goodbye summer

school starts on tuesday, so this was our final weekend of summer vacation. yesterday it poured all day long, so we stayed inside. we kept on our pj's, watched a movie, and i made a tomato sauce and lasagna. it was really a great family day.

today we took the kids to the beach. it will be our final trip this year. the boys had a blast!!! they are really at such a great age. hadley did better than she has in the past. it was a bit cool today, but the water wasn't too bad. i can't believe next summer she will be running all around.

ted kennedy

so living in MA i have always known of ted kennedy. really, who hasn't. the kennedy family is political royalty. even after he passed away, i didn't think it was a big deal. he was older and was battling brain cancer, so it wasn't a surprise that he died.

i have been watching the news the last couple of days and have been moved by emotions by how many people have come out to mourn him. the streets of MA have been lined with people who wanted to show respect to him. last night i listened to many of his friends talk about him, and share stories. i guess i have never stopped to know all that this man had accomplished.

right now on this rainy sat. morning, i am in my pj's watching his funeral on t.v. i am looking forward to hearing what obama says while giving his eulogy. it is amazing to see all the political leaders that have come to boston to celebrate ted's life... and everything he has accomplished both politically, and personally.

my fil sent us this picture... it is craig's grandfather with ted and joan kennedy.

tooth fairy

it was bound to happen one of these days... carter lost his first tooth!!! i think he is the last of his friends to join the toothless grin club! he has been wiggling his tooth ever since his last trip to the dentist on aug. 11th. i am so excited to finally use the tooth fairy box i got over a year ago. so we placed his tooth in the box for safe keeping and tonight he will leave it on his nightstand next to his bed. i wonder how much the tooth fairy will leave him? he told me that when you lose a tooth, you get a dollar. so, i should probably just stick with that number.

*** so, the TF came last night, and carter woke up today so excited and happy!!!! craig asked carter what he thought the TF did with all the teeth she collected. he told him, that she brings all the teeth to "tooth city" where she uses the teeth to build houses. good to know...

***VACATION***

well, vacation is over and back to reality tomorrow. there is only 2 weeks before carter goes back to school on sept. 1st. and i have a ton to do.

craig has been on vacation for the last 10 days, and it has been so great. first we went to the wedding, and had a blast! then we were home for 2 days. we took the kids into boston. we didn't really have a plan, just to walk around and hang out. we got lunch at a little pub. then we headed over to the jeweler's building, and got my rings cleaned. they are so nice there and they love watching our family grow. i got to try on beautiful diamond eternity bands and put together a wish list. ;) then we just went to faneuil hall and watched the street performers, went into the shops, and got ice cream. all in all, it was a fun day.

on tuesday the boys had their dentist appointments. it was mason's first visit, and he did great! carter now loves the dentist, and after he was informed that he finally has a loose tooth, he told us it was the best day of his life. he is the last one of his friends to lose any teeth. (oh, and speaking of teeth, hadley got her 3rd tooth, and her 4th is just about to break through)

we went up to north conway, NH on wednesday. we have done this trip the last few years. the hotel we stay at is very kid friendly. i got the family suite this year, and it was perfect!! lots of room, and the kids thought it was amazing! we went to story land and santa's village. by friday i was done with theme parks and started to get a bit cranky. on the way home, we stopped at my parents house and dropped off carter for the weekend. yesterday we had a bbq with my play group. it was so much fun and lots of great food! today was a low key day. i wanted hadley to be able to nap whenever she wanted, and just let her crawl around and chill. the boys helped craig wash our cars this afternoon, and that was a fun way for them to end vacation.

so tomorrow craig will be back to work, and i need to start attacking my "back to school to do list". i can't believe summer is almost over...

an amazing weekend

craig and i had a amazing weekend away. we went to NY for steve and samantha's wedding and craig was the best man. my parents watched hadley and mason while my sil took carter. knowing the kids were in good hands, made it easy to enjoy the weekend. we left just after lunch on friday and got back late sunday afternoon.

the weekend was just so much fun. everyone was great, and the details were so special. on friday night they had dinner at a seafood restaurant.




the wedding ceremony was nice, and the venue was gorgeous!!!! it was a late wedding and i wasn't sure i be able to stay up, but i was still on the dance floor at 1 am when the night was over.





7:30 pm - ceremony began
8 - 9:00 cocktail hour... lots of yummy food
9:00 - the dancing started... i have never seen so many people on the dance floor from the very beginning.
they started serving the food, and in between each dish the dancing was going on... lots of partying!!!
11:00 the main course was served... it didn't feel that late!
12:00 am coffee and dessert

this was hands down the most fun i have ever had at a wedding. i am actually having trouble finding words to describe how much fun we had.

8 months old

hadley is 8 months old... how did that happen??? she is growing up so fast!!! she is still just the cutest little girl. she loves her brothers and is really trying to keep up with them. she is CRAWLING everywhere... so to say i am busy these days would be an understatement. she is finally now enjoying eating some baby foods too.

last week we took our first trip to the zoo. she was quite the "movie star" in her sunglasses, and she didn't want to take them off. we also had our first weekend apart... she stayed with yaya and papa while craig and i went to a wedding in NY. she had a blast and did really good.

oh, and the "funny face" is not going away.... she loves to crinkle her nose when she wants attention. here are some pics from last week!

a visit with friends

i joined a message/parent board back in 2002 when i was trying to get pregnant. over the years i have "met" lots of great women, and have made some really great friendships. i have been lucky enough to meet a couple in person.

maryellen and i both had boys back in march 2006, then we both went down the journey of trying to conceive and then we were both blessed with baby girls in 2008. avery and hadley are 1 1/2 months apart. maryellen's parents live in the town next to me, and the first time she came over was the weekend i found out i was pregnant with hadley. this weekend she was up in my area again, and she stopped over this morning. after a few minutes the shyness went away and the boys played really well together, and the babies did too!!! we had a little snack and went outside... a very good visit! we are looking forward to seeing her again when she comes up.

august... already????

wow, i can't believe it is already august, and school will start in less than a month... not that i am counting or anything. so far this summer there has been a ton of rain, and a lot of really hazy, hot and humid days. not the best days to go outside and play. hopefully august will be better. yesterday was a wonderful summer day. we went to our friends house for a bbq, and had so much fun! today craig had some quality time with the boys, while i hung out with hadley. the boys went to the Patriot's training camp, out to lunch, got hair cuts, and other guy things. i took hadley to the grocery store, panera and then i got to catch up on my DVR while she napped. tonight after the dinner the boys got to ride their bikes for a bit, and then we got ice cream. seems like it is our sunday night ritual. pretty much, the perfect weekend!!!

hadley is so close to crawling. she is moving lots and getting around quite well. she also started doing a funny face and it just cracks me up. she crinkles her nose and smiles... so funny! here are a couple pictures from today. i really wish i had my camera yesterday at the bbq... there were soooo many kids there!!!! it would've been cute to get some pictures.