Jack-O-Lanterns!!!

A Jack-O-Lantern...such a simple concept. So easy to do and it provides so much joy for the kids. You get pumpkins and(this is where I went wrong) you bring them in the house so critters do not decide to burrow into them and take the seeds for a mid-winter snack. My kids and I went to get pumpkins to carve into Jack-O-Lanterns. I left them on our deck overnight only to come home from school the next day and find that an animal had chewed a hole in Travis's pumpkin. When I tell you that this kid was fit to be tied over this, it will be an understatement. He had hand selected this particular pumpkin and I guess he was super-attached to it. It was obnoxiously huge and perfectly round. There was enough eaten out of the top to make in unsalvageable. We came up with a culprit... a squirrel. In his fit of rage my son condemned all of the squirrels as BAD and STEALERS. If the kid had his way he would have gone out the next day with me in the pouring rain to pick out another pumpkin. I held him off, telling him that if he waited until Daddy could take him on a sunny day, he would get to pick a bigger pumpkin because Daddy is so much stronger than me. This made him happy and I came home from work to be greated by a pumpkin that was even bigger than the first one (now sitting under a tree to help the little critters prepare for winter).

Travis helped Daddy by drawing a face on his pumpkin. He was very excited and wanted it to get done as soon as possible. I think he was a little surprised to see how long carving a pumpkin actually takes.
Midstream Travis changed his mind about what kind of nose he wanted to give his Jack-O-Lantern. Daddy dutifully obliged and changed the octagon into a triangle. Then it was time to plan the mouth. It would have been fine but Travis kept adding more teeth to the plan.
Chelsea was a lot more laid back (read: absolutely not interested) in her Jack-O-Lantern. She walked away before the planning started and came back for a glance until it was picture time. Then she hammed it up just like always.
Travis and Chelsea pose with the finished Jack-O-Lanterns. Or we thought they were finished until Travis decided his needed ears!
Finally... the lighting of the Jack-O-Lanterns. Chelsea was a little freaked out by this. Not because of the pumpkins, but because Travis insisted on shutting off every light in the house. He probably would have gone over to shut off the neighbors lights, if we let him. He decided the only way to experience the lights was in the pitch-dark. The thing that matters most is that everyone was happy with the outcome. Now if only they can stay in one piece for 4 days until Halloween! One can dream!!!!

Here Chelsea shows off the lollipop ghost she made at the library. This will probably be the only proof I have that this existed... She is anxious to tear off the tissue and eat the pop. Halloween should be interesting now that she is so into "nandy".

Just Another Crazy Weekend!

The weekends have recently taken on a life of their own. For the umpteenth weekend in a row we have been running in circles. We had a sleepover on Friday night. Travis had a little friend from preschool stay over on Friday night. We had a campfire in the yard and they watched The Incredibles for the hundredth time. They were in bed and asleep by tenish.
The boys decided to dress festively for the movie. They were thrilled with how they looked as their favorite heroes.

We were up early on Saturday morning. Off to Travis's last soccer game. Here he is posing with his buddy at the field. The game went as usual... the kids who were really into soccer were taking it very seriously. The other kids were running around and randomly kicking the ball, sometimes towards the correct goal, sometimes not. Then towards the end of the game Travis dribbled the ball a little and took a shot and it went in! It was nice to end the soccer season on a good note. He almost had a second goal but it was just a bit too wide.
Here they are...The Green Dragons of Fall 2008.

We had a few moments to breathe and eat lunch when we got home and then it was off to a local library to see a kid's performer. Each year at this time friends of ours host a performer at their library to honor the memory of their son. He died right after he turned one and this has helped keep his spirit alive. The kids wore their costumes and danced and sang and listened to silly stories.
Trav was thrilled when I finally found an Incredibles costume. Although when he first put it on, he poked at the quilted chest (designed to look like muscles) and said, "Wow, Mom! Mr. Incredible has big boobs!" Lovely!!!!
Chelsea, of course, was a princess. Her God-parents sent her a princess dress for her birthday. She has other princess outfits, too, but when they were all placed in front of her, she chose theirs. She grabbed her little purse as we headed out the door. She loved her dress. She found out that if she spins, the skirt will fan out all around her. As if that wasn't enough, in the middle of the show, she turned herself upside-down and exposed her royal diaper. A real lady- that one!

