New Mama's, Soon to be Mama's, and Old Hats...

This past weekend I flew to Tampa to surprise my friend Hallie for her 40th birthday!  Lillie had the bright idea about a month ago...and we have been planning ever since.  I arrived Friday morning.  Hallie's husband Emiliano picked me up at the airport while Hallie was busy at work (as a 4th/5th grade science and math teacher).  Lillie was already at the hotel, and the two of us enjoyed the early afternoon exploring Tampa.  The hotel had complimentary Museum of Modern Art tickets...so after lunch we ventured there.  Did I mention Olive was with us!?  I have been dying to meet this precious baby!  The trip was not only to celebrate Hallie's birthday, but also to meet Lillie's daughter who turns 6 months this week, and to see Hallie's growing belly!  She is due with her first baby this August!  So many great memories were made!  I am so lucky to have these friends in my life...since kindergarten...  To see them as mommies has been a dream of theirs, and mine for a while now, and I cannot express how very happy I was to hear them chatting about all the newness of their experiences, and to know the joy they are in for.

Le Meridien...fabulous hotel.

Museum Modern Art.

Me and Lillie

OMG!  Olive!!!

We surprised Hallie with a pedicure...and ourselves!

Yup.  40.  How did that happen?

Thai food birthday dinner.  Yum.

The new family!  Lillie, Paul and Olive.

Emiliano getting some practice before his little girl arrives in August.

Hallie, Emiliano and growing baby girl.

On Sunday we went to the Thai temple for insanely delicious Thai food.

Veggie, rice noodle soup.  

Hallie and Olive.

Our last few hours together at the temple.  I miss everyone already...

Look at those Tomatoes!

The weather has been humid and hot one second, breezy and sunny and cool the next, swimming weather, hiking weather, sweatshirt weather and the next second tank top weather... I thought New England was ever changing...Texas is pretty dramatic!  What I do love is that just about anyone around here can have a green thumb.  Plants go crazy with the sun and humidity, and I very rarely have to water.  Our tomatoes have been growing huge since the day I planted them.  I think we will be ready to pick a few in the next week.  Our hot peppers are ready to harvest now!
 I took the family to Hobby Lobby yesterday after Ethan's game (they lost, but Ethan had his best game yet). I have been hearing about this place since we landed, and it did not disappoint.  It is Micheal's, Jo Anns, and Homegoods all rolled into one.  HUGE!  Scott went bananas buying western themed decor for his office.  I had to beg him to leave..he outlasted us all.  Shocker!

Fiona and Paul in a serious battleship game!

Did you know there are monkeys in TX?

Needed a little review on math terms...

Huge tomatoes!

My main man and I snuggling this morning.

Hobby Lobby happiness.

Hobby Lobby also carries rocket powered cars...who knew?

Scott got it for Ethan?

3-2-1...blast off!

Art on the Waterway

This past weekend was another action packed series of events.  Saturday early afternoon Ethan had a ball game.  The Brewers lost...but this time only by one point!  Let's celebrate this!  I have NO fingernails at this point and am looking forward to growing them again once baseball season is over.  After we got home from the game it was a quick turn around to get ready for our little neighbors pool party celebration, Adler's fifth b-day!  Fiona and Ethan are getting used to the role of being the older kids on the street, and taking the role of protectors, and babysitters pretty seriously!  It is weird for me to see them this way.
     Yesterday we headed to the Waterway for an art festival.  It was amazing!  Great live music, good food, and some of the best and most extensive array of fine art and artists I have ever seen.  Scott and I took a deep breath and invested in some great works of art from a fellow from Colorado.  He and his wife and young son have decided to hit the road, sell all their belongings, and make a go of living off his art.  Scott and I were happy to give our money to him, and are quite proud to be adding to our fine art "collection".

Giant pizza slices!

We got free sunglasses.  Cool right?

I think Scott was making fun of me...usually that's good for a laugh!

Simple Homeschool Fun

This week has been a pretty fun school week if I do say so myself.  I had to go to the hairdresser yesterday, and normally I just bring the kids with me.  No fun for them.  No fun for me.  They are constantly looking at me mouthing,"Are you almost done yet?"  Then it dawned on me.  Our friends down the street homeschool, and one of their 7 kids is a 16 year old girl!!!  Hooray!  With the approval of her parents, we now have Zoe as a babysitter...available during the day on weekdays!!!!!
So, the kids got a few hours yesterday to play and take a walk with their new sitter!
We are also working on some fun poetry.  Lots of reading of Shel Silverstein.  I have the kids select a poem and then copy, illustrate and memorize it.  We are having fun listening to each other recite these hilarious works.  I also had them each write a poem about the other.  The only instruction was to keep it short and sweet.  I LOVE what they turned in.  I had them read their poems out loud to each other...and I think they each blushed!  Too sweet.

Easter gifts from Gammy and Gampy fit!

This was Ethan's illustration!  Hilarious!

Glub! Glub!

Fiona's.

Oh, how they love each other...

Definitely "friends forever".

These are our babies, just outside our door.

Out feeding the ducks.

Ethan at his friend Joel's house.  Baseball, baseball, baseball...

Little League, with some Big League Chew!

This past Saturday was "Baseball Day" at the field complex where Ethan has his games.  This means that all 1,002 kids in the little league from this town come for games, food vendors, and to have their team pictures taken.  We then had a game after all that excitement!  Soo different from what we are used to back in Nahant!  The weather was absolutely pitch perfect!  Sunny, 78 and not a cloud in the sky.  The Brewer's played hard...but ultimately lost 12-14.  Ethan was thrilled to actually tag a kid out (something he could not do back home due to different rules...one of which was that there was NO stealing).
Friday night we got our first exposure to a "Low Country Boil".  This entails throwing everything you are going to eat into a VERY big pot and boiling it with tons of "Old Bay" seasoning.  King crab legs, shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob and lemon halves.  People were shocked that it was the first time Ethan and Fiona had ever tried king crab.  (They put on a good front...but did not like it).  We also enjoyed homemade lobster risotto.  A labor of love for those of you who have ever made a true risotto!

I just love the light in Fiona's room!

So handsome!

The Brewers!

Num, num, num....

This is the baby that makes people want more babies...