Sunday, May 20, 2012

This and That This Week

Margaret has a recent thing for loading up her wrists with hair ties.  This is actually a fairly low-key rendition of her new look:


This picture needs no caption.  That is one cute baby.


We went to the Abilities Expo (aka "Wheelchair"  Expo) again this year.  We made discovered a few helpful resources and found some things that should prove really great for us down the road.  But the bit takeaway for the kids were the horse and pony exhibits.  Joseph is obsessed with horses and we may look into checking out some of the resources available in that area.

While Eric was away at his big annual conference last week we spent one of our rainy mornings playing at Ikea.  Gregory spent awhile lining up stacking toys.


And Margaret washed some dishes in her dream kitchen.


Last night we enjoyed a picnic at the beach. Gregory is now officially a walker and likes to punctuate his steps with sound effects.  At least that way I know if he's sneaking out the back door.


William and Joseph digging for gold.


Margaret in her element.


As the sun was setting we were cold and tired, but the kids still didn't want to leave.





Sunday, April 29, 2012

Week in the Life: Thursday, etc.

Those of you eagerly following this series are probably starting to think, this "week" is starting to look a lot more like "three days."  And I don't blame you.  I had every intention of putting Thursday's post up first thing Friday morning but after rushing off to Mass that morning we came home and spent a long time debating whether or not Eric should take the kids camping overnight.  And then we spent awhile longer discussing and planning a simple bathroom project:  re-caulking the bathtub and switching the sliding glass door for a curtain (a curtain is WAY easier for getting Joseph in and out).  Once we'd decided to make both these thing happen I ran off to the store to get some camping supplies and a shower curtain and rod.

By the time we'd gotten everyone prepared and packed and shipped off it was late afternoon.  I had completely forgotten to take any pictures all day and I'd also forgotten to send a camera along with the campers and I dove into my "simple" re-caulking project with gusto.  And tiles started falling off the bathroom wall.  It was just a few tiles but I knew the grout was in bad shape and I panicked.  I asked Eric what to do.  "Call Fran," he said.  Fran is my uncle who lives in Maine and, while I'm a big fan, he's not someone I'm used to calling on the phone.  I posted about my miseries on Facebook instead and started googling.  Fifteen minutes later, Fran called.  This is why I keep my Facebook account.

Fran talked me through the tile repair.  I removed the rest of the caulk and lined up the row of tiles that had fallen down.  I'd taken on this project just in time.  There was mold but the wall behind wasn't completely rotted out.  I sprayed down the mold with bleach and let it sit.  And then Gregory, who had stayed home with me (and who was safely occupied elsewhere for all this mold and bleach stuff) refused to go to sleep.  Well past my bedtime I got back to the tiles and after wiping them down and drying them I glued them back to the wall with my silicone caulk and tried to neatly do the rest of my caulking.  I was too tired and in too much of a rush and still hadn't gotten the shower door down because it's too heavy to move by myself.  I did a sloppy job and collapsed into bed.


Funny thing about mold---it makes me horribly, horribly sick.  I know this but I thought the small amount for just a short amount of time and the use of rubber gloves and ventilation would protect me.  No.  I woke up Saturday morning feeling like death and spent the entire day . . . well, I'll spare you the details but it was ugly.  Gregory was a champ.  He just kind of hung out with some toys near me and Eric came home late morning and continued in super Dad mode the rest of the day.

This morning I woke up feeling mostly better and we had a lovely day but, of course, I was completely out of "Week in the Life" mode so I have no pictures after Thursday.  But, you know, that's part of the point of this whole project.  To capture what a week in my life looks like right now.  And, right now, a week in my life looks a lot like four days of somewhat normal and three days of chaos.  So, for your enjoyment, here are the shots from Thursday (I tried to capture a few around-the-house details that I particularly like):


Morning read-aloud.  The grumpy three-year-old wanted to hear about the grumpy ladybug.

Kids just get a lot smarter when they come to our house.

Liturgy of the Hours

We found this in the basement when we moved here.

Finally learned how to weave palms just like my grandma.

Big pile of pillows in the window seat:  best toys ever.

All those hours of drawing are really paying off now that Joseph is learning cursive.


Beans.  Grinder.

Coconut milk waiting to become a smoothie.

Mango-pineapple-coconut smoothie.  

We were completely out of anything resembling breakfast food so I made scones.  With prunes.  The kids were SO excited.

Kitchen window.

More kitchen window--Eric bought me this while on retreat at a Carthusian monastery.

