Summer Came Early

NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING....but we went right from winter to maybe a week's worth of spring right into the heat of deep summer! It is HOT! We are all loving the great weather and the opportunity to be outside although we had to make it a priority to get the a/c units into the windows this weekend. The kids got to play in the sprinkler at home as well as at a neighbor's house and that was fun. We all got a kick out of Zach's Buzz Lightyear sprinkler toy that Kevin could make "hover" while balancing on the water. Lucas would laugh, laugh, laugh and try to catch the rocket ship. It was really cute!

The boys LOVED this!



Tulip lover?



Because our spring was so wet and cruddy a nice side benefit was that my spring flowers have lasted a looong time. I still have tulips blooming and it's been well over a month since they started! The weird thing though was that I was finding the heads of some of them chopped right off, as if they were snipped. I thought it might be an animal and we considered that maybe it was the friendly ground hog who lives under our neighbor's deck. Another neighbor suggested it was deer (although only a few tulips were beheaded, not all of them which I thought would be weird to pick and choose). And yet another neighbor suggested it was bunnies. That same day I snapped a bold little critter right by my front door. So maybe she was right? Then again I found another little cute guy who happens to love tulips -- pulling off their petals, that is (see next photo).  



Tulip lover...or hater?





Grass is growing!

On Memorial Day weekend we spent a good chunk of the time outside, playing and doing some much needed yard clean up. I moved a few tulip and daffodil plants that had been planted stupidly (if I plant it, maybe it won't grow, and if it does grow, the beauty of the flower will outshine how stupidly it was planted). Uh, no. It just looked stupid. So I dug them up and moved them to where I thought they would look better. It might not be the right season to do this, but I had to do it while I could still see the leaves and know where to dig! And it fortunately wasn't all the bulbs, just the ones by my front door (and the ones in the side yard). I did get a wound/badge of honor. A nicely painful blister in the middle of my right palm from where I pushed down on the trowel, over and over again. I also moved some lillies in the back garden that were in danger of choking out one of my peony plants! They've been transplanted to the other side garden and I'm excited for some color/beauty on that side of the house now. I'm really excited that with sunlight in the back yard now, that we'll have a lot more flower options and stronger blooms.



Post-parade, a little Mullen parade of our own

We had a neighborhood cookout on Saturday that 6 familes on my street went to. It was so nice to just hang out with friends/neighbors who have kids who are the same age and are friends with my kids. THIS is why I moved to Surburbia! I know it's hokey, but I just love it. :) The kids played on the swing set, in the sand box, in the toy room, ran in the yard, and went home exhausted and happy. We went to a super short parade in Sudbury on Memorial Day itself. It sprinkled a tad bit on us but didn't really rain and the rest of the day was again hot and muggy. Zach loved that they threw candy into the street and he could run out and gather it up.



Big Boy Bike Rider!

Mr. Cutie

This was kinda the entire parade.



Home Sweet Home

I haven't given much of an update on where things stand with our house because it has been such a long drawn out process! But things are coming along and looking pretty good now. While we are still not completely finished with the repairs from the snow/water damage, we're about 90% there and I think I can provide an update.

Grass!! And no trees!

Oh, and along with the house is also the yard! As you may recall, we clear cut our entire back yard this spring. This involved cutting down and grinding the stumps of about 20 very large (80 feet? tall) pine trees plus trimming the branches up to about 20 feet of another 20 in the front and side yards. The back yard is dramatically different now. After the trees came down, we had another landscaping company come in and grade, loam, and seed the back yard. It took a few weeks, but the grass started to grow and now it looks like a sunny and grassy back yard! It looks so good! I can not wait for the summer and to be able to run and play out there with the kids. It's not perfect (yet) because we still have several patchy areas, but we have sunlight which was the most important thing. It has made a big difference inside as well as we've even been able to turn the heat down/off (yes, we are still using the heat up here in New England) and we have sunlight streaming into the windows.

Because of the sun I am already seeing a difference also in other planted areas. My lilacs are coming in with more flowers and many of my flowers are blooming longer as well. That might also be a result of the tremendous amount of rains we've had this spring, but that's okay -- I think that has also contributed to my grass coming in faster.

