Halloween Night 2010

 Halloween 2010 on a Sunday night, cold one at that.  We decided that since yesterday was a long day and the kids got to bed late, that we'd hang close to home this year.  We were bummed to not join Evelyn and Spencer, but we had to make sure the kids got to bed tonight, being Sunday and all.

There was also a gathering in our neighborhood, apparently all the neighbors go, so on our trek around, we stopped in.  We were making some goodies to bring by and getting the kids ready, never an easy task.  Unfortunately it got really cold the last couple days so we bundled the kids up the best we could.  Luckily my little fleece butterfly was toasty in her costume.  Bob the Builder had on a lot of layers too, plus he insisted on pulling the wagon!

Jay grabbed the wagon and headed down the road, visiting a few houses along the way.  Most of our neighborhood was at the party but we did manage to visit a few.  The kids were having fun in the wagon, Tuck taking turns riding and pulling.  Brooklyn was super easy going, although she started to light up when a few pieces of candy filled her bucket!  How young they learn!


We joined the party and feasted on some great food!  Everyone brought something to share.  We finally got the chance to meet many neighbors we've seen in passing for years.  We've got a really neat street with very friendly people. 

Brooklyn saw everyone eating and wanted in so we let her munch on some bread.  Tuck and Daddy ate while Brooklie and I chatted.  We had a great time and since it was warm in our neighbors garage, we didn't even bother going back outside until we brought the kids home.  It ended up working really well because the kids had a great Halloween at home and we able to get to bed at a reasonable time.  We did miss our cousins though, maybe next year.

Cheering on Auntie Amy's Cheverus field hockey team!

Auntie Amy's field hockey team was in the State Field Hockey Championships up at Orono on Saturday playing against Skowhegan!  This was a huge deal because not only is this Amy's 3rd year at head coach, this is only Cheverus' 7th year with a girls' program!  Pretty amazing!

Since the game was up in Orono, Mimi and Poppy held a huge brunch at their house for the team!  A huge coach bus brought the girls up to eat and relax for a few hours before making their way to the game.  I got the kids up and we met them there around 9:30am to help and hang out.  Tucky was slightly overwhelmed by all the girls, but he warmed up shortly after.  They were chowing down and getting excited for their big game.

Poppy spent a bit of time outside, after making 39 "egg McMullin's", and got out the tractor.  As soon as Tucky found out, he was on Poppy's lap helping him with the leaves.  Brooklyn was also enjoying all the attention from 22+ girls!  They made signs, played hoops, decorated pumpkins and sprayed their hair purple!  Tuck got in on the action as well and he and Mimi both ended up with purple hair!  That's supporting a team!!!  haha

They all left around 11:15 and then we followed behind at 12:30, after lunch.  I was hoping the kids would nap in the car on the drive but Tuck had other plans.  He was tired but too excited to settle down.











It was a cold day but luckily the winds weren't too bad and the wet weather held off.  It was pretty impressive showing up at the game with other teams playing their state matches and seeing all the crowds.  It's quite an atmosphere for the girls!

I had Brooklyn bundled up in a half snowsuit looking thing and she was toasty in the backpack.  Tuck wore his new down jacket and hat so I now he was plenty warm too.  We met up with the Busque's and found a place in the crowd until the game started.  Cheverus was definitely the underdog in the game but they are a very impressive team with some talented players!  They earned there way there and gave a great fight.  Skowhegan is the perennial powerhouse, going for 11 straight years to the state game but what they have in talent, they lack in class.  They are a dirty, physical team that was awful to our players.  Even though Cheverus lost 3-0, it was a fun game and they have a much classier team!  Skowhegan is super talented but Amy's girls carry themselves much better and have a lot of great sportsmanship!  I was disappointed learning about how Skowhegan runs things, not impressive for high school sports.  They win a lot but at what cost?  Good season Amy, you guys had a fantastic year!




After the game and ceremony, we quickly stopped into Wendy's for a bite to eat and my ravenous children held their own.  Brooklyn napped again on the way back to Mimi and Poppy's house.  I thought Tuck was going to but around Newport he told me, "Tucky need go poppy Mommy."  We quickly pulled over, did some business and made it to Oakland unscathed!  Nice job buddy!

We spent the night in Oakland because we were all wiped.  The kids crashed finally with all the excitement and then we got to hang with Jeffy and Danielle for awhile. 

