Playmobil is a hit!

Not that I had any doubts about this at all, but the kids cleaned up the playroom to make room solely for the new (and old) Playmobil that they wanted to use and set up scenes. They just love the new construction trucks and guys that go with them. Molly had all the princesses in the back compartment of the dump truck and a couple work guys driving them around. I wonder what she was thinking when she did that???

Emma Wright visits during homecoming weekend

Emma is a former student of Dave's who graduated a couple years ago. She is now living in NYC, but came up for Homecoming weekend at BU. She hung around with us all day on Saturday, the kids mostly glued to her the entire time. It was such a fun day, we hope that she can make it back up here later this month with her friend and ours, Jesscherry!!!

And then there was the cake....

The before......

The singing......
The blowing.....

Mid-blowing.....

Finally, the eating!!!!!
The chocolate face!!

Mollyariotti's little friend having adventures

Mollyariotti had this little purple bendable guy, whom she named Benny, that lived in her apartment when she was a student at BU. Upon graduation and cleaning things out, she bequeathed Benny to Potter. Benny sat for a good part of the summer on the window in the kitchen, getting lots of fresh air. Potter decided that it was time for Benny to have some adventures, so here is a smattering of where Benny has been up until now. Enjoy!!! And thanks Mollyariotti!!!

Benny riding the Playmobil horse

Benny riding in the remote control car
Benny doing his Superman imitation on the light
Benny is totally into the Bionicle lego scene

Benny always knows how to do the weather on the felt board and likes to be a part of it (he forgot his parapluie!)

Benny at the family reunion this summer
Benny knows how to have a good time with a light cocktail!
Candles make Benny melt, so he always is safe and hangs around when they aren't lit!!
Climbing on the blinds = good exercise for Benny
Not to worry, Benny will have more adventures soon!!!!

But wait, there's more!!

No birthday (or Christmas) is complete without the ginormous Wendy Martinek box of Playmobil and this was no exception!!! Hands down, the trucks that Wendy sent him have to be the favorite present this birthday! All the kids will get to play with them (always a good thing in my eyes) and they are pretty indestructible. Notice Caleb carrying around the red flashlight (favorite present #2) as he opens the remaining gifts of an orange towel (thank you Ikea) and a Wii Diego game (thank you Granddad).

Opening some birthday loot

Caleb is now is sync with the older kids - he received his own sleeping bag (Lightening McQueen of course), his own flashlight (red of course), and a travel blanket (orange of course). As I type, Molly and Caleb are napping in their respective Princess and McQueen sleeping bags. If I could find Potter's, I might curl up on the sofa inside it myself.

CALEB turns 3!!!

My baby boy is 3!! He is potty trained, he is going to a big kid's school, his speech is amazing, where did the baby go???? Ok, I grabbed a tissue and am now ready to face reality. This morning, we started off by looking at a very creative and thoughtful gift that Potter made for Caleb. He did this totally on his own, no prompting from me or Dave. He took a bunch of pictures of Caleb (and Molly and Potter) put them on his bulletin board (which he cleaned off his things from) and then cut out some number 3s and set it up for Caleb to see when he came in the family room this morning for breakfast. Being the center of attention is sometimes hard, so Caleb refused to come to the table to eat, decided to hide on the floor (see photo below), but then Dave rallied him to come and put on the crown that Molly gave to him and they all happily ate Granny's famous Blitzkuechen for breakfast.

Molly's UPK field trip to the library

This past Wednesday, Molly's UPK class went on their first field trip of the year, a walking field trip to the local library. It was a bit cool and blustery out, but luckily we dodged all of the rain that has been around this week. The kids were sooo cute walking along in pairs of buddies, crossing the street, and wearing their cute fleeces and jackets. Our family goes to the library A LOT so Molly was very familiar with the library, especially the children's room, but the librarian, Miss Sue, took the time to explain the many quilts that hang on the walls, which have tons of common storybook characters on them. She then told a bit about books that relate to these characters, like Arthur, Clifford, Ping the Duck, the Berenstain Bears, etc....My guess is that there are some kids in her class whose parents don't take them to the library at all :( After a tour of the children's books, DVDs, computers, and books on tape, we went downstairs to the story time room, which is in the basement. Miss Sue then read them a couple of very neat, very huge (in size) books. After that a little music and movements to get the wiggles out. The last, and most favorite for all the kids, was the huge parachute that the kids first got to be in charge of shaking and then the parents took a turn while the kids all sat underneath. The walk back seemed longer to the kids, but they did such an amazing job of being patient, listening and following directions. I really love Molly's class, the teacher and the other parents!!

Girls weekend in Arlington

From Friday September 24th through Monday September 28th, Wendy, Cathy and I had a total girls weekend down in Arlington. This is the first time ever that the three of us had time together without any of our children (or cats, sniff sniff) to talk, eat, shop totally unencumbered. Cathy and I left on Friday morning after I dropped Potter at school and Annie got on the bus. After a quick trip to Starbucks (thanks to Wendy getting us giftcards) we were on the road for what is a painless 5 hour or so drive to Arlington. I have never had the chance to complete so many sentences to Cathy!! We arrived in Arlington, dropped our things off at Wendy's apartment, and then headed over to the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa for our afternoon manicures. This was the absolute best manicure that I have ever had!! At the end, we were shown into the 'relaxation room', which is darkened, heated, and has light music playing in the background. We spent about 10-15 minutes there, unable to talk (can't ruin it for the other women) then headed out. That night we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Jaleo, which is a scrumptous tapas bar. We tried so many items and Wendy had a LOT of sangria, but hey, it was a girl's weekend, that is what you are supposed to do!! Afterwards, we headed back to Wendy's and then stayed up chatting and watching 'When Harry Met Sally.' Saturday, we had plans to hit the Ikea in Virginia. We took our time getting ready and finally were at the Ikea around 12:30, just in time to eat lunch there. Now, if you have never been to an Ikea or eaten there, you MUST try this, just at least once in your life. But be prepared; after you eat lunch, you have a good 2-2 1/2 hours of walking through the showrooms. It is a most amazing experience, starting off with all the furniture, kitchens, bedrooms, and then you finally end up in the kid's section. The lowest level is where you will find any sort of house good or kitchen item you could possibly need and a lot you don't need, but buy anyway!! After we left Ikea, totally exhausted, we did have to make another Starbucks stop, then we went to Whole Foods in Clarendon and also hit the Williams-Sonoma. Whew. We ended up having sort of a snacky type dinner since we'd had huge lunches at Ikea, so we hung out and then watched a movie on demand. Really, it was 'Bride Wars' with Goldie Hawn's daughter whose name escapes me, and another girl who looked familiar, but I could not name either. There was no plot whatsoever, but very entertaining nonetheless. Sunday morning, we took our time again, I made the dough for baguettes (the tray we had purchased yesterday at WS) and then we were off to Bruegger's Bagels, which I truly miss having around, Michael's, Joann's, another Starbucks, then Trader Joe's, the Container Store, and Crate and Barrel. I do not know how we managed to cram so much into one day!! Or one weekend!!! We actually made dinner that night and watched, ready?? Sixteen Candles!!! But it was the updated flashback version with all this footage of the actors now, 25 years later. Weird!! On Monday, sadly we had to leave. Ate breakfast at a great place called the Silver Diner. We parted ways with Wendy and made our way back to reality. We're already planning our next weekend.......