Memoirs of a Mommy

Monday, August 31, 2009

Kids aren't the only ones...

Although the kids are the ones who most often make me laugh with the funny things they say they aren't the only ones who can tickle my funny bone. Tonight Bob came home and I asked him if he wanted the left over pulled pork for dinner. He replied that his tummy was feeling a little funny so he wasn't sure if he should eat that. Just a moment later he said, "I think I'll have pizza rolls." That's my man! :)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Birthday Cruise on the Charles River

Thursday was Bob's 31st birthday and we had the wonderful opportunity to go out on a sailboat on the Charles River that afternoon. The kids had never been on a sailboat and so we were all very excited for our adventure. One of Bob's classmates took us out and we had a lovely time. We got to see the island from the book "Make Way for Ducklings" up close and of course we got a little lesson in sailing too. It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon! Later we came home for cake and ice cream. Josiah was the cake mixer this year and Joshua and Chloe did an excellent job frosting the cake. Abigail went with Bob to get his haircut so she didn't participate in the decorating this time. Later that night Bob and I went to a dinner party with some of his classmates. It was a fascinating evening as we were dining with a woman who is royalty in Fiji, a young lady who works on capital hill, a gentleman who was previously the district attorney for the city of San Diego, a Harvard Law School student, a woman with a Master of Divinity from Harvard who is doing research on the question of the possibility of having religious integrity while working as a lawyer/politician and others! The conversation over dessert was quite lively and engaging. It is truly a picture of our regular interactions here at Harvard. Amazing!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Grammie and Poppi-- the Maine attraction!

My parents were here last week and we had a wonderful time showing them around Boston. They arrived on Tuesday and right away we took them to Harvard Square. We showed them the Kennedy School and my dad said, "Well, I finally made it to Harvard." :) Now that I think about it, he could probably get accepted into the program, maybe next year, dad! Bob and Joshua had to run off to the Tigers/Red Sox game so Abigail, Chloe, Josiah and I took mom and dad to see Harvard Yard. I wanted to know why everyone wants to touch John Harvard's toe so I looked it up. It is supposed to be for good luck but there were many comments made by students saying that actually it is a bad idea...you don't have to think too hard do you? So anyway, we didn't touch his toe...but we don't believe in luck anyway so we don't need to. So we tootled around a bit and then headed home. Bob and Joshua had a great time at the ball game, even though it rained. Joshua got Maglio Ordonez to sign his baseball! AND it there was a brawl on the field! It's sure to be a game Joshua will always remember! Wednesday we checked out the last part of the freedom trail which includes the USS Constitution (we didn't go aboard this time because the wait was too long), the Bunker Hill Monument (this time I climbed to the top while carrying Chloe...not recommended!) and the North End. We ate lunch at a tiny little Italian place called G'Vanni's. The bread was fabulous and the pizza was even better. The kids thought it was cool to drink their water out of blue wine glasses. We finished the afternoon by stopping into Mike's Pastry and grabbing some out of this world Italian pastries!!! Totally, totally fabulous! Mom got a cream puff, I got a lobster tail, dad got a cream puff with strawberry and Bob got a canolli with chocolate filling. Yummy! That night we had some friends to watch the kids and the adults got to sneak away to the Red Sox/Tigers game! It was fun to go to a game with my parents. Somehow I thought I was able to get us seats but turns out we had standing room only tickets. We made the best of it and had fun even though the Tigers lost.
Thursday was our down day at home. We needed to recover a bit from all our walking and standing. But Friday was the grand finale of Grammie and Poppi's visit. We drove up to York, Maine, which is a small beach town just as you cross into Maine. We walked around the quaint town and got lunch. Then we headed to Nubble Light House, which I guess is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the US. There were tons of rocks to climb on and the kids had a blast exploring. Unfortunately, Chloe lost her flip flop in the ocean and I was not quick enough to grab it before it floated away. We decided that we would write a story about all the adventures her flip flop would have at sea and that cheered Chloe up a bit. Our next stop was Brown's ice cream where even the child size was too big for most of the adults...but oh so tasty. To wash off our sticky ice cream hands we headed to the beach for some swimming. There's nothing like splashing in the ocean and the kids had a great time. We weren't able to stay as long as we would have liked because we had to head home. You see Friday was also my 10th wedding anniversary! Bob had big plans for us. :)
He surprised me with dinner at "The Top of the Hub", which is a restaurant on the 52nd floor of the Prudential building in downtown Boston. It's all about the view up there! Georgeous. We had an amazing 7 course meal that took 3 hours to get through. It was so cool because it was all the kinds of things that I see on Food Network but have never had the opportunity to try. The food was excellent and it was a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy some time alone together celebrating the past 10 years and looking forward to the years that are to come.
All in all it was a wonderful, fantabulous week. I'm so thankful for my husband, my children and my parents! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Welcome to Belmont

I thought you might like to see the place we call home here in Belmont.

