Clean desk . . . clean mind

Glasses

Naomi's great question of the month:

Mommy, when am I going to grow glasses like Mark and (cousin) Sydney?

Hmmm, how do you explain that one to a two year old?

Shoes, shoes, shoes

Naomi loves shoes and dresses and tights. I have no idea where this girl gets her fashion tips, but she has a style all her own. She loves this stuff. I dread in the future shopping with her, and trying to pick out clothes that she can wear out in the world. It is amazing how Mark and Naomi both come from me and Adam. They have some similarities, and so many differences. Both were great babies. Both are good sleepers. Both like trains. Mark is a bit quieter and reserved. Naomi is little miss chatterbox. Naomi is very strong and physical. Both love to read. Amazing. Both are my children. Children are amazing.

Thanksgiving is coming

So thankful for so many things. However, I know my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the dessert. I will be making three desserts. Keep in mind we have seven adults, three kids and one infant attending.

Cranberry pie - Adam's favorite. I HATE this recipe. You have to cut each cranberry in half. In order to make this pie, Adam will have to do that job.

Apple Pie - Right from the pie and pastry bible. It is delicious.

And of course, everyone's favorite:

Candied Cranberry chocolate tart.

Here is the recipe for that one:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Tart-with-Candied-Cranberries-102624

Mrs. President

On Wednesday, Mark woke up and asked me, if I would run for president. Oh gosh, another thing to do? I really don't want this job! I asked Mark why I should run for president and he said "You do a good job of keeping me and Naomi safe. You could keep all of America safe."

Thanks kid. I still don't want the job.

He said in that case, I could run for governor.

At least even though sometimes I am the meanest mom in the world, he still has confidence in me!

The Tooth Fairy

Sometimes you just have to laugh outloud. Mark's visions of the toothfairy have changed.

The first time he lost a tooth and found money under his pillow this was his story:

The toothfairy came into his room wearing a beautiful pink gown and had a sparkly magic wand. She carefully took the tooth and brought it back to her castle, at the North Pole. She then changed it into money and flew back to Newton, MA and placed it under the pillow.

My mom wanted to know what I was wearing that night. . . . and we had a good laugh, when I told her that my husband was the tooth fairy.

The first tooth was lost in the spring, 2008.

Now it is the fall, and we are on lost tooth #5. Now, Mark believes that there is an east coast tooth fairy, and west coast tooth fairy.

I love being a mom!

Weitzman Halloween!

We have a tooth with a cavity and a Winnie the Pooh.

Yummy, yummy, yummy

I have been in a cooking mood lately, and Adam really appreciates it. Tonight's dinner was baked stuffed acorn squash. The other day was tofu stir fry.

Last night for the Annual Halloween party I made kugel and spider web cupcakes.

2009 Calendars

Right now I am designing the Weitzman 2009 Calendars. Very limited editions. Usually only 6-8 created per year!

Baking

I turned to my favorite cookbooks recently. "The Cake Bible" was opened last night and I made a terrific chocolate cake. Today I used "The Pie and Pastry Bible" to make apple pie. I am using all of my will power NOT to eat the HOT pie. I know if I eat the hot pie, I will burn my mouth, but the smell is soooooo good. I also have a loaf of poppy seed bread in the bread machine.

My house smells good.

Rose Levy Beranbaum is the author of both cookbooks from above. There are so many reasons why I love these books. First, so far whatever I have made has been terrific. Second, is that she explains why certain things need to be done (freeze the flour and butter prior to making the pie crust). Whatever she does, it works. I highly recommend both books.

Rosh Hashana

Shana Tova!

Apple Picking!

Had a blast with Naomi and her class.

What we have been up to.

Naomi has pooped in the toilet three times this week, and peed also once!

Mark is busy with first grade. He is loving the idea of Flat Stanley.

Adam's new job is going well too.

Naomi singing

This is soooo funny!

Another great day

Mr. Mark went to school and I had a home day. Went window shopping.

Then I made chocolate chip cookies while Naomi napped.

Mark had his best friend over.