Thanks Terri for helping Tuck with these balloons!

Too bad I opened the  back of the car and lost them 30 minutes later....

10 Months Old!!!

Our little peanut is now 10 months old and doing great!  She is at a really fun stage right now and Tuck's her biggest fan!  They really do get along so well and we couldn't be happier...although she's starting to get into Tucky's toys and we'll see how that goes.

Brooklyn has started refusing to eat baby food and wants what we're eating.  I can usually sneak in a bite or two in between "big girl" bites but for the most part, she's eating our foods more and more.  She loves graham crackers and diced veggies.  She will eat a generous portion of mixed carrots, peas and corn bites, loves them!  I think she's eating as much if not more than big brother is.  We like those healthy, hungry babies!!

Brooklyn is a sitter!  She will sit for a long time and reach for things, slowing inching to where she wants to go.  She knows she wants to crawl but is just not getting her body in position yet.  She really wants to stand and walk like Tuck and sometimes will fuss because she's down.  When we hold her she moves her legs because she knows she's supposed to walk.  She'll be much happier when she's moving on her own!

Now that Brooklyn's taking the sippy very well and eating on her own, she's becoming a much better sleeper now!  Mom is not the only one to soothe her anymore and she's been working on falling asleep on her own.  Sometimes at night I'll hear her fuss a little then she'll be back to sleep without our help.  It's been a couple weeks now that she's been sleeping through the night and we're loving it!

Our little giggle monster is giving high-5's, waving hello and goodbye and saying "Dada" and "Momma."  She loves Casco and especially her big brother.  She watches him a lot and I bet she'll be excited to chase him around soon enough.  What a fast 10 months it's already been and we can't believe how much she's changed!

Cozy weekend at home -sleeping through the night finally!!!

Nothing like having zero plans for the whole weekend!!! We don't have many of these ever so we were all really looking forward to it!

The kids and I hung out at the house Friday for most of the day.  I took them out to breakfast again at Tim Horton's, our new Friday morning ritual. Tucky picked out a donut and then proceeded to eat 3/4 of my breakfast sandwich as well. The little ones have huge appetite's right now, Brooklyn especially! She ate breakfast early in the morning with Daddy and then ate her puffs and fruit the whole time we were out as well! The kids took great naps, I had almost 45 minutes when they were both down! Then we packed up and met a few teachers up in Naples and went out to pizza. For not going out to eat much, we went out twice on Friday, and the kids did very well. We were at the restaurant for an hour and a half, they handled it really well! Did I mention that Brooklyn at the whole time we were there, literally she ate the whole time and then munched on our pizza crust. She must be in a huge growth spurt!

Besides hanging out at home, our only other plan was to clean up the house a bit. We organized and put clothes away, then got out a bunch of toys. Clean is a relative term I guess. Auntie Amy's field hockey team had a big game Saturday afternoon so the kids and I drove down to cheer them on.  It was cold but we all bundled up and met Mimi, Poppi, Nahne and Uncle Trap.  I had Brooklyn in the pack and she actually stayed there well into the second half.  Amy's team played so well and ended up beating undefeated Scarborough to advance to the Western Maine finals!!!  It was very exciting and I think the kids had fun watching.  Both got the chance to meet her players after the game and Tucky even got to give high 5's to the girls out of the bus windows!

Mimi and the gang came back to our house to visit after the game and then headed out around 5pm.  Tucky was wound from all the attention so it took until after dinner and bedtime for him to settle down.  Luckily they both crashed early and slept great!

Daddy got up with the kids this morning and let me sleep in!  We spent a lot of time playing next to the warm woodstove, which we love.  Tuck played fire truck and Brooklyn tried to get a hold of anything he had.  She's starting to get aggressive and trying to move but she's not quite there yet.  Tuck is going to have to get used to her moving and sharing toys...stay tuned on that one!

For some reason, this weekend he has done so well with the potty thing!  He has really not had any accidents, just a few slightly wet undies but he has been doing his thing on the potty.  He has also gone longer stretches this weekend, we're so proud of him!  I hope it continues next week at Cindy's too.  Big week for us, Brooklyn has been sleeping through the night and Tuck is staying dry - love it!

