Let Me Show You Around

The report from school today: Jill has taken the "new girl" under her wing.  The toddler/baby blonde cutie is transitioning into the toddler room and apparently Jill's been showing her around.  She's a natural tour guide!  haha

Super Mom

This isn't Facebook; it's a personal blog, Jill's blog but obviously mine as well.  Since I try to keep the "Mombook" at a minimum, I'll go ahead and brag right here. 

I called Tony from a work dinner at Mamma Maria's last night and could hear Jill in the background.  She apparently didn't have any pants on and hadn't in hours.  Propped on top of the kitchen counter, she was shoving leftover pasta into her mouth.  I could picture it.  Dinner ran late and I stopped at the recently-back-from-Toronto Mark and Ali's apartment around the corner and didn't get home until close to 10.  The porch light was on but I wished the rest of the house had been dark.  What a mess that kid can make!  Books, hair clips, combs, shoes, a juice cup, a random pink plastic spoon.  You name it and it was on the floor.  Dirty dishes, dirty laundry.  Nothing had been done.  It was Dad's night!  Now don't get me wrong; Tony is an amazing husband and father.  He just can't do household stuff some nights while hanging solo with Jill.  In his defense, the alarm was set for 3:30 for an early departure to New York.

In contrast, Jill helped stack her books tonight.  We ate dinner (with veggies) at the table.  Two loads of laundry were cleaned as were a load of dishes.  And Jill's lunch is ready to go for the morning.  Supppppper Mommmm!

However .... said Super Mom has fallen into a bad habit.  I'm so happy when Jill says "please" and "thank you" now that I've been giving her whatever she wants!  Tony is much better at the discipline than I am.  Something to work on!

All the Flannel and Fly Fishing You Can Handle

The parking lot at Bass Pro Shop was packed Sunday morning when we pulled in at 9:59, one minute before the 10 a.m. opening.  We were on our way home from my Mom's when we decided to stop to check out the wall size fish tank, trout pond and wide variety of stuffed dead animals.  And a lot of plain flannel.  No picture with Santa though.  No background check, no seat on big man's lap.  Sorry, Dad's rules! 

Repeat After Me

'N O   M O R E   L A T E   N A P S'

Jill crashed on my Mom's couch yesterday around 3 p.m., 2-3 hours later than usual.  Two hours later, she woke up completely grumpy.  The sky was dark and Jill was out of sorts.  Her mood brightened after Tony and Rachael arrived but bedtime was pushed back a good hour.  Then this morning came far too early.  4 a.m.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Jill came back to our bed but was clearly not going back to sleep after 40 minutes or so.  We let Tony sleep and headed downstairs for some toast and a dry diaper.  Do you know what's on TV before 5 on a Sunday?  Cooking, travel, infomercials and one crappy cartoon.  Now at 6 a.m., Jill just fell asleep on the couch.  I already had coffee (why did I do that??) so I'll be catching up even more on some favorite blogs, the news and maybe some early Cyber Monday Christmas shopping!

A White Thanksgiving in VT

More details and Turkey Trot pictures to come - Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Have You Lost Your Marbles?!

 Granna, have you lost your marbles?

 Maybe it's because I threw them all over the floor.

 Turquiose, light blue and clear - they were so much fun to play with!

 Look at me!  I made the marbles disappear!

Big smiles before I made the glass vase disappear too. My parents were both coming toward me but they were too late .... SMASH! 

Cousins

 We visited Aunt Jess and baby Guy Saturday morning. He has grown SO much!

 Jill played with ALL of his toys, walkers, jumpers, etc.

 time for a walk

 7 months

picnic!

Old McDonald

 Jill wanted to get into her crib to sing and dance while I put away her laundry one day last week.

 EE-I-EE-I-O

 OOOO

Smiles on the Homefront and an 'Only in Massachusetts' Road Sign

I haven't posted in awhile so it's time to play a little catch up.  Many pics to come!  Here are some from last week:

 Mom and her favorite little girl

 I love this pic. I want to pinch those cheeks!

 Tuesday on the way home from work - an actual road sign in Boston

Jill and her "Chella," that's what she's been calling the dog lately

Customer Appreciation Day / Animal Shelter Fundraiser event was held last Saturday at Ventura Grain in Taunton.  Jill really enjoyed watching the "store" bunnies, checking out the kitties looking for new homes, petting Franklin, and of course visiting Jess and Becky.

Mel and Cole met us at Ventura Grain and we bravely went to lunch at Chili's. 

Jill had a lot of fun and was completely exhausted for the ride home!

Jill and I went to the YMCA on Sunday for a trial run in the playroom.  She enjoyed herself for about 20 minutes and then cried for the next 20.  :(  Hopefully she will get used to this new addition to our routine once we start going more often.  Our membership starts next week!

It's Been a Crazy Day and It's Only 8:30 a.m.

Look at that smile!  And the hair reminds me of my Dad when he needed a haircut to trim his "wings."

Jill on the way to school this morning

What a commute after drop-off and on the way into the city

A car fire closed the Expressway.  We almost snuck by before the fire trucks arrived. 
Traffic was backed up for miles but it wasn't so bad for us.
Extra time talking in the truck was like a mid-week date!

Squashing the Winter Blues

No New Englander in their right mind looks forward to winter. Unless they're big into skiing or snowmobiling. My paternal grandfather fought in WWII on skiis in the 10th Mountain Division. My Dad was born snapped into bindings. Me? I can figure skate. I don't ski. I look forward to making it down the beginner slope to warm up in the lodge by the fireplace.

So why do we live here? Why suffer through the winter months when we could move somewhere warmer? It’s an annual topic of discussion in our house.

Most people have goals to work toward. Come November, we look forward to activities and special events. We work toward them in a sense. After apple picking comes:

• a trip to The Enchanted Village with Jill and my Mom (this will be a vacation day because there is no way we are going on a Saturday or Sunday)
• visits with the Musantes, Cannings and extended families and friends
• the Turkey Trot 5K with Andrea and Kathleen before stuffing our bellies with delicious Thanksgiving food
• Jill's 2nd birthday!
• the Genzyme Children’s Christmas Party at the New England Aquarium
• Christmas cookie baking at Gram Furze's
• and of course, watching Jill open her Christmas gifts

Forget about the seasonal depression - It's going to be a fun winter!

Some recent pics:

Dr. Paulmann and the Westfield Communication Club visit Genzyme on Veteran's Day

 sitting on the kitchen counter makes everything better

 so do Mom's heels