In the beginning of September we went apple picking with the girls. It was a perfect day and we stopped for lunch along the way. I love fall in Vermont!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Fun fall day with too many pictures!
Sorry it's been a while! Things never seem to slow down around here and I feel like I'm being pulled in a million directions right now (don't we all?!), so the blog has taken a back seat. I'll post soon on what we've been doing around here :)
In the beginning of September we went apple picking with the girls. It was a perfect day and we stopped for lunch along the way. I love fall in Vermont!
In the beginning of September we went apple picking with the girls. It was a perfect day and we stopped for lunch along the way. I love fall in Vermont!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Cool!
Miche and Jimmy got Acadia the coolest bike recently. It's a Dora bike (a HUGE hit with Acadia!) and there are a bunch of buttons on it with music, etc. Cadi absolutely loves it and it's already given us hours of entertainment! Thanks guys!
Friday, September 11, 2009
We will never forget
I, along with the rest of America I'm sure, remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. I was in class at UVM and it was around 11am. I went into my human development class and it was half empty...people were crying around me...my teacher's eyes were red rimmed...it felt really odd...like something huge had happened and I was the only person not aware of what was going on. And to an extent, that was true.
At 8:46 am and 9:03 am, while I was in English class, the Twin Towers were hit by 2 planes. As I was innocently learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. lives around me were being changed forever...
I went into my 11 o'clock class and it was eerily quiet. My teacher stood in front of the class a bit hunched over. Given the events that have happened this morning, we are canceling class for the day, he said. He stared at his shoes....his sister lived in NYC close to the towers and he couldn't get ahold of her. I heard sobs coming from around me and I felt dizzy...what the hell happened? It wasn't until the girl sitting next to me told me about the planes that I realized I had asked that question outloud.
I don't remember walking to my car, but I do remember getting into the car and turning on the radio. I listened to the events of the most horrific thing that has happened to America in my life time. I called my mom sobbing, What happened?! Mom! What the hell is going on???! I instantly felt like a 5 year old again and I wanted her to be with me to reassure me things were going to be ok. She seemed just as frantic as I was and said she had been trying to call me.
I made it back to the condo Matt and I had recently purchased and he was there on the couch. At first I was surprised to see him, but quickly realized the enormity what had happened. Of course. Of course. Burton had sent people home because of this this. Of course. This. Is. Huge. What the fuck is going on? We hugged and I burst into tears. Our hearts are just not made to deal with something so horrific. We sat on the couch holding each other, savoring the fact that we were together...that we were uninjured...that we were still an "us" unlike many, many, many people we saw on tv that evening and for many months afterwards.
I know I am not alone in saying that I wish I could get the images I saw that day out of my head. The wives holding up signs with pictures of their husbands. Has anyone seen him? Has anyone SEEN him?! Please! He needs to come home for dinner! He has two children and they are waiting for him at home! Please! Please! Has anyone seen him??
There was story after story of people similar to that...mothers, brothers, wives, sisters, daughters, sons, fiances, fathers...frantic...sobbing...in disbelief...wandering the streets...this couldn't be happening... Except that it did. It did happen. To us. To Americans. To our country. And although it's been a few years, let us never forget what happened to our friends...to our families...to our fellow Americans...
To everyone who was impacted by September 11th, big or small, I can promise you this: we will never forget.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saying goodbye
Good parents give their children Roots and Wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what's been taught them. --Jonas Salk
I've heard that quote so many times before and always agreed with it. Then I had my own children and I now wonder if Jonas Salk actually had any children himself. It's a very sweet quote in theory, but one that is much easier said than done. Give your children the confidence and independence to leave your home and go out into their own. Raise them well and you will see them grown into unique and well balanced individuals. Individuals you are proud to call your children. Yes...I think it's much, much easier said than done...
Because, you see...when you become a parent, the life you once knew literally ceases to exist. Everything that was once important to you now shifts. And this little baby is suddenly all that matters. And, in turn, you are everything to your children. You are the ones to rock them to sleep at night...you are the ones they turn to when they have a bad dream....when they fall down and scrape themselves...when they need more milk...when they want a story read to them. You are the one who brings them to their first day of Kindergarten while silently holding back tears. You are the one to pick them up from school when they are sick. To make them soup and take their temperature. To worry about them when they fall asleep, wondering if they are too hot or too cold. You are there to wipe their tears when they get into an argument with their best friend. When their first love breaks their heart. You are their everything.
Then they leave...to go to college...and now what? Who will make sure they are getting enough sleep? To make sure they study for exams? To make sure they are eating properly? Who will give them Tylenol when they have a fever? Will they make friends right away? Will they make friends you would approve of? You worry. You worry because you're not with them. You worry because they. are. your. world. and because that's what parents do. Because you know that the second you had this child, your heart belonged to them. In that one instant, your whole world changed. And nothing else mattered. Everything you have done since then has prepared you for this moment....this moment of seeing them off into the "real world". Teaching them "please" and "thank you", teaching them how to read, how to tell time, how to tie their shoes. Everything they learned was because of you.
And never, ever forget...you are still their everything...and you always will be...
I've heard that quote so many times before and always agreed with it. Then I had my own children and I now wonder if Jonas Salk actually had any children himself. It's a very sweet quote in theory, but one that is much easier said than done. Give your children the confidence and independence to leave your home and go out into their own. Raise them well and you will see them grown into unique and well balanced individuals. Individuals you are proud to call your children. Yes...I think it's much, much easier said than done...
