Love, Erika

Santa Baby Rewind

Not much new to share, so I'll post some cute baby pics from when the boys were both 6ish months old. This was a cute age, but I'm soooooo glad we're well past that now. :) I love the fact that Parker wants me to tell him about Santa every night as I'm tucking him in, and he talks about him flying in the sky, and opening presents and about how we went to the mall today to see Santa, and Drew sat with him but Parker was scared and sad. He TOLD me this. Something about how Drew asked for a dinosaur and Parker wants a train. That kid is amazing.

It's not even DECEMBER yet!

What is going on with Christmas this year? Was Thanksgiving early this year or something??  I can't even believe how far into the Christmas season we are already and it's not even December. Oh well. I guess we need something kind of special and magical to get us through these dark months of winter, so it must be a good thing.

I took advantage of a RARE moment today to take a picture of our "fireplace" with the stockings up. Believe me, it does NOT look like this normally. Our chimney and woodstove are being cleaned/inspected tomorrow, so all the crap around the woodstove has been removed and pulled out of the way for that. Normally it has a baby fence all around it, with all kinds of crap piled up on the inside around it. Classy. It's  been about two years since I've seen it so clean and nice, so I took a picture so it would last longer. :)

Making good on Halloween

Tonight Halloween was redeemed!  We had a great time trick-or-treating and the kids had fun, so I've made my peace with Halloween this year for the most part and had decent closure. Oh well. October was kind of messed up and disjointed and out of control, except for the first week during which I was having an awesomely fun week at home in North Carolina!  Back in NH, from a job perspective I shot some of my very best work of the year this month, and was so happy with the photos. On a personal level it was a little too chaotic and disappointing with not being able to go to Spookyworld or out to dinner for our anniversary, and having Halloween snowed out. And not to mention probably the worst thing overall is that our neighbor across the street who created such fantastic graveyard scenes for Halloween  the past few years passed away about six weeks ago so he was really, really missed this year. So sad that he went before he could see his favorite holiday one more time. So it wasn't the greatest Halloween year ever but everybody had fun (eventually) and it wasn't completely cancelled, only postponed, so I guess we'll take it.

Turns out, our "new" day for Halloween was beautiful and 55 degrees (not bad for this time of year!) so it was pretty nice. We managed to get all our leaves in the yard all cleaned up, which is a month-long HUGE process, and hopefully it is mostly taken care of. The leaves seem to really be holding onto the leaves late this year.

So Parker wouldn't wear his monkey costume tonight as expected so I pulled out his hamburger suit from last year. It still fit pretty well, although snug in the arms, and he was fine with it. I don't really know what the difference was, but he was pretty opinionated about it, so I let him have it.  They were so excited about candy, trick or treating, the lights we put outside, the candle in the (mostly furry moldy) jack-o-lantern,and everything else. AMAZING how Drew and Parker both arrived at an understanding of the holiday at the same time.

The Year that Halloween Got Cancelled

I had this nightmare...... that 2 days before Halloween there was a crazy blizzard and it dropped more than a foot of snow on New England, and the damage was so bad that they had to cancel Halloween.

Hmmmm...... not a dream. Very much a reality. I CANNOT believe this happened. I don't think I ever imagined in my wildest dreams that something so unthinkable could happen, but it did. 8 million people without power for days on end. What the HELL just happened, was all I could think. Bitter much? I'll tell you who was bitter--ME. The damndest thing I ever saw. Ridiculous. We lost power Saturday night and got it back just today, Wednesday, around noon. They had to cancel Halloween because nobody had power, so no lights =  no trick or treating. Unreal.

Anyway, the first day of the power outage was the regularly scheduled trick or treating at the mall. I took Drew knowing this could very well be the one and only Halloween activity he would get to participate in. Meanwhile I  think I would rather have stabbed hot needles into my eyes, than fight the crowds at the mall for this joke of an activity. UGH. Heinous. I LOVE Halloween, you know this, but I swear this is truly one thing that is so incredibly painful that I hope to never go again. The stores run out of candy within the first 45 minutes so it's just a madhouse trying to throw elbows and get around. But Drew has a great time and doesn't know that this is NOT how it's supposed to be. He's so shy and doesn't want to merge to the front of the crowd so I have to chuck him up there just to procure one little Now & Later for his candy bucket (which he can't even really eat). so it's just lame. But he still loves it, so that's what matters. Here are a few of my really bad photos which ironically look like a pretty tame experience. I don't know how I manged to make it look peaceful and fun in the photos. :) It was NOT, believe me.