Pumpkin Night

Fall is in full swing and, while winter is a long way off, I can see my winter habits starting to form. I must admit that I am one of THOSE people who get so excited when she walks into the store and sees Christmas decotations. Today we went to a local play farm only to find that they were celebrating "Christmas on the Farm". I was psyched. I tried to build on this theme at home and asked if everyone wanted to listen to Christmas music. A resounding NO from my family. So I sit here typing listening to Stevie Wonder. But the stores don't lie and Christmas is in the air. I abide by the wishes of the majority of my family members and control my urge to decorate and play holiday music...but it will happen eventually...YOU HAVE ALL BEEN FORWARNED!
Part of what I love about this time of year is that my family and I tend to hibernate. Last weekend we cooked a big turkey dinner to share with my mother, her friend, and my grandmother. The house was filled with the smell of turkey and apple crisp. It was a warm autumn day but it was still nice to have everyone inside in one space enjoying the delicious meal.
Here are my kids posing for the camera while our guests looked on.

Travis's school hosted "Pumpkin Night" this past Friday. The parents donated gift baskets to be raffled off and the kids could paint pumpkins. There was a DJ who played the fun music that the kids all knew the dances to. It was a lot of fun and very reassuring to me, as I still have a little trouble with the fact that I am not able to be a volunteer during his school day. I happened to drop him off at school one morning this week and his teacher mentioned how much better he was doing in school now that he adjusted to the full day. I was thrilled to hear it. I am seeing it at home, too. But being able to be there for school events helps me adjust to not being present during the day.
Here are the kids painting their pumpkins. The paint stained our hands and clothes (found out the hard way on that one) but they had a very good time. Even our two-year-old daughter found things to do.
Travis chose to hang out with several friends from his class. This also gave me the chance to meet some of the parents in the class. It was nice to get a glimpse of how he spends his days with the other kids. He seemed right at home with his friends, as they hung out on the railing of the handicapped ramp and chased each other around.

And so fall continues. Soccer ends (mercifully) next week. The weather this weekend was definitely cold and autumnal. And even though the cold weather grows old fast, the excitement and energy that comes with the holiday season is starting to creep into focus. Hooray for me!

Autumn is Upon Us!!

I asked my students to tell each other what their favorite thing about fall is. They all had the typical kid answers...jumping in leaves, going to the apple orchard, halloween... Mine tend to change as my life changes. There was a time when the autumn meant field hockey games, Oktoberfests, and pretending to follow football to impress my boyfriend. Now I have married the boyfriend and we have two children and my answers have changed! Go figure!
My son had two soccer games this weekend. The best part was that he scored 3 goals during the first game. It was so exciting to see.
Here he is during the second game of the weekend. He is #1 on the green team. His buddy is #11 on the blue team. This is the game where his friend scored his first goal! He and Travis approached this game as more of a social hour than a competition.
Done with soccer, our family headed to a local apple orchard to pick apples. It was so crowded, probably because last weekend was so lousy, weather-wise. We went with 5 other families. We lost track of most of the group we went with, but had a great time anyway.
Here we are with our neighbors. We walked up and down the aisles picking an absurd amount of apples. How we will get through them all, I will never know!
Travis and Chelsea show off their rewards. They were very proud. Travis was especially proud to show us how to pick an apple. He had been to the orchard two days earlier on a class trip and spent most of the hayride lecturing us on proper apple-picking technique. "Lift, twist, and pull!"
I am pretty sure Travis's favorite part of the day was being lifted up high by dad to get the perfect apple. Thank goodness daddy is 6 feet and 3 inches because the perfect apples were, in Trav's opinion, at the tip-top of the trees.
Chelsea would go into the trees and grab the apples right off the tree. She would emerge triuphant saying,"I did it!" Then she would (not so gently) throw the apples into the bag.
A big highlight for the kids was finding some ladders set up to pick apples. Travis took the first trip up the ladder, followed by his buddy. Not to be outdone... Chelsea went up, too. She was determined to go up as high as she could and got so annoyed when daddy put his hand on her back to spot her. She will be our independent toughie.

