A day at the sea

We had no plans for Saturday (except for a date for me and A that night - woohoo!), so when we saw that the forecast was for partly sunny and close to 60 degrees, we decided to drive up to Rockport, one of my favorite seaside towns in Massachusetts.

This is the famous "Motif #1" in Rockport

The water was so still, and I loved the colorful boats against the gray of the day

We had such a nice time. It was quite a bit chillier up there and gray and cloudy, but we didn't mind. We explored the little shops, had a delicious lunch at a sandwich place right on the water, and walked on the beach to look for shells and sea glass.

This cool car was parked outside the shops

Interesting statue of a child riding a frog

R LOVED the beach. His only real beach experience was last year in Florida. He's never really explored the beauty of a New England beach with its craggy rocks. I can't wait to get him back there again. Or to Cape Cod. It makes me sad that he's not growing up with the ocean as a huge part of his life like it was for me. But watching him on the beach yesterday -- chasing and running from the waves, climbing on rocks, answering the seagulls' calls, finding interesting treasures in the sand -- was wonderful.


While we were having lunch, the fog started rolling in. We walked out to the jetty to look at the water again, then high-tailed it back to the car because we were getting cold. But first, we stopped in an old-fashioned candy store. R picked out a giant white non-pareil; A and I shared some buttercrunch. Then we headed home to relax a little while before R's babysitter came over.

Today, we took my mom's advice and made up a scavenger hunt for R for our weekly grocery shopping trip. It worked like a dream! He was totally into it and rushed through the store to find everything on our list. After that, we took a rainy drive to visit my dad. And, as usual, my dad had an incredible spread of food waiting for us. The antipasti platter was beautiful, and it was so hard not to stuff ourselves silly, but the main course of pasta, sauce, homemade meatballs, sausage, and garlic bread was waiting. My dad sent us home with a ton of leftovers - yay!

Heaven on a plate

A and I have a tough week at work coming up, so this relaxing, wonderful weekend was a true blessing.

Mini rebellion

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, which has kept me from posting. I find it hard to write about happy things when I'm blue, but I also don't want to share my blues with everyone, so I just don't post. No mystery there, I guess.

But R made me laugh so hard the other day that I had to share. Every weekend, all three of us go grocery shopping together. A and I always loved grocery shopping before R came along - and we still do, actually. I think because food is the central activity and shared love in our lives. I won't buy myself new clothes or new underwear even when everything I own is in shreds or stained or faded, but we'll spend relative ridiculous amounts of money on good cheese, meat, vegetables, and fruit - and on going out to eat. It's our great love.

Anyway, back to the grocery shopping. R doesn't share our love of the grocery store. He hates it. But because A and I both love it so much - and because if only one of us goes, we forget things - we drag him along anyway.

So, last weekend, while we were doing our usual pleading with R to get ready, put his clothes on, brush his teeth, etc., R asked me, "How do you spell I?" [Quiet for a minute.] Then, "How do you spell do?" [Quiet again.] Then, "How do you spell not want?" [More quiet.]

Do you see where is going?

I spelled everything out for him, then he handed me this:


It says - in crazy jumbledness because he ran the letters around the Doodle Pad in circles - "I do not want to go to the grocery store."

My little rebel. At least he's polite with his protests, providing them to us in note form. :-)

A taste of spring

This weekend was beautiful! Warm, sunny, close to 70 degrees, I think. On Saturday, A and R and I headed into Boston to go for lunch at Popeye's in Kenmore Square. That was a day-after-A's-birthday treat. We had fried chicken, biscuits, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, dirty rice, lemonade, the works. It was so good. Then we walked around the city a bit for fun. That night, we went to visit friends for a fondue dinner. R had a rough time at first because there were people there that he didn't know (that's been a problem for him recently), but eventually he relaxed and we all had fun. Although I didn't get to eat much or talk to the adults much between comforting and hanging with R and being dragged around to play by our friends' two-year-old. (Their kids have always latched onto me with a vengeance. But I don't mind that at all.) :-)

On Sunday, we slept in (we had two very late nights between Friday - when we spent A's birthday with our friends and their twins - and Saturday - fondue night). Just before lunchtime, we headed to one of the parks in our town so R could ride his bike, go to the playground, watch the big boys at the skateboard park, and so we could fly a kite and take a nature walk. It was pretty muddy since all the snow had just melted, but I could have stayed there all day. I love walking by the marsh, listening to the calls of the red wing blackbirds, and exploring puddles and rocks and streams with R and A.




After lunch at home, I went shopping with my friend for our co-worker's upcoming baby shower. I haven't been to Babies R Us in a long time, so it was fun for me. I can't believe how much has changed - in terms of new products and what they carry at the store - in just 5 years since I had R! My friend and I actually laughed at some of the new stuff - like a baby shower/spa (instead of a simple plastic baby tub) - crazy!

