Picture Perfect

Middle School Concert

Let me start by saying I grew up in a Kodak family living in Kodak's original city - EVERYONE in my family, including myself, worked at Kodak at one time or another.  My dad was an engineer that designed and tested film.  After my dad retired from Kodak, he started a second career as a photographer.  We take a LOT of pictures in my family...  A lot.  And I LOVE pictures -- to me those are captured memories and when my memory is not as great as it once was, I will still have those photos for myself, for my girls, and someday for their children.

So here is the thing -- I love beautiful portraits of my girls!  I learned a lot from my dad being a photographer - I am much more aware of "busy-ness" in a picture and if I'm taking a portrait of my girls or helping them pick out an outfit for school picture day, I will encourage them to wear something that matches each other or at least goes nicely together.  I never want what they are wearing to take the focus away from their beautiful faces!  (They, btw, have completely different styles and so coordinating is sometimes a struggle...  But we manage!)  I also love taking pictures at events or on trips, etc., and I like to make sure that I have a nice background so you can see where we were but also see the girls (if they are in the picture).  I will wait until other people walk through so that I don't have a whole bunch of other people in the picture.

And over the years my girls have learned that I will wait for them to compose themselves so that I can get that beautiful portrait picture.  I remember years ago while trying to get the "perfect" picture for our Christmas card I said, "Here's the thing, this can take as little or as much time as you want -- the quicker you give me one nice smile, the quicker we can get a good picture and move on!"  I think I posted some of the outtakes of that photo shoot on here!

But in addition to learning what makes a "good" portrait or a "good" vacation photo, I've learned that some of the very BEST pictures are the candid ones!  My girls get each other laughing and they act goofy and I cherish those sometimes more than the actual picture that I was aiming for!  Those are the snapshots of life - not them frozen in a pose, prim and proper, but real glimpses of who they are and full of their personalities.  I love the camera function that allows me to hold the button down and just shoot continuously and see what I captured later!  And you know what?  I've started adding some of those to the photo cards we create for the holidays!  It's good to loosen up and let the kids be who they are - they'll have more fun, you'll get great photos and most importantly you'll make great memories!

"Don't hit your sister!"

Where Have I Been Lately?

My Girls on Concert & Science Fair Night!

Life has been pretty darn busy.  When we moved from NY to NH, and I went from working 35 hours a week outside of the house (and spending an additional hour commuting) to working 20 hours a week IN the home, I thought, "Oh hooray, I'll have more time to write on my blog!"  Yeah, right...  We've been here for almost 5 years now, and in the beginning, I volunteered for a lot of things because a) I was more of a stay-at-home mom now and when I worked away from home I missed out on helping at school, and b) it was a good way to meet people and make connections in our new town where we knew absolutely no one!  Those things kept me busy, got me involved in the community and most importantly in my kiddos lives!  And so, my blog was one of the things that got put on the back burner.  

Fast forward to this past week, when my girls and I were eating dinner together two nights in a row while my husband had to work late, and my eldest pulled up my blog on her phone and started entertaining us with stories of when they were younger!  We laughed so hard at some of the stories - my 11-year-old briefly reverted back to a 2-year-old for 24 hours, repeating some of the cute things that she had heard that she had said 9 years prior...  But mostly we just really enjoyed having that record of our family.  The girls both told me that I should write the blog again and I said they should make a list of things they want me to catch up on and I will do my best!  If for no one else's entertainment than theirs -- and my mom who always read my blog posts!  (Love you, Mom!)

This reinvigoration for my blog is coming during one of my busiest times of the year - Pops Concert Raffle Time!  To catch up on what I / we are up to these days, I have an 11-year-old who is in middle school and is in band, jazz band and drama club.  I have a 17-year-old who is in high school and is in too many bands to name (I believe it's 5 at school and 1 community band in a neighboring town).  This year I have opted to drive them to school, instead of having them take the bus that arrives at 6:25am (if I drive we leave the house at 7!) and because they have so many after-school activities, I pick them up every day.  Our schools are about 7 minutes from our house and I am happy to be able to do this - it is a little extra time with them each day, an opportunity to make sure we all know the afternoon pick up schedule on the way to school, and an opportunity to hear about their days a little before we get home and have homework to do.  I still work from home, but I have a new job that I love - back in human services which is my favorite type of work!  In addition, I still work a few hours a week for my other virtual job, which helps them and also helps support all of the extra activities, lessons, school trips, proms...  I also (from year 1 here) still teach Sunday school at church during the year -- I am excited for next year when I will be back helping with my youngest daughter's class!  And I volunteer for End 68 Hours a couple of times a month and as I mentioned - it's Pops Concert Raffle Time - I am the committee of one for the big year-end raffle at the high school's end of year concert.  

I am super busy these days, but through all of this I get to spend a lot of time with my girls, I know a lot of their friends, their friends' parents, their teachers, and I definitely feel involved in our adopted community -- and I wouldn't change any of that!  (Although if anyone wants to help me make calls for raffle prize donations or help with writing Thank You cards at the end of May, let me know!  ;)

Back to School Routine

Off to school on their first day!

I honestly do not know where the summer went this year!  It seems like I was just picking the girls up from their last day of school, and now they've been back to school a little over a week!!  The last week of their summer vacation, I was feeling like we didn't do enough, or we didn't do anything too exciting, or I worked too much (20 hours a week from home).  Also, with my "baby" leaving elementary school and moving up to 5th grade at the middle school, and my eldest entering 10th grade (!!) I was having the pangs of the rapid passage of time and how did this two little munchkins grow up so quickly?  A funny thing happened though on the first day of school - I had a distinct feeling of "there is nothing I can do about it now, today is a new day" and I have quickly gotten into the school routine again!  

But our routine has changed a lot this year!  My girls both ride the same bus - at the same time - last year the bus & driver made the route at 6:30am to pick my eldest up, and then did the route again to pick my youngest up at 8:00am!  This year, with one in middle school and one in high school, they are on the same bus, so my youngest and I are getting up at 5:45am every morning to make the 6:30 bus!  My eldest still gets up at 5:30am as she has the past few years, but now she has to share the bathroom with her little sister -- she is not thrilled about that!  Last year my older daughter had a routine of getting up, eating breakfast, relaxing for a few minutes whether back in bed or on the computer or on her iPod, then getting ready for school.  Her make-up routine involved mascara.  Over the summer, when her cousin and best friend came to visit for a week she was introduced to the larger world of make-up (tasteful, of course!) and so that takes a little more mirror time in the morning!  Last year, I would get up about 20 minutes before my daughter left on the bus -- she is more than capable of getting herself ready and out the door, but I wanted her to have some company in the morning and also wanted to make sure that she got on the bus safely.  

I had planned to get up earlier this year and help my little one get ready.  All summer she begged to have an alarm clock -- panicking about how would she wake up on her own at 5:00 (really 5:45, but she had 5 in her head) without an alarm clock?  I promised I would wake her, but she insisted, so I found a little white alarm clock with multi-colored numbers -- for $5.99 at Target!  Can't beat that!  We got that the week before school started and every night at bedtime she wanted to set it for "5:00" the next morning!  I convinced her that we could wait, no need to wake up so early when we didn't have to!  A few days before school we began getting her back to an earlier bedtime.  The first day of school, at 5:45am her alarm made the first "blip" of it's little song, and she bounced out of bed and shut it off, ready to start the day!  This summer, we cleaned out the clothes in both girls' closets and set them up with one of those hanging fabric shelves that has about 6 "pockets" (shelves).  My eldest is not quite using it the way I had in mind, but my youngest and I have gone through her clothes and picked out a week's worth of outfits at a time and we put one complete outfit in each "pocket."  In the morning, her alarm goes off, she gets up, opens her closet and takes out her outfit to get dressed!  This has been working WONDERFULLY for both her and me!  It saves both of us time in the morning!