And the rest of the kitchen window.

If you like coffee but don't know what this is, click here.  You won't be sorry.

Elixir of life.  I add hot water and cream and it beats any Americano I've ever had anywhere.  

Joseph doesn't do his best art in his history notebook but I particularly liked the medieval monk copying the manuscript.

Look at those curls.

Oh, look.  The baby climbed onto the table and found some leftover smoothie.

Daddy's home!  With baguettes!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Week in the Life: Wednesday

I didn't have time to get yesterday's post up last night and I don't have a lot of time right now.  Yesterday was a busy morning with me and the two little boys at the eye doctor.  William is going to need surgery on his tear ducts next month so we were seeing someone about that.  Eric was back home with Joseph and Margaret doing violin lessons and waiting for the wheelchair repair guy to come.  So one set of pictures is from my iPod and the other set was taken by Margaret and I think you'll agree that we got some good shots, all things considered!

We have this same toy.  But it's way cooler at the doctor's.

If it has wheels, it will entertain Gregory for a solid thirty minutes.

Not entirely sure about the weird goggles and big chair.

That was exhausting.

Joseph was not sad or angry when the repair guy was here so I can't explain this face.

Eric does a fair amount of the maintenance himself.

Gregory snuggles on command.  It's awesome.  I'm reading in the picture.  And now I see why the kids always ask my why I'm made when I'm reading.

Margaret took LOTS of random pictures of the house.

And the highlight of her day The Daycare Train.  The kids are fascinated by the long rope with handles that keeps all the kids moving together in a v e r y  s l o w  blob down the sidewalk each day.

Mommy's Home!  And she can parallel park!



The photographer herself.


Skipping ahead to the evening . . . we had a date night at home planned so  I made the kids their own dinner early.  

First harvest!  Spinach and arugula for our salad.

Even cutting the creme brulee recipe into thirds I still got almost four servings.  Yes, we ate them all.  

Candlelight.  Wine.  Conversation.  And then we watched The Iron Lady which I don't recommend.  

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Week in the Life: Tuesday

Early morning for Eric.  He always lets me sleep in as late as possible.

William and Margaret need food within .09 seconds of waking up.  Fortunately, Margaret is skilled at all sorts of odd morning snacks.  Here:  peanut butter roll-ups.

Joseph was up surprisingly early . . . but still not quite ready to greet the day.

Sometimes I forget that the laptop actually belongs to someone with a real job (and someone whose contract was renewed for another seven years today!!).

He's laughing at the idea that he might take pictures of himself at work.  Are any students reading this?  

The fairy princess waving goodbye to Daddy.


One benefit to getting the baby dressed after Eric leaves is I can dress him in cute Red Sox gear.  It's not so much that I love baseball as that this is a seriously cute t-shirt.

Is this enough hair accessories for a trip to the library, Mom?

Getting ready.

Will I have time to work on the dresser situation today?  Spoiler alert:  no, I will not.

Let's all wear hats!!!  And take out ALL the other accessories while we're at it!!!

Joseph gave us his first pressure sore scare.  Turned out to be minor but he's still on a round of antibiotics.  

Loaded and ready.  

Joseph is at the corner before I've got the gate locked.

Margaret seemed to be content to walk calmly along . . . .

 . . . until she realized how much FASTER it would be to push Joseph while running.

We made it in record time.

Only to find the elevator out of order.

Steepest ramp in Newark.

Our dream house is still for sale--come be my neighbor!

Consolation prize.

Cuteness.

He loves croissants.

And I love coffee.

Solitary possession.

Loves to climb.

Finally swinging!  Turns out, Mommy was right, you CAN learn to swing yourself.

Look how strong I am.

My eyes full of dust.  The kids think it's fun to take pictures.

Back home.  Back to work.

Babysitting Joel.   Hanging in the circus tent.

Hardening off the seedlings.  Not feeling optimistic.

These two are good friends.

Best drawing of the day.

William must be napping.

Steamed milk for snack.

This doesn't taste like steamed milk.  I'm not stupid.

Afternoon read aloud.  Today we finished Sarah, Plain and Tall

This is okay, right?

Found out at the last minute that Daddy wouldn't be home for dinner.  And that means bacon.

Squeezing in just a few more minutes of entertaining the neighbors.

"I'm putting the baby to bed.  Please play quietly."

"Take my picture, Mommy!  Don't I look cute  when I'm up two hours past my bedtime?"