Breaking The Pacifier Habit is Going Well

You Might Be My Brother,

but you're heavy.

The Future Mrs. D.

This is Charlie and his future wife, Allison. Isn't she cute? It has been decided that they will be married and live happily ever after. The fact that it is their mothers that are deciding this, I am sure, will have no bearing on the success of the marriage.

Their family is moving away to DE next week. I am beyond sad. I have spent most of the past few weeks trying not to think about it or burst into tears. Allison's mom, Deborah has turned into one of my dearest friends. She is smart, funny, and the least judgmental person I have ever met. She is a good mom, a loyal friend and she laughs at my jokes. That is a hard combination to beat.

I am sure we will keep in touch. Our relationship is based on texts, emails and phone calls. So the fact that she is across the country should not really change things too much. (Except that we will have to forgo the coffee chats. It is a scientific fact that most problems can be solved over mochas.)

We just had dinner with her family tonight. We had a Thanksgiving in June, complete with turkey, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. It was pretty good (except for the pie that was runny, because I didn't let it cool enough). And I am happy for them that for their next real Thanksgiving, they will be in cooler weather, with real fall leaves and new friends surrounding them. You just can't beat the holidays in New England. I don't care what anyone says. And I am happy for them that they will get to experience that.

But they will be missed. And they better get a house with a guest room.

Birthday Tidings

This is a sign made by AJ for my Birthday. I am not sure how this tradition got started, but for the birthdays in this family, there is usually a sign near the stairs. And what I love about AJ's signs for me (unlike my store bought ones for him) is that they have gotten increasingly more crafty as the years have gone by. I love that he spent the time to cut out the letters and tape them to the wall. As most moms will tell you, it is all about the time he took. But the gift certificate to the spa wasn't bad either.

Snack Time

I Guess I Will Get Another Glass Of Water

Father's Day Photo Shoot 2010

I had pictures taken for Father's Day again this year. Instead of staying in town, we drove to a farm nearby that is open to the public. Besides the usual things, this farm had a vineyard, an orange grove and even peacocks! The peacocks would sit on the roofs of the buildings and cry. They must not go over peacocks at school, because Charlie kept calling them chickens.

We got some great pictures. And it was so fun to see how much the boys have changed in one short year.

Here is a small sampling:

When Summer Break Gives You Boredom . . .

Make some lemonade!

Some Pictures of The Boys (All of Them)

Meet The New Family Members

These cuties are Duncan (formerly Jacob) and JJ (formerly Neville). JJ (the white one with the crazy hair), is a bit older than Duncan and acted as Duncan's babysitter in the foster home. They are use to each other, so we decided that we should just go ahead and adopt them together.

The guinea pig rescue group (no, I'm not making that up) was up by AJ's camp. He and I had submitted our adoption application the week before he went up there. Shawn drew the line at agreeing to a home study visit. But despite that, we got approved and arrangements were made to go get the boys.

When we picked AJ up from camp today, he was very surprised to find out that we were heading straight to the rescue to pick up the guinea pigs. He was over the moon with excitement and held the box on his lap the whole way home.

They are pretty cute and a lot of fun to watch. We are giving them their space for a day or two so that they can get acclimated. But after that, we will be able to hold them, play with them and even take them outside to much on fresh grass. I am so glad I kept that baby playpen/gate thingy!

These will be AJ's pets. He has wanted a pet for a long time that he can call his own. The nice thing about guinea pigs is that they are a pretty "medium-level" commitment. Most live about five years. The turtle that AJ originally wanted lives thirty. The hamster Shawn and I wanted lives two. Life is nothing, if not a compromise.

Eating Breakfast-Charlie Style

He loves to stand on this stool. I blame myself. I let him help me make cookies one day. And he has been standing on it ever since. I think he likes being taller.

The Obligatory Camp Shot

And you will notice that it is from the back. Because I had to walk, shoot the camera and hold Charlie, all without making it obvious I was taking a picture.

AJ has a different camp counselor this year. His name is Jeff, so that should be easy to remember. It might be important for him to know his counselor's name since I pretty much let AJ pack himself this year. He may have to borrow socks or something. For those of you who have not met AJ, he is the most stubborn person on the planet. So after about 20 rounds of: "AJ do you have (insert item here)" And him telling me: "Mom, I GOT IT!!!" I left it alone. But I did give a sharpie so he could label all his clothes. See? I'm involved.

To his credit it did look like he had everything and he was using the camp provided list. But that was another point of contention. If the list said 2 towels, he only wanted to pack 2 towels. Period. AJ is not big on contingency plans.

Anyway, thanks to all who have written to him. I know that the mail he gets is one of the favorite parts of going to camp.

Helpful

Love Language

Anyone read that book? I am not sure I even have the right title, since I have not read it myself. But I have friends that swear by it. Basically the premise is that each person has their own "love language" that they speak, and their own "love language" that they hear.

When we think of showing love in grand ways, we often think of flowers and love letters or slaying dragons and building monuments. But in the real world, showing love can simply be going to a job you hate everyday so that your family can eat and have a roof over their head. Or it can mean making cookies from scratch and keeping everyone in clean clothes.

Shawn works really really hard. He is in his office 10-12 hours a day. He is constantly complaining about his back because his chair is the cheapo Office Max special. When you spend the majority of your day on one piece of furniture, you should probably spend more than $50. Just sayin'.

So, as a surprise, I bought Shawn a really nice chair for his office. It can be adjusted in all sorts of different ways and tailored to each individual body. I read one of the reviews that told of an entire office that had these chairs. Each chair was adjusted so specifically, the employees ended up writing their names on the bottoms, so they wouldn't get mixed up.

I guess the moral of the story is that when you are married to an engineer, you are shown love by receiving engraved electronics. When you are married to an interior designer, you are shown love by receiving a Herman Miller chair.