I am not normally a morning person, but this past week in particular, I have found myself enjoying staying up (I really could go back to bed for a little bit if I wanted) and getting work done earlier, straightening things up around the house, etc.  Yesterday, I had pot roast in the crock pot at 6:00am, had made beds, done the dishes, folded some laundry, and put 4 hours of work in by 11:00am!  What a great feeling!!  I was lucky to find a part-time, 20 hour a week job as a virtual executive assistant, and so I am able to work from home which really is a blessing!  It can be a stressful job, in spite of the fact that I work at home and can work in my pj's if I want...  I am trying to better manage my time so that when the girls get home around 2:30pm, I am done with work and available to help with homework and hear about their day with no work distractions!  So far so good since school started last week!

What types of things do you do to help ease back into the school routine?

Make Time for Quality Time!

Every year I have the best intentions for what I think will make a special holiday season for myself and my family.  Newsflash -- nothing ever works out the way I plan!  This year, one of my big goals has been to try not to get too caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday and make sure that we are making time for quality time together.  For example, while I would love to get my gift wrapping done as soon as possible, I am choosing to NOT lock myself up in my room wrapping while my kids are downstairs playing.  (That happened last year...)  So I still have wrapping to do, BUT, I had fun yesterday afternoon baking with my littlest cutie pie!  And then last night, after dinner, we all sat down as a family to watch "A Christmas Story" which we watch once a year and we all find it entertaining (my little dolly relates to the boy who can't bend his arms because his mother has him so bundled with snow clothes to keep him warm!).  While we did that, my little one and I sat at the coffee table and colored in a Christmas coloring book that she found in her book case -- I always love to color, and we don't do it as often as we should!

Our town does a lot of fun things this time of year and sadly, we seemed to miss most of them this year!  I was sick the day the town did their annual tree lighting, and we were out of town celebrating an early Christmas with family when the town had caroling, hay rides with Santa, a holiday tree festival and activities for the kids.  But, the weekend before that we took a drive up North to meet my aunt and to go to a Holiday Stroll!  The girls and I went and it was fun to see the live nativity scene, the lights and our favorite -- a tiny horse!  So adorable!!  Lots of people there, so my little one opted not to see Santa, but we were all glad that we made the trip to spend some time with our aunt and just to enjoy a nice night of Christmas music and Christmas lights and holiday cheer!

It's good to stop and remind ourselves that the season is not about the gift giving, and that long after the kids have forgotten what is under the tree, hopefully they will still remember the special times shared with loved ones!

    

Remembering Our Year Through Christmas Ornaments

One of my favorite ways to remember fun and important times in our lives is to collect Christmas ornaments for our family's Christmas tree.  This is always something that I keep in mind when we do something special as a family or go on a vacation -- my favorite souvenir, aside from the pictures that I take, is a Christmas ornament to add to our collection!  Sometimes, it is easy to find a ready-made Christmas ornament in a gift shop, for example, this year our family went with the Girl Scout troop on the famous Cog Railway up Mount Washington.  In the gift shop, much to my delight, they were selling these cute little replica cog railway ornaments -- perfect!  When I got home, I took my trusty black marker and wrote the date on the bottom and wrote that we went with the GS troop and my daughter's friend.  What a cute addition to the tree, and a nice memory when we hang it on the tree!

Another fun day trip that we took this year, was with my aunts, uncle, and my cousin's kids and we took a lobster boat out to the Isle of Shoals!  This was another great day that I wanted to make sure to remember, and for as small a place as it is, they had a gift shop -- no Christmas ornaments, but they did have these cute little replica lobster buoys in different colors and with different numbers.  I picked this one because it had a "9" on it -- the exact number of people in our family that went on the trip that day!  Again, when I got home, I took my marker and wrote everyone's name on the back along with the date of our trip.  I think it is so adorable and it will always remind me of all of the lobster buoys we saw in the water as we headed out to the islands!

After the girls got out of school in June this year, we were fortunate to take a trip to California for a family wedding.  While we were there, we surprised the girls with a day trip to Disneyland!  We had taken them to Walt Disney World in Florida twice when they were younger, but our little one was 2 the last time we went and she has no memories of the trips.  We were so thrilled to be able to take the girls to Disneyland and our little one now fondly remembers it as one of the best days of her life!  Money was tight on that trip -- as was space, with how expensive it is to bring luggage with you on a plane these days!!  So, I used my spending money on souvenirs for the kids but when my dad and stepmother were asking me what I would like for Christmas this year, a Disneyland ornament popped in my head immediately!  And they were the perfect ones to ask for it, because they went with us that day!  We celebrated Christmas with them last week and this Mickey & Minnie ornament was one of my favorite gifts!

The girls and I helped our Girl Scout troop decorate a tree for our town's Festival of Holiday Trees and we had a theme of "Winter Wonderland."  This adorable hat is one of the ones we made for the GS tree and now it has a nice home on our family tree!  Our tree is also filled with handmade ornaments that the girls have made over the years, which makes it even more special to me!

We have another new ornament on our tree, to commemorate another important event in our life this year -- this beautiful ornament was given to us by my aunt and it comes from the hospice organization that cared for my beloved Gram in her last days this past October.  It is a beautiful ornament to remember a beautiful life.

Your "memory" ornaments can be anything -- handmade, store-bought, etc. -- whatever they are, try to keep your tree in mind throughout the year.  You and your children will cherish the memories of times spent together and it makes such a nice tradition to get to reminisce while you are decorating your Christmas tree!

Getting Into the Swing of Another School Year

It's been a busy, busy summer -- less visitors and less things scheduled (or so it seemed) than last year, but somehow it ended up being even busier!  My eldest was feeling slightly despondent the eve of the first day of -- GASP -- HIGH SCHOOL (how did that happen?).  She said she felt like she just got out of school and was not looking forward to going back.  I told her that it was because the summer was so busy -- it went by in a blur, as opposed to if we had no plans and the girls were sitting around bored day in and out -- it would have felt like it went on forever!

Anyway, here in New Hampshire, our kids start school before Labor Day, and because Labor Day was late this year, they were in school for almost two weeks before their Upstate NY friends!  So, we have eased into the school year and we are feeling fairly well adjusted to our school routine.  Although, I am feeling tired...  It is a glorious thing to sleep until 8 in the summer!  My eldest catches the bus at 6:30am, so I make sure to get up between 6 - 6:15am to hang out with her until her bus comes.  If I were Mother of the Year, I would get up at 5:30 and make her a wonderful breakfast!  (But I'm not, so I don't...)  My youngest daughter's school added 30 minutes onto their day this year -- they start 15 minutes earlier and end 15 minutes later.  I believe, if I recall correctly, that they added 10 mins to math, 10 mins to science and 10 mins to recess.  But don't quote me on that.  I am letting her wake up at the same time that she did last year, it just means we rush a little more in the morning!