Anyway, I'm not done with this topic but they're planning on rescheduling trick-or-treating for this weekend. Hopefully the jack-o-lantern that we carved on Saturday night before the power went out willl not rot before then. :)

4th of July BBQ

We went to a cookout on the 4th of July this year!  I'm so tickled. I just can't even remember the last time we were invited to a cookout of any sort, let alone for a bbq-ish holiday!  Dave's relatives Laurie & Joe invited us out to their fabulous house and it's been a million years since we saw them, way before Parker was born.

Funny memory about Laurie..... I remember vividly the day I went to the hospital in 2007 for my ECV to try to have Drew manually turned around from his breech position when I was very near the end of my pregnancy with him. We had stopped by Dave's mom's house for some reason that morning on the way to the appointment, and Laurie was there. And I remember the LOOK that both of them gave me as we were leaving--that "oh HELL I'm so sorry about what you're about to go through" look. LOL. They said positive and encouraging things, but that LOOK that they were giving me was not entirely comforting.  I don't know why I remember that. It's weird what things stick with you.

So anyway, we had a beautifully hot and sunny day for the 4th and the kids had fun flying around the huge yard playing croquet, swinging, and taking frequent breaks in the "man room" in the basement where all the toys are.

It was my job to wrangle ALL the cousins together and get some group photos. Don't try this at home!! I'm a professional. (ha ha, I say this only in jest because these kids really didn't want much to do with posing for pics)  Drew, as usual, declined most of the photo opportunities.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And lastly, my favorite picture I ever took of Dawn and her kids!

Easter 2011

Easter was fun this year and we were able to do a few little activites with the kids. I made cupcakes with Drew and let him shake all kinds of pastel sprinkles on them. He loved that. And he loved eating them, and so did Parker.

 

We dyed eggs together too, and he really liked that. I wrote Drew's and Parker's names on a couple of them and so you know those were the two that were immediately smashed before they were even dry. 

 

 

We did Easter egg hunts in the yard that day, and it was nice weather. I forgot to get a picture of the boys' baskets but they enjoyed them and fought over stuff. You know, the usual stuff.  Nobody was a fan of the Peeps I bought, I thought somebody would like them but as it turned out it got a big thumbs down from all my crazy boys.

Valentine's Dinner at Z

Well it's about time!  Finally we went out to eat for the first time in 2011.  I've been wanting to go to Z Food and Drink ever since we tried a sample at the Taste of Downtown Manchester last September and I was amazed at all the different flavors. So they had a special Valentine menu that I thought sounded really unique and interesting, and there were things that both Dave and I would enjoy.  I was all concerned about what I would wear because my stay-at-home-mom wardrobe isn't suited for much other than mowing the grass, and manual labor.  I squeezed myself into some black pants that don't fit from my previous lifetime, because I was thinking this was not a jeans kind of place. But as it turned out, nearly everybody there was wearing jeans. I don't know what I was worried about, because realistically, I have yet to find a place in New Hamsphire where jeans aren't acceptable. It was so great to leave the house and be out at night like a real adult, and sit and eat food quietly and enjoyably without the stomachache of jumping up and down a hundred times during a meal to do various things.  Especially after earlier this week surviving the worst stomach bug I've had in 10-15 years, it was great to be feeling well enough to eat and imbibe!

 

One of things they brought out first was this Italian-herbed popcorn which was kinda cool. They totally captured the flavors of Italian herb bread and turned it into popcorn. LOL. Never seen that done.

 

I have never had food this fancy before. Seriously. This "assorted tapas" starter was gouda-stuffed tater tots, scallop & bacon cakes, duck stuffed olives, lobster quesadillas, and beef tartare sliders.  I actually tried the tartare! I didn't think I would do it, as I like my meat torched and cooked beyond recognition. So I was pretty horrified at the thought of eating it raw, but they were very small so I didn't think it would be enough to make me very sick. It was really good! So many delicate flavors piled onto that one little bite of food.  I didn't try the scallops, though, since I think I have a suspected but unconfirmed issue with scallops. 

