Other Winter Happenings

I am sorting through months of photos, and have a lot of wonderful winter memories to share.....

In late December, we were lucky to have a visit from cousin Isla, my SIL, Barb, and (briefly) my wonderful brother Will.  We were able to celebrate Isla's 5th birthday and run all over town holiday shopping.  Barb and I had so much fun - she is the perfect person to take along on errands!  The girls had a fantastic time with their cousin - Isla and Gemma got to spend a lot of time together!!

In January, we took Chris' parents and Aunt Ginny to Cranwell Resort in the Berkshires to celebrate Don's 70th birthday!  Chris' Aunt Kathleen and cousin Kelly and her family also came. Marianne hosted a wonderful birthday dinner on Saturday night. The kids spent hours and hours in the pool - just the cure for the winter blues.

Sadly, no amount of team apparel purchases could help the Patriots in their heartbreaking Super Bowl loss against the NY Giants in February.  This happy photo was taken before the game......  Chris could not be consoled.  He later decided to jump on the Bruins bandwagon, with mixed results!

Edie and I thoroughly enjoy our time at the Hipstitch sewing lounge here in town.  We have done a number of mother and daughter sewing classes with friends.  Here we are with my pal, Krista, and her two happy sewers after completing an easy tote bag project!

Edie and her friend, Darwin, participated in our school's annual Invention Invasion.  They invented and designed the "HaScarMitt" which in an all-in-one Hat + Scarf + Mittens for those pesky younger children who lose their outerwear.  Their prototype is modeled by Darwin's little sister.   Those interested in ordering can contact Edie directly!

At the same Invention Invasion, Gemma managed to sneak her way into 4th grade buddy Lucy's "Everything Box."  I am still unclear what this box does, but I do know that Gemma spent most of the evening inside the box where she helped dispense items through one of its various tubes.

We had so many warm winter days - here is Gemma picnicking on a super warm weekend in early March.

Edie performed in her first play - the Wizard of Oz.  She was a munchkin along with her friends, Chloe and Katherine.  Our city has a wonderful theater program for elementary school children.  You have to sign up almost a year in advance as the program is super popular.  In 2013 Edie will be performing in Anything Goes and The Sound of Music.  If her mother can get her act together next year, there may even be some audible video to share!

All in all, it was a wonderful "winter" - we had almost no snow, lots of lovely weather, great getaways, and (knock on wood) no illness.  I think Gemma got the vibe just about right with this signature Winter 2012 look!

A Special Birthday Visit

My dad turned 75 in March.  He is truly someone who doesn't want or "need" anything and is pretty impossible to shop for.... I was mulling this over last November and thought that perhaps I would fly down to see him for his birthday weekend - or better yet - maybe my brothers would like to come with me?  Did I dare suggest this??  (It's one thing to fly to FL from Boston - a much bigger thing to fly from the West Coast!)  It was as easy as one email - my three wonderful brothers thought it was a great plan and we were quickly able to share the news with Dad - who was over the moon with excitement!

We had a great weekend together!  While it would have been great to have our entire families there, it would have been impossible to schedule and.... dare I say it?.... we all enjoyed our time alone.  As Will said:  "We need to do this more often!"  I completely agree!

The bad news - the only photos we have of the five of us together were taken with an iPhone (poorly) and the only good photo I got from the trip was a giant inflatable lobster flying over the beach in Boca Raton. Thank goodness for the memories, right?