What's up with this warm weather???

It was December 28th and we were walking outside at the park with NO winter coats and hats on! Crazy! But it happened...we had 60 degree weather here this Sunday (on my sister's birthday - woohoo!) and the Waldners took full advantage of this warm day in December. On Christmas Day, we discovered for the first time this awesome park practically in our back yard. And to top it off, you can let your dog go off-leash too! Yea for Ellie! So while Nana & Papa were in town, we all went back to this park and showed them our new "find". They liked it too!



Here is a family picture shot at Bare Cove Park...our new, favorite spot to get some exercise & enjoy the outdoors!!!

Ho Ho Ho...

The kids must have been REALLY good this year because Santa brought them some really nice presents! Lucky Jack & Reagan!!


Christmas morning started around 6am (and yes, it was still DARK out), the kids woke up & immediately ran downstairs to see if Santa had come! To their delight, he DID and brought some really cool toys. He also ate their cookies & milk they left for him...and even left them a special thank you note.


Unfortunately, Christmas Eve was a different story...poor Jack was throwing up ALL evening. Not sure what happened - must have been a 24 hour stomach bug! yuck! But he was so concerned that Santa wouldn't come to our house if he was still up in the middle of night getting sick! Thank goodness, the rest of the family did not catch that stinky bug!

How did Santa know that Reagan wanted a new tutu?

Check out Jack's new slot car race track! Cool!

Look at the mess! Oh boy!

A new family tradition...gingerbread house!

Here is a link to more Christmas pictures...

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=88251230254482846/l=458183003/g=44695723/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

and thanks to the 18" plus that was dumped on us this past weekend - that little song is so true!!!!!!!!! I just hope the snow sticks around for Christmas because I just love a White Christmas! It's so amazing to look out the windows from a cozy, warm house with kids playing around you and see beautiful white snow all over the ground & trees! Aaaahhhhh, I love this time of year!

We had a chance to test out our mini-hill on the side of our house - it is the perfect little hill for Jack and Reagan to have fun sledding. They didn't go too fast but it was still fast enough for some belly laughs! We were able to capture some great pics of the kids and a REALLY cute one of Matt and Reagan. (okay, so I am biased!)

I love a Classic...

I just love to walk through the toy aisles and see some of the toys that I loved as a little girl - Care Bears, My Little Pony, Barbie and the beloved Cabbage Patch Kids. Thanks to Aunt Vicky & Uncle Ray - now Reagan is a proud mommy to Orpha Jean, a preemie from the Cabbage Patch Kids line. And to hear her say "Orpha" is super cute!!!

Giddy Up!

So this is a little delayed - but I had to post these hilarious pictures of Jack & Reagan. A BIG thank you to Aunt Jill for adorable Christmas presents for the kids...both Jack and Reagan love to dress up. It is pretty much an every day activity for them...and now they have a cowboy and cowgirl costume complete with horses! This is so cute - just had to show you all! They love to "giddy up" around our living room/kitchen/dining room loop.

3rd time's a Charm! :)

Well, it certainly is when you are talking about the Waldner favorite...Coco Key Waterpark! :) Check out our other 2 previous posts - and you will see how much we LOVE this indoor waterpark for the kids. It is the perfect getaway for a night...the kids have a blast playing at the waterpark and then crash at night with no problem! We decided to take the kids to the Grand Opening of a new Coco Key in a town west of Boston.

We arrived around Noon on Saturday - the kids played non-stop 5:30pm. We took a quick dinner break and they were back in the water until 8pm! And yes, they both crashed around 9pm with no trouble at all!!! Oh and by the end of the night, Jack was giving high-fives to all the lifeguards just before he would go down the water slides! Too funny!

Our drive home on Sunday was a little crazy though - Matt was white-knuckled the entire 2.5 hours it took us to get home. If any of you have checked the weather report in New England - you know that we got about 18 inches of snow over the weekend! Fun times!