 

The entree!  Loved it all, especially those two divine sauces. And a nice cab sav from Washington called 14 Hands.

 

And dessert! We were really full by this point. Yummy chocolate fondue with salted caramel, served with 3 flavors of homemade marshmallows: bacon, mint, and vanilla.  And french press coffee, again, so fancy! I have no idea what it presses or what it does, but it was good.

 

Christmas Eve Cookies

This year we decorated cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, and a good time was had by all. I bought one of those logs of sugar cookie dough and cooked it up, and also got one of those cans of icing and some sprinkles. It was a lot of fun, and I managed not to overbake the cookies too much, so they were actually edible. The icing kind of tasted like preservatives but it was okay. :)  We can't expect too much from a novelty convenience product.

 

 

 
 

Getting Ready for Christmas

December has come and gone so quickly, and I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We've done all the usual stuff like decorating the house with trees and garland, and put lights outside. I've been trying to talk to Drew a lot about Santa and what's going to happen on Christmas Eve, and he sort of gets it, but not really. He just knows there will be "toys from Santa" but that's about it.

 

Drew brought home the sweetest little ornaments from school which we were proud to hang on the tree:
 
 

Drew came to the car after school wearing these antlers and his nose painted red. So cute!!!
 

 
 

Our neighbors next door have a nice lighted scene that we enjoy looking at. This is yesterday's dusting of snow just before it got dark. 

A cute lil' gingerbread maple cupcake from The Black Forest Cafe.
 

We had a great time when my parents came to visit and they enjoyed seeing how much the kids have grown and what their personalities are like now.

 
 

 

 

And lastly, one of Parker that I liked, looking out the foggy front door.
 
 

2010 Christmas Card

I have to confess that I cheated on this year's Christmas card photo.  The thought of strangling my kids on the couch again as we wrestle them into submission during the 5 seconds before the self timer goes off feeling like 10 minutes for an ultimately uninteresting and forced photo, made me want to hurl so I thought of something else. Whatevs!!!! 

Back on October 3rd, we all took a lengthy road trip to Rindge, NH for a mini-session with Kate Preftakes Photography. And I gotta tell you, this was not all peaches & cream from my point of view.

As a photographer, I VALUE and UNDERSTAND the commitment to taking the time to make a great family portrait. My husband did not. From the moment he found out about the booking (in August), to the day of the session (in October), I heard unmitigated bitching and whining and anger. And he forgot about it several times in between August and October, so every time he re-remembered it, the bitching was renewed with added vigor.

So that morning we hopped in the car and began the long 1.5 hour drive to Rindge, which would have been a pleasant drive for just the two of us, but with two little kids that is agony. Parker is usually such a pleasant child, but that day he was off his game and he started howling precisely 10 minutes into our drive. He was PISSED by the time we got there.  Drew was agitated and annoyed.  Ironically, I had totally expected Drew to be our problem child for this activity since he usually IS the unpredictable one. But that day Parker was out of sorts and not happy about the long drive.

We arrived at Kate's gorgeous home and our mini-session went so quick! Kate was wonderful to work with and got some great family shots and individual ones of the kids. Less than 30 minutes later we packed it all up back in the car and headed back home for the repeat 1.5 hour drive back. LOL. Kids were NOT happy about that.

Fast forward two weeks later, and Kate let us know our proofing gallery was ready and we got to see our photos. They were gorgeous. And guess who LOVED THEM???  Dave. Well, all of us really, but Dave was made a believer that day and told me I was right to have those photos made. He even ordered several for his desk at work.

 
Photo by Kate Preftakes Photography

We ordered prints, and the grandmothers ordered prints, and those are well and good. But I'm a digital girl and that's how I use my photos, so I ordered my favorite as a digital file. I'm watching the sales to have it made into a lovely canvas.  But also, as Christmas card time rolled around and I started stressing about making yet another agonizing photo of my two kids, I remembered the beautiful family portrait that Kate made for us and I was like -OF COURSE!  it's the obvious choice for our Christmas card this year.

So -boom- done. It was the easiest card I've designed in many years, and definitely the easiest photo since I didn't have to take it. :) Love it!  As a result I had them designed, ordered, delivered, stamped and addressed before Thanksgiving. LOL.

 

So..... are you seeing a theme here? It seems my Christmas card photo each year always has a story behind it, like these stories from 2009 and 2007.