Pretties and independence

These pictures highlight two things that I love right now: the new "pretties" that I bought for Charlotte off of  Etsy. (I just ADORE these barrettes. They are beautifully made and stay in her hair perfectly!) and the fact that Charlotte can feed herself really well now.  It just all of a sudden happened.  One day we are feeding her, the next she is feeding herself her oatmeal without much of a mess! I love how she has to open her mouth super wide to put in the cereal!

...or fingers are always good too...

Happy Mardi Gras!

As you know, Brendan grew up in Louisiana and has many many fond memories of growing up there, not the least of which is being a part of Mardi Gras and seeing the parades, eating King Cake etc.   Someday Brendan would like to bring Cole and Charlotte to Louisiana so they can see it too (well, the kid-friendly parts anyway).   

Cole's preschool encourages parents to come into the classroom and discuss Holidays or events or interests with the class. During sea life week, one mom came in and talked about being a scuba diver and brought all of her gear-Cole thought that pretty neat. Last month another family came in and discussed their families traditions regarding the Chinese New Year.  Well, Brendan thought it would be neat to go into preschool and talk about Mardi Gras (the clean portion of it!) and he actually looked up a recipe for King Cake and made it! It took him two whole days to make and he skipped the part about  putting baby Jesus in the cake because he thought that part might be hard to describe (why are we cooking a baby?!). Brendan went out and bought beads and throws and checked out a Mardi Gras book out of the library. The kids had so much fun with him and were loving the beads and stickers and of course the cake!  On Tuesday afternoons some of the kids are not at school but the ones that were there had a blast! Cole was so proud of his Dad and couldn't stop talking about it when I got home! 

By the way- I don't usually dress Cole in sweats- these were back-up pants because he had gotten really dirty doing who-knows-what earlier in the day! : )

Birthdays Galore!

I always think my Dad, Kerry, and Jay get jipped on the birthday party end of things. They all have their birthdays the same week in February- my Dad's is the 20th, Kerry's is the 26th, and Jay's is the 27th.  Pretty crazy. I'm glad mine's all the way in May!   My Mum is pretty awesome though and because we all love the cake so much she ends up making one for Jay to take home and one for Kerry to take to school! That is a lot of work!  Cole and Charlotte both had a blast as usual over there.  Cole loves to annoy (I mean, wrestle with!) Jay and Charlotte stays close as she is incredibly wary of Dakota, my parents' 80-lb Austrian Shepard. Dakota is a very nice dog and Cole loves her but I think the difference there is that Cole grew up with a dog (sort of) and Charlotte has not.

Cole loved to play tug of war with Dakota but you notice that Grandpa had to hold on too. Dakota was too strong for Cole!



Charlotte just kept running back and forth between Brendan and I and she was content with that as long as Dakota didn't get in her way!

New Kid on the Block

We have a new neighbor and we are thrilled!  Cora was probably the most unsurprisingly surprise ever! We are so excited to welcome Cora. She is beautiful!

You can see from this first pic that Charlotte is a bit jealous as I hold Cora. She looks up at me as if to say, "Mom, don't you get comfortable with that baby in your arms!" She tried to crawl in my lap only when I was holding Cora and wouldn't be bothered with me when I wasn't.

Cole and Caden had fun during the visit playing Guitar Hero.  I like to think they are practicing for when they are really rock and roll heroes. Ha-ha. 

Out!

Yay for us!  We out on a date on Saturday night and it was so much fun.  We talked and laughed so much. Although I was worried about Charlotte (Cole I knew would be fine) because no one else had put her to bed except Brendan and I- I also knew Charlotte would be ok as well.  So we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  CR Sparks is wonderful and I highly recommend it!  I had two glasses of a wonderful Pinot Gris and an amazing dinner of sea scallops flanked with prosciutto (sp?) with parsnip risotto and asparagus along with a salad of baby spinach and blueberries! It was sooooo yummy. Brendan had filet mignon with blue cheese mash potatoes and green beens.  Amazing!  Our dinner lasted 2 whole hours and my Mom said I was glowing when I got home. I pretty sure that was from the alcohol but it was a pretty wonderful night! : )

Random Cuteness

We weren't going anywhere in this picture but we were in the TV room and Charlotte pulled her jacket and hat off of the chair and made me put them on her. She has this thing about putting on items lately- she's really trying hard to learn new things - how to put on hats, jackets, and she loves shoes.  In this photo, Charlotte was trotting over to the window and would point and say "ou-tie" (that's outside for those of you who do not speak Charlotte-talk).  I can't wait for spring/summer so we can go out whenever we want!  

Charlotte likes to display the Mardi Gras beads!

I love this photo.  Cole and Brendan love to play "tackle" and wrestling and all that boy stuff that Mommies are no good at. : )

U-N-H!!!

When Brendan and I went to UNH way back when we used to go to hockey games all of the time. Often we went to away games with our friends Sean and Kerry and we just had so much fun.  Those days are long gone but the good times we had I will cherish always.  I haven't been to a UNH hockey game @ UNH in a long time, maybe 10 years?!  So when Ethan called us up on Wednesday night to say he could get tickets to a UNH/BC game at UNH I was so excited!  And we brought the kids which surprisingly turned out really well. Cole couldn't stop talking about the game on Friday afternoon and he was just as thrilled to be there during the game.  Aidyn and Charlotte were tired and snuggled on up for the most part but a good time was had by all!  I did miss "Black Betty" being played as UNH came on the ice but they played all of the other tunes that they were playing back in my college days.  Cole loved Wild E. Cat and kept looking for him around the arena.  Of course, to top it all off- UNH won so it was just a perfect night!

I had to take a picture of the crazy student section which is of course where Brendan and I used to sit. We would get there about an hour before game time and get seats with our friends right next to the glass. Unknown fact about us- we became NESN file footage one night! We were watching a game at my house and all of a sudden it was the end of the game and there was footage on the TV of us cheering at "a" game.  Hey! Too funny. : )

Aidyn and Cole got these adorable blue hoody UNH Hockey sweatshirts. There is just something about a hoody sweatshirt that I think is so adorable! : )

Aidyn was sleepy, but often silly! : )

Here's another one who was very silly...more so the more tired he became. He insisted on wearing this sweatshirt to bed tonight. I don't think he has plans on taking it off tomorrow either. : )

This photo has a very funny story behind it.  Wild E. Cat came down our row/area and Cole just had to go say "hi".  He got a photo with him, gave him high five, all of that fun stuff, but then Wild E. just decided to pick up my boy and carry him down the stairs and  promptly sit in a empty seat to watch the game with Cole.  I was like, "Hey what is going on here?!" but I just followed with my camera.  As they sat down, Cole just started up a conversation with the folks around him and told them about his bouncy ball his Mommy had got him and the beads his Uncle  Ethan had given him.  He was totally unphased! 

We had a blast with E, K, and A as always!

dinner and a funny

Brendan and I have a date planned for Saturday night! I am so excited! The last time we went out as a couple it was to return some items after Christmas and go to Target! he-he.

We are going out to CR Sparks in Bedford. CR Sparks has an Event Center which is where we had our wedding reception. The actual restuarant is wonderful and the food is just so scrumptous. I was taking a look at the menu today and I saw "Chowder of the day" as a soup option and I had to laugh. It reminded me of one of my favorite movie quotes of all time.

"What is the Soup du Jour?"

"That's the soup of the day, sir."

"That sounds good. I'll have that."

He-he, it makes me laugh even as I type it!

Sled Doggin'

This past Sunday Cole enjoyed a nice, quiet little ride on a dogsled.  

Actually it was much crazier than that!  

Every year Paw-paw and Grammy are part of a dog sled championship program.  Part of the day on Sunday includes a "race" with 3 year olds on up.  We talked it up with Cole the day before but when he got there he was very shy and was not comfortable (at first) sitting in the sled for a picture. I think it was a little overwhelming-- we got there right before the race started and then we trotted on down to the start line, then Cole sat in the sled, ready for take-off and then he was gone and 20 seconds later it was over. Very quick!  Cole loved it though and especially enjoyed the trophy he received in the end!  He ended up bringing it to Preschool today to show it off! : )

I love this photo. Cole would later in the day tell me, "Mommy I saw you!" and he kept telling me that. 

Accepting his award.

