Art Show Open House

The boys' school hosted an art show open house featuring artwork from the students (and a book sale).  It was perfectly timed to begin at 3pm - immediately following school pickup.  I was especially grateful for the timing since it's an hour round trip (pending no traffic) for me to get to the boys' school and back home.

Mobile by Maksim

Mobile by Deklan

While the Kindergarten Ambassadors gave tours to prospective families, alum & current students revisited the classrooms.

I loved looking at all the different interpretations of "water."

Maks created a picture of a lady at the beach.  It's so whimsical!

 Both boys had quotes attached to their artwork.  Maksim was quick to let me know that his artwork was not displayed correctly, so I'll be sure to fix that underneath each photo!

LOVE.

Maks says this is a painting of an ornamental Christmas tree decoration and the artwork should be displayed vertically (with the red bow at the top).

Halloween remnants.

This painting should also be displayed vertically.  It's 2 rainbows - created with the only colors available that particular day.

At the event, a beautiful woven tapestry was created by eager little hands.  Deklan gravitated to the loom on multiple occasions!

 Refreshments and activities set up throughout the classrooms made it difficult for me to get the boys to head back home.  Lucky for them, as soon as we arrived back home Bryon met us and was able to trek back to Concord and check out the boys' art for himself.  A lot of driving for Maksim and Deklan, but they were thrilled that their Daddy was able to see all of their creativity on display before the Art Show concluded at 7pm!

Creating.

Halloween Boo!

Halloween was pretty low-key for us this year.  Mid-October we made our 2nd annual trip to the Pumpkin Float at Boston Common Frog Pond.  The boys went in costume and spent the entire time running around, dancing and thoroughly exhausting their parents.  I think their favorite part was riding the subway while in costumes!

Waiting for the T in style.

The week prior to Halloween Bryon was out of town.  He flew home early Monday morning and did some last minute pumpkin carving with Maksim and Deklan on Halloween eve.  We have a few nuisance squirrels that decided to make my front porch decor pumpkins their own personal snacks, so it wasn't a huge deal that the carved pumpkins would only be outside for 2 nights.  The squirrels would have ruined them had they been out there much longer anyhow!

Regular weekend trip to Davis Square Donuts & Bagels

Forget about squirrels and pumpkins...

...watch Deklan attack this Halloween donut!

There was a Halloween parade in the middle of the school day, but the boys opted to wear their firefighter costumes from last year so that they could play on the playground during recess without ruining their actual costumes for trick-or-treating that evening.

We'd planned on going all out this year with costumes, but Scarlett's arrival kept us busier than anticipated.  So, we went with our original theme and just lowered the bar a bit for costumes for Mom, Dad and baby.  Wah, wah.  Nevertheless, these boys were KILLING IT with their Game of Thrones costumes!

And not to be left out - our little Wildling!

And though she be but little, she is fierce!

We all went to the park down the street where the neighborhood families all gather for the kids to play for an hour before parading around the park and then hitting the streets for candy!  We let the boys trick or treat up and down the main street by the park and then headed home to get something to eat.  I then stayed in with Scarlett and put her to bed while Bryon proceeded to go back out and trick or treat some more with the boys.  When it was all said and done, we had a bag that held WAY TOO MUCH candy and two tired boys in their beds just a  hour past their regular bedtime.  Not too bad!

Perfect shirt for me, even when Halloween is over!

And drumroll...

Bryon's costume.

The next morning we attempted to do Jimmy Kimmel's Halloween Candy Prank and claimed Bryon ate all of their candy - we hid their candy elsewhere and left nothing but a few candy wrappers in the Halloween buckets.  Maksim was disappointed, but not surprised.  He asked Bryon to "not do that again."  Deklan said, "That's ok.  We can go trick or treating again tonight!"  I don't know if I should be proud or concerned that they both dealt with disappointment so well!

Big Brother Duties

The boys are settling into their new normal.  They sure do wish that Scarlett slept a little bit less and played with them a little bit more (and didn't cry in the car).  Give it time, guys!

Come ON!!!

AMIGOS.

I think she likes him.  And I know he loves her.

First thing every morning, Maksim quietly walks by my room to see if Scarlett is still sleeping or not.  If she's awake, he hurries in to say "good morning" and chat with her.  Otherwise, he will patiently wait hoping she wakes up and he can help feed her (even after the tongue and lip tie procedure we are still restricted to bottle feeding for the time being).  

Mornings with Maks.

He's even given her a 2nd nickname: Cute Squirt (in addition to "Beautiful Cupcake" - what he wanted to name her at birth).  He claims, "We already know she's cute, Mom.  And when she drinks milk she squirts it out the sides of her mouth."  Can't argue with that logic.

Ready and willing to help.

Before school cradle holding session.

