Real Love is ...

The other night I'd put Marian to bed and she was having a hard time falling asleep, which is code for she was crying a lot. She was overly tired, she'd been fed, bathed, read to, sung to, the works. My plan of action was to put my ear phones in and listen to my i-pod while I cleaned the kitchen and completely ignore my screaming child. I knew that the best thing was for her to just cry herself to sleep so she could get her much needed rest. That is real love, letting your beloved and overly tired child cry herself to sleep... RIGHT? Apparently Chad's plan of action was to get her out of bed, feed her ice-cream and let her watch the Celtics game with him. It's things like this that will someday cause my children to love Chad more than me. And you know what, who could blame them. If someone let me stay up late and eat ice-cream, I'd think that was real love too. And who knew Marian was such a Celtics fan? The video isn't great, but it captures the moment.

How much is that doggy in the window?

Our friends just got a Chocolate Lab puppy named Bella. She is adorable! I am in love with this dog. Jack is in love with this dog. Chad is in love with this dog. But most of all Marian is IN LOVE with this dog. Words don't do it justice to describe this love. Bella came to visit at our hose today. Here's a video...
somebody get this girl a puppy!

p.s. for those of you who get automatic emails when I make a new post, do you get an email even when I edit an already existing post? For example did you get about 10 emails for this post? If so...I'm so embarrased and so sorry. If not...well great!

The Regulars are coming!!

Yesterday was Patriots Day and after living in Boston for over 3 years Chad decided that is was time we actually celebrate with the rest of the city. So we woke up at 4:15 (I can't remember the last time in intentionally woke up that early) and drove to Lexington to watch the re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington. (for more info about the battle at Lexington click here). Whenever we have visitors we take them to Minute Man national historic park where they show a little video about Paul Revere's ride and the battles of Lexington and Concord. I've seen that little video about 20 times and every time I get emotional during the scene showing the battle at Lexington. The idea of these local militia men who had limited training and equipment, heading out to their own town center, just steps from their own homes, not some far off place, to face the greatest army in the world, while their wives and families look on is just so moving to me. It must have been so scary. Anyway it's one of my favorite stories of the Revolutionary War and so it was so neat to watch the re-enactment.

Here is the British Army (the regulars) marching into the town

More troops


The Militia


This is random, but as the piccolo kept playing the battle tunes I thought that if I had been in the army band I would have played something a little more fierce sounding than the piccolo. I realize it's small and easy to carry...but you'd think you'd want use the music to drive fear into the heart of your enemy. Something more like a tuba (too big) or a trumpet... Who knows, maybe it was to keep their own army upbeat and motivated. That reminds me, as the band went marching by playing Yankee Doodle this little girl called out, "hey I know that song (I expected her to say Yankee Doodle...I was wrong) It's the Barney song!"

Jack slept through the entire battle. No musket fire or yelling could wake that kid. And it was Loud. I mean 4th of July Stadium of Fire loud!

Such a fun morning!

Rhyme Time

A few weeks ago Jack learned how to rhyme...and now he never stops! It's so fun to see him so excited about it. He tries to rhyme during prayers, during story time, and even when he's getting sent to time-out he tries to rhyme with whatever I'm saying...

So grateful!

The weather has been GORGEOUS the past two days so this morning I got the kids ready to take a walk. Before we left I went into the bathroom for a few minutes. While I was in there I had this thought that the kids were going outside without me and I had this perfect picture in my mind of Jack and Marian on the stairs outside our house. I hadn't heard the door (which had been locked) open and being a mom and a person who is somewhat disposed to lots of random and usually irrational worries I often talk myself out of these thoughts. But the image in my head was so clear that I ran out the bathroom and down the hall as fast as I could. When I got to the door (which was open) I saw both kids on the stairs making their way towards the street. AHHH! I'm sure Jack thought he was being such a great big brother by taking Marian outside but I just kept thinking what could have happened if I hadn't had that prompting! I am so grateful for that blessing! Without it, it would have been at least five more minutes before I would have even looked outside! Jack alone would have for sure made it to the park by himself no problem. He could get there in his sleep and he knows the difference between sidewalks and streets and how to be safe. Marian on the otherhand is totally unaware of the concept of sidewalk good ; street bad! So scary! Gratefully everything turned out just fine, we were able to take our walk (after a very serious conversation with Jack) and a shoppping trip to Home Depot to buy a safety latch for the front door is now on our to-do list.

You're gonna miss this

There's a country song called, "You're gonna miss this" and I was thinking about it today. The song talks about the fact that even though certain times seem hard and you can't wait to get to the next phase of your life, someday you will look back and "you're gonna miss this". I've been trying to remind myself of that tonight. Depsite much preparation on my part to keep the kids occupied during conference today, all my plans and ideas were used up about the time the opening speaker was introduced. "Apostle Memory" wasn't the hit that I thought it might be and treats were more of a problem than a help and even Jack can only watch movies on an ipod for so long. I won't go into detail but let's just say conference was less than peaceful today. I was in our room talking to Chad about how there was really no way we could have appreciated pre-kid life (although I would never go back, somethings (like conference) were just easier) until you actually have kids. While we were discussing it Jack came running in our room and pushed his way between us and said, "Why are you guys talking?" and I think that basically summed up my point. But I know someday, I am gonna miss this.

Perhaps too much PBS?

The other day I was in the car with the kids and one of Jack's friends. They were getting a little roudy in the back seat so I was trying to distract them with a little conversation and I was asking them a bunch of questions starting with..."are you big enough to..." They love talking about how big they are. One of the questions was, "are you big enough to read books to yourself?" Jack's friend immediately said "every time my parents read to me, I get better and better." Without missing a beat Jack said, "I get better and better every time I watch a show." Nice one Jack.