What do you do when it's 90 degrees in April? You head to the beach (as if we haven't been there enough already this year, right?)!!
We grabbed our football and a picnic lunch and went to the RISD beach. It's a beach/"farm" (no animals or crops though) that is for RISD and Brown students, faculty and family to use. This was our first trip here and we had a really great time! It was rocky and not quite as clean as other beaches we have found, but there is a HUGE open field to play in and the beach area is very quiet.
Before we left the house Max refused to wear anything but sweatpants (reminds me of one of my sisters when she was younger...) and Russell wanted to wear jeans so when we got there we tried to make their clothing choices work. Shirts came off and pants were rolled as high as they would go. They were told to only go into the water up to their calves, but that didn't last long, as we assumed it wouldn't. After about half an hour we watched as little Maxwell walked into the water up to his "bum bum" and squeal with delight as he came out of the water drenched. Neither of the boys flinched when their feet touched the water, but when I tried to get my feet wet I screamed it was so cold!

Max jumping for joy! Well, actually he was jumping to squash a sand castle he built, but he was still very joyful doing it.

Chasing a beautiful swan that passed by. Poor thing had no idea what was coming...

And finally, what do you do when you get all your clothes soaking wet and still have a 25 minute car ride? You ride in your underpants...

As I've said before...I love the beach!!

R.C. (and David since he was helping R.C. so much) needed a break from school after the show. We decided to make it a field trip day for Russell and Max and we headed to Mystic Seaport. It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed being out and learning about whaling and ships. We were able to listen to a "ship mate" tell a story of a whale hunt through song and then sat by the water and listened to an explanation of the different seats on a whaling boat. We then climbed aboard a few ships and checked out the deck and cargo areas. We saw where they would sleep and eat and all decided it would be great fun for a few days, but not months at a time. Nothing like Carnival cruise ships!!

Russell trying out the bunk beds. Not quite as comfy as his bunk at home.

The boys trying to pull in a line on the small whale boat.

Russell and Max got to help work the printing press. We were fortunate to visit this particular building when no one else was so the boys got to go behind the scenes and actually work the machine and print up their very own whaling advertisement.Below deck of a VERY old ship.

In the shipping yard where boats are still repaired and stored during off months.

All the boys (R.C. and David included) aboard the Joseph Conrad. We could only go on the deck since there was a boy scout group that was spending the night and all their belongings were below deck.

On The Village Green they had old games for kids to try out. The boys tried the stilts (only a few inches off the ground) and the wooden hoops that you were to roll along with a stick.

Max was more interested in hula hooping with the hoops.

We went back to the car to eat our picnic lunch and then went back for another round. We spent the entire day there and still did not see everything. We definitely look forward to going back this summer!

First of all, I have several things to blog about and many, many (probably too many) pictures I would like to share with you, so I am going to try to crank out 3 postings today. Yes, you heard that right, 3 postings today. Whoa!! They are going to be filled with pictures and probably (hopefully) very little writing.

Thursday night was an art show that the boys have been waiting to go to for weeks. PYT was a huge success! R.C., along with his sculpture grad classmates, rented a space downtown and had a fantastic show. I, of course, was not thinking. I got pictures of the boys doing silly things, but no pictures of R.C.'s piece. What's wrong with me!!?? But, here's a few pictures of the boys as they danced on this piece of art. They had quite a crowd around them as they danced...to no music. (I believe there is a video of these tiny dancers out there somewhere. Maybe we will get our hands on it sometime soon...)
Here the boys are sitting in a piece of art. A car. This is with the hood up. They LOVED sitting in the car and pretending to drive. They sat in here for at least 15-20 minutes, switching seats often so they each got to drive.

The show was, if I didn't already say, awesome! The place was packed and everyone was having a great time! We ended up staying until after 9:00 pm. At that time the boys had had all the fun they possibly could have. Max was beginning to fall asleep so we decided to leave and go celebrate the success of the show with ice cream at home. The boys didn't get into bed until well after 10:00 pm!! Great job R.C. and all you other PYT-ers!!

Oh, and, this is what happens when I try to have the boys "rest" in the afternoon so I can catch up on blogging (and so they don't fall asleep on the way to R.C.'s show tonight)...

There is just no shaking these 2.