I have several ideas in mind for the back yard like adding a fence, putting in a big swingset, planting a vegetable garden and maybe some pretty flowering trees, adding some additional planting areas, etc, but for this year I'll be happy to just have the grass. Since there is no budget for these other things, we are grass-only for at least the next year anyway.

So back to the house. In retrospect it's been a blessing in disguise that we had water damage from the ice dams on the roof, because a side benefit of having to repair it is that we've been able to upgrade some things in the house that we probably wouldn't have gotten to for at least a few years. As I mentioned a few months ago (yes, this has been ongoing since February), we had several walls and parts of ceilings ripped out to dry out from the water. We also had some damage to our floors that necessitated having the hardwood floors refinished. This was a giant pain in the butt and yet now that it has been completed, we are thrilled and so happy with how they came out. The best part is that our home insurance covered everything although I think we might end up putting out some additional money since we also asked them to refinish the dining room floors -- the only room with hardwoods that wouldn't have been redone otherwise. The foyer got new floors too since part of the (very ugly) floor tile was damaged when they took out the dry wall. We replaced it with ceramic tile and it is beautiful! And the walls have had wallpaper taken down and have been freshly painted. It looks almost like a new house!

Kevin and I have had to make some design decisions on the house that were a little hard to do considering every time we went to the home repair store we had the little guys with us and those little guys didn't want to look at paint chips or floor tile samples. So we took a day off from work to go to the paint shop and finally settled on colors that we could agree on. Choosing paint is HARD! You are never quite sure what the end result will be, especially in different lighting. Lucas' room was easy since we just went with the same color we had painted it a year ago. The upstairs bathroom wasn't too hard either since we knew we wanted white (although there are about 2000 different varieties of "white"). But the foyer/upstairs hallway, toy room, and family room all were a little more challenging to decide on. I knew that in the foyer/hallway that I wanted kind of a warm yellow. Maybe something that leaned towards orange or brown. Kevin was thinking of a little yellow, maybe more of a sorbet or light lemon. We came to something in the middle and it has definitely turned out to be yellow, but it's pretty and certainly nothing like the yellow that we painted Zach's nursery in 2007 (yikes, that was bright!) The toy room we went lighter and more neutral. I think it's in the beige family. It's a large room with 4 windows, but it gets a little dark in there, probably because of the trees on that side, but also because of the way the house is situated, and compounded by the fact that we don't have enough lighting in that room. But the color we went with is nice. It's warmer than the painter's white it was painted when we moved in. For the familly room we went back and forth on colors. We wanted a beige-y color and I was leaning towards brown/beige and Kevin was leaning towards green/beige. In the end I think it looks more yellow/beige which will complement the colors coming off the hallway, but depending on the light during the daytime, is a little more yellow than I think we wanted. Still, I do like it and again, it's not white which is what the room was prior to us painting it.

The foyer before they finished with the grout and trim

There were a few weeks in between walls and floors which was A) to account for Lucas' birthday party, B) to give us a break from construction, and C) to choose when the floor people could come based on our work schedules. We also knew we wouldn't be able to live in the house while they were doing the work. Our insurance company put us up in a hotel for 8 days which was great! We stayed at a place with a 2 BR suite and it worked out so well. I don't know how I'll ever go back to trying to stay in a regular hotel room again! Anyway, while we were there, the contractors sanded and refinished our hardwood floors which was the entire upstairs (minus the bathrooms), the big toy room, hallway, and dining room downstairs. Only the kitchen and family room didn't get new floors (but the family room is next!) The foyer was the last to be done. Since it was tile they did that in the couple of days before we moved back in. In fact, they weren't done by the time we got back. We were back on Tuesday and they had the tiles down but grouted them on Wednesday and did touch up finish work on Thursday. It looks AMAZING and totaly changes the look of the house, I think! It's my favorite thing that we've done to the house. Well, maybe it's a 2nd runner up to converting the Tiki Room.

The last few things that still need to happen in the house are to put new gutters up on the back of the house. They've been down for all this spring which is not good considering the amount of rain we've had. I believe they are going to be replaced next week (cross fingers). There is also one piece of trim in the foyer that needs to be made still. And then the very last thing will be to replace the family room rug. I'm hoping to go to the carpet store this weekend with Kevin to figure out what we want in that room and then to find a date for it to be done.