Deklan is thrilled to be a big brother for the very first time!  I love looking in the rear view mirror in the car and catching sight of him gently holding hands with Scarlett as we drive to school.  He knows the perfect speed to bounce her in her chair and the exact way she likes her head to be rubbed.  Just ask him!

Ugh.  I can't even handle this.

And I can't forget about this one.  Kira.  She's a professional.  Third time welcoming home a baby for her, and she's more seasoned than ever.  She's my babysitter, spit-up cleaner, full length pillow, foot warmer and forever friend.  Oh, and she loves with all her heart - all the time.  

My oldest and my youngest.

I simply can't get enough of this video of Maksim teaching Scarlett how to give her first high five:

And just for fun, a throwback to when these two were just getting to know one another themselves.  Seems like just yesterday...

-2014-

Wilson Farm's Harvest Festival

It's Fall in New England and the festivals are in abundance.  Our friend took the boys on a special trip to an apple orchard a few weeks ago, and their school also took an afternoon trip to a local orchard/farm/pumpkin patch the other week as well (Bryon attended while I stayed home with Scarlett).  However, I had it on my bucket list to make it to just ONE of the local farm festivals this year, even with a newborn on our hands.  

Luckily, we live just a few miles from Wilson Farm.  My friend had recommended that we make a stop before the end of the season (she attended with her girls when they were stationed at Hanscom a few years back), so we took advantage of some unseasonably warm weather on a sunny Sunday morning.

"The truly educated never graduate."...?

I guess there's no "beating the crowd" when it comes to Fall festivals around Boston.  Nonetheless, the boys had fun and it was a great excuse to get out of the house and enjoy the weather.  Bryon got a bit hot carrying Scarlett around while she napped in the Ergo, so he chose to spend most of his time wandering around the air conditioned market store.

..."But what if they suddenly come to life, Mom?"

Meanwhile, I was with both boys as they meandered (ok, ran) through the hay maze - not 1, not 2, not even 3...but 4 times!  They became pretty skilled at knowing which way to turn and even discovered that there was more than one way to successfully make their way out (and even more ways to get lost!).

These are their "Halloween faces."

Although there were no hay rides or live animals (like our visit to Parlee Farms last season), there were a potato blasters - which were the highlight of the day!  

He was all about his ear protection - and trying his best to hit those targets!

We didn't have to tell him twice that it was finally his turn!

I had to give him a bit of a boost or else his only choice was to blast straight up into the sky (which he was ok with!)!

A quick sampling of fresh pumpkin pie for the men in my life while I grabbed some apple cider donuts to-go and we were on our way home.  Bryon's off to the Middle East for the next 7 days, so he's frantically packing while I prepare for my first entire week alone with our crew.

Mom's Visiting Day

Once a year I get the opportunity to visit the kids' classrooms and let them show me what they're working on in school.   This is my first year with both kids attending school, so I had to split my time between classrooms - giving me only 25 minutes with each child.

The changes from year to year with Maks continue to be so dramatic, it always surprises me just how much he's learning.  From reading to world geography to math...and beyond.  He's always anxious to show me all of the "work" he does during the school days.  Maksim chose to demonstrate the movable alphabet as well as the teens board.  Here he is proudly showing off his completed teens board work.

Here are some pictures his teachers have sent me over the past few months:

Map work and world geography are some of his favorite subjects right now.

I can see so much of myself in this photo!

This is Deklan's first year in school, and he was so thrilled to show me his classroom!  He desperately wanted to show me color mixing, but his classmate was busy with that work.  Instead Deklan organized sea shells in matching rows, showed me some number bead work, and counted with the spindle box.  His favorite activities came from the geometry cabinet - where he advanced from basic shapes: circle, square and triangle, to more complex shapes: oval, ellipse, curvilinear triangle, quatrefoil.  That's right: quatrefoil.  Who doesn't know the term quatrefoil (this girl)??

And some photos from Deklan's teachers:

The first thing he tells me about school each day is how he ate his snack with his 2 friends.

Banana cutting.

Color mixing!

Each of my children was disappointed that their time to show me what they were learning seemed so short!  I'm not complaining that they love school so much!  Each classroom sang a few songs and then it was time for parents/special visitors to leave for the day.  It'll be so interesting to see how much more they learn when Bryon gets to attend in January for Dad's Visiting Day!

Scarlett's first month, in photos

5 days old and DREAMING

9 days old.

One of the first photos with her eyes open!

10 days old.

Aunt Katherine sent us her very first headband.

1.5 weeks and growing!

11 days old.

 

Maks snapped a pic of 2.5 week old Scarlett and Mama!

Look at those eyes!

Nobody lacks loving when Kira's around!

 

Just under 3 weeks old.

3 weeks old and snoozing.

Survived her first trip to Florida - happy on the plane ride home.

LOVE HER!

 

1 month - that's a wrap!