The Zoe and Silas Show

It was supposed to be 60 degrees on Sunday so we decided to head back to Drumlin Farm . This weather has been a gift considering it's almost December! It was so sunny and beautiful in Boston that morning that I decided to also pack a picnic lunch. This ended up being a tad too optimistic on my part, but we had a great morning nonetheless! We had never seen the foxes at the farm before, so that was really cool. When we skype'd with my parents tonight (Wednesday), my mom asked Zoe what animals she saw at the farm (Sunday). Zoe said, "fox!". I thought, wow, I can't believe she remembers that. I asked her what the fox was doing and she said "run". I asked her what color the fox was and she said "orange". By the end of the conversation my mom & I both decided she was a genius :-) We got up close and personal with some goats, And we got to check out the greenhouse area where all the produce is grown that the farm sells. We eve

Our neighborhood is very family-friendly. Now that S&Z are getting older, we've had a great time taking advantage of community events like the weekly Farmer's Market  that is held from June through October. Yesterday was the lighting of the Christmas tree in the neighborhood square. My mom & I brought them down for the tree lighting when they were wee newborn babies in 2009, Things were a little different this year! We met up with Vanessa, Greg, Oliver & Thatcher, and Vanessa helped me kid wrangle while the 3 musketeers ran around. S&Z had taken a long nap, so we missed Santa's arrival on the fire truck. They had fun checking out the fire truck anyway! We did manage to eventually get a glimpse of Santa! And the tree was so pretty. Did I mention that it's been in the 60s here? While I'm not complaining, the freakishly warm weather has made it a little tough to get in the full Christmas spirit. Awesome community events lik

Sydney & Ivy were over for a playdate this morning. The girls like to play in cribs, so S&I went into Zoe's crib and S&Z went into Silas' crib. S&Z stayed long after the fun had wore off for S&I and before I knew it they laid down for some snuggle time! Love, love, LOVE these special moment between siblings (and it definitely makes up for all the fighting, screeching and toy stealing!)...

It was wonderful to celebrate Thanksgiving with Derek's family yesterday, but it's also sad for me to be so far away from my family on holidays. I decided to turn to my Boston "family" and celebrate with a few of my best friends today. In talking about everyone's plans awhile back, Vanessa offered to host me & the kids and Timery's family for a post-Thanksgiving get-together. Lee, Chris & baby Dean joined us as well. Vanessa went all out for the occasion! The table was beautiful, There was even a kids table! They all have so much fun playing together. S&Z have been besties with Oliver since birth. Silas & Oliver are getting to be even better buds as they're getting older! Such a wonderful evening hanging with friends. It was getting close to bedtime, so we turned on a kids movie so that the kids could wind down and we could hang out a little longer. The kids (and Greg) snuggled up on the couch.

Derek and I have been together as a couple for 5-1/2 years, married for 3 years, and parents of twins for 2 years. This was our first year, however, hosting Thanksgiving. Today I was reminded that putting on a meal of this magnitude takes some serious planning and coordination. Honestly, I don't think you have experienced Thanksgiving until you have hosted Thanksgiving... Lists were made weeks ago, grocery shopping happened last weekend, and the fridge was cleared out to make room for lots of holiday groceries + a 22 pound turkey. We were hosting 13 of Derek's family members plus our family of 4, so we were planning for 17 total. I took shift #1 last evening after the kids were in bed and put together homemade Green Bean Casserole (from The Best of America's Test Kitchen ) and washed and organized all the serving dishes. Derek was off last night and shift #2 started with a double batch of his grandfather's Portuguese stuffing at 2am. We had the bird in the oven at 7