Love, love, love this guy!

Play doh has been Charlie's activity of choice these days. Josh let him get creative with it the other day. I was biting my lip over the color mixing!

He was so proud!

Maybe when the kids get to college, they will know what it's like to sleep in their own bed, alone! We put them to bed, shut the door, then check on them a couple hours later and find something like this every night.

It must be approaching the two year mark since I've seen my sister because I'm finding we video chat more and more frequently. Since I've seen her last she has gotten preggers, had a baby, her daughter started kindergarten and is now full blown reading, her baby is feeding himself and turning one soon, and her other son has just gotten more and more darling.

I begged Anora to show off some of her mad reading skills. I love how Jack in the background sucks his thumb and holds his ear. Love, love, these guys too.

In other news, we are waiting and waiting to hear back from jobs. UGHHHHHH! Have you ever read "Oh the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Suess? It talks about the waiting game being the worst ever. Dang true, I tell you.

So this is love...

2011-02-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Our whole house likes to break into that song because we had a Cinderella movie marathon for a few days straight a while ago. To wrap up our whirlwind weekend, we turned our dining room into the valentine factory this afternoon. It turns out Noah was on board to do valentines this year! I put the most thought into his (since he lets me do the footwork in his creative projects).

We started out with a photo and added some digital embellishments^^

Here is Noah hard at work! He just loves to move fast through these projects. Careful isn't in his vocabulary when it comes to writing out names of friends! He had fun, though:)

The finished products:

Our wireless printer has trouble communicating with the computer a lot of the time, so I had to improvise some of my original ideas. (Does anyone know how to fix that prob?)

Then for Presley's cards we got out the paint. I asked her if she wanted to cut and glue hearts or make a heart stamp. She chose the stamp. To Josh's dismay, she also chose GLITTER! (That Mariah Carey movie must be all about Presley) Presley wanted to do everything herself so I let her have at it. From cutting the paper to stamping and glittering. She was in charge.

Then for Charlie, we made these little numbers:

This was all me. To include Char, I had him add his finger prints. Josh laughs at me and wants me to admit I do this for me more than the kids. I say, whatev. However, I did find myself signing one of Charlie's cards, "love, Terese" dang it!:)

Happy V-Day Everyone!

Valentines Date Night

2011-02-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

We had two different offers of people wanting to take all three of our kiddos for a sleep over so Josh and I could have a late night V-Day date. We turned down the first offer because it turns out this is the weekend we were hosting a future Harvard Student to stay at our house for recruitment weekend. My second friend emailed me and I found out we could still do a date night even though we had this student staying with us. Yaaay! The wonderful Walther family drove an hour to come pick up all three kiddos after school on Friday for a sleep over extravaganza!

{This picture if proof that I need a little point and shoot camera to take on outings! We gave the nice camera to some guy to take our picture and his hat kept knocking the flash shut!}

It was so weird to say goodbye to everyone! I hopped in the car and drove into Boston to get Josh. We parked at his work and walked to Boston Common to start off with some ice skating at the frog pond! (something that would be tricky with all the kids)

Here is ME! Ice skating was so fun! Josh had me laughing so hard with his "graceful" skills out there.

For dinner we headed to Stephanie's on Newberry St. Josh picked it out because it boasted of "sophisticated comfort food" Josh got Shepherd's Pie and I got a salad with warm goat cheese, pears and pecans. So good!

We were walking all over the city and it was freezing so we stopped for some cocoa at Borders and heard the cheesiest live music. It was fun to see what kind of groupies follow musicians that give you nerdy chills!

After that, determined to squeeze more into our night, we went and saw True Grit! It was so hard to stay awake after 10 pm. We were loading up on candy to keep our eyelids open. The next morning we slept in till 8:30! It was heaven. Thanks so much Jason and Anna! We owe you big.

A Splendid Day

2011-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the aquarium in Boston for the first time. I never go because it costs an arm and a leg and is one of the few things here that residents can't get a discount on. My friend, Leslie offered to take us with her pass and I was stoked. It was an outing I knew Charlie would thoroughly enjoy. Charlie loves fish or "besh" he calls them and is always thrilled to see any wild life in person.

So serious! He makes these Tom Brokaw eyes when he's concentrating.

