Frankenstorm Sandy

We heard that a nasty storm was on its way. The news was telling us to be ready with food/water for a few days in case power went out etc. I kinda blew it off for a while because Jake had been on the Emergency Preparedness board in our last ward and they were always talking about the big earthquake that was 40 years over due (blah blah blah) and how we needed to be prepared. But after the sister missionaries came over to our house to email their families due to the inclimate weather and informed me that their mission president had said to be prepared for up to two weeks with food, water etc. I decided this might be a little more serious. We tried to be semi prepared making sure we were stocked up on water, had plenty of ice (filling up empty milk cartons and freezing them etc) in case our refrigerator went out of commission, and had enough food that didn't have to be cooked in the oven/microwave and had our candles/flashlights and batteries ready. Brittany and Leon's idea of preparing was making sure they just came over to our house. Well we were super fortunate that we got some rain and winds and our power was only knocked out for a few hours. Besides some roof shingles from the house next door hitting our car, and a tree falling over on our street, there was no damage. The kids found the fact that they were experiencing a hurricane quite entertaining. They loved using the flashlights. When it seemed pretty calm Jake took Carder and Jaxon go out on the porch check it out. They thought it was awesome. Brenn was totally enthralled standing on her little stool watching the boys out the window. 

We feel super grateful that the hurricane left us basically unscathed. Our hearts go out to those who weren't so lucky. Our ward was great at taking several days to go down to New York and help in the clean up efforts. We weren't able to go since Jake had school and I had the little people. I was able to help cut and tie some blankets with the Relief Society to send down to the people who had been affected more seriously by Sandy. We are so thankful to live in a country/community where people are so quick to offer their help to those who need it.

Jetty Jet Jet

As Brittany got closer to her due date, she started getting super antsy dragging me here and there to try and put herself into labor.

This was our girls' day downtown, where we took the girls to lunch and went to see the ducks at the public garden. (the one in the book "Make Way for the Ducklings"...thanks Grandma & Grandpa for that one, its a favorite read at our household)

Well the outings must have worked because a couple of days later the little mister made his appearance...

The girls on their way to see the new baby. Ellie was in a phase where she insisted on carrying her two Minnies everywhere she went. Seriously EVERYWHERE. Brenn loves looking all Hollywood in her sunglasses.

The Mama and her boy

The boys immediately fell in love with baby Jet

Brenn quite enjoyed climbing on and off the chair and running up and down the little Hallway in Brittany's hospital room (That is when she wasn't smothering that baby with kisses) She couldn't get enough of Jet she kept saying "baby" and trying to get over to wherever that little guy was so she could give him a super soft kiss on the top of his tiny head.

The kids were so excited to have a new cousin

A couple of days later we did a little newborn sesh...Here he is Jet Van Johnson. 

Halloween Happenings

I've been getting in trouble from my Madre with how far behind I am on my blog updates...so here I go trying to play catch up once again. (One day I'll get there, I promise!) The month of October was so fun. The Fall back here is something else. The East Coasters seemed to share in my love for Halloween, offering all sorts of nifty fall festivities from Spooky hayrides to awesome ward parties.

There is a farm/farmers market near us called Wilson Farms. Aside from supplying us with AMAZING produce, they do a free "Spooky Hayride" complete with a giant in the corn field, a VW spider, an alien/UFO crash and all other sorts of crazy things for the kids to check out while they get to ride on the back of a hay tractor in the month of October. (did I mention that its free...and the kids score a freshly picked apple and some candy upon completion. What could be cooler than that?) We had gotten wind of this, so when a friend came into town to visit some of her family we met up with her and her nephews to go check it out.

 Spooky Hayride

One of Jake's best friends growing up is named Mike Wells (he was the best man at our wedding). Anyway his sister Nikki came out to help her cousin with her boys while she was having a new baby. We met up wither her and the boys and Carder just loved hanging out with them. After we had finished the hayride, we saw Brittany, Ellie and Leon getting in line, so we weaved our way back around and rode it with them again. (Carder was quite pleased to get to go twice).

After the hayride we went into the market and got some freshly brewed apple cider (this place also makes fresh cider doughnuts on Saturdays in the fall...a definite must if you ever come back here).

Carder visited the Spooky Hayride quite a few times in October. He went with Ellie and some friends one day on a play date, and then of course we had to take Jaxon when he came into town.

Ward Party
October has always been synonymous with a ward party for me. Growing up we always had a big dress up party, trunk or treat and chili cook-off. Everywhere we have lived with the exception of Utah has had one of these. So I was happy to be back to a place that participated in my beloved tradition (though there was no chili and no trunk or treat).

Costumes have always been my thing. I just love dressing up (I mean seriously I'll take any excuse to dress up.) Moving in September made for October to still be an unpacking/settling in period, but I couldn't let that trump the dress up tradition. Usually I do a family theme of some sort but this year Carder wanted to be a superhero (thank you Costco for making that one so easy for me).  I found this awesome Cinderella costume for Brenn, so I decided I'd be ambitious and whip up a fairy godmother costume for myself. (Whip up...ya not so much). After some image searches on the computer and some trips to Joanns I found the colors and a pattern I could semi work with to get the look I had in mind. Oh if only it were so easy. I was using nap times/some evenings to cut and start putting together all the pieces (because let's face it, if Brenn got a hold of that stuff, it would have been utter destruction). Anyway the day of the party I was going to finish up so I could accompany my little princess as her fairy godmother, and in the middle of my project my machine decided to die on me. I sat on the phone with Singer for like 2 hours trying to resolve the problem, we took it to the sewing repair shop who said they could diagnose it by next week (um did they not understand my party was tonight!) and it would have costed more than a new machine. Anyway I was determined to not be a ward party dud so I hand sewed like a mad woman. Well that costume was A LOT of fabric, and even though i had been hand sewing for hours, I just couldn't get it done (and my safety pins were still packed away in a box that could not be found). So I was totally defeated, and felt like a total halloween scrooge going to our party costumeless. Not wanting my kids to totally miss the whole party, I threw something semi presentable on and ran out the door. It had been such a chaotic day my hair was just pulled up and make up hadn't really made it onto my face. When I got home I walk in the door and see that my shirt was totally buttoned up crooked, (thanks Jake for letting me walk around like that all night) so maybe everyone thought I was dressed up like a "mad" woman after all. (So embarrassing!)

The kids had a blast at the party playing all the games, hanging out with their friends and scoring all the yummy treats and fun prizes.

As you can see from the white residue on his face Carder loved him some powdered doughnuts on a string

Brenn thought she was so big  roaming around the gym like Miss Independent with her prize baggy and chasing all the balloons 

The highlight of the evening for Carder was the bounce house set up in the Primary room. It totally made up for the lack of trunk or treating.

Trick or Treating

Brittany had her baby a few days before Halloween, which brought my Mom and Jaxon into town. Thank goodness too, because Jake had class Halloween night, which meant he would not be accompanying us for trick or treating. (Um hello Boston University, do you not realize how big of a deal Halloween night is?). A family in our ward does an open house thing where they have chili and a homemade doughnut bar. So a lot of people go over to their neighborhood to trick or treat and then head on over to their house when they finish up. So that is what we did too. The thing that I am still getting used to about the East Coast is the Miles to Minutes ratio. Previously I equated miles to minutes, like if something is 5 miles away it will take you about 5 minutes to get there. Not true here. 10 miles can take you a half and hour to an hour depending on time of day/where it is. (utter craziness I tell you!). This was sort of the case here. It took us a half an hour to get over to this neighborhood. Carder doesn't nap anymore unless he falls asleep while we are driving in the car (we literally have to keep a pillow in the car for him). This was such an occasion. By the time we got there he had fallen asleep so I had to wake him up. Waking him up caused him to have a freak out and he insisted that I had to hold him, and then Brenn wanted me to hold her etc. Thank goodness for my Mama because without her help, trick or treating would not have happened this year. Carder snapped out of it a while later and he and Jaxon were troopers making their way up and down all the New England stairs to collect their candy. 

Halloween made me realize how big of a difference there is between your first and second children. Brenn and Carder's birthdays are not even two weeks apart, so at each event Brenn is essentially the same age Carder was at that same event three years earlier. I was thinking back to Carder's second Halloween and how we had him walking up to all the doors saying "Trick or Treat." This was not the case for the little lady. I either pushed Brenn in a stroller or carried her the whole time. And only took her up to one door because after a couple of people searched through their candy bowls for something "suitable for a baby" (a nonchoking hazard I guess) that made me feel that she might still be a little too young for this action. Its just so weird to me that I thought Carder was so big at that size, but with her she is still my baby.

The boys were so fun to watch. A lot of the people here hold out a bowl and have the kids pick out their candy. Carder would take one and say thank you, and then a lot of times they would tell him that he could take another piece. For some reason he would never take more than one. We are going to have to work on that before next year :) My Mom and I got quite the arm work out switching off between holding Brenn after she refused to sit in the stroller. 

Even with its rocky start it ended up being a rather successful Halloween night, even though Dad was MIA (hopefully that is the last time that is going to happen).

Here are some shots of me and the Kids on Halloween...

After hand sewing at every down moment I had over the next week or so, I was able to complete what we came to nickname the "couture costume". With the headache that thing was, Brenn might be being Cinderella for Halloween til she's 18!

Carder wasn't into the Captain America mask. Though he was very proud of his Steve Rogers hair that he sported for trick or treating.

Salem

I love love love Halloween. This year to make it extra special we made a little day trip with some friends up to Salem for their "haunted happenings" that they put on every October. It was insane! There were people everywhere, and many dressed up as witches. Once we got there we were warned that some of the shows were pretty intense, so since we had the little people along with us, we avoided those. Still it was so much fun to check out this historic town (another love of mine) and get to spend a fun day with the fam and some good friends.

Top left: That is the town hall where the infamous Salem witch trials were held. Bottom Left: These were some of the people walking by us. The kids thought it was awesome to see the "witches" Bottom right: Our friend Sarah is awesome at always taking a tour where ever she and her husband go. They had been to Salem before and she gave us  a little extra church history tour. Who knew?

Salem is set on a hill. As you walk down the hill the view of how it is set on the warf is breathtaking. I knew about the witch trials but was unaware at the shipping aspect of the town. This area was a lot less crowded and just gorgeous (the beautiful weather that day probably didn't hurt either).

We were able to go aboard the ship and check it out. Carder loved trying his hand out at being the Captain. After Checking out the ship we got some lunch near the water. We experienced our first lobster roll. I was not expecting it to be cold, but it was still good. (But I think I've decided I prefer lobster warm). Carder couldn't get enough of it. Great...he is cursed like his mother to love the finer things in life. Oh no!

Just down from the warf was the house of the seven gables (the one that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's book). We walked down to go check it out and came across this gem...America's Oldest Candy Store (um...yes please). They had some of the first candy made and sold in America, but it had a reputation of being rather putrid, so we stuck to what we know and love...chocolate. It was delicious. And what better way to celebrate the fun of Halloween then getting some sweets at the first candy store?

Right next to the Candy store there was this yard decked out disneyland style with all its animatronics etc. for Halloween. Carder thought it was awesome. We had to take him back to watch the show over and over again. Though I think the robot thing throwing up blue stuff in the cauldron freaked him out a bit because he kept talking about it for days.

Before we headed home we had to check out what Salem is known for--their witch trials stuff. They have put in a monument honoring all of the people who were wrongfully accused and to stand as a reminder of intolerance. It was rather surreal. I couldn't get a picture to do it justice, but it was this courtyard, with benches coming out all along the perimeter with the accused persons names etched on them and the date they were killed. It was really neat. It just blows my mind how that all really happened. (not to mention that Jake and I had recorded and watched the Crucible that aired on TV not too long ago, so these names really tugged at my heart strings.)

Right next to the memorial is an old cemetery. Many notable historical people are buried there. Jake kept trying to tell me that he thought all the headstones were fake because they looked like something right out of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. I was able to convince him they were real after awhile, they were just that old that they looked fake. A lot of my ancestors came over from Britain to Massachusetts, so this is the one time in my life I wished I had been more into genealogy to know if an ancestor of mine was buried there. (So Mom, since you gave me the aversion to genealogy with your family history addiction and the crazy all nighters you'd pull doing censusing etc. You get to look that up for me and let me know.)

It was fun to go in October, but it was a little crowded. I would love to go back again in the off season and get to see some of the memorials etc. better.

Feeding Ducks on the Charles

For Columbus Day we enjoyed having Daddy home and took advantage of the day by going down to the Charles and taking a walk along the river. It was awesome. We fed the ducks (they came right up to us which was pretty exciting for the kids), scored some balloons from some random people sitting on a bench (gotta love the people that come with big cities), played at the park, and then ran the energy out of our kids hoping to score some sweet naps out of them later that day. (I know we are terrible).

We then walked down to the park. On our way there some people were making balloon creatures (?) and gave them to the kids as we passed by. That was a big hit.

We then tried to expel Carders energy by making him run the path back to the car. He got tired right before we got to the car, but Ellie saved the day by being nice enough to share her stroller with him.

Wingaersheek Beach

Right before the weather turned cold we took advantage of the few warm days left and experienced our first east coast beach experience. It was very different than the Pacific Ocean. You enter the beach area from a parking lot along a decently long path of really tall beach grass. Then once you got on the beach you saw lighthouses off in the distance and across from the water forest-like greenery. It was a fun experience. This beach was awesome for kids. The beach was really long and flat, and the surf was super shallow and mellow. There was also a big thing of rocks they enjoyed climbing with their Dad. We can't wait for the weather to get warm again so we can go back.

(A very pregnant) Brittany kept hoping she would go into labor that day on the beach. Thank goodness she didn't. Instead we got to play in the sand, surf and climb on rocks.

One of Brenn's favorite things to do lately is load/unload things. So she was loving digging in the sand and filling up/pouring out her bucket. 

The rocks were a little boy's dream. Carder and Jake climbed and climbed and climbed. As you can see they felt quite accomplished when the reached the top of the biggest rock. Brenn joined them some of the time (she loves to do whatever her big brother is doing) and then found a little rock on the beach that she would step on and off over and over again. She was quite proud of herself when she was doing this. 

This was Brenn's first time coming to the beach where she was completely mobile. She thought she was so big running up and down the shore and climbing on everything. And Carder (our little beach boy) was in heaven running in and out of the waves.

Mary Had A Little Lamb

One of my favorite things about Massachusetts is all the little day trips/activities. There is always something to do since it has been around for so long and so much has happened here. My sister heard about this quaint little town where the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb" had originated. Supposedly there was a statue/memorial etc. It sounded fun and was pretty close by, so we loaded the little ones in the car and off we went for an afternoon adventure to search for Mary's statue.

We were having a hard time locating the elusive statue, but we were able to find the farm that was associated with miss Mary. We learned Mary was a real person (I know right?!?) and this was her husband's farm that had been in the family (and continues to be) for quite sometime.

On the lawn right in front of the farm house they had a little play area set up which the kids loved exploring.

There were these really cool adirondack chairs and some other awesome scenery that I tried to get a pic of the kids/cousins but they weren't being too cooperative...

And you can't go to one of these farms and not get some homemade apple cider...

(The kids loved the cider)

The people at the Farm directed us as to where we could find Marys' house and the school house.

We still hadn't found this supposed statue that we had been told about, even after the Lady at the Farm told us where it was. So we were ready to head back home. Just as we rounded the town square I spotted this little dinky sheep. Could that be the statue??? It was! Well We had driven all this way, we had to get out and check it out even if it was only 3 feet high (and I think that may be generous).

The kids had a fun time checking out the little lamb, and for some reason Carder needed to ride it. We laughed at the statue and thanked Mary for giving us a fun afternoon.