Then it was off to the pumpkin patch. Chelsea had fun just looking at the pumpkins and trying to pick them all up.
Travis and his buddies raced through the pumpkin patch. "It's a maze!" they kept telling us, proving once again that it is simple things that please children (and adults) the most.

Then it was off for a quick trip to the playground and home. Apple crisp for dessert. YUM!
The perfect ending to a great fall weekend!!!

Terrific and Two

It was my daughter's second birthday this week. It seemed like we celebrated for the whole week. It all started on Wednesday night, her birthday eve, when we decided to let her open the presents from us. Her brother was thrilled to give her the doll he picked out. And she was excited to get her first pair of big-girl undies! Here she is busy at work.

On Thursday, her actual birthday, we went to see Sesame Street Live. It was great. The name of the show was "Elmo's Green Thumb". Both of the kids loved it. We met some friends with kids of similar ages. Chelsea danced like crazy and yelled hello at each muppet. She was so excited.

On Friday evening we had her birthday party. We invited friends and family. The original plan was to have it in the yard with a campfire and marshmallows. Of course...it POURED! So all of these people had to squeeze into our tiny house. We made the best of it and used every square inch of every room and had a great time. She is going to be a stylish little girl this winter with her princess costumes and her outfits. She got a baby doll which she loved. After each present she would say, "I want some more!" She was happy when she was finally able to take the princess figurines off the top of the cake. Thanks to Grandma BJ, Cousin Erica, and Daddy, we have lots of pictures of the party. Everyone had a great time.
At one point there was a crowd on my bed (good thing it is king-sized). They were watching a movie and having fun.
Now it is Saturday. I have done dishes and my husband has dismantled all of the folding tables and chairs. I have searched the house for leftover juiceboxes and plates and cleaned them up. Since we were hanging out at home we decided to let Chelsea have a try with her big-girl undies. The end result was predictable and I had to clean up a little puddle on the floor, but she was very proud of her Elmo undies. Here she is showing them off for the camera! I guess we can check this birthday off as a huge success.

Around the Bend??? Maybe!

Well we may have made it around the bend on this getting-used-to-school situation. I finally made contact with my son's teacher after realizing that my work email was not allowing me to send or receive messages from her. Just knowing that I can now communicate with her has done wonders to ease my mind. We still had a few tears this week. Not nearly as bad as the previous week, though. We got a good note home from his teacher saying he did well on Thursday. He still hates the after-school program, but baby steps... He will get there. We also took care of a sticky situation on the soccer field in a way that hopefully made everyone comfortable. Things are looking up!
Travis is on the Green Dragons. As long as you tell him which way to kick the ball, he does okay. He actually scored a goal during practice this week. He told everyone, adding "and I was even going in the right direction!!"
The best part of going to soccer with my son is seeing how much he has improved since the last season. He is doing a lot better. This season he was able to get jersey #1, just like Thomas the Tank Engine! BONUS!

