In character

An impromptu game of dress-up this morning resulted in this:

Bryn is a princess, but can you guess what Calvin is? Neither could I until Bryn informed me he was a Mer-Boy. Of course.

* * *
Later this morning, I found Calvin scaling our kitchen shelves (yet again) and there was something familiar about the scene...

At least Naomi Watts didn't end up in the freezer like the unfortunate Miss Polly Pockets.

A day I've been waiting for

Self-entertaining children! I even got to vacuum while this was happening. It didn't last long, but wow, it was nice to witness.

Christmas in April

I have been looking for a rug to go in Bryn's room since we moved in 8 months ago, and have had no luck: they either don't match or they're way beyond our budget. Yesterday I saw a rug my friend had in her daughter's room, and wouldn't you know it but the colors matched Bryn's colors perfectly. She was kind enough to tell me where she got it (at a reasonable price) and I went out and got one that very day. Thank you Kristin!

I told Bryn I was getting her a new rug, and these were her conditions: "could you wait until nighttime, and put it in while I'm sleeping so that I can wake up with a surprise?" Who am I to deny a 4-year-old's Christmas-like request, so that's what I did. This morning at 6:15am we were awakened by an exuberant "OH WOW!" followed by lots of jumping and dancing noises.

Patriot's Day

5am: Peter goes to the reenactment of the battle with the "shot heard round the world."
7am: We have a nice breakfast at the Johnstons' house.
9pm: Peter takes the kids for a walk in the woods.
11am: We get to the marathon just in time to see the start of the race with the top women streaking by. They were shortly followed by the men and I caught a shot of the men's winner. I think I saw Lance Armstrong but I figured people would be cheering like mad if it was really him. Then the people next to me said "good job, Lance," which I took for confirmation. The men's winner floating above the pavement

My uncle Beesh was running his 31st marathon today. We also cheered on my cousin (his daughter) Danielle but I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of her.

Bryn tried and tried to give her orange away, and eventually found someone who would eat it
2:30pm: We watch the parade.
This is what the kids did whenever it looked like someone was about to fire a shot
Bryn was so excited about this guy; he even shook her hand with a squeaker inside his glove.
5:30pm: We go to a BBQ at our friends' house and eat really big steaks.
9pm: My team gets trounced in a basketball game, but it was still fun.
11pm: We watch Dan in Real Life
All in all, it was a good 20-hour Patriot's Day for us.

A Tale of Two Picnics

We had a lovely picnic with some friends at the Great Brook Farm State Park. The weather was perfect, and the smell of cow manure wafting our way made me feel like I was in Millville again. The pond was a big attraction for the kids (as were the chocolate donuts Calvin is sporting all over his hands and face).






Earlier that morning, Calvin and Bryn had a picnic of their own on the living room rug while I was on the phone trying to get a credit card late fee reversed (which I did). I found this when I was done with the call, along with slimy trails across the dining room. Yummm!

My Very Excellent Mother Just Sewed an Unusually Neat and (P)retty shower curtain

I couldn't find a shower curtain to match my bathroom concept for the life of me, so I bought a white one and some ribbons that matched with the idea that I'd sew them on and everything would match great.

Unfortunately, straight lines are not my forte, so the whole project has been hiding in a cupboard for the last six months. While my parents were here, my mom came to the rescue (deja vu from 7th grade home ec), and did a great job making it all come together.

A Hero Party (reader discretion advised - gross story)

At dinner Sunday evening Calvin kept whining and pointing up his nose. Laura quickly recognized his symptoms (because she has it happen to her all the time) and told us all that he had food, probably a small piece of carrot, lodged just above his throat in his nose, and that he needed to snort it down.

We all tried to show him how to snort, and pretty soon the dining room had turned into a pig sty. Alas, poor Calvin was still in agony and pointing at his nose. Laura persevered and this time tried to have him blow it out instead of snorting it down. She plugged the unaffected side, had him blow with all his might, and this is what came out:

Not one, not two, but three pieces of spaghetti, about 5 inches total length.

So we turned a double birthday party into a hero party. Hip hip hooray for Laura and her deviated septum that gave her the knowledge to relieve a suffering toddler.

(Birthday wishes)^2

My dad and my son share the same birthday; today! Here are a few thoughts I have about two of my favorite people (feel free to add more in the comment section):

Some things I like about Calvin...
*The way he blames every injury on someone else (he slips on the hardwood because he has socks on and he says "Bryn pushed me," but Bryn is gone to preschool
*When he's singing he doesn't want ANYONE else to sing with him
*His obvious devotion to his sister when he's not falling
*When he needs a little extra love, he grabs his blanket, and comes up to me and say "Hold you," (meaning I should pick him up) and then says "now blanket time!" (meaning I am to wrap his blanket around him)
*His knock-knock jokes
*He sneaks up behind Bryn and gives her a big shove while saying "Pusshhhh!" with delight, even though he knows he's going to go to timeout for it
*His curiosity and demand for independence


Some things I like about my dad...
*His enthusiasm for my new technology (he was almost as excited for my new camera as I was) and his willingness to teach me about it
*His love and respect of the outdoors
*His pancake breakfasts
*His patience, kindness, humility, and loving attitude
*He's always ready for an adventure, be it hiking, biking, shopping, or just reading a book to an ornery toddler
*He's a very hard worker (thanks for the new shelves, new shades, leaf removal, drawer gluing, chair gluing/screwing, etc.)
*He's totally devoted to his family and especially my mom. He'll take a day off of work at the drop of a hat if it means spending quality time with a loved one

I love you both!

Concord Conquered (they're homophones)

Today seemed like a nice day to tour Concord, so we started bright and early. Aunt Laura even graciously offered to tame Bryn's mane so we could get off on time.
We had planned to hike around Walden Pond, but were swarmed by masses of Mayflies. We got 1/8th of the way around and gave up after inhaling a few too many bugs.
Poor Bryn (who is a total bug-a-phobe) sat on Peter's shoulders with her arms up over her ears and looked completely traumatized by the whole incident. Calvin was angry because none of us would get close enough to the pond to throw rocks in the water with him.

"I went to the woods because I wished to swim through a black swarm of bugs and have them crawl in my nose and mouth." Mission accomplished.

Orchard House

Concord School of Philosophy (all the great thinkers come here)

And today was no exception
Ahem...modeling scouts, search no further; presenting the world's most photogenic children:
I think I'll use this for Bryn's new chores list:
Little Women Dolls
Little woman by a big tree

The Hollow Men

A hollow log at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
This sign is a metaphor for death
Authors in death's other kingdom



The Headless Grandpa

Notice anything different about my pictures? I upped from a 2.0 mp camera to a 7.0 mp slr camera. Laura staged an intervention at the cemetery and told me it was time to put down the camera. Fat chance.

Pollution-free Sightseeing in Rhode Island

We took a biking tour of Newport Beach (the one with all the big famous mansions). The kids slept most of the time, it was only slightly warm, and the ocean was crystal blue. I thought we were going to be on a sidewalk bike path the whole way, so my kids aren't wearing helmets. Please don't turn me in. (photos courtesy of my dad)
Calvin has almost escaped in the above photo.
This one's for you, Lance
Serenity Now!
We all liked this house.
My other cohorts (minus Chris)
We were a little worried that she couldn't breath so I repositioned her head after this shot.