We still have several ongoing projects and a huge wishlist of things we want to do. More immediately I think we will replace the hanging light in the foyer (it's really dated and ugly and half the bulbs need to be replaced -- I told Kevin I refuse to buy new bulbs so we're just going to have to replace it) and depending on how expensive doorbells cost, we may replace that fixture as well. Can you just get a new interior bell thing? Because it actually works, but the thing that hangs on the wall is from 1972 and SUPER ugly. Our other projects will be to continue taking down wallpaper (hallway, dining room -- ugh, a giant project, and my upstairs bathroom) and as we find money (ha!) we'll get to them. For now I just want to start enjoying the work we've done this spring and to get outside and work on some updates there. We are just about ready for visitors and to show things off!

Mommy's Boy

Lately Lucas has been all about Mommy. He looks for me and gives me big smiles when I come in the room and lunges for me. When I leave the room, he cries. When he's sick, he wants me. Actually, when he's not sick, he wants me then too. :) I don't mind at all because I know this is my last baby and I love that he wants to spend time with me.

It's funny that of my 3 babies, Lucas is the one who actually looks the most like me. I know some people will say that Em looks like me and maybe she did when she was really little, but honestly, if you know her dad's side of the family at all, you will see the striking resemblance. She looks like her dad if he were a girl -- a pretty girl. Some work friends also tell me how much Zach looks like me. I don't know, maybe Kevin and I look alike then because Zach is a little Kevin clone. It's not as much now that he's getting older (he also resembles his Uncle Scott at this age), but Zach really looks more like Kev than me. But Lucas -- he's all me. I see it; Em sees it. If you look at baby pictures of me, you see it. We have the same round head I guess. And of course he (as well as his big sis and bro) has my cowlick as well.

Lucas is a full-on walker now and rarely crawls -- unless he happens to already be down on his hands and knees and it's a short distance. For the most part he wants to be vertical and to walk to what he wants. He is going to have thighs of steel too because he is such a good squatter. I don't know how little kids can hold the squat pose for so long! He is extremely busy and chatty. He isn't really saying words yet but does babble. And he's very physical and coordinated. He can accurately pick up his spoon and put food into his mouth. He also can pick up tiny pieces of things to put into his mouth. This is scary when he finds things on the floor so we try to be vigilant around him. One of the best things about Lucas is how good natured he is. He might fall and hurt himself but will not whine and cry -- he might let out a cry initially but then shakes it off. I'm hoping his big brother might learn from him. Lucas seems to really be drawn to cars or anything with wheels. He will push little toy cars or trains around and he loves to push buttons (like all kids) to see the lights flash or music go off. He also really likes to make big noises and will bang things together or on the table top.

Because of the different seasons (3 months apart) but also because he is measuring 3 months larger than Zach at this age, we are having a hard time with clothes for Lucas. There are some things he can wear that were Zach's, but with them really measuring about 6 months apart and with Z being true to size (at 12 months old he wore 12 month clothes), we're having a hard time utilizing the hand me downs. Zach at 1 year wore summer clothes that were sized 12 months. Lucas at 1 year is wearing 18 month clothes but the 18 month clothes we have are all winter clothes. I think I need to go through the 24 month clothes (from when Z was 2) to see what Lucas can wear in that bin. He is such a big boy -- big hands, big (handsome) head, big everything! But not fat -- just normal baby chub and he is just solid.

Lucas is just whizzing rapidly through his babyhood and while I love seeing him reach these milestones and learning about the world (not to mention that it gets easier as he gets older), I do miss the old baby ways and want to hold him tight and cherish these moments before they're too quickly gone. For now I will enjoy his snuggles and breathe in his delicious baby smells while he still wants (and lets) me.

The Good Influence

As I picked up Zach from preschool yesterday, he was having fun with his friend Jack. We were all leaving the building at the same time and Jack started to climb on the railings on the stairs, so Zach did too. I told Zach to get down right now or he'd go to time out. I think I even used his full name. Jack's dad overheard me and laughed and said that he'd heard that Zach Mullen was "the good influence". That's funny and nice to hear because as much as my 3 year old can be trying at times, he really is a good boy and for the most part is pretty well behaved.