When I got home again, R and I headed to the backyard so he could practice baseball and soccer. I wish I had had a camera with me then. He was wearing a very cool red t-shirt (with a skull on it - he and A picked it out at Old Navy when I was waiting for them at the cash register), his new navy track pants, his new Spiderman/flashing sneakers, and holding the baseball bat. He just looked so grown up. I was proud and so sad at the same time. I also find it pretty funny that I'm the one teaching the kid how to play baseball and soccer (while A was inside making dinner - chicken pesto pizza!!). I was never big into organized sports as a child. I wouldn't say that I'm unathletic, but just pretty clueless as to how to teach a four-year-old to play these things. But we had fun, and R is actually quite good at hitting balls and kicking the soccer ball around. We played until it was nearly dark. (When I said that we needed a light in the backyard, R told me, "Mommy, Jesus can be our light!" While I'm sure Jesus was with us and smiling at the fun we were having together, I don't think He's on call to be our literal flashlight.) :-)

Oh! The other thing I did this weekend was make a new mantlescape and put up some new mirrors I bought recently (3 for $10!). Let me know what you think.

Here's the almost-full view. I accidentally cut off the ends when I took the picture. That's where I put some beautiful stones that my sister gave me long ago.

I got the two fleur de lis for $3 each. I use a lot of white, yellow, and blue in my decorating - no matter what season.

I used some books to give my chicken dish some height. I love that chicken dish so much. It was my grandmother's, and she always kept it full of butterscotch candies. A and I keep it full of dark chocolate. (Except for right now - it has mini Snickers. Those won't last long.) The teapot and the cup and saucer are from our regular dishes. I have many, many teapots. I pull out different ones for the mantle every season.

I had a little mushroom bird stashed away in my crafts cabinet, so I plopped him in the tea cup on top of another stone. Then I laughed because it looked kind of odd. A was slightly disturbed by this, too. But I kept it.

This wall is at the bottom of our stairs, behind the front door, and in a very dark corner of our living room. I saw these mirrors at the Christmas Tree Shop and had to get them. I like the different shapes and how each mirror gives you a different view (pictured here - my leg and a Lego-covered coffee table, a door, and my sunset photo - fascinating, isn't it? Hee hee). And, it gave me a place to put R's old school pictures. R helped me lay everything out.

So those are my latest house projects. (Besides giving away three ginormous garbage bags full of clothes to Goodwill. I'm on a decluttering mission!)

The snow is back today, but it's okay. I know it's temporary. And, after a lovely weekend like we just has, who can complain?

The Cranky Family

Today was one of those rare days when I fantasize about going off somewhere by myself to get away. (The fantasy involves going to the bookstore, buying books and magazines for ME, getting a snack and decaf cappuccino at the cafe, and sitting and reading for hours - uninterrupted.)

My little family has been in a bad mood since last night, although I'm not sure why. Maybe the change in weather and air pressure is making us cranky. A was crabby last night, which annoyed me. But I was okay until this morning when R drove me absolutely nuts. I spent most of the night in his bed because he had been upset in the middle of the night, so that meant I didn't get very restful sleep, what with being kneed and punched all night. Then, when I got up this morning to use the bathroom (and told him I'd be right back), R started wailing and yelling for me when I didn't return quickly enough. After we got up for the morning, he threw fits when I went to take a shower and when I went to get dressed. And, he had to be on me constantly. He climbed on me while I was doing yoga (which was his idea, the yoga, I mean), he jumped onto my back while I was trying to read my devotional, he insisted on climbing into my lap during breakfast, and he just kept touching and poking at me over and over again. I love that boy with all my heart and soul, but sometimes I need a few inches of personal space.

When A finally got up, I told him I needed a few minutes to myself and headed upstairs. I prayed and asked God to help my mood. Things definitely got better. But we spent most of the rest of the day running errands and shopping, which got tiresome, plus R was super whiney.

So, now hours later, A is putting R to bed upstairs, I'm watching "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," I've had a lovely little glass of 14-year-old blueberry port, and all's right with the world again. :-)

Of course, the day wasn't entirely annoying. R and I had some time in the afternoon to play baseball and frisbee outside and to crack open the sandbox that's been left alone all winter. And, after lunch, I treated myself to a big slice of Swedish princess cake. (I bought three of them during our last trip to IKEA.) Oh my, it's so delicious. It has layers of sponge cake and whipped cream and strawberry jam inside, and the whole thing is encased in a thin layer of marzipan. Light and sweet and fluffy - kind of like a Scandinavian tiramisu.