Jack & Reagan "racing" each other on the slide

Reagan is a crazy fish!

All ready to have some fun in the water

Woohoo!!!!

I just received my first bloggy award thanks to Miss Courtney! She must think highly of me or at least of my blog (lord knows why! ha! jk) - so I will take this award with pride and follow the rules. I need to send this to 6 lucky bloggers...

List six things that make you happy. Pass the award along to six more bloggers.: Do not give the typical answers and go for the less obvious, as you all know that family, friends, God, etc would be on the list :

1. Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Latte with Skim Milk...it is an INDULGENCE for me but so delicious!!!!!!! I can't explain how a coffee drink can make me happy but it just does. As soon as I take a sip, my belly gets all warm inside and happy thoughts just flow through my body. So silly but SO true!!!!

2. Exercising...this sounds corny but I workout because it brightens my spirits and makes me a better person. I could be having the worst day ever and if I break a good sweat at the gym...all stress/craziness goes away! I'm a happier person because I work out! Easy as that...

3. Wine...I don't mean to sound like an wine-o but I really do love wine. I have a subscription to Wine Spectator and I love to read about the different wineries and regions of the world that are producing wine. I like to taste different varieties. And oh yea, I love to drink wine! Not going to lie...

4. Getting a letter in the mail...it makes me so giddy to open the mailbox and see a handwritten note in the mail addressed to ME!!!! With email, facebook, blackberrys, texting, etc - it is so uncommon to actually sit down and hand write a note to a friend or loved one. I also loved personalized stationery...

5. Scoring a BIG bargain...nothing makes me happier than finding a good deal. My favorite places to shop are Ebay, TJ Maxx, Homegoods and consignment stores. Don't get me wrong - I have expensive taste (on a small budget) and it is my mission to find my "expensive taste" items at a CHEAP price. If you have not discovered Ebay yet, CHECK it OUT!!!!!!!!!

6. Reading a really good novel...I love to read and since having kids, reading juicy novels have taken a backseat to reading picture books at bedtime with my kids. And to be honest, once my head hits the pillow - I'm out like a light!!! I just recently picked up leisure reading again, joined a book club (love it!!) and became a member of Barnes & Noble book club in hopes that I start to read again!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also discovered Amazon for used books - just got the Joy of Cooking (the CLASSIC cookbook) for about $5 used...reduce, reuse, recycle! Follow Jack Johnson's words and DO it!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so now it's time for me to nominate 6 blogging friends...congratulations, you just won the Kreative Blogger Award!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kristi, Padge, Molly, Lori, Jamie, Mary

No tears...

it was a success! Our photo with Santa that is...even though Reagan refused to sit on Santa's lap! I ended up holding her while standing next to dear old Santa Claus. But Mr. Jack...well, he was very comfortable on the lap of the "big guy" and tried to talk his ear off - unfortunately, the line was pretty long and we had to hurry him along! ha!

Some of life's crazy questions...

So I am borrowing this idea from one of my favorite magazines, Cookie. (hope they don't mind)

My proudest moment in parenting has been...when Jack become 100% potty-trained. Phew!

My most humbling parent moment has been...watching my kids take pleasure in simple things such as boxes, rocks, etc. Makes me realize that they don't need all the fancy toys out there...they can use their imagine to have fun anywhere!

As a parent, I'm great at...being silly, singing crazy songs and dancing around the house!

My meltdown-prevention tactic is...lots of deep breaths and a few cold shoulders.

My favorite moment of the day is...at bedtime when I am reading the kids their books & we are just "talking" about the day.

I've started____a thousand times...going cold turkey with caffeine but it's just not going to happen! ha!

Mornings are always smoother when...we lay out our clothes the night before.

I remember when...

One of the many reasons why I blog is to remember all the little things about my life - I occasionally go back to older posts & just smile at all the silly things that my kids do!

So every once in awhile, I am going to post some "remember when's" with pictures and a short explanation/story! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do...