We are also trying to get in a new routine with bedtimes.  For years, my girls have gone to be pretty much at the same time (as each other) regardless of the age difference.  My eldest daughter has to get up by 5:30am, so it seemed reasonable that she should get to bed earlier.  Until this year, when she is now in high school and in spite of her early rising in the morning, she has exposed the injustice of being in high school and going to bed earlier than her friends!  So, we are working through getting the younger one to bed while the elder one stays up later.  And I still go to bed about the same time that I have for years, but my body has been telling me this week that it needs some extra sleep!  That's my own personal struggle, because while I love my family, I also love that feeling of relaxing on the couch, in the still of the night when my girls are tucked safely in bed and the house is picked up -- it's a beautiful thing!

We are getting back to the homework routine -- my high schooler has always been disciplined to get home and settle right in to get her work done (God bless her!).  My 4th grader eases into it -- she likes a snack (today I actually made cookies!  Overcooked a little, but cookies nonetheless!) and she needs a little nudge in the direction of her homework.  Her teacher this year has been sending a packet home on Monday and the kids need to pace themselves and do a little each night -- 20 minutes of reading, read 1 poem aloud to an adult (a different poem each week), and several pages of math.  I actually like that -- you know what to expect, based on your week's schedule and your child's energy level, if they need/want to do a little more one night and a little less the next, it all works out! 

My high schooler is in band but in high school, band means concert band, pep band for the basketball games, and marching band for parades and football games.  Tomorrow she tries out for jazz band -- she's really nervous, but she's been working hard at it -- I hope for her sake and all of her effort that she gets in!  Our lives this year (and most likely the next 3) will be dictated by the band schedule, but my husband and I love going to the parades and the games -- we could not be more proud of our girl! 

Girl Scouts starts next month -- my little one is a Junior now, I am a leader for her troop this year, and my eldest daughter is helping out with the troop.  And then Sunday School starts again. 


Somehow I don't think this school year will be any less busy than the summer...

How are you easing into the school year? 

Out of Hibernation - Welcome, Spring!

My pretty girls at the big party!

I see looking back at my January posts that I have been failing my 2015 New Year's Resolutions...  Diet was going GREAT for a month, as was the writing on my blog!  Then things kind of fell by the wayside...  We are all thawed out here from a particularly long, cold, hard winter -- one TINY little pile of snow left (about 1 foot by 1 foot) and LOTS of yard clean-up to do!  Winter was chugging along just fine and then my husband had an accident which was very traumatic for our little family, BUT, thank God he made it out virtually unscathed!  We were so blessed and are so thankful, but it took us a while to shake that off and get back to normal.  We are happy to say adios to the snow for this year, that is for sure!!

In spite of all of that, we have been busy with work and school and this and that!  Valentine's weekend we had all of my in-law's up to visit for the weekend -- 18 of us in all!  16 people stayed at our house, including 8 children between the ages of 1 - 14, and 4 dogs!  The weather was terrible -- snow storm, cold -- my husband had to work the day everyone arrived.  I found myself saying things like, "WHY is there a toy bird in the glass chandelier?" and arrived home from church to find the POLICE in my driveway (my sister- and brother-in-law called Animal Control because a dog had been wandering around out in the bitter cold for over an hour!).  The house was a wreck and I did take a sip or two of wine (medicinal), but we always have lots of laughs when the whole family is together and it was wonderful that they made that trip in spite of the weather!  It also was a week before my husband's accident, and so I think we were all so thankful that we had that time together, because you just never know what life will throw you -- great example of jumping at every opportunity, making the most of every moment! 

In March, we traveled to Long Island for a whirlwind weekend to attend a magnificent surprise party for my brother-in-law.  It was a wonderful party and it came about 3 weeks after my husband's accident, so it was therapeutic for everyone in his family to see him and for him to see his family.  And my sister-in-law threw an amazing party -- it was like a wedding!  Beautiful venue, dj playing great music all night, dancing, wonderful food.  So good to see everyone and my girls, as always had a fabulous time with their cousins -- dancing and chatting the night away!

My girls had a fun weekend in CT with their cousins, and then the CT cousins and one of my aunt's from NH joined us for a lovely Easter!  

Our 14-year-old went to Washington DC for her school's 8th grade trip -- she was very nervous leading up to it -- would NOT let her mother pack her any pictures of her family or any notes to read on her trip, for fear that she might cry if she saw them!  The kids were not allowed to bring any electronics, so no phones, no iPods, etc. (My cousin teased that since my girl has an old-fashioned "flip phone" surely that did not count as an "electronic" - ha, ha, ha!)  She and the other kids survived without all of that, and I as a mom survived because her school put up a website and her band director (and one of the chaperones) posted pictures of the trip every day, so I got to go on the website and catch glimpses of my girl!  I also reminded myself that back in the Dark Ages (before cell phones...)  when I was in school, I went on two band trips one to VA and one to Canada and I also went to Girl Scout camp for a week or two every summer -- all without a cell phone or any other electronic device.  And lived to tell the tale!  She was gone for a week and had a fabulous time, saw a lot of wonderful things, learned a lot, had fun with friends, took wonderful pictures and came home with lots of stories to tell us!  She's been home since Friday and has already created a DVD of pictures of her trip set to music.

We are winding down with Girl Scouts for my little one this year, and this past Sunday my girls and I had the last Sunday School class for this year (YAY!  I survived teaching the 3rd grade class!!!)  My 14-year-old is practicing for her All-State Band Concert -- we're so proud that she was picked! -- and my 8-year-old signed up to be in the elementary school talent show with a group of 20 girls performing "It's the Hard-Knock Life" from Annie, so she is attending rehearsals for that.  We have a trip to NY for my dad's birthday coming up, a Girl Scout day trip, my mom is coming up for the All-State concert and Mother's Day, and then my mother-in-law and her sister are coming out for Memorial Day (my girl is in the marching band!).  And that's just in the next 5 - 6 weeks!  Summer is starting to book up too!

In the meantime, we are looking forward to cleaning up the patio, cleaning up the gardens, and opening up the windows for some fresh air!  (We've done that off and on this week, but the past two days have felt more like fall than spring!)

How are you and your family celebrating Spring?

Happy 14th Birthday!

My sweet girl, my first born, turned 14 years old today!  How did that happen?  Where did that time go?  As my girls grow older, I sometimes miss them as the tiny infants they were, or the adorable little toddlers, but I also find that I can't dwell on the passage of time and need to enjoy every minute we have together!  My sweet girl is 14 and I am thoroughly enjoying this time in her life.  I love that she thinks of me as her friend and that she confides in me, asks for my opinion and advice, and enjoys following me around the house to tell me the stories of her day.  Recently, we enjoyed sitting at the island in the kitchen, me with my coffee, her with her hot cocoa, sitting and talking -- it practically could have been me and a friend at a coffee house!  I love the person she has become, smart, caring, funny, talented (I'm her mom, a little biased, but not too much!), pretty confident and comfortable in her own skin.  She has blossomed here in our new town, in her new school.  She had a wonderful birthday because she had close friends at school that made her day enjoyable and her loving family together with her tonight.  I look forward to many more years of long talks and laughter with her, and many, many, many more wonderful birthdays for her!

Happy birthday, Liv!!  XOXO

Starting Another New Year!

