Out With The Old....

High: I got my classroom set up today :)
Low: Claire had two accidents today :(

Thesd day has finally arrived. The day that I have been putting off all summer long. The day to set up my new classroom. I have taught in the same room for 5 years now (in the best hall ever with all of my buddies, who I will miss with all of my heart). And finally.... my room got moved. While it was a good thing, because in unpacking my room today I noticed there was A LOT of useless stuff crammed onto shelves and I got rid of it. Out with the old and in with the new! But overall it was a big pain because...IT'S STILL SUMMER FOR A FEW MORE DAYS....I AM NOT READY....I DON'T WANNA GO BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really though, I am looking forward to going to back to work (I know isn't it weird). I love teaching, I work with an awesome group of people, and I still get to spend a lot of time with my family. Really it's the best of both worlds so I cannot complain.

Here is what I walked into at 9:30 am this morning:

And here is how it looked at 2:45pm when I was finished (with some help from the best hubbie IN THE WORLD! :)





AHHHH! Done! Well, I am going to stop in on Thursday to hang up some decorations, but that's the fun part! I am excited about my new room, I can't wait to fill it with fun and learning (that sounded super cheesy)!

Just a few shots of Claire (the grumpiest two year old on the block today). Claire was exhausted today after school. She just wanted to go to bed, at like 4 o'clock!! The poor thing! But she loved her bath today! Bathtime is undoubtedly my favorite time of the day. I love the way Claire smells after her bath, and her hair always looks so cute. Her curls are so nice and soft!





Grumpy or not....this kid is the best!

A Nice Walk

High: Nana and Papa came over for a nice walk in the neighborhood :)
Low: We were gonna go to the zoo today but we got too lazy :( - which really wasn't a bad thing ;)

Today was lazy. We had big plans to go to the zoo but before we knew it, it was too late. Oops! But we had a great day just the same!

Here is Claire after her nap. I wanted to take her picture because she is always so cute after her nap. So of course she smiles like this...doesn't she look adorable? Well, seconds after this picture was taken Claire informed me that she took off her shorts AND her pullup. And of course she peed all over her bed. Excellent. But...come on ....how adorable is that smile?!

Then Nana and Papa came over to take a nice walk around the neighborhood.

First, Nana pushed Claire on her bike.

Then Daddy pushed Claire on her bike.

Then Claire decided that she was going to push the bike by herself.





Finally, Claire decided to abandon the bike altogether and walk with Nana and Papa.




Claire finished the evening off watching Max and Ruby with Daddy while having a little snack.

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 Happy Birthday Andrea and Jenny

High: Family Birthday Party :) AND I saw the most amazing rainbow today :)
Low: It rained like crazy again today :(

Today was Andrea and Jenny's Birthday party. We went all went out to Mark's Aunt and Uncle's house for a very nice family party. On the way there we saw the most amazing rainbow! I have never seen a rainbow that was this bright and perfect.

The kids (and a few adults) loved playing Rock Band.

Claire had a blast playing the Wii.




Then she moved on to the piano.


Brianna, Nina, Mark, Andrew (aka Silly Boy) and Jenna hangin out.

Erin and Baby Owen



Happy Birthday Andrea and Jenny. They had homemade ice cream cakes and cheesecakes and they were DELICIOUS!!


Claire weaseled her way into the cake line right away!


Claire wanted Uncle Brian to hold her like Baby Owen. Here are the two proud Daddies (with each other's kids).

Saturday, August 29th, 2009 Pig Roast

High: Pig Roast :)
Low: We missed a family party :(

Today was a Pig Roast at my parents' club. My mother planned the event and "hired" Mark as the DJ (yep, add that to the list of things that Mark does). We had a really good time! The only problem was that it fell on the same day as Brian and Erin's annual summer party, so we could not go. But Claire still went with Grandma and Grandpa and she had a blast. Hopefully I can get some pictures from Grandma or Erin to post. I did get one picture of Claire in her party dress before she left.



Here are some pictures from the Pig Roast:

Everything looked great once it was all set up. But I gotta say, as much as I enjoy a delicious pig roast.... after seeing this last picture, I had a rough time eating. Poor Piggie :(

My mother did a great job setting everything up!

Poor Dad and Sue had the job of separating a thousand necklaces :(


My two favorite boys.


Greg and Suzie.

There was a graduation party going on in the next room and they had a Barbershop Quartet. They were really cute.

DJ Mark

My Mom and her "Peeps".

Friday, August 21, 2009 Hide and Seek

High: Another lazy day :) AND A visit from Aunt Colleen :)
Low: We forgot to take our library books back :( AND We may have ruined Hide and Seek for Claire :(


Today was spent, yet again, doing nothing. We laid around, did laundry, and played with our toys. We weren't quite as lazy as we were yesterday, but...we were still a little lazy.

