√ Family Weekend Plymouth, Ma

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My husband and I decided that we'd like to take small local trips as often as possible begining this year and beyond. Last weekend we took our first family trip down to Plymouth, MA. We stayed at the John Carver Inn & Spa which is located in the heart of historical Plymouth, MA. It was about an hour and a half drive down which was nothing compared to our 32-hour drive to the Midwest in December. We arrived at about 1:30 in the afternoon which is an hour and a half before allowed check-in, but since our room was ready we were able to check-in as soon as we arrived.

We'd told our son that we were going to a hotel with a pool so we knew the first thing we had to do was get to the pool. As soon as we dropped our bags in the room everyone got into bathing suits and we headed to the very family friendly pool with the replica of Plymouth Rock and The Mayflower II.

Most of the afternoon was spent in the pool then we headed over to the Hearth n Kettle restaurant for dinner. We'd all had a pretty long day so it was no surprise that everyone fell asleep right around 9:30 pm. The next morning the boys took a quick trip back to the pool while the ladies slept in. Although we did have the opportunity to take a look at the historical district, with the temps right around 16 degrees that morning we decided it would be best to return to Plymouth "in-season" in order to truly enjoy the sights.

Here are a few pics from our "get-away".

Arrival at the hotel

Ready for the pool!

Baby girl's first time in a pool

Plymouth Rock

Mayflower II Replica

For the record, I did not bring any yarn, hooks or my laptop and my husband, who is a screenwriter, did not bring his laptop either. . . we decided it would be a "no-work" kindda weekend!

√ Snowtober 2014!

√ This past weekend was one for the books! We live in New England so we expect the weather to do whatever it wants most of the time, but when we heard we were getting a major storm in October, we were a bit confused. . . snowstorm in October? That hasn't happened . . . ever since we've lived here and my parents have been here for over 20 years!

The plan was to go out on Saturday to Salem, MA where they get decked out for Halloween every year! Since we've been here we haven't had the opportunity to go. . . this year was no different. The storm was slated to start sometime Saturday afternoon, so we opted to stay home with the kids, since it was rainy and cold already, and watch as the storm came in.

Since we were home I decided it would be fun to do some baking projects so when my hubby went out to get food for the baby, I added a few things to his list:

While he was out and I was feeding the baby, I heard the birds quite a bit louder than usual and looked outside to find our whole front lawn covered with hungry birds! I think they could feel the snow coming and they were doing their last minute shopping before getting out of town. It was a bit like the movie "The Birds" because they were everywhere!

After I got over the shock of the birds and fed the baby, we got down to business! Since we had two cake mixes, we decided to make cupcakes and a cake. One recipe I found on Pinterest. It called for cake mix and pumpkin, just two ingredients! You can find the full article here. So I made the pumpkin cake and we made regular cupcakes. . . but the decorating was the most fun part of all!!

After cake and cupcake decorating, came pumpkin carving later in the day with my niece! The kids got to clean out the pumpkins and my hubby did the carving.

And as if we hadn't done enough, we roasted the pumpkin seeds!

We didn't do this all before the snow because the snow started at around 3:30 pm and was still going when we went to bed at 1am after the power went out in the middle of our movie.

In the morning we woke to a beautiful winter wonderland:

We had a great weekend! In the words of my son "This is the best day ever!" Yeah we didn't get our power back until Tuesday morning, but we spent Sunday at my brother's house then at night we lit the fireplaces. On Monday the kids had no school so we spent the day at my aunt's house. There's nothing like getting together and just hanging out because there isn't much more to do.

I'm kindda looking forward to more "Winter Weather" just so we have an excuse to just be together and enjoy the day! Having no electricity is no fun so I do feel for those who have had to go 4 or 5 days without. But the temps went right back up into the 50's and the sun came out. We now have everything prepared for the next time!

√ Fabulous New England Fall Weekend!

√ My sister came out from NY this weekend to spend some time with family. She wanted to come when she knew the leaves were turning and there would be a definite nip in the air. I love New England mainly because of the amazing beauty of Fall in this part of the country. We took tons of photos over the weekend, but I wanted to share the ones we did on Mount Wachusett in Princeton, MA. Enjoy the colors of Fall!



