I am already dropping out of one my 30 before 30 goals... I need a haircut... its driving me crazy, and I can't imagine what it will be like a year from now... so I am getting it cut...
I do have to say, my husband has been super supportive about the whole thing and tried to talk me back into it, you really wanted this, stick it out, etc.
But I can't!! I will change it to something cool, once I come up with it!
Now I need to go find a good photo of what I want this new haircut to be!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Time to start cracking!
So I have officially started a few of my 30 before 30 goals, I cut my hair to get the layers out and need to get another trim to get the last of them out in the next couple of weeks, I have not had soda ALL YEAR.... ok so we're only 9 days in... no biggie... do you know how hard it is in a restaurant to only drink iced tea or beer? ok... the beers not so difficult, but if number 12 is going to happen... then I need to not drink beer at every meal! :)
But the big one that I have been working on is the boys' quilts. This all started when we were redecorating to recreate a "big boy room"... in our old house... before we moved in with the in laws, but the same theme will apply when they get a new room... in our new house... where only we live :).
I searched and searched for the perfect bedding that would match their current curtains that I love, plus go with the prints that we had ordered for them earlier this year ( see them here). I couldn't find anything I really loved, that wasn't ridiculously expensive (remember... two kiddos=two beds) or ridiculously cheap (I don't mind paying for quality, because I hate replacing things every year or two because they wear out or look yucky).
So finally I caved and asked MIL to help me find a simple pattern that I could do... considering the last nine patch ended up with some 7.5 patches and all sorts of crazy not squares in it... so I wanted to simplify. I ended up choosing the turning twenty pattern, which consists of large squares made from 3 different fabrics. The idea is that you use 20 fat quarters and make them into your squares... since I was doing two, and I wanted some of the same fabrics in each, I am not sure how many fat quarters I used.... but I went and bought the fabric. Then I let it sit over the summer (never a good idea for me... I still have a mirror and fabric in the attic that I bought AT LEAST 4 years ago... maybe more).
When we moved in with the in laws and I realized I would have a bit more time to sew since MIL has a sewing room all set up for herself so I wouldn't be constantly having to set up and take down my machine I started cutting:
This is the point where my friend, Krista, pointed out to me that women like us.... just aren't cut out for sewing... this is half of the pieces that I would need.... and I was dreading doing the rest... but I made my way through it and started sewing... I was so excited I again sent Krista a photo, the first square sewn:
Yay!!
From there I sewed the squares into strips... to do this I had to set out all the squares on my bed and make sure I liked the arrangement... I don't have any pictures of this, because it was the most frustrating part and I had to walk away from it a few times before I got both of them just right... it took MIL and I moving around and shifting quite a few squares before I was happy... so once I got the strips sewn... I realized this was going to make a MASSIVE quilt... and they were going on twin sized beds... so I laid them out again... and with my faithful assistant Chloe, I decided which squares had to go... I only took photos of the finished product but here they are (with comfy kitty showing just how great they are going to be when finished)
You can see the sticky notes I put on each first square so I could remember the order! From there I stitched the strips together, and again with my faithful assistant Chloe (this time she's under the blankets!), I laid them out to check out my handy work
All thats left is to add the border, back it and quilt it. I plan on "stitching in the ditch" to quilt, which means I will sew around the squares on the seams. Here is what the backing looks like:
I will share more once I get more done, and will definitely share the finished products!
Monday, January 9, 2012
December re-cap
This past December was really fun. I don't usually say that about December on a whole because I am definitely not a snow person and love the summer and sun. It may be due in part to the fact that we haven't had much snow up here this winter so far, or that we had a few days that hit 50, but what I really think it was, was all the fun stuff we got to do with the boys this month.
We started the first weekend of December with a drive that took forever to get us to Santa's Village. I was a little apprehensive about this trip, because it was so far, it would cut right into the middle of nap time and my husband's family was going with us, mother in law, father in law, brother in law and his new girlfriend. Plus I had never been, so I had no idea if there was going to even be anything that the boys could do. I was planning on spending less time there than it had taken us to get there!