Cole and Cameron compare trophies. They are such good boys- waiting patiently during the trophy hand-out.  I am so thankful that Cole has Cameron as a cousin and as a friend so close in age and so close in proximity.  When I was younger all my cousins lived out west so I love the fact that Cole is growing up with so many wonderful family members around him.  I am thankful for each one of you! 

What's a little fondue between friends?

Valentine's Day was filled with lots of fun, love, and laughter. After the aquarium, we scooted off to ice skating lessons, and then back to home. I quickly threw together some melt-in-your-mouth steaks and to-die-for mashed potatoes (if you've never seen Sunny Anderson's recipe for Red, White, and Blue mashed potatoes, you really must check out the Food Network's recipe site).  Then, the Rogers Five came over to our house for some yummy chocolate fondue for dessert! So good. You'll notice Brendan's Martha-Stewart-esque  pineapple presentation- Brendan thought he was pretty ingenious for sticking the top of the pineapple core in the middle of the plate.   We had strawberries, pineapple, pound cake, and as you can see from Cole and Caden- marshmallows as well.  They gobbled them up and half the time forgot to dip them in chocolate. That's ok- more for us!  Charlotte had a little pound cake and loved it. Cole (R.) was MIA from the group photo because he was busy checking out the  kid table, but as soon as he realized there was yummy stuff on the table he joined us!  It was a nice night...maybe the last night before Rogers' baby #3 joins us!

Overall, a very wonderful and satisfying Valentine's Day!!

Valentine's Day

Now you have to admit, the site of two penguins holding hands (or, fins), on Valentine's Day is pretty darn cute.  He-he.  Since Cole has been "studying" sea life at school, we thought a trip to the NE Aquarium was in order.  When I say Cole was excited, I assure you this was understatement. The boy was jumping up and down for a hour before we left.   Charlotte didn't know what was going to happen of course but when we got there, she was just as excited. Really, the cuteness was almost overwhelming!  Charlotte kept babbling and babbling to the animals.

Charlotte and Cole peer into a turtle's tank.  They watched this one for a long time! Charlotte had to turn around and make sure I was there because at one point I had stepped away to take a picture (of course!) and the turtle swam right up and she literally yelped and started crying. Brendan and I and the people around us had a good laugh (I know, we are horrible parents.), but she was ok after that!

There he is!  I just wanted to take him home, he was so cute!

Charlotte kept waving at the fishes.

This is not a poster that Cole is looking at! This is Cole peering into the great tank that holds the large fish, the 40 year old turtle (Myrtle, of course) and sharks.  I just thought this photo looked so cool!

My love bugs.

Cole was SO excited to see sharks and he thought it was just the greatest when they swam by (and it was often!). Cole also loved seeing the scuba diver in the tank, who he said was taking photos of the fish- but I didn't see a camera- I think he was getting it confused with Nemo.

Holding starfish in the Touch Tank.

I got a lot of these types of photos that day- Cole and Charlotte peering through the looking glass and just getting the backs of their heads. They were so incredibly interested in everything. It was neat to see. This is the third time Cole has been to the aquarium and his interest in the fishes and the sharks and the turtles has grown with each successive visit.  The first time when he was 16 months old he was babbling often like Charlotte was this time and now of course he's talking to us like a little boy and we are able to share stories and excitement over the day.  We had a wonderful Valentine's morning- our little family of four!

Just like my brother....

For Valentine's Day this year, Cole choose to give out "Cars" themed cards to the other children in his class.  He took this job very seriously and Brendan helped him over the course of 3 separate nights, write out his name on the cards. Every day last week Cole would come home with more candy and cards from one classmate or another (since some only go part-time and weren't there on Friday).  Cole and I also made pink cupcakes for the class which I'm told were a big hit (of course! They were cupcakes afterall!)  

So anyway, each time Cole sat down to write out his Valentine's, Charlotte had to sit at the table as well and color a card too.  She was very serious about it and didn't get up from the table until Cole did! I think it's hilarious how much Charlotte follows Cole. I can just see where this is going as they both grow up. ("Charlotte- stop following me", says Cole)  I just have to giggle about it.  On another note about coloring, Charlotte LOVES it!  Cole never showed interest in it when he was this age which I just find completely fascinating. Can't help but compare how each one grows against the other!