long time no see.

whoa. december 7th was the last time i posted? not sure if anyone is still even reading, but i need to do a better job for myself keeping things up to date.

to put it bluntly, december has kind of sucked. i was so excited for my school work to be done so i could just enjoy going to work and having fun with the kids (students and my own). i couldn't wait to decorate and do fun crafts and watch movies and lounge.

but then i went to the dentist and things didn't go well. the girls both got sick and are both still on antibiotics. zane got sick. my mom got sick. we had men working in our basement for 4 days. there were too many little things to do that had nothing to do with family time, or holiday time, etc. we were stressed stressed stressed.

on friday afternoon, instead of being happy and relaxed that we were starting our vacation, zane and i went into crazy mode and started cleaning the house. we got things put back together pretty quickly and by saturday, everything felt better.

yesterday was all about family. we didn't do a whole lot of anything. i snuggled with the girls on the couch while zane was out playing basketball in the morning. we played with my new phone. we took pictures. zane made them a car out of a box (and nola was sad that it didn't actually move). i cuddled the girls during rest time since there was no heat upstairs. zane took a nap. he wrestled with the girls. we went food shopping and then got take out burgers for dinner. we watched "rudolph" with the christmas lights on and put some very tired girls to bed. we watched part of harry potter with a fire going and went to bed early knowing it was the kind of day where we took care of the most important business we could think of.

(within 5 minutes of sitting on the couch, i had both girls and the cat clawing for my attention and warmth ;))

today has been much of the same. we made a big breakfast with pancakes and bacon. the girls are napping and they're still in their jammies. there are train tracks all over the living room rug (that got a thorough vacuming this morning thanks to zane). almost all our clothes are put away, which happened as the girls were playing in a make-shift fort in the playroom upstairs. the girls both came to me at different times and said "mama, where's nola/avery? we were playing hide and seek and now i can't find her." (they weren't trying to be funny either, which just cracks me up).

we have turned a corner somewhat and it feels refreshing and reassuring. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

settle.

nola: mama, is it a school day?
me: nope.
nola: YAY! mama, are we goin' anywhere today?
me: nope.
nola: YAY! mama, are we stayin' home today?
me: yep.
nola: YAY!

this wee was insane. two nights i was at school until 6pm (once with the girls, once without). another night zane was gone until 6pm. i had to drive into boston twice (once with the girls, once without) to hand in final paperwork for simmons. and on wednesday night we still had dishes on our counter from the weekend. now nola is sick with the start of a cold, zane and i both have sore throats. at least, i think his is still sore, haven't really had a chance to sit down and talk to him in a day, so he may be feeling better-yep, that's how out of whack our week was.

safe to say i'm as excited as nola is to just settle in for the day.

(random photo of the box that avery addressed to her and nola, complete with plus sign)

in exciting (and maybe boring to most) news: we had a book fair in the library this week (which accounts for the late nights and me working more hours even though i'm not technically a student teacher anymore) and as of last night raised over $14,000! i can't remember the exact percentage that the library will get, but this year was the most profitable year yet, which means lots and lots of new books! we also had a team of 5 local authors (julie berry, jack ferrailo-co creater and writer of word girl!, erin moulton, erin dionne, and diana renn-my dentist's wife!) meet students and sign books-that alone brought in over $3,000 in an hour and a half. it was a great event and the kids were SO excited.

so. that was my week. i'm happy to dive into the holiday season now and get festive.

she wanted a play space party.

and we broke it to her sunday morning that wasn't going to happen. she pouted big time.

it's safe to say, she had a blast at her party!

50%

i have lots of pictures from yesterday to share. avery had a great birthday i think, though it was weird to be away from her for 6 hours of it! we made up for it in the afternoon by doing fun stuff. after i finish my work this afternoon, i'll try and post a better recap.

for now, though, i'll just mention that i just got word from my supervisor that she's completed my evaluation for this practicum. it was a pleasure to read "i recommend allyson for licensure" at the bottom of one of the forms.  