Looking over the Wachusett Valley



My daughter, niece, sister, son and niece

The group of us at Wachusett

My brother's beautiful daughter in front of the Wachusett Valley

My brother's beautiful daughters

My baby girl with her Auntie

My baby girl and me



My children and me

 I hope you're enjoying the harvest season as much as we are here in New England!

√ Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!

√ One year ago today I was in the hospital having our second (and last) child. As anyone who's had a child will tell you, it's hard to believe a year has already passed since she entered the world. We have no idea how life was before her and we don't really care. She's completed our family and we are all three better with her here.

Happy birthday lovely Anastasia, mommy, daddy and big brother love you lots!

√ Wordless Wednesday

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√ Upon Your Retirement

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Dear Dad,

Today you retire from the professorship you've held for the last 23 years and I'm so proud of you! Over the years I've watched you work tirelessly and with full dedication to not only this position, but also as an amazing principal for many years. Just as those elementary school children still remember the impact you have made on their lives, so your college students remember. I know that when you find a great teacher or administrator that inspires, you go back to their inspiration on a daily basis.

Although you retire today, I know there are many more "active" years ahead as you pursue other interests and challenges. However, Dad, I want you to know that the role of father, that you've held longer than any position, is and will continue to be your crowning jewel. I am proud to be your daughter and I'm proud to watch you evolve.

So today, on your retirement, I say congratulations, good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing what you will accomplish in this phase.

With love,
Sedie

√ Source Code - The Movie

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Last night was a rare night. . . hubby and I got to watch a full movie in just about the running time of the movie. As parents to two young kids, we often have to pause the movie to deal with a crying baby or a child dealing with "night terror" (that will be another post). Last night, both kids were in bed by 9pm and beyond the two times we had to pause for consoling or pacifier replacing, we were able to watch the movie non-stop!

It's a good thing because it was a really good movie to watch continuously. I call my husband a "film snob" because he teases me about enjoying the likes of 'Transformers" while also having the ability to call "Shawshank Redemption" my favorite movie, and yet he can only sit through the latter. If it's not a highly rated movie, he has a hard time justifying the time put in to watch it. . . I on the other hand just like to "get away" sometimes when I watch a movie. They don't all have to be intense. Anyway, because my hubby heard Source Code was a good movie, he put it on our Netflix cue and it came three days ago. We were finally able to sit and watch it yesterday.

We both came away loving the movie! The best part was as soon as it started, you were in the character's shoes and just as confused. You, as the watcher, got information at the same time he did and the same questions surfaced for you as they did for him. The ride was intense and the payoff was perfect. If you haven't seen the movie, I don't want to ruin it for you, but I do want to say, we enjoyed our "movie night" because the movie was well worth the investment of busy parent's precious free time!

I give it 5 stars and will gladly watch it again to catch what I may have missed the first time!

√ Pinterest Project - Apple Smiles

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Last week I started telling you about the projects I've found on Pinterest that I've decided to try in real life. The last time it was a crayon project, this time it was a food project. I don't really have a problem getting my son to eat fruits, he's a big fan, but I figured he'd really get a kick out of making these cute apple smiles (or what turned into creepy smiles) so close to Halloween.

So while his cousin was visiting I decided we'd make these after Tae Kwon Do practice. We stopped at the supermarket to get some apples because we already had the peanut butter and marshmallows at home. Once we got home we got busy.

I cut the apples and made the first one so they could see how it was done, and after that they had a blast putting them together and eating them. It was the perfect snack full of giggles and fun. I will certainly do this again when I get the chance. . . after I've exhausted all other Pinterest projects, of course! Here are some photos of our adventure!

Getting it all together

One down, many to go

I did it!

Look at mine!

What about this?!

Simple and fun, that's my kind of project!!! Happy Halloween!

√ Pinterest Inspiration - Colorful Cupcakes Fun!

√ A few weeks ago on Pinterest I saw this amazing project with colored cake! Kids love color, so I thought it would be a great project to do with my son over the weekend, when we get the best chance for fun baking, and enjoy the process as well as the eating.

The project that was pinned was from Hostess With The Mostess' blog. She in turn credited The Omnomicon for posting this How to Make a Rainbow Cake Tutorial for weight watchers. Although the cake was a "diet" cake, no one in my family is on a diet so I just used the color idea and went for it.

I don't think I have to give you the play-by-play because the images will speak for themselves! Just know it was  a fun easy project that kept us busy for a couple of hours and happy with snacks for a few days!