 I desperately needed to find Brooklyn a few more pieces of clothing because she's outgrowing hers.  I was thinking about driving over to Freeport but found some really good deals on cute clothes at Goodwill.  The Windham store is hit or miss but it was decent today.  When I came back home, I found Tucky, Daddy and Brooklyn out in the yard cleaning up the garden.  They were having so much fun!  I ran in and grabbed my camera to catch "little Jay" out helping Daddy clean brush, cutting wood and discovering eggplant...yeah not so great to taste raw...

 Unfortunately it was a bit chilly so we didn't stay outside too long.  I did
bring Brooklyn for a short walk though because she was getting a little frustrated inside.  She's trying so hard to move, she wants to but just
hasn't quite figured out how yet.  She keeps tipping over and falling hard because she is trying to reach so far.  Once she gets it, we're all in trouble.  She does really like bombing around in her walker though...and she found Tuck's train table the other day!  He wasn't psyched about that one!

New Gloucester Fair - visiting family

 The rainy weather sure changed our plans for the weekend but it ended up working out quite well.  We decided to stick around the house on Saturday, work outside a bit and then head over after Brooklyn's nap to the New Gloucester Fairgrounds.  We had a lot of fun last year and were hoping to be able to go again.

Unfortunately it was quite cold out and with a stiff wind, it was tough on the little ones.  Brooklyn hung out all bundled up in the backpack and Tucky walked around with us.  He was very excited to see all the antique cars and tractors although he didn't want to have a tractor ride this year.  We walked over to the huge lifted fire track that was giving rides and he didn't want to do that either...he actually started to cry when I hoisted him up.  He did, however, have his hand painted with a tiny caterpillar.  He sat very still and then wouldn't put his mitten on because he didn't want to hurt it.  Gotta love the innocence!

 

As we made our way around to the food booths, we say the huge climbing wall and trampoline!  Tuck wasn't sure about it but as soon as he saw a bunch of kids jumping, he wanted to try.  We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes so Jay and Brooklyn bought some food while we waited.  Tuck was about as light as you can be to have it work and while we were strapping him into the harness, he was having second thoughts.  Jay held his hand as he started jumping and then the smile grew bigger and bigger.  He was loving it.  He jumped for three minutes and then it was over although he didn't want to stop.  We didn't stay too much longer because it was so cold, but it's really a great fair!  Plus, it's totally free, no parking or admission charges!

The fair helped with decent afternoon naps, although Brooklyn really doesn't nap very long at one time.  When she woke up, I brought her over to Shaws to help with a grocery run while Jay and Tucky worked outside.  Jay was digging up a ditch to work on some drainage and I guess Tuck played with the PVC pipes and apparently figured out how to attach the elbow pieces.  Did I mention that he's pretty close to surpassing my level of expertise with all things mechanical???  In fact, he showed me his little tractor the other day and pointed out the muffler and radiator...what?

Daddy and Tucky slept in a little this morning, a much needed rest.  Daddy has been up with Brooklyn the last few nights as I tried to stop nursing her.  Were at 4 days now and she's taking the cup like a champ!  However, there are times, especially when she's really tired that she tries very hard to find Mommy.  It's definitely hard on all of us but things will be much easier soon, we hope.

 Anyway, we packed up and headed North to visit family this morning.  We visited with EE and Papi in Waterville for awhile this morning.  They haven't seen the kids in awhile so that was nice to be able to spend some time hanging out.  Then we drove over to Oakland to play with Mimi and Poppy.  Poppy had out his tractors so we lost Tuck instantly.  He was helping Poppy dig up and move dirt while Daddy, Brooklyn, Mimi and I basked in the sun on the porch.  Mimi made us a great lunch and then Brooklyn napped.  Tucky tried but was too excited to settle down as usual.  Nahne and Uncle Trap showed up as we were getting ready to head home but we did get to visit with them a little too.

Tucky crashed on the way though but Brooklyn didn't.  Someday we'll have them more on the same schedule...haha  Poppy sent us home with Uncle Jeffy and his old fire truck for Tuck to play with.  I wish I had a picture of his face when we pulled it out of the box!!!  Poppy made his night!  In fact, I looked in the living room at one point because it was so quiet in there and he was talking to it, something about flashing lights...  how cute!  We struggled to get Brooklyn to bed, she was definitely wanting Mommy tonight, hopefully this gets easier... back to work tomorrow