pre-k 1

Here's another good one from the beginning-of-summer archives that I didn't want to let slide, because I  just love the way these two photos scream "first day of school" and "last day of school"...

May he always be so confident (and happy.)

Herbs

We have a little container garden on the porch and I keep telling myself that it's there not only for cooking but for fun and learning as well (Tess knows the names of more herbs at her she than I did at 20!) Finn goes out every morning and eats some rosemary and/or thyme while Tess is partial yo digging up the parsley. I do keep the sweet basil in the kitchen since its my favorite and i use it all the time. In a few weeks we will be picking cherry tomatoes off of the vine, if they leave them alone long enough to ripen!

matching shirts

It's July - wow. How did that happen? And here I am still posting photos from June.

Here's a good one, no matter what the timing. Mimi bought this nice button-down for Andrew, and then scaled a second one down so that Finn had the exact same one in his very own size. Really just about the cutest thing ever.

Tadpoles

We love swimming lessons!! This is Tess and her friend Caroline hamming it up at the pool. We will see you in a few weeks to show off our skills, Granddad!

Best Little Kitchen Helper

My Aunt Judy made this apron for me when I was in grade school and thank goodness we still have it, as it's now bring enjoyed by another generation...

Daddy's Culinary Delights

Daddy's cooking always seems to go down well with the kids and, with Mommy busy at planning meetings several nights this week, Daddy had a chance to prepare an old favorite: eggplant parmesan with spaghetti. I filled these two plate things that basically look like troughs (for those of you that don't know, Nico is obsessed with funky dining ware) to the brim.

Tess, my little billy goat girl, finished her entire plate in record time and also ate a decent percentage of Nanna's as well. Meanwhile, Finn's reckless abandon with pasta led me to channel my inner redneck and simply remove his shirt entirely rather than risk it. That proved to be a very good call on my part.

 Luckily bath time comes immediately after dinner.

photo session

Those of you who haven't seen these on Facebook, here is a link to Brie's blog featuring the photos she took of F&T this morning. I'm SO looking forward to seeing more!

You know that your photographer is doing something right when after 50 minutes you think to yourself, "well, that was a total waste of time" ... and then as it turns out she has actually caught a few smiles between the running and ruckus. It amazes me every time.

soccer

Finn started playing soccer at the City's tot camp this week and he really likes it so far. He especially enjoys the shin guards. And his red ball.

He refuses to take a nap most days and is SO much easier to deal with when he has a few afternoon z's. Yesterday, at dinner...
Andrew: Finn, why do you refuse to take a nap during the day?
Finn: It's not natural for me to take a nap.
After which, we truly had no response.

tess and the duck

This is Tess last week enjoying what Andrew calls the "tooth-chipping kit" at our local park. No chipped teeth yet (and hopefully ever), thank goodness!

She was such a champ at her two-year-old checkup yesterday. Because I've spaced their shots out a little bit, she had a couple of them to catch up on and the nurse poked her once in each arm. Not only did she not even cry, but on the way out of the building, she said, "That was fun!" I tell ya. The differences between two kids can be pretty astounding at times.

Monkey

So focused on "using his muscles" to bring my tea at the Mothers Day tea party.

We call Finn our "monkey" for a reason. He acts like one, he sometimes sounds like one, let's face it - he's part monkey. He is also at a very trying age where he's old enough to want to be independent, dress himself, go to the bathroom himself, get his own food, etc. and not take a nap NEVER NO NOT EVER, even though he usually needs one. Being three and three-quarters and planning complex construction jobs the whole entire time he's awake is tough work.

So I guess it was to be expected today when, three months shy of turning four, he threw his first major in-store tantrum, the kind where you have to pick up and leave immediately while everyone else in the store is totally staring and thinking one of the following:  a) "oh, that poor mother" or b) "listen to that brat!" or c) "aw, look at his pretty little sister following behind while he's trying to bite his mother." Really quite the opposite of fun. Granted, I could have just purchased the very small, $16.99 chuggington or perhaps the $14.99 book on trucks that we already own and avoided the situation entirely, but it's the principle, friends. So out of Barnes and Noble we strode, screaming and biting, Tess following diligently behind, eyes wide.

I'm looking forward to "4" not because I have any delusions of him turning a corner instantly - oh heck, I DO have those delusions. But in the meantime we're trying to enjoy the monkey every day because when he's cute and fun, he's really cute and fun. And at the end of a long no-nap day when he falls asleep at 7:15, there's wine and a comfortable bed and 11 hours during which we recuperate.

Outside

We are outside these days as much as the weather, our schedules and the pollen will allow.

I just overheard Finn mumbling to hself while hosing off an old plastic fisher price toy: "why are all of these crappy cars made in China?!" lol. Even when he's been awake for what seems like 72 straight hours, he's still hilarious.

Mothers Day Tea

Finn's school invited all of the moms for tea yesterday and it was SO cute. They greeted us, served tea and snacks, sang songs and gave us each a necklace. His school is definitely one of the bonuses of living here. We are very lucky.

Kentucky Derby

Tess is ready for the party.

outtakes

Last weekend, our friend and photographer Brie Homer opened a new studio in Sayre, PA and did some quick "mini sessions" with Finn (Tess was home sleeping). I'm looking forward to booking a whole session with her for both kids soon, because I think these turned out so well! Finn was very much in the mood to play along.

I was also wondering if when we're in Nebraska this summer, if we could get some photos of all of the cousins and extended cousins if enough of us are there at the same time?? Trip is not yet booked...

