pictures

I already mentioned my trip to Boston last week. And I feel that any major trip that I take alone with the boys is worthy of dwelling upon for any length of time. So here are some pics.

First of all, you have to know something about me, I obsess over maps and ways to get places. So we've been going to Maine in the summer for the past four years. And this whole time I've been tweaking the route to New England to be the most interesting and the most expeditious. Because there's this big thing called New York City between Philly and New England.

So just bear with my map nerdiness. My current route takes me through NJ on the Turnpike and then up the Garden State Parkway. I cross the Hudson on the Tappen Zee Bridge, and then shortly thereafter hop on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. Parkways are nice, because there are no trucks and small service stations. The Merritt Parkway, especially, is quite scenic and a really pleasant drive. There's about 15 miles when I'm on 287 between the two parkways. On my way up, this two distance took two hours to cover. I have no idea why, because it was late morning (we left Philly just after 6 am). Thankfully, this was the only traffic snarl we hit.

The Tappan Zee Bridge is a cool bridge, though. I took this pic during one of the many times I was stopped on it.

It was so nice staying with my friend, Krista. It was kind of a stressful trip, so to have the comfort of an old friend, who basically felt like family, was such a blessing. We could totally relax at their place. And she was a total angel and watched my kids all day on Tuesday so I could visit BU, since there wasn't much else I could do.

Sadly, I didn't take many other pictures while up there. Either at BU or at the deaf school. I'm kicking myself now. Because we had an awesome meetup after our deaf school visit with some bloggy friends whom we could finally meet in real life. Li-Li goes to the same deaf school that we visited and is just a bit younger than Ellis. We have had a real meeting of the minds over our blogs with regards to having deaf kids with CIs and being bilingual and promoting ASL. And had a great time playing and chatting all afternoon. But did I take any pictures? No! GAH! Blame it on travel fatigue.

On Thursday we headed back home. What I love about traveling across the southern coast of CT is that you can pop off at a little beach quite easily from the interstate. We decided to visit the same beach where we had camped last summer. Except it was much colder and windier this time. What could be more fun than running in the wind and throwing rocks in the water?

On Valentine's Day I got a call from the chair of the department to which I applied at Boston University. I was enthusiastically accepted. (I'm glad I got the accept before the rejects. ha!)

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Today the chair of the department to which I applied got a call from me to say that I accepted their offer.

Between then and now was a crazy trip to Boston. Was that only last week? On Sunday night, Chris left for a conference in Chicago. On Monday morning, bright and early, I loaded up the boys for our roadtrip. We only hit one snarl (wherein it took 2 hours to go 15mi). We stayed with my childhood friend, Krista, and her family, conveniently comprised of boys about the same ages as my own. I visited the department at BU on Tues and was really impressed and excited. On Wed we visited a deaf school in the area that seems to be what we're really looking for for Ellis, a good bilingual education (ASL and spoken English) with good academic standards. On Thursday was the grueling trip home. Eleven hours, one stop, a lot of pouring rain--to go just over 300 miles. Gah! The one stop was at the beach that we camped at last summer in s. Connecticut (with a short Sbux stop immediately following). I love making a fun stop like that on a road trip--free of fast food to tempt the kids with its french fries and brightly colored toys and plenty of outdoor space to run around.

This week I was offered a funding package that is doable. It still leaves me a couple thousand short of tuition--when I was really hoping for tuition remission and at least a TAship or small stipend. But the university doesn't seem to have those kinds of resources. But I got more than they initially thought they could get me. And I really believe that this department is totally worth any small sacrifice. (For instance, everyone likes each other and is nice--how many academic departments could you say that about?)

Leaving Philly is agonizing. Our families are here. We have a great church that we love. Lots of good friends. I love being 15 mins from the children's museum or the zoo.

Speaking of the zoo...that's where we enjoyed this warm March day.