Life has been so busy lately -- gearing up for the holidays, getting through the holidays, winding down after the holidays...  My brain feels a little overwhelmed lately and not always cooperating when I want to go online and post on my beloved blog!  But it is January, the start of another new year, and I have yet to grow tired of my resolutions -- amazing!  One of my resolutions is to show my little blog more love and attention.  I just realized 2015 is the start of my 9th (!!!) year of The Fine Art of Motherhood!  How crazy is that? 

So, back to resolutions...  Here's what I have on my plate so far this year:

- The old "New Year's Resolution to Diet" -- but I'm using the "My Fitness Pal" app on my iphone which makes it super easy to count and track calories.  I've gone 10 days straight which is pretty good for a New Year's diet!  I did not clear out the cupboards of the house, I did not proclaim snacks to be hereby banished from the house -- I'm just counting calories which means portion control!  I've also used this as an opportunity to try to get my girls thinking about portion control.  Bless their hearts, these lucky girls take after their dad so far and they are tall and thin (lucky!), but it's never too soon to be aware.  There is a fine line, as many of us women know, between making your kids (especially girls, I think) aware of what they eat and trying to make healthy choices -- and giving your child a lifelong struggle with food and their body image!  We're working with the "you can eat what you want, but in moderation" and let's try to make healthy choices mentalities.

- My husband and I have resolved to go on a date once a month!  Our 8-year-old hates that idea (she's not a fan of Mommy and Daddy not being home), but we remind her that it's nice that her Mom and Dad love each other and want to spend time together -- that's a good thing for the family!  Our dates don't have to be expensive -- even just getting out and going for a walk together, going to a movie, taking a drive, going out to breakfast (all while counting my calories...).  I always think that children benefit from seeing their parents in happy, loving relationships -- hopefully we set a good example for our children to follow in their own adult lives.  I am blessed to spend a great deal of time with my girls -- I am here with them before and after school, evenings, weekends, I help out with my youngest daughter's Girl Scout troop, I teach her Sunday School class, I go to church with my girls (and Daddy when he's not working), I sit around and chat with my teenage daughter and we frequently text each other when she's not with me (school bus, friend's house...).  It's nice to also get to spend a little time with my hubby, too!  :)

- Writing on my blog!  Even if no one else ever reads another one of my blog posts, it's a great record for me and my girls of our lives and their childhood.  2014 wasn't my worst year of posting, but it certainly wasn't my best!  Let's see if I can't do better in 2015!  ;)

I think that's a pretty good start for 2015!  2014 had it's ups and downs -- mostly ups, thankfully -- I'm hoping that 2015 is even better! 

Thanksgiving 2014

My girls on Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!  This was my first year taking over the tradition of hosting Thanksgiving for my mom's side of the family (our New England relatives).  Thanksgiving has traditionally been the big family holiday on Mom's side -- when she was younger, my grandfather's side of the family would have huge celebrations often holding them at the church hall or in the lodge at the ski tow that my grandfather and his brothers ran.  Over the years, family members spread out across the country, some passed away, and the Thanksgiving group got smaller.  I believe the last church hall Thanksgiving was when I was a baby -- I've heard the story of my parents driving with me as a baby from NY to NH in a Volkswagen Beetle through such a terrible snow storm that the windshield wipers couldn't move all of the snow.  My dad, an engineer, got out and rigged string to the wipers and I believe he and Mom each held and string and pulled to move the wipers and clear the snow!  That's dedication to a holiday gathering -- or craziness...  ;)  They made it just in time for dessert!  My childhood memories are of Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house in NH.  Nana took over hosting for a number of years and many of my fondest childhood memories are of traveling Weds to Sun and spending the whole time playing with my cousins and surrounded by my family!  After my grandparents passed away in the '80's, my aunt took over and the celebration moved to her house in CT and then a number of years later she moved back to NH and so did Thanksgiving.  The location changed but the traditions remained the same, as well as my love for that particular holiday.

Last November, when we moved here to NH, Auntie Sandra told me that she was turning the reins over to me and that in 2014 I would get to take over hosting Thanksgiving (when she told me this my kitchen was a sea of moving boxes and I had no fridge for two weeks around Thanksgiving!!).  My family - cousins - teased me all year saying this would be a test run and they'd see how I did before we made it permanent!  We kept some of the same traditions -- we invited everyone to stay, even though almost everyone lives no more than 90 mins from us.  I was excited for my girls to get to experience Thanksgiving the way I remember it -- it's more than just a meal or a day in our family, it's a weekend-long sleepover!  Most everyone was planning to come on Weds and stay until Friday.  Then we got QUITE the storm, so most of the family decided to wait and come on Thursday.  My cousin Matt, who lives the closest at 35 minutes away, decided to leave early and come around noon on Weds.  It took him 2 hours, but he made it -- he walked in at 2:00pm and wouldn't you know, at 2:15pm we LOST POWER!  For FIVE HOURS!!  He is the best person to have around in a power outage though!  He kept the girls and I entertained for hours with stories, funny voices, and he and I even sang a few show tunes!  I absolutely LOVE candles -- some call it an obsession -- so I went around and lit tons of candles.  I had a house FULL of food, although most of it still needed to be cooked -- the power outage really put a kink into my prep plans!  We had ham sandwiches for dinner that night.  In spite of the lack of power, I did what I could to keep plugging along with my preparations, hoping that everyone would still be able to make it for Thanksgiving.  I mixed together a batch of my Nana's pumpkin bread -- realized before it was too late that I had mistakenly put 2/3 cup of sugar in instead of 2-2/3 cups!  I fixed that fortunately -- hey, it was dark!  When the power finally came on, I put a turkey in the oven (I made 2 -- had 15 people with a bunch staying over so I wanted leftovers!) and the pumpkin bread, which I again, in the dark (by candlelight) misread the recipe and put the whole batter into ONE loaf pan instead of TWO...  Matt and I entertained the girls by trying to clean out the horrible, smoking mess that occurred when the pumpkin bread batter spilled over onto the bottom of the oven!  We had a lot of laughs!  The pumpkin bread was a horrible mess but it was tasty!

Turkey Candy Nut Cups by Candlelight

Matt was impressed that I made all of these cute little turkey candy/nut cups (Nana and Auntie Sandra always put out cups with candy and nuts in them for everyone -- I just added my own twist with the beak and feathers!) by candlelight -- 15 of them!  Although he did tease me about turkey part -- said that's why I am hosting, because only I care about those little details!  Hey, they are adorable and festive, and my girls love them!  The rest of the holiday went without a hitch.  We had 15 altogether including my dad and stepmother who came out from NY.  A few family members stayed with us, a few stayed at a nearby inn, and a few headed home after dinner.  The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins and they all enjoyed playing out in all of the snow we got -- 13-1/2"!  On Friday, we kept up another tradition of a group of us (usually the women, although my dad joined in!) going shopping -- no "Black Friday" trips to the malls for us -- we stopped that years ago!  We always like to go to the adorable little country stores that are up in our area -- we've been doing that since Thanksgiving was hosted in CT.  This was the first time that some of the family got to go to the cute shops in my town and we also enjoyed lunch at a nice cafe in town.  My daughters stayed home and played with their cousins -- all four of the kids, my two and my cousin's two, were all so sad when it was time for the cousins to go home to CT!  My eldest daughter said she was so sad that Thanksgiving was over because she'd been looking forward to it all year!  Like mother, like daughter!  :)

I guess I did ok because my cousin Brett sent me a text later saying that I passed the preliminary test and can proceed with scheduling next year to further evaluate my capabilities!  ;)  Bunch of jokers in this family -- that's another longstanding tradition!  We only tease the ones we love!
 

