All about me

Last night shara was asking about being little, etc. and I said we'd have to read her blog. She didn't know anything about it. So tonight shes sitting in bed, I thought looking at tumblebooks, when she asks something like, "how do I ask google about me?" I looked and she had typed in, "about me 6syabroudy- then a bunch of numbers. I figured she was trying to find her blog, and she was.

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Gingerbread Houses

Had fun going to Shara's class today. I spread the frosting and Shara put on the decorations. We made a good team. Then we came home and Shara got her homework done and then we played a number game she had gotten from school. Seemed like the vacation was already starting, but one more day to go.

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Yuck

Last night Shara sneezed, ran into the bathroom and we hear, "yuck, I got pea all over". Alan goes in to see what was happening, expecting she sneezed and pee'd her pants, but no, she had sneezed and the sugar snap pea she was chewing, spit out on her arm. I'd say that was better than the alternative.

Miss. Yabroudy

Last night and tonight Miss Yabroudy moved her table and chairs into her room and called each of us in to write our chunking words. I had to come up with five that had "ed" and five that had "ag" in them. Shara wrote them, then I had to write them in my best writing, which isn't very good. Then I had to read a Dora book. Alan did similar the night before. I'm not sure the grade I got but alan got a B-. He doesn't do very well. We can't understand why.

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Painting

Shara and I really enjoyed each others company tonight. We got our painting supplies together, went into the dining room and spent some time painting our springerlie cookies. She did a great job and we both liked the creative, quiet time we had together. We decided need more nights like this.

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Such a bad mom

It isn't like we haven't been doing anything, but more like nothing really extraordinary and I'm not remembering to write down the little things. For example, we had fun the other night playing dreidle during dinner. Jill sent shara the game and directions for hanukkah. It was a lot if fun and we all learned something.

Last week at church we had a big rehearsal for the holiday pageant and shara was so good and very interested in the directing and acting that was happening around her. She didn't want to have a big part, but loved watching.

She put away all her laundry and likes checking off assignments on her monthly homework. That was one of them - pair and count your socks.

She told us of one friend in her girlfriends in her class that is in love with one of the boys in her class. Don't think this is actually understood yet. The girl said she is going to sleep in the boys yard and scare him in the morning. Ah, young love.

So that'd pretty much it. I'll look for pics to post but I didn't even have any good enough to make holiday cards and we didn't do the photo shoot I had planned for us. So no card. Oh well, we're having a cookie party instead. Only so much I can plan.

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Magic is still there

YTonight we went to see the Rockettes at the PPAC. They were very good and a nice change from the Nutcracker. After the show we went to Downcity Diner. Our waitress or waiter, we weren't completely sure, made for an interesting discussion. It turned out that it was a girl and Alan said something like, "maybe shes in the process of changing". Shara asked what that meant and we explained about people not always being born in the right body they should be, etc. What I find most interesting is that we explain much to her with science, and these explanations, she understands and accepts, but shes very happy to believe in Santa and other concepts we see as fantasy. Seems like science and facts don't get in the way of a childs ability to pretend and fantasize, or take anything away from them being a child. It doesn't seem to be making her grow up faster than"normal".

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Magic is still there

YTonight we went to see the Rockettes at the PPAC. They were very good and a nice change from the Nutcracker. After the show we went to Downcity Diner. Our waitress or waiter, we weren't completely sure, made for an interesting discussion. It turned out that it was a girl and Alan said something like, "maybe shes in the process of changing". Shara asked what that meant and we explained about people not always being born in the right body they should be, etc. What I find most interesting is that we explain much to her with science, and these explanations, she understands and accepts, but shes very happy to believe in Santa and other concepts we see as fantasy. Seems like science and facts don't get in the way of a childs ability to pretend and fantasize, or take anything away from them being a child. It doesn't seem to be making her grow up faster than"normal".

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Great conference report

Tonight we met with Shara's teacher and she had nothing but great things to say. We weren't very surprised but it's certainly nice having confirmation that all is going as it should.

This evening Shara and I were walking to my room and she noticed some flowers I put up on a window sill. She said she didn't like them there because it looked like an owl porching up there. She meant perching but now I have to look it up and see if porch came from the word perch.

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Chase & Shara

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Happy Birthday Aunties

I know, a couple days late. Wer missed Aunt Susan but were fortunate to be able to spend time with Aunt Jill and her family. Had a very fun time at the party. Shara thought the pulled pork was spicy but could keep from eating it, it was so good. She also loved the stuffed dates. We'll have to make those soon. What we all lived most was the time we got to spend together. We really miss being with family and it's amazing to me that shara feels so close to our family even though we don't see each other much at all. Her cousins mean the world to her and we don't go two days without talking about everyone. Jill asked shara if she was going to come visit next summer and I think shara was so excited she didn't know what to say.
On another note, her reading is going great. I don't know how it happens, but one day all the sounds are there and she can read most words by sounding out the syllables. I think Liz was impressed when shara was able to read her magazine. Didn't know exactly what she was reading (financial advice), but the words she got.

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Sushi@whole foods

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I'm going to staple you

Tonight shara wanted to wrestle me and said, "when I staple you..." She meant to say"pin". T that took me a minute to figure out!

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We all got beads today

This was another fabulous day. Shara's reading is getting so good. She's been taking her time sounding out the words and feeling much more confident and patient. At dinet we went through her papers and school is having a contest for kids to write who their hero is, draw a picture of him or her, and write why they consider the person a hero. Shara said it would be hard because she doesn't know if she should write about mommy, daddy, or brutus. I was extremely flattered and told Shara she really filled my bucket today. We also explained to her what a hero is and brutus probably wouldn't really be one.

I'll be posting some gift ideas for Shara soon, but when she was going through the catalog, almost everything was checked.

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This is for Bubbe

Bubbe, sorry for not having more frequent posts. Things have been pretty busy around here. Shara had a fun Halloween, and today she even wrote a song about it. She wrote down the words in her journal on the bus ride home, so be sure to ask her to sing it to you the next time you see her. She was a witch and we went around the neighborhood, but nothing terribly exciting happened. Nice candy. Alan and I eat most of the chocolate stuff and Shara eats primarily lollypops. The yellow Laffy Taffy, I'm told, looks better than it tastes. Shara's had two ballet classes so far and absolutely loves it. Tonight she was reminding me of Liz & Sam by sliding over the kitchen floor, stretching, while she leaned on her table, finishing up her homework.

Today was the best day we've had together in a while and we both knew it. This morning Shara got dressed without me asking her to (she's actually been doing that a lot lately), but the best part was when she came out to eat breakfast and had almost 1/2 hour to eat. We chatted while she ate and I did some dishes and got lunches together. Not once did I have to tell her to hurry up or tell her how much time she had left. It was pretty relaxing for both of us and we each earned a bead to put in our bucket. She then through her banana peel in the compost bucket, and we had a really good hug/cuddle before getting out to the bus stop. The love-fest continued this evening. I picked her up from Tina's because Alan had an eye doctor's appointment. When we got home we looked at her folder and went over her homework and spelling words for the week. Then I got dinner ready and we enjoyed a relaxing meal together. Shara tried my swordfish leftovers and even had a bite of Alan's leftover broccoli rabe (which was too spicy, but did get her a check mark on the assignment to "try a new vegetable today"). After dinner she had dessert (blow-pop) while perusing the Toys R Us catalog, checking off the items to go on her wish-list. I haven't looked at it extensively, but it looks like almost everything is checked. There was at least one squeal or screech given on each page.

Nice weekend

Another fun yet busy weekend. Saturday we had 2 bday parties. The first was for shara's friend since they were infants, molly. She also got to see another of her long-time friends and some newer ones. Lots of bouncing. When we got home I dragged everyone out for a walk and then we had to go to party #2, this was for a friend of the family's. Good food and conversation. We didn't get home until very late.