Little did I know that we would have so much fun!
The first thing the boys wanted to do was go on the sleigh ride that takes up over the park on a little tour of the park. I was totally unprepared for them to want to do this, but totally prepared for a meltdown once they realized what we were actually going to do. This is how it went down:
And continued on like this:
And ended with a visit to Santa after waiting in a line that lasted forever and the kids had more patience for than I did:
We then headed home and stopped for a yummy dinner at the Muddy Moose in North Conway. I love it there and they have an excellent kids menu.
The boys lived off the excitement of that for the next week until it came time to start planning how the boys were going to celebrate their Uncle Kirk's birthday. The boys decided they wanted to make crowns for the birthday boy:
And we headed back to the house to give Uncle Kirk his birthday presents, crown and cake. The boys had to escort their individual cakes over to Kiki all by themselves so we helped them carry their cakes over so they could present them to Kiki.
Now that I am looking at this post... I think that will be all for now and I will do a separate Christmas recap a little later. I will be writing about splitting holidays with families and how to survive Christmas with two two year olds!
We started the first weekend of December with a drive that took forever to get us to Santa's Village. I was a little apprehensive about this trip, because it was so far, it would cut right into the middle of nap time and my husband's family was going with us, mother in law, father in law, brother in law and his new girlfriend. Plus I had never been, so I had no idea if there was going to even be anything that the boys could do. I was planning on spending less time there than it had taken us to get there!
Little did I know that we would have so much fun!
The first thing the boys wanted to do was go on the sleigh ride that takes up over the park on a little tour of the park. I was totally unprepared for them to want to do this, but totally prepared for a meltdown once they realized what we were actually going to do. This is how it went down:
And ended with a visit to Santa after waiting in a line that lasted forever and the kids had more patience for than I did:
We then headed home and stopped for a yummy dinner at the Muddy Moose in North Conway. I love it there and they have an excellent kids menu.
The boys lived off the excitement of that for the next week until it came time to start planning how the boys were going to celebrate their Uncle Kirk's birthday. The boys decided they wanted to make crowns for the birthday boy:
And cake:
They were very determined the entire time that they were doing the decorating all by themselves and did not need help from either me or my mother in law. I think they did a pretty good job!
So the next day we got everyone together and headed out to Newfields to find the perfect Christmas tree. This is a bit of a challenge... as my mother in law is very particular about what kind of tree we get and it has to fit the perfect parameters that she sets... we usually see every tree in the whole farm before she finally decides it was one of the ones we saw when we first walked in... here are a few shots of what it looks like while the family picks up the trees and Nana makes her decision:
Until FINALLY the tree is found, cut and wrapped:
Now that I am looking at this post... I think that will be all for now and I will do a separate Christmas recap a little later. I will be writing about splitting holidays with families and how to survive Christmas with two two year olds!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Its time to start planning!
The boys turn 3 in just 4 short months... its time to start planning the party! For their first birthday they had a sock monkey theme that I absolutely loved and since we had a big party, I was able to work it in in a lot of ways. Last year we were away on their birthday and had a much smaller party with a simpler theme of construction.
Lately they have been obsessed with the Cars movie characters, so I am thinking I might do a Cars theme for their party. It will again be a small party since they are still at an age where there won't be a lot of kids at the party and its silly to have a big party for a bunch of adults, plus its totally overwhelming for them and for us to try and host a huge party. I have a ton of ideas, but some of them seem a little like overkill for a small party for family and close friends, but we will see where it goes.
One thing that is definitely on the calendar for us is to attend The Big Apple Circus on their birthday. We went last year and had a really great time. This year's line-up seems even better and since it will be Grandma's last year as a performer we can't miss it! We will go on the boys' actual birthday since we are on school vacation and make a day of it out in Boston. Hopefully this year the weather will hold out better for us than it did last year. Whatever the weather, it is bound to be a good day!
