Construction Begins!

We've been talking about it for 2 years. Should we stay or should we go? After 6 months on the market with no offers, 2 architects and 5 sets of plans later, construction has finally begun!!!!

I'm so anxious to get things going that I encourage demolition. In order to pour the foundation we had to tear down a part of my new deck but I found myself cheering as it came down. My yard is torn up and we have a permanent mound of dirt in the driveway but I have my eye on the prize.

My husband now has a honey-do list that will last him at least 6 months. Dylan loves nothing more than dirt, tools and big machines so his life couldn't be any better. Even Camryn is partaking in the fun.

The deck comes down


The general contractors hard at work






Dylan in his glory



So far so good. Other than the constant mud prints throughout my house, I have no complaints. But this is only the beginning, the roof is getting ripped up, walls are getting torn down, feeding kids without a working kitchen...but I'm so excited about the finished product that I say, "Bring it on!"

Famous last words I'm sure.

A Fun Fall Day

I love New England in the Fall. The crispness in the air, the changing of the leaves, snuggling back into your jeans and hoodies. Activities like apple picking and local fairs make Fall fun for the kids too!

Today we went to a local orchard and had a ball. There was a huge sunflower maze that you needed a map to navigate through. Dylan took the lead and the rest of us were just trying to keep up.


I think we ran into ever dead-end possible. But I think Dylan's goal was to stay in there as long as possible. It's amazing we ever got him out!
Then we took a tractor ride to the apple orchards to pick our own. Dylan wanted to pick the highest ones that he could reach.

And Camryn didn't quite understand why we didn't want the ones off the ground in our bag. We definitely owed more to the "Sin Bin" then any other family there.



You would have never known that Camryn had eaten any apples while picking once we got into the orchard store. She made a beeline for the bakery, grabbed onto a package of Apple Cider Donuts and wouldn't let go. Seriously, she wouldn't let up her grip even for the cashier to ring them up. Honestly, it wasn't a purchase anyone was too upset about but my husband and I barely got any!

So when I'm complaining about how much I hate New England in the winter, someone remind me of how much I actually do enjoy the changing of the seasons!

Crazy for Cakes

This weekend was Dylan's 4th birthday party. Every year I pick a theme of something that he's interested in and try to carry it throughout the event. And every year I make myself crazy about his cake. I'm a huge Ace of Cakes fan and somehow think that by watching the show I'm able to create such masterpieces. And then when they don't look anything like them, I become frustrated.

Not only do I have no experience or training in cake making/decorating but my kids don't like real cake, they prefer ice cream cake. So I'm limited in the carving and shaping department. And fondant and ice cream don't make for a very good combination. But all things aside, I think I'm getting better every year!

Here is the progression of my cakes:

Dylan's 1st birthday cake: supposed to be a turtle made out of ice cream, no one at the party could tell what it was2nd birthday: He was obsessed with Cars, hence the race track (this was before I discovered fondant)


3rd birthday: John Deere party


Dylan's 4th birthday cake
Dylan's 4th birthday party cake: he loves to fish with his dad
My personal favorite: Camryn's 1st birthday ladybug cake

I think I'm improving each year! My next adventure is to make a topsy-turvy cake and REALLY drive myself crazy!

Posted too soon!

Pre-school drop-off today managed to make my last post null and void. So please disregard it or refer to paragraph two for a more accurate description of today's affair!

Back to school jitters

All summer long I've been dreading the day that Dylan goes back to school. Not only does it mark the end of summer and our fun-filled days together but Dylan didn't separate well last year. It was actually the worst case scenario for dropping your child at school.

Fighting him to get dressed to go, carrying his flailing body to the car, tearing him out of his carseat, hysterics the entire walk to the classroom and teacher peeling him from my arms while he screamed: "Mommy don't leave me!" And this went on for 2 days a week for at least 3 weeks straight. It took everything in me not to just home school him.

But when I picked him up he had had such a great time I knew I was doing the right thing by leaving him there. It got better after awhile. I would find notes in his backpack that read: I miss you mom but I'm staying happy. Or when I dropped him off he would say: "Look mom, no tears!"

Then Camryn began to be more active and need more of my attention and he felt like he was missing out on things that were going on at home while he was at school. I reassured him that Camryn napped and I did boring housework for the whole time he was gone. So we ended the school year on a positive note.

All summer long I'd been prepping him about a new classroom, with new teachers and friends and he just didn't want any part of it. So you can understand why I had a bad case of the back to school jitters.

On Monday I pulled into the parking lot ready to have my heart ripped from my chest while my little man screamed for me while I abandoned him. But to my delight, he hung up his backpack, went to find his nametag and never looked back!!!

It was amazing and I'm so proud of him! So the cord has been severed and now I get to watch him soar!

Mommy who??

You know how some people bring nannies on vacation with them. Well forget the nanny, I want to bring a photographer along!
By looking at our vacation pictures you wouldn't even know I was there. Why, because my husband sucks at taking pictures! He never thinks to pick up the camera and capture a moment of me playing with my kids. I, on the other hand, not only take awesome pictures but later make them into books and read them with my kids so they can relive the memories of their vacations...with dad!


Here are some pictures that I took:

Daddy teaching Dylan to ride a bike without training wheels

Daddy napping with Camryn on the beach

Daddy playing football with his son

Daddy roasting marshmallows with his kids

Daddy frolicking in the waves with his kids


And here are the pictures he took of me:


Here's a great shot of me pushing Camryn in the hammock


One of me jumping off a bridge...I'm the big splash in the water


Look the kids and I are having so much fun in this one


And my personal favorite that will evoke so many memories....


So I guess I'll have to make sure our vacations are so much fun that the kids won't need to look at pictures to remember them!

Some more Smore's!

Smore's are a big deal for my kids. Even though they have ice cream for dessert more times than I'll admit in a week, there is something about smore's that gets them excited.

For Camryn it's probably the unlimited amount of chocolate and incredible mess that goes with it.

















But for Dylan it's definitely the marshmallows. I don't even think he has ever eating a smore. He takes pride in roasting the perfect marshmallow. From a little boys perspective, what could be better than eating off a stick and playing with fire without getting in trouble!

His love for marshmallows reminds of a story when he was younger. It was the middle of winter and I thought making rice crispy treats would be a fun project for us. I knew I had bought a new bag of marshmallows for hot chocolate, so when I couldn't find them I was a bit confused. Talking to myself and not really expecting an anwser, I asked: "Dylan, where did those marshmallows go?"

To which he replied: "They're all gone. Every morning while you and dad are asleep, I come down and take one."

Surprised and humored I said: "You do, do you?"

And he said: "But just ONE a day!"