YAY!

now just one more long stretch of busy work after the holdiays and life will be somewhat back to normal again. until the next thing comes along :)

i kid you not.

to the most beautiful, smart, funny, sweet, stubborn, sassy, proud, wonderful and lovely 5 year old i know, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. you have made us so proud to be your parents since day 1. we adore you and can't wait to see what other amazing accomplishments you achieve year after year. love you, aves!

gobble gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all had a wonderful day with lots of love :)

school!

while my school is winding down (well, the practicum part, halleluja!) it seems nola is starting to really get the hang of it. i've been getting good reports from her teacher, and just told avery's teacher told me that he misses seeing nola, cause she never comes down to his class anymore. this is a great sign :) instead of lamenting that she's not in avery's class with the "cool" teacher, she's starting to get more comfortable in her own class. i'm hopeful that before long we'll be getting reports that she's starting to play more with the kids in her class. she can be picky and particular! (case in point-she didn't want much to do with the class bear she brought home last weekend because she "didn't like his skin". apparently he's not as soft as avery's class bear :))

so tonight to celebrate we ate some hostess cupcakes. we went on a shopping spree on saturday trying to find hostess products, thinking they were going out of business. i just saw a headline tonight that they may be sticking around for a little while longer. good thing, i realized that i love their cupcakes ;)

first snow!

they mentioned that there would be (another) nor'easter this week. and as of this morning, the news around here was that it would be rain, maybe a few snowflakes mixed in, but nothing that would stick. the areas north and especially west of us (like where zane works) were going to get an inch of slushy snow, but we'd get nothing.

(updated-took this just after i wrote the post)

well, as you can see in this picture, it's not raining. it's snowing and it's sticking. the girls are so excited! true, we're not going to have to break out the snowblower for this, but it does add a little bit of fall/winter flair that we've been missing (and not sadly, until last week the weather here has been pretty awesome!)

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in other news, i'm sick. like, i don't know the last time i felt as bad as i did yesterday. i woke up at 10:30 on monday night and was shaking uncontrollably. i got up, took 3 advil and climbed back into bed with layers on top of layers and just couldn't get warm. then came the headache. and the fever. and the sore throat. and body aches. and neck ache. and nausea. i've never had so many things hurt so much. i barely was able to put together a lunch for the girls in the morning and had my parents take them to school. i finally got into the dr in the afternoon and after a negative rapid strep test, he said it's probably "just a virus". nothing i can do but take advil/tylenol, drink and rest. i was able to eat dinner last night and then my fever broke after i climbed into bed and i got a good nights sleep. today, i feel crappy still, but it's mainly my throat and neck. i feel like i swallowed to marbles and it makes it hard to eat or swallow normally. i have no idea what this is, but i want it to pass as quickly as possible!

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in good news (or in OMG how fast did this go???? news), i have 3 1/2 weeks left until i'm done with my 1st practicum. i have heaps and heaps of paperwork to do and reports/reflections to write up, but at least the end is near. it doesn't help that i hadn't heard from my advisor for almost 2 weeks and i had sent her a bunch of work i needed feedback on, including my "major project" that had gotten marjorly messed up with the 2 days off from school last week with the hurricane. just got word from her today, and it looks like i'll be able to swap some of the other lessons i've done in the project's place and call it good. the good news is that even with the frustrations and negative things that are happening (mostly out of my control) i'm learning a ton and realize why everyone said nothing really counts until you do the student teaching. the coursework helps of course, but it's nothing like actually being in the field and doing the job.

ps, if anyone knows of the author julie berry, check out the blog that i set up for her and the 5th graders to interact with each other. we're doing an author-in-residence program with her this year and she's awesome!

the blog is: chenerybookblog.blogspot.com

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that's it. i was coming on just to post the snow picture, and look what happened. 

when it rains.

well, we finally made it to the end of the week. weird that with the 2 days off at the beginning, it felt like a LONG week. a lot of shifting of routines, etc. i still can't get over how much destruction some of the states just south of us received. my parents had just been to atlantic city last month for a couple of days, and as they were watching the news couldn't help but point to all the places they had just been and take it all in.