The street in front of the house (seen here) is rather busy but fortunately we are on a corner and the side street is a cul-de-sac so the kids still have a place to ride scooters and such.

Here's the side entrance of the house which is actually the door we use. It enters into the kitchen.

The tree swings are fabulous! The one on the left was here when we arrived but needed a new board. Since Bob was buying board to replace that one he decided to just add a second swing while he was at it. The kids play on them everyday!

This is where you enter from the side door. Our table is a bit cramped but it works. You'll notice two different tones of counter in the bottom right corner here. The gray is my dishwasher on wheels.

And here's the kitchen.

The living room is pretty cramped and very brown. But notice the lovely hand woven rug on the floor...anyone want to buy it? :)

Here's our small bathroom. The biggest problem with only having one bathroom is that it seems like whenever there's one kid on the can there's one more who's waiting in the wings.

Here's the knotty pine guest suite/office. Don't worry I'll make the bed for you when you visit!

Our Bedroom.

Kids bedroom - there are 4 unseen dressers in this room too!

Here's the schoolroom...we'll be spending lots of time in here this winter!

Here are my babes in toyland, aka the basement. There is also a storage room and a laundry room down there but I'm ever so thankful for this room where the kids can escape to play and watch a video and the mess is always hidden. :) YIPPIE!!!

Well, that's it, the 10 cent tour. I do hope you will come and see it in person!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Life in the Fast Lane

I can't believe it's been a month since I left Albuquerque! It's definitely one of those times in life when it seems like it is lasting for-e-ver when you are going through it but as soon as it is done you feel like it went by so quickly. It's a strange phenomenon. So here's the low-down on what we've been doing...
The kids and I left ABQ and headed to Bentonville, AR to spend a few days with my sister and her family. We had a good time playing with cousins and spent most of the days lounging around the pool. All the while Bob was back in ABQ packing up the truck, getting the house ready for final inspection and finishing the checklist of all he had to do before checking out of the AF. He was a little frazzled by it all but finally hit the road on Thursday afternoon (June 25). He drove all night and we met him in Joplin, Missouri the next morning. We drove on to Dayton, OH and spent the night with our good friends Jeremy and Tracy. Next it was on to Washington DC. We stayed with friends there and actually got to go bowling at the Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley in the White House! WOW! It was a memorable experience. We even got to go into the West Wing and we snuck a picture (you're not supposed to take pictures inside the buildings). WOW is all I can say! Our final leg of the trip was from DC to Boston. It was a looooong drive with traffic. We arrived at our new home at about 10:30 pm. We had 2 guys and 2 girls (Great Adventures and her younger sister) there to help us out. They worked very hard for about 2 hours but at 12:30 am we were on our own. Bob and I worked until about 3:30 am unloading the truck...then we crashed for a few hours and got back to work at 7:30 am. Bob flagged down a guy driving a truck past the house and got him to help get the armoire into the house. Then he went and convinced two construction workers to help him and the truck guy get the piano into the house. He's good like that! It took the rest of the day to go weigh the truck empty and return it. At 5 pm that evening we were back on the road headed to Michigan for a little vacation. We were in Boston less than 24 hours. I must admit that it was difficult to leave all that work undone. We drove through the night and got to Kalamazoo around lunch the next day.
We had a wonderful time visiting with Barb, Dan & James and Chuck & Kathy. It was also very nice to attend our old church. While we were there I celebrated my 32nd birthday. Bob and Barb pulled together a surprise birthday party for me! It was so nice. Over the 4th of July weekend we got to go swimming in Lake Michigan and also had a great time watching fireworks in Kalamazoo with the extended McNinch family. We all had a great time! Then it was on to Delton, Michigan to spend time with Bob's parents and brothers and their families. The kids had a wonderful time playing in the water, using the paddle boat and the kayaks. We enjoyed making s'mores and sitting by the fire at night. It was a blessing to be together and we were so glad for the kids to have the opportunity to play with their cousins. After our time in Delton we headed to the east side of Michigan to visit my brother and his wife and also to catch a Tigers game. Trips to Tigers games are getting easier as the kids are getting older. They loved riding the tiger carousel, getting their faces painted like tigers and running the bases after the game. Not to mention the fact that the Tigers pulled out a win for their biggest fans!!! :)
Finally on Monday July 13 we made our way back to Boston. It was another long day in the car but we were glad to be home (even though it didn't feel like home yet). We had 5 days to get everything unpacked before our friends the Geaslens arrived. It was tough work but we did it! Now we have our friends and their 4 kiddos here...making the count 8 kids and 4 adults in our little house, oh and only one toilet!!!! We are having a fabulous time touring Boston together! Bob has started his summer classes at Harvard and loves it already.
It has been a crazy month...there were a few times I just wanted to throw in the towel. But we made it through and I think our time in Boston is going to be good...and it is going to go by really fast that's for sure!