Busy Day of A Busy Week

Today was one of those non stop days! After seeing Charlie on the bus I came back to the house and got a triple batch of southwestern chicken taco filling into the crock pot. Then I got Amelia and myself up and dressed (yes we take Charlie to the bus in our pjs) and we headed off to Amelia's story time at the library. After story time I decided that since we were sort of halfway there already, I might as well take a walk over to the yoga studio where I started yoga class tonight, to see how far of a walk it was. I determined that it was a pretty far walk ;) After that we went clear across town to Iparty to pick up supplies and balloons for Charlie's birthday. At home again, I fixed lunch and wrapped Charlie's birthday presents, then got snacks/diaper bag ready for Taekwon do. After that I had about one nanosecond to rest before it was time to get Charlie from the bus stop, wrestle him into his Taekwon do uniform, throw a granola bar at him, and head off to class. After class it was homework, dinner, tubs & bedtime (for Amelia anyway)and then it was off to yoga class for me, which involved a half hour walk each way. So the upshot is, I am beat!! Top it off with the fact that a) Amelia was up at 5:45am and didn't take a nap, b)Charle was up with a bad dream last night that required me to sleep in his bed with him for 2 hours and c) I, as always, had to walk everywhere I went today so figure I clocked about 5 miles... Dinner & drinks tomorrow at Red Sky, I am counting down!

High Chair Graduate!

We retired Amelia's high chair this week, another step towards leaving baby-dom behind. Now if she would just potty train...

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Busy Week Ahead

At some point today I realized I have a whole lot of stuff to do in the next week! Charlie's birthday is a week from tomorrow and requires a list in and of itself ~ I have to order both his birthday cake and the cupcakes he'll be taking to school to share with his class, I have to buy and wrap his birthday presents, I have to get together little goody bags (how about just a pencil a piece?) for Charlie's classmates, I have to get organized and packed for Charlie's birthday trip to the Cape a week from Saturday, because even one night away with the kids requires an inordinate amount of packing....

On the non birthday front I have to schedule the below mentioned mammogram and vascular appointments, fill out and return the application for Charlie to attend the summer program at Toddler Tech, fill out and return the application for the after school program for next year, and somewhere in there I am working all weekend and starting a yoga class Monday night (which I have to call & register for.) Oh and we also need to get Charlie to some extra taekwon do lessons next week (in addition to the three he normally does) because we are driving back up from the Cape on Sunday in time for him to test for his yellow belt Sunday afternoon... Whew! I better get started with something...

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Over The Hill

So yesterday I had my annual physical with my PCP. Assuming that it would be the quick and uncomplicated affair that it usually is, I brought Amelia along with me. Unfortunately, what I didn't factor in was that somewhere in between last year's check up and this year's check up I turned 35, which apparently is considered over the hill by my PCP and requires a much more extensive check up. This included an EKG, a million questions about my bowel habits, a referral for my first mammogram and also a referral to see a vascular surgeon about my varicose veins which apparently need to to be ligated. Somehow through all this (and blood work too!) Amelia was extremely well behaved, sitting in a chair in the exam room watching the proceedings with interest and jabbering away, although my doctor's eastern European accent was indecipherable to her - she kept telling the doctor, "I don't understand what you're saying!" Next year I will try to remember to schedule my annual physical for a time when I don't have any children with me...

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The Wildlife In Quincy Grows Weirder...

For the past week or so we have been noticing some small fish in the creek around the corner from our house, so today Mike and Charlie took some hotdogs and a fishing pole down to the creek and caught, well, this: A North American eel, which some research does show is indigenous to MA waterways, spending most of its life in fresh water and then returning to the ocean to spawn. This was apparently the small eel they caught; the big one, they tell me, was too big to fit in the bucket and was too mean, besides. Charlie, of course, is beside himself with excitement over the sudden interesting wildlife cropping up in his backyard.

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Snakes On The Brain

Charlie woke up this morning with snakes on his mind, asking me why he has never seen a snake in our yard. I responded with my usual "Here in Quincy we don't have a whole lot of (...fill in the blank: snakes, coyotes, pirrhanas...)"

Then, after breakfast, we happened to be on the back porch when our neighbor, John, coincidentally called over to Charlie to tell him that he had seen not one but TWO snakes in our yard yesterday. At Charlie's insistence John told him exactly where to look to find them, at which point Charlie headed off with a stick and I headed back into the kitchen to make a pot of chilli.

Charlie came bounding in just a few minutes later to say he had indeed found a snake, "not its head but just its tail because it ran away so fast like Sonic the hedgehog!" This did seem to be an apt description but I only half believed him until this afternoon when we were walking home from taekwon do and he spotted the above pictured snake skin.

So the moral of the story is there ARE snakes in Quincy! Just as long as there are still no pirhannas...

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Move Over Hansel & Gretel...

Charlie has taken the word "trail mix" in its literal sense. He is thinking he is going to lure all sorts of wild animals to our back door...

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Christopher Columbus Park (Revised To Add More Pics)

My friend Katie and I took advantage of the 93(!!) degree weather today and met at Christopher Columbus Park, in Boston. The kids had a great time at the playground, having a picnic on the green, riding the carousel, splashing in the fountains and eating ice cream at Fanieul Hall. Here are some pictures from the day:

Taking Dress Up To A Whole New Level

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Bucket Head

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Reading!

Easter 2012

We had a great Easter yesterday which involved tons of food (can we say thank god the biggest loser competition is over?) including a big breakfast at home followed by dinner at Phil and Sue's house, and of course, tons of Easter candy.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Date Night

Saturday night Anthony babysat so that Mike and I could go out to see one of the approximately 2 movies we make it to each year. We had a fun night; we went to one of the luxury box showings of The Hunger Games; after getting to watch a movie while drinking beer and eating steak tips and garlic mashed potatoes, the luxury box is the only eay to go! We even managed to squeeze a large popcorn in there somewhere, after the steak tips, mashed potatoes, fried avocado wedges and cake...

Biggest Loser

We wrapped up our three month long Biggest Loser contest at work yesterday and the winner of the $200 prize is.... Me!
Starting weight: 129.8
Ending weight: A slightly anorexic 112.4
Percentage of weight lost: 13.4%
Yes my coworkers all hate me. And don't worry I've already gained back 4 lbs and have lots moire eating to do this weekend.

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Behavior Modification

Here is Charlie's new behavior chart, similar to the one they use at school. Charlie is an excellent listener at school but not so much at home, so we are hoping this helps! Every day that he stays on the green apple he gets to put a ninja sticker on his chart, and when he fills up the chart he gets a video game. (This is the ONLY way he gets video games, now) If he goes on the yellow apple he doesn't get a sticker for the day, and if he goes on the red apple he gets a sticker taken away. Charlie, for his part, says "I'm going to be so good now that we have the apples at home!" We hope you're right, Charlie!

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EcoTarium

We took the kids to the EcoTarium in Worcester today. There was lots to keep the kids occupied including a live animal show, an African Wildlife exhibit, an exhibit featuring games from around the world, a rock climbing wall and numerous live animal exhibits of species native to New England including snakes, turtles, skunks, bald eagles and a porcupine. Charlie had a great time although Amelia wasn't totally thrilled with parts of it - for instance she refused to even set foot in the African wildlife exhibit; just a glance into the dark room with back lit dioramas sent her into hysterics. But all in all it was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon and is deserving of a trip back in the summer, when there might actually be something to see along the nature trails and the tree top canopy walk.