I Love My Family :)

Yesterday was my kind of day!  I got to sleep in (though I did have to practically throw my husband out of the bed ;)), was greeted at 8:30 to cards and snuggles in bed, came down to a breakfast of pancakes and friend bananas (yum!), skyped with my in-laws, called my own mama on the phone (she and my sisters were at the lake), spent a lazy morning sipping coffee and watching my two children do their Swedish Chef impersonations (play food was flying EVERYWHERE), had lunch and then headed to the BEACH! 

We played in the sand, watched the waves and kites and the kids actually went swimming!!  The Maine ocean water is probably in the 30's or 40's but the beach we were on has this large pool left behind when the tide goes out and it warms up in the sun.  All of the kids were in this pool having a BLAST (while the adults looked on in amazement...it was only 70 degrees!).  Lil'C insisted on wearing her bathing suit to the beach, so she was all set and thankfully I had an extra pair of clothes for Z. 

After a nice long walk, we headed to Portsmouth for pizza at our favorite restaurant.  It was a great day and I am so blessed to have had my family to spend it with!

George's First time to the beach!

That is Z!!!

She was all the way in too!

All warm and dry!

Twirling

Z wrote this for me without being prompted!

No TV Week Review

Last week was the National Screen Free Week.  I was unable to eliminate my use of the computer since I am in the middle of a big project so we decided that this year we would have a TV Free Week instead (and a half a week at that).  Our week began on Wednesday this year because the beginning of the week we were still on vacation. Wednesday morning I brought down all of our books on tape, we went to the library to load up on books and more stories on CD and had my dad over for dinner...the perfect distraction.  The kids did not miss it one bit.  Thursday they enjoyed more books on tape and then an afternoon/dinner playdate so once again TV was not missed.  Friday we were at my sister's house and my BIL did turn on the TV for his kids for 30 minutes and I was not about to make mine go sit in the other room so they did watch 30 minutes that day.  Saturday the TV was on at the lake (Kentucky Derby) but they paid it very little attention and on Sunday we gave in and let them watch it (we had a very sleepless night on Saturday at the lake...VERY SLEEPLESS!!!).

All and all I am very proud of us.  It rained for 3 of the 4 days we had no TV and we were able to entertain ourselves quite nicely.  Having all of those distractions and books on tape definitely helped.  We are not a huge TV family as it is...kids only watch 30-60 minutes a day.....but mommy is on the computer way too much.  After this big project is over, I plan to do a few Screen Free days to take a break from it for awhile.  I could definitely use a break from it!!!

Our First Family Vacation!!

This past weekend marked two firsts for our family...it was the first time my husband has had a vacation in over 3 years and it was the first time our family of four went away on a mini vacation (3 NIGHTS!!).  Even with our tight budget, I was able to plan a great getaway to Cape Cod.  In the off season, the cape is not at all crowded and so much cheaper than during the warm summer months.  We rented a 2 bedroom condo (with full kitchen) on a nice sandy beach for $130 a night!  The resort we were at had an indoor pool so it was the perfect resort for our little ones. 

 We arrived on Saturday and stayed until Tuesday and in those 4 days packed in a lot of fun and relaxation.  I planned and brought a bunch of easy meals for the room (homemade pizza, homemade frozen waffles, quesadilla's, picnic lunches etc.) so we were able to keep our vacation budget friendly.  We did eat out once a day (one day twice) at family friendly establishments and that was just enough for our antsy little ones :) 

Lil C lounging (and trying to stay out of the wind)

We had 3 gorgeous days of SUNSHINE with rain on the fourth day.  It was windy but gorgeous.  The Cape has some of the most beautiful beaches and we explored many of them, we even saw a whale spouting off shore!!!  We went bird watching, played mini golf, check out the big boats in Hyannis, went to P Town, swam every day, played at the Cape Cod National Sea Shore and on the way home visited Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower in the cold rain (got the full experience of the Pilgrims ;)).   Scott so needed this getaway after spending the last two years working around the clock.  It was nice to see him relaxed, playing and enjoying time with his kids.  We all had the best time and I have to admit I am a bit blue to be home.  We have a few more mini vacations to look forward to in the coming months but it was so nice to have my family all to myself for 4 whole days....a rarity these days and so wonderfully special. 

I will do the photos over two days so I don't overwhelm you ;)  We took almost 500!!! 

Pirate's Cove Golf

Indoor Pool

Monomoy Wildlife Refuge

Osprey Nest

male horseshoe crab (he had passed on)

 

 

Gorgeous Views at Monomoy

Mama's favorite spot at the hotel

Bubbles!!!

Harbor at Hyannis

Scott's "Healthy" Dinner at Spanky's In Hyannis

Sunset with Daddy

Brave Boy!!

30 Seconds of Relaxation :)  Photo taken by Z

Maple Sugar Weekend

This past weekend was Maple Sugar Weekend in our fair state.  A weekend to celebrate all things maple and the people who work hard to make sure that we have delicious maple syrup all year long.  We started our celebration with a maple bundt cake that I made for the big family dinner we hosted on Saturday night.  Not many people chose this option (they went for my sister's chocolate chip cookies) which was fine with me because there was more for us!  We had it for breakfast on Sunday and I have to say that it was DELICIOUS :)  It was vegan and free of refined sugars (maple syrup was the only sugar) and so super tasty. 

 Our celebration of Maple Weekend continued with a trip to the local sugar house.  We got up close and personal with the taps, the big boiler, the kids tasted some fine maple syrup treats and mommy bought a big bottle for the family (should last a week ;)).  Lil' C went for a maple syrup sundae and Z picked out his own mini bottle of syrup which he had a few spoonfuls of at the sugar house and then came home and enjoyed a lunch of pancakes with syrup from his own little bottle (he also had pancakes for breakfast ;)).  The weather may have been cold and dreary but we enjoyed a weekend filled with family, good food and all things MAPLE :)

Happy 1/2 Birthday to my big boy Z!!!  I can't believe he is 5 1/2.....we will celebrate later :)

The Start of Lent

Yesterday we had a great PANCAKE day :)  We had pancakes for breakfast and dinner, read pancake books, dressed up in Marti Gras costumes (Z even had a celebration at school) and listened to our Sparkle Story about Mardi Gras.  Z loved the idea of "Fat Tuesday".

Today we begin the season of Lent.  I am working on some activities for this month (I will share later on) but today I wanted to share what we as a family will be doing for Lent.  Lent is a complicated concept for children but the Martin and Sylvia Sparkle Story summed it up nicely.  They explained it is a time of quiet and reflection where families take care of themselves and each other and watch what they eat and or watch what they do. 

So with this explanation, here is what our family is doing:

Scott--daily exercise of some form
Jess--trying to eliminate white sugar, giving up Facebook (less time on the computer) ;)
Z--giving up Candy (not that he eats much)
Lil'C--will wait until she is 5 to participate (she doesn't eat Candy anyway)

Family--trying to live without our microwave

What are your plans for Lent??

Family Date Night

Saturday night was our first Family Date Night!  It was a huge success and I hope this becomes a monthly tradition.  We started off at 4pm after Scott came home from work.  We surprised the kids with dinner at their favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden.  We could not believe the crowd, who eats that early??  Despite the wait we had a very nice dinner and then came home for a Pajama Party.  Once in jammies we played Just Dance on the Wii and got really hot and sweaty.  Z decided that the perfect way to calm down was to build a nest of pillows (an idea from Kara Fleck on Simple Kids) and listen to a Sparkle Story (our new favorite thing).   It was super relaxing and a really great story.

Our Family Date Night was all about family, love and togetherness.  The perfect way to take some time to be together and celebrate an early Valentines Day!

A Rocky Weekend

Well this past weekend marked the start of our 10 Day Family Recharge and the best way to describe it was ROCKY.  The recharge has been great and Erin and all of her guest contributors are doing a wonderful job of inspiring us daily to be the best family unit that we can be.  I am hoping that the lessons I learned this weekend will help to make the rest of the recharge for positive.

 When I signed up for the 10 Day Family Recharge, I had a vision of our family slowing down, connecting and having BIG family fun for 10 glorious days.  I should have known that whenever my expectations are higher than normal, I usually fall hard from the disappointment.  Between Scott working at the office on Saturday (he will be doing this all month), Z and I getting over our colds, Scott in the middle of his cold,  Lil' C coming down with a cold and the Superbowl....this weekend was far from my original vision of family connection.

The little time we did have together was either spent coughing, arguing or rushing around trying to get chores done.   Among all the crazy of the weekend, we were able to sneak 45 minutes of family time outside.  This is when we did our nature scavenger hunt (a suggestion from the recharge), fed the birds and just played.  It was nice to have a moment to slow down, connect and be together. 

So what have I learned from these last few days?  I have learned that it truly is about quality and not quantity.  In this season of our life we do not have a lot of time together.  It is all about taking the time that we do have and living in the moment.  What I have to do is not put too much emphasis or expect too much from these moments....just appreciate where I am and who I am with.  As Elizabeth Mitchell beautifully sings, "I am so glad I'm Here...."