But back to the party, I am thinking of using tickets like these:
Lately they have been obsessed with the Cars movie characters, so I am thinking I might do a Cars theme for their party. It will again be a small party since they are still at an age where there won't be a lot of kids at the party and its silly to have a big party for a bunch of adults, plus its totally overwhelming for them and for us to try and host a huge party. I have a ton of ideas, but some of them seem a little like overkill for a small party for family and close friends, but we will see where it goes.
One thing that is definitely on the calendar for us is to attend The Big Apple Circus on their birthday. We went last year and had a really great time. This year's line-up seems even better and since it will be Grandma's last year as a performer we can't miss it! We will go on the boys' actual birthday since we are on school vacation and make a day of it out in Boston. Hopefully this year the weather will hold out better for us than it did last year. Whatever the weather, it is bound to be a good day!
But back to the party, I am thinking of using tickets like these:
from Etsy seller iCelebration.
I love reading other mom's blogs about their Cars birthday party and love getting ideas from them... but again some of them are just so detailed and over the top it seems silly to do for just a few people. I will definitely be using our gigantic cupcake pan and will make cupcakes for everyone else which will have a theme... but having themed foods and names for everything is not my style... so I will probably just get the invites and add some Cars decorations to the food table. Unless the boys make some quick friends and want to invite them to their party, in which case the details will change and I will add some of the themed food names and get Cars themed favors.
More details once we get closer!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Shoes
I guess I started this post a while ago (September 30th to be exact) and never posted it... I am not sure where I was going with this....
I love shoes... my father in law calls me Imelda Marcos, and I am afraid I have passed this love on to my children. I love getting cute things for my sons, and sometimes the shoes are the best part!! The boys love it, too. They love being able to make the choice of which shoes to wear and showing off new shoes. At any given point in the past they have had at least 2 pairs of shoes, sneakers and sandals. Right now, they have 5 pairs.... each! I strive to find shoes that are similar in style and comfort, but different in color or character so they can have their own individual shoe personality. For instance, right now one has red crocs and the other has green; one has tan and orange sneakers and the other has navy and green. They are now able to put on most of their shoes by themselves and this has been one of the major triumphs in twindom! I try not to buy shoes that have laces because tying 4 shoelaces is a lot to ask one person! And then if I wear shoes that tie... that's 6 shoelaces!
I am excited now that they are getting older and their feet are getting bigger they can wear some of the same shoes that I love like Converse All Stars, Vans slip-ons and Adidas Sambas. They are almost grown out of their current sneakers and while they have another pair of everyday shoes, I will probably get them some new sneakers... hopefully with no shoelaces!
I love shoes... my father in law calls me Imelda Marcos, and I am afraid I have passed this love on to my children. I love getting cute things for my sons, and sometimes the shoes are the best part!! The boys love it, too. They love being able to make the choice of which shoes to wear and showing off new shoes. At any given point in the past they have had at least 2 pairs of shoes, sneakers and sandals. Right now, they have 5 pairs.... each! I strive to find shoes that are similar in style and comfort, but different in color or character so they can have their own individual shoe personality. For instance, right now one has red crocs and the other has green; one has tan and orange sneakers and the other has navy and green. They are now able to put on most of their shoes by themselves and this has been one of the major triumphs in twindom! I try not to buy shoes that have laces because tying 4 shoelaces is a lot to ask one person! And then if I wear shoes that tie... that's 6 shoelaces!
I am excited now that they are getting older and their feet are getting bigger they can wear some of the same shoes that I love like Converse All Stars, Vans slip-ons and Adidas Sambas. They are almost grown out of their current sneakers and while they have another pair of everyday shoes, I will probably get them some new sneakers... hopefully with no shoelaces!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Speech update
I had written a few months ago but the boys' speech and how it was going.
