Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March 17th, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  The children woke up and were happy to see that the leprechaun had paid our apartment a visit.  Their milk was green!

Loving his green milk!

Both Christian and Lindalee have been asking to go to the aquarium, so off we went!  It was a big day for Christian at the museum.  He has never wanted to get too close to the shark and stingray touch tank, but today was different.  For the first time, he touched both a shark and stingray.  Not just one, but as many as he could.  After about thirty minutes, I had to bribe him to leave.  Poor Lindalee was terrified the whole time, but she was a trooper.

Touching a stingray.

Lindalee had some brave moments.  She would get close to the tank as long as no sharks or stingrays were close by.  Smart girl.

Christian touching the sharks.  I had a hard time watching.  I'm with Lindalee!

"Oh my gosh!  That was awesome!"

There was a small lecture going on at the top of the large ocean tank.  When it was done, the woman leading the lecture said that she will be taking questions.  Without hesitation, Christian {while wearing his ninja turtle t-shirt} said, "Excuse me!  Did you know that turtles don't breathe when they sleep?"  She called him to the platform so that he could tell everyone that interesting fact.  They got into quite the little discussion about turtles {that I could hear from across the tank since she had a microphone}.  She taught him another interesting turtle fact that he thought was very awesome: Turtles can breathe out of their butts.

A snail eating a mussel in the touch tank.

Christian said, "Look Mommy!  That fish is almost as big as me, take a picture!"

Christian and Lindalee are both big fans of the jellyfish exhibit.

A diver waved to them.  That's a big deal in the Baker household!

Watching the penguins eat breakfast.

My sweet little cupcake.  I'll eat her for dessert any night!

Thankful for a truly awesome day with my favorite little people in the whole, wild world!

Family weekend

March 16th, 2014

We had a lazy, but fun weekend.  The kids and I spent Saturday morning playing outside.  My little monkeys spent most of the time "climbing trees".

Little monkey #1

Little monkey #2

Earlier in the week Christian said, "Mommy, why do we still have our Valentines decorations up?  We need St. Patrick's decorations.  I will ask Meme to buy some for me."  I asked him why he was going to ask Meme and not mommy.  He replied, "Meme has lots of money, you do not".

Meme and Papa can't stand to not see the kids, so they payed us an afternoon visit.  Meme brought a bag full of St. Patrick's decorations.  Good thing Meme's got all that money to spare! {Wink, wink}

Happy boy!

Lindalee was very happy to wake up to visitors.  She gave Papa lots of cuddles.

Meme even brought some St. Patricks garb for mommy!  Christian and Lindalee thought it was pretty funny.

On Sunday, we spent the morning at the Biddlecom's.  The children had a blast.  

We had to peel Lindalee away from playing with their dollhouse.

Christian enjoyed a dance video game.  He even convinced daddy to buy it so we could have it at home.  

Thankful for lots of family time!

Curious George story time

March 14th, 2014

An exciting morning at the World's Only Curious George Store!  Christian and Lindalee were eager to get dressed in their green {lucky for Christian, green is his most favorite color} and head to Harvard Square for story time and a treasure hunt.

Thrilled to be surounded by books, toys, and everything Curious George!

Story time smiles!

Sometimes I wonder where these two came from.  As a child, the thought of being the center of attention made me nauseous {literally}.  These two happily volunteered to sit up and help lead story time.  

Unfortuantly, we had to call storytime short {and miss the treasure hunt, eek!}.  Daddy had a minor procedure done and he was having some complications and needed our assistance.  Instead of crying and/or throwing a tantrum, both of the kids headed out with smiles on their faces.  They understood that Daddy needed us and they were excited to "come to the rescue!".   Christian told me he was going to "save the day".  When we got home, Christian continusouly asked Daddy if there was anything he needed.  Water and pillows were his favorite ways to comfort Daddy.  Sweet, sweet boy.

Lindalee decided she didn't want to nap, so she joined me on a run to the store.  Car rides are a novelty for us now.  The children are thrilled to run an errand in the car.  {The novelty runs out after about five minutes, unfortunately}.

Christian and Lindalee were very excited to make dinner, especially pepperoni stromboli!  They did a great job, it was quite delicious!

Thankful for my two little troopers who kept smiles on their faces even when things didn't go their way.

One more music class

March 13th, 2014

Oh, New England weather.  We have been teased with spring weather and wake up to a day full of frigid temperatures and snow.  Christian looked out the window and said, "Mommy, why is it snowing?  I thought it was springtime!?". 

Despite the nasty weather, Lindalee and I enjoyed a lovely morning out with some of our favorite girls.  We headed to Charlestown for some music fun {we had a class we were able to make up from missing a session}.  As much as I missed Christian {he went to school today}, it was nice to give Lindalee all of my attention.  I think she enjoyed it as well.

Lindalee LOVES little Ms. Mona!