Meanwhile Chelsea is doing great. She continues to go to Aunties and loves playing with her little friend there. I painted her toenails for the first time. Thursday she turns 2! We have decided to celebrate by going to see "Sesame Street Live" that night with friends.
Here she is with Mimi, posing with their sunglasses on. Mimi is going to see Sweet Caroline this weekend and will hopefully bring back lots of pics!
Chelsea enjoys the chocolate off a cookie and then tries to hide her chocolaty face. We find the cookies with the chocolate licked off scattered throughout our home. Gross!
Chelsea has found a way to occupy herself during her brother's soccer game. She finds some friends to run up and down the hill with. At the end of the game she crawls into her carseat and falls asleep, exhausted from running. Everybody wins!

Walking on the Other Side of the Fence

I thought it would be a walk in the park. I help other parents through the transition to full-day school all the time at my job. But this time I was the parent and I was handing over my first born into the hands of strangers. He was a little apprehensive, as was I. But when we both breezed through the first day, I patted us on the back and thought, "We nailed it! We are in the clear!" I remember the stories of the weepy parents who watched as the kids left for their first day of kindergarten and actually wondered why I didn't feel that myself. Had my job made me cold to this particular experience????

The second day was much like the first. We left happily in the morning and proceeded through our days at school. I was a little frazzled because he also had soccer practice that evening and my husband was at work. But I chalked that up to getting used to the new schedule. I headed to his after-school program to pick him up. When I saw him waving at me, I almost cried. I was so happy to see him. Then it hit me, he was growing independent from me (and the rest of the family). And this was only the beginning of KINDERGARTEN! We had 13 years of this for him alone (never mind that we would have to do it all again with his younger sister). I was a little alarmed to learn that the teacher in charge of his group at after-school didn't know he needed an Epi-pen. For whatever reason, I didn't immediately flip out about this. I just figured it was a bump along the way. It I was going to survive this transition and set the tone for my son, I needed to be level-headed. And so it continued....

By Friday (the 4th day of school for him) I had gotten my first call from the school nurse. His eye had swollen up and he had stepped in what everyone kept calling "goo". We still have no idea what the goo was, and due to the nurse's limited English vocabulary, it took me a while to understand the connection between the goo on his foot and the swollen eye. My son told me the goo was "oobleck", the make-believe stuff that fell from the sky in one of Dr. Seuss's books. The nurse said that maybe it was gum, and then decided that it wasn't gum after all. Toxic waste, maybe? Cat puke? Could be! I just know that he allegedly rubbed whatever it was into his eye and it almost swelled shut. And the school nurse didn't give him Benedryl, even though I filled out a form saying to do so.

By the time I pick him up on that Friday, I was discouraged and emotional. I feel like I have set my son up to be looked after by people who aren't taking his medical needs seriously. And they are not even complicated issues. Just have his medicine ready, just in case he comes into contact with an allegen. I don't think I was expecting too much. I filled out a ream of paperwork on the kid to make sure everyone could treat whatever ails him without contacting me first. So treat him! Keep on top of things!

After a good night sleep I begin to see that I didn't escape the stress that parents feel when they send their children off to school. Not by a long shot! I am a teacher who deals with this on a professional level each day, But it is a whole different game when your child is the student. The anxious reaction to watching my son take his first steps into the "real world" weren't avoided. Just delayed a little. I'm hoping things smooth out considerably, but I guess we will have to wait and see. I count my blessings that I think his teacher is great. She is vigilant about keeping an eye on him and keeping him safe. In fact it was his teacher that noticed that his eye was swollen. I just remind myself that, just like I watch over my students and make sure their best interests are served, my son's teacher is doing the same thing for him (and me!).

My boy takes his first steps towards independence in the fall of 2003 at Mimi's house.

Let The Fun Begin!

Well Travis and family all survived the first day of kindergarten. It started with tears. As of 9:00 last night my son was going to be a drop-out before school even started (looks great for a teacher's kid to put up a fit about going to school)! But he pulled himself together and did well. Here are the highlights...

My son is ready to go on his first day of kindergarten. I don't feel that it is a coincidence that it also happened to fall on the day when my grandmother would have turned 90 years old. Maybe she was watching over him...