Here is my first blog post of "remember when's"...here goes!

Remember when we introduced Jack to his first remote control car - the look on his face was priceless! The world of little boys and electronics - oh my! Christmas 2006

Remember when Reagan first started to sit on her own - what a big girl we thought she was!

Remember when we had a snowstorm in March (2007) - what fun Jack had on our back patio in Charlestown.

Remember when we were living in St. Louis and found out that we would be moving to Boston in the fall. It was exciting, sad and scary all that the same time! We miss our St. Louis friends SO MUCH but are thankful for our wonderful friends we have met here in Beantown!

Jack's original songs...

Okay, so I just have to post this little story about Jack...

We have known for awhile that Jack is musically talented (is that even a saying??) and so we really try to foster his interest in it! For about a week now, he has been creating his own words to songs...he just makes them up from scratch and they are quite funny!

A few days ago, we were all in the car driving to who knows what and Jack was just singing away...and he says to us " I am going to sing a song about Reagan".

The song goes a little something like this...

"Reagan, she is my little sister, she likes to pull my hair and she loves her pink lambie too. Reagan is my silly sister."

Both Matt and I found this really cute, so we asked him to sing a song about us. This is his song for Matt...

"Daddy goes to work. He takes me to work. We have fun and do alot of things. I love Daddy."

And then he gets to my song...

"Mommy, she doesn't go to work. She just plays with us all day. We have fun and I love her."

HELLO, I don't go to work????? Does he think I eat chocolate all day & talk on the phone??? ha!

I love how little ones are so honest!!!!

But at least he said he had fun with me! Oh and he loves me too! :)

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

Second to Halloween, I LOVE Christmas...the music piped in at shopping centers, the decorations on each lampost in our square, all the holiday lights, the wreaths on front doors, the jingling bells of the horse-drawn carriages in our town, gingerbread cookies, decorating the house & tree...the list goes on!


Following our family tradition, we picked out our Christmas tree this past weekend (always the Friday after Thanksgiving!!!) and it is a beauty if I can just brag a little! :) In our house, we have this foyer off our kitchen & living room that opens up to the 2nd floor - and it is perfect for a REALLY tall tree. So a 12 ft tree is what Jack & Reagan picked out - it was quite funny bringing it into our home (thankful for Matt's muscles). The kids helped put the lights on (um, can you say lots of tangles?) and hung all the "non-glass" ornaments on the bottom of the tree. We had only 1 casualty (a glass ornament got in the hands of Reagan) but no big deal! It was such a special activity...we got out all of the ornaments the kids made last year - Jack got a kick out of seeing them! And I showed them all of my childhood ornaments...such wonderful memories! My Grandma Bonnie had a special tradition of buying each of the granddaughters Christmas ornaments every year and now I have them on my tree. My Mom has carried that tradition on by buying them for Jack & Reagan. I hope to one day see their ornaments on their own family's tree.

Hope everyone has a wonderful month of December...no matter what holiday you celebrate, make sure you take the time to cherish each moment with your family & friends. We are all truly blessed to have one another...hugs & kisses to you all! (okay, I'm off my soap-box! ha!)

Gobble, Gobble...

and this is just what we did! What a relaxing Thanksgiving we had - the morning started off with a run (had to burn SOME calories before inhaling all the delicious food), a trip to Starbucks (if you even know me a little bit - I am addicted to coffee - especially from the 'bucks) and a fun Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade viewing on the tv. Jack & Reagan loved all the amazing floats & HUGE balloons - Buzz Lightyear was a HIT!


Matt and I have started a little tradition...while preparing our Thanksgiving Dinner, we sip Bloody Marys ( yum! ). Gotta love traditions! :) - see pic below

It was our first attempt at preparing a turkey and it was a success!!! Yea!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...

Reagan wearing her pilgrim hat she made at school

SO proud of the turkey - turned out VERY tasty!

