Dyeries

The Weekend- Mystic

2009-11-03T21:09:00.002-05:00

We left for Rhode Island last Thursday to do some Fall peeping with Dan's parents, who had just flown in that morning.
On the way, we stopped in Mystic, Connecticut, a port town just south of the RI border. The town was small, charming and loaded with boats.
We enjoyed the brisk walk through downtown and found Jane trying to add some second-hand layers from a trunk. Then we found her admiring a wedding dress through glass.

That's Jane.

The highlight of the evening came to us by way of food. Some local fishermen recommended a restaurant with great clam chowder a couple of miles of out town. I was expecting good but I didn't expect the most heavenly of lobster bisques. I simply couldn't get enough. Everything else we had was phenomenal as well. If you are in, near or happen to be passing by Mystic, go to The Fisherman Restaurant in Noank, Connecticut. Eat the bisque, and die happy.

Our Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T21:57:00.004-04:00

We drove home from Rhode Island today, and the girls slept ALL THE WAY! They were well rested and ready for an evening of trick-or-treating by the time we got home.

I don't know who was more excited about their costumes, me or them. I was just glad the costumes were finished and that Jane agreed to wear her Boots hat. I couldn't, or didn't have time to, figure out how to keep her monkey hair up.

The girls got a lot of attention tonight, as did most little kids. One girl saw us from her home a few houses down and started screaming, "Dora! Dora! Dora!" She left her door and came running to Hannah but she got called back to her post as the resident candy distributor. The girls were celebrities.

Introducing, Dora the Explorer, Boots the Monkey and Swiper the Fox.

"How's this, Mom?"
Perfect.

We went to Burns Street in the Gardens as usual, and as usual, it was festive and fabulous!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Dora sighting

2009-10-29T21:11:00.001-04:00

2009-10-28T16:02:00.001-04:00

Blogging to resume as soon as I can find my way out of these weeds known as "costume construction".

Family pictures are in!

2009-10-21T14:48:00.007-04:00

We hired Jonathan Canlas when we were in Utah last month (his photo above). I was so excited for him to immortalize us! We have been waiting oh so patiently to see them and they are finally ready.

You can go to his blog to see some of the images. Then, there's a link to view them all, just enter an email address. You know I like pictures when I give everyone my OK to look at some of me :)

~•~

Birthday wishes come true

2009-10-20T09:23:00.005-04:00

I've realized how much simpler my birthday wishes have become with each passing year.
All I really asked for this year was time, and Dan took every opportunity between Friday and Monday to give me "Minna time": Time to spend with friends in NH, time to shop, time to relax...
He even took Friday and Monday off to make it all happen.

Yesterday (my actual birthday), I shopped all morning, not all for myself, but it was so nice to get things done without kids. He played the role of mother and chef. He worked on this labor-of-love for most of the afternoon.

Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ganache
Yep. Same as last year. He really enjoyed making it, which helped me to not feel so guilty about the time he spent in the kitchen.

Before we dived into the cake, we went out to dinner. What was supposed to be date night ended up being a family outing- sitters are hard to come by these days. It was nice to have the girls with us to celebrate, though. Coincidentally, our table at the Jackson Diner (A.K.A. best Indian food ever) was #35. If you haven't guessed, that's my new age.

Anyway, it was a great birthday/weekend. Thanks to Dan and all of your birthday wishes!

PS- You are all invited over for some cake.

The weekend

2009-10-19T22:08:00.003-04:00

We made a quick, somewhat last minute trip up to New Hampshire last weekend to spend time with friends and to get a Fall fix.
It was beautiful. Everywhere we looked, there were fiery hues adorning and falling from the trees.
The kids would have been completely content playing with their friends in the vast back and front yard of the Bates home, but we took them to a farm on Saturday to add a little seasonal variety to their play.
They loved playing in and on the hay maze. I would have run around right along with them had I not had Claire on me. It looked fun.

They also enjoyed the goats, tractors, cider donuts and pumpkin patch. Claire almost got picked and taken home by several interested buyers.

Of course, the weekend wouldn't have been complete without visiting Parker's Maple Barn and Pickity Place. Mmmm!
When in Rome...

There are more images of our trip here.
It was a great little visit and well worth the travel!

Related? Definitely.

2009-10-15T08:09:00.000-04:00

Dan and I gasped when we saw the picture in this great post, because we immediately saw Hannah in Dan's mom. We thought it would be fun to do our own comparison.

We've always thought Hannah and Noelle looked alike. Now we know who the connecting link is!

Costume update

2009-10-14T10:09:00.001-04:00

This is a "not that anyone cares" post.

DORA is almost complete. I just gave the wig a haircut, and it is so perfect. I clapped for joy when I saw it on Hannah. It's pretty funny.

I was going to just go with some old yellow socks I happened to have, sans ruffle, but my mom called, and she has made some socks with ruffles for us.
Let me repeat that: she MADE SOCKS!!! Sewed them, ruffled them, dyed them and now she's sending them our way. She already made the orange shorts (I challenge you to find orange shorts and yellow socks in any store out there).
If anyone didn't know how cool my mom was, now you know. I already think she's the coolest and I think it's unbelievable that she made socks. She must like us a lot!

BOOTS needs a lot of work. I think I've got it all figured out in my head. We'll see if it can materialize.

SWIPER will indeed be played by Claire, although we're keeping it simple.

You'll have to wait to see how cute she really looks with her mask on.

Run Against Your Mother Day

2009-10-13T10:41:00.004-04:00

It looked like rain today, so the girls started singing a little ditty they learned yesterday. It goes like this:
"Rain, rain, go away. Run against your mother day."
Bounce around and repeat.

I thought every day was "run against your mother day".

•••••••

This morning, as Dan was feeding the girls, I, from the comforts of my bed, heard Jane yell,
"Everyone!!! Stop the noise for a minute! I'm eating my Cheerios!"

Who doesn't need quiet Cheerio time?

Golden Oldie

2009-10-11T07:45:00.002-04:00

We have been cleaning up our photo library lately, and it's been fun to go back and look and pictures of us, like this one.

I have always loved this picture of Hannah, maybe because it's one of the last pictures of her before we cut her hair for the first time.

Nearly three years later...

Her hair is just as messy :)

Our entry into the Freezer Challenge

2009-10-09T18:54:00.003-04:00

Dear Cousin Andrew Rail,
We want to enter your Freezer Challenge. Our entry is below:

When you are done watching, why don't you come over for some fries?

The girls today

2009-10-07T22:14:00.004-04:00

It was a windy day. A gusty, blustery, windy day.
Jane had to take her umbrella with her on our walk to Hannah's school. On the foot bridge, the wind reached it's max and it literally swept Jane and her open umbrella backwards. Passers by were actually quite concerned for her, that her little body might just get blown away (???).
Anyway, as I helped her across the breadth of the wind tunnel, she kept saying,
"I can't fly away! I can't fly away!"
I think she really thought she might.

•••••••

When Dan told Hannah this afternoon that he had to get on an airplane to fly to SLC for work, she coyly and indirectly asked if she could go along by saying,
"Can little people go with you?"
We took Dan to the airport and Hannah had a hard time letting go of him, literally.
After the car doors were closed and we finally started to drive away, Hannah said to me,
"I know!!!" (lightbulb) "If I stay with Daddy all the time, then I won't have to miss him!"

•••••••

Claire has passed her 6 month marker, but I thought I'd give an update.
Here it is :

She is so stinkin' cute!

But that's not news :)

She is quite average in her numbers:
50th percentile for head and weight
75th percentile for length

She is making plans to crawl, I know it. She can go from point A to point B in every other which way, so I know she has the desire to move. Soon, too soon...

•••••••

Ah, my three favorite little people.

2009-10-04T06:39:00.004-04:00

I am convinced dessert was invented to coerce children into eating their dinner.
Even then, Jane will often skip the meal. No eat, no treat.

However, I will never deny her a lollipop after getting a flu shot.

~•~

Sweather Wetter

2009-10-01T17:08:00.005-04:00

Welcome to my favorite month!

I have worn sweaters for four straight days, and I feel GREAAAAT!
The girls and I had a fun two whole minutes of saying "sweater weather" over and over in the car today. Most often, it came out "setha weatha".
The girls sensed my enthusiasm (hard not to) and I think they are really happy for me. They are good girls.

Last year, I posted the reasons for Fall being my favorite season, but I won't do that this year. I'm sure my love of the season will shine through anything I write about or show.
Speaking of showing, here is one of my favorites...

I haven't forgotten about you!

2009-09-30T07:49:00.000-04:00

Remember this post?

Well, I do.
I have fulfilled my promise to some of you, but not all, and I just want you to know I haven't forgotten about you :)
I have had a hard time coming up with something for you all that are so creative in your own rights. I will persevere. I will not fail you.
Please be patient with me.
Thank you.

T.G.I.T

2009-09-29T11:43:00.002-04:00

Thank goodness it's Tuesday, and not Saturday, or Sunday, or Yom Kippur, or a day that we are out of town where Hannah can't go to school.
The last day she was at school was last Wednesday and since then, she has been asking if she can go to school. Finally, Sunday I told her she would be going to school tomorrow (Monday), then I realized it was Yom Kippur-- no school. Yesterday, I was a little wary of telling her she could go to school today, just in case something kept her from going. I didn't want to let her down. Today was the day though, and she is happy to be back in school. Come weekend, we'll hear it all over again.
How long will this last... ?

Family photos

2009-09-28T11:10:00.003-04:00

Go here to see some family photos.

~•~

2009-09-26T23:03:00.002-04:00

The Magic Mirror couldn't decide, so you be the judge.

OR...

?

Halloween

2009-09-22T15:59:00.002-04:00

Hannah and Jane want to be Dora and Boots for Halloween. It's fitting, I think.
We've pretty much got Hannah's costume figured out, but I can't decide the best way to create Jane's (I'd rather not buy the costume). I'll probably have to paint some boots red, and I'll probably keep the body simple with gray leggings and a gray shirt, but I don't know what I'll do about the head??? Any ideas? He's got that three-piece flare goin' on at the top of his head that I just don't know about.

We don't know what Claire will be yet.
Maybe, if I got her a black mask and ears...

When we get the itch for nature...

2009-09-20T20:13:00.006-04:00

we don't have to go far. We have a wooded area near us called Forest Park that has trails for horses and pedestrians. Sure, we can hear the nearby expressway/parkway/turnpike, but if we try really hard, we can tune it all out and pretend like we are in some remote mountain range.
So here we were yesterday, gettin' a little nature.

Jane took so long getting over this log that we lost sight of Dan, Claire and Hannah. Ever since she first watched An American Tail, Jane's been afraid of losing her family, so when she couldn't see them, she looked up at me like this and said,

"I think I lost my fam-i-lee."
I came to the rescue. When we caught up and I pointed out our family to her, she said,
"Oh, thank you, Momma. Thank you!"
I think she really meant it.

The highlight of our little hike for Hannah was seeing all the horses walking by.
Our trip was short, since the girls wanted to go back to the playground where we started our journey.
It may have been just a little bit of nature, but a little goes a long way.

And just because, here's Claire.

Again with the umbrella

2009-09-18T10:51:00.003-04:00

Jane is watching Mary Poppins and she must watch with an umbrella of course, the way she must watch Singing in the Rain.
She likes to be part of the story.

The latest

2009-09-17T23:05:00.003-04:00

You gotta know that when our blog is quiet, it means we're busy. Except for the times when there's absolutely nothing going on, but in this case, we've been busy.
We had a little reunion of sorts in Heber and Park City, Utah last week for the Dyer family. Although most were stricken with some stomach virus at least once, we still managed to have a good time. Needless to say, there was a lot of movie watching and napping going on.

Here are the Dyer siblings on our last day together.

Aren't they fun? I'm pretty sure all of the above were feeling good at this point.

During our stay, Claire worked on sitting up.
She has become quite accomplished.

Unfortunately, she got sick too and is still not well, but she manages to put on her best face when you look at her. Sweet baby.

In other news...
While we were gone, Hannah's Pre-K class began. Her first day was Monday and she was all smiles. Smiles, jumps, and more than slightly annoying really high pitched chirping sounds.

We've both been waiting for this day for quite some time. So far, it's been so good!

That's all for now...

A new business

2009-09-09T09:19:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know about this new business that Minna and I are doing.

The website is cardsink.com

Anyone can design a greeting card and submit it to CardsInk.com. There it will be voted on by the public. The most popular designs will be printed into real cards.

Our very first cards are on sale. Click here to check it out.

The coolest part about this is printing letterpress. Letterpress is the finest type of printing available today. They use big heavy machines built 50-100 years ago that take cranes to life. These big, heavy, loud, clunky machines are finessed to leave a perfect impression in paper. They really are a work of art.

We hope that you, our friends and family, will spread the word. And of course we hope you will buy the product!

After four years...

2009-09-07T19:26:00.005-04:00

we finally decided to paint our bedroom.

When we bought our place, we didn't pay too much attention to the sorry excuse for walls. Each time we have painted throughout our home, we have had to put in a lot of work and/or money. That is why, I believe, we have put off painting our room over and over again.

This weekend, we started. Hannah was so anxious to help us. She is always so eager to lend a hand. She even got dressed up for the activity.

This is how she looks when she is concentrating on something. I love it.

The color is light and neutral so it's hard to see the change from the pictures, but it is a huge improvement!