When it's too quiet, beware

It happened again this morning. I was in the kitchen, cleaning things. I had just checked on J in the family room playing in his "fort". Giuliana was sleeping. All children accounted for and occupied. Maybe I could clean up from breakfast? Dare to dream.

Then, I realized it was very, very quiet. I heard something in the bathroom.

Yep! It had happened again. J had opened all of my fabric paints and was playing with them in the bathroom. Colors all over the sink.

Now, in truth, if you are going to play with paint when you know you aren't supposed to, playing the bathroom is actually pretty convenient. Because we had to clean up the mess quickly, I couldn't get any pictures. I did get one shot of the paint in the trashcan... Yes, he had paint in the toilet, sink, and trashcan.

Clean up was fine and I think J has learned that he does not touch mommy's paint.

This is the second time this has happened to me. When the kids are too quiet, don't assume they are "playing nicely". Here is what happened the last time I left them alone thinking they were in the playroom.
First look:
Taking it all in:

Close up of the KIX:

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

As most people have seen all over the news, global warming is effecting us in new ways this winter. It's bitterly cold and there is a lot of SNOW! Now, when we knew we were going to move to New England, we were excited for the change of seasons and we were thrilled to have some of the white stuff. Were we really ready? Um...

You might think that my next statement is going to be some disparaging comment about snow and all things cold and winter. But not here! We love it. I mean, it's a lot and after the snow storm we are going to have next week, who actually knows HOW MUCH snow we will have accumulated in our backyard. I can honestly say, bring it! We have built an igloo out of our giant mound.

It is practically a small mountain. In fact, since I am from Florida, I think it IS a mountain. It's over my head and in Florida that's a mountain :-)

You might wonder how such a mountain forms in our petit jardin? Well, here's some video footage of our AWESOME plow-ers! We love them!

We are so extreme, yeah right...

We are so extreme. That's us... the Extremes. I mean, so what that we moved to Arizona in the middle of July and we moved to Boston in November. Now, November is not an extreme month in which to move to NE. In fact, it is really a lovely time to move up to the Boston area. The trees were multi-colored and the bushes were lovely shades of red. And even Christmas week was lovely with a few inches. All in all our winter here has been quite beautiful. Now, my definition of a beautiful day involves sun. When the sun is shining I am happy girl no matter what the thermometer reads. So here's to all of our sunny abodes... from Out West to the NE!

A photo capture of our weather extremes:
- Summer 2009

- And then, today...


I also have to admit that I wasn't sure that the temp reader in the car read as high as 122, but it does. And, this morning for the moment that it sat at 0, I wondered if it would go into the negatives. It did. Car thermometers have quite a range.

Boston: Our New City... #6 Un-friendly City in US

Yesterday, or maybe the day before, MSN released the most unfriendly places to live in the US. Boston ranked in at #6. Part of me was not surprised by this but part of me was... and here's why:

1) Never have I lived somewhere that the drivers are so conscious of pedestrians. What I mean is that I have almost rear-ended a few of my fellow MA drivers while in town centers, etc... because the car in front of me will suddenly stop to let some one pass.

2) In the same vein, never have I lived somewhere that when I am walking with the kids, cars will stop even when they have green lights to let me cross.

3) At least in West Medford, the gas-tank fillers, tellers, and grocery clerks are cordial. You might not get a full-out smile but you will get a hello and a thank you, which I think it better than nothing (like places in DC).

4) Let's face it, no matter where you live - "friendly" or "un" - the DMV is never the most fun thing. But, my MA DMV experience was actually quite nice. The whole process was organized and efficient. The tellers I went to were willing to let me come back, not wait in line, and bring back the right paperwork. Now, this occurred the third week we lived here and I was blown away.

5) Overall, when we found out we were moving up here I was really nervous. I thought people would be really, well, yankee. Now, when I say this I am not exactly sure what I mean. But, I grew up in "the South". I went to school in Atlanta. I married a Virginian. I can openly say that I have yet to meet anyone openly rude or even curt.

All that being said, I have also observed that people are less "inclusive" than people in the DC area. And I think this is mainly because in DC, most folks are in a state of transition. It seems that every, of 2-4-6 years, there are exoduses in and out of the city. Whereas in the more residential areas of Medford, etc... people have been here for generations and plan to be for many to come.

As an example, J goes to a Preschool in Woburn. We live in West Medford. As the crow flies there is only about 7 miles between the two. But, it is about 2 towns away. The moms in J's class are amazed that I drive 20+ minutes one-way to bring J to and from school. Of course, to me 20+ minutes is nothing... especially since the average speed is 35 and it's through two, adorably quaint town centers - Winchester and Woburn.

In closing, I have to give a big BOO-HISS to MSN for listing Boston at such a rank. I whole-heartedly disagree. Here's to BOSTON and it's neighboring towns! Thanks for welcoming us in the dead of winter. We can't wait for spring.

Here are some shots of our wintry welcome to the NE:

OCTOBER already?

And, not only October but practically the end of October! Where in the world does the time go? Oh! That's right? We moved from Phoenix 3 weeks ago. Mike started his new job in Boston two weeks ago. The kids have been with me visiting family and friends until we can move into our new place in west Medford on October 31.

I wish I could load up some pictures of how much the kids are growing and changing, but that would require a camera and it's cord, which are currently in the "big white box" with all of our stuff traveling across the country.

So, who else thinks it's pretty funny that we love extremes. We moved to Phoenix in July and we are moving to Boston in November. We can't wait for a white Christmas and four full seasons! We are thrilled to be heading back to the east coast and the adventure a new city offers.

We will post pics of the now 10 mos. old Giuliana and the practically 3.5 year old Joseph!

Love to all our sweet family and friends that read this!
The Vagabond Gretos.