Today we had church and shara wrote on her order of service that she loves church and it is so much fun. They're learning about death & dying since halloween is also day of the dead in some cultures and they did gravestone rubbings. Then shara joined me for a meeting about the holiday festival. She is very excited to be in a play, depending on what is chosen. After church we came home and made our sugar cookie cutouts. Decorating will be some time this week. We wanted to hold off on decorating because we had to get to the holiday parade, which we did. Wer also ran into some school friends and walked with tenley and kacy. There were two little horses walking in the parade and shara and tenley both put ponies on their lists. We said sure and kacy thought a purple pony with green polka dots would be nice and the final decision was a flying, magic unicorn.

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Ghosted

Shara was ghosted the other night. Tina and her accomplice dropped off some goodies. A nice little surprise to wake up to. We put up the pumpkin lights last weekend and Alan got the halloween box down. We're all set with candy and costumes so now we're just waiting for the big day.

Last weekend we went through the corn maze at the farm down the street. It was a lot of fun and we'll probably make a tradition of it.

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Little actress

So were watching Princess Bride and Shara's acting out the sword fighting scene with inego montoya and the "dread pirate roberts".

Penis, Pelvis, what's the difference?

Tonight Shara was jumping around, getting ready to read Junie B. and she started chuckling. We asked what was funny and she said she kicked herself in the penis. We told her she doesn't have a penis, but her area is called a vagina. She went up to her skeleton and said, "but skelly says penis down there" and we told her it said, "pelvis".

RE spells Relief

Alan and I breathed a sigh of relief today as Shara had a fairly successful time at Sunday school. She had been told that if she didn't go with the class, without mommy or daddy, she wouldn't get to go to LegoFest. This really didn't do much when it came down to her actually going. I had spoken to Ellen, the school director, earlier about this and gave her permission to pick Shara up and take her down to the class. She did have to do this, and both of us felt bad, but it was certainly for the best because at the end of the service, when the kids came back in, there was Shara, all smiles and so proud of herself and the home she decorated for her Webkinz dog, Sara. I cried I was so proud and relieved. She still didn't get to go to Legofest. They were sold out! But she did go bowling with Alan and they had a fun time.

Yom Kippur 2010

Last weekend we had a really fun time at Aunt Jill and Bubbe's for Yom Kippur. Alan wasn't able to join us because he was sick with what lots of other people had. We picked Liz up and were lucky to have her company for the ride there and back. The way out was relaxing and we had a very nice dinner at Sushi Thai in Clifton Park, before going to the Lookers. Shara loved her sushi and Liz's. They made her favorite, Sweet potato maki, and she had a whole bowl of miso soup, and 2 of Liz's California Roll. Liz had a boat - it was beautiful and she shared some of her fabulous sushi and sashimi with me too. I had pad thai, but no one really had any of that but me. It was very peanut buttery, but good. Not as good as Liz's white tuna though. So dinner out with Shara and Liz was like being out with a much older kid. She's so much fun and doesn't act like such a little girl any more but like a kid. And with a great sense of humor. Not just goofy kid things, but really funny stuff that makes me laugh. Of course I can't think of anything now, but will try to post when she says it. Ok, so after dinner we went to the Lookers and Liz got her big surprise of Samantha being home for the weekend too. We were assaulted by crazy Ruby, Dana's dog, but other than that, had a pleasant evening visiting.

The next morning we woke up before anyone else, except Andy of course, and had hot chocolate milk and tv. Shara didn't mind that I had to use hot fudge sundae topping. After getting ready, we had some breakfast and made the deal of the century for both of us. Shara didn't want to go to shull, but with the promise of two cider doughnuts, she agreed to be a well behaved child; no complaining, fussing, arguing, etc. She really didn't have that hard of a time keeping her promise. I was bored too so we went for a walk around the shull, played outside in the beautiful sun, relaxed, and had a nice time with each other. What was more impressive was how she keep herself busy at bubbe's while I helped get dinner together and ready for the company. Shara helped too by plating cookies, putting nuts in a dish and other odds and ends. Then when Jimmy and his girlfriend came, she was showered with attention. Then she wanted no part of me, of course. Later in the evening Liz, Samantha, Shara, Bubbe, Aunt Jill and I had fun playing with all of our cameras.

Sunday we decided to leave by noon and we made our schedule. This was very nice because we were able to relax and get our things packed up, enjoy breakfast, pick grapes! and watch aunt Jill make chocolate chip cookies. Liz was happy to have the room of the van to bring back more of her things and we liked having Liz for the ride home. We decided that we should stop for lunch, but Shara wasn't hungry, unless it was a cider doughnut, of course. Liz found a nice cafe in Lee and it was a great find. Liz & I split their grilled veggie sandwich with aioli on a baguette. Shara had a minestrone soup that she didn't love. She did really like Liz's Chai and my potato chips though. While there I saw a flier for a harvest fest, featuring famous cider doughnuts from Hilltop Orchards. Well it sounded like that was where we were headed next. We didn't realize that we would be going back toward New York but that was fine because we were exploring and not on a very tight schedule at all. And we had the GPS and a full tank of gas. Very important for being carefree. We found the orchard and were a bit surprised that it was so small and not really overcrowded. Apparently it was featured on the Today show and even had wine tastings. We had a couple tastes of wine and then got our doughnuts. Had to get 1/2 dozen because these things were right out of the fryer and loaded with cinnamon sugar and smelled great. They were. I had two, Shara and Liz each had one. These things were dangerous. We didn't pick apples, but I got a peck and we got back in the car and headed on to get Liz home. It was a fairly quiet trip. I let Shara watch her movies, which got very dull, but she was happy. So we dropped Liz off, and after we got back on the road, Shara started acting tired and cranky. So we got home and she was a little better and we had dinner and got to bed so we could get back to our normal weekly schedule.

Shara singing in the shower

Evidently Shara likes to belt out her own original tunes while she's in the shower. Check out the youtube.com video of her singing in the shower. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxnKLch0RFs

Horseback Riding

Shara finally got to get her pony ride today and she loved it. Koren, who donated the ride from the church auction, though Shara was a natural. She was so comfortable on the pony. She wasn't scared at all and they started slow, but Shara wanted to hold the reins, and then they went on to halting and steering, and then Koren let out the rope a bit and Shara had a little room to go in a circle. After the lesson, Maya and Shara had a really fun time playing in the hay loft and then in the field. It was such a nice time and a great opportunity to get to know a fellow UU family.

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Pictures

2010-09-02

End of the Summer - boo

Shara & Jack looking spiffy on their first day of school.

Bus stop girls.

Fun time at the "labor day" party. 

Jack, relaxing in the sun

How cute!

Well, last weekend was the official end of summer. We had a nice time with family and friends at a Cuban themed cookout. Good mojitos, sangria, salsa and food.

It was nice that several people got to go into the pool. Unless there's a heatwave, and you never know!, I'm guessing it's pretty much the end of our swimming season. But what a season we had. I think we were in the pool at least 3/4 of the days, and many nights. Earl couldn't keep us out.

End of the Summer?

Although school starts tomorrow, it won't really be the end of summer if we continue to swim and sweat so much. Last night Shara's in bed and we hear the kids playing outside and she says she wishes they'd be quite. Don't they know she's trying to go to sleep? I told her once school starts they'll all have to go to sleep early too.

One thing that's changed with Shara is her sense of humor. I'm not sure what's been happening during the daytime, but she's really cracking herself up. She's been playing around with making up stories. Not being sarcastic, but saying just the opposite of the truth. Like tonight she said, "when I went out Tina's front door it was like the north pole." I stupidly asked, "you mean it's so cold in her house because of the air conditioner?" thinking she meant when she goes into Tina's house. She said, "no, outside tina's house is like the north pole". Oh, you mean it's so hot in Tina's that going outside feels cool?". At least she didn't get mad at me and start crying. She just said, "I'm kidding. It's really hot. I said the opposite." Oh, ok, ha ha. But sometimes she'll get herself rolling she thinks she's so funny. It really is cute.