I know I've already shared on Facebook the magnum opus that is the Halloween costumes that I made, but I need to plunk it down here for blog posterity.

when it came time to deciding on costumes, I wasn't sure how I was going to top the utter cuteness of last year's Man with the Yellow Hat and Curious George. Then one day Ellis decided that he wanted to dress up as the Cat in the Hat, so that was the decider, I would make a costume for him for Halloween. The obvious accompaniment to a Cat in the Hat costume is Thing 1/Thing 2. So Marlowe was going to be that. To be honest, though. I wasn't feeling it. Too obvious, too uninspired. So then, I thought, well, what about The Goldfish in the Cat in the Hat? Could I do a Goldfish costume?

Thus began the great quest to figure how to make a convincing fish. I scoured the internet for some design inspiration and came across this simple octopus costume idea on Martha Stewart. So that was my springboard.

The fish costume is in two parts: the body suit and the hood/cape thingy.
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The bodysuit was pretty straightforward. I used his jammies as a guideline. And velcro up the back. I incorporated fins onto the sleeve. The hood/cape has a lining so that i could stuff it a little and make casings in the fins for some pipe cleaner. The gave the fins some stiffness and bending capabilities for a fun Suess-y flip. I made a couple of pockets on the neckline of the bodysuit to thread the ties of the hood cape through to make it more comfy and secure for wearing.

The whole thing is made out of nice, comfy soft fleece.

The Cat in the Hat costume was much simpler. Again using fleece, i made a black body suit with velcro up the back for ease. Using his jammies as a template. then the white belly and sewed on red, felt bow. I made a casing and put some elastic at the neckline so that it would fit snugly, but comfortably. The tail is from a set of stripey tights from Target, stuffed with polyfil and a pipe cleaners. I added some strips of wide elastic at the foot, so that the leg would cover his shoes. Got some white gloves at Target, and made some whiskers from pipe cleaner. The Hat was donated by a friend who just had happened to find one at the thrift store. This made my job a LOT easier. I was not looking forward to that millinary foray.

It's been busy around here.

Last week, I finally got the GRE off my plate. Phew!

We got haircuts.

Enjoying crepes. M calls them Pancakes.

Enjoying Fall.

And making Apple Pie! (while Mommy takes a shower)

Three things making me happy today:

1. Or rather making Marlowe happy. "Marlowe make apple pie!"

Thanks, Melissa and Doug.

2. Making GRE study happier. Khan Academy. I heard about it on NPR. Little YouTube videos on so many topics. Just breaking it down. Keeping it simple. It is fantastic! After this horrible GRE debacle is over, I may work through the Finance course, since my basic understanding of Finance is pay the bills and keep the number at the bottom positive. Ha!

3. Baby giraffes.

Couldn't help posting a few more pics:

Just a day or so old.

Less than a week old.

Three months old.

One year old.

Almost two years old.

Two years old.

Before I go on to blog about other things, I must post the Easter pics. My friend Chandra brought her camera to church to catch these cuties. She is a fabulous photographer, and I love letting her practice on my kids. I'm so magnanimous that way. Ha!

A few days before Easter my friend and her little girl were over, and we realized that we had gotten coordinating Easter outfits at the Children's Place. So Marlowe and Kezzie were all matchy and totally adorable. They have a lot of fun together. M calls her "chi-chi." He thought it was the most fun ever to run around hand-in-hand. We were all dying with the cuteness.

There is nothing so simultaneously soothing and invigorating as taking a walk. Ellis had school again today, for the first time since last Tuesday. It's snowing out, but only about an inch or so. Not feet. I forgot to send along something he needed, so Marlowe and I decided to take a wintry walk up to school. M loves to be outside.

And he loves his snow boots. The mere mention of outside, and he runs to get his boots. He says, "Yaaaay!" Then he says, "Hat?" And I say, "Yes, you can wear your hat." And he gets his hat out. He tolerates his arms being shoved down puffy coat sleeves, and flat out refuses mittens. I don't force the issue unless he is going to play in the snow. It's actually pretty warm out. Around 30F, just cold enough to snow.

We didn't see any dogs. Marlowe knows where they all live, which yards may house those barking wonders. We did see dog pawprints in the snow. We didn't see any airplanes either. We heard them though, over (or in?) the cloud cover that is so graciously bestowing us with more snow.