Because, you see...when you become a parent, the life you once knew literally ceases to exist. Everything that was once important to you now shifts. And this little baby is suddenly all that matters. And, in turn, you are everything to your children. You are the ones to rock them to sleep at night...you are the ones they turn to when they have a bad dream....when they fall down and scrape themselves...when they need more milk...when they want a story read to them. You are the one who brings them to their first day of Kindergarten while silently holding back tears. You are the one to pick them up from school when they are sick. To make them soup and take their temperature. To worry about them when they fall asleep, wondering if they are too hot or too cold. You are there to wipe their tears when they get into an argument with their best friend. When their first love breaks their heart. You are their everything.
Then they leave...to go to college...and now what? Who will make sure they are getting enough sleep? To make sure they study for exams? To make sure they are eating properly? Who will give them Tylenol when they have a fever? Will they make friends right away? Will they make friends you would approve of? You worry. You worry because you're not with them. You worry because they. are. your. world. and because that's what parents do. Because you know that the second you had this child, your heart belonged to them. In that one instant, your whole world changed. And nothing else mattered. Everything you have done since then has prepared you for this moment....this moment of seeing them off into the "real world". Teaching them "please" and "thank you", teaching them how to read, how to tell time, how to tie their shoes. Everything they learned was because of you.
And never, ever forget...you are still their everything...and you always will be...
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Just like daddy!
Our little Burton girl is ready for snowboarding! We're signing her up for lessons this winter. Can't wait to see her on the mountain!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Nothing like reading with your Auntie
Acadia looooves, loves, LOVES Aly! She gets so excited when she comes over and will talk about her a day or two after she leaves. Aly has a love for books and she has helped pass that along to Acadia, which we are so grateful for. For birthdays, Christmas and sometimes for no reason at all, Aly will give Acadia the most beautiful books. Books that you want to hang on the wall, not to be touched, colored on or torn, only to realize that that's completely silly. Right? Right.
So instead I read the beautiful books to my girl over and over, knowing full well that if a page is torn, or if she colors on any of the pages, another beautiful book from Aunt Aly is right around the corner....every girl needs an Aunt like that!
So instead I read the beautiful books to my girl over and over, knowing full well that if a page is torn, or if she colors on any of the pages, another beautiful book from Aunt Aly is right around the corner....every girl needs an Aunt like that!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Gearing up for Freezer Saturday!
When I can afford to (financially and time-wise) I try to cook double batches of things so we can have one meal of something and freeze the other meal. But I haven't had much extra time or money lately and our freezer stash is getting smaller so I planned Freezer Saturday to stock up!
Matt and I sit down to have "budget meetings" about 4 times a year or so. What we find is that we used to spend most of our budget on food. Eating out, getting take out and buying too many groceries only to be thrown away - mostly because we were too tired to cook. So for a little over a year I have meal planned and made extra meals for our freezer for nights with neither of us feels like cooking.
But this Saturday will be the first day I have actually spent the day cooking so replenish our freezer with meals for this fall/winter. I penciled in on our calendar that I will be grocery shopping Friday evening to get ready and Matt knows that he has to leave the house with the girls on Saturday so I can cook.
Chili, lasagna, Mexican soup, chicken and black bean taco filling, ham, broccoli and cheese quiche, pizza pasta bake and spaghetti sauce with meatballs are on the list for this Saturday. I'm hoping once I get our freezer stocked again I won't have to do this for a little while.
Since I became a stay at home mom, I have seen my "job" as feeding our family nutritious meals and trying to save us money. In a couple of years we went from a 2 person, 2 income family to a 4 person, 1 income family. So as you can imagine, we need to cut costs when we can and meal planning/stocking our freezer is just one way of saving money.
Matt and I sit down to have "budget meetings" about 4 times a year or so. What we find is that we used to spend most of our budget on food. Eating out, getting take out and buying too many groceries only to be thrown away - mostly because we were too tired to cook. So for a little over a year I have meal planned and made extra meals for our freezer for nights with neither of us feels like cooking.
But this Saturday will be the first day I have actually spent the day cooking so replenish our freezer with meals for this fall/winter. I penciled in on our calendar that I will be grocery shopping Friday evening to get ready and Matt knows that he has to leave the house with the girls on Saturday so I can cook.
Chili, lasagna, Mexican soup, chicken and black bean taco filling, ham, broccoli and cheese quiche, pizza pasta bake and spaghetti sauce with meatballs are on the list for this Saturday. I'm hoping once I get our freezer stocked again I won't have to do this for a little while.
Since I became a stay at home mom, I have seen my "job" as feeding our family nutritious meals and trying to save us money. In a couple of years we went from a 2 person, 2 income family to a 4 person, 1 income family. So as you can imagine, we need to cut costs when we can and meal planning/stocking our freezer is just one way of saving money.
This is what you get...
when you put a tired mommy, a bored toddler and an infant who can't defend herself together!
The other day Acadia kept asking me if she could take the baby for a walk. It took a little while for me to realize that she wasn't talking about her baby doll, she was talking about Emma. Honestly, I was too tired to argue and it ended up being about the funniest thing I've EVER seen!! I was laughing so hard when I took these pictures, I had tears running down my face! Poor Emma....
The other day Acadia kept asking me if she could take the baby for a walk. It took a little while for me to realize that she wasn't talking about her baby doll, she was talking about Emma. Honestly, I was too tired to argue and it ended up being about the funniest thing I've EVER seen!! I was laughing so hard when I took these pictures, I had tears running down my face! Poor Emma....
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