Not too shabby for making them in the dark!

Our First Year in New Hampshire

Daniel Webster, a NH native, once wrote, "Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."  Growing up visiting my grandparents in New Hampshire every year, I have always felt like a New Englander at heart, always wanted to live here -- it truly is my "happy place" -- and always loved the "Old Man of the Mountain" to which Daniel Webster referred.

We moved here a year ago on November 21, 2014.  My husband had been working and living up in New England with my relatives for three months while I stayed in New York trying to sell our house.  He worked the day before we moved and then drove to my dad's house in NY where the girls, the dog and I had been living for the last month.  He arrived sometime around 2:00am and slept until around 9:00am.  We got up, packed our things in our two cars -- our good Toyota Sienna and our little 2001 Dodge Stratus that we hoped and prayed would make the trip!  We all went to breakfast at the diner with my dad, something he and I had enjoyed at least once a week while we lived with him and my step-mother.  It was bittersweet -- we were excited but also sad to leave our family and knew that my dad was devastated.  Fortunately, he and Gramby had plans to come out to NH just the following week for Thanksgiving, so that helped!

We headed out -- me and my little girlie in the van, my husband and our eldest daughter in the Stratus.  I remember that the Stratus did not have a radio -- there had been a short in it years earlier that drained the battery.  The mechanic did not agree with me that that was the problem, but I finally got him to humor me and disconnect the radio, just to see -- hmm...  never had that problem again!  ;)  But, never replaced the radio, either!  Our eldest played music on my husband's iPhone and chatted away to keep him entertained on the 6 - 7 hour ride.  It was a fairly uneventful ride -- I was so thankful that the Stratus made it all the way!!  I remember that it was dark when we crossed the Vermont border into New Hampshire, and I remember seeing the big sign that welcomes you to New Hampshire -- in English and French!  And I'll never forget my husband calling me on my cell phone as we crossed, just so he could say, "Welcome home!"  It was very touching because it was a childhood dream coming true for me, a nearly 20 year dream for him coming true (he's wanted to move here since the first time he came with me to visit my family), and after 3 months of living apart and the stress of that and the stress of selling our house -- those two little words meant more than I can say!

We had our dog, Mabel, with us, and I had searched around to find a hotel/motel that would allow us to have Mabel for one night.  I found one but it was an hour past our new town.  On the way to the motel, even though it was getting late, I followed my husband and he quickly drove us past our new house and through our new town -- a drive he had taken many times in excitement of our arrival.  We made it to the motel and grabbed the kids, dog and the bare minimum for the night.  After a somewhat restless night between the excitement and nervousness of closing on the new house the next day, and the DOG jumping back and forth between the beds (!!) we woke early, got ready and raced an hour back to our new house for the final walk through.  It was so exciting to see an empty slate -- and a little overwhelming -- I knew right away that we had some work cut out for us to make it our own -- and a LOT of paint!!!!  After a quick trip through with the realtors, we went to their office for the closing.  The girls sat SO patiently as all of the paperwork was signed, and then we were handed a big check from the closing of our house in NY (long story -- that house sale was a nightmare...) and we went right across the street to our new bank and made a deposit.  Then off to our new home where Auntie Sandra and Uncle Bill were waiting to greet us!  They live 90 minutes North of us and my husband had lived with them for over 2 months while he was up here working.  Every time he took a trip to NY to visit us, he would head back up to their house with a van-load of our belongings.  Auntie & Uncle brought a truckload of our things with them and quickly helped us unload everything into the house.  Then my husband had to go back to work for the afternoon and Auntie & Uncle headed home.

The girls and I were on our own for the afternoon -- I think I started cleaning and they helped where they could and explored, etc.  It was Friday, and the 18-wheeler with all of the rest of our belongings would not arrive until Monday or Tuesday!  At that point, we had the kitchen island (which is a permanent fixture) and the 4 counter-height chairs that came with the house.  That and air mattresses -- that was it for furniture those first couple of nights!  No computer, no tv, no phone -- we were roughing it for sure!  We didn't even have a fridge -- it had died before we closed on the house and we needed to find a new one quick.  That took 2 weeks (!!) and a lot of headaches to get a fridge -- who knew we lived "over the mountain" from all of the big stores and deliveries are made once a week.  Thankfully we had coolers and it was November in New England -- the whole backyard was our "auxiliary fridge!"  I remember our first dinner in our new house was a little roasted chicken, salads, and a banana cream pie that my husband brought home from Market Basket -- our new grocery store.  On Saturday, my Aunt Pam, cousin Matt and his girlfriend Deb came over bright and early to help.  I had visions of painting bedrooms -- in particular, the girls' -- before all of the furniture came, but my husband was at work and no one else was too up for helping me with the painting, so instead my cousin took down an overhead light and replaced it with a new one we had purchased and he also took down the most unattractive, hard-plastic, accordian doors that covered the closet in the girls' bathroom -- we had all decided those needed to go quickly!!  Deb and I worked on lining all of the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen -- so helpful!  My husband came home and we all had pizza and visited.  I think on Sunday we ventured out to Lowes - 30 mins away - and started looking for a fridge.  This is when we discovered that you don't just buy and fridge and it shows up the next day or day after that when you live in our town...  Especially not late in fall -- apparently trucks only go "over the mountain" once a week and we'd missed out!  We moved on to other stores including Sears where after what seemed an eternity (our girls were SO patient!) we finally settled on a fridge that I didn't love but that would keep food cold...  And we were given a delivery date but told "although, if it snows, they won't come over the mountain!"  Oh my -- hadn't realized how "in the mountains" we lived until then!  Long story short, we never got the Sears fridge but eventually got the one I wanted -- French doors on top, freezer on bottom -- about 12 days into our NH adventure.  We got quite used to going outside to get the milk, and we ate a LOT of take out!!  I do remember going to the grocery store and buying just what I needed to make a home-cooked meal for my family and what a wonderful feeling that was!!

The 18-wheeler with all of our belongings came on one of the coldest days in November and my husband was working and my Aunt Sandra drove 90 minutes to show up early and help me set things up as the movers unloaded everything.  It was an exhausting day -- box after box after box, question after question -- that day is kind of a blur!  I remember feeling like I was on an episode of Hoarders at the end of the day -- there were SO many boxes!!  Could barely walk through the kitchen/dining room!  Some things fit perfectly -- the piano had been a big issue when we were planning to move and the spot I moved it into is absolutely perfect for it!  Some things, not so great -- I would never choose the layout my couches are in under normal circumstances, but that's how they fit in the room.  The movers were great -- they unloaded everything, they put the beds together, the dining room hutch, dining room table...  Auntie and I placed the area rugs and made decisions about where the big stuff would go.  Grandpa and Gramby came two days later and we had some things put away by then -- I think the guest room where they slept and my 8-year-old's room were both in pretty good shape!  Gramby spent Thanksgiving vacation unpacking boxes in the kitchen and setting the kitchen up for me.  They also helped us find our fridge and we went to Lowes again and I spent a small fortune on paint, lights, and a snowblower!!  We all drove up to Auntie Sandra's for Thanksgiving and my my husband had to work -- he was working around the clock this time last year!  He ate an early dinner with us, took a brief nap on the couch and drove 90 minutes back to work.  I remember he got home late that night and got a call from the alarm company and had to drive back to work at around 1:00am -- I was so worried about him!