Birthday Party!

We celebrated Baby Boo's 2nd birthday on Sunday in Mimi's fabulous newly renovated kitchen/family room! It was wonderful. The actual day is this Thursday the 26th so we'll probably have another much-less-fancy cake and a few more photos by the end of this week.

Party dress! (from Aunt Katy last year!)

Aunt Red and Little Red

Ready for her cupcake. Ready now.

Finn and Ella waiting so very patiently.

A huff and a puff...

"I did it!"

Such focus!

MMMMM fairy princess cupcake.

This is the "set on table to eat frosting" maneuver.

Blessed with so many lovely things!

Mimi & Papa gave her a new doll baby.

Her name is "Priscilla." (lol)

Love this pic of her face. 

But of course...

(This morning.)
Me: Tess, that's such a nice drawing!
Tess: (somewhat indignantly) It's art.

Finn has been asleep in bed since 4 pm. Surely this will result in all of us getting a fabulous night of sleep, but if not I'll post some great pics from yesterday's birthday celebration...

Invitation

This arrived in the mail today, my invitation to the Mothers Day tea at school. It's a very hot ticket :)

We're celebrating Tess's birthday tomorrow ... 2!!

Happy Easter!

We have had a lovely Easter Sunday. Wishing you all the same!

Tess was *so* happy to find Angelina Ballerina in her basket!

Tess the Bunny with Papa.

All dressed up.

Tess's coat is a "Mimi original." SO cute!

Impromptu egg hunt

Finn loves his new truck. It's a feller buncher!

John Deere recently started manufacturing them just for Finn.

Fascinated!

Tess at Sciencenter

She's thinking, this vacuum is so cool! We need one! (kidding... I do actually vacuum on occasion.)

Ithaca sciencenter

We went to Ithaca today got the annual opening of their incredible farmers market. We're fortunate to have access to a lot of great local produce and bread and meat and herbs. In exchange did suffering through my oohing and ahhing the kids shared a giant scone then we spent a couple of hours across the street at this terrific science museum. Here's Finn on the triceratops. He is entering the dinosaur phase, although trucks still rule.

6:45 a.m., 29 degrees.

We wake up to his whining, "I need to play sand table!"... so we relent, and wonder how long he will last out there.

first day of spring

I haven't posted in a while so thought this video might be worth sharing. A few things to note:

- this sand table is worth its weight in gold.
- I love how Tess repeats basically whatever Finn says.
- her face when I say, "look at me" is so funny.
- he is so intent on his project - building a water system.

Enjoy! We're awaiting the return of warm up here now.

weird weather

I like to know what the weather is like in Nebraska and Miami so this is the home screen when I check weather.com. I'm guessing this is the only March ever where the temperatures have been perfect in all three places. Gotta love global warming.

more things they say

We talk a lot about food around here, and where it comes from. Maybe too much.

At the store today:
Me: We need to get some bread and honey at Minier's.
Tess: Get local bread.
Me: Yes, we'll get local bread. Here it is.
Tess: Local honey. I want local honey.
Me: Uh... sounds good.

The other funny thing that happens often is when Andrew sings to the kids, in particular this song that goes, "Bluebird, bluebird, fly through my window..."
Andrew: Bluebird, bluebird--
Finn: Sing "Cardinal, cardinal."
Tess: Yeah, sing "Cardinal."
Andrew: Ok. "Cardinal, cardinal, fly through my window..."
Finn: Sing "Bulldozer fly through my window."
Tess: Sing "BACKHOE!"

Rocking chair

Tess loves this rocking chair, which happens to be my mom's when she was little (thanks to Aunt Judy for keeping it until this summer when we were finally able to bring it back!) She watches Caillou from this spot daily. (when exactly does the Caillou phase END?) anyway, she's a little grumpy today so a long nap is imminent, especially since Dad and Finn are out at tractor supply.

curtiss museum

While I was away, Andrew and Mimi took Finn to the Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport (recently voted  America's Coolest Small Town by Budget Travel - and it really is lovely). The museum has a lot of cool old airplanes and equipment so he - obviously - really enjoys it there. I can't get over how much bigger he looks in these photos than he did a year ago.

This morning it was 60 degrees and his teacher told me they were on a long nature walk. While all of the other kids were looking for leaves and pinecones, Finn was "excavating." For an hour. As well as telling her how we were going to "blow out a wall and expand the kitchen" at home ... hmm. I wonder where he gets these ideas?!

bubble berets

Andrew took these pics a couple of weeks ago. Their expressions and little round cheeks crack me up.

A March unlike any other! We'll take it...

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Quiz

Do you know what this is?

Ding ding ding! If you guessed FELLER BUNCHER*, you are indeed correct. Good job and thanks for playing at home!

*Until a few months ago, we did not know that such a thing existed either.

a nice little tea party

We have been a bad bloggers this month! Between a trip to Maui with friends (long trip, good time, took a while to recover) and now two weeks of sick on-and-off kids, not to mention work and oh, also the fact that we haven't done very much fun stuff due to the aforementioned sniffles ... well, there's our excuse. But last week before the ton of bricks hit poor Tess, she had a tea party with her best friend Caroline, and it was adorable. 

funny/ew

Tess: Mommy, I have a boogie.
(I grab a kleenex and turn around 2 seconds later.)
Me: Where is it?
Tess: I ate it.
Finn (walking away, says over his shoulder): I teached her that.

T sings at lunch

Apologies that the quality isn't a bit better but I wanted to capture her songs and the only available camera was on my phone!