Jack doing a turkey dance!

Matt & the bloody marys - cooking up the stuffing!

A HUGE thank you...

to my friend, Lauren! As we say in Boston, she's WICKED talented and was kind enough to take pictures of my crazy kids last Friday morning. We had planned for an earlier date...a fun photo shoot outside at the beach BUT gotta love New England weather - of course we had to reschedule and it was just plain COLD. So we made it work here at our house...and if you have a chance to check out the pictures, it went really well!

I have to give a shout out to my friend, though...she is truly gifted, a very talented photographer here in Boston. She shoots weddings but as you can tell, does an amazing job taking pictures of little kids who are hard to contain!!! :) If you ever find yourself surfing the 'net, check out her website b/c again as we say in Boston - she is WICKED awesome!!!! http://www.personkillian.com/!

The pictures are all posted on the website below:

http://www.collages.net/

user id: JR

password: 8535

xoxo, Erin

Knock, Knock...

A future comedian??? Who knows, but Jack is really into Knock, Knock jokes! And a BIG thanks to Nana & Papa for his new joke books, he is sharing his funnies with everyone!!! His favorite right now is:

Jack: "Knock, Knock"
Anyone else: "Who's there?"
Jack: "Boo!"
Anyone else: "Boo Who?"
Jack: "Boo? Are you a Ghost???"

We really have to credit his teacher, Lyni, for introducing him to knock, knock jokes...they share alot of them during lunchtime at school! It is so cute...even if most of them don't mean anything!

From the mouth of a 4 year old...

Jack practicing his sign language!

The world has such an interesting spin when you look at it as if you were a 4 year old...and many of you Moms would agree with me when I say that I sure do love what/how those 4 year olds think of us!

Setting: In the car after a crazy morning at home. Running a few errands with the kids.

Jack: Mommy, where are we going?

Mom: Well Jack, we are dropping off some stuff to a few of Mommy's friends

Jack: Do you know where we are going?

Mom: I do, Jack! Why?

Jack: Because Mommy, you are so smart.

Mom: Well, thank you Jack. That is so sweet of you! Why do you think I'm smart?

Jack: Because you know everything!

Enough said...I think that represents my year-end review from my "boss" and I'll take it! :) Do you think I'm getting a raise????

Throwing in the towel...ALREADY!

Okay, so the official Day #1 of potty training for Reagan did not exactly go as planned. When our little potty princess woke up this morning, Mommy was all smiles & politely guided Reagan to the bathroom to relieve herself after a LONG night (wish it were a little longer - darn those early morning risers!). But no, the scenario did not happen like I had hoped it would...little Miss Reagan screamed and kicked on the floor of the bathroom as I was trying to convince her to just sit on the potty. argh! Okay, 1 attempt down and many more to go but I was NOT giving up!

And so after several (read: 5 tries) attempts at sitting on the potty in the morning, I just threw in the towel! Of course the final straw was when she was watching "Sid the Science Kid" (our new fav show!!) and let the floodgates go...it actually sounded like the faucet was turned on! And do you think she even blinked once while watching the show??? NO! I couldn't believe it - both Jack and I looked at each other and looked back at Reagan...still no response from our little pee-pee princess!

Take a look at her potty chart - she LOVES Dora so I thought she would love it! And please count how many stickers are on the chart...it represents how many times that she just sits on the potty ( the M & M's are for when she goes!!!!)...do you see just 1 sticker? Do you understand now why we just called it quits and will wait for another time when she is more willing to actually sit on the potty? ha!

The life of a 2 year old...isn't it sweet???

Bring out the new undies...

it's potty-training time again! Oh yes, Miss Reagan has stated that she is done with diapers and insists on wearing her new undies (which include pictures of Dora & Disney princesses). So today was our first official day of no diapers...and we only had 4 accidents and 4 outfit changes! No biggie! :) We are ready for day #2...I think! :)

All is quiet in the house...

and I am VERY worried what I might find in Jack's room! :) This morning, as I was brushing my teeth & washing my face (because a shower was out of the question!!! ha!) - I noticed after about 3 minutes there was no fighting, screaming, crying, etc. coming from Jack's room. The kids had been tearing up the house all morning and running around like little rascals...so when I realized that they had been very quiet I was nervous!



But when I walked into the bedroom, this is what I found: Jack & Reagan sitting together in the train table storage bin reading books. And Jack was even reading to Reagan...so very sweet! I stood at the doorway w/o them noticing for several minutes - just taking in the sensitive way Jack was reading the Dinosaur book and the gazing look Reagan was giving him! It almost brought me to tears...aaaahhhh, all their constant fighting was almost (note, I said almost) erased from my mind!



please disregard the clumps of black hair on the rug...yes, Ellie is going through a shedding phase right now! fun! (hint: sarcasm there!)

Skating...

So for a couple weeks now, we have ventured onto the ice (and for those of you who are not from the New England area...hockey & skating is BIG!!!!). Jack has started skating on Saturdays and Thursdays (and sometimes Tuesdays) and last Saturday, we decided to put Reagan in skates. She has been asking - so thanks to my friend Kristen for the skates - we got her on the ice. Miss Reagan did an amazing job - she was able to hold herself up on the ice and skoot around for a bit. But once she fell down -she was done & ready for her snack!

p.s. Jack now can skate on his own!!! He's ready for hockey! :)

Reaggie & her friend, Connor

Jack's speed skating

She's done & ready to eat!

close-up of jack

silly reagan!

BOO from Boston...

As a busy Mother of 2 little ones, I never set myself up for disappointment by planning something "set in stone" because usually it never ends up the way I originally thought it would! For example, if I schedule a playdate in advance - most likely one of the kids will be sick & we will have to reschedule. But...I thought Halloween would be different...in the past 3-4 weeks, Reagan has been buzzing all around the house in anticipation of wearing her Bee costume. And Jack - well, it took him FOREVER to decide on his costume - lots of looks on the computer at costume stores and glances through costume magazines to come up with his pick for this year...ta da! Buzz Lightyear! It is the cutest costume and he looks adorable in it! (see previous post with pictures)

But...on Friday evening at 5pm, I couldn't find Buzz or a bee anywhere in my house!!!! Nope - they both refused to wear those costumes and Jack came out of his room as Spiderman and Reagan wanted to be a Fairy Princess. ha!

No matter what the kids wore, they looked cute & had a BLAST!!! Grammy & Gramps were here to help celebrate the fun night...they came to visit us this past weekend. We filled our time with carving pumpkins, playing at the playground, LOTS of cheerios eating (Gramps & Jack's favorite cereal), ice skating, some shopping and even a date night for Mom & Dad (THANK YOU Grammy & Gramps).

Hope you enjoy the pictures of the kids! Click on the web link below to our Snapfish album:

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=37921225676747718/l=448682711/g=44695723/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Feeding Farm Animals + Germs = Happy Kids and Freaked Out Mom!

This past week was a rough one for us (well, at least the end of the week...) - both kids & Matt were sick with head colds and pretty fussy. We NEEDED to get out of the house & enjoy some fresh autumn air...so of course what do I do? Yep, that's right - take the kids to this cute & germ-infested petting farm in our town. It is very small...a rabbit, 3 or 4 goats, a couple sheep, some pigs and a crazy turkey! (I had a strange feeling the turkey's future wasn't so bright with Thanksgiving coming up! ha!)

Reagan dove right in...and was so excited to feed the 2 baby goats they had. Jack was a little scared & just stood back while taking it all in. After all the food was gone, the kids climbed on the big tractor and fire truck. Now THAT was Jack's favorite part...

Enjoy these silly pictures of the kids - as a side note, I soaked the kids' hands in antibacterial soap! :)