so, on friday, we had plans to finally go out for zane's birthday. he got home from work, we piled in the van and headed out. we had a delicious dinner, zane was surprised/embarrased with a ice cream treat from the waitstaff, the girls ate like wild beasts and were SO GOOD. it really helped after all the turmoil this week, stretching into earlier that morning (i'll write about our preschool picture FAIL at some other point, when it's not so fresh and when i'm not still angry). we picked the wrong way to drive home and ended up sitting in traffic for way too long, but eventually got home, ate cake, and everyone went to bed early.


this morning we wrote up the next three weeks of our menu for november, so we could do a huge shopping trip and only have the weekly essentials to get on the weekends until thanksgiving. the girls were insane. we warned them multiple times to calm down before someone got hurt. the grocery store was packed (it usually is no matter what time of day or night you go), and then...

still not sure how it happened, but she fell and smacked her face on the bottom shelf of the soup can aisle. she was screaming, we were 1 item away from being done shopping, but we were both ready to leave the cart and drive to the ER. she was crying and bleeding, and we couldn't tell if her eyeball was bleeding or if it was from the cut on her face. luckily, she calmed down and we were able to wipe her face off and see that it didn't look like there was any damage to her eye itself. zane bought our food while i took the girls outside and called the doctor on call for the weekend. i took the picture above while i waiting for a call back. finally heard back and the dr said it sounded minor, but her eye could be bruised and to watch for any signs of a concussion. scary, but at least her eye was spared. 

to continue with getting chores done, we went to the farmstand after the girls rest time and as we were driving home, got rear-ended. luckily, there was no damage and no one got hurt. the guy behind us couldn't have been going very fast. i got out of the car to take a picture, and zane asked the guy for his license. i don't know if he thought my phone could take a close up from where i was standing?

pretty funny.

we're about to eat dinner and have an uneventful evening. 

the professionals

the photographer from james and brian's wedding put some of their pictures on facebook, and i grabbed these. giving credit where credit's due: paul specht photography :)

rawr!

halloween! the girls got 3 different halloweens today. one at school, one in cushing square and one around our neighborhood. 

here they are with jane and addie, walking up to trick or treat in the square. it was a really nice day-not to chilly, not too sunny, calm and peaceful. 

i think nola was a bit anxious about jane and addie's mom dressed in costume. she was velma, and didn't look a THING like herself. nola kept saying "HUG!"

pausing in line for more treats. nola went as tinker bell for the second year in a row. she went to school as a lady bug, and we were going to doctor her ghost costume for trick or treating around the neighborhood (so she'd be able to see and not fall down) but it didn't happen. 

balloons, "jelly buttons" and cold air on our walk home. 

the wolf man was out in our neighborhood!

eek!

the girls had a blast today. i think i might need to dress up next year-i was a complete grinch today and didn't enjoy it as much as i could/should have. think i'm stressed about getting all my work done in the next month. glad the kiddos (all three of them) had such a good time :)

checking in.

i know there are some out there that may be worried about us east coast folk! we're doing just fine. it's 8pm, and i hear conflicting reports saying that either a-the worst is on us right now and will be diminishing or b-the worst is just about to hit us from 8pm-2am. judging by the torrential rains and insane wind gusts, i'm thinking maybe the second scenario is more likely, but i'm no forecaster.

we all hung around at home today. the girls were as crazy as ever, but we found (once again) that if we start giving them a little less attention when they're NEEDYNEEDYNEEDY! then they start playing games with each other and have a blast. we seem to need to re-learn this lesson every few months.

zane and i both have school cancelled again tomorrow. haven't heard about the girls' school yet, but i won't be surprised if they stay home too.

so. that's where we stand. haven't lost power. the pump hasn't kicked on yet. there are only a couple smallish branches down in our driveway. the girls are asleep and we're going to be right behind them.

for the love!

i have never witnessed such insanity (i might go so far to call it stupidity) as i did today with the girls' behavior. nola can't hear us, so we were all yelling at each other (avery even realized that you have to talk THIS LOUD when you're standing in the same room as nola for her to hear you :( such a good sister), nola actually napped so she had THIS MUCH energy but no coordination to go along with it, so there were falls and bumps and fastfastfast paced games bouncing from thing to thing.

so my current face book status is something along the lines of :hurricane sandy has nothing on the destruction of 2 girls during the hurricane AND full moon.

oh. my. word.

