The Zoe and Silas Show

7/31/12: Just hanging around the playground this morning with Mommy while we waited for an update on Grandma.

7/31/12: Such big kids drinking out of open cups at mealtime now! I love Zoe's facial expression in the top panel :)

Runner-up, 7/28/12 "I got boo-boo, I'm bleeding. Need ice!!" It's been a rough week around here... Runner-up, 7/29/12 Playing in the rain at Auntie Nessa's house

7/29/12: Silas had a blast playing with Oliver's fireman stuff tonight! I am so thankful for Vanessa+fam right now.

Grandma D. was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday night and she's staying with us for awhile. Following a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer 1-1/2 weeks ago, she had an MRI on Friday and a PET scan today. We are anxiously awaiting the results of all of the tests when we meet with the oncologist  on Thursday .  Papa stayed over last night so that they could be out the door before 7am for the PET scan. The kids were so happy to have some flying fun playtime before bed! Please send positive thoughts and energy our way this week...

7/28/12: An early morning sibling snuggle.

7/27/12: Looking at the fish after the Friday morning playgroup.

7/26/12: Pure happiness.

7/25/12: Fire truck, Momma!

7/24/12, 5pm: Derek was at the hospital waiting for Joanne to get discharged. I got home from work an hour early to lay down before she got here. Literally 1 minute after I laid down I heard a wicked pain cry - Silas had tripped and hit his head, and next thing we knew a huge egg had appeared on his forehead. Julia comforted Zoe and I had Silas, and after a very scary back and forth with Derek and the clinic, we decided he didn't need to be seen in the ER. Derek came directly home from the hospital and wrapped his head up in the best ice pack ever (just one of the benefits of  having an EMT for a daddy!). Denny flew solo and brought Joanne here following discharge. Derek dropped off prescriptions at 8pm and headed directly to bed, I made dinner while Denny picked up meds, and Denny, Joanne and I ate runza casserole for dinner.  Following an early evening thunderstorm we were graced with a rainbow, a quintessential sign of hope.  Tomorrow is a new day.

7/23/12: Master Chef Silas cooking up a little sumthin' sumthin' in his Play-Doh oven.

7/22/12: We ran errands for 3 hours after nap today in preparation for Joanne's discharge from the hospital tomorrow. S&Z were total troopers, especially after being stuck with only Mommy since 10am on Saturday!

7/21/12: A special treat following family haircuts this morning.

7/20/12: Having fun at Friday playgroup.

7/19/12: Our little rays of sunshine in the middle of a difficult day.

7/18/12: Oy, they things they come up with!

7/17/12: Breakfast in out recently re-configured dining room.

7/16/12: Playing around with the Photo Booth app on Mommy's new iPad.

Silas continues to be really into cooking . He and Zoe got into a fight the other day - she wanted to watch "Blue's Clues", and he insisted on watching Food TV!  It was going to be another hot one today, so we decided to keep things low key and have a food and fitness morning.  I have power walked 20 miles this week, and logged another 2 miles with the kids this morning before the humidity was too oppressive. Next we went to Allandale Farm to buy our produce for the week. We had some time to kill before our eating destination opened for lunch, so we stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods so that I could buy some hand weights. Finally, we headed to Kiku Yama Japanese Steakhouse  for lunch. I knew that Silas in particular would be really into the front row view of the cooking that takes place at a teppanyaki restaurant. Initially Zoe was interested too. Until things started being set on fire, that is. Silas was surprised but stayed next to

7/15/12: Absolute heaven for Master Chef Silas.

Because of my profession, I have learned over the years that my closest friends will inevitably move away. It's difficult to get permanent positions in the academic world, so my Ph.D. friends end up having to move wherever they can find a job. Dana, Lisa and Tracy all dispersed from Minnesota in 2004-2005, and Kristin and Rachel left Boston in 2009-2010. Tracy's big sister, Timery, moved to Boston in 2005 a few months after I arrived. We were instant B.F.F.'s, and had a few years of overlap in Boston. She moved away in 2008, but ended up moving to Ipswich in 2010 (if you search this blog, which I started in 2009, you will find 18 entries about Timery!). We found out last week that T's husband, Steve, got a job in VA. Today we had to say good-bye to Timery and her family... We met up at Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, MA. There is a great wading pool with "spray features" - it was a 50 minute drive from our house and we paid $5 to park.