After Thanksgiving, the girls started their new schools.  They were both nervous on the first day and when I picked them up at the end of the day, my eldest told me she wanted to go home -- my heart sank and I refrained from telling her we WERE home!  My little one seemed to have done better and the next day when my husband tried to walk her in she said, "I'm ok, bye Daddy!" and walked in by herself!  It took 3 days for my eldest to feel better about school -- that was due in large part to Lilly, a girl who came up to her on the 3rd day and said, "I could use some more friends, would you like to be my friend?"  I still tear up thinking about that -- I can't tell her how much that meant to my daughter and in turn, to me!  She started making friends, particularly with the kids in band -- they were pretty impressed with her when she was ready to be in the Christmas concert a week after starting school!  The girls were getting acclimated to school, we were all getting used to our new town, and I got the girls started in Sunday School and we began attending church every Sunday -- something we were not great about before moving!  Through church, the girls met some other kids and I began meeting people too -- now I help out with Youth Ministry, here and there, and I teach Sunday School (my 8-year-old's class) every Sunday. My little one is also in a Girl Scout troop this year, making friends, and I help out with the troop which has been nice!  I find when we go into town, we almost always see people we know which makes us feel like we are not the new kids, but are really becoming part of the community.

Things have not always gone smoothly -- the job we moved here for ended up being a disaster.  My husband worked incredibly hard to turn this failing store around -- we didn't find out until after we'd moved that he was the 6th store manager in the 3 years the store had been open! -- only to be let go the day after Easter.  And actually, over July 4th weekend, he got a text from the person who turned out to be the 7th store manager (his replacement) who wanted to talk to him because he could see that he too was going to be let go soon!  Thankfully, we made it through that incredibly difficult time -- no one had a job in our house! -- and within a month's time he had gone back to the same job he'd been doing for 7 years prior, only here in NH!  He's doing very well there and we are so thankful and look at the previous job only as the thing that got us here, and we truly believe that's all it was meant to be.  We see the value in his current job -- it's stable, the people are great, they are happy to have him, and when he leaves for the day he is done -- no being on call around the clock!  We are already looking forward to a much more relaxed holiday season than he had last year!!  And I have found a part time, flexible job working at home as a virtual assistant -- it works perfectly for our family right now!

It has not been smooth sailing, and at some points we've felt that our will was being tested to see if we were cut out to be here, but at this moment, things are going pretty well and we're happy where we are!

Where Did the Summer Go?

I cannot believe that it is September 8th!  And that my last post was in June!  Where did the summer go?  Actually, if I look at my calendar, I can tell you that it flew by because we were SOOO busy!  We literally had only a handful of free days here and there.  It was a wonderful summer, but I have to admit, I was a little bit giddy standing in line at the grocery store before the kids went back to school.  Watching the groceries for lunches and home cooked dinners made me very excited to get back to a routine after the busy summer we had! 

We did just about everything on the list I made in June - and then some!  Trips to NY - Upstate and Long Island - to visit our families.  Lots of visitors -- my mom came up from Florida, my dad came from Upstate NY, my sister-in-law and her family came from Long Island, my brother-in-law came for a whirlwind 12 hours to drop off my goddaughter for a few days!  We set up our "little" pool -- epic fail...  The pool was a disappointment!  BUT, for $43 we purchased a family pass to our town pool which was wonderful!  It is a huge, well-kept pool with a twisting water slide that the girls (and my sister-in-law!) thoroughly enjoyed, it also has a fun splash area with lots of fun things to run through and get drenched!  We had a number of sleepovers with friends and with cousins, the kids had a great time at Vacation Bible Camp - their first time!  We had a wonderful 4th of July "up country" at my aunt & uncle's house in the Lakes Region of NH.  My cousin and his family joined us, we swam in the pool, went to see the fireworks, and just enjoyed hanging out with the family.  We went swimming at our local lake a number of times and drove up to the Lakes Region two more times - once with my mom and once with my goddaughter to go swimming at our favorite, Newfound Lake!  We never got back to Hampton Beach, NH's oceanfront, but we did have spend a wonderful day at the ocean in NY.  The girls spent almost a week with their grandparents in NY while my husband and I went back to NH so that he could get back to work.  That was a first for us, being away from the girls for so long, but they had a great time and it was nice for us to have some time to spend together on our own. 

We ended the summer with a family BBQ here with a surprise birthday party for my aunts.  Now the girls are back in school - we've already had an open house for my 8th grader which included a potluck dinner fundraiser for her band - I made delicious tortellini meatball soup to donate - yum!  We have another open house for our 3rd grader next week!  Girl Scouts will be starting up October 1st and religion classes and youth ministry start at the end of this month.  I was volunteered ;) to be the 3rd grade religion teacher (my little peanut is in the class), also to help out with the youth group AND that involves helping with making a float for our town's big 275th anniversary celebration!  Fall is looking almost as busy as the summer!

Birthmark - A Gift from God

My girls and I went to 5:00pm mass tonight at our church, and during the homily, our pastor spoke of the special gifts that God gives to us.  While he spoke of this, I noticed my 7-year-old touching her cheek over and over and she poked me to get my attention and then continued stroking her cheek.  I realized that she was stroking her "cafe au lait" birthmark on the side of her face!  She sat there through most of the homily, stroking her cheek, smiling, and nodding knowingly because since she was very young we have always told her that her birthmark came from God.  A couple of weeks ago during the homily, I noticed that she had dozed off (!!) so I was delighted to see that tonight she was a) awake, and b) apparently listening and relating to what the priest was saying!  So sweet! 

Making Connections in a New Town

Moving to a new place can seem overwhelming - you are essentially starting life over, needing to figure out where to shop, eat, buy gas, go for entertainment, and meet people!  We moved from a city of about 250,000 people to a town with around 6,000 people.  We have been here a little more than 6 months and we are still finding our way around in some aspects, but all in all we are feeling quite at home which is a great feeling!  We had a few things in our favor -- we moved to a place where we have some family connections.  My mom's family is from New Hampshire, and I have an aunt and uncle about 90 minutes north of us, another aunt about 60 minutes to the east, a cousin and his family about 90 minutes south, and another cousin about 40 minutes away.  Already, we have seen all of them more this year than we have in the past few years combined -- this has been a real blessing for us!

The other thing that we have in our favor, is that we have two school-aged children -- when you have children in school, you have so many opportunities to make connections and meet new people.  Over the winter when I was in hibernation mode, one of the only times I braved the cold each week was to take my daughters to Sunday school and to church (another great place to connect with people!).  Through my daughters' Sunday school I was asked to help out with this coming year's youth ministry (much to my eldest daughter's chagrin...) which will help me get more involved in our new community and meet some people.

Our eldest daughter, Olivia, has made some wonderful friends through school and I have had some very nice conversations with a couple of her friends' parents either while exchanging our kids for sleepovers or while attending school functions.  One of the moms and I have a lot in common from working in the same field and we are looking forward to planning a girls night out for dinner! 

While Olivia has made a number of great friends and absolutely loves school, it's harder to tell if our youngest, Mackenzie, is making connections.  She keeps things more closely to the vest than her older sister, who will have filled you in on her whole life each day by bedtime (not complaining -- LOVE that about her and pray that she always feels that comfortable talking to us!).  The little one tells us things more on a need to know basis, so I've been worrying about how to get her connected and making friends.  My eldest plays an instrument and was able to join the school band right away -- that was a wonderful way for her to connect right away with kids who shared a common interest.  Most of her very close friends are in band with her and that has also given the rest of us a connection to the town because we go to the school concerts and also enjoyed seeing her march with her marching band in our town's Memorial Day parade. 