Mother's Day in the park

 It's a fine line to walk between making sure your kid is disciplined, respectful, and well behaved while indulging in their need to be independent and have their own opinion. Zach can be downright sassy and bossy, but he balances that with some really insightful comments and sweet behaviors. He really is a genuinely nice kid! But how do you foster his 3 year old creativity and independence with trying to keep him safe and to learn from his mistakes (or preferably, to learn from what I tell him as opposed to him having to make the mistake in the first place?)

So far we're muddling through. Parenting is a tough job. It's rewarding and wonderful but you question if you're doing the right thing all the time. Fortunately I have this adorable little boy who tells me I'm his best friend, and when I'm lucky, tells me I can come to his birthday party.

Mother's Day

Happy Mamma's Day to me! And to all my mama friends. :)

This was my 19th mother's day. Isn't that a crazy thing? I've been a mother since Emily was born in what will be 20 years this August. I've been so blessed by these children of mine. I am the lucky one. They are beautiful and wonderful and have made my life complete.

Sitting on Mrs. Mallard (Mama Duck) in the
Boston Public Garden

This year Emily had to work on Mother's Day and Kevin and I took the boys into Boston for the morning/early afternoon. Each year on Mother's Day there is a Make Way for Ducklings parade through Beacon Hill and into the Boston Public Garden. We did this a couple of years ago and it was so nice that we thought we might actually do it every year if we could. The parade recreates the walk that Mrs. Mallard did with her baby ducklings through Boston when she moved her family from the Charles River into the pond in the Boston Public Garden in the Make Way for Ducklings book. Families walk through Beacon Hill with their children and many of the kids are dressed as ducklings. The roads are blocked off, there's a band, and it's really sweet. We brought Zach's bike and pushed Lucas in the stroller but didn't dress either up as ducklings. I wish we had -- we need to prepare better. Next year we'll make and bring outfits. :)



My gift from my sweet Zachary!

 Zach gave me the sweetest gift that he planted/made at preschool. It's marigolds planted in a yogurt container that has his original artwork on the outside. There is a laminated photo of him on a popsicle stick stuck into it, with a sweet poem on the back.  It was super sweet and I love it!

Emily gave me a Miraculous bra from Victoria's Secret. It makes me look amazing -- miraculous, you might say. I think it's the first gift she's ever purchased for me with her own money. I love it as well and I honestly think she was so happy and proud of herself to give me a gift that she bought herself.

Lucas gave me huggies and wet kisses and lots of baby snuggles. xo

I also got some beautiful purple irises from the boys that Kevin said Zach picked out at the store, and a beautiful card that they signed.

I have the best family! I love my babies and my wonderful hubby who helped make this a sweet mother's day for me.

Poppy and his boys

Poppy arrives and plays in the sandbox with the boys

Kevin's dad came for a visit last weekend. It was a quick visit -- just lunch and then he spent the afternoon with us. Kevin was in Chicago for work but really we know that Poppy was just here to see the boys anyway. :)

Brian and I took the kids to a kite festival that was in town on Sunday. It was a free event and was sponsored by the autism alliance. Did you know that April is autism awareness month? I have a friend whose son has autism and while he is thriving and doing great, I know it's still a hard thing for them and I am thankful and grateful everyday that all 3 of my babies are healthy and happy.

The kite festival had promise -- free event, everyone got a balloon and a free kite, there was music, special characters (Sponge Bob, Elmo, etc), but it was a short event. It was supposed to be 12-4 pm. We got there at 2:00 and things were starting to shut down at 3:00 (no face painting for us). But I can't complain -- it was nice weather and fun to do something different.



Z got to sit in the front seat of the police car!



Zach got a blue zebra print stripe that we flew and he loved it! We need to put a proper tail on it though as it kept crashing (as did all the free kites) into people and taking out other kites. Zach also got a snow cone from the ice cream truck and both he and Lucas had fun jumping on the little trampolines and mats that were set up for the kids.



Zach and his poppy have such a nice relationship. Zach immediately runs to him and connects like they are old buddies. It's so cute, like maybe Brian gives off a Kevin vibe or something. Maybe they smell alike? Z has been like this with him since he first laid eyes on him. Such a Poppy's Boy.

