Thursday, February 28, 2013

Old Photos--Just for Fun!

I was feeling nostalgic or something...I just felt like posting some old photos.  In no particular order, here they are!


Home sweet home while white water rafting the Kennebec

After voting in Watertown for the very first time ever in the US
Brewing our own beer

A beautiful October day on my new road bike along the Charles

Me doing what I do best


Before we all legitimately almost drowned...

Pumpkin carving in Watertown

"Our" bike path along the Charles in Watertown

Still on the bike path

House in Mexico: for sale

Mountain Biking--at the top of Killington



Cutler Park, Newton


Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, VT
Near Nick and Lorna's in NH

Snow shoeing in Borderland State Park (Easton) on New Year's Day a few years ago...after a huge snow storm

Long Trail in VT




This about sums the three of us up

In Monterrey for Carlos and my wedding

Me and Bunny

Me

I think I look like Adrian here...



And I totally look like Sebastian here...


When Lexi was just a pup in Mexico!

Carlos and dear Aunt Nellie. 
Block Island

Our rock tower on Block Island





Ferry home from Block Island 


At the Bridgewater fountain as a kid with Jim
Poor Jim
Our last day with Patty Pontiac, my first car and the one that took me to Mexico and back safely


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

15 Months!

The boys are growing so fast. Adrian has an obsession with hats. Sebastian loves books and Lexi. Poor Lexi is so good with the two of them, despite the fact that whenever they are near her they inevitably cause her pain. Sebastian likes to sit on her, bounce on her, and otherwise touch her. He goes over and nestles himself in between her legs and then pats/pets her. Then before any of us know what's happening, he pulls her hair and she yelps. She has never tried to nip or bite--the poor dog accepts it as par for the course. When she sees Sebastian coming at her she usually tries to get up and move before he gets to her, but yet she always wants to be in the same room as them. She's not content to be separated from them even for a few minutes.

 


 

 Adrian loves to play hide and seek and I have such a great time playing with him. He toddles away so that I can hide. Then he comes back looking for me and we both scream out when we see each other. He laughs hysterically and, frankly, so do I. It's a ton of fun. Sebastian just looks on. He loves his books...I can't get Adrian to sit still for more than 2 seconds of book reading. I'm afraid he'll be illiterate. Not Sebastian, though. He likes Baby Bear, Baby Bear and Brown Bear, Brown Bear the best, followed by some books about colors and playtime. Oh, and he has ripped the binding of the Farm Animals book to shreds from reading it so much. He picks out a book, comes over to you, turns his back to you, and then plops himself down in your lap so that you can read to him.




 Adrian says "mama" very well now and loves to imitate sounds with his mouth. Sebastian still isn't saying any words, but communicates well non-verbally and seems to understand and follow commands better than Adrian.


Sebastian can push himself on the Tool Truck now--backwards.  He hasn't figured out yet how to go forward!

This is the Farm Animals book my mother gave them.

Both boys ran wild at the pediatrician's office...


Staring out the window at the snow!

The boys love to pull all the books out of the bookshelf and then slowly destroy them by pulling out pages or chewing the books.  We have to watch them closely!


MIA

I went missing in action thanks to Downton Abbey. I haven't watched a TV series like that--with so much damn enthusiasm--since LOST was on TV. I was so addicted to Downton that all I wanted to do was watch the show after the boys were in bed. I got no housework or anything else done in the 2 weeks that it took me to watch all three seasons. I think I won't make that mistake again and get myself into a new TV series. I won't ever unpack our boxes or get any house projects completed! But it was nice to have a TV show that I was into again...I can't wait until Season 4!

 We've actually made a fair amount of progress on the house front. We bought a snow blower (we'll be selling our older, smaller one once we get it out of storage at my Nana's), a new living room set (thanks to my mother-in-law who gave us money to buy one as a house warming gift), a book case for the playroom/basement, and living room accessories. But there's still so much more to buy...living room rug, sofa for basement TV area, patio furniture. And we want to build a bar in the basement as soon as possible, take down the rotten tree in the front yard, paint, and seal the chimney and add a cap.

 It's so so hard to do anything these days with the cost of daycare...it's the majority of my salary every month. I really do need to bring in some extra income. I am thinking hard about what I can do from home to bring in some extra cash each month. I have photos to put up on the blog, but I keep getting an error every time I try to upload them. I don't know what's up. I hope it was just a fluke and it will work tonight when I try to post them! Frustrating!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Time to Teach Myself Some Stuff...

