I like the Night Life Baby...

Friday night we went on a date! It was a much needed grown ups only night out. We doubled with our friends, Ryan and Nicole. It was so fun. It was restaurant week so we got a great deal on an amazing meal in the North End. We went to Taranta and the food was outstanding. Josh got this salmon that was to die for. I actually want to cook salmon now!

Here's Josh and Ryan being silly under the Improv Asylum. Ryan is holding Nicole's pretty purse.

Our cute date partners. They are both medical residents so scheduling a night out with them takes major advance scheduling! Well worth it, though :).

A view of Boston from the North End. I love Boston the very best at night.

A special thanks to the Hammond family who watched all three of our kids! They had a blast.

Where did my baby go?

I don't think I have a baby anymore. Charlie's sleep routine is sealing the deal. We aren't rocking or patting him to sleep anymore. He is going to bed in the kids' room all by himself now. We'll convert his crib to a bed as soon as Josh has a second. Next thing I know he'll be headed off to college! Maybe I'll keep him as my baby till we are done with those pesky diapers. That will be a bittersweet day.

Rock Band at our house

We can get louder than any concert over here. Just ask our neighbors!

My Town

Last Saturday Presley went to a birthday party in the penthouse of one of the MIT student housing buildings. The mom of the party asked me to take photos for her party business, but I couldn't help but marvel at the views of this place I've come to call home:

(My labels either show my great Boston knowledge or seriously how little I know about the place! You decide:)

Josh and I actually came to Boston when we were engaged and had a hot date touring Fannuel Hall when his folks lived in New Hampshire.

It was a warm, gorgeous day and EVERYONE spent some part of the day outside. Lots of runners prepping for the Boston marathon ran along the river.

The party was so cute. It was a Super Mario theme. Pres had a crown to be "Princess Peach". When she got the party invite she danced around like she was the luckiest girl in the world!

Here is the cute birthday boy! (and his grandpa with the camcorder in the background! Love it) Check out the great party details here.

Go Green!

(Noah is getting over this annoying runny nose that chapped the whole area below his nose--not fun!)

In Boston and Cambridge there is no school on St. Patrick's Day. They call it "Evacuation Day." We had some grand plans I tell you! It started out with green french toast. French toast is my specialty when it comes to breakfast foods.

I love getting into the spirit of a holiday even if it's as dinky as St. Patty's. Anything to make a day less ordinary.

My big plan was for us to take the train downtown and meet Josh for lunch. Then play at Boston common and people watch to see everyone wearing green. Boston is such an Irish city. Love it (did anyone see 30 Rock last night by the way? Jack is right on about his Boston side notes!)

My plans got foiled by an unexpected event and we wound up just driving to Josh, picking him up and settling for a random sandwich shop to quickly eat and get him back to work. Boo. It was fun to see Josh in daylight:) Even though he is a little camera shy:

We were still upbeat since the weather was GLORIOUS! We spent the day outside and loved every minute of it. We totally appreciate temps above 50 degrees I tell ya!

Pres and Noah both got cookie dough frozen yogurt with strawberries. Way yummier than we thought it would be.

St. Patty's Collage

If you read my blog via facebook, you miss out on some of my cool blog details. If you are on fb now, click here and add my blog to your google reader. Here is the art project I am highlighting for March. Charlie and I made a shamrock collage out of green magazine clippings. At 20 months he loves gluing things. I let him dip a q-tip in a small pool of glue and show him where to smear it on the paper. Then it's fun for both of us to pick and apply all the green. Ripping the paper gives an added collage effect.

The Latest

First off I decided to display an art project for each month that I did with one of my kiddos. Maybe I could give one of you moms out there an activity idea or two. Also I am trying to get myself into art teaching mode again and I am hoping this will get me into the swing of things.--------->

I have been trying to get back into the habit of taking pictures of our everyday lives for a record of the little guys. It has been beautiful outside lately so it's been a nice treat to even actually have great natural lighting inside. I shot some portrait pics of the kids in my photo blog with that great light. One of my dreams for our next house is to have big, unobstructed, north-facing windows. Currently we have obstructed east and west. I can shoot 200 ISO only sometimes without a flash! Here is a photo obviously not up to par as far as photo quality. I had to just act quick! Charlie is so cute playing with cars these days.

He's been on the floor all morning rolling those hot wheels back and forth making little engine noises.

On Saturday we played outside for a while. I love when spring starts to peek, though. I especially love that it's not dark by 4 pm anymore. Those days are tough, especially for someone trying to shoot family portraits after a spouse gets home from work!

Presley has learned to swing on her own. It'll be fun to keep practicing that this summer.

Josh and I. Josh had just gotten home from a long morning of Young Men's basketball. The guys won the tournament so they are going to the regionals this Saturday. If they lose maybe I'll get my husband back:)

The bikes are back in action. I am hoping Noah's legs get a little longer. His bike is just a tad tall for him so he can't stop without crashing!! He has learned to crash safely though!!!

Pssst...spring is COMING!

We enjoyed some fun in the sun this weekend! It was heavenly. I hope your neck of the woods was nice too:).

It's all about the kids

Do you ever have days where it hits you? I'm an adult and I have a spouse and kids...woa! Sometimes it feels like I just barely left the nest.

As I much as loved being a kid, being a mom can't be beat!! Here are some snapshots of the day.

Josh and kiddos in a wrestle match. Great for wearing them out before bed.

Charlie eating mayo! He is offering me a bite saying, "by?"


Yummaaayy.


Joy School was here this week! It can be a pain to prepare and get your house ready for school at your house, but I love getting a front row seat when my kids are learning and excited about it. Mid you Joy School at my house does have it's rocky moments... Pres and I still battle it out over which of us is the teacher, but all in all it was a great week!

Love the shout out

On Friday an important person in the Mormon community came to Harvard to speak. Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spent the whole day with Harvard Law students. My good friend Kirsten's husband, Sam is at Harvard Law so they planned to go to the events of the day. I babysat her three kids so they could watch and listen in peace. I joked that I wanted an autograph from Elder Oaks in return for my services. Lo and behold, they came through! Thanks for my new cherished piece of paper Kirstin and Elder Oaks!

In other news...
I entered a few of my photos in a contest for a cute mom website and two of them were chosen. It's nothing big, but a fun little thing. Check it out here.

I used these: