Mia and her New Spinning Machine

Yesterday I eyed an exersaucer at Costco. I swore on the day that we tossed our last excersaucer in the trash, with just about every toy ripped off of the tray table, our days of lugging this piece of baby equipment around were over. But then I gazed at Mia snuggled in her car seat. What fun she would have bouncing around in this fine spinning machine. In the cart the exersaucer went.

Ezra stumbled out of his bedroom this morning. "Mom! Let's build it!" He pulled me into the family room with tools in hand. We sat in the middle of the rug, pulling plastic bags full of tiny parts out of the box. Each screw driver or bolt he handed me was accompanied with a "Can we fix it? Yes we can!" As soon as the contraption was ready for use, we slipped Mia in her new seat, and she has been happy ever since.

Welcome!

This past summer we were the beneficiaries of my brother Mike working in New York City. In July he scheduled a weekend up to Boston to visit our family. The excitement built as the kids counted the days until he would arrive. Finally, on July 9th, I raced into Boston to meet Mike at South Station. He had come on the BOLT bus, a four hour ride from Manhattan, which was well worth the $15 ticket. Mike and I headed to the North End, the heart of the Italian neighborhood, for dinner at LoConte's for plates of simmering Gnocchi. We stopped at Mike's Pastries for an assorted box of canolies, wedding cookies and marzipan to take home to the kids.

On Friday we spent the day in Lexington and Concord, visiting the Revolutionary War sites. We toured the Buckman Tavern on the Lexington Green where the Minutemen gathered in 1775 to await the Redcoats. The highlight of the house was the bullet holes still remaining from the fateful night of April 19th when the Patriots were attacked. We watched a multimedia presentation documenting the timeline leading up to the Revolutionary War and then rode our bikes along the battle road. We ended our day at Kimble Farms for "child sized" ice cream cones.

In the afternoon we met Steve for a trip up to Rockport for a night on the seashore. We watched the sailboats, photographed picturesque boat houses and lobster shacks, strolled along Bearskin Neck, a quaint street jutting out into the Atlantic lined with art galleries, and finally enjoyed cups of clam chowder under the screens of a Red Sox game in a local restaurant joint. Having Mike in town was a great way to celebrate my birthday!

The next day we made our way into Boston to see the tall ships. Every eight years a fleet of tall ships compete for the Atlantic Challenge Cup. Beginning in April, they sail the North Atlantic, from Spain, stopping in the Canary Island, Bermuda, the US, Canada and ending in Ireland in August, racing from port to port. We spent the day wandering around Boston, watching the street performers and even stopping at 7-11 for free Slurpee's the celebrate the date, 7/11.

The next day we attended church together and then wandered around the grounds of the Wayside Inn. We toured the grist mill, visited Mary's school house, and looked for just the right angles to photograph the chapel that Henry Ford built and the picturesque inn where Longfellow stayed. After Sunday dinner we returned Mike back to South Station so that he could catch the BOLT back to New York City.

In October Mike came for another visit over Columbus Day. Once again we could hardly contain our excitement over the visit. On Saturday Mike and I escaped with Mia and headed south. Our first goal for the day was to find cranberry bogs on Cape Cod. Columbus Day is the peak for the Autumn leaves, so we meandered along country roads enjoying each farmhouse tucked against a backdrop of golden foliage. After a certain amount of wandering, we surpassed our cranberry bog goal when we happened upon an entire cranberry festival. We took a short bus ride out to the bogs and watched as the cranberries were harvested, one bog at a time. We didn't leave until we ate cranberry cookies, drank cranberry juice and purchased a chocolate cranberry tart for the car ride, along with a bag of cranberries freshly harvested just a few hundred yards away.

We then continued south to Newport RI. Our time was limited so we headed straight to the Marble House for a tour through the Vanderbilts' mansions. We heard of parties from the roaring twenties where the tradition for the host and guests was to ride silver trays down the grand staircase, we toured one gilded room after another, walked the grounds looking over the Atlantic Ocean and got a glimpse into the Vanderbilt lifestyle by learning tid bits such as 24 dozen roses were delivered to the mansion each day!

We walked along the Cliff Walk, which hugs the back yards of historical and modern mansions with cliffs dropping in the Atlantic on the other side.

We drove along Ocean Drive and envied the modern mansions of today perched above the ocean with sweeping views of the water. We ended our time in Newport watching the sunset over the Atlantic at Brenton State Park.

As the light faded, we made our way up to Providence RI for Waterfire, an environmental art installation where 100 bonfires are lit on the three rivers that separate Providence. Classical and world music play throughout the downtown area and luminaries light the trees. By the time we returned home, we climbed in bed satisfied with our day.

On Sunday we enjoyed our traditional crepe breakfast, attended church and came home for Sunday dinner and Family Home Evening. We loved having Mike join us.

The next morning we headed out to apple pick, a New England tradition that each fall visitor must experience. We quickly located the Spencers, filled our bag and headed back to the car. Unfortunately this was the day to say our good-byes to Uncle Mike. I whisked Mike to the airport, ending a weekend to be remembered!

Party for Six

Tonight was the last night for ballroom dancing. We decided to extend the celebration from the middle school gym into our kitchen with a fondue party for six cute sixth graders. Perhaps the best part of the night for me was picking the girls up. In sequins and taffeta, they lept into my car and as soon as the doors were securely closed, the details of the night came bursting out. I sent Steve out with the little ones and Jonathan was away at a hockey game in Boston, so I spent the evening with the girls over strawberries, marshmallows and Mandarin oranges dipped in chocolate. I taught the girls the etiquette of fonduing (ie. don't eat off the fondue fork) and sat back as the girls dipped the night away.

They then slipped into Emilie's room for girl talk which some how ended in story time -- not what I expected but then again, keep them young while you can, right?!

The girls concluded that despite some awkwardness, ballroom dancing has been a highlight of Middle School thus far.

Six for Six

It's hard to believe that it has already been six months for number six! Mia is a huge hit in our household, and each new move she makes is watched with seven pairs of wondering eyes. She has gone from sleeping around the clock to limiting herself to a morning and afternoon nap followed by a twelve hour night time stint in her own crib. She now rolls over, but only when she is extremely motivated, she props herself up on her elbows to watch the busy life around her, and eats Gerber jar after Gerber jar of green beans, squash and pears.

She has found her thumb, is interested in each intricate detail of her brightly colored baby toys, is attached to the fuzzy blanket that Grandma Ebert sent and braves the cold under the hand crocheted hat and blanket that Grandpa David brought.

When she is not being passed from sister to brother to brother to sister and back again, she spends her time perched in her high chair with a cracker in hand, making mental notes of exactly how best to navigate our busy world.

How lucky we are for baby Mia. She makes our life complete!

Party Girl

As the saying goes, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!" For Sophia it has been all fun and games, jumping off the walls and swinging from the chandeliers, or so it seems. But last week Sophia introduced us to the Emergency Room at Emerson Hospital. Late at night, after each child had been tucked in bed at least once, we heard a shriek. I dropped the phone and raced upstairs just as Steve leapt out of bed. Sophia and Annelise had snuck out from underneath their covers for one more bronco ride in their fantasy rodeo. Sophia hit her head on the corner of the wall and blood was gushing to prove it. We lifted her up onto our bathroom counter to examine her wound. Sure enough, this girl needed stitches, the first in the family. She clutched Kit, her American Girl doll and shuffled out the door in her sleeper jammies and Hello Kitty slippers, with a rag pressed to the side of her head. "I'll be just as brave as I can be," she announced to her tearful brothers and sisters, who had one by one climbed out of their beds to wish her well. Steve whisked her into the dark of the night. Without a single tear or whimper as the doctors stapled her head back together, Sophia returned home with four pieces of hardware in her scalp and a bag full of toys.

This party girl, who is as good as new, is already bouncing from the walls and eyeing those chandeliers!

Fabulous Annie

I have aways said that Annelise is the child who will accomplish whatever she dreams. Over the past couple of weeks, Annelise's dream has been to put together a play for the talent section of school meeting. So, at recess she rounded up seven of her friends and organized, wrote, directed and stared in a re-mix of Little Red Riding Hood. Each day I would receive updates on the progress that the girls were making. "Should we invite your friends over for a practice? Would you like me to look at your script and see if you need any help," I couldn't help but ask. She assured me that everything was under control. At recess she had the girls practicing, she arranged to audition for Mrs. Dooley, she gave assignments for costumes, and she even gathered together a few props from our storage room. Last night Annelise brought up a piece of red felt from last year's M&M Halloween costume. She instructed me where to cut, pin and tie strands of ribbon to create a hooded cape. As always with Annelise, my best place is on the sidelines. Lucky for me, Annelise is such fun to watch! Today Steve and I met at the school for the showing of "Little Red." Annelise and her friends were the first to preform in school meeting. Annie was a star, clearly enjoying the spotlight. The audience giggled when Red Riding Hood's father, not mother, reminded her to talk to strangers and while on her way to Grandpa's house, there was a cameo appearance of the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. I didn't quite know what to expect when I found my seat in the audience this afternoon, but as always, Annie's dream was a success.

As a bonus, Jonathan appeared on the stage next, with his friend Andrew. They had proposed to the principal that they present a sports trivia question at each school meeting throughout the year. The students would have the week to drop their answers to the question in a box located in the front hall. The winners would be acknowledged at the following school meeting. Steve and I knew that this addition to school meeting had been approved, but were pleasantly surprised when Jonathan appeared in front to the microphone, asking the students how many times the Patriots had won a Superbowl in the history of their franchise. You could see little boys throughout the student body bounce in their spots, as if wiggling and squirming would help hold in the answer.  We look forward to many sport tid bits shared around the dinner table this year.