Happy Halloween Firemen!

Jake really got into Halloween this year, spending an hour going up and down our street, sometimes with friends, sometimes just with us. He's been allowed to eat two pieces of candy a day, and is quite pleased. His favorite so far: a watermelon flavored Tootsie Pop.

A Photo Collage from Mike

 

Random Past Photo: 70's Holidays

Here's my Dad, on a Christmas morning in Philadelphia in the late 70's. Dating the photo is possible from the photographic evidence: Star Wars stickers are still visible on the side of the rabbit-eared TV. He is showing off the apron and potholders lovingly made for him in holiday colors by his daughter (me). He used these for years, especially for Sunday morning omelet experiments (he was fond of banana and coconut omelets - blech!). He passed away in early 2000, so he missed seeing his grandson by 4 years. Too bad, they would have adored each other!

Random Past Photo: Lenox, Mass.

I have so many old photos in my computer collection; I thought from time to time I'd bring one up and post it.

This is one of the first portraits Mike took of me. We were visiting Kripalu, a yoga and retreat center in Lenox, Massachussets, probably in early 2002. I remember we felt very Zen peeking inside the center at everyone meditating and then we stepped outside and were surprised at the sun and warmth, since most of our winter weekend trip there consisted of stepping around ice. I also remember Mike sent this photo to one of his best friends to introduce me, and that friend said I looked "very nice." I think so too. I was clearly still glowing from discovering Mike less than 6 months earlier.

Photos from Matthew's Halloween Party

Mike was fire; I was water; Jake was a fireman.

A good time was had by all!

Busy Autumn Friday

We wore ourselves out yesterday, we had such a busy family day!

We started by visiting a preschool in town - that we actually all liked a lot. Then, we zipped to the mall to buy Jake new larger fire truck sneakers (to replace his favorite blinking fire truck sneakers) and ate lunch at Sbarro's, which was surprisingly satisfying to all. At Sears Jake fell in love with a huge bright pink Dora pillow and a smaller blue truck pillow, so he arrived home with gifts. As did we, as our housecleaner was just finishing up and the house was sparkling. After naps for all but Mike, who worked, we headed out again, so the boys could get haircuts at Jodie's (and Jake could introduce me to Jodie's dog Manny, whom he LOVES) and we could all eat Himalayan dinner on the downtown mall. The air was cool, the sun shining and EVERYONE downtown looked super happy. People kept stopping to smile and flirt with Jake. At one point it was a group of 3 collegiate women who could not take their eyes off of him! I guess his fancy new shoes and haircut really upgraded his cuteness factor. He lapped it up, of course.

We stopped into the crafters' coop and got a very nice invitation from my Pilates buddy Jan to visit her pottery studio nearby us sometime. I'd love to do that, have always wanted to see it. She's a professional potter and her work is amazing. She remarked on my bump and said she just got certified in Pilates. I told her I'd be coming to see her after the baby comes to get back in shape!!

I spent the evening researching the preschool and procrastinating on some schoolwork I needed to get emailed to my students. I did it tonight, though, and feel virtuous. And tired.

Little girl is kicking constantly, as usual. And I feel HUGE!

October Weekend

We had a really nice day yesterday. We took Jake to "Old Farm Day," an annual festival they have here every Fall in a huge field nearby. There were farm animals and food and hay rides and fire trucks and demonstrations and all sorts of booths set up with crafts and local businesses. Jake loved the sheep and goats and spent about 25 minutes being fascinated with an old fashioned apple cider press. He watched a boy of about 9 pressing the apples, tasted the cider, and and finally helped press the apples himself, with some help. Practically our whole town was there: we saw tons of friends and I realized how many people we have come to know here. It really feels like a community. It was nice. And we all napped really well afterwards!

Sunday am is always Jake and Mommy morning. Mike gets to sleep in and Jake and I do whatever we like. Today we had an early breakfast in our pajamas, where we decided to mix our two favorite kinds of cereal together in each of our bowls and pronounced it good, got dressed, played hide and seek in my closet, practiced typing letters on the computer, and played several Dora computer games, (including a bingo game that Jake played all by himself, clicking on his bingo board with the mouse when the pictures matched; he's very quick at this now). Then, after snacks, all three of us spent some time on baby preparations, taking all of our baby equipment out of storage and replacing the stuff farthest in with the clothes we got for when she's a year old and putting all the things we'll need right away near the door to the crawlspace. Jake did his part by moving empty boxes all over the upstairs (copying what we were doing), and unpacking his old baby mobile. He kept asking us to hold on to the long plastic arm so he could pull us around the room.

A good weekend was had by all. I'm beat!

More Pix from Last Week