Our Snowy Excursion

Sunday at Sugarbush: instead of "Cheese!" say "NO KIDS!"

 Tim & Hesper

me & Tone (I actually got some lip for my Sox hat. Forgot that VT is half Boston, half NY fans so had to put my hand over the B while picking up our lift tickets. Seriously, she made me cover it.)

 the crew - this is before my epic wipeout. You'll notice Tim gave me his helmet to wear for the afternoon.

 After lunch, we took the long and scary lift to Mt. Ellen.  What a view!

 kinda steep!  That's Tim & Hesper way down there on the lift in front of us.

 smiling with head protection

 top of the mountain

 Tony's best extreme-ness

Tim being extreme!

 Clay Brook

 very much slopeside

 view from the living room

driving home

Skiing and time in the lodge was followed by checking into our slopeside condo at Clay Brook.  Oh the life of the rich ... I could get used to this!  We went out for dinner then rushed back to enjoy the outdoor heated pool and hot tub before closing time.  Oh my aching muscles!  It was so nice to relax in the hot tub with a drink and watch the snow fall.  I knew Jill was well cared for at Nana's house and I knew this time apart would be beneficial to all three of us.  It was an awesome weekend!

Time with the Musantes

We left the house at 7 p.m. on Friday.  Traffic north of the city was thick and slow going and the weather deteriorated once we crossed into the northern part of Vermont.  We arrived around 11 p.m. and Jill, as expected, woke up to spend time with Nana, Auntie Kathleen, Webster and all of the stuffed animals.  She didn't go to sleep until after 2 a.m. and that was only because Nana was kind (and wise) enough to take her into bed.  It was a sleepover at Nana's, for about 4 hours anyway.

coloring with Popa on Saturday

 playing with Dad

watching Thomas with Kathleen, one of the only people she lets put her hair in a ponytail (I am not one of them.)

Tony and I left early Sunday morning for a day of skiing at Sugarbush.  I'm so glad Nana took pictures of their day together!

 reading in the living room

breakfast treats

Jill was well-behaved for her Sunday night sleepover with Nana and Auntie.  She painted with Popa on Sunday and learned to hold Kathleen's field hockey stick.  Jill was asleep by a reasonable time and didn't wake up at all, not even once.  I was so relieved to hear that! 

A huge THANK YOU to Nana and Kathleen for watching Jill overnight.  Tony and I had a great time skiing and hanging out with Tim and Hesper.  It was a nice break from parenthood but I couldn't wait to see Jill Monday morning!

Freeze Tag Caution

Well Jill's 2 and she doesn't exercise caution.  She's fearless like other 2-year-olds. 

Friday at school while playing freeze tag, Jill stopped short, swung around and face-planted into a doll bed.  Her face was a little beat up but she didn't seem to mind after the fact.  Until she looked in the mirror.



coloring at Nana's house on Saturday (click to enlarge to see Friday's damage)

Brady, Welker and Belichick

AKA: Faith, Jackson and Jill

Sunday afternoon we drove over to Mandy's house in Raynham to watch the Patriots vs. the Ravens.

 Jill and Faith in the downstairs playroom

Faith and Jackson were so good with Jill.  They played really well together and had so much fun!

 The game was stressful but you wouldn't know it by looking at Faith.  Just chillin', and then there's my kid with no socks ... she totally stole Jackson's seat when he stood up to get some chips!  Sneaky kid!

TOUCHDOWN!

On to the Super Bowl!!

She Swims Like a Fish

We left the house for awhile Saturday afternoon to let the bedroom paint dry.  We've wanted to take Jill to Family Swim for a month or so and we finally timed it right!  She dunked her head underwater and kicked like a champ!

And then she was exhausted!

Home Improvements

more specifically bedroom improvements, like getting rid of the huge armoire and replacing with this open shelving set-up

On Saturday, Jill helped scrape and wash walls. She also soaked the floor.

It snowed all day. Inside, we painted the bedroom. The facing wall will be this bright blue as well and the longer side walls will be an off-white, more specifically "On the Rocks." I love paint names, and I love this design idea I stole from Pinterest.

Culinary Conquests

creamy carrot soup during the week (recipe from Hungry Girl)

CREAMY CARROT SOUP

You will need:
4 cups chopped carrots
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium potato (about 7 oz.), peeled and cubed
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt, or more to taste
1/4 tsp. black pepper, or more to taste (I like less, much less.)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup Unsweetened Original Almond Breeze

Directions:
Bring a large nonstick pot to medium-high heat on the stove. Add carrots, onion, and potato. Cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add broth and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until veggies are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Carefully transfer contents of the pot to a blender. Add Almond Breeze and puree until smooth. (Or if you're like me and can't find all of your blender parts, you can use other mixing aids like a Bullet and blend in shifts!)

If needed, return soup to the pot and bring to desired temperature on the stove.

PER SERVING (1/4th of recipe, about 1 1/4 cups): 125 calories, 1.25g fat, 582mg sodium, 26.5g carbs, 5.5g fiber, 8g sugars, 4g protein -- PointsPlus® value 3*. Makes 4 servings.

Friday night pizza special

Socks and Tights

How do you convince a 2-year-old that you don't need to wear socks with tights?  It's a strange concept, isn't it?  Like wait a minute, you've been teaching me to put my socks on first for months and now I don't have to wear them??

Lice Alert

I opened up my hotmail inbox to find a lice alert letter from day care.  I'm completely grossed out. 