Today Claire was watching Max and Ruby. She wanted to watch it all by herself. She may not look it, but she is getting sooooo big.

Claire really wanted cereal before bed tonight. She told me while I was making it "I am gonna eat it all up!!!" And she did :)




Hot Mama swimming in her tubbie. Aunt Colleen stopped over while Claire was taking a bath, so Claire was putting on a show.



Claire had fun playing with Aunt Colleen. She loved to show Aunt Colleen all of her books and toys. Claire also had fun being a little silly for her. But Aunt Colleen and I may have goofed up. Here's what happened...Claire wanted us to play hide and seek with her, so we did. Well, during one riveting round Aunt Colleen and I got a little silly. While Claire was hiding we obviously pretended that we could not find her. Then we took it to the next level and said "well I guess we will just go to the zoo without her." Well, needless to say THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE! Claire freaked out!! She came out of the closet (her favorite place to hide) and was crying! We explained that we would never leave her while she was hiding, blah blah blah. So Colleen and I decided that we need to spend some serious time "fixing" Hide and Seek. Wish us luck, otherwise Claire will never enjoy Hide and Seek again.

The Fair

High: We spent the evening at the Fair :)
Low: I wish we went earlier :(

This morning was spent doing NOTHING! And when I say nothing I mean nothing. Breakfast dishes sat in the sink, toys all over the floor, clothes and stuff from the beach EVERYWHERE, and everyone in their jammies until about 2. IT WAS EXCELLENT! Eventually we got our act together and cleaned up. Claire even helped me wash the kitchen floor.

After Claire's nap (her super late nap) we decided to head to the fair. Now, I am not really a fan of the fair but now that I have Claire...I LOVE IT!!! I think its because Claire had so much fun. She loves the lights, music, people, animals, and rides.

This was Claire's first experience with cotton candy. As you can see from her face, she was pretty excited!

Claire loved the cotton candy!






















As well as the fried dough!
















The carousel was a huge hit!



Claire went on her first roller coaster at the fair. Once it started my stomach dropped a little because it moved really fast. Claire loved it though! This was the best picture I could get (BECAUSE IT MOVED SOOOO FAST!).



Mommy and Claire always love a nice train ride. This one was pretty cool. It played music and car bumped up and down.



Here is the bounce house. Notice that Claire is going in by herself. The guy wouldn't let us go in with her. I thought she was going to be upset but...NOPE! She ran right through it all by herself and loved every second of it!!!
****Kate, if you are reading this - THIS IS NOT THAT SAME AS YOUR BEACH STORY FROM WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE!!****



Here she is flying down the slide...again all by herself!

Claire played her first game at the fair today. She just had to pick up three fish and do something with them. Mark and I still aren't really sure what the rules are. We feel that they are subject to change quite frequently. Either way she won a pink ball!





I had to put this picture in. Mark always wants me to take pictures with prices on them. This way one day we will look back and see how cheap stuff was (that's my man). Anyway I didn't even realize it but check out the kid behind the register!!!! Awesome!

Back To The Beach

High: Another great day at the beach with friends and family :)
Low: We weren't supposed to go in the water :(

We spent another beautiful day at the beach. But, the water was closed. Yes, that's right...the water was closed. There was something about the levels of the water being off. We had a nice time playing in the sand anyway. Eventually they opened the water back up but we just waded in the water (even though Claire did slip under once, so if she grows anything on her skin we will know what it is from).

Claire and Giada loved eating their snacks.



Mark and Tom enjoyed the beach too.



Since we couldn't swim the girls started to get a little bored. But, when in doubt...dig a hole.



The two best babysitters in the world. I will forever thank them for giving the Mommies some "girl time"!!!!!!



I bought Claire this hat when we went back to school shopping. She absolutely loved it!



Fuelin up!



I would also like to thank Aunt Diane (aka the baby whisperer) for some Mommie time. Giada definitely made a new friend :)



The Mommies.



All the girls.



Bella was hilarious. She found this stick and kept using it as a cane (notice it is waaaayyy too small).


Back at the cottage Tom was giving out wagon rides.

Once Tom got tired Claire and Giada decided to work it out themselves.

Claire and Giada decided to rest a little bit.



"This is my friend Claire!"



Wouldn't be a day at the beach without playing catch with Tom.

Dinner.

Claire was very excited when our family from Boston got there. She was especially pumped to see Silly Boy!



We stopped for gas on the way home (about 5 minutes from the cottage) and Claire passed out. Notice she is still wearing her hat!



Come on....could she be any cuter?!