Well, A is about to light a fire in the fireplace, so I'm going to relax with my hubby. Oh, did I mention that we're supposed to get A FOOT of snow between tonight and Monday morning? I think I'm going to need another glass of port...

Superhero Kristen!

I wish I had something interesting to write about, but I'm having a bit of a dry spell. So, instead, I thought I'd share something fun. The Hero Factory is a fun site where you can design your own comic book superhero. Here are mine:

In my first attempt, I tried to represent me as me. I'm not too fond of the pants, but otherwise it's cute.


My second attempt was much cooler. And, I think this one could represent me when I have PMS or when A splatters grease all over the kitchen or when I've stepped on a Lego (the pain!) that R forgot to put away. Or, it could be me someday when some girl break's R's heart.

(Note to my friend Rob: She just needs some heavy, butt-whumpin' boots and then she could be Apocalypso!)

If you make your own superhero, be sure to share and let me see!

How've you been?

It's been so long! Or at least it feels that way. How are you all? Happy Valentine's Day!

Life has been a mixed bag for me lately. We keep getting bad financial news at work, and A is starting to stress out about that. We had been planning to go visit his family in California next month, but we don't feel comfortable spending the money now. And, that's bothering A a lot because his parents are aging quickly, and we want R to spend time with his grandparents before it's too late. So we talked today about skipping going out to eat and saving money wherever we can specifically so that we can make the trip sometime this year. But we don't want to raid our current savings in case we need that later to pay our bills if we both lose our jobs. *Sigh*.

So that's most of the not-so-great stuff. Now for the better stuff! All of a sudden, I have a social life! LOL. I've been reconnecting with long lost friends through Facebook and other venues, and it has been wonderful to have some time to meet up with these wonderful women after work for appetizers, drinks, and catching up. And, guess what? R was fine! Despite all my fears and worries, he was not emotionally scarred that I wasn't able to have dinner with him and read him his bedtime stories every single night of the last couple of weeks. ;-) So, I'm letting myself have one night a week that's for me - either to meet up with friends, attend my Bible study group, or maybe even just to go shopping or to the bookstore by myself.

The other great thing is that the weather stopped beating the crap out of us! It hasn't snowed in a couple of weeks, and we actually had two days this week in the 50s - yay! Nearly all the snow has finally melted, and we were able to take R to the playground. It was so wonderful to get outside and feel the warm breeze, to smell the damp earth, to stomp on the thinning ice and break it up into little melty pieces.

On my Thursday home with R this week, we spent a few hours making valentines for his classmates at school. (I stupidly forgot about his teachers - oops!) I was so surprised - R was really into it, and he did such a good job making a unique valentine for each of his 23 friends. (Some of them he never sees because they are at school on different days than him, but you have to include everbody, of course.) I cut up card stock paper into rectangles, and R used stickers and glitter glue and little jewels and letter stamps to decorate them.


I made valentines for R and A, and they came out so nice! I was really excited to do something creative for once. :-) I also bought teeny, tiny canvases and made a painting for each of them as gifts. R's came out GREAT. I've gotten really good at painting and drawing rocketships, so his was easy. A's didn't turn out like I'd hoped, but he and I had a good laugh about it. I was trying to represent our two hearts as strong and together even when surrounded by a storm, but it ended up looking like a sun wearing heart sunglasses, against a really cool stormy background. I got the storm part down, but the rest was hysterical. (Maybe I'll post a picture of the paintings tomorrow, and you'll see what I mean.) I don't think I've mentioned that A bought me an artist's set for Christmas, which was such a thoughtful and amazing gift. I wanted to paint him something to thank him, but I need a lot more practice first. :-)

My Valentine's Day has been quite lovely. A lazy morning with my boys that included homemade heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes, time outside at the park, Lego time, a mini-nap on the couch, rousing games of Trouble and Mousetrap after dinner -- and now there's a warm, crackling fire in the fireplace, a glass of champagne, and a box of chocolates awaiting me. So I need to get off the computer!

Have a wonderful night and weekend! I'll leave you with my new favorite picture of R. It makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. (Those are my boots, in case you were worried.) :-)

My funny boy

A and I keep a pad of paper on our fridge on which we write down funny, silly, profound things that R says and the date. It's really nice to flip through it every so often and laugh and get misty-eyed at his quotes.

Here are a couple we added this week:

"Grandhog Day is when all the beavers come out of their dams." [And, that's not a typo - he said grandhog not groundhog.]


"My butt is going radioactive!" [We still don't know what he meant by that, but it was hysterical.]

And, we didn't write this one down but it still cracks me up whenever R says it:

"You're not the ruler of the universe, Daddy!" [That's right. Because he knows that Mommy is the ruler of the universe. LOL.]