So sappy

This is Maple Syrup Weekend here and our neighbors tipped us off about a great deal on syrup at a nearby Sugar House. So we piled everyone into the car on a dreary, rainy day and took a trip.

Unfortunately, the directions were somewhat vague and Sugar Houses are about every 1/5 of a mile around here. We thought we had the right place so we went inside, said our hello's, ate our fair share of free maple walnut muffins and free samples of hot syrup only to find out that we had the wrong Sugar House. That was awkward. "So....thanks for all the free food. We're off to your competitor's business to spend our money. Bye!"

Then we drove....and drove....and drove. We just couldn't seem to find the right place. Turns out we passed it several times and it was only a few miles from our house. We had a blast laughing about it though. Especially when we were nearly stranded due to lack of gas. And we did score a gallon of sweet, sweet syrup for only $34.

We're continuing on with our cleaning/decluttering. Saturday was GORGEOUS here. Warm and sunny. So we completely cleaned out the backyard. We raked the yard clear of debris, took care of the logs that need to be split, and cleaned out the shed. We got rid of alot of stuff and organized what we kept. When our backyard is clean, it's the perfect yard. Not too big, not too small (Just the size of Montreal. Ha! We used to say that all the time when we were little). It's fenced in so the kids can play out there safely. I'm psyched for the spring weather because the little ones love being out there.

We also cleaned out Charlotte's room today. We mostly cleaned out clothes she had outgrown. There really wasn't an excess of toys. It turns out that her room was so messy because she takes so. much. trash. into that room. Rocks, twigs, small scraps of paper, and on and on. It looks so sweet now, like a magazine photo of a little girl's room. The only room left to complete is Lucy's room and then the upstairs is finished. Soon we'll paint their rooms.

Funny comment of the week: While cleaning out the backyard, Charlotte was playing with the toy tractor. She commented, "Wow. Look at this gashole!" Guess what we thought she said.

Ma and Pa

It seems I only write about the kidlets on here. I'm sure you're all dying to know what Mike and I are up to.

Mike had a long, rough winter and he's probably the happiest of all of us to be seeing more sun and warmer weather. No matter how long he's been here, he can't seem to get used the winters with their short days, subzero temps and mounds of snow. He's also begun to teach himself software programming by learning Silverlight development. ( I don't know what that means but it makes me sound smart, doesn't it?)

He's decided we need to empty out our house of all useless junk. We apparently have alot, even more than I would have imagined. We're getting rid of all the things we never use but we're also removing all the superflous stuff we have. For instance, we don't have a need for 25 baby dolls despite a certain someone insisting each and every one of them is near and dear to her heart. I'm just sayin'.

We started with our bedroom and we removed a total of 10 garbage bags worth of items. Some was trash but most were donated as well as put aside for a yard sale later this year. I even went through my memory box which was filled with my angst-ridden teenage poetry and all my triangled-folded letters from my BFF's in Junior High.

Then we painted.

The color really isn't baby poop as it appears here. It's much prettier. It's called fossil butte. Here's a link to it. I'll post photos once it's all done. We've also decluttered the upstairs hallway and will start on Eli's room soon.

As for me, I've been spending alot of time over at my friend (who also happens to be my neighbor) Heather's house. She recently gave birth to boy/girl twins and also has a two year old. She could use as much help as possible and so I'm over there alot, holding babies and helping out with dishes and laundry. As you all know, I'll take any chance to hold a baby.

I've also taught myself to knit. I've been crocheting since my mom taught me as a little girl. I've always wanted to learn how to knit. This cloth diaper "soaker" is the second thing I've made and I'm totally bragging about it. (The first thing I made was also another soaker but this one is cuter.) My mother in law gave me this yarn for Christmas. Thanks Debra!

St. Patrick's Day

Lucky came to our house! He's our very own Leprechaun and he comes every year while the kids are sleeping. He gathers up our green things and piles them somewhere in the house. He leaves a note and bag of his magic pudding which magically turns from white to green (you might know it as Pistaschio.)

It's been so gorgeous here (at least for the Northeast.) It's been in the 50's with bright sunny skies. We played with chalk and bubbles at the park next door.

We ended our day with corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes and rounded it off with Rainbow Jello that Charlotte helped me make.

PS. Again, if you'd like photos of Eli, I invite you to our house to attempt to take some. You just might have better luck than we do (we have none.)

Spelling Bee

Yesterday, we headed upstate and visited Echo (here's their website). It's a kids' museum that focuses on the local lake. It's got some hands-on exhibits for the kids as well as an aquarium. The kids had alot of fun.

Then we headed on over to the location for the Spelling Bee. All day, Eli had alternated between wondering how cool it would be to win and thinking that he'd be the first kid out. Remember, he's only 10 and in 5th grade. The Spelling Bee includes (and mostly consists of) kids in 8th grade and up to the age of 16.

Eli was number 43 out of 45 kids. He spoke very well, loud and slow and consistent. He didn't seem nervous at all, up there in front of all those people! He made it all the way to the 4th round and beat out more than half of the other kids! His words included FATHOM, BOUDOIR, and PYRE. His final word was NARCISSISTIC and while he knows how to spell it, it's a difficult word to spell out loud because it's long and contains so many repeating letters. He got tripped up towards the end and missed a letter. Afterwards, he was interviewed by a local newspaper.

His Principal called me today to chat and said he's never had a student make it past the 1st round. He also said that since the local Middle School does not currently hold a Scripps approved Spelling Bee (Eli must win a local Bee in order to move onto the State competition), he'll be in touch with them to let them know that there's a "local talent" (his words) and it would be great to help him achieve his goal of eventually going to Nationals. He even volunteered to hold it himself if the no one in the school comes through.

We couldn't be anymore proud of him! And he's proud of himself as well. He went into it with a good attitude, recognizing that he was one of the youngest students there and that he has three more years to practice. He feels very hopeful (as do we) that one day, you'll see him on National TV in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Long time, no see!

I've been a bad blogger. Sorry for my absence. I've been feeling very unmotivated! It's nearing spring time here and we've been out and about alot.

Eli won his school spelling bee and will be in the State Spelling Bee this coming week. We are so incredibly proud of the guy and will be sure to update you afterwards. In other news, it appears we have an early appearance of teen-syndrome. We rarely see him without his iPod and if he's not talking on the phone, it's in his hand in case it rings. Questions are usually answered with eye rolls and shoulder shrugs. Kids are so much fun.

Charlotte is LOVING the weather. She spends at least an hour outside playing in the yard every day. Apparently, she's growing a garden which includes a pumpkin plant. She's mastered how to pump her legs while swinging and is working on learning how to zip her own coat.

She had three different "dates" to play with friends this week and was she ever in her element. I hate to say it but as much as I'm dreading sending her off to kindergarten, I know in my heart that it's where she needs to be. She's so incredibly social. The funny part is that she really only likes playing with one person at a time. I guess we'll see how that plays out once she's in school.

Lucy makes me laugh nearly all day long lately. Heck, she likes to make herself laugh. She does silly things and then giggles to herself. She's working really hard at learning how to talk but it's still a very frustrating experience for her. (However, even that can be funny to us because when she's frustrated, she'll growl very much like we do when we're frustrated.) She picks up a new word every other day or so. She's also put two words together a few times now.

The other night at dinner, Eli asked if anyone wanted a bite of his ice cream. To everyone's surprise, Lucy shouted, loud and clear, "ME!" However, when asked to repeat it, she would only oblige by opening her mouth and pointing inside with her finger as though she was saying, "Put it right here, dummy."