Growing up we were always taught to recycle and pick up trash. My father, and some of his brothers, are the kings of recycling. When we were young it was annoying (I'm not going to lie). We would dread hearing the words, "come on girls, let's go sort cardboard". With a furniture business there was A LOT of cardboard that passed through our hands and each and every piece was sorted and recycled or reused. My father's recycling was so neat and organized when it was set at the curb for pickup, that it almost made it sad to watch it get crushed in the recycling truck. At home we would string milk jugs and laundry detergent bottles on a string to keep them nice and neat and easy to grab for the recycling men. We would take walks on Sunday afternoon to pick up cans along the country roads and we would spend Labor Day (or was it Memorial Day? Or was it both?) cleaning the garage and smashing pop cans so they could be recycled.

When we got older we found humor in recycling. I remember one specific time when all the Soman family got together for pizza and when the meal was over and people were ready to leave, everyone (well, maybe just my dad and his brothers) wanted to take the pizza boxes home with them for their recycling. They each thought these pizza boxes would be a wonderful addition to their weekly recycling pile. I don't remember who actually won rights the boxes, but I do remember laughing, along with sisters and cousins, until we cried, at these grown men who LOVED to recycle. You name it, and we recycled or reused it in some way.

Due to all this, recycling is just what we do now without even thinking (my phone even says "recycle" as the wallpaper, for crying out loud!). For years Greenville had no form of recycling so R.C. and I would save our recycling and wait for the day when my parents would come and visit. They would take our bottles, jugs and newspaper all the way to Wisconsin with them so it could be properly disposed of. Finally, the day came when Greenville got a recycling "center" so we could take our items across town instead of it traveling hundreds of miles in the back of a station wagon. Now we just take it to the curb.

We try our best to please Mother Earth. No plastic water bottles or plastic shopping bags for us (once in a great while we have to use a plastic shopping bag if I forget my Envirosax or if they are already being used). We use "green" cleaning supplies (such as these AWESOME ones I recently discovered). We walk when possible and drink tap water. We turn the thermostat down in the winter and wear an extra sweater and we recycle envelopes to use for other items needing to be mailed. I could go on and on about the ways we try to care for our earth. I'm not saying we are perfect!! Please, don't read this and think that I am saying we do no harm to the earth. I know that everyday, each and everyone of us does something to add to the pollution problem we have gotten ourselves into. I think it's the little things we do though that will help slow the problem down. It's really not that hard to switch to different cleaning supplies so water is not polluted quite as much or using a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water (not only are there 40 million water bottles being put into landfills each day, but bottled water is stinkin' expensive!).

Yesterday, as you know, was Earth Day. To celebrate this day the boys and I set out to pick up trash in our neighborhood. We got a bag full of recycling and a bag full of trash. Yes, we did use plastic shopping bags to pick this stuff up, and NO I did not throw the bags in the trash. The bag used for picking up trash was emptied into the trash can and the bag was put into recycling. I hope to make my kids love to recycle such as my parents did with me. So far Russell is very happy to recycle. He picks things up and carries them home if we are out walking and even got after Aunt Chrissy for even thinking of throwing a pop bottle in the garbage can. He made sure she carried it home in her purse and put it in recycling. Max took a little convincing yesterday, but soon became very interested in picking up trash. He wasn't interested in the big pieces, he went for the tiny scraps that were almost too small to pick up. Russell liked the big pieces, so together they made a GREAT team.


After a morning of work, we got home and washed our hands extra good so we could enjoy a popsicle that we made the day before.
These little guys really do help make it easy to do all we can to care for the earth. It would be nice to know that their grandchildren won't have to walk around with gas masks on 24/7 due to mistakes that I made.

(I'll step down off my soapbox now....)

For starters...what's not to love about this...(other than Russell is missing)David is here visiting for a bit so we took him to our favorite beach. It was windy, but the temperature was perfect! People were even able to take their shoes and socks off. It has become a tradition to build a boat out of trash found on the beach and then sail it in one of the streams near the beach. After it has set sail, R.C. gives "the call" and we all bomb it with rocks and try to sink it. It's really very fun. Don't believe me? Come visit and we will bomb a trash boat together. You will love it!

We decided to take another beach trip, a day later, and head to Cape Cod. It was a beautiful drive, but a bit chilly. We enjoyed the beach, but were really looking forward to a cup of nice hot coffee for the ride home.

We made it out to Provincetown, and walked along the beach and found several crabs. Everyone found and held at least one. We also found a live shrimp, some sort of sea worms and more sea gooseberries.

Once again we were able to go barefoot. Max was brave enough to wade in the water a bit and he didn't think it was too cold.

It's great having David here helping R.C. get ready for his show this week. The boys also LOVE having him around. They have come up with several names for him, and he has introduced them to Gumby. One afternoon we (I say we because I was sitting there talking, but I really didn't help "create" anything) spent time making Gumby, Prikle, Goo, and someone else but I forget the name, out of clay.

In other boy news: Russell has been taking several "quizzes" so I can determine if he retained ANY information from this school year. I was very pleased with how well he did. The only thing that tripped him up was the state that Mt. Rushmore is located in. Other than that, he is ready for 1st grade! We are still in session for a few more weeks, but it is going to mainly be review. One thing that Russell is interested in now, that is not required for kindergarten, is map reading. He LOVES to look at maps and tell the streets that intersect and how to get to a certain place if you are here or there. He doesn't always find the most direct route, but he does find a way that will get you where you need to be if time is not an issue.

Maxwell has been obsessed with mazes lately. I print out several mazes each day so he has something to work on while I am working with Russell, but he is done so quickly that it doesn't work out how I would like. He is also working on writing his name and other letters. Max has yet to get rid of his dancing bugs. He is getting quite good at keeping a beat, and LOVES to be recorded while dancing. Both boys are into Where's Waldo books right now also. We have checked out all I Spy books at least twice and all Seen It books at least 3 times from the library and then R.C. remembered Waldo. We looked through, and conquered the first 2, not we have to find a library that has the other 4...maybe it will go on our summer to do list...

R.C.(along with the other first year sculpture grads) has a show opening on Thursday night. It should be really great and I'm sure he will post pictures and information about it later. I don't know what more to say about what he is doing in his studio other than he works stinkin' hard there! I have said it before, and I will say it again, I just don't know how he does it! The hours alone would kill me, not to mention the hundreds of pages of reading, papers to write, art to make, working a TA job, lectures to attend, and not to mention patting 2 little boys heads. It's crazy!

That's all that has been happening in our home the last week. Earth Day is tomorrow and I had planned on taking the boys out to pick up trash around the neighborhood, but it is supposed to be very rainy. We may have to wait until the weekend, when it is supposed to be 80 degrees.

In case you were thinking that I had not blogged in awhile due to lack of excitement here, well, let these pictures put your mind at ease. There is plenty of excitement and hopefully tonight I will get around to posting more pictures for your enjoyment and some tales of our fun being had.

Maxwell looks like this for at least half the day each day. The boy needs a guitar and a stage!

Russell has solved a problem that didn't need to be fixed. He was concerned that when he and I are not around each other I might start to miss him. His solution: make a paper Russell that I can take anywhere and dress up in his clothes. Here you see him laying on the living room floor wearing pajamas. This would be great to have if I feel myself missing him. So far though, since August, The longest I have been away from the boys was 2 hours. Maybe someday I will get to have a 3 hour break and I will find myself longing to see Russell's toothy grin and this will help me get through.
After I took this picture and stepped around "Paper Russell" I accidentally stepped on the hand. Russell (real Russell) screamed in pain and yelled, "OUCH!!!! Mom, you stepped on my hand!! Be more careful please!!" This boy doesn't miss a beat.

More to come...

Each year it seems the week before Easter Russell and I have the same argument, and this year Maxwell joined Russell's team and they were really angry with me together. As soon as we see the egg dye kits in stores I start hearing that we must get one. We have to get one or we can't dye eggs. We must have eggs with stickers and glitter and bows and whistles or it just won't be Easter. Everyone gets the kit, it's the only way to do it!! Each year we leave the store with no kit and each year Russell has been angry (ok, so maybe he wasn't angry when he was in infant. But, as soon as he knew what the kits were all about he was angry). We leave the store with pouty faces and I hear nonstop talking about how we won't have cool eggs.

Well, in all my 6 long years of being a mother I have never used a store bought kit, and yet, each of these 6 years we have colored Easter eggs. No, there's nothing wrong with the kits. They are perfectly fine and if you use them, I still like you. Personally, I like food coloring and a white crayon. The food coloring makes the eggs a deeper color and with the crayon you can draw all sorts of fun things on the egg. Not to mention you don't have to buy these kits for _____ (I have no idea how much they cost...) and you can use up some of that food coloring you have sitting in your cupboard. Each year the pouty faces have quickly changed when the little bowls of colored water are set out and the eggs are boiled. I'm still waiting to hear, "mom you were right! We don't need to buy those gimmicky little kits. You're the best!" Hmmm....I'm not going to hold my breath as I am sure this will never be uttered across the lips of these little boys.

Happy Easter

When you leave your home for a long weekend away, please, oh please, remember to check and make sure your alarm clock is turned off. It seems someone (ahem....upstairs...) could have used a checklist before walking out the door. For the last couple of mornings, at the exact same time, we are awoken with beautiful music. Yes, it would be nice to listen to while cleaning or playing a game, but when you are not wanting/ready to roll out of bed, a woman singing in a high pitched voice, very loudly, is not something I want to hear...especially if I have no control as to whether it gets turned off or not. We must then listen to it for an hour until it shuts off automatically. Sure, this is better than a beeping alarm clock, such as the one Elaine had to deal with in the 9th season of Seinfeld, but it's annoying none the less.

I sure hope they come home soon...

As many, if not all, of you know, Russell is a talker. He talks about everything and anything. He will talk about things he knows a lot about, and he will talk about how he does not know certain things but wishes he did. Some things that he says make sense, and some things I have to stop and say, "where in the world did you come up with that?" He often talks just to hear himself. Maxwell has begun to roll his eyes and say, "Russell just talks and talks and talks......". It is quite funny and oh so true.

So, this morning when Russell informed me that he was going to be "no talking man" today, I was somewhat excited. I had to go to Target and pick up some essentials for the home and I thought it would be nice for Max to get some words in while driving instead of just Russell. He told me before we left that he was "no talking man" and all the way to Target he kept telling me how he was not going to talk today. All through Target he asked what he would get as a special treat if he made it through the entire day without talking. He even informed the cashier that he was "no talking man" today. All afternoon he has been discussing with Max how he is not going to talk to him today. It is now evening and he is still talking about not talking today.

Does anyone see something wrong with "no talking man"? He needs to change his name to "nonstop talking man".

I really think that he wouldn't stop talking if his mouth were taped shut. Which some days I have thought about. (Really, I'm kidding! I would never tape his mouth shut! Please don't start calling asking if things are ok...) :)

Max can, and will, dance just as much as Russell some days. Today Max has really had the dance bug. Even when no music is playing his feet are moving/dancing to something. In "music class" we have been working on finding a beat in music and tapping or clapping along with it. It's much harder for kids to catch on to than I would have thought. But, Max is catching on, as well as Russell. Max also has been perfecting his air guitar, as you will see if you watch this little video...

We met this family (Hartter family) years ago when we were brand new parents to Russell and they were expecting their first little girl. We instantly clicked and became GREAT friends. For years we lived next door to each other, or just a few blocks away, and did almost everything together. Meals weekly. Birthday celebrations. Zoo trips. Cook outs. Walks. I can not even begin to explain how wonderful "the golden years" of living next to each other were.

Over the last few years each of us has made big moves and we no longer live close. When we do get the chance to get together it seems that not a day has passed since "the golden years". When we got a call last week saying that Lil was thinking of coming with the girls, the excitement was almost too much to handle! We were definitely in need of some quality time with this family. Jake was greatly missed though. Here is a quick recap of our week:

A break from playing to have some popcorn.

The beach

We found several of these on the beach. We later found that they are called a "sea gooseberry". They are a type of cone jellyfish that do not have tentacles or sting.

Max holding a sea gooseberry.

A trip to the beach is not complete without a stop at our favorite ice cream place. Even though it was pretty cold.

Russell's blazer was a hit with the girls.

We were able to go spend some time at the Y on a rainy day.

Lobster! Along with clams and scallops. Oh what a delicious meal!!

R.C. and his little friend

Trying clams. All the kids liked the shells, but not the meat inside. Oh well, more for us!

It is amazing how well these kids play together. They are very content to play anything together and very little parenting is needed. If there was not a need to make a meal I feel the kids would not have needed us one bit. Lil and I were able to just sit and chat while the kids played for hours on end. The boys were shown how to play with fairies properly and the girls were shown the art of legos and dinos. It's obvious that they don't care what they are doing so long as they are together. There are so many funny little stories to share, but this is already incredibly lengthy. Just know that a great time was had.

Thank you Lil and girls for coming to visit!! We miss you again, already!

I will be M.I.A. until late next week.
Lil and the girls are coming today for a visit so we are going blog free to spend as much time as possible with them. The boys are bouncing off the walls with excitement! I must admit, so am I!
So, until next week...