happy graduation!

HGSE Diploma Ceremony - Radcliffe Garden 

congratulations kevin andrew mcconnell!

Ed.M.

harvard graduate school of education

may 24, 2012

i am so proud of you! 


tonight is our last night in cambridge. 
i got slightly sentimental late last night packing,
but i'm pretty much over it
and ready to move on.


things i will miss:
-our sweet friends & community group
-ivy's classes around the neighborhood
-fall in new england
-broadway marketplace
-daily strolls thru harvard yard
-yoga across the street
-our cute apartment
-i'm really struggling here...
kevin just said "the best thing about living in massachusetts is that, when filling out online forms, you don't have to scroll all the way down to TX for Texas."
so there you have it.  


it has been another little adventure
i'm grateful to have experienced.


california, here we come! 

aquarium

traveling in style

red line-green line-blue line,  there!

she did not want to get off

imax!

over the weekend we took the kids into boston for a visit to the new england aquarium.

ivy loves animals- i mean, i think all kids do - and loves to take the train so she was really excited. 

around town, we usually walk and sometimes take a cab...

 so the train is an adventure (for the record, i will not miss the T).  

she also associates trains with donuts because there's a dunkin donuts at our stop

and we usually treat her to a munchkin for the longest journey ever stroll home. 

annnyway... the aquarium was fun, kinda crowded, and her favorite was the seals. 

i also took her to her very first little movie at the aquarium IMAX and i was so excited!

it was under the sea 3D -- 45 min. 

(we lasted 20.)

she was sooo excited at first, in a quietly amazed way.

her movie seat kept folding up on her - haha, so she wanted to sit in my lap. 

we got some popcorn, put our glasses on and the movie started.

at first, she was loving it, trying to touch the things that look like they are right in front of you.

it was so cute.

but then fish started snapping and things started getting jumpy and her little body would flinch.

i was flinching too and i wished it would just stop but it didn't.

i gave her her favorite granola bar hoping that would ease her.

a few minutes later, i asked if she wanted to stay or go.

"go" she whispered back.

i got our things, took her hand to carry her out and felt her hand clinched around her uneaten granola bar, it just falling to pieces. poor thing!! 

i am being kind of dramatic.

it really wasn't that bad, and she was totally fine afterwards,

telling her friends she saw "a huge movie".

then we rode the carousel and all was good again.

this is so long.

whatevs.

the end. 

music class

Longy School of Music

ivy's last day of music class was this morning. 

it was a charming little place, and i know she loved going. 

if given the choice between art or music class, it was music.

sadly, we'll miss her end of year performance since it's 10:00 on sunday morning. 

(of course it is). 

but she learned some silly songs, how to play drums, 

and can even sing an octave of solfege. ha.

although we didn't make any friends 

(language difference + reserved nannies isn't the easiest way)

 she enjoyed being in a classroom and likes to come home 

and pretend she's the teacher. 

anyway, it was a little blessing around our corner 

and i'm thankful we stumbled upon it.

longy school of music

sunday...

oreos & carrots

is it just me or does ivy look 7? 

sweet boy

lunch at the park. 

{the menu}

kevin: spinach salad with chicken, strawberries & toasted almonds

me: minestrone soup and pita chips

ivy: turkey, pretzel goldfish, grapes, pita chips, an apple, 2 oreos, milk and water

eli: 2 carrots and 1 stick

mmmm! 

happy monday.  

oh boy! (and cheese grits)

  {MENU}

blueberry spritzers

chicken + apricot puffs

white cheese grits

fruit cups

parmesan cheese straws

tomato bruschetta

chocolate + vanilla cupcakes

chocolate truffles

5 of my friends are pregnant right now, and all having boys! crazy.  some girls and i threw a little baby shower for one of them, our friend lisa, a few weeks ago and it was a great time. annie & lauren did most of the work (including the hand-stiched name and homemade chocolate truffles!) and it turned out so cute. but the star of the show, besides lisa's belly, were the cheese grits!!! everyone loved them. so here's the recipe.
annie's cheese grits 
1 qt. milk
1 c. quick grits
2 sticks real butter
1 ½ c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
Melt 1 stick of butter in saucepan then add 1 qt. milk.  Bring almost to a boil then add grits.  Cook until thick.

Add salt and pepper.  Mix in mixer for 5 minutes.  Mix in 1 stick of melted butter and Monterey cheese.  Mix 5 minutes more.  Pour into greased casserole.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes.

enjoy! 

art class

wednesday = art class!!

ivy's friends came over and srolled with us.

the weather is so beautiful! 

70s and sunny. 

so miss delores let the kids paint outside...

with the hugest of brushes! 

i love this weather. 

i love this art studio.

i love ivy. 

the end! 

my girl

i've got sunshiiiine on a cloudy day
when it's cold outside, i've got the month of may
i.. guess.. you'd.. say
what can make me feel this way?
my girl.........
talkin' about myyy girl
my girl!

ooooohhhh!
haha

happy friday everyone!

lately...

this past week or so was a little more crazier than usual.

one of my friends had to be away for 2 weeks 

helping her parents with the aftermath of an oregon landslide. 

so, long story short -

we had the privilege of keeping her children during the weekdays

while their daddy was in class. 

it was super fun and insightful getting to play mom of 4 for a little bit. 

