Since Last time we Spoke...

• we had our first huge snowstorm and had church canceled as a result
  
• Christmas came and went
• my birthday came and went
• Charlie had two new words: "poop" and "bumbum"-both came up on separate occasions while I was changing his diaper.
• Noah finally has a loose tooth! -bottom front right side
• I figured out why I had been having such bad hair days. I needed to trim my bangs! Ohhhh.
• Josh had a big scare at work where he was almost exposed to crazy amounts of radiation.
• I discovered my new favorite shopping spot while on a birthday outing with Presley. Only prob was that Pres wanted me to carry her the WHOLE time!
• I successfully cooked a very tasty holiday meal. I haven't done that in a while! Ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli with hollandaise sauce (thanks Julia Child and TK!), rolls, chocolate cream pie and banana cream pie, home made cheese ball, and egg nog.
• We went to two restaurants with the kiddos and neither were complete disasters! Woo hoo!
• Josh and I watched 500 Days of Summer and I was reminded why I love Zoey Deschanel. I am so glad she sings in that movie! We also watched "Elf" on Christmas Eve and she sings in that one too!
• Presley played a Wise woman in the Nativity, but was holing back tears the whole time because she wanted to be Mary.
• We were tracking Sata's locations online and rushed making him cookies so the kiddos could get to bed before he hit Boston. It was tricky being on the east coast because we had no idea if he was going to come here first or South America first! Ahhhh!

In our neck of the woods

We have been getting into the Christmas spirit around here. Tomorrow will be our first day of Christmas shopping! We are the opposite of Black Friday shoppers I guess. It just seems like the month has flown by way too fast. Here's Charlie on our stairs in his seasonal pjs.

Noah made a battle scene with his Lego guys and was loving having me take pictures. He is so imaginative with his Legos.
Today we had some special visitors. Our friend Nate was in town on business while his wife was at a wedding in Arkansas so he brought the girls over while he was in meetings. It was bliss for Pres. It was also so fun to have such sweet, polite girls over. Claire was so enthusiastic of every activity or meal. Elizabeth went with the flow and had lots of stare offs with Charlie! I should have gotten a picture of that.


Noah had his winter concert today. They sang songs about peace, winter, and all the holidays of the season. With living in Cambridge I couldn't help, but wonder if the song about peace in many different languages was some political statement. Noah sang his little heart out. I was in the back and could totally single his voice out.

Everyone has static hair! Even I have it! Check out the cute kid in the green shirt!

A Shout Out from Pearl Street

Check out my photo blog and Pearl Street Interiors for more of my photos in this gorgeous room.

Movie Night!

We call Friday night, "movie night" at our house. It is the one night we (plan to) let our kids stay up past bedtime and watch a dvd with us. Last night was "Night at the Museum 2". It's nice to just soak each other in after a week of the hustle and bustle. Especially when all the other nights we are rushing to get dinner done and start the bedtime routine. When Noah and Presley got under their blanket to watch the movie, little Charleston Chew had to wedge his way between them and lay exactly how they were! He cracks us up more and more every day!

Rambling Randoms

Josh was out of town for five days and just came back last night. I thought it would be a fun time for me to get some projects done and have a girls night (so fun Nicole, thanks for hanging with me!) What I didn't think about was how completely lonely and lost I was without Josh! True I did get my Christmas cards all designed and ordered-can't wait to get them in the mail, and I did a photo session and completely edited it, but things just weren't as fun without Josh. It was a full time job keeping the kids entertained. Noah adores his dad and wants to hang out with him all the time. We started having the kids take turns spending one on one time with Josh each week on Thursday nights and they really cherish that time.


Here we are painting Christmas trees. When in doubt add more to your Christmas decor! We will be home for the holidays so I have no limit to how decked out our halls will be!

Our stockings and nativity on the fireplace. Stockings made by my dad's wife, Ruth and Nativity from my mom's old Christmas collection. We are all about sentimental with our Christmas stuff.


Here is our tree with multiple homemade ornaments dating back from our first year of marriage. Thanks to my friend Lizzy's yearly (fabulous) ornament exchange parties.


Then this year's homemade wreath from the one and only Wreath making Cambridge LDS Relief Society activity. I was going for big and obnoxious this year!


Noah wanted me to get a pic of him and Charlie hugging. Love my boys!

Here is a sneak peak of a shot that didn't make the cut for our Christmas card. I still like it lots, though.

Give Away's Are everywhere!

Go try to win a set of sweet dessert plates at High-Heeled Foot in the door. Tell them Terese sent you!

Howdy Pilgrim!

I need to document so many things that happened in the last few days. Stuff that is oozing with cuteness. I will start with our Thanksgiving in Rhode Island at Josh's Uncle Mike's. It was so fun and filled with something for everybody. Savannah did crafts with Noah and Presley and fed Charlie Oreos. They were all in heaven!

A quick little Noah side note- We had his parent teacher conferences last week and his teacher was so impressed at what a conscientious little guy he is. She said that he is kind and courteous. He gets super focused on tasks and does them so carefully. Josh thinks it's like his dad and I think it's like my dad too! We are so proud of this guy.