I recently sat down and brainstormed about things I'd like to learn how to do and/or do. Time gets away from me, especially with the boys around, because I don't have clear goals or a clear idea of what I want to accomplish and when I want to work towards it. I thought I might tackle a different project every month. It seems a bit ambitious...especially at certain times of the year (like fall, when work is busy and I work at home in the evening when the boys are in bed), but I thought I'd try to lay something out. I haven't determined what project I'll start with yet, but I'm thinking about it. Here's my list of stuff I want to do/learn more about in no particular order of preference. --photography with an DSLR camera (or at least the nice Nikon that I already have) --blogging: design, HTML, features, domains, maintenance, searchability, etc. --drawing --knitting/crocheting --economics in general, investing, stock market --financial planning (college savings in particular, but also wills and health proxy stuff) --furniture refurbishing/reupholstering --gardening (herbs and vegetables) --scrapbooking --running --road biking/mountain biking --geocaching --crewel and cross stitch --read or reread books that are series (Little House on the Prairie, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones) --photoshop (not just photo editing but also designing digital art/graphics things) --iMovie --tax preparation (side job? I know more about taxes than the average person from financial aid...) --couponing --organization --budgeting --business plans (for salsa biz!) --parenting in general --freezer cooking --proofreading/editing --sewing --selling on eBay and Craigslist --mid-century/vintage furniture, decoration, etc. --Google+ and Twitter

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Maraca Video

Some of you already saw this on Facebook, but I wanted to preserve this video on the blog!  :)

Sebastian on the Maracas

Blizzard of 2013

I refuse to call the storm Nemo.  I don't like naming winter Nor'easters. 

We weathered this blizzard well, thank God.  I was nervous about our first big storm in a new house.

School was canceled on Friday.  Carlos went to work but was dismissed around midday, also nice.  The boys stayed home with me, and we had a good day playing.  I was amazed at the range of things that Sebastian can identify!  If you say, "Where is the _________?" he can get so many things: keys, horse, Olivia (his owl), Monkey, Brown Bear (the book), car, truck, train...He will also go sit in the chair if you tell him to.  And he's become extremely cuddly all of a sudden--he likes to get Monkey or Olivia and then sit in my lap.  This is new...he never wanted to sit with me before! 

Both boys nodded off in my arms...this NEVER happens...


Doin' some readin'










How we spent most of the day Friday

Adrian loves to stick his tongue out at people...now both boys have bad manners! :)  But he laughs when he does it, and I can't help but laugh myself.  He is finally getting a molar on the top, and it seems to be causing him a lot of discomfort.  Lately he won't say "mama" to me anymore.  Not sure what's going on there! 

So back to the storm.  We came out of it fine, although I shoveled off the porch roof so many times I lost count.  (It's flat and I was afraid it would collapse under the weight of all this snow!)  I also bought a snow rake and tried to get some of the heavy stuff off the roof.  That was only partially successful.  I got a lot off (and had to shovel the porch roof again because that's where it all fell), but I couldn't really reach all that much.  Gosh, I really hate shoveling!

Sunday afternoon my dad came over and we took the boys out in the snow.  They put on their snowsuits from my mother and their cute little winter boots, and we pulled them down the street in the sled that my grandfather made for me when I was their age!  They loved it....Sebastian cried when we took him out! 


Practicing the king wave...
 
Adrian in his outfit...reminiscent of the movie The Christmas Story...Poor guy!

Oh, he loved the sled!


For some reason, this pose reminds me of the Pope...?!



We had 'em wedged in there!  Sled is way too small for two, but they both wanted to be in it.  Solution: cram them in!





That's our house in the background







Oops!  Adrian toppled over...




It came as a complete surprise to me on Sunday evening when I got a call from Milton that there was no school Monday--Four day weekend!!  And the best part of all?  The daycare was open!  That meant I could get some serious unpacking accomplished!  I started in the basement and unpacked nearly every box.  I broke down the boxes for recycling, rearranged some stuff, and basically just made a ton of headway so that the basement looks almost like a room now instead of a warehouse.  Then I put away all of my clothes that were still in suitcases and bags.  Then I hung up Carlos's clothes too!  I worked so hard I gave myself a headache and had to take Alleve for it!  Then, I took a break and watched some Downton Abbey before I went to the market, the vet, the bank, and to pick up the boys.  That show is damn addictive.  I LOVE it.  I'm obsessed with it.  I watched the first season Sunday and Monday (7 episodes, I believe).   I haven't watched that much TV in a row ever, I don't think.  I was so disappointed to see that you can't stream season 2 on Netflix.  I had to order the DVD plan just so I could get the rest of the seasons!!  (To my dismay, I also just discovered that they shipped Season 1, Disc 1 to me today!  Somehow it slipped by me that it was the wrong season...bummer.  I wanted to watch it asap!)  I haven't really sat down to watch a movie or TV since before the boys were born.  I watch the Channel 7 news every night while the boys are playing and I'm watching them, but that doesn't really count!  It felt good to feel like a person again!