thursday.

Yesterday morning, instead of lurking near my inbox all day, I took the kids downtown to the farmer's market. It was raining a little but we still had a very nice time and got some much needed fruits (strawberries & raspberries...raspberries were eaten on the spot) and veggies (sugar snap peas, spinach, fingerling potatoes, carrots, baby zucchinis (cutest things EVER), and tomatoes.) Dinner last night, as a sanity saver, was glorious, delicious, not-made-by-me pizza. Dinner tonight will include a big salad with hard boiled eggs (for patrick &I) and maybe a loaf of homemade bread. (2 of my friends have been baking their own bread lately and it's inspired me to try again.)

I am struggling on and off with itchy eyes and as much as I think my new glasses are super cute, I really prefer contacts. When I have my glasses on I feel somewhat separate from reality (I know that sounds strange. It is strange, but true.) and it's really hard for me to get motivated. Or maybe it's just really easy for me to ignore it all and sit on the couch with a book? So, today my contacts are back in and I'm hoping to keep them in until after dinner time. I think I'm also going to make an appt. with my eye doctor. (duh, right?)

Oh yeah, that first picture is of James at swimming lessons. Can you see him?

And, finally, if you're reading this on facebook, I'd like you to know that it is originally from my blog. (www.wewerebuilttolast.blogspot.com) I don't write up these little explanations of my life specifically for facebook...I am just choosing to import them there for a while. :) Do you have a blog?? Do tell.

xoxoox

5 bells

Yup, it's 5:00. James is bored, Ruby didn't nap so she is a tiny train wreck, and I am sick of them (sorry, but it's true). It was rainy all day which is really only fun until, um...right about now, I guess.

What I need to do to save us is put up my hair, turn on some Johnny Cash, have a big glass of something cold (fresca) and set them to work washing fingerling potatoes (my favorite! this is a good thing) while I pick up the living room. I also need to take a zyrtec because I have been sneezing horribly hard sneezes that nearly make me pee myself all day long. (why didn't I take one this morning when I woke up and said to myself, "I think this is going to be an itchy sneezy day"???)

Here's to 6:30 when Patrick gets home!

UPDATE 5:25: OR, I could take the kids for a walk, as it's now beautiful out, and we can order pizzas. I think we'll go with that one.

(a pizza place finally opened up in town and they are more than happy to make a cheese free one for our boy. how fun to get pizza delivered!)

something seemed a little off

It took me a couple of minutes yesterday morning to realize that James' ear was red & swollen and not just starting to stick out. hee! For a minute there I felt kinda bad for him. :) It's much better today.

Other points of mild interest:

I borrowed Rachel's bike last night, that has a child seat on the back, so we could all go for a bike ride together. It was so fun! I haven't ridden in years so it was a little nerve wracking at first with Ruby on the back and all, but I got the hang of it quickly. Ruby kept rubbing my back and offering up positive affirmations..."you're doing weawwy good, mom" and "I love my whole famiwy on a bike wide togezzer."

We got a few of James' RAST results by email this morning. He is now in the class ZERO for dairy, which is absent/undetectable. Last year, when I got so excited, he was in class 1, the low class, and was obviously still allergic. (will not go into that heartbreaking fiasco again. sigh.) So, once again I am hopeful. I'm sure we will be doing a skin test at the allergist next week and then, possibly, a food challenge. I've since read that skin tests can take up to a year to follow RAST results so I am not getting my hopes up. HOWEVER, this is still just excellent news as his test scores show a definite decreasing trend over the last 4 years.

06/2004 M: 8.7
05/2005 M: 12.4

03/2006 M: 1.3

04/2007 M: 1.3

07/2008 M: .59

07/2009 M: <.35

He was also negative for goat's milk & cat dander, which we expected. Peanut & egg haven't come through yet but I'm not expecting him to have dropped off the charts for those. Just hoping for another decrease!

So, now I'm a little jittery. I need to go make some coffee (ha!) and stop waiting for those other results to pop into my inbox. This stuff is exciting and it's hard not to get too excited. It's funny because I don't even miss dairy that much any more as far as cooking for my family (don't get me wrong, it would be great to have so many more meal options but also? we'd probably all gain weight) but the HOPE is what is so exciting. The hope that we might not have to worry *quite* as much about what crosses James' lips...that is what makes me jittery.

camping pics now up on flickr

You can see all 4 pages of them here.

it fits

Andrea & I randomly stopped in Burlington Coat Factory when I was out visiting her. We found Ruby a flower girl dress for $18. Yes, $18. And it's beautiful and it fits her. Don't rule them out if you ever need one.

(and yes, I threatened her to get her to try it on this morning, but she loved it and decided she does want to be in the "parade" again.) (she decided it was a parade based on my description...not too far off, really, except Annie & Ronan aren't throwing candy.) (I don't think.)

and we're back.

Camping was good.

I'll be back at some point with pictures.

How were your weekends?

xoxo

she's a nurse!!

Here is one awful photo from Andrea's graduation practice on Monday morning.

She got pinned as an LPN Monday evening.

Congratulations, Nurse Seester!!!

You are awesome & so smart & so lovable. xoxoxo

(next on her agenda? um, only...getting married, working as a doula, possibly moving to Tennessee, possibly having a baby, pursuing an RN degree & becoming a certified nurse midwife. whew.)



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p.s. I popped on for a while to check the weather and thought I'd share this. we are so proud of our annie. :)

a visit to madame sherri's

Madame Sherri's Forest was a really cool stop we made on Saturday while up in New Hampshire.
You can read more about it here.


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I am still kind of groggy but feeling much more like myself this morning. I am shutting down the computer for the day as we are going camping tomorrow night (!!) and I have A LOT to do. I hope you all have a good day! xoxo

a few peeks at the shower...

At the shower:

This one below is (obviously) much cuter of Andrea so I thought I'd take one for the team:She was definitely not tipsy:
Hugging all of her friends, they are all so sweet to her:
Like this one although she is out of focus. Ronan couldn't wait to be invited in. (He said he was going to park over in the lot across the street with binoculars.)
Love this. The party was officially over but we stayed for another 4 hours or so. This was when we added the remaining REAL sangria to the leftover fruit salad along with the leftover white whine and sprite. Voila! More sangria!
Impromptu birthday celebration for Kim. Andrea improvised with a Yankee candle on a slice of her shower cake.

xoxoxo

(there will be more some time later on)

the happy couple

I'm home. It was awesome. I feel bloated and only want to eat fruit & drink water for the next week. Can't wait for the wedding. They are happy. xoxo

errands are fun!

(ruby stayed in here the entire time, playing with my hair. love that.)

(james drove his corvette ALL over woodman's)

Well, today they are. We were out for about 4 hours today and got alllll sorts of stuff done, including an hour at dig & save. (side note here: I've spent the last 2 weeks looking for an off white skirt to go with a particular tank that I have. I even bought fabric to make a skirt but decided to just wear the shorts I have when the pattern looked too tricky to be fast. Guess what I found at the dig today? Yup, an off white linen skirt from Old Navy, in perfect shape. woo hoo!)

The kids were so good at the grocery store and I was happy to get everything they might need for the next 4 days. Of course, this all hinges on Patrick being able to find these things in the cupboards and refrigerator. He suffers from male refrigerator blindness so this will be harder for him than it sounds. I am hopeful.

I am finally REALLY excited to go tomorrow. I've talked with my kids a lot about me leaving, when I'll be back, and so on and I think they will be just fine...this lightens my mood tremendously. I know they'll have fun at Zoe's on Friday & Monday and they always have fun with their Dad. (please pray for Zoe and may God bless her.) :)

I have stocked up on new magazines, blow pops and cash. I have selected my airplane attire and my carry on. I finished my new little purse (basically a clothespin bag with a flap) and charged my camera. I am set.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you back here next week...probably on Tuesday. xoxoxo