On Thursday we had a meeting to decide if they would qualify for services once they turn three. The process started in November and went a little like this:
We had a meeting at the house with the boys' case manager, early interventionalist, and the transition coordinator for Child Development Services. We decided what the boys should be evaluated for and what the concerns were. We determined that they would be observed at school by a special education teacher, have a speech evaluation and that Jack would be observed by an occupational therapist.
The speech evaluation took place at home over two days and we were mailed the report after it was completed.
We arrived at the CDS office the morning of the meeting and went into the conference room.
During the meeting we discussed two things, first any changes in the current plan and second what the plan would look like once the boys turned three. It took about an hour and a half to get through Jack's portion of the meeting since we started with him. Keaghan's went quicker because most of the concerns are the same and they will be receiving very similar services. I would say if I was there for only one child the meeting would have been just over an hour... because even while we were focusing on Jack for that first hour and a half, there were pieces about Keaghan interspersed.
The two downsides to the meeting for me were that the speech therapist was unable to attend but was able to teleconference but it seemed a little hurried, and that their preschool teachers did not attend at all.
The first thing we did once we got started was to change the boys plan so that the early interventionalist would attend preschool with the boys and coordinate with their teachers to create some extra opportunities for speech and use the other session she sees them to do some preteaching.
Starting in April when they turn three, they will have speech services at school in addition to a special education teacher being in the school with them.
This is just a brief overview and I will be able to add more once I have a copy of the IEP, but overall, it went really well and we will see how it goes once we get started. Any questions send me a message!
On Thursday we had a meeting to decide if they would qualify for services once they turn three. The process started in November and went a little like this:
We had a meeting at the house with the boys' case manager, early interventionalist, and the transition coordinator for Child Development Services. We decided what the boys should be evaluated for and what the concerns were. We determined that they would be observed at school by a special education teacher, have a speech evaluation and that Jack would be observed by an occupational therapist.
The speech evaluation took place at home over two days and we were mailed the report after it was completed.
We arrived at the CDS office the morning of the meeting and went into the conference room.
During the meeting we discussed two things, first any changes in the current plan and second what the plan would look like once the boys turned three. It took about an hour and a half to get through Jack's portion of the meeting since we started with him. Keaghan's went quicker because most of the concerns are the same and they will be receiving very similar services. I would say if I was there for only one child the meeting would have been just over an hour... because even while we were focusing on Jack for that first hour and a half, there were pieces about Keaghan interspersed.
The two downsides to the meeting for me were that the speech therapist was unable to attend but was able to teleconference but it seemed a little hurried, and that their preschool teachers did not attend at all.
The first thing we did once we got started was to change the boys plan so that the early interventionalist would attend preschool with the boys and coordinate with their teachers to create some extra opportunities for speech and use the other session she sees them to do some preteaching.
Starting in April when they turn three, they will have speech services at school in addition to a special education teacher being in the school with them.
This is just a brief overview and I will be able to add more once I have a copy of the IEP, but overall, it went really well and we will see how it goes once we get started. Any questions send me a message!
Monday, January 2, 2012
30 before 30
I have had this list written for quite a while, but figured now was the perfect time to post it and get started... 6 months before my 29th birthday and right in time for everyone's New Year's resolutions. So here it goes, some have been borrowed from others' lists, but many are things that I personally have always wanted to do and figured it was time to just got on it and do it :)
1. Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Orlando. This is hopefully going to be happening in October of this year with my Casey. :)
2. Make all of our own bread. Hoping for this to happen once we get settled in our own house, my mother in laws kitchen isn't an optimal place but I will be putting more effort into this.
