school's out for the summer

Lucy's last day of school was today. They had a nice little send off with songs and a froggie hat. Each graduate received a little diploma and a book to commemorate their achievements [very cute].

Beatrice cannot wait to start preschool [although, she might think she already goes . . . ]


Lucy's teachers were great and we'll miss them this summer.
Thank you, Cerissa, Michelle, Silvia, and Joanie! See you in the fall.

new kitten

Introducing, Isabella Rose "Bella"






As you can see, she is fitting in very well with our family . . .

[Bella was named by Lucy]

4th birthday

Lucy has been asking for a real guitar for her 4th birthday for the last 2 years. Now she has one - just like Laurie Berkner. She was a little tentative at first, but as soon as everyone stopped bugging her, she picked it up as gave it a little strum . . .
[Anyone know a good teacher for 4 year olds?]

Lucy's only other birthday request, was for Grammy to get her a princess cake. I think it's pretty safe to say, she liked it. [Thanks, Grammy!]

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

birthday buddy

Lucy is excited to have her very own birthday buddy.

Welcome, Charlotte Mary!
5lb 15.6oz
18 1/2"

texan visit

Lucy's Padrino Jerry and Bianca came up from Texas this weekend. Bianca bunked in with the girls, and they all had a great time on Grampy's air bed. [Thanks, Dad.]

We took Bianca on a whirl-wind tour of Boston. Right off the plane, Rob took them into Harvard Square. [There they enjoyed a little shopping and burgers at Mr. Bartley's.]

When Lucy got home from school, she helped Bianca make her first real [life-sized, that is] snowman and they had a little snowball fight. Lucy has named this one, TeddyBearSnowman [any guesses why?]

The next day, we took Jerry and Bianca into Boston. We started at the common, zipped thru Downtown Crossing, and stopped into the Old State House. We actually went through the museum - something I hadn't done since I was on a grammar-school field trip. [Lucy enjoyed the hats.] From there we went to lunch and Lucy and I left them. The tour continued on to the North End [for Mike's lobster tails], and then to the Top of the Hub.

I later met up with the group for dinner at the Summer Shack so Bianca could have her lobster. [Lobster and lobster tails where on her wish list of must sees.] I only had my phone, so the picture is very dark - I did what I could, though I think you can get the point.

On Sunday, we were off to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Another place I haven't been since I was a kid. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised at the remodel. There were lots of interactive things for kids of all sizes - even Lucy jumped for a rebound. Bianca was able to jump 9'11" [pretty impressive if you ask me].

They flew back home that night, ahead of the snowstorm.
A great time was had by all - we hope they come to visit again soon!!

Yes, they are Lakers' fans - let's not hold that against them.

first snowfall

We got our first real snowfall of the season. Plenty of snow for a snowman and sled-ride around the yard. Daddy helped Lucy make her snowman, while Mommy supplied the carrot, milk-cap eyes, hat, and scarf.

This snowman has been named, NanaPatSnowman. ["Why?" "Because it was MeganSnowman last year, Mommy."] Oh right, of course.

Lucy loved tromping through the snow and going for sled rides, Beatrice not so much. [Maybe because she got flipped out of the sled early on in the ride, and it was pretty cold out? Who knows, hard to say.]

Thanks for the new snowsuit, GrandMa!

merry merry

Another successful Christmas. Santa was a generous as ever. We had a great time over the cousins' house. Genna and Vivi got a princess table where Genna went straight to styling Lucy's hair. All of the kids had fun running around playing with all of their new toys.

While Lucy is afraid of all dogs, Beatrice went straight up to Gus's crate, stuck her fingers in, and tried to pat him. She loves puppies [woof.woof.]

In true family fashion, we tried to get a group shot with all of the cousins. Poor little Freddie seems to be getting left out of a lot of them . . . when you get a little bigger and stronger, you'll be right there with all the big kids. [Trust me, Freddie, it really is safer this way.]

Lucy and Beatrice are sporting their new, matching Christmas dresses - thank you, NanaPat, they look adorable!

Merry Christmas!

all aboard!

For Christmas, Grammy bought herself a special treat - tickets for herself, her children, and all of her grandchildren on the Polar Express!!