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to be in the spotlight, my daughter joined my son in showing off their new backpacks.

Travis tried to bend down to take a picture with Chelsea. But Chelsea wanted to do just what her big brother did.

It was a big relief when we found out that our former neighbor was going to be in the same class.

We walked in with Travis and chatted a little with the teacher. She is very nice and it turns out that she and I have a mutual friend.

The report from Travis when he got home was that the day went well. He had two recesses, a popsicle, a snack and lunch. He had to rest for a little while, but didn't seem to mind. When I pushed to hard for information he said, Mom, it is just my first day!" I took the hint. He did have to sit at the "food allergy table" at lunch. Better to be safe than sorry, but a little geeky, too. Oh well. If he doesn't complain, neither will I. Let's hope the rest of the year follows suit!

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there was a family of four who thought it would be fun to take a relaxing and peaceful vacation up north in the White Mountains of New Hampshire... Ha! What a joke! It wasn't relaxing. We were constantly on the go. It wasn't peaceful! Chelsea made sure of THAT! But we had a great time nonetheless. Here are some hightlights!
Day 1
We head to Story Land in Glen, NH. Chelsea hadn't napped and was in rare form. Travis was fixated on finding the trainride first thing. The weather cooperated, which was a definite plus.
Here is our boy waiting in line for the first ride. He is so excited he can barely contain himself.

Chelsea enjoys the view from the train. It was one of the more tame moments of her day. She had napped for an hour and was a little refreshed.

We went on the Bamboo Chutes. Travis loved it. Chelsea... not so much! She was a little shocked by the sudden drop. The splash at the end left her a little angry, too.

Daddy took the kids on the teacups. Mom sat this one out and took pictures. Spinning is not for me!

Day 2

First we stopped at the Covered Bridge Shoppe, right near our condo. It was an actual bridge with a country store inside. It was so cute. The bridge lost some points with Travis because it was an old car bridge, not a train bridge. But his disappointment didn't last long. Especially once he and Chelsea realized how much fun it is to race in and out of the long entryway.

Then we were heading north to Jefferson, NH to go to Santa's Village. Once again we had decent weather. It was not as crowded and Chelsea managed to sleep most of the way up. We were in much better shape to start our day. Another flume ride. Another train. And all the Christmas Carols I could sing along with! This was my kind of place!

We stopped at the enterance of Santa's Village to snap a picture of the kids in Santa's sleigh.

We took some time to greet our friend the snowman, or as Chelsea called him "Da Man". He looked familiar to me...now I know why... Flash back thirty-three years. A young Amy with her own mom (Mimi) pose with "Da Man".


Day 3

All aboard for Hartmann's Model Railroad Museum. We took a brief stop to check things out. It was cool. Lots of interactive exhibits. And if you bought a shirt you got to ride on the large model train for free. This was our third trip on a train in as many days. Travis claims that this one was his favorite.

Travis poses with the owner of the museum and the engineer of the train.

Travis, Chelsea, and Daddy wave to Mom as they go past.

Then we headed to the Kancamagus Highway and off to Clarke's Trading Post in Lincoln where we promptly forgot the camera in the car. The hightlights for this trip include another train ride (number four on our trip) on the White Mountain Railroad. We headed over the bridge into the territory of the Wolfman. He chased our train until we told him to "Scram, you old goat!" Travis thought this was great! Travis actually got to hop inside this train and take a look at the firebox. His favorite part of the ride was when the train blew steam all over the Wolfman.

He and daddy also rode the bumper boats. They came off that ride drenched. Since it started to rain we headed out. We stopped to look at the bears, but decided against watching the show. It was actually kind of sad to see such beautiful would-be-wild animals cooped up like that. We headed home after that. Chelsea serenaded us by chanting, "I want Mimi! I want Auntie!" for a good half hour. Then mercifully she fell asleep. Travis still loves hotel living and wants to go back next year.