Kitty Love

Milo and Smoochie have grown...clearly in size and in love.

Little Copycat

Eli must do everything Alison does...and so the little brother syndrome has begun.
Every meal, he asks to get down from his chair and immediately crawls into Alison's chair to either join her for the rest of dinner or to finish off her meal.

My loves

Munchkin School

I've had many people warn me of the obstacles of homeschooling with a toddler at home and often the advice comes with suggested activities to keep him busy. I moved our school spot to the playroom so Eli could play quietly while we worked. I expected him to do things like this:

roll around the kitchen floor.

I never expected this:

If we are doing school, he HAS to be doing school too. He has to be at the table with a pencil, working on pages just like Alison. He's actually pretty good at coloring...who knows, maybe he'll be an artist some day.

County Fair 2011

We headed to the Fair yesterday for the second year. If you need a refresher of last year's experience, take a look here...you might remember that Alison cried pretty much the entire time and Eli was just a little baby. This year redeemed that experience. We all had a blast and were all smiles all night. We started out with the food. There's a few requirements the Shear's have for a Fair, and funnel cakes and cotton candy are at the top of that list. Alison was just excited to sit on the hay.

After our tummies were stuffed, we went to the animal tent. This was the part that begun the tears last year, but this year Alison actually touched the animals and was happy to be there. Eli walked around saying "bawk, bawk" and tried to jump in all the pens.

Ben wanted to watch a couple of bull rides, so he and Alison squeezed into the crowd. I'm not a crowd person, nor do I really enjoy watching people getting pummeled up close, so Eli and I stayed back.Then, Ben took Alison on her very first Ferris wheel ride. I was so nervous she would break out in tears at the top of the ride, but she remained calm and cool the whole time. I think she even had a little fun.

I was so proud of her! We all rode the carousel to finish off our tickets. It was the fastest carousel I've ever been on...I confess that I was the biggest weeny of the family. I couldn't look at anything other than the floor and was praying for the thing to stop. And then it was time for the much anticipated cotton candy. Alison was the happiest girl at the fair!

The best...

Alison's 4 year check up

Alison was a little nervous going to this appointment because she knew what it meant...shots! She did awesome though. She only said, "ouch!" when she got all 3 shots and was excited to have sparkle star bandaids. So, here are Alison's stats:
-she has 20/20 vision
-iron=good
-still has a "functional" heart murmur, but will outgrow it.
-in the 25th percentile for weight
-above the 90th percentile for height.

The doctor predicts Alison will be 5'9" as an adult.
She's smart, healthy and growing like a weed!

Boston, Day 5

Tuesday we went to the North End and at lunch at a fabulous Italian restaurant.

After lunch we went and got some cannolis, cream puffs and gelato. Are you sensing a theme here? We ate a LOT of super yummy food.

My goal for the trip was to get a good picture of my man. It seems like poor Ben's always in his pj's or has a goofy look while playing with the kids in our pictures. So, here it is. Here's the handsome man I get to look at every day.

We finished our trip on Wednesday with a trip to Harvard and had lunch in Cambridge.
By then, the weather had turned to cold and rainy. It turns out this cold weather actually spoiled me...coming home seems unbearably hot and humid. Yes, we were very spoiled on this trip, in so many ways more than weather or food.

Boston, Day 4

We went to the zoo on Monday. We were so spoiled to be able to do so many fun things with our kids...I loved the precious time with them.
Alison asked to extra close to the camel. I don't know what happened to my peanut on this trip, but I like that her shell is a little loser these days.

Boston, Day 3

Sunday, we went to the Boston Common. Alison and I got a fresh squeezed lemonade and shopped a little for a last minute swimsuit. We found a German restaurant for lunch and I had the most amazing schnitzel and spaetzles.Then we went to the frog pond and let the kids jump in with their clothes on. Kent got some awesome pictures. I LOVE having a photographer in the family!








As you can see, Eli had the time of his life. I was surprised how wet Alison actually got. She stepped out of her shell on this trip, in a lot of ways. A major way, was getting on the carousel. We've attempted rides before and they only resulted in tears. She was excited to ride this particular day and I'm so proud of her.One of the first things I learned about Boston is that there's Dunkin Donuts EVERYWHERE! Alison couldn't wait to experience this mystery of Dunkin Donuts. So on our way home from the park, after literally passing 5, we stopped to pick out a donut and then had our snack on Nana and Granddaddy's back patio.

Boston, Day 2

Saturday, we got on the train and rode down to the New England Aquarium.
I've heard great things about this place, but let me tell you, it's AMAZING! Definitely worth every penny.Alison and Nanna watching the seals

Eli was the happiest boy on the planet.
This was his favorite spot-the school of fish.
They had a huge area of penguins and several stops where you could touch fish. Eli would launch himself, with all his might, to jump into the exhibits.
I think this kid likes animals.

The aquarium is on the harbor and it only made sense to eat a seafood lunch.
Eli was happy as a clam eating a huge bowl of mac n' cheese. I opted for the more sophisticated bowl of clam chowder and a plate of fish and chips-yummo!

After lunch we got on the ferry to go see the Constitution.
Ben and Alison rode on top to get a good view of the city.

On the Constitution

I quickly learned that Boston is exhausting. You definitely have to get used to the amount of walking it takes to get places.

Trip to Boston, day 1

We took up to Boston to visit Elizabeth and Kent.
First, I have to say, Praise the Lord for direct flights! It made the trip easy peasy, which is just what I needed after a frantic couple of days trying to get caught up from the power outage.

Shortly after we arrived, we headed to a nearby park.
I think I might make this a trip standard now-the kids loved being able to run and stretch after traveling.

We had a yummy flank steak dinner with a corn salad, that will also become a standard in our house, and made our plans for the rest of the week.