(shout out to mom - you're amazing!!)

the girls are incredibly sweet and well mannered. 

we had a nice little routine down

and they even took naps at the same time in the afternoons. 

i think it helped that the 3 oldest were girls. 

we made smoothies, 

colored, painted, did puzzles, 

hot glued a wreath, 

watched babe, danced on the bed, 

made fruit loop necklaces....

not sure what i would've done if i had all boys!!!

\

thanks to:

mom, for the cute kitchen towel and fridge magnets.

aunt kathryn, for the paints. big hit.  

aunt gen, for the bathrobe ivy adores. 

eli, for balancing us out a bit! 

hope you all had a nice weekend! 

snowy saturday

watching one of ivy's favorites - babe :)

father/daughter outing

where do you go when you want to get out of the house, it's too cold to be outside, and your dad is kind of a nerd? why, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, of course! ha. it's basically diagonal from our building, so like a 3 minute walk. that's about as far as they could go in the freezing snow! kevin said she liked it pretty well, but got a little scared of the huge dinosaur skeletons. when she came home, i asked her what she saw and she said "big monsters!"   (kevin!!)  he's excited to take her back and check out more things.  i wouldn't mind going sometime to see the glass flower exhibition. it was created by a father and son in germany - they started in 1887 and it took them 50 years! kinda cool, no? 

love

back to cambridge, or world's longest post

cab ride home

blueberry scones

we got back to cambridge monday after a long visit home for the holidays!

 i was feeling a little anxious about being 

on my own again 

after having so much help/care/everything at home, 

but i was also ready to get back in my own place and start fresh. 

new year.

new semester.

everyone a little older and wiser.

even before our plane landed, i had a good feeling about getting back.

 it's an emotional test of strength every time we pack all our stuff back up 

and i have to separate my kids from family for another few months. 

(dramatic much?) 

but i am getting so much better at it, i'm almost even good. 

(not sure if that's a good or bad thing). 

but i think i'm growing and learning 

and stretching and trusting. 

last semester may possibly have been, 

sorda

 kinda 

maybe in a way

a whiff for me. 

i really want to be someone who can handle life gracefully come what may, 

but i actually did a pretty poor job. 

(st. andrews =A, cambridge = ehh, C-). 

i gave a decent effort,

 but couldn't completely let go of woe-is-me: 

i don't have a car!/a friend!/mom/ac/washer dryer.....

where is a non-ghetto target and a family friendly restaurant 

and where in the sam hill is a normal grocery store?? 

 i was tired. 

i was stressed.

i was tired of being stressed. 

the break was a good long time for me to soak up all the help,

 go to cabo,

 rest, and get my act together. 

and it took every second. 

but i'm back!

 i feel good. 

i made some NY resolutions, 

planned out a routine for the kids, 

and let my helper go. 

 (i'm not totally helpless, 

there's another wonderful girl who babysits when we need it 

and that's a blessing.) 
but i feel like i'm becoming myself again
after a somewhat stressful transition. 

anyway, this post is not really finding a point so let's wrap it up. 

i do want to say though that our first day back was a huge answered prayer. 

so many friends (ok like 3 but that's a lot for me) 

called/texted/dropped by just to say welcome back. 

one even brought over scones. 

they probably don't know it, but it meant so much to me. 

here's to another year!

28.
come what may. 

hope y'all don't think i'm crazy.

love to all.

chaiss 

ps. i don't understand the new blogger format (clearly). agh. sorry! 

happy december!

my very favorite time of year!

1: ivy's little tree. she plugs it in when she wakes up in the morning. haha (i know that's dangerous).

2: our festive door :)

3: eli in the tub last night

4: cc's tiny pumpkin muffins & ivy's breakfast the past week (i know that's not healthy)

5: cambridge christmas tree lighting

6: fresh apple turnovers!

7: hot chocolate

8: pumpkin soup with cinnamon croutons

9: ivy's house shoes from gramma

HOME for CHRISTMAS countdown!! 7 days....

mr. eli's nursery

here's a few pictures i just took with my phone.

i have to say, mom and cindy put this room together

while i was still at the beach recovering.

when we moved here, it was sooo fun to walk in and see all the stuff i'd saved

and things they added all assembled and in place.

they are the greatest.

we kept it pretty simple because:

1. we didn't know boy or girl

2. we moved here when he was 2 weeks old. (that should be illegal)

3. most all of this he borrowed from his sister's nursery

4. you don't wanna go overboard with a boy :)

so this is where we rock, sleep, sing, sleep, change diapers, get dressed,

and sleep some more.

sweet dreams little e.