A local school was hosting the Polar Express as a fundraiser. They borrowed a train, decorated it with lots of lights, and the students dressed like elves. They then took us all, pajama-clad, to the North Pole. [Because we had connections, and ours was such a large group, we had early boarding and our own train car!]

On the way, we were treated to a dramatic reading of the book, Polar Express. Once we arrived at the North Pole we picked up Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph. They rode back with us while we enjoyed complimentary cookies, cocoa and a spirited sing-a-long.


I must say, they really did a great job with it - a good time was had by all! Let's hope they do it again next year.

a bunch of turkeys

The cousins all had a great time today. Beatrice enjoyed her first real Thanksgiving dinner. [Yummy turkey . . . mashed potatoes . . . squash . . . stuffing . . . cranberry bread . . . pie . . . ]

Auntie Janice managed to snap a pretty decent picture of our motley lot [not an easy task, I know . . . ]

After dinner, the kids all sported their new Christmas jammies from Grammy - the older kids had fun showing them off - even Hamlet got into the act!

Happy Thanksgiving!

trick-or-treat

The cousins are all dressed up for Halloween.

Clearly the cutest witch, duckie, and vampire in the joint!

Happy Halloween!

hmmm . . . maybe that scratch did come from Trixel . . .

happy birthday, trix!

Beatrice is one year old!

She has added some new sounds and words to her repertoire - she likes to "booooo" when talking to the ghost at the top of the haunted house, and she'll tell you the puppy says, "woof."

She has 5 teeth and a few more on the way . . .

So much has happened this year. And, I am sure next year will bring even more.

Happy Birthday, Birthday-buddy Max!

piano player extraordinaire

Now that Beatrice can reach the keys, there is no reason not to start playing.


Happy Birthday, Auntie Megan and Uncle Pfisch!

october snow

6 to 7 inches, really?

This is so wrong, we are ready to crunch in leaves - not slush through snow.

pumpkin patch

It's that time of year again and we took the girls to our favorite pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins. In addition to pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, they even had some funky gourds this year.

It was a beautiful, crisp, fall day and the girls had a great time making their selections. We got pumpkins for everyone including Grandma and the cats.

Can't wait to turn them into jack-o-lanterns!

month 11

11 months has really gone by much faster than I could ever have expected. Beatrice continues to be a very happy baby and finally has some more teeth. She now has 4. No, not 2 on the top and bottom but, 1 on the top and 3 on the bottom - making her look like a little jack-o-lantern. [Very befitting of a Halloween baby, don't you think? ]

Trix has also started combining sounds and signs [her version of them, anyway] to ask for things. When she sees/wants a banana she'll say "bababa" and put her 2 pointer fingers together. She'll say "meemeemee" and sign milk, and also more [which is "meemeemee" too - actually, anything she wants she'll point to and say "meememee"

She can't wait to get walking. She pulls up on everything [whether it will support her or not] and will cruise along the furniture.

The big birthday is just around the corner . . .

Happy Birthday, Auntie Linda!

how to push a cart

A training video by Beatrice.


sunflower secrets

Lucy and I grew sunflowers from seed this summer. This one did exceptionally well. And, it has stories to share.

school days

Lucy started preschool today.

She loved it! She was actually fine being dropped off too. [To be honest, I was a little nervous how it would go - I was prepared to leave a screaming child. Happy to report that was not the case.]

As for me, the drop off was okay. It was when I picked her up that I became a little vaklempt. To see her walking in line back from the playground . . . really got to me . . . she looked like such a little girl . . . [sniff.sniff.]

getting ready for school

Lucy starts preschool next week. I've been getting her new school clothes washed and ready. As I was putting them away, Lucy decided she wanted to put some outfits together and try them on. [she especially likes her new tights]

month 10

Another month has flown by and Beatrice is now 10 months old.

Beatrice still continues to be a very happy baby. She loves to babble and sometimes says words. We have heard: "hi", "mamama", and "dadada", among other things. [I would love to understand what she is saying because she really thinks she is telling stories!]

She is a very busy baby, prefers to be on the move to just sitting still. [Which means, we spend a lot more time on the move too.]

Her hair is finally long enough to sustain an upnotch for more than just keeping hair off her face while eating. She still only has the same 2 teeth, but has started cutting a third one.

Can't wait to see what next month will bring . . .