3. Grow a garden. Again, much easier when we get a house!
4. Get myself a nice piece of jewelry for my birthday. Every girl deserves a good piece of jewelry!
5. Visit the south. I would love to go someplace south of Washington DC, the Carolinas, Georgia, we shall see!
6. Pay for someone's meal, either in the drive thru or out at a restaurant.
7. Reconnect with old friends. Some friends from college and high school that I have neglected and would like to get back in touch with and see where the relationship goes. :)
8. Try extra hard to keep connections with loved ones. Even the friends that I have kept close with I wish we talked more and got together more often, I am going to make an effort to make that possible!
9. Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal, from scratch, no cheating!
10. Read 10 books I always thought would be uninteresting... not sure what this one is going to look like but it might be biographies or a different genre.
11. NO SODA
12. Get into the size of clothes I wore in college. I am purposely not basing this on weight because I know that that won't be a motivator, but being able to go out and buy new clothes because my old ones don't fit will!
13. Visit Bar Harbor, I love the whole island and would love to take the boys up there for a weekend or more!
14. Have family photos taken (hopefully after getting back into my college clothes size!)
15. Buy a house
16. Bring the boys to the zoo in Boston.
17. Go to Vermont- eat... ok so this won't help with the smaller size, but there are so many wonderful places to eat in Vermont and I have never been ( I know... I live in Maine its only one state over)
18. Paint pottery... So Casey and I took the boys to do this just before Christmas, but I had so much fun that I want to do it again with them... and without them!
19. Get all my girlfriends together... this one could get interesting, lol! I would love to have all my girlies get together either at a party or out to dinner.
20. Be financially responsible. I have a goal in mind and would like to get there in the next year and a half... it really has to do with reigning in spending and thinking about purchases.
21. Finish the boys' quilts. I started them in September and have made some major progress but will need some major motivation to finish it in the next year and a half. The quilting part will be the hardest part for me because I have never done it before.
22. Only get trims, no true hair cuts. I have started this one already, I got a cut a few weeks ago to cut out the layers and will continue to just get this cut trimmed to see how long my hair will get!
23. Cook all of our meals at home for at least 30 days, no takeout, no fast food, all prepared by me!
24. Get a new laptop... I am missing the up key and the enter key is broken, so it would be nice and will hopefully work out to get myself a new MacBook Air to keep everyone updated!
25. Take the boys fishing. I loved doing this my Dad as a kid, and we have a great place to do it camp so this should be able to happen a lot this summer.
26. Get a job I love. I like my job, but I really want to find one that I love and fits me perfectly, may not happen in the next year and a half, but I would love to be closer to the right job for me.
27. Have a big family reunion, with both sides of my family, Mom's and Dad's.
28. Take a dance class... I loved this in high school, I need to do it again.
29. Keep up with our photos, make sure the ones from my mother in law get put on my computer and get them all organized.
30. Have a baby? Throwing this one on here, but not sure if it will happen... the original plan had been to be done by the time I was 30 and I would like to have 3 children, so this may happen, it may happen later after we have settled in the house and accomplished a few other personal goals.
So there we have it, I will keep you all updated on the progress!
1. Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Orlando. This is hopefully going to be happening in October of this year with my Casey. :)
2. Make all of our own bread. Hoping for this to happen once we get settled in our own house, my mother in laws kitchen isn't an optimal place but I will be putting more effort into this.
3. Grow a garden. Again, much easier when we get a house!
4. Get myself a nice piece of jewelry for my birthday. Every girl deserves a good piece of jewelry!
5. Visit the south. I would love to go someplace south of Washington DC, the Carolinas, Georgia, we shall see!
6. Pay for someone's meal, either in the drive thru or out at a restaurant.
7. Reconnect with old friends. Some friends from college and high school that I have neglected and would like to get back in touch with and see where the relationship goes. :)
8. Try extra hard to keep connections with loved ones. Even the friends that I have kept close with I wish we talked more and got together more often, I am going to make an effort to make that possible!
9. Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal, from scratch, no cheating!
10. Read 10 books I always thought would be uninteresting... not sure what this one is going to look like but it might be biographies or a different genre.