Adam had a good first day at his new company.

-Stephanie

Train Club

Sometimes a boy grows out of his childhood hobbies, and sometimes. . . . they don't. We have to thank Uncle Rob for not outgrowing his love of trains. Today was open house at his train club, http://www.bmhrc.com, and both kids loved it. Lots of men with their trains. Fancy trains too. Naomi and I took a break from the trains to visit Melrose's Victorian Day, which was nice too.

Mark wants to go to the train show in November. More trains! Just what I wanted . . . .

Rest in Peace Sable

Sad news - My brother's dog was put to sleep last night. Sable, a Pug, was very special to everyone. We mourn his loss, but know that he is painfree.

Sable - Loving dog of Dave, Erica, Sydney and Ethan. Loved by Barbara, Mimi, Barry, Adam, Stephanie, Mark and Naomi and many others.

We miss you Sable.

Another first here!

Mark has requested hair gel to "style" his hair.

Went to the ZOO, ZOO, ZOO

Went to Franklin Park Zoo on a beautiful day. Kids had a blast. So many animals in Boston. I had not been to this zoo for years, and it is better than I remember!

Mark's First Day of Hebrew School

The first thing he said was that he wanted to get first place in the reading club this year! Excellent. Now I have some motivation for him. Last year was fabulous. I hope this year is just as good. He still wants to do Israeli Dancing. He and Adam will do that.

I don't know. . . . between fencing and Israeli Dancing he should be able to get into Harvard or MIT.

Naomi does gymnastics

Naomi loves to climb and hang. Gymnastics seemed like a good outlet for her and her energy.

ON the first day she learned to do a forward roll, which she loved. She also learned how to hang on the bar and walk up a wall. She is enjoying it so far. The best part was the stamp at the end of the class.

It is the little stuff that counts.

Mark's first

The first day of first grade!

Photos of the first days

Naomi's first day of school

Mark's First Day of School

First grade! Another big day in the Weitzman household. Last night we visited RecPlace. It was great to see old friends.

Ethan Michael Follick arrives

My new nephew.

Isn't he cute!

Salem Harbor Today

Today we went on a tour of Salem and Marblehead Harbor. Again, very educational.

Salem Trolley

If ever you are in Salem, you should ride the City View Trolley. The drivers are great. Mark and I spent the day touring Salem on the trolley. We both learned alot.

A day in the office

I love my job. The advantage of working in a small firm that has grown, is that you can jump in and substitute in for positions you once had. Like today. Our funding coordinator, Barbara, was out all week, sick. The poor thing. Yours truly got a chance to visit her old position of funding coordinator, while also balancing her own duties. Phew. Let me say, I like visiting it, but not while I have my own duties. I did a good job today.

Looking forward to a week of vacation next week. We get to meet Baby Ethan, Dave and Erica's new son!

The Beach!

I got to go to the beach! At last! A gorgeous day!

Mark

Hey, just realized all the photos in my blog are of Naomi. Here is Mark in the Prius riding home from a day on the North Shore.

Another great weekend! Took Mark to the Peabody Essex Museum. Then on Sunday we went into Boston to the swan boats. It was a gorgeous weather day!!!!!

The kids loved taking the train. We also walked up Newbury Street.

At the Common there was a reinactment of the revolutionary war in complete costumes. Very hot if you ask me!

BITC BBQ

It is with great wonder, that I post, that I attended the BITC (Daycare) BBQ with both kids alone. First, that is a great feat in itself, since the park that the BBQ is held at borders the Charles River, and Naomi did NOT dive into the river (a fear of mine). And both kids were VERY well behaved. My biggest awe moment came when talking to a new BITC parent. I have been a BITC parent since 2002, and will continue to do so until Naomi goes into KINDY in Sept 2011. We will be at BITC 9 years!!!!

This year will be a hard year to move on, since one of Naomi's teachers was Mark's infant teacher and older infant teacher. We know that (a) I am not having more children and (b) that this is the last week of her teaching one of my children. She is a FABULOUS teacher. She has two wonderful children. I feel very close with her and she is a great teacher. I just think about in Aug 2011 when after 9 years I have to say goodbye. Obviously I have three more years to go, but still, the end is only three years away.

The staff (director, assistant director, teachers) have been wonderful for each of my two children, and I am lucky to have found Angier School and Meadowbrook Day Camp as wonderful as BITC. BITC has set a high standard for future people that care for my children.

A Trip to the Museum of Science

Mark and I spent over four hours there. We saw the BASEBALL IN AMERICA exhibit and an OMNI movie. Had a great time.

Holy Smokes! We have a jumper!

Naomi can now JUMP into the pool with no need for an adult to hold her hands!

Watch out world!

Things to do

How am I supposed to figure out what size pant Mark is. He hates trying on clothes. He is small, and thin. Last spring his pants were either too big in the waist or too long in length. He had no really good fitting pants.

I also have to get his suit out too. That won't be fun.

Naomi will be a breeze. She loves clothes!

And new shoes for the crew.

And who knows what school supplies. We got the general first grade listing already. The teacher specific list comes out August 28-ish.

Housekeeping

Sometimes I wonder what my daughter is thinking. She thinks that you should vacuum with high heels. I have never done such a thing. She insists on taking off her sandals, and putting on her dress up shoes.

I guess What Not To Wear should film her doing housework.

We spent $150 yesterday (m)

and had TWO very tired children. It was fabulous!!! We spent from 11 AM to 8 something PM at the amusement park. We paid for admission, lunch, ice cream and dinner. We played at Castaway Island and had a blast.

Too bad I am so tired today.

Family Estate Planning Law Group

I can't believe I have been working for Vinnie since October, 1996, but I have. I have learned so much over those years. Here is what I really enjoy. Helping families. I get to know our clients, and I am always sad to hear about the death of one of our clients. I try to attend the funeral or wake, and I get to know them even better. I do enjoy helping the loved ones out after the death, and realizing that they created a plan to help their families, and they have elected our firm to help them.

Many people wonder why I work with "death" and "taxes." I don't. I work with families. That is the part I love.

Girls Night Out

Ahhh, these nights are great, when other women I know gather at a place to eat and swap stories. Sometimes you don't even realize how long it has been!!!!!!! Adam has movie night at our house with his friends, but somehow I need to listen and talk to my friends. I appreciate that we each have our own way of hanging out with friends.

Backwards night

Sometimes I surprise my kids. About once a month I do either "Ice Cream for Dinner" night or "Backwards Night." What is backwards night? First we take showers, then get into PJ's, then we eat dessert and then we eat dinner. Sometimes you gotta change it up. My two kids love those nights. Surprisingly, they don't ask for them. Guess they like surprises!

Tips for getting out of the house faster in the morning

1. Set out clothes for self and kids the night before. That way if the child has a problem, you know about it 12 hours before the rush, and they can change their minds.

2. Make sandwiches the night before and put in fridge. In fact pack lunch parts that don't need the fridge the night before.

3. Set the table for breakfast after you clean up from dinner.

4. Bribe your kids to dress themselves in the morning. : )

5. Don't turn on the tv.

6. Have your son get the newspaper from the front steps as you organize the lunch bags.

7. Stay away from the computer!

8. Pack camp bag/school bags the night before, except for lunches.

9. Put water and coffee in coffeemaker but don't turn on.

More tips later.

-Stephanie

Beach Cupcakes

Mark and I had a blast making these cupcakes. We tinted the white frosting blue. Then we put graham cracker crumbs on half the frosting for the beach.

Then we put little umbrellas in the sand party. Very cute!

Another day, another nap

Why is it when I know that Naomi is tired, she insists on screaming for 20 min when I put her in for a nap????? She is now fast asleep. Wish I was!

Welcome to my blog!

You never know what I will write about. I am a mom of two children, who works at an estate planning law firm. I love being a mom and a wife. I love to cook and bake. I like to read. I like my job and my co-workers.

Today's blog is about eating ice cream for dinner when it is over 90 degrees. Ice cream has milk in it, so why not!