I have pictures to post of our recent excursions - Marshfield Fair for one. We went last Sunday and had a great time wandering around. Shara and Alan got the wrist bands so could go on basically unlimited rides. Shara went on the spinning dragons 2 times, the carousel 1 time, and the caterpillar roller-coaster. Though the wrist band didn't cover it, she also went on a pony ride, by herself, without mommy or daddy. She also loved getting a ribbon for completing the kids stations - a great program where the kids go around to different places at the fair - agricultural building, animals, crafts, etc. and having to answer questions about each area. We all learned some things. We were lucky meet up with Liz and Jesus, though the heat drove them away earlier, so it was good that we drove separately. We should be seeing them again this weekend. Shara (all of us) love having our Lizzy so close.

Last weekend was also a lantern walk in Easton. We made our lanterns last weekend when it was raining all day and we didn't go to the fair. It was a great project, though the walk could have been done a little better in our opinion. The walk wasn't very organized or spectacular, mostly because we walked before it got dark out. I hope next year they reverse the order of things and have the music first, then walk back to a certain location to say goodbyes. But it was fun playing with Shara while the music played. We got our exercise running up and down the hill near the library.

So, she doesn't seem at all nervous about school tomorrow. In fact, I don't get the feeling any of us are ready for it and it hasn't become a very big deal. Our schedule is the same and instead of going to Tina's, we meet Tina and the other kids at the bus stop. She'll know most of the kids in her class. She's ridden the bus already. She's been there all day and is a pro at lunch and recess. Going to the extended day kindergarten really gave her an advantage in this respect. I just have to remember to bring my camera!

Stay at Home Weekend

Very unlike us but we didn't do much of anything this weekend. I only worked a 1/2 day Friday so I could go with Alan to pick up Shara from her art camp. What a cool program - the New Art Center in Newton. She went for just the week but she would have liked to go longer. The theme was High Seas Adventure and they made maps, masks, a treasure chest, and other fun things. I'll post pics later. We went to Maguire's for a very enjoyable dinner. Shara's really growing up so much and the way I can tell most is our dinners together. They're becoming fun - full of interesting conversation and food. I find the more Shara likes the food, the more fun we have, but really, she'll sit for so long and eat. That's certainly nothing new.

Saturday we didn't do much of anything but go to the farmer's market and for a walk around sheep pasture. I learned that Shara really got to walk around and explore there on her camp week. She had no fear of going off the path into a clearing covered in leaves with her crocs. I told her that she needed to be careful and she didn't want to wear her sneakers, but she wouldn't stay on the path. She was climbing up rocks and shimmying through thorny vines. Then we had to go to the very boring market and not get anything that she wanted, like always - we never get anything she asks for. We did survive and got all that we needed, maybe not what we wanted.

Sunday we intended to go to the Marshfield Fair but the weather didn't cooperate so Auntie Chris met us and joined us at church before we decided what we'd do for the day and I hate it but the weather won. We came home and had a relaxing day of decorating our lanterns for the walk on Saturday. We actually spent much of the afternoon cutting tissue paper and gluing. So cathartic. We'd been craving El Mariachi for quite some time and finally got it for dinner. We had a dinner and a movie. I convinced Shara to watch E.T. and she sort of liked it but she thought it was scary. It sort of was, but she liked it. Not as much as iCarly by far, but she watched the whole thing. Lots of questions about why the government men would want to examine E.T. so much and she also didn't want to wait to learn what was happening. After the movie, she refused to go anywhere in the house herself though - we had to go before her and turn on the lights, check the closets, etc. No aliens in the closet. We both ended up having nightmares and Shara slept with us, but nothing about aliens. At least not that I remember.

Funny dream & a conversation about marriage

Forgot to mention a dream Shara had the other night. She was in the parking lot of BJ Maxx (yes, the one where you get the paper towels), wearing only her sheet. She was hot so she took it off and only had on her underwear, but went inside shopping with daddy.

Also had an interesting conversation the other night with her. She went to touch me somewhere inappropriate and I told her that we don't touch other people's private areas. She asked, "not even mommy's?" no, "not even daddy's?" no, "not even your husband's"? it depends what the other person wants. If they don't want to be touched, then no. "Not even your wife's? Well, that would be silly a wife having a wife." And I told her that women can marry other women and men can marry other men. "You're kidding me! That's not true! You're lying to me." I assured her that it was true and I knew men and women who were married to each other, and she thought that was rather odd, but then I told her it's because she's not familiar with it and if she had heard about it before, it wouldn't sound so strange to her. She thought or a minute and then said, "yeah, people probably don't care. Anyway..." And I thought, if she only knew.

Fruit picking and camp update

Last Saturday we went to Tougas Fruit Farm and picked over 3 quarts of raspberries, 1 qt. of blueberries, and 1 qt. of blackberries. We also got a bag of apples. Shara doesn't like cooked fruit, so I have to find something else to do with these. She also won't drink a smoothie. Any ideas? The apples will be fine but I'll probably end up eating all the berries in the house. We picked for over 3 hours! Then went and had a small lunch and she fell asleep on the way home. We could have too! In the evening, Oma & Jidor came over because Alan and I had a Summer Soiree, and evening of song, drink and food, from Church.

Sunday we ran lots of errands. Shara and I went to Target and she got 2 pairs of sneakers. I assume they'll work this time. We'll see. We also got all school supplies. After we headed to get some corn and ice cream, then to the market. Too gloomy to swim that day, but Alan and Shara enjoyed watching Phineas and Ferb together.

Yesterday began the first of her week at art camp. She loved it. This camp is really where she wants to be. She loves art! Alan said she was a little clingy at drop-off, but went right with the group. They really knew what they were doing. The welcome message we got explained everything they should expect and even talked about drop-off on the first day and how they'll let the parents stay until a certain time then everyone will part ways together. When I got home yesterday Alan and Shara were making a treasure map together. She was talking like a pirate and told us about how they're making a treasure chest in 3-D class. She made a Pirates of the Carribbean mask, and they created a commercial. Last week we had a little problem with camp. She had a stomach ache on Tuesday and we ended up going to the doctor rather than camp. She was fine with that but the doc could find nothing wrong with her - big surprise. She was told she had to go to camp the rest of the week unless she was throwing up or had a fever. She did, with the promise of the treat bucket if she went without a fuss. Since she gets treats anyway, we agreed that she had to go to both camps without fuss and then she could get the bucket. Knowing her she'll eat 2 small candies and a lollypop and that will be her dive into the bucket!

First day of camp

Shara had her first day of camp today. Tina took her and helped her find her group, gave her a hug and kiss goodbye and off she went. Tina said she was excited and had no problem. When we picked her up she was all smiles and that lasted through the night. The part she didn't like was writing in her journal. She was supposed to draw or write about her favorite part of the day, which was the hike she selected to take for their choice time. They gave them all a small notebook and pencil, so I can see why she had a tough time drawing a picture. But she really like the rest of the time. She even earned a good job coin that she can use in their store. She knew one girl from school too. I think she's almost as proud of herself as I am of her.

Last night we all went to Cirque du Soleil's OVO in Boston. It was amazing. afterward Shara said she wants to take gymnastics at the same place Tenley goes. I told her that there are some gymnastics taught at the dance class she's probably going to go to. She was so excited by it all, and rightfully so. We all were. If anyone is thinking of going, do it. It's well worth it.

Shara feeding koi after mini golf

Here's a video of Shara feeding the koi and letting them nibble on her fingers after playing miniature golf. As she gave one of the last pieces of food one of the koi grabbed her whole thumb!

Cape Cod Vacation

Alan & Shara setting up the tent. After we got the site together, we went with Jill & Andy to Wellfleet to pick up sandwiches at the Box Lunch. We ate at the town pier, then headed over to Mayo Beach. Alan had everyone holding their ears with our Wheelies. Can't wait to get some WD-40! We had fun - the water was really warm, but the wind was fierce. Shara and I played some catch then took a nice walk down the beach - collected a few rocks, looked at tons of horseshoe crabs - yes, they were dead, and climed some rocks. When we headed back, everyone was already packed up and waiting for us. I guess the wind was a bit much!

We all went back to the camp site and decided what to do for dinner. The one thing Shara really wanted to do was play mini-golf, so we went to do that before dinner. We got out of the car, start walking to the office, and Shara wipes out on a speedbump. We changed plans and went to dinner instead. We ended up at Mac's Seafood Shack in Wellfleet. Shara wanted sushi and I heard great things about Mac's. We had a bit of a wait - 40 minutes, which wasn't bad considering some other people had over an hour and a 1/2. And it was just a Tuesday! So we sat around and drank some good wine, watched lots of people, and enjoyed talking to some of them. When we finally got our table, we ordered and the food arrived and we were done. Dinner couldn't have lasted more than 45 minutes, and we even had salads first. They didn't have Shara's favorite - sweet potato maki, but they did have salmon, and she liked that. I had lobster risotto, which was good, but overpowered by the Parmagiana cheese (I think). Alan had sushi too - one of the specials with tempura shrimp and another with cream cheese, jalapenos and tuna? He said it was good. I had a taste of the shrimp and it was great. We also split a 1/2 dozen oysters. They were very good but we still don't see what the big deal is. I guess we just don't get it. We didn't have dessert because it was rather late. We had a nice walk back to the car. Shara felt like it was Halloween - we were walking through the neighborhood to our car, which Alan parked at the pier. It wasn't a long walk, but it was chilly!

In the morning, Alan & Andy went to get doughnuts and coffee at the Hole in One doughnut shop. I tried a chocolate cake doughnut. It was very good. Shara had some of that and a chocolate frosted. We then got ready to go to Provincetown to take a walk on the Jetty. It was a little scary in places, but Shara did great. We went all the way to the other side, up to see the beach, and back. It was a 2 mile trip!

Jill and Andy went back quickly but we took a little more time. After cleaning up a little, we went into town for lunch. We ate at Cafe heaven. It was excellent. I had the banana, cornmeal pancakes with strawberries and maple syrup. Jill had the tuna melt w/ home fries, Andy had a Greek salad & home fries, Alan had a tuna boat (open face tuna melt on homemade English muffin), and Shara had 2 eggs over easy with sausage. We all agreed we'd go back.

This was basically Shara's first time in Provincetown, so separated from Jill and Andy and walked the streets, had some gelato and went into the kite store, the fudge shop, down to the water, and around until she got tired and wanted to leave. Can't blame her, she had a busy morning. Jill and Andy went to the Portuguese bakery and then headed back to their car, then to the campsite. We joined them there and then out to mini-golf. We made a stop for dinner first and ended up at the Jailhouse restaurant in Orleans.It was just ok. Shara liked the broccoli and cheese sauce that topped my open-faced turkey & broccoli sandwich. Alan had way hot Buffalo wings and Shara loved her mac & cheese. We went golfing at the place in Orleans. It was great and we all had so much fun. Shara got to feed the Koi and then sucked her fingers! After we got some ice cream across the street , then went to bed.

The next day, which was our last full day, we went to Wellfleet and checked out Lieutenant's Island. We had a walk from the car along tidal flats, over a bridge, towards a beach. Shara was truely freaked out by the crabs. She had a bad experience a few weeks ago at a beach with Tina. Shara didn't get bit, but most others did. So the way in was a bit whiny until she got over it, which she did, good thing. We saw lots of crabs and made a stop on the dunes to have a snack of beach plums. Good thing Andy was there because he knew what they were. The trail lead to a beach around a little harbor. It was so peaceful. Hardly any people were there. It did look like it was going to rain, so we didn't continue past the beach. We were about 1/3 of the way to the end of the hike and turned around to head back. That was a smart decision because about 1/2 mile from the car it started to rain and kept picking up. Shara was fussing, but then we started singing marching songs and actually had fun.

Lunch was simple because we couldn't think where to go. We ended up at another Box Lunch in Eastham. It was ok. They got my order wrong but it was still pretty good. Jill and Andy were planning on going to Race Point beach and we joined them. Shara was tired and needed to relax a little. We saw a seal when we were there, but not tons. Jill said they saw lots at Nauset Beach last time they were there so we went to Nauset next. I didn't realize how much time goes by on the beach. We didn't leave until after 4:30 and got to Nauset later than planned because I wanted to stop at this bakery - PB Boulangerie. OMG - I've never eaten such wonderful bread, which is all we got this day. Shara had hot chocolate - I'm sure it was just shaved chocolate melted in hot milk. Alan had a coffee and I had a baguette (we all shared a small one, hot out of the oven). We brought the remains of the bread to Nauset Beach to share because everyone has to try bread this good. We hung out at the beach for a few minutes, not seeing any seals, and planning our next move, which was Provincetown for dinner. Jill was interested in checking out Frappo66, which sounded good, but we ended up at their favorite pizza place - Georges. It was ok. I had an gyro and a salad. Alan thought his sub was great, Shara didn't eat really anything, Jill's pizza did look quite good, and Andy's salad looked ok. The best thing though was our parking spot. We got a nice spot on the pier and headed back after dinner to wait for the awesome fireworks that I had forgotten all about. The Pilgrim Monument was 100 years old and they were having a big celebration that day. Shara fell asleep on the ride back because she knew if she didn't try hard, there would be no tv for the ride home. We didn't bother waking Shara up but slipped her into her sleeping bag like a loaf of bread into a bag. She did have to wake for a minute because we needed a little help, but was then out again in no time. After getting ready for bed the grown-ups had a glass of wine and looked at the lovely stars.

For breakfast on our last day we went back to PB Boulangerie. We did have to wait in line because apparently everyone else knows about this place too. Well worth every second! Jill & Andy got there a little earlier and got hot chocolate for Shara so it would start cooling. Alan got a coffee eclair (pretty good) and a chocolate croissant (excellent). I had a raspberry croissant - raspberries baked on a bed of creamy cheese filling, over a super buttery, flaky dough. It wasn't too sweet, melted in my mouth and was just amazing. Jill had the olive batard, and I think Andy split it with her. Shara had a plain croissant with the most chocolatty hot chocolate ever. She actually didn't like it because it was too chocolatty. I asked for some steamed milk to make her a lighter version and all added some of the chocolate to our various coffees. After Jill & Andy went back to the site to get packed up, I waited in line again to get some things to go. They had put out a batch of almond croissants, so I had to get one and they also just put out a dark chocolate, candied orange brioche that looked great. And a 1/4 of a huge farmer's bread and a fromage e lardon batard. We had the batard for dinner and lunch the next day and the pastry for breakfast. The farmer's bread was used for a turkey sandwich and then grilled to go with the souvlaki for Saturday's dinner.

After the packing job, we decided to join Jill & Andy at the Chatham fish pier. Shara (all of us really) loved watching the fish come off the boats. There were also a bunch (at least 4 made it over to the pier) of seals. We could have stayed there for longer than we did. We had lunch from the fish market - we split a fried seafood platter and onion rings. Then we went back to watch more of the boats and seals. The trip home was uneventful and we actually got everything unpacked and put away in a very short amount of time so we were able to spend some time in the pool before having a light dinner. We had to save the s'mores until Saturday evening because the town was set to spray Friday, which they did. We played some Wii instead.

Some of the beautiful bounty from our garden. Shara likes the beans raw more than cooked.

Big Questions

Yesterday, while having a picnic at Sheep Pasture, Shara asked where the first person came from.

shoes

shara finally got shoes - 2 pair @ LLbean - what a relief!

Slept with door open

Shara slept for the first time with her bedroom door open. Cats still stayed in our room.