11. NO SODA
12. Get into the size of clothes I wore in college. I am purposely not basing this on weight because I know that that won't be a motivator, but being able to go out and buy new clothes because my old ones don't fit will!
13. Visit Bar Harbor, I love the whole island and would love to take the boys up there for a weekend or more!
14. Have family photos taken (hopefully after getting back into my college clothes size!)
15. Buy a house
16. Bring the boys to the zoo in Boston.
17. Go to Vermont- eat... ok so this won't help with the smaller size, but there are so many wonderful places to eat in Vermont and I have never been ( I know... I live in Maine its only one state over)
18. Paint pottery... So Casey and I took the boys to do this just before Christmas, but I had so much fun that I want to do it again with them... and without them!
19. Get all my girlfriends together... this one could get interesting, lol! I would love to have all my girlies get together either at a party or out to dinner.
20. Be financially responsible. I have a goal in mind and would like to get there in the next year and a half... it really has to do with reigning in spending and thinking about purchases.
21. Finish the boys' quilts. I started them in September and have made some major progress but will need some major motivation to finish it in the next year and a half. The quilting part will be the hardest part for me because I have never done it before.
22. Only get trims, no true hair cuts. I have started this one already, I got a cut a few weeks ago to cut out the layers and will continue to just get this cut trimmed to see how long my hair will get!
23. Cook all of our meals at home for at least 30 days, no takeout, no fast food, all prepared by me!
24. Get a new laptop... I am missing the up key and the enter key is broken, so it would be nice and will hopefully work out to get myself a new MacBook Air to keep everyone updated!
25. Take the boys fishing. I loved doing this my Dad as a kid, and we have a great place to do it camp so this should be able to happen a lot this summer.
26. Get a job I love. I like my job, but I really want to find one that I love and fits me perfectly, may not happen in the next year and a half, but I would love to be closer to the right job for me.
27. Have a big family reunion, with both sides of my family, Mom's and Dad's.
28. Take a dance class... I loved this in high school, I need to do it again.
29. Keep up with our photos, make sure the ones from my mother in law get put on my computer and get them all organized.
30. Have a baby? Throwing this one on here, but not sure if it will happen... the original plan had been to be done by the time I was 30 and I would like to have 3 children, so this may happen, it may happen later after we have settled in the house and accomplished a few other personal goals.
So there we have it, I will keep you all updated on the progress!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
November and December
We had a great two months here in our home(my in laws home I should say). Yep we are still here. We have decided to take a first time home buyers course and buy a house instead of renting an apartment so until that happens we are hanging with the in laws.
November was a fun month for us, we went out for Thanksgiving with my parents, the boys got to see their old babysitter, Danielle, while the in laws were on vacation, went on the Polar Express thanks to a fantastic friend and her awesome father, and we led right into December with a trip to Santa's Village, hunting for the perfect Christmas tree and helping to celebrate my brother in law's birthday.
This year we figured out the perfect way to celebrate Christmas with both sides of the family without exhausting everyone involved. We went to my parents house for Christmas Eve and then stayed home on Christmas with the inlaws.
I will add more later, once I get pictures, etc... but for now I will sign off and watch a Harry Potter on my second to last night of vacation!
November was a fun month for us, we went out for Thanksgiving with my parents, the boys got to see their old babysitter, Danielle, while the in laws were on vacation, went on the Polar Express thanks to a fantastic friend and her awesome father, and we led right into December with a trip to Santa's Village, hunting for the perfect Christmas tree and helping to celebrate my brother in law's birthday.
This year we figured out the perfect way to celebrate Christmas with both sides of the family without exhausting everyone involved. We went to my parents house for Christmas Eve and then stayed home on Christmas with the inlaws.
I will add more later, once I get pictures, etc... but for now I will sign off and watch a Harry Potter on my second to last night of vacation!
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