August Over... Wha????

As I write this, the clouds are rolling in outside and the high temp is only about 100, which is so pleasant. It's about to rain and it has been raining at least once a week this month... which I don't remember from our two previous Augusts out here in the valley of the fun.

Over the past month, we have had a lot of fun! J has moved up to the official Preschool classes at his school. He is in the big boy 3-yr-old class and he LOVES it! He is learning so much and enjoying all of the new structure in his class.

This month we decided to go on a family camping trip. It was a ton of fun and, well, a trip we will never forget! It was a gorgeous plot with a view of Lake Lynx: And, here's a pic of all of us at the campsite:
And, I couldn't resist this pic opp of J on his travel potty out in the woods:


Now for the Giules! She is 8 months and officially mobile! She put crawling together ON her 8 month birthday. She is not very speedy but crawls about 5-6 feet and then stops and sits and plays. It's really funny. Here's a video of the crawler in action:

And, lastly, a little month to month comparison. A pic of Giules at 8 months, standing on the piano bench:


Then, a picture of Joseph at 8 months standing at the same bench:


Can you tell they are related??
And... on a closing note...

7 months and where is the time going?

Hi everyone!

Sorry we haven't posted in awhile. I am not really sure where the time had gone. And, I can't really believe that we have been back from our DC/VA trip for a month now.

Part of the lapse in time is due to the fact that we have not been sleeping well. The Thunderous Threes have been upon us in full force. And although it means that we can officially say J is 100% potty-trained, we can also say he has had some MAJOR regression in the area of going to bed and sleeping through the night. This has been a huge shock to us as J was always a really EXCELLENT sleeper and going-to-bed-er.

Other than not sleeping too well, we have been busy! We try to hit the pool every-other day or so. We get to see a few of our friends that are still in town and we enjoyed VBS last week. It was really a ton of fun. Here is a video of Joseph singing the main song:

But, onto the real purpose of this post. Our little Giules!!! She is now 7 months old! I cannot believe it! She is wearing 6-9 month clothing that is fine width wise but seems to be running a little short. We think she might be a taller drink of water, which would be nice since I'm a shrimp (mom writing, not dad). She is weighing about 14.5 LBS and wears the 2-3 diapers and is 26.6 inches long. She is eating her multi-grain cereal, peaches, plums, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, butternut squash... and carrots and avocado are reluctantly eaten when mixed with some other more favorable fruit or veg. This week we are going to introduce pears, apples, and bananas while continuing to enjoy the squashes and veggies.

She is able to sit up for quite a long time on her own. She also will purposefully roll down from sitting and do what I call the "spinner". This is where she balances herself on her tummy and rotates around in a circle. She is also rolling from place to place... mainly to try and get at anything she shouldn't. And, she is practicing getting up on all fours to crawl... Mobility is not far off.

As for her temperament, she is incredibly happy and smiley, unless hungry or very tired. But, even when exhausted, if you smile and engage her or take her outside to watch the trees, she is happy as can be. She loves to float in the pool and is even getting used to her big brother swimming and splashing all over her.

Now, for what most of our family and friends have been waiting for, PICTURES!

How many birthdays can one little guy have?

It's been way too long since I posted. It's mostly because we have been soo busy with life and summer. The big guy turned 3 on June 10 and man was he celebrated!!!

On this actual day, he received a fabulous red firetruck from his sister and special music time at his school care of daddy! Here are some of the pics!


The next day, he received his big birthday present from us: the red scooter!!!


Then, the next day, we had a little party with some of our friends. J is missing his closest buddy but he did have Jon Miguel from his class there!


Oh, you think we are done... but we aren't!

Then we headed to VA. He had about 3-4 parties and cakes and singing! Too much! I think his 4th birthday will need to be chill. The 10 days of vacation began with a great Nationals game with the Cannons!

And the kids:

Then he had a birthday cake at another party...


Ok... so this is getting long but there was one last birthday and Joseph was sung too as well!

Happy 3rd bday J-monkey and happy 93rd birthday Mom-mom G!

First Camping Adventure

On May 20, 2010, Daddy and his buddy Linc took on the fun and adventurous caper of taking Joseph camping. They rented a large, two room tent, packed up blankies, animals, LOTS of unders, and tons of FOOD. They picked up Joseph from school around noon and headed north into the Prescott National Forest.

I think pictures and video will really tell this story best:
Here is a view of the campsite and tent set up

Here is a tour of inside the tent:

The first S'Mor ever!!!

Early morning rocking out at the camp - brace yourself, this is really cute!

Classic daddy and son shot:


We are going to plan another trip soon. The next time we will take Giules and mommy! Not sure when it will be considering the summer heat has started in AZ.

5 Months May 18

Giuliana turned 5 months old yesterday! Where in the world does the time go?

She is a sweet little thing, weighing in at 12.5 LBS. She is 25.5 inches long. Her latest tricks are to roll over, drool everywhere, spit up A LOT, and chatter away! She also LOVES her Daddy and her brother. The minute one of them walks in the room, she just lights up. She loves her mommy too, especially at 10Pm, 3AM, and 6:30AM -- the times she gets up to eat. She usually begins her day at 7-7:30. She takes two naps, first around 9:30 and then another around 1PM. And her day is OVER by 5:30PM. Yep, folks. She is our sleeping little thing.

Although several of her birth-buddies have moved (Igna and Matias), she still has her closest girl friends around: Quinn, Gabriela, and Lexi. She gets to see them at least once a week. But, we are preparing for the departures of Quinn and Lexi. Fortunately Gabi will still be around for playdates.

So, what everyone has been waiting for... some pics and some videos.


She is getting used to the bows. Mommy is a little nuts with them:


And here are a couple from our little 5mos photo shoot: