Interesting day, good story...

Isn't this just the cutest little picture you've ever seen?!! : )   I love it in spite of Charlotte not smiling! I think I'll change it to B&W and frame it.  So cute.  

Ahem. The title of the post implied a story and a story you shall have. 

I love to hike, but we do not get the chance to do it often enough.  In fact we maybe go 2-3 times a year. But it is a fun activity and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Anyway, this past Friday we had the day off and we decided to go hiking.  We wanted to go to a particular mountain that was known to be easy (for adults and 4-year olds!).  We thought it would be easy to get to. Humm, we were wrong.  Brendan punched the mountain name into his IPhone for directions.  The IPhone directions brought us up a mountain, up a very long road that seemed to be going somewhere. It was going somewhere alright...right to a fantastic mansion on top of the mountain!! : )  We quickly and quietly drove back down the mile long driveway!  Then we realized the gas tank light came on.  So, we drove back to civilization and held our breath for 15 min until we were able to find a gas station.  Then we punched said mountain into some NH hiking trail website Brendan found which brought us up the same roads as before but we turned down a different road before going back up that driveway!  Then the IPhone lost service.  We parked where other cars were but for the life of us could not find the hiking trail!  Before we could call anyone for help, the phone died!!  I was determined to hike so I made a game out of trying to find the trail with Cole. It was pretty hilarious.  Then we found ourselves back on the road.  Mercifully, we heard children laughing and someone hiking through the woods. We waited to see where they would emerge.  We stopped to talk with the people and one of the first things they said was "Oh you choose a steep trail for the little ones." That gave me my first clue that we were not on the mountain we wanted to be at.  Then the woman told me they hadn't even made it to the top and they had hiked for 2 hours total!! Oh boy.  So we decided to make the best of it and started off on the trail just making it an adventure for Cole but warning him we weren't going to the top.  He was fine with it.   We looked for bears, we found interesting  plants.  Charlotte would have none of the backpack and that was our stopping point. It really was too steep for her to climb by herself and she did want to do it...ALL...BY...HERSELF!

It is a story to look back on and laugh about.  The kids didn't complain about the lack of hiking that Mommy promised.  I got some great pics so at the end of the day, it is all good. : )

We went to Grammy and Paw-Paws later. Charlotte goes right for the Mardi Gras necklaces! Such a little girl!

I love these pics. Aidyn and Cole were running circles around Charlotte and she couldn't stop laughing!   By the way, Charlotte adores Aidyn!! She says his name over and over again and when he was over, she wanted to show him everything...including her belly which Aidyn was less than impressed with! I love to see the cousins interact and play!

Just keep swimming....

Up until this past Thursday we spent every night in the pool for 2 solid weeks straight. We would have dinner on the porch, get into our swim suits ( or not in the case of Miss Charlotte!), and stay in the pool until bed time!  We just had a blast. When we were looking for houses back in 2007 I didn't want a pool for the obvious safety reasons with young children.  But having a locked gate and the fact that it is an above ground pool makes me feel better. I will feel much, much better when Cole learns how to swim though!  

This particular night Charlotte decided to work the camera from behind the gate. : ) I just love this photo.

This is Cole actually laughing and being silly before jumping in. : )

Lessons

I admit, I'm a sucker for the cheesy....whether it is chick flicks or romantic whatever...I just love cheesiness!  And I can't draw the line when it comes to me being a supervisor. I love inspirational stuff!  Almost every day I walk by a poster that says "It's amazing what can be accomplished if you do not care who receives the credit."  I always say to myself, "Self, this is so true."  Ha-ha. I crack myself up a little bit too. : ) 

Well, here's a little inspiration that I got via (what else but a...) inspirational email received today.  Don't just think of this in the "work" sense. I think this lesson is perfect for friendship, for marriage, or any other type of relationship!

A Leadership Lesson from ... GEESE!

How often do you hear people speak with envy about companies with “real heart”? Companies like Nordstrom, FedEx, Ben and Jerry’s, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, and The Container Store to name a few. Outsiders are constantly looking for their “secrets” to success. Fact is, the secret lies in the hearts of their employees. These companies create connected teams and, as a result, build dominant businesses by acting like geese. Like geese? Yes, like GEESE!

If you ever happen to see (or hear about) geese heading south for the winter – flying along in “V” formation – you might consider what science has discovered about why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew by itself. Any goose that falls out of formation suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into position to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back in the set and another goose moves up to fly point. And the geese in the back honk to encourage those in front to keep up their speed. Finally, when a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen teammate until it is able to fly or it dies. Only then do they launch out on their own – or with another formation – to catch back up with their group.

The lesson: Like geese, people who share a common direction and sense of community, who take turns doing demanding jobs, and who watch out for one another, can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of their teammates. Geese are defined by how they stay connected with one another. Successful teams – and excellent leaders – are defined the same way. 

A little something...

This past weekend we strapped the kids in the bike trailer and went for a nice long bike ride to the library.  The kids love...we love it...it's a win-win for everyone! I love this pic!

Cole received the game Elefun for his birthday. It's a game where little fabric butterflies are blown out of a 4 foot "trunk" and you have to catch the butterflies as they float out. The kids LOVE this game...especially Charlotte. She drags the elephant around the house, saying "elefe" over and over again until we keep putting the butterflies back in.  

TomAto, Tomahto

Well, pre-2009 Kelly used to let her plants die a slow death from lack of watering or over-watering. Then, Lisa and Rob gave me a magic houseplant for Christmas. It requires very little watering and when it appears wilted and done when I forget to water it, if I give it a little drink it pops right back up again in no time! I really think it is magic!  Anyway, it gave me a little gardening mo-jo. : )  We planted tomatoes, strawberries, and jalepano plants in the spring and they are doing wonderfully! Over 3 tomato plants I have 45 tomatoes growing. And they are the size of the tomatoes one would buy in the store so we will be having homemade spaghetti sauce, salsa, and who knows what else for quite some time!  If you want some tomatoes, just ask!  

Oh, I am just so proud of myself. (Thanks to you Mother Nature too!)

Just the Facts, Ma'am...

Cole and Charlotte had their well-checks last week!  Both are doing great! 

Cole is now 34 pounds and 40 inches- both in the 50% percentile which is amazing to me (weight wise) because he seems so skinny! : ) But Cole has grown just under 2 inches since we last measured in February!  

My little peanut Charlotte. Only 29 inches tall (5% percentile again!!) and 24 pounds (25% percentile!).  She eats anything still and is super healthy!!  She was born at 18 inches so she is just destined to be short- like her parents! : )

What did we do this weekend?

We walked through the neighborhood laughing and wearing wizard hats.

We laughed a lot, actually!

A lot!

We pretended to be serious knights who needed to listen to the "Star Wars" theme over and over and over and over (you get the idea) from a musical birthday card....

We stuffed our face with cheese sticks and wore the wizard hat around the house!

We played with water balloons...

This one lasted the longest.....

Cole and I threw water 20 balloons and buckets over water at one another in about 15 minutes time.

We napped and snuggled...

We played in the pool...a lot..

And were quite silly!

We played with friends...

And were silly in their pool too!

Even us little ones!

And we posed for Mommy all weekend long.... : )

Water Country!/Cole Turns 4!

For Cole's 4th birthday we celebrated at Water Country!!  Amanda's Mum was kind enough to get us tickets since she is Queen Lifeguard over there and we are very grateful to her for that! Cole had a blast as always.  Charlotte of course clung close to me as she always does when she needs to get used to the situation. By the end of the day she was having so much fun over in the pirate area and loved sliding down the whale slide and the parrot slide.   We had a wonderful day (but missed Aidyn and Katrina of course!) and Cole had a very satisfying birthday!

I don't know what possessed us to take 4 very tired children to a sit down restuarant afterwards but it was ok other than Charlotte hollering and running around like a banshee. Oh well- she had fun- and I'll never see those other people again (the other customers I mean, not my family! ha-ha!)

The girls! I think by next year they will be playing together!

Just a cute one...

I have been horrible delinquent with blogging this summer, but I think that happens to me every summer. Anyway, this is a silly photo of Charlotte. I had got some super cute stuff on mega-sale at Tea Collection (my fav online store for cute play dresses!) and once they arrived, Charlotte wanted to put on the two pairs of leggings, 2 dresses, AND Cole's pajama top all at the same time. She thought she was pretty funny.  

I really must find some dress up clothes for this girl! She loves hats and playing with clothes!

In other news, we went to Water Country last week for Cole's bday and had his 4th bday party yesterday. Both were a ton of fun.  Do you know it though- I did not take a single picture at Cole's party?!  So completely unlike me. I am relying on getting copies of all of the photos Grammy, Kerry, Grandpa, and Katrina took- all of which I'm sure are great!

Another year....

I started blogging about you when you were just 6 months old. But all of the blogging and the stories could not share what a complete joy you have been in mine and Daddy's lives. You are a jokester ("Where does a cow go to be famous? Moooo-York", is your current favorite), but lately you've been making up your own too. Your first year you were sick a lot and made me so worried (reflux, RSV, rotavirus, etc) and now you barely catch a sniffle. You sleep so well (which makes Daddy forget how often you used to wake up) and in the morning you just come crawl into bed and snuggle up to me and play with my hair (unless you are wide awake, in which case you ask to watch TV).  

You love playing sports, especially hockey and soccer, showing me  how high you can pump on the swing all by yourself and lately have been loving coloring and painting. You are so deliberate with your coloring- gone are the random scribbles! Your favorite picture that you made for me is that of a walking face with no body and lots of legs. It makes you laugh everytime you see on the fridge. 

Lately when I tell you I miss you during the day, you reply "But Mommy I love school. I like playing with my friends." This is a bittersweet thing to hear but I know you are happy so that  is a good thing.

You love rough-housing with Daddy; you are fantastic with Charlotte.  You are always watching out for her and you let her tackle you when she wants to hug. 

You love to dance to "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" from the Jersey Boys soundtrack (aka The Four Seasons), Poker Face by Lady Gaga, and "Everybody wants to go to Heaven" by Kenny Chesney. Your favorite songs to sing with Mommy are "This Land is Your Land" and "The Ants Go Marching" Both you and Charlotte love the "Hurrah, hurrah" part!

One day recently when we randomly started looking at Halloween costumes in a magazine we saw the Wicked Witch of the West. I told you the story of the Wizard of Oz and you sat there mesmerized by the whole thing for 20 minutes. You ask me to tell you the story often. You could also sit and read books with Mommy or Daddy for a long time and be just as happy as you are playing with your cars.

You are a sweet, loving, social, such a true boy!  

Happy 4th Birthday!!