Time Out For Women

This past weekend Deseret Book brought Time Out For Women right here to Springfield.  A lot of sisters from our ward were there.  It was really nice.  I love how uplifted everyone feels.  You could see it at church the next Sunday.  All the women seem to be beaming.  I only wish there were more of these opportunities out here.

 

Matthew

I loose everything.  Car keys, wallets, purses, everything.  It annoys Joe so much, I'm surprised he is still around.  For this reason, I have avoided ever having my babies become attached to anything.  No blankies, or special stuff animals, or binkies. NADA.  I've seen visions of myself searching high and low at 3 o'clock in the morning while my baby cries for some silly stuffed thing.  Recently I've wondered if, in my quest to remain sane, I've stolen a precious childhood memory from my kids, especially Matthew.  After a bath he loves to be wrapped up in a towel.  I'm sure that is common for many kids, but he takes it a bit further.  You have to dress him around the towel.  The towel stays on all night and if he has his way he goes to bed wrapped up in the towel.  And when he isn't feeling well he walks around the house saying "towel, towel," until you wrap him up in one.  Luckily for me, it can be any towel.  I can usually find one towel.

Good bye Calls

All good things must come to an end. As much as we wanted them to stay, they just wouldn't.  Joe took the day off on Tuesday and we all did a session at the Boston temple.   The Calls left from there to catch their plane in Providence, Rhode Island.  We'll miss you guys!    Thanks so much for coming.

Southwick Zoo

I know what you are thinking.   Another zoo?  Has Noel developed some kind of zoo fetish?  This was my third zoo this month.  (If you count the Aquarium, which is sort of like an underwater zoo, it's my fourth.)  But, Nicole and her family wanted to see the white tiger at the Southwick zoo.  And if it meant I could be with them, I would go to a zoo everyday.  The weather was so nice and it was fun to be there.  Matthew really likes animals.  He gets super excited and keeps saying look, look.  We went to an elephant show that Nicholas enjoyed.  Did you know elephants eat 300 pounds of food a day?  Crazy, right?  Holden loves giraffes.  So, he was excited that they had 3 at this zoo.  

Boston

On Friday we went to Boston.

  We drove in and had lunch at Quincy Market.  Outside the building we were able to see some street performers.   The kids loved it and laughed and laughed.  

It started to rain a little as we headed back to our cars.  But that made it even cooler to walk around the city.  I think every major city has a feeling.  Seattle feels laid back, New York City feels exciting, and Boston feels like old money.  I love to walk around big cities and soak up their air. Not everyone shares my love and we took the subway back to the cars.  

The Calls and Eli stayed in Boston to watch a Red Sox Games.  The Sox won 7-0.  

Rocky Neck State Park

On the way home from the Aquarium we decided to stop by the beach.  

There were only 3 other people there.  I love the beach.  Every time we are there I wonder why we don't go more often.  It is so close.  Why does life make everything seem harder than it really is?  I love to stand there and look out at the water that goes on forever.  I find great peace when I am near bodies of water.   

Mystic Aquarium

On the Thursday of the Calls visit we all went to Mystic Aquarium.  Kaitlyn had done a school report on Beluga whales and wanted to see some real ones up close.  They were so cool.  They were Nicholas's favorite exhibit.  

Holden liked the crabs and the lobsters.  

Matthew's favorite exhibit was the Dolphins.  There were 4 balls in the tank for the dolphins to play with and he was so excited to see the balls.  He kept saying ball, ball and running around pointing at them.  I'm not sure if he noticed the dolphins at all, so I should probably say Matthew's favorite exhibit was the balls in the dolphin tank.

My favorite part was being with people I love.  (I am so corny, but it's true.)

The Calls

Our friends, the Call family, came to visit from Utah. Nicole went to law school here in Springfield and then clerked for a few years in Connecticut before they moved back.  There is Gordon  (the sports fan), Nicole (the worlds nicest lawyer), Courtney (the white tiger fan), Kaitlyn (the Fanny K Stein reader), and Katherine, (the baby who likes to sleep with a Winnie the Pooh blanket over her head.) They stayed with the Ackermans and we pretty much stalked them there (Sorry Gail!)  What a blessing it is to have friends like the Calls.  Thanks for being such an important part of our lives and supporting us when we need it most.  We love you!  

All Gone

I did it.  On Wednesday morning, I cut all my hair off.  It is  a lot shorter.  I wish that I had taken a picture of all the hair on the floor.  But, I didn't think about it until it was all swept up.  My friend Janine cut it for me and she did a great job.  She's so talented.  I'm super lucky to have such a great friend.  Everyone says I look so much younger.  (Do you think that if I keep cutting my hair I'll stay 36 forever?)

Hypothalamus

Last week Nicholas learned about his hypothalamus in his science class with Lucy.  For those of you who don't know, the hypothalamus is a garbanzo bean sized portion of the brain that controls, among other things, hunger and thirst.  Nicholas is now obsessed.  This whole week instead of saying he is hungry or thirsty, he informs me that his hypothalamus is not happy.  I think he likes the way the word sounds so much, that he is hungry and thirsty twice as much.

Air Holden

The boys love it when Joe gets home.  I'm sure it's because he is crazy, and they are crazy, and together they are extra extra crazy.  One of their favorite activities is to listen to music really loud and dance around like mad men.  Joe often uses the boys as guitars.  Last night they were listening to the White Stripes, one of their favorites.  All of a sudden Joe runs into the kitchen with Holden, lays him on the counter, takes a sharpie out of the drawer, and draws guitar strings on Holden's tummy.   Then he proceeds to rock out on his Air Holden.  

A boy thing?

We held out as long as we could.  But, I am coming to believe that video game addiction runs through the veins of all boys.  Nicholas was the last of his friends to get a game boy.  He would play all day if we let him.  Holden wanted one so bad that he saved all his money to buy one.  

And now I find Matthew picking the game boys whenever he can and trying to play.  He laughs and laughs and thinks it is great fun.  

First Day of School!

A new school year has begun. Today was Holden's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited. He picked out a glow in the dark Transformer shirt and a green back pack. Nicholas chose a Iron Man T-shirt (also glow in the dark) and an army back pack for his first day of 2nd grade.

We invited some other home school friends over for a first day of school gathering. We made little scrapbooks and set some goals for the year.

In the afternoon we went for our first field trip to the Lupa Zoo. Last week when we went to the Bronx Zoo. Holden did not get to see a giraffe. So I promised we would see one. The zoo was practically empty (everyone else was in school.) We saw loads of animals.

Our favorites were the monkeys. There was a little squirrel monkey that really interacted with the boys. It was wonderful.