Jill runs away from me when I'm trying to brush her hair, nevermind pick lice out, so I really hope one of those buggers didn't make the leap over to her cute little head.

I will be busy doing laundry tonight and running every piece of fabric from her cubby through the wash on HOT.

EWWWW my skin is crawling!

Puddle Splasher

Sometimes the real story isn't written on day care's daily report.  OK, so Jill ate "some" of her lunch yesterday.  She napped 12-1 and pooped 3 times.  She did the 3 minute egg dance (whatever that is) and "used a lot of words."  But the funny part about Jill's day was that she spent most of it barefoot.  As told by Miss Paige, Jill found every single puddle during their walk. Her shoes and socks were hung to dry and she seemed very pleased with that result!

A Belichick Enforcer

This is what Jilly Bean wore to school today:

She'll be wearing it again tomorrow night, just like her buddy, Cadence! 

Goodnight Jill

Goodnight to the old lady who was whispering "hush."

Barbie Battles Cancer: Helping Children Cope

A bald Barbie?  Why not?  What a great idea to help children with cancer.

Read article here.

Although ... I have to be honest with you.  A slightly sarcastic thought came to mind as I read the title.  It dates back to my Barbie-loving days when my younger brother decided to cut all of their hair off.  (He also chopped off several limbs and boobs, but that's a whole other issue.)

But that's besides the point.  Have a read and let me know what you think!  Comment below.

A Well-Behaved Surprise

A funeral home is a strange place for a 2-year-old.  But this modified mansion was different.  It had a bathroom/sitting area upstairs with a thick mustard-colored rug.  It was perfect for kids and their coloring books and older kids with their Mythology flashcards.  So that's where we spent the majority of our time last night at Justine's sister's wake.  I paid my respects and cried when Justine and I hugged.  Tony brought Jill in to meet Justine.  Her face, as well as her Mom's, lit up when they saw Jilly for the first time.  It was comforting in such a sad situation.  Upstairs, Jill was shy at first but warmed up to the other kids and Julie, Justine's wife, quickly.  She didn't talk very much but when she did everyone listened.  Isn't it funny how all the adults in a room can fixate on one baby or toddler?  They fascinate us! 

From there we went to the 99 in Milford for dinner.  I'll admit I was nervous.  Our last restaurant outing was a disaster.  Jill wanted nothing to do with her seat, food or crayons.  So when we pulled into the parking lot, Tony and I were on the same wavelength: tell our server we may need to-go containers, and fast!

But Jilly surprised us both.  She was so well-behaved.  She ordered pasta and thanked our server Lizza.  She flashed smiles at neighboring couples, two of which commented on how pretty she was.  She devoured her plate of rigatoni that looked like it was portioned for a 5- or 6-year-old.  She danced to music in the outdoor waiting area as we walked back to the truck.  She was holding Tony's hand and he looked slightly embarrassed.  ha!

And then yes, we were those parents we always comment about.  Jill was fussy on the way home.  She'd had a full day at school and then we stuffed her in the car seat for an hour and 15 minutes.  Of course she was pissed.  I would be too.  So Tony logged into Netflix on his phone and passed it to Jill.  Toy Story 3 and not another peep.

Tell Me What You Want

It seems that all of the sudden Jill is putting her jacket on by herself, singing (sort of) her ABCs and counting to 10 (most of the time).  She tells me what she wants and quite clearly tells me what she doesn't want.  She knows parts of her favorite books by heart.  She says some of the key words just before or as I say them.  She tells Tony, Rachael and me that she loves us.

Yesterday at drop off - as told by Tony - Jill was a showboat.  They arrived a little bit late so other kids were playing and running around the room.  Instead of joining them, Jill quickly and quietly pulled out a chair and sat to eat her bowl of green grapes, looking quite pleased with herself all the while.

First Snow

Rachael was thrilled this morning and Jill just looked ... well ... confused.  She stood at the front door in awe for several minutes before heading to the truck.  I think she's going to have a lot of fun this winter when she figures it all out!  Jill & Tony - shoveling buddies!

An Abnormal Weekend

Some pictures from the weekend:

new towel from Nana

Tony and I had were invited to the Bruins/Canucks Saturday afternoon "rematch."

We met Heidi and Kyle at Hurricane's before the game. The drinking continued at the Garden. It was too convenient. Our section had a server!

As you can see, I was excited about this.
Also very happy about our club section seats!

We had a center ice view of the fights, and there were plenty.

We had a view of the attractive Senator Scott Brown.

The game was such a cool experience, we almost didn't notice the Bruins lost 4-3.
Almost.

After the game, we headed to Clarke's where we met up with Brian Gallagher and Corey I-Don't-Know-His-Last-Name but he went to Westfield, Ethan, Jenna and Tim and Ali and Mark.

It was so much fun to see everyone! From there we headed to the Seaport, where Kyle lives. We checked out his apartment and roofdeck. The water views are amazing and it's the perfect spot to listen to a summertime concert at the Pavilion. On to Legal Test Kitchen for dinner.

Then to Whiskey Priest to meet up with Ela and Heidi's other friends. A familiar face - my cousin Hilary! It was very nice to run into her! Our night ended there where we decided to call it quits around 11:30. Out for 12 hours straight - not bad!

Meanwhile, my cutie pie had a sleepover at Granna's house. We brought her there Saturday morning and she had no problem saying bye to us. She knew she'd be spoiled by Granna for the day. They also visited Gi-Gi Furze in Dighton.

the studious one, looks just like Tony as a baby!

a ponytail. Can you stand it? She looked SO grown up!