A Visit to Camp Looker

Shara had her first big girl trip away from home last week. Jill, Samantha and Liz picked Shara up last Thursday for a few days in upstate NY. Liz wasn't able to join, but Shara had a great time with the rest of the family. I'm hoping Jill or Samantha will be able to contribute to this so Shara has a lasting memory of the trip. Getting her bags packed was fun. I'd tell her what to fetch from around the house and she was on a mission, "ok mommy, I'm on it..." Off she'd go and then ask for what was next. She's great at helping if she's given specific tasks.

From what I heard, they went to their camp at Sacandaga Lake and Shara went kayacing and even swam with the fish! Seeing that she enjoys playing with the frogs in our pool, that's not so surprising though. They all watched the Princess Bride - Shara's now 2nd favorite movie. When we picked her up on Sunday she was happy to see us, but not in a hurry to leave! I think she could have had another day or two and been fine.

We had to make a stop at Jumpin' Jacks. We all enjoyed the fine food & atmosphere. What's summer without Jumpin' Jacks?

She really is feeling better about being independent. I'm very proud that she's decided to go for a week at one of our local day camps, without even knowing who's going to be there with her. Tina is going to drop her off and pick her up for us, which is great because the time they make the camp day is really for stay at home moms or people with au pairs/nannies.

Science science science science

Yesterday we went into Boston to the Museum of Science. Thanks to the museum pass from the library, our admission was only $5 each! We had mostly a good time. The animal show was really interesting. They concentrated on just one animal - a great horned owl and by just talking about one for the 20 or so minutes, they could really explain a lot of facts about it, rather than a little bit about a lot. Much more in-depth. Shara spent a lot of time looking at all the gears and watching how they all worked. We also spent some time at the Escher exhibit. It wasn't interesting at all to Shara, but after 1/2 a bar, she was much more attentive and enjoyed the many different pictures that show seeing is deceiving.

After the museum and a lengthy discussion about where to go for dinner, we compromised and went to Quincy to Tony's Clam Shop on Wollaston Beach. Shara and I split the fried seafood platter and Alan tried the chicken kabobs. It was very good. Shara started off liking the calamari and cole slaw but ended liking the chicken the best. We ended with ice cream across the street at the beach.

On the way home, Shara said that she was going to watch the end of her movie after she got ready for bed and if she fell asleep to just carry her up into bed. Keep in mind, we didn't leave for home until 9 PM. Needless to say, Shara didn't get to act on her plan because she fell asleep on the way home and got plunked into bed, clothes on and everything.

Shara doesn't like beer

Last Saturday we went to the Blue Hills Brewery Festival and Shara tried the watermelon beer. She didn't like it. It was actually just ok. We liked the wheat beer better. Shara didn't take another sip though. We had a fun time in the drizzle - took a tractor ride around the Irish cultural center, walked around the center and listened to some music, ate some pulled pork, watched people throw some kegs, and even hunted for a keg. We didn't find it - boo. Afterwards we went for an early dinner at Takara in Canton for yummy sushi, then walked the long way back to the car, and finished up at Crescent Ridge. Nice day!

Sunday we went blueberry picking - got a huge bucket full - ended up being 5 quarts to put in the freezer. Do we have a blueberry pie this Thanksgiving? I think we may!

The rest of the week was less eventfull. Swam every day though and on Thursday evening went to the library to get a museum pass and took a walk through the gardens. Wow, they're beautiful! Friday found 5 frogs in the skimmer basket. Shara made pets out of two of them - Fat and Thin. They may be in the garden behind the garage. Shara was sad to release them but knew that they'd be much happier in a garden than in the chlorine pool.

Check out more photos at Picasa.

July mini-vacation

We had some fun times the past few days. Wednesday Shara & I had a leisurely morning of playing with baby, swimming, and hanging out, followed by a short trip to the West Bridgewater library, a round of mini-golf at Golf City, and an ice cream across the street at Good Days. It was so hot! We kept taking drink breaks during golf but both sweat up a storm. We then stopped at the market to get food for dinner. When we got home, we didn't have long to wait for Alan & Liz arrive. That was a real treat, having Lizzy here for dinner & overnight. Liz, Shara & Alan went in the pool and I got dinner together - grilled chicken w/ an Indian sauce, grilled vegetables, and fruit on the side. The grapes were really good and everyone enjoyed a nice, relaxing dinner.

Thursday we got up and had breakfast and then had a great swim. Liz, Shara & I raced and played for over an hour before getting cleaned up and heading out for a day at Legacy Place. We had lunch at B-Goods, saw Toy Story 3; Shara has to remind me to bring the tissues because all the movies we see are such tear-jerkers, ate ice cream at JP Licks, and did some shopping at Oop & Whole Foods. The man behind the counter at JP Licks really liked Liz and was very informative about the different flavors. Yes, she is "quite a dish!" Shara and Liz had fun at Whole Foods picking out vegetables, but food shopping certainly isn't one of Shara's favorite activities. She was really cold by the refrigerated section and a little bored by the beers, but had fun in the veggie area. We took the long walk back to the car and then took Liz home. She did a nice job decorating her apartment and suggested having Shara come over for supper one night while Alan & I have a date night, then we could all sleep over and go home the next day. I thought that sounded great! Shara fell asleep on the ride home but then perked up for dinner. That night she couldn't sleep, saying she was having bad dreams about the sad movie. She ended up sitting on my lap while Alan & I finished our cocktails and watched Glee. Seems like it all went over her head, but it was the first time she was in the room while we had a "grown-up" show on.

Friday Alan & I were going to have a hard hike and take Shara to Tina's for some swim fun at Theresa's, but Shara petitioned us to take her too, and seeing as we weren't going to go on a really hard hike, told her that was fine but she had to know that we were going hiking and if she wanted to go she was not allowed to complain. She agreed and we went up to North Andover to walk around the Anderson Ward Reservation. We stopped to pick up lunch at Panara and had an enjoyable picnic under some pine trees. It wasn't really hot out of the sun. We then took a walk up a hill to see the solstice stones, which were more of a sun dial/compass. Shara did complain, but not the whole time. She just didn't like walking up-hill, but then got over it and we actually had a nice time, until we got more into the woods and the bugs started biting us. We ended up going quickly down the hill and more directly to the car than we had anticipated. The next stop was to Smolek Farms. I had heard about them for a while, and it was a small place with a few deer to feed, geese, and PYO berries. We didn't pick anything, but Shara played for a bit on the playground with another little girl who was there with her family, fed the deer; you pour the corn down a tube and they eat it at the bottom on the ground. Shara found that she could look down the tube and watch them eat - that was cool, and then we, of course, got ice cream. I had an amazing parfait - soft vanilla ice cream with raspberries. They were frozen, so very juicy and they put on a lot! Shara & Alan split a lemon slush. The ride home took 2 1/2 hours, 1 hour longer than it should have because of all the traffic. We got home, Shara had to be woken up (only fell asleep 1/2 hour before getting home) and she and Alan went swimming and I fixed dinner. Basically leftovers but made into a Southwestern salad with more grilled vegetables. Shara now likes grilled zucchini too! She was able to sleep well last night.

Sucessful Trip to NH

So last Sunday we went to New Hampshire and had a great time. I could tell when Shara woke up that it was going to be a good day. She came into the office all smiles and ready to start her day. We got out the door quick, since most things had been packed and planned already. We drove up only stopping for bagels & doughnuts, and liquor. We got to Plymouth, NH at about 11:30 AM and went to the deli in town for what we originally planned as a picnic. The rain had already started, but it was just misting, but when we got to the Polar Caves it was pouring. We decided to have a picnic in the back of the van. I love the minivan just for this reason. Shara used the liquor box for her table and we had our sandwiches. When we were done, the rain stopped and we went in. Had to stop in the giftshop for the entrance ticket and of course for some sillybandz. Shara got a tie-dye, glow in the dark, sweets & treats pack. We then headed toward the caves, stopping to feed the deer corn and witness a peacock with his feathers all pouffed out.

The caves were really cool (no pun intended). There are about 15 caves? to go through. All are very little, and some have easy stone steps to go down and up and some are more challenging. Alan held Shara's hand throughout, but she did all the climbing herself. We didn't take any of the chicken routes and went through every one except the lemon squeeze. I was disappointed that I didn't try it. Had I a change of clothing and a shower available I might have tried, but it was a 14" passage that you had to angle your body through in a certain way and if I got stuck, that would have ruined my day! After the caves we walked around a bit through the rock garden and then headed out.

Shara was getting tired, but we went farther from home toward Littleton for ice cream. This was one of the Sterns' Road Food recommendations - Bishop's Ice Cream. It was good, but not great. We all enjoyed sitting at the picnic table outside having ice cream in a sleepy town. The way back to the highway was with the intention of finding the fields of lupine. The festival was over but I wanted to see if it was worth coming back. What we saw didn't impress us that much, but the area is so beautiful, maybe we will and combine it with the strawberry festival around the same time. At this point, Shara was tired and cranky, and we were headed home anyway. She played a couple of the games she brought as we headed toward home on the highway. We stopped to eat at the Tilt-n-diner. We had enough leftovers for several meals afterwards. We ended up getting home close to 11 PM, since traffic was so bad. There was a big NASCAR event and others coming home from a weekend or vacation. But Shara was sleeping, so she got her rest.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. We ended up going in the pool Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Shara had a birthday party Thursday at Kidz Planet. She was a little too tired to really have a great time, but enjoyed watching the kids, rather than join in herself. We didn't get home until close to bedtime. Yesterday Tina had the kids use our pool - just Cole & Shara, Jack & Michael. Sounds like Shara was in the water all afternoon! Now she's at Oma & Jidors. Alan & I went to dinner & Eclipse and will pick her up this evening. Busy summer so far!

Failed trip to NH

Sorry Jill, this isn't a positive posting, but it's honest and something I don't want to forget. Yesterday we tried to go to New Hampshire for a day trip. Shara was very unhappy all morning - contrary about everything. She had her final warning, was forced to eat some breakfast (we assumed she was so upset because she was hungry), put on her clothes, socks & shoes (with help and only after arguing with me about not wanting to wear anything on her feet), and we got out the door. We went to fill up the tank and Alan wanted coffee so we went to the D&D with the gas station. Shara wanted coffee too. I told her how kids weren't allowed to have coffee - she was picking anything she could to argue about. I asked if she wanted a coffee drink - she tried to argue about it, said she wanted a doughnut. I said ok - what kind? Alan said she should go in with him and see what they had, she wanted to come in with me. I said daddy is going to get his drink and I'm going to pump the gas, she only wanted to come in withe me. That was the end of it - I turned around and we went home. As I was weeding the garden and on and off crying (for over 2 hours) it occured to me that maybe she was scared about going. It was a new adventure (going to a cave) and a longish drive to get there. I blamed myself because we don't go on daytrips. Got more mad at myself because I love going on daytrips and haven't because Alan doesn't like to aimlessly drive about, so I don't push. Well now that it's probably causing Shara to not be used to going away for short trips, it's time to stop this. So I talked (cried) to alan about it and he said he likes going on trips, just doesn't like all the driving (see where the confusion comes in), but yes, we'll start going on more. Talked to shara later (no crying) and she did say she was nervous about it, so we discussed that she can and should talk to us if she's worried about anything and chances are good that we'd be able to make her feel better about things. She said she knows that but doesn't like to.

So, moral of this story is that I'm going to do what I want to do - daytrips, in this case. Not worry so much that other's don't want to do it - not make so many sacrifices and start treating myself better. I figure others will either follow or complain and we'll all learn what we enjoy and don't, but without the experience, we won't know. We're going to try the trip again today.

Oh and to put in something fun - the other night Shara had wanted green eggs and ham. I was able to make the green eggs (didn't know or want to color the ham) and they were enjoyed by all. Meals have been very nice lately. Seems like giving Shara some type of fairly salty meat makes her very happy.

6 Year Old Birthday Party

Shara wanted a repeat of her party two years ago - a big open house with her friends, our friends, and family. It was fun but chaotic. I found it hard to focus on the kids, and they could have used some more formal activities because the kids weren't all good enough friends to play together without more direction. All in all, they had a good time, but I felt the need to rush cake a little. Shara had the most fun with her family but did like her friends there too. The next day she told me she loved her party. She got several Zhu Zhu pets and accessories and some great crafty type activity kits. She has plenty to keep her busy for several rainy days.

Tina's has been working out great. Shara is excited to go there in the morning and really likes playing with Stella. She doesn't seem to miss school but has commented that Mrs. Goldstein is a great teacher and Mrs. Cordeira should be invited to next year's birthday party. Shara wants it to be a Dr. Seuss theme and everyone will bring their favorite book. Mrs. Cordeira has lots of Dr. Seuss books so she'd probably like to come.

Alan bought Shara swimmys for the pool and they're working out perfectly. She's been going around the whole perimeter - Alan follows either in front or behind, but she does it all on her own. I'm guessing she'll be really swimming in no time.

Today we went to target to return some shoes and bathing suits. We found some very cute replacements for the bathing suits and Shara helped me pick one out for myself too. We had a very fun time. When we got in the car from Tina's Shara said she wanted to go home but I said we had planned on going to Target and she said she wanted to come with me this morning. She said she just wanted to spend some time with me which I loved. I told her that sounded great to me too and we can do it at Target. It really was one of the better times we've had there together. We finished the trip with mocha frappaccinos on the way home. Then Alan came home. I started dinner and thought it was too nice a day not to join the two of them in the pool so I did and we all had fun racing around. Shara has started eating dinner with us at the table again. Our seats have changed - she's at the head and Alan is on her left and I'm on her right. This is such a nice setup because now we can all see each other and are more together around the table. We've been having a great summer so far!

1st Grader!

Yesterday Shara graduated Kindergarten! She walked across the stage and the principal shook her hand and gave her a certificate. She got all E's on her report card and now has her 1st grade teacher assigned. It's the same teacher Anna had this year, so I know she's going to have a lot of homework. Shara said it was the happiest sad day.

Graduations

The past couple of weekends were filled with graduation parties and gearing up for the end of the school year. Today's the last day for Shara - she wears her special t-shirt of her classmates' hand prints. A great souvenir to remember kindergarten. Alan & Shara had a Wendy's night while mommy went out with the girls. Shara's still dining at her own table in the dining room. She got a certificate for participating in "field day" - likes going in the bouncy house now.

She also seems to like church now. Yesterday was the end of the religious education program for the year. The unit was Celebrating Mother Earth and the kids learned about Native American beliefs. Shara's class mostly did art projects. Well the end was celebrated with an inter-generational service where the kids showed what they learned. Since I've been attached to Shara each class, the plan was for me to be there with her. I really didn't like that idea, but the deal is that I'd stay with her until she is six, then she's on her own. We get to the church, get her mask and sit in the back with her class. Then the kids have their procession, carrying their masks, to the front of the sanctuary. I went with her, but when they lined up at the front, I left her there and sat in the front pew. Then the kids sang a song, the teachers taped up their masks and then all went to sit in a couple of other pews together. So basically she was off with her class, and not attached to me any more. She seemed to have a good time. They went up again later in the service and did their poem with movement and Shara did great. Then they gathered around Tom to hear a story. After that they came back to sit with their families and we both joined Alan in our usual spot. A bit later the congregation stood around the sanctuary in a big circle to sing a song of mother earth and pass around a blow-up earth ball. Throughout the service, a local flutist played wonderful Native American music for us. What a great day for all of us - really felt like Shara came full circle and into her own. We're so proud of her!

Feels a lot like summer

Friday evening we went to our first professional baseball game. We saw the Brockton Rox with several others from Shara's school. It was fun. What was most enjoyable was just being silly with Shara and not needing to look at the clock or feel like there is something that needs doing. Since it was opening night, we also got to enjoy some fireworks. It's also fun that, though neither Alan or I are big sports fans, we do know most of the rules and were able to teach Shara what was going on.

Saturday Shara and I went shopping at Target and had a good time looking at the clothes and picking out squirt guns. After lunch, I weeded 1/2 the garden while Alan & Shara cleaned the pool a bit and had a squirt gun fight. We decided to relax that evening with dinner & a movie - sushi or Shara & Alan, shrimp & pasta for me, and Alice & Wonderland (Disney version) for all.

Sunday was busy. We went to church, then to work to change the backup, then home to have some lunch & get ready for Theresa's going away party. We're really are going to miss them. Hopefully the new people will be friendly, but it's rare to get neighbors like Matt, Theresa, Anna, and Johnny. The party was great. Fred & Sandy are wonderful hosts and the bbq was fired up 2x. It was so nice to see all the kids playing together and so nicely. They really are sweet with each other. Shara & Alan got their first swim of the season. We all danced the night away - Tina doing the hussle, all of us singing, Fred yelling and scaring the kids (he was telling the grown-ups a story and told the kids to go away, that this wasn't for kids, Jack & Shara came back over and he yelled at them to get out of here, and I never saw Shara run so fast! Of course he was laying it on thick, but they didn't know that!), and of course Sandy teaching them all bad words. Toward the end of the night Shara asked what those things were up there, the things that look like shooting stars swirling around. I asked if she meant the moths and she thought they looked so beautiful.

Today I got up and went to fix lunches at church and Shara & Alan fended for themselves. When I came home they were outside doing more pool work and playing with the squirt guns. I was able to get most of the garden planted by the time we needed to get ready for Shrek. What a surprise that movie was. Much darker than I realized, but Shara liked it. She did get sad enough to tear up but duckie & giraffe stayed in my purse and Shara stayed in her own seat. When we got home and ready for dinner, we had a new, but usual fit about sitting at the dining room table. We're trying to figure out what's going on with this. A few weeks ago, several meals a week Shara has a fit about sitting at the table. She says it's not straight and she freaks out about it. I'm not sure if she's uncomfortable because she can't adjust her chair while in it or what, but it's a real issue these days. I seem to remember this happening a while ago and allowed her to move her table into the dining room, and then it shortly went back to her eating at the table with no problem, so maybe that will be the case this time, but it's not fun having battles, especially when I think she's really upset and not playing a game. She was super tired today (though she slept until 8 AM), so maybe that was the real problem.

Liz's Graduation

Friday we went  western MA to join our family for Liz's graduation from Hampshire College. Shara had new shoes to bring, from Target, and they were cute. We went right to the campus so we could hear her Div III presentation - "I'm Respectful: Middle School Students, Clothing Choices, and Identity Negotiation". Grandpa & Noni were there too, so it was extra special.

The presentation was very interesting. Shara was great. She really listened, or at least day dreamed, but didn't make a peep and sat still. After the presentation we went to Flayvors and had some ice cream to hold us over before going to get settled in at the hotel and then get ready for dinner. Shara and Alan had the mocha oreo - mud road? and I had the brownie version. Samantha had a coconut one - Inez, which was amazing, but you have to be in the mood for it, and Grandpa had run raisin. Samantha got some good pictures of us and the cows. I think Jill had some good ones too, so please share!

The hotel was very nice. It was a Hampton Inn and the person at the desk gave us a non-smoking room, right next to the rest of the families' rooms. Originally all they had was one smoking room left. The room had a refrigerator and microwave, so Shara was able to have her hot chocolate milk for morning. Shara really liked the hotel room and had a great time jumping from the ottoman to the bed and piling up the pillows and playing pirate with Noni, Samantha and Alan. She was also a big help separating her birthday invitations that I brought to work on. Almost ready to send out!

Jill made 5:30 reservations at Paul and Elizabeth's in Northampton. Dad, Ev & Samantha drove with us to the town. Shara can't get enough of her cousins. She was in her glory - at dinner she sat in between Liz & Samantha. The restaurant was crowded, but we had a great time. I was happy to be sitting across from Liz and getting to spend some time with her. It's been a while! We decided to share the antipasto appetizer, and Alan said he'd also have some. It was good - roasted garlic, tapenade, brie, artichoke hearts, on greens with focaccia. Shara liked the tapenade but didn't care for the tomato & lentil soup for her dinner. She said she wasn't hungry and then I was able to get her to say that she really didn't like it and have some of Liz's and my dinner. I had one of their fish specials - swordfish with tomatoes & olives in a very tasty sauce. Lots of olive oil. Sub'd brown rice for the mashed potatoes. Also very good was the honey - miso dressing on my salad. Shara also liked the green beans (have to get the recipe - tasted like they were roasted with soy sauce) home made rolls. As tradition, we all had dessert. Liz, Shara & I split the strawberry shortcake (ice cream instead of whipped cream) and the dairy-free chocolate mousse cake. Shara & Liz really liked the chocolate mousse better than I did, but everything was quite good. After dinner we walked around the mall for a bit, really liking the shoe selection.

Saturday morning was spent a little too leisurely. We had breakfast with Grandpa - even got to make home made waffles! and the rushed to get in the car and drive to the college. Turned out there was no need to worry about parking. They had a field for parking close by the tent and we got there in plenty of time. We met up with Jill, Andy, bubbe & papa. The ceremony was interesting. The keynote was very good. The kids don't wear caps and gowns, and it was really hard to see anything. They also don't call the names in alphabetical order, so it's hard to tell when the person you're there to see is going to get called. It turned out to be less emotional that I anticipated and a little anti-climatic. Shara again was terrific. She played with her puzzle book most of the time, and this was a long ceremony - 2 hours.

After the ceremony we all sat together and had the box lunch, provided by the school. Shara was not wanting anything but ice cream and finally stopped being cranky and ate the sandwich. I was very happy and relieved she got it together. We met Jesus and then just hung out with Noni, grandpa, and Samantha, while Liz finished clearing out her mod. Again we had ice cream - at least Shara, Sam & I. Then a bit of a discussion about whether we should go to dinner with everyone or not. The plan was to go to Great Barrington to Babba Louis, since no reservations could be had anywhere decent near the college. This was about an hour out of our way and we weren't assured a table since they didn't take reservations. Throwing caution to the wind, we did join them and I'm very glad we did. Liz rode with us, so we got to talk to her more and Shara played some little pet shop on her Leapster and showed Liz how to dress the dogs and take them out to the bathroom, etc. Then we did have a nice dinner - I sat with bubbe & papa, Shara sat with Aunt Jill, Uncle Andy, and Alan. Noni was happy that she found her fill of Silly Bandz to give to the kids and Shara got to play with them while waiting for her pizza. After dinner, Shara came up to me and said very quietly, so I knew where she was going, "traditionally we get dessert after eating at a fancy restaurant..." Seeing as they didn't have dessert at this place, we went next door and she picked out a ring pop. We then said our goodbyes and headed home.

Girl's Day Out

Saturday Shara & I went shoe shopping. The morning was spent relaxing before going to the driving range for her golf lesson, which went well. The kids got 2 turns of 5 or 6 wacks each, to get the ball closest to the flag. They were fine with the waiting in between. Better than I - got rather bored waiting, but it was a nice day and good to be outside.

So for the shoes - she has none, unless you count 1 pair of ratty sneakers and 1 pair of croc-like sandles. So we went to Newton to the kid's shoe barn and tried on several, not looking at price or anything. If they fit and Shara liked them, I was prepared to get them. She is rather particular with her tastes and can tell very quickly if something is worthy of her trying on. Most weren't, but we tried the Sketcher's Twinkle Toes, Merrells, some glittery dress shoes, pink Converse all-stars, none of which felt good on her feet. The heals were too loose and the toes too tight.

So, as promised as her (more like my) treat for us having a fun time shopping, we went to Cabot's for ice cream. I've been wanting to go here for years and finally made the trip - it was only a 1/2 mile away from the shoe place. It was well worth the trip! This was the best ice cream (frozen yogurt) I've had in a long time. I had coffee yogurt with bittersweet fudge & marshmallow. If anyone knows the recipe for their marshmallow (I wouldn't be surprised if it was watered-down fluff), please let me know. Shara had butterfudge on coffee ice cream w/ whipped cream. She really wished she got the marshmallow, so we'll have to remember that next time.

When we finally finished - I have to learn to eat as slowly as Shara, we went to Marshall's and tried some more. She doesn't like the thong sandles (I don't either and I hope I didn't influence her), nor sandles with the ankle strap. She's really limited. She did try the ankle strap ones on but they didn't feel good. Nothing fit but a pair of crocheted boots on clearance. So after all that she still doesn't have shoes to wear to Liz's graduation. I'm going to get her a new pair of sneakers at least. Same as she has now.

Today we went to Church after a yummy pancake breakfast. Her new thing is having chocolate chips on the cakes. I made them with banana & put on a few chips and voila, she's eating them. We then took a shower together - time was running out, and went to church. The kids made a tie-dye shirt to wear on the field trip next week. They also ate plums, apricots and corn muffins. It was nice to see everyone and Shara had a good time, though she calls it "torch", short for torchure. I have no idea where she got that from. Not me.

After being one of the last to leave, we picked up a sub for Alan to add to what we brought from home for our picnic and went to the Blue Hills for a day in the great outdoors. We had so much fun. It's amazing how much a year is for something like hiking around. Shara was running up hills and walking down rocks. There was no complaining of being tired. We all played freeze tag in a field and saw horses and watched a soccer (football) game. Then played for a little while at the playground. Shara was on a swing which was too short for her. She moved to a higher one. A few minutes later two of the bigger girls came over to swing. There weren't two swings together, so this Big, probably 9 year old, stood very closely to Shara's swing and stared at her, trying to bully her. Shara looked right at her and said, "I got here first" or something like that. The girl stayed there for about 2 seconds while I looked on and held by breath, and then left. I was proud and relieved.

Then it was time to leave and we had a meltdown, the whole ride home, so too tired, we cancelled dinner & a movie. We were doing a Shrek marathon this weekend - friday we saw Shrek and tonight we were supposed to watch Shrek 2. So we were both upset, but dealt with it, and hopefully we'll be able to watch it tomorrow evening. We really like dinner & movie nights.

Happy Mother's Day

We had such a nice time visiting with Bubbe, Papa, Oma & Jidor. Worth the drive and the food was excellent this year. I think Shara loved the chocolate cups and eggs benedict the best, but also asked for seconds on the lox and sausage. Believe it or not, the chocolate cake was too chocolatty for her. Good thing mommy was there to finish it!

Mother's Day

For the first time Shara woke me up with a "Happy Mother's Day"! She remembered all by herself, and then went to get all the presents she had stashed. She made me some beautiful things in school. I got a hand-painted plaster hand print, butterfly soap, and a wonderful book all about Shara & Mommy. So far it's been a great Mother's Day.

Yesterday Shara & I went to Legacy Place to see their kid's matinee - Barbie in a Mermaid's Tale. We got there a little late and sat in the front. I never sat there before. It wasn't too bad. We shared popcorn and Shara mostly drank her decaf iced caramel machiatto by herself. We then had fun in H&M looking at all the clothes. Then had some chicken nuggets at b-good, and then tried to find shoes, which we didn't. So today she'll have to wear black shoes with her dress. Oh well, better than slippers.

Shara lost her first tooth!

You can see that the new one is 1/2 in already!

Vacation Week

Shara spent a few days at Oma & Jidor's. They went to Chuckie Cheese-it's, Wendy's, the playground, Auntie Chris' work, and for bike rides. Shara did miss mommy & daddy, but had a great time too. When she came home, she was a monster, but once she got back to her regular routine, things got better. Mommy had to go away for a night to the MLA conference, but Shara & daddy had a great time together and even made this music video.

Hair Cut - part 2

Well, we didn't have to wait at all. We went to SnipIt's and they were able to take Shara right away. The woman who cut her hair wasn't the same one that did her first cut, but that person was there too. I don't think she recognized us. Luckily this place will send hair to Locks of Love for you, so we didn't have to go through the bother of mailing it in ourselves. Shara actually was able to give 2 ponytails, so hopefully it will make 2 kids happy.
Here are the much awaited pictures:

Hair Cut

Assuming it won't be a two hour wait, we're going to go get Shara's hair cut tomorrow. She's going to get it cut to about shoulder length, or maybe a little shorter.She's very excited. I think she really wants to start taking care of it herself.

It will also help Oma, because Shara gives her a heck of a time when she tries to comb it.

Shara was also very sweet today, while I was sick. She made me a get well card, laid on the couch with me much of the day, and didn't argue. Not that there was anything to argue with. The kid's lucky she got fed. I thought she'd have to forage for herself and eat cereal all day. She really liked just staying in the house. Interesting because it was so nice and sunny, all I wanted to do was get outside.

Sushi

Went to Fugakyu in Brookline for dinner. Excellent sushi. Shara loved the idaho maki (sweet potato tempura maki), miso soup. Edamame was good too. She ate the whole serving - but the last 2 rolls she picked out the sweet potato. She also liked the ginger a lot, but loves soy sauce and miso soup the best. I had her try the hamachi (yellowtail) and she liked it, but on the way home Alan asked her about it and she really didn't remember.

Alan & I tried the oysters w/ spicy ponzu sauce (very good). This was our first taste of raw oysters - believe it or not. We always backed out of trying them but Alan asked if I wanted to split them and I was up for it. Had it not been for the spicy sauce, we'd have encouraged Shara to try them too. I had actually considered trying Uni again because I don't think we had a typical experience when we first tried it and if we were going to try it again, this would be the place to guarantee that it was the way it should be. We also had the spicy tuna maki (very good), hamachi nigiri (very good), jalapeno maki (ok), and awesome eggplant with sweet soybean paste & garlic chips. I have to find the recipe for the eggplant. For drinks we had the saki flight and a Tyku Mojito with Shiso leaf.

Didn't know how busy it would be at 5 PM, but we certainly weren't the only ones there. Glad we went when we did - not too crowded but not dead either. For kids, the fish are a big draw and the staff were very accommodating and pleasant. Will definitely make the 45 min. trip again. Also helped that we got a parking space right out front, 20 min. left on the meter and only had to worry about being covered for 45 more minutes because they stopped checking the meters at 6 PM. Good deal considering it was a little rainy.

After dinner we walked down the street to J.P. Licks. No Jill, it doesn't mean Jill Pami, but Jamaica Plain. Shara had a little fit because she wanted what she had the other night, which was kaluha chip, and this wasn't the same place and they didn't have exactly that. I ended up ordering wrong anyway and she got soft, coffee yogurt, instead of the coffee oreo w/ chocolate chips I was supposed to order for her, so I had them put on oreos & chocolate chips on top. She was fine with it. I had the peanut butter soft yogurt w/ hot fudge and Alan had coffee ice cream w/ hot fudge & peanut butter. Yummy!

Earlier today I worked in the garden and Shara came out for the last 1/2 hour and enjoyed walking in the water out back and looking at all the worms. She also tried to trick me into stepping on a leaf, under which a spider had crawled. I asked her if she was trying to get me to kill the spider and she said, "no, I just want you to step there". But she does like the worms, so she doesn't want to kill everything, just the things that scare her. Ladybugs are ok too. All other insects beware, assuming she doesn't run screaming.