The Zoe and Silas Show

10/20/13: My friend Bill was in town last weekend so the kids and I went downtown to meet up with him before he headed back to NYC. S&Z were very friendly with him right off the bat, even though we haven't seen him for 2 years which they surely they don't remember... Zoe drew a picture of him and wrote his name. She's getting pretty good at this writing thing! We had lunch and sat and talked for over two hours while the kids colored. At one point Bill quietly directed my attention toward Silas, who had taken a brown marker and colored all over his face and sweatshirt. We had a great afternoon catching up! The kids were absolutely exhausted when we got home.

4/25/13: When I went in to get S&Z this morning they were laying next to each other in Silas' bed, laughing and talking. I asked Silas what they were doing and he said "watching the news".  We only had the news on for about 45 minutes last week (on Friday morning ), and that is really the only televised news they have seen in over two years. Obviously it made an impact, although thankfully they didn't seem bothered about it when they were pretend playing this morning. Zoe did wake up crying on Monday night and we had to go in to her three times. When I asked her what was wrong she said she was "sad for all of the people". Me too, Zoe; me too.

4/23/13: Tuesday was a wet and cold night on Yawkey Way, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. We dressed warmly and arrived at 5:00 for a 6:30 game so that we would have time to check out the ballpark. Of course we had hot dogs for dinner. And then we made our way to our seats.   Thank goodness the seats were covered! We also had an entire row to ourselves, so the kids had fun dancing and bopping around. When I asked them the next day what their favorite part of going to the game was, they both replied "watching the game!".  We made it until the 4th inning, and Zoe cried and cried when we left. And that is how fans are born. We will definitely get tickets again next year!

4/21/13: We watched Food TV for a little while this morning before heading out to run errands. As usual, Silas was completely engrossed. We watched Paula Deen's son make