wordless wednesday {packing up}

life in general {playing hooky & picking strawberries}

I played hooky this week not once, but twice with my babies…

Ok, well once really wasn’t hooky.  The little man had his two-year check-up and we went to Starbucks for a little breakfast snack after.  This place in particular had all of the tables along a length of  window that faced the drive-thru.  Ronan sat there and waved to every car, every person that passed through Starbucks.  It made everyone smile…little ray of sunshine.Aaaannnnd…the second time wasn’t really hooky either  since I actually told Moira’s teacher she was going to be out for the morning.  We waited all week for a decent day (aka no thunder storms) and it finally came on Friday…strawberry picking!

The berries were great.  It was muddy but the weather was perfect.  And it was a thrilling morning for Moira, breakfast and berry picking…such a big deal to get out of school to do something special with her Momma.  She picked about 20 berries and said, “I’m done.  I want to go see the animals.”  Then she ended up picking daisies and eating every large berry she could find for the rest of the time.  But, she was so proud and excited.  We even brought some of the harvest to her teachers.

In total we brought home 16 quarts…is it bad that I plan on going back to pick more?  I have all kinds of strawberry treats on my mind!

tiny dancer {2013}

Moira’s first dance recital was this weekend.  For her big debut, she sang, tapped, bounced, shook, and waddled to The Penguin Cha Cha.  It was nothing short of adorable.

Equally as endearing and funny was her posing for pictures.  She is quite a ham.  These were taken at the dress rehearsal.  When she walked into the theater, she completely lost her mind with anxiety.  Once she was dressed and backstage with her little penguin friends, though, she was ready to go.  And that is why the posing for pictures is nothing short of awesome.  It was only minutes before this that she was in hysterics.

Look at how serious she is on stage.  All business.  She did smile a little here and there, but it was mostly concentration and looking at her peers or her teacher.

During the actual performance I had to wait backstage with her for a bit until the teacher came to get them.  She sat so patiently in her chair…just waiting for her big moment.  It was very exciting.  (Or, in Moira terms, “ess-iting”.)

I think we have a little showstopper on our hands…

Anne

life in general {airports with kids}

Last week, the family jetted down to NYC to honor and celebrate my sister-in-law’s graduation from NYU. It was a very exciting trip for all of us for lots of reasons, but I always get a little, tiny bit anxious when I am about to take a trip with our kids. I worry about the tantrum in the middle of a flight, negotiating good behavior, the “I have to go potty badly, right now“, so on and so on. I must say though, that we have been blessed with good little travelers. Moira flew for the first time at 3 months old and then again at 1 year…both times making it through cancellations and delays with as much grace as a baby could have at that time. Ronan flew for the first time when he was 15 months old and it was as much a breeze for him as it was for Baby Girl.

To deal with my growing nervousness, I did what any other Mom-who-likes-to-pretend-she-has-control would do…I prepared. I packed the kids backpacks with a book or two, coloring, tracing, maybe a computer game for Moira, and most wonderful of all…Snacks.

In case you didn’t know, food items are ok getting past the security. Just no drinks. I do typically bring empty water bottles when traveling and fill them, again and again, wherever I find a water fountain. I didn’t this time and was kicking myself, often, for not doing it. Water bottles.

And yes I did pack marshmallows, which came in very handy when the kids had to sit still while my husband hunted down my suitcase. And the kisses…didn’t even use them…but always good to be prepared, right?

The preparation paid off. Sure, Ronan had a little hissy fit during takeoff because he wanted to stand on me and look out the window. Nothing a grape or two couldn’t fix though.

Can’t wait to share some of the photos from the trip!

Happy Travels!

Anne

Linking It Up:

life, in general {mud and margaritas}

This past weekend I traveled to Central New York with my kids to visit family and, mainly, to run a mud run with my mother.

Here we are…war paint, matching shirts, ready to get dirty…

Did I say war paint?  Yes.  War paint.  Really.

DnA…Donna & Anne (Someone, ahem, is a little corny.  But great!  But a little corny.  I love it!)

Everything was on the up and up (besides my complaining about getting talked into running through slop and mud, over logs and obstacles, into muddy ponds, all for fun).  Once I got started it wasn’t so bad.  Messy, but not bad.  Then it all came to a screeching halt when I climbed out of a muddy pond after going down a slip and slide to hear my mother panic and tell me she thinks she broke her foot.

OHHHH NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

She didn’t break her foot.  Even better, she broke her fibula in three places, so she found out after a visit to the ER and orthopedic surgeon.  Needless to say we didn’t finish.  We didn’t get a medal.  We didn’t get our usual celebratory beer.

Why am I sharing this?  Because it was devastating and horribly painful for my mother?  Because I want to share a story of woe?  No.

Because I want to share a story of compassion and love by a toddler and preschooler.  When I told my daughter that she would have to be extra careful around Gramma Donna, that she hurt her leg, and can’t do all the running around and playing she would like (i.e. cartwheels, kickball, etc), her response was, very seriously, “I promise I will take care of her like I always do”.

And my son, all 2 years of him, gently rubbed Gramma’s arm and asked “you ok?”.  He proceeded to ask that for the rest of the weekend as well.

It was so very sweet.  And a reminder of how loving and gentle and caring our little ones can be amidst all of the temper tantrums, yelling, pulling, hitting, “NO”s and overall misbehavior.

I will also share that a broken leg and crutches didn’t stop us from celebrating Cinco de Mayo with some margaritas, sombreros, good food, mustaches, and maracas.

Anne