Our little one does not play an instrument -- she's in 2nd grade and the school does not offer music until 5th (not to mention she is adamant about NOT wanting to play an instrument!  We'll see...).  As I've mentioned before, I was a Girl Scout leader back in NY and I was looking forward to getting my little girlie involved in Girl Scouts -- another great instant way to connect!  When we first arrived, she was finding it to be enough of a change to go to a new school -- was not interested in getting back into Girl Scouts right away.  That was ok with me at that point because we were living in a sea of boxes and just getting acclimated to a new house, town, etc.  One day at Sunday school, I overheard a mom talking about her daughter being in Girl Scouts -- another tip for making connections in a new town, keep your ears open and don't be afraid to join in (politely, of course!) on other people's conversations!  ;)  I asked about her daughter's troop but found out that it is in another town (our church encompasses 3 towns) so I decided to keep looking for something more close to home.  At some point after that, I sent an e-mail through the Girl Scout website, expressing interest.  They responded about a week later and someone was supposed to call me, but I never heard from anyone.  At that point we had missed the cookie sale and I decided to wait and get her enrolled for next year.  Enter last week's science fair at my eldest daughter's school!  While talking to one of her friend's mothers (who I had met at Medieval Night at her school a few months ago), she was asking about how my girls were transitioning and somehow I mentioned Mackenzie and wanting to get her into Girl Scouts.  This mom has an older daughter who is not in Girl Scouts and two young sons (also, obviously, not in Girl Scouts...), and yet she happens to be friends with the leader of a troop of 2nd graders who happen to meet at my youngest's school!  (I know, note to self, next time just call the school and ask directly!)  We exchanged e-mail addresses and she e-mailed me her friend's contact info. 

Coincidentally, the same day that I received the contact info for the troop leader, my husband and I took Mackenzie to the town playground (her sister was recovering from a sleepover) and she ran into a little girl that recognized her from school.  They had a wonderful time playing together - for 2 hours! - and I ended up talking to the girl's mother and it turns out her daughter is in the same Girl Scout troop!  Now Mackenzie, who had been hesitant to go back to Girl Scouts, is super excited about it!  While the other mom and I were chatting, she also filled me in on things like where to go for 4th of July fireworks, a referral for a good pediatrician, ideas for birthday party entertainment, and we exchanged contact info so that our girls can get together for a play date.  I e-mailed the troop leader and while the troop is wrapping up for the year (not a surprise, I just wanted to get her in for next year), she invited my daughter and I to join them for their last meeting which is this Weds.  I also volunteered to help out with the troop, which will give me something fun to do with my daughter and also help me to connect with some other parents. 

We've really been enjoying making connections here and establishing roots in our new town, and I'm so excited that my little Mackenzie has the opportunity to make some connections and meet new friends like her sister Olivia has!  And the fact that my husband and I are meeting people through our girls -- all the better!  It's great to be friendly with the parents of your children's friends -- not only does it give you peace of mind when your child is hanging out at their home, but it gives you something in common to talk about when you see them! 

Enterprise City

Today my eldest, Livvie, is off to Enterprise City with her fellow 7th graders.  Enterprise City is an amazing program where students get to apply lessons they've learned in a real world setting.  It's a great part of the 7th grade curriculum here, and they have been preparing for this trip for about a month now.  In school they've been learning about things like banking (filling out a checkbook register, writing a check -- things my husband and I never learned in school!), creating a resume, filling out a job application, and interviewing for a job.  The program incorporates aspects from a number of standard classes such as math, language arts, social studies, as well as finance, civics, and creative arts.

The kids got to learn about different jobs that were available, create their own resume, fill out an application, and interview for their desired job.  They are hired for a job and learn about it in preparation to actually DO the job when they are at Enterprise City for the day.  Jobs ranged from police officer, postal worker, banker, retailer, newspaper staff - they even have a little Dunkin Donuts in there (it IS in New England -- we LOVE our Dunkin Donuts here!).  Our daughter was interested in being the co-editor of the newspaper and applied for and interviewed for that job.  After her interview she was optimistic that she would get it.  A couple of days later, my husband and I picked her up from school and she was NOT a happy camper!  She said she'd received her job assignment but didn't get the job she applied for -- instead of co-editor of the newspaper, she was hired as Managing Editor, which means she runs the show!  The kids receive "paychecks" for the job and get to deposit them at the bank and use their "money" at the other businesses in Enterprise City.  Our girl is apparently the highest paid person in the City!  Who wouldn't be happy with all of that?  Who goes on a job interview for one job and gets a promotion before even starting?  Her irritation was because with this job (given to her by her teacher who thinks the world of her!) she has to give a speech in front of everyone at the beginning of the day, AND at the end of the day!  She's not a fan of public speaking, but my husband and I think it's a great experience for her and we're thrilled that our girls will both have the opportunity to participate in a program like this one!  (I wish I could be there to tape her speeches and take pictures, but of course she's 13 and that would be so embarrassing to her...)

If you are anywhere near the Southern NH area and home school your children, they have a home school program as well!  They also have summer camps.  Check them out -- www.enterprisecity.org!

First Communion

My sweet girl in church

This past weekend we celebrated my sweet little daughter's First Communion!  She was fortunate to be surrounded with family for her special day -- my mother-in-law (Grammy) and her sister (Cici) came up from Long Island, my dad (Grandpa) my step-mother (Gramby) and her mom (Mema) came up from Upstate NY, and my aunts, my cousin, and his girlfriend all came from here in NH - it was a wonderful group that represented all sides of our family!

The back of my girlie's dress AND the new kitchen wall color!  ;)

In preparation for the big day, we did what everyone does when they are getting ready for their child's First Communion -- we painted!!  (Right?  That's what people do, don't they?)  We worked on painting the downstairs bathroom which on a regular day is the girls' bathroom, or when we have guests, it's the guest bathroom -- we are in the process of turning a very dark green bathroom with a truly gross closet into a white and pink haven for girls!  Almost there -- just have to put up the shelves in the closet.  We also painted the kitchen - originally it was a light yellow color, but we painted it a reddish color -- kind of a Sante Fe-looking red. It's a paint from Lowe's, actually Sienna Red, I believe.  Red is my favorite color and I've painted the dining room in my last two houses red -- my dining room is part of my kitchen in this house...  I guess that means 3 red dining rooms now!  :)  Anyway, that's just what people do when they are having company come over, isn't it?  You make some food, clean the bathroom, paint the kitchen?  ;)  That's what we do at our house, anyway!  I love having company -- it always gives us a deadline for getting projects done!!