  

Poppy let Zach choose an ice cream from the ice cream man

Chillaxin' with Poppy at the end of a busy day

Easter

Heading to an Easter Egg Hunt with my hunny bunnies

Easter was late this year, so it's kind of funny that Lucas was already 1 years old before he had his first Easter. :) Of course he couldn't have any chocolate or candy, but he still enjoyed hunting for eggs (with help) and playing with the eggs (which the Easter Bunny filled with Cheerios for him). 

I have to admit that I was a little Easter'd out before Easter actually came this year! Because Lucas' birthday party was the weekend before and kind of Easter-themed, I had already had my fill of stuffing eggs and decorating. But we had all kinds of activities planned which included dying eggs and a neighborhood egg hunt. Oh, and of course Easter itself! So it was fun but at the end of it all, I was exhausted. :)

Zach was my egg dying buddy again this year although we unfortunately don't seem to have any photographic evidence of it. I thought I took some pics but they aren't on my camera. Maybe on Kevin's? Not sure, but at any rate, it was fun and the eggs were beautiful. Z especially liked decorating them with the pirate stickers from the egg decorating kit that Aunt Rae had sent to him. After a few days of the eggs living in the fridge, I made egg salad and I think I'm the only person who ate it. Yum! I do love egg salad, but 12 eggs in one week -- probably not so good for me.

The day before Easter we had a neighborhood egg hunt at one of neighbor's houses. They're the ones who seem to always throw neighborhood parties. I'm starting to feel like a slacker on the hosting duties! Hopefully that will change this summer as we have the beginnings of a back yard starting to grow! Anyway, the egg hunt itself was nice. Everyone had dropped off about 200 eggs prior to the party and they were scattered all around the back yard. Zach got a good stash of loot and it was fun to see what different kinds of candy he got. He got some stickers as well which are always a fun alternate.

A photo shoot in church while waiting
for Mommy to come back!

On Easter day we headed to church. The boys were in their matching polo shirts with light jackets -- it was the start of a beautiful day! Unfortunately just as we pulled into the church parking lot Lucas lost his breakfast (multiple times) all over himself. So I left Kev and Zach at church, drove him home, put him in the tub for a bath, got him newly dressed again, changed myself to something much more casual, and we went back to pick up Z and Kevin from church. When we got back home we found that the Easter bunny had come to our house and left a basket of goodies for each of the kids, a Big Wheel (whoa!) for the boys, and an Easter egg hunt on the front lawn. And just like last year, it was an unseasonably warm and absolutely gorgeous Easter day.

Egg gathering

Driving (with eggs)

Grammy and Papa Bob Visit

You just know Lucas wants those glasses.

Grammy and Papa Bob came up for a visit to Massachusetts in April and helped us celebrate Lucas' first birthday! They have great friends who live on the Cape and try to coordinate a visit with them when they can as well so they kind of kill two birds with one stone. I do something similar when I visit Harker Farm, and know how nice that is!

Anyway, it was so special to have them here for a visit. Our house had JUST gotten put back together from Phase 1 of the home repairs and since we had a lot going on (and all beds accounted for with Em home), they opted to stay in a hotel. I feel so bad when we have visitors up who don't actually stay with us! But maybe next time we'll be able to coordinate better.





Coloring fun :)

The boys just LOVED having them here for a long weekend and got lots of quality Grammy and Papa moments. Lucas is fascinated with glasses, and of course tried to rip Bob's glasses right off of his face! He's a strong little guy too (and quick) so you have to be careful or he'll get them and smash them back into your nose. :) It was cute to see him be playful and fun with them. And then of course Zachary just thinks that Grammy and Papa Bob are more fun than Mommy and Daddy and would prefer to spend all of his time with them when they visit. He got Grammy to give him a bath (he also asked if she would join him in the tub; she declined) and read him bedtime stories. Zach also showed off his writing skills. He's getting really good with his letters and can write his name, as well as CAT and DOG. He recognizes other names, but I'm not sure if he can write them on his own. He did yell out M-O-M-M-Y (spelled out) the other night when he wanted me. I thought that was adorable (and smart) and had to run right upstairs, with a big smile on my face and pride in my heart.



Planting a Zachary-sized veggie garden