The sidewalks are not fit for strollers, so i wore M in the front in my Beco. He is getting to be a bit big for the front carry. But the back carry would've been awkward with that whole wearing a coat thing. And clearly M was comfy enough.

In February I'm blogging things I love. Join me if you like and I'll link you.
For more love visit:
Gentle Home
Through a Glass, Darkly

Well, I can't believe it! I did it all this week.

I made a pumpkin pie from scratch. I really do make the best pumpkin pie in the world. Sorry, mom, I like mine a tad better. And I guess I can say that in public, since you just dissed your mom's pie on Facebook. ha! kidding! (not about liking mine better, though.)

We got M&Ms and candy corn/pumpkins for munching.
And cider for sipping.

Then I made pretty much the awesomest costumes ever for Ellis and Marlowe. I mean, seriously, how can I ever face Halloween again? Our favorite PBS kids offering is Curious George. Pretty much the best kids show ever. In my opinion, waaaay better than the books. If there's a new George on, we're ALL excited. Mom and Dad included. So what better way to celebrate than Halloween costumes. Ellis was the Man with the Yellow Hat and Marlowe was Curious George.

For Ellis's costume, I got some key pieces at the thrift store. The boots were the best find. (they're technically girls boots, but for a costume, who's counting.) I got the pants and belt and hat there, too. I couldn't believe that I couldn't find a boys white shirt at all at the thrift store, so we got a cheap one from Target. I bleached the khaki pants and then I dyed the shirt and pants bright yellow! That was pretty fun.

The hat was actually a sombrero that i grabbed from the costume bin. I trimmed the brim a bit and then I hot glued yellow felt to it. I got a glue gun for the project and now I feel truly crafty. I made the tie out of the same felt and glued the polka dots to it. I was pretty happy with how well the yellows turned out. I also made a coordinating bucket for trick-or-treating out of the same felt sprayed with fabric stiffener. Yea, the awesomeness is killing me.

Marlowe's costume I sewed together. It was actually pretty easy. I used one of his sleeper jammies as a guideline. I got the fleece at my trusty fabric store (which is now within walking distance!) for less than $5/yd. For the front I cut on the fold and for the back I cut on the selvedge so I'd have two pieces. I sewed velcro up the back, so it was really easy to put on and off. I used one of his hats as a guideline for the hat and attached ears. M doesn't like hats at all. But on Friday morning, when he saw Ellis put on that splendid yellow hat, he REALLY wanted a hat, and he wore his monkey hat for hours. I was amazed and thrilled, since it's really key to costume. I also made monkey feet at the bottom of the legs to flap over his shoes, though in retrospect I think it would've been better to attach some elastic to them that could go around the shoes more securely.

On Friday morning, they particpated in the preschool parade at Ellis's school, and Marlowe got to tag along, especially since he's kind of an accessory to Ellis's costume. Ha! Somehow M ended up with a tootsie pop, and was obsessed with it. *MINE!* Thankfully I was able to bribe him away from it with cheese balls.

On Friday afternoon we carved pumpkins.
AND roasted pumpkin seeds.

THEN we went to the Reformation Celebration at our church and the kids had a blast. I took the kids through the original tune to "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" (the "Geneva jig" version). And then the kids played edifying games like "Pin the Theses to the Door." Hey, it's all about preserving our heritage, telling the story, and carrying on the torch.

Then this afternoon they got haircuts. That has nothing to do with Halloween, but they really needed them. Marlowe cried and cried. He got another lollipop. *sigh* But, my, they look handsome now.

And when they got their hair rinsed off, they put on their super cute pumpkin shirts that I made them this morning.

Then after dinner, we went trick-or-treating in the warm, drizzly night. Marlowe had no trouble with the concept. He walked down the sidewalk saying "Thank you! Thank you!" (which sounded more like "day-doo! day-doo!"). And somehow ended up with another lollipop *groan* which ended up lost in the grass somewhere *whew*. I think when Ellis was that age, we managed one house and he didn't really know what candy was yet.

So we had a complete holiday weekend. I can't believe I did it all. And now we're off to the races. Major handmade holiday action engaged. Christmas is just around the corner and there are still WAY too many boxes around here!