zane and i both have work off tomorrow, and we're waiting to hear from the girls preschool. governor patrick has urged all schools in the state (!) to close tomorrow because there is no way of knowing just how hard any of us are going to get hit.

we've stocked up on batteries, cheese puffs, gatorade and dry wood to burn if the power goes out. but here's to hoping that doesn't happen. i know that just about everywhere else is getting hit much harder than we are, and i hope everyone stays safe and the worst of the storm passes quickly and without as much fanfare as the weather people are calling for!

that gut feeling

i called nola's doctor on friday to try and get her in so someone could check her ears quick. the nurse said both doctors were completely booked, and i almost said "ok, that's fine. it's probably nothing anyway, i'll wait to see how she is over the weekend. don't feel like you have to get her in." but i didn't. i waited and she told me to bring her in at 2:45, though she couldn't say when she'd actually be seen.

nola was at school, had been doing fine all week, wasn't much grumpier than usual, was eating okay, sleeping pretty good. but i made the call anyway. when i went to pick up the girls on friday, nola was asleep. i told her teacher that after seeing her sleeping, i was glad i had made the appointment. she told me that nola had a great day, was smiley, and ate her lunch and did the craft, etc. i think she thought i was nuts.

we got to the doctors and waited a bit before getting seen. zane got my message that we were going to the drs and surprised us by coming in to the exam room. the doctor came in and said "aww, still not doing any better?" i told her, well, nola actually seems to be doing fine. and it's probably nothing, but it's almost the weekend and then we're supposed to get a hurricane, so i just wanted to be 100% sure. and, she's been napping at school and she's been coughing at night. and then in the last day or two, if you ask her "which ear hurts" she consistently points to her left ear. but she never really brings it up on her own. and she isn't acting like it's bothering her. and she's taken her medicine faithfully, so it's probably nothing really.

the doctor understood and came over to check on nola.

first, both her glands were SUPER swollen. like, i'm not sure how i didn't notice at all during week (you can see one of them when she lays her head back). the doctor said one had been swollen on monday, but nothing like this.

then she looked in her ears. "oh no..."

the ear that was "okay" on monday, is now terrible. and the terrible ear from monday is doing better. the doctor said she was so glad that we came in. and zane high fived me and said i was a good mom.

i feel terrible that nola's still in pain. but i feel awesome that somehow (and i can't really even explain it-hence, the "well, it's probably nothing!" song and dance when we finally got to the drs) i knew something wasn't right and did something about it. (i guess you can argue that it's not really intuition, because nola did tell us her ear hurt, but only when we asked "which one?" and she was honestly acting pretty normal)

anyway, point is, sometimes i feel like i'm all over the map and can't believe that i make it to work on time after getting the girls to school on time. and most times, even though i have good intentions of having their lunches ready the night before, i'm scrambling around in the morning trying to give them some sort of balanced, yet reasonable, lunch for them to eat.

but some times, without warning, i'm suddenly "mom". and things fall into place without a hitch. and i get my kids the exact right thing they need at the right time. this time it was white chalky medicine that nola said "is kind of very yucky".

what it looks like

this is what an almost 5 year old (!!!!!) looks like when she's SUPER EXCITED to try out her bike because this october weather is just fantastic:

and this is what a 3 year old with double ear infections looks like after she's been a trooper for days (probably) and was miserable at school all day but didn't tell anyone what was wrong:

it's been a long week and i can't believe it's only wednesday! i'm really looking forward to work being over on friday and enjoying the slightly slower pace of the weekend!

tomorrow we go to the girls school for back to school night, but this is after zane has to stay late for a meeting at his own school. on friday, we both have full days at work and the girls will be going an extra day to school to accommodate our crazy schedules this week. 

i'm also worried that even though we went to the dr on monday night for nola's ears and she's been on medicine since then, and even though she was fine and happy and great yesterday, she was complaining tonight during her bath (after her 5th time out of the day, after biting zane because she "was a spider", after she didn't eat much dinner, or lunch) that her ear hurt. hoping a good night's sleep is all she needs to bounce back fully. 

the fun news? in 2 months from tonight, santa will be coming to our house! i'm more excited for this year's christmas than i was for last years. didn't think it was possible. but it's happened.