I don't know why but I think it is so cute to see Charlie surrounded by little guys that are just his height. They all look like mini big kids forming a posse. I'm so glad he has a handful of little buddies his exact age who live around us.

Sure it's FREEZING, but we love it here!

Here is the view looking down into an enormous tank. There was a huge sea turtle and a shark at the bottom. Such a fun day. We came home and Charlie kept talking about the "besh" and telling me it was fun. He always makes sure to tell me if he thinks something's fun. A bonus was that I think seeing that sea turtle eat some romaine helped me to coerce Charlie into eating some salad for dinner tonight. Yay for something healthy before dessert.

Charlie making popcorn

2011-02-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

Valentine Ideas

2011-01-31T13:39:00.000-08:00

I love Valentine's Day with kids. I am really excited about it this year because Presley, my little craft queen is in school. She will have the chance to pass cards out to all her class mates. Noah for some reason never wants to do it! We bought cute Star Wars Valentines one year and he refused to pass them out! When he was 3 and we lived in Maryland, I was able to coax him into the v-day spirit, but not now...

Here are a few things we did in Maryland. we had a fun party with all the little kids.

Aren't home made Valentines the bomb? I'm trying to come up with a cute idea for Presley's this year. (I'm totally assuming Noah won't be into it again). Here are some great ideas from a post last year in the katie did journal that I always have in the back of my mind because I loved it so.

Finger puppets!

The previous year was my fave. She first made these cute headbands for her girls.

Then the valentines are felt bracelets:

From mer mag this year (she is on the ball!) Merrilee did these awesome color cards with her son. They kind of remind me of Eric Carle:

So, with that, I've got some more thinking to do. Incorporating candy most likely will be a must for Presley. I'll let you know what we come up with.

hey sis, it's sis

2011-01-30T16:09:00.000-08:00

Wanna know a secret? I never call my twin sister by her name, Denise. Never have, never will. It feels weird to even try to say it. She is "Sis". Actually I am "Sis" too. We both call each other sis. All my friends, family, and our husbands can verify. It's kind of embarrassing at times and kind of funny.

As you probably have guessed we are pretty close. We talk almost every day excluding the weekends. We ichat and let our kids visit and show each other our current projects. The best thing, is we mom together. All moms need a little moral support don't ya think? Both of us have three kids (it's a twin thing! ha!). We swap tips on snacks, discipline, and fun activities.We also come up with our own mom philosophies. The number one thing we both agree on in our 6-7 years of parenting is Never Judge Other Parents! (Of course unless it is a crazy mom that made headlines on how she reacted when her kids mouthed off--scary!) Seriously. I believe it's just a matter of time till your kid does the same thing as another unruly kid and you have no idea how to handle the situation--wait, maybe you guys out there actually do have it all figured out?? :) I admit I've had the thought, "my child will never do such and such." Then lo and behold he or she does it! I think part of my "be nicer" campaign is to cut other moms some slack. We are all learning and we're all in this together. Might as well uplift instead of tear down. Thank goodness I have "Sis" (and she has "Sis") to discuss all our bumbling mommy moments!

Check out Sis' project for Valentine's day on her table to the left!

Yet Another Snow Day!

2011-01-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

Seriously? I'm running out of ways to keep three snowed in kiddos entertained! Noah left us to head over to a buddy's house. We thought the buzz of snow was going to be an exaggeration, Then we woke up to this! Once again.

It's really pretty.

Charlie has been really into baths. He is getting sick of wearing clothes. All those layers drive him nuts! He strips down when we're home. The next step usually is to beg for a bath with army guys and dinosaurs.

He stays in there till he's pruny.

You'll never guess how Presley's been keeping busy. So, I'm the crazy lady who thought loose glitter was a good idea! UGH! Glitter glue only from now on. Charlie got a hold of it and was sprinkling it like a salt shaker all over the house.

Then of course what is a cold, snowy day without snuggling up with a nice popsicle! That's how we roll around here folks.

Big News

2011-01-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am telling you, since last February, it has felt like our household has put off lots of r & r time to work together and get things going for Josh's work to get published. We took a big trip to Disney World then buckled down and took a break from any family trip or outing for that matter so that Josh could work towards something huge, graduation this May. Josh had to meet with a committee of professors and present his work before he got the green light for graduation. His meeting was Thursday and the answer was YES! Graduation in May is going to happen! Can you believe it? I get choked up every time Josh and I talk about it. In a couple of weeks Josh's work will be sent in to hopefully get published in a science magazine. He will also be in the process of applying for jobs and possible post docs. His current lab has told him he can stay there as a post doc for as long as he needs. That gives us a little cushion of security. Before I start dreaming of dishwashers and garbage disposals in my future, I am just going to enjoy envisioning this guy in a cap and gown. Cannot wait!

Did I tell you the other big news? Noah lost a third tooth! Here is a blurry, but cute pic of him.

The crazy thing was that Pres was helping him pull it out. So funny that he trusted her. I actually would too. She has such a gentleness about her. Maybe we have a future, doctor, nurse, or dentist on our hands?

I have to post also about my fabulous birthday. Last weekend my friend, Lindsey arranged a big celebration at a local Mexican restaurant in my honor. It was such a fun girl's night. There is Lindsey to my left.

I blew a candle out of a virgin strawberry dacquiri

These are my mom friends from Noah and Pres' school. We endure hours of cool temps at the park together after school. Love these guys!

heart-shaped box

2011-01-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

Does a certain song of the 90's come to mind when you hear that? I remember thinking that Kurt Cobain must've been so fascinated with the idea of birth and having a child. His lyrics might have even sparked some of my curiosity on the topic. Never would I have imagined parenthood to be what it is for me though.

I have to talk about little Presley Kathryn. She is reminding me of the complexities of a mother daughter relationship. I forget from time to time since my own mom has been gone for over ten years now. Presley is a noticer (total Joy School word/lingo!) She knows what kind of earrings her teacher at church wears or what someone's dad's watch looked like. She also notices when I tell her that I love her. Since she was out of school a lot lately with Christmas and snow days, she has noticed me saying I love you to Charlie. She told me something that made my heart sink. She said, you are like a babysitter or a teacher because you don't say I love you a lot to me. Only at bedtime. Oh my goodness! She was right, though. It just happens that you say it more to the person who is glued to you the most. That certainly doesn't mean that I don't love each of my sweeties equally (of course). My resolve is to say it often to everyone. Also to just be a little kinder. Who knows what else PK is noticing. I have a feeling it will make the Plant world a happier place.

Here she is. My little spittin' image. Love can't even describe how much she and her bro's mean to me.

A late Christmas gift and Snow Day!

2011-01-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

I have to share the most exciting news around here these days. Charlie has been diaper free all of 2011! It is official. He is still training, but I feel safe enough to leave the house with him and no diapers! I consider it Charlie's late Christmas gift to me. It hasn't been easy, but he seemed ready and made it easier than I thought. No diapers does not mean I haven't been dealing with lots of messes, but Charlie tells me he needs to use the bathroom and his only messes now are when he gets off the toilet a little too soon! TMI? Sorry. It's fun to see his little buns now. I think Charlie is just mystified by the whole thing. He does all these funny squat moves to show the new freedom of movement he has without a diaper!

Yesterday afternoon before the big storm hit, we already knew school was cancelled for today. The snow didn't even come till we were all asleep. We stayed up late and watched movies, then woke up to this:

It was so pretty. All the snow on those branches caused some power lines to break. We were out of power twice. Once for three hours. I'm so grateful for POWER! and HEAT!

To keep busy, the kids built a big structure complete with army guys and train tracks. Pres wore her ballet attire for the occasion.

When the power was out, the kids played outside for over an hour. So nice. Charlie kept his tongue out almost the whole time!

We kept a previously scheduled play date and had one of Noah's friends, Isaac over. It is his comrade in all things football.

We got a little nervous having the power out, so Josh brought home a few cords of fire wood and came home a bit early to dig our car out before it iced over. Just as it was getting totally dark and I was scrambling to find more candles, the power came on! Whew! I was so grateful. It's hard to keep candles burning when you have wrestling, pillow fighting boys in your house! We still used the fire wood...

All Josh's idea. He comes up with the ~~crazies~~t most fun ideas.

Charlie was all over those s'mores.

Gotta love the grainy pics. I'm telling ya, it is DARK here. My ISO is all the way to 2500.

Five mallows at a time, huh?