Happy Birthday Papa Quattrin!

We need to end the year saying Happy Birthday to Papa Q! We're so happy we got to see you last August and hope it isn't too long before we see you again. We hope you have a wonderful birthday and know we wish we could be there to share some cake with you. Happy Birthday!!!

And on his farm he had a tractor, EIEIO

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Still in a holiday haze here. We had a great Christmas; mommy got a new printer so she can really start making cards and printing pictures, daddy got a new ipod to replace the one he lost, Tyler got a tractor lawn mower that he had been asking for courtesy of Papa and Grandma Anderson, Kendall got a little vanity to add to her low supply of girlie things, thanks Grandma & Grandpa Quattrin. And lots of other great gifts from Santa and family. Tyler had been waiting so long for Santa that I think he was starting to think he wasn't coming. Kendall woke up first so we went and woke up brother to tell him that we thought Santa might have come. That was the fastest I saw him get out of bed in a long time! Then we went downstairs to see the mother load. All I can say was I think Tyler was a bit overwhelmed.

We hope you all had a great Christmas too. It's times like these that we wish we were closer to family so we could all enjoy the holiday together. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!

Never Ending Snowy

It's basically been snowing since Friday afternoon. I'm not sure of how much exactly has fallen but lets just say A WHOLE LOT!
We managed to get out in it as a family this afternoon after lunch and we had fun until Daddy threw some snow on Tyler's face and then the party was over.
It's so funny how Tyler likes the idea of snow but doesn't really like to be out there for too long.
He hates to be wet and cold. He was at the door telling me how he wanted to go back inside because he had "snot and snow all over [his] face". I can't say I blamed him one bit we were all cold, that is except Kendall. That girl just loves the snow!
The only time she got mad was when daddy picked her up to come back inside.
She kept saying "more, more, more sled" After we all got unbundled and went our separate ways inside I had to go back and check on Kendall to see what she was doing. Looked like she was trying to get dressed herself to go back out. Tyler on the other hand . . . still trying to get warm.

First Snowfall

Well we had our first real snowfall of the season. Tyler has been anxiously awaiting snow. It snowed about a week back but it didn't stick around for too long; in fact by the time Tyler was able to go out in it, it had disappeared. So this morning when he woke-up and saw much more of it, he couldn't wait to get out there with his sled. Of course though the first thing Tyler thought was Santa must be coming today because there was snow. He says "Mommy mommy! Santa is coming today because he likes snow!" (I'm still trying to work on counting the days with our advent calendar but I just don't think he understands why he hasn't come yet.) Anyway Tyler scarfed down some breakfast and then was ready to get outside.
I think it took us about 30 plus minutes to get all bundled up and we were probably out there for what seemed like forever for me but probably only about a half hour. The snow was perfect for the sled. Not too much and just icy enough for it to really work. The kids had fun with mommy toting them around the yard.
Kendall liked the idea of being outside in the snow but she didn't like that she couldn't really walk in it.












I kept asking if she wanted to go inside and she'd say no but she wanted me to walk around and hold her. Mean mommy said "oh no if you want to be out here you'll have to learn to walk in it and deal with it." Friday they are expecting about a foot of snow, so I wonder, will we be having a white Christmas? I hope so.

Beautiful Disaster

Well we are finally back home after a 2 night stay at the local Embassy Suites. (Really made me think twice about vacationing with the kids anytime soon) When we came home to check on things we were pleasantry surprised that power had been restored. We had been warned it could have taken a week. Our neighbors with generators didn't even know the power was back yet. We immediately came in and cranked up the heat. The basement was probably the warmest area of the house. Downstairs was 45 degrees while upstairs was a brisk 41. And that was with the heat on for 3 hours. It took almost 7 hours to feel any heat upstairs, thankfully tonight everything is back to normal. These first 4 pictures were taken the morning after the storm.

We thought that the one branch above the enclosed porch would snap off but it didn't thankfully.

As you can see the trees were just bent over from the weight of the ice. I've never seen anything like it. And from what I could gather from other locals they hadn't seen anything this bad either.

The second batch of pictures were taken the day after "clean-up" basically a snow plow or bulldozer just came through the street and moved all the debris to the side of the road. I wish I would have taken pictures of what it looked like when we left on Friday. It was amazing we could even get off the street, trees were just strewn all over the place. Two of the neighbor pre-teen boys were out clearing the street for everyone. And they did a great job too because UPS was actually out delivering packages to everyone on Friday. I wonder what the spring will bring, will we have to plant new trees? I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture or not but we lost two big ones in the front of the house. All I can say is thankfully they didn't land on our house.