Playing the dance revolution was a hit!

Then right after finishing out fabulous Thanksgiving meal, it was time to bust out the Christmas decor! Charlie was so mystified.

This is in reverse order, but yesterday we had a Thanksgiving Joy School at my house. We had a mini feast and made turkeys out of apples, cornbread, and Pilgrim hats. Presley helped with the planning. She loves being in charge of Joy School. Then when class actually starts at our house she insists on "helping" me by cutting random papers or organizing plates off to the side while the rest of us have a lesson!
Here is one cute Pilgrim!

At first our boy Pilgrim hats looked like Pope hats, but my friend Kirstin figured it out and got the last hats to look cute:).

Then what is a post without a Charlie update? I forgot to mention a month or so ago that Charlie has now decided he likes books. It seemed like he hated them before, but now he loves to turn the pages and look at the pictures. He even mumbles the story in Charlie speak. This little turkey also figured out that he can push a chair up to something so that he can get into more mischief. He is not into his high chair for the most part these days. He likes to be like his big brother and sit at the table for meals. I allow it when I have the patience (rarely-I'm awful!!:)

Blogging about blogging

After my last entry on putting yourself out there, I thought I'd share this little nugget I found (in case you were interested):

(click to enlarge-wait, it doesn't get bigger, just squint, ok?)

Thankful

For family night the other day we made a thankful tree. Everyone wrote on leaves things they are thankful for. Even Charlie did a leaf (see yellow with green marker). He may or may not have chewed off the tip of the green marker afterward. Presley liked to make up words and see if we could sound them out (see almost all orange pieces of paper), and Noah made a shark and said he is thankful for animals. Also he wrote in pencil on the green leaf that looks blank that he is thankful for legos!

With our highly textured walls we had to hang it up on the moulding. Check out that cheese grater texture, yeah!

One thing I have been thinking of as a mom and an artist is that I am thankful for people who put themselves out there. I know plenty of moms who have talent, but they never get up the nerve to show it to the world. I love etsy and blogs and the opportunities they give people (especially us stay at home moms) to showcase and even profit from some of our talents! It can be scary to put yourself out there to face judgment and criticism. I am inspired by those who go for it and open up an etsy shop, start a photo blog, or even get something creative going that they are willing to share with the rest of us. Here are some that I check out to name a few:

jenny
clairissa
sara
karli
miggy
allegra
lizzy

Thanks ladies, you are such an inspiration!
So if you haven't already, put yourself out there. What have you got to lose?

Straight "consistentlies" Whoohoo!

Noah came home with his very first progress report. In first grade they don't have A's and B's, check it out:

So proud of this little guy! I helped out in his class today and first grade is a lot tougher than kindergarten. The teacher seems to expect a lot, but doesn't make the kids feel stressed about it. It's exciting to see Noah's progress in this environment.

Don't forget Miss Press! She went on a date with Josh to Burger King the other night. She was so excited.

Then there's Charlie. He made mess after mess yesterday and fought his nap till I let him hold the light saber. Then he sweetly fell asleep, holding said light saber! So cute!

fame!

I have a friend who works for the Cambridge Public Library. They just completed a huge renovation project and needed models for some signs in the building and for some marketing. My friend gave us a call and Noah and Presley got to get their pictures taken. They just opened the doors to the newly remodeled library and lo and behold, there is Noah on the cover of a brochure!

There is also a big sign in the Children's section for the reading room that has a picture of Noah and Presley with a group of other kids, being read to. I will have to get a photo of that to post.

Speaking of fame...I have been meaning to write about how this cute little boy at church thought Noah was actually Super Why! He kept calling Noah "Wyatt" which is Super Why's real name and telling his mom to check out Super Why.

Us

The best thing about fall this year is that the weather has been fabulous! We have been able to spend a ton of time outside. I just recently got a new Nikon D300 and have been having fun playing around with it. Josh too! I now feel like a professional since I finally have the professional grade camera.

Aren't I a great model!! Ha! We were working on manual focus which Josh is convinced is what all the pros use. So HARD! Hence the out of focus shots!


Presley lives in these pearls. I have to take them off her in her sleep. We have this tiny play structure behind our apartment that fits the bill from time to time. Charlie just loves being outside. He is so done being the baby.


Noah is on a football kick. Josh and him watch and play it together. Noah loves it and Josh is living his dream! Finally a buddy to cheer along side him in front of the tv.

here is Noah about to make a big catch.

Charlie is doing all sorts of awesome little things. He is such a climber! He and I play together while Presley is in Joy School. It is so fun to focus on him for that time and watch all his cute little mannerisms. He throws his head back when he laughs to copy me, he knows how to pucker up for kisses now, he likes to hold multiple sippy cups in his arms and walk around the house with them with pride. He is also eating some items on his own with a spoon which is so hard to watch, but brings him so much joy! He makes some great messes.

Splashing in the water!

He knows how to work the camera.