My eldest daughter with her dress & veil

After moving up to New Hampshire about 6 months ago, I've been finding my way around in our new town and the surrounding area -- learning where things are, finding new places to go to eat, to shop, etc.  I was having a hard time finding a place to go to get my daughter's First Communion dress, so I hit the internet and started searching.  I finally found a dress that my little girlie and I both liked on www.hayneedle.com, a site that had all sorts of things (like patio furniture...).  It looked beautiful online and it was a great price, but I made sure to order it early so that I could return it and keep looking if it was not quite what we expected.  But no worries -- it was a beautiful dress!  My eldest daughter even commented at church on Sunday that she liked her sister's dress better than the dress she had picked for herself when it was her First Communion day!  At the time (5 years ago), we finally found her dress at a store called Burlington -- they had an amazingly large selection of First Communion dresses but not a great selection of veils.  For that, I went to David's Bridal and bought a "blusher" which the bride actually would wear over her face, but it works perfectly for a little girl's communion veil.  I also bought a little ring/wreath type headpiece that had two ribbons trailing down the back -- I spent a small fortune on this at the time, but I have kept both pieces safely tucked away in a hatbox for 5 years so that my little one could wear it too!  My eldest wore both pieces together, and my little one decided she just wanted the wreath (I have no idea what that is really called...).  The nice part about that is they each had their own look and it didn't look like they were wearing the same thing!

After church we invited the family back to our house for a luncheon.  All of the New Yorkers' were over before church and Grammy & Gramby helped me pull together baked pasta with mozzarella, meatballs & sauce in the crockpot, Italian sausage with peppers & onions, and a tossed salad.  Everything was ready by the time we got back to the house - just had to heat up the pasta and the rolls!  While we were waiting, I put out cheese, crackers & grapes for people to munch on.  It was a nice, simple meal that I didn't have to prepare while everyone was there!  For dessert, I ordered a delicious ice cream cake from Ava Marie Handmade Chocolates & Ice Cream.  We found a Party City store nearby and went out the other night to pick up plates & napkins in a pretty pink (our girlie's signature color!) pattern with a cross on them.  Note to self for the future -- I had seen these online prior to driving to the store, and they were on sale on the website -- not so in the actual store!  If I had thought about it sooner, I could have placed an order and had the stuff shipped to me UPS Ground and saved myself some money!  Good to know for next time!

My husband and I went back and forth about finding just the right gift for our little one.  When her sister had her First Communion, I found a beautiful sterling silver beaded bracelet (she's wearing it in the picture above) from Things Remembered and I bought one for her -- I think I had the heart on it engraved with her name and the date of her First Communion.  I also bought the same bracelet for her cousin who is my Goddaughter -- they are 2 months apart in age, best friends, and celebrated their First Communions right around the same time, so it was perfect for both of them!  I would have loved to have gotten the same thing for my little one, but no such luck -- they didn't have that same bracelet.  From there we looked at gold crosses, but my little girlie has been asking for a locket for a couple of years and she absolutely loves the silver heart locket that my husband and girls gave me for Mother's Day (the first Mother's Day after my second daughter was born) and I wear just about every day.  That led my husband and I to the local jewelry store where we were able to order a silver heart locket (she's wearing it in her picture) - very similar to Mommy's! - and they sent it out to have a cross and her name engraved on the front and "Love, Mommy & Daddy" engraved on the back.  She just loved it when we gave it to her to wear on Sunday for her First Communion!

If you've spent any time reading this blog, you know that I LOVE to decorate -- the house in general, for holidays, special events, you name it!  This wasn't the 4th of July, so I kept it toned down a bit...  Aside from the paper goods, the only "decoration" that I bought was a bunch of pink tulips from the grocery store -- pink because it is my girlie's favorite color and tulips because they are such a sign of Spring!  After that, I just used my own favorite decorating tip -- I "shopped my house!"  I am always telling my friends to do this -- go through your house and see what you already own that you can use to decorate in a new way!  

I drew a cross on my little chalkboard, put out a little pink milk glass vase (pink - thinking of whose special day this was!), a white vase that reminded me of a First Communion, and a little angel that used to be my grandmother's.

I love this mirror that I use as a base for centerpieces on my dining room table!  In addition to the pink tulips, I added a picture from my little girl's baptism, as well as her baptismal candle, and a little angel bell that I have of my grandmother's (Gram loves angels!!)

This is actually something I made a couple of years ago, intending it to be an Easter decoration, but I like it so much that now I leave it in my front entry year round!  So easy to make -- 2 twigs tied together with a little bit of twine.

I am a detail person -- I tend to notice the little things and I like to focus on little touches when I am decorating my house whether it's for everyday living or if I am decorating for a special event or party like my daughter's First Communion.  I know not everyone will notice, but it always makes me happy to put a little extra effort in to show my family and friends that they are special to me.  Everyone seemed to have a lovely time (regardless of my decorating, I'm sure!) and I know my sweet girl had a special day that she will hopefully always remember!

Spring Awakening

I've been in a modified hibernation mode a little bit this winter -- we moved here to New Hampshire at the end of November and it's pretty much been winter ever since!  I have been keeping myself busy with indoor activities - laundry (so much laundry!), expanding my horizons with cooking, keeping house for my family, and painting / decorating the house.  We live in a beautiful New England-y neighborhood and I've seen neighbors out walking their dogs all through the winter.  I had every intention of following suit, but frankly -- I'm cold!  It's funny, because I'm from Upstate NY - we KNOW cold.  We do cold winters - and this winter was a particularly bad one in our old city.  Generally speaking, I don't think our winter here in NH was any worse than NY - I actually think it was a little milder.  Our first major purchase in NH - after the house! - was a new snow blower and when we used it a few times but not as much as I had anticipated.  My favorite purchase for winter?  A $20 oscillating, electric heater for my girls to use in our playroom, which is technically an enclosed porch.  We made it a "4-season" porch with the little heater and a mandate to wear a sweater or robe out there!  That has worked out well and now the weather is warming up and that will be an enjoyable room without the heater and robe!  Next year when I see those heaters on sale again, I'll be grabbing another one for the living room -- when the girls weren't using it on the porch I would have it in the living room with me!!

Anyway, in some ways it feels like time is flying by, and in other ways it seems as though it has been winter forever!!  We have been thrilled to see the temperatures start to rise, the snow melt and spring is in the air.  Since we moved here at the end of the fall / beginning of winter, our new yard has been hidden under leaves or snow.  It's exciting to discover what is out there as the snow melts away.  We have a stone wall (which we knew about -- it's much more visible now!) and my youngest loves to climb up on one side of it when she gets off the bus each day.  That's her special spot, she tells me.  My eldest wants to plant some flowers under her bedroom window - I told her I'm excited to see what comes up in the yard!  Mabel (our Boston Terrier) and I took a "sniff" (a LOT of her stopping and sniffing - not so much walking) around the front and backyard the other day after getting my little one on the school bus.  I think I see hydrangeas which are my favorite, so it will be exciting to see what colors they are!  That day was particularly nice with warm temps and blue sky so I found a place to sit on the back patio (needs a LOT of TLC -- can't wait to work on that next week!) and I enjoyed relaxing and listening to the birds chirping as Mabel sniffed around the patio and the backyard.

I think we can all use a bit of fresh, spring air at this point!  Yesterday, my husband had the day off and after spending much of the day finishing up painting projects, he picked the girls up from school and took our little one to both of the playgrounds in town!  She's been able to play on her school playground at recess -- and has enjoyed sledding at recess.  But now she's happy to go on the slides and swings -- some of the fun things of spring and summer!  She was extremely excited to finally get to play at the town playground which has been covered by snow most of the time that we've lived here! 

Looking forward to Easter with the family, including my mom who is coming up from Florida -- can't wait to show her our house and town!  Looking forward to putting my little heater away and opening the windows, and most of all, looking forward to shaking off hibernation mode, getting my energy up, and getting out in the neighborhood to walk my dog and meet the neighbors!