Keeping you all posted. . .

Well I'm writing this from our hotel room on Kevin's laptop tonight. I'm not sure if you all have heard or not but Massachusetts was hit pretty bad by a storm last night. Basically it was just raining but it was 31 degrees out so all the water was freezing on the trees causing the trees to bend and just snap under all the weight of the ice. It was really bizarre and quite scary. The news is saying they they aren't expecting anymore rain tonight but its supposed to get super cold and cause refreezing and the wind is supposed to pick up which may cause more damage. Luckily (so far) no major damage for us, just lots of collapsed trees in the yard. Wish I could post some of the pictures I took today but we don't have any power and they think it may be a few days before we get it. Thankfully we have a hotel room so we are all warm, well fed and safe. Lets hope we can get back into our home tomorrow. We will keep you posted.

Open Wide

Tyler had his very first dentist appointment. I was a little worried how today would go since he hates when we try and brush his teeth for him but he was a pro. A little apprehensive at first but pretty soon he was showing all 20 chompers without even being asked. No cavities, so I guess we're doing everything right so far. We will have to start flossing his teeth (oops, we hadn't been doing that, this should be fun). And unfortunately the dentist said that probably in 8 years Tyler will have to have braces. His teeth are already really close together and those permanent teeth will only be bigger. I guess there really isn't any avoiding braces since both Kevin and I had braces too. Kendall was at the dentist too cheering on Tyler. She kept saying "turn teeth" I hope she does as well at her appointment in a year and a half since she's my "I'm not doing what you tell me to do" child. Anyway great job Tyler!

Congratulations, Daddy!

Well a year after moving the family out here for a career transition, we'd like to think that maybe it was worth it. Kevin was the recipient of Boston Scientific's 2008 Marketing Excellence Global Contribution Award. Yeah Daddy! Not only did he get a nice plaque for his office but also some just in time spending money for Christmas. Now I was just excited for the cash then he told me we get a fabulous vacation out of it too. There were several options but I think we're going to do Nevis. Now all we have to do is find someone to watch the kids for 4 nights. Any takers?

Jolly Ol' St. Nick at the Mall

Today we went and made a little visit to the Santa at our local mall. I couldn't believe how excited Tyler was to meet him. Last year he was terrified and wouldn't go near the man; this year he could hardly stand to wait his turn to tell Santa what he hoped to get this Christmas. (a tractor with a hay trailer). Tyler really hoped to show Santa some good boy behavior, look at that love with sister. There seemed to be something different about this Santa, he almost seemed sort of genuine. Every year when I've made my pilgrimage to the mall to visit Santa, the past few years with the kids and the ones before with my best friend, the Santa's either seemed grumpy because it wasn't the sort of job they wanted or a major perv grabbing my arse. I know I know maybe I was too old to be sitting on Santa's lap in high school and college but I had to hope he'd pull through and deliver my wish lists one of those years. Anyway this year Santa was not scary, he was a very friendly man who may have just put me into the holiday spirit.

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Birthday to Papa Anderson

We wanted to sing you a happy birthday Papa! We miss you and love you lots. Wish we could spend this day with you but hopefully this special treat is second best. Hope you have a wonderful day, Papa!

Happy Turkey Day To All

We want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!












I made our feast here, which consisted of a Buttermilk-Brined Turkey, Smokey Bacon Biscuit Dressing, Mashed Potatoes (of course), Snap Beans with Caramelized Shallots and Roasted Mushrooms, Cranberry Sauce and last but certainly not least Pecan Pumpkin Butter Pie. I do have to say I make one mean turkey, yummy yummy! And I have to be honest I thought all my sides were pretty delicious too. Tyler was so excited all day to eat turkey dinner. It might have been because we saw some wild turkeys actually walking across the street from our house this morning. The big hit though this morning was the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I think the kids sat there the whole morning and watched it. I couldn't believe how much they enjoyed it. I don't remember enjoying it that much. Of course I can't remember back when I was 2 so who knows. We started new traditions this year, Tyler and Kendall enjoyed a little wrestling.


I think she gave him a run for his money. Anyway it was a good day and mommy is oh so tired from all her hard work in the kitchen. I do want to add what I'm thankful for and that is a healthy and happy family (colds and tantrums aside). I feel so privileged to have what we have, and I'm just so thankful that we are all healthy to enjoy life as it is.