This evening, Christian drew this portrait of Daddy.  He spent most of the time drawing his hair {appropriate since Chris has changed his hairstyle for the first time in 10+ years}.  For a little boy who refuses to pick up a writing instrument {he prefers to type on the computer}, I was impress by the "I <3 U".  He was proud.

Thankful for a morning with the ladies and the fact that it has to warm up soon.  Right?

Spring is in the air {part II}

March 12th, 2014

Another beautiful day!  Christian spent the morning at school which gave Lindalee and me some quality "girl time".  We went on a nice {stroller-less} walk around Kendall Square.  Lindalee has discovered her pockets  {exciting stuff} and kept her hands in them for 99% of the walk. 

Stopping to smell the flowers.  

Signs of spring!

One cool girl.

We went to pick up Christian at school and I got a wonderful report from his teacher.  She said he has an impressive memory and is one of the most "emotionally intelligent" children she's ever come across.  That made a mommy proud.  He's a sweet, sweet boy {most of the time}. 

It was rest/nap time when we returned home.  Christian insisted on taking a "nap" in the laundry basket on my bed.  He stayed inside and quite for a long time.  Whatever it takes to get a moment of peace in this apartment!

Thankful for a special morning with my little girl and a rave review of my amazing little man.

Spring is in the air!

March 11th, 2014

Today, we had our last Music Together class of the season.  As always, the children enjoyed every minute of it.  I had a difficult time taking a picture that wasn't completely blurry.  They love a good excuse for dancing around like two little hippies. 

This is Christian and his {crazy} little girlfriend he met at music class.  Not sure what they are doing.

It was such an incredible day, finally!  I've actually enjoyed living through the winter here {I know, sounds crazy}; the children and I have had a lot of fun, and Chris and I have had a blast with all our skiing.  But, I've been pretty miserable with the weather the last two weeks {maybe it's ski withdrawal}.  I warmly welcomed a day like today.  The sun was shining and the warm rays were just heavenly. 

With this warm weather, all the snow is melting quickly.  The children and I have been talking a lot about spring and all the fun things that go along with it, mud, being our most favorite of all.  With that, I had to jump on the opportunity to let the kids enjoy one of my most favorite pastimes.  We got our boots on {not that the boots did much to prevent us from getting soaked} and headed out to play in the muddy puddles.  I probably had just as much fun as the kids.  Though, coming inside and cleaning them up wasn't all that much fun.  They thought it was hilarious being drenched in freezing cold water and mud.  I just laughed with them trying to pretend I didn't care how messy it was.  It was nothing a couple loads of laundry, a mop, and a bath couldn't fix.

Later this evening, Christian was being awfully quiet.  When I went in the bathroom to check on him, this is what I found.  He said he was a "marine biologist".  It entertained him for quiet some time, so it sounded liked a wonderful game to me!

Lindalee taking after her big brother.  Legos are a must have at potty time!

When the temperatures are above freezing in Boston, the only logical thing to do is....  Go out to ice cream!  We took a post-dinner walk to Central Square to see if the New York Times was right.  Toscanini's was voted the WORLD'S BEST ICE CREAM.  In my own backyard?  This sounded way too good to be true.  It was.  I'm glad it's a ten minute walk, because any closer would be very, very dangerous.  The children both thoroughly enjoyed their ice cream and both cried after it was gone.  This place could be a great bribery tool.

Thankful for a day filled with {much needed} warm sunshine!

Attempts at preserving my sanity

March 9th, 2014

What a way to wake up.  Kisses from this smiling little girl.  Thanks to daylight savings, my "6:45 am" wake-up didn't seem so bad.

To prevent another day like yesterday, we got up and ran out of the house as fast as we could.  Off to the MoS!  No one can be in a bad mood there!  Thankfully, I was right.  We had such a fun morning exploring as a family.

Lindalee's MOST favorite thing to do at the MoS is getting her hand stamped.  It's the little things!

Christian rode in a space ship.  Lindalee was too "scared" to get in.

My smart little family constructing a trampoline to test out in a simulator.

Testing out their creation.

Christian was happy daddy was around to take him to the lightning show.  He can't go when he's with mommy because Lindalee is terrified to go near the entrance to the lightning show, never mind inside.

We went out for a fun, but crazy dinner with the Meybaums.  Their children are very well behaved.  Our children?  Let's just say, Christian and Lindalee like to stay busy.  Sitting for more than two minutes can be a  {big} problem for the little Bakers.  By the time we left dinner, Lindalee had it.  She was in a fit and couldn't be consoled by anything mommy or daddy said or did.  Thankfully, Mr. Hardi came to the rescue.  For some reason, she was perfectly content having him carry her the whole way home.  That girl....

By the time we returned home, she was back to being her {somewhat} usually happy self.  Thankful for a fun day with under five Lindalee meltdowns.  That's what I call a success!