We are Going To Recharge in February

I am so excited about Erin Goodman's 10-Day Family Re-Charge!  February can be a very tough month for our family as we long for the warmer days of spring.  I think that this is a wonderful way to revive us as a family unit, enjoy some quality time together and focus on what is really important. I can't wait for all of the fun that it is coming our way next month.

"Celebrate, reconnect and love up your family!"

I first heard of this e-program a few weeks ago over at the Little Acorn Learning's website.  I have been a big fan of Little Acorn for about a year and a half (I have a few of their guides) and they are very excited about this program.

The 10-Day Family Re-Charge is an e-program is filled a "lovely combination of inspiration, ideas, activities and recipes to help you and your family reconnect with healthy eating, nature, music, creativity and most importantly EACH OTHER!!" It was designed for school-age children but it says that it can be adapted for younger children as well.  Another great thing about this program is that it is a "pay what you can" program.

So if your family needs a jump start or a break from the winter blues....check out the 10 Day Family Re-Charge.

 I have not been compensated in anyway for this blog post.  Just wanted to share with you all what we are going to be doing :)

Our Night Tree

 One of my most favorite Christmas books is Night Tree by Eve Bunting.  It is the story of a family who has a real living Christmas tree in the woods that they visit each year to decorate for the wild animals.  S and I both love this story and decided that the kids were old enough for our own Night Tree.

Our tree is in the corner of our backyard, which we love because it is easy to see from the window.  Z and I made birdseed ornaments to hang (although only 1/8 of them survived), we bought a suet feeder and we sprinkled birdseed on the bottom of the tree.  We had hoped to make popcorn garland...maybe next year.

We went out to our tree in the middle of the afternoon (S said it would be too cold if we waited until night fall) and we decorated our tree.  We sang a Christmas carol, just like in the book and hoped the animals would enjoy their Christmas/Winter Solstice treat.

Now the waiting game begins....we have yet to see any animals at the tree but we hope that we will  :)

Things I Love Right Now....

*Sitting all cozy in front of the fire before bedtime as we read our Advent Book of the night

*The fact that Lil' C will not take off the Diego Santa Hat she found in the Dollar Store...what a treasure for her....she wears it all the time

*Z's reactions to the elves daily antics

*Lil C singing "Jinble Balls" all day long

*Watching a different favorite holiday film each night

*Egg Nog in my coffee

*That the majority of my homemade gifts are finished and the fact that we handcrafted so many things this year

*Watching old rerun holiday episodes of some of my favorite TV shows on Netflix (Family Ties, The Office, Cheers)

*Our Holiday Traditions, especially the trip to the liquor store this week to see the trains...what fun!

*The fact that I did not spend a dime on wrapping stuff this year....everything is wrapped in things I found around the house or paper bags.

*That I gave my first homemade gift away last night and both of us cried

*The glow of the house at this time of year....love those Christmas lights

*The anticipation of what is to come

An Interesting Halloween

Well we were hit hard with the October storm that hit the northeast.  We only had 8 inches of snow but lost power with only flakes falling.  The power went out at 4pm on Saturday evening and did not return until 8:30 pm on Monday.  We had bought a new generator to prepare for the event and were so excited to be able to rough it at home.  We had heat (the pellet stove), our laptops and ran the freezer filled with meat every once and awhile....Our generator could do much more but we wanted to start off slow.  We were doing okay until 5:30 AM when the new generator broke :(  So on Sunday we once again packed up the 300$ worth of meat and journeyed to my mom's where there were shower's, laundry, heat, the internet and all the comforts of home.  Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us in!!!

 Trick or Treating in our town and my sisters was postponed until next weekend but we went last night in my mom's neighborhood.  My BF La came up with her daughter and we had a great time.  It was Lil C's first time and she had a ball.  Here are some photos of our crazy weekend!

  Halloween Decorations with 8 inches of snow!

 Baby girl saying, "It's Knowing!!!"

 Thought I was done transporting my meat around the state!!!  Needed a trip to the Red Store to make it all feel better :)

 Frosty the Rotarian (dad made the snowman) and Z playing in the snow

 Foliage still looks pretty :)

 Sledding and Snow play on Halloween!  Town forgot to turn the sprinklers off

 Trick or Treat Part I

 Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo

 Bob the Builder

 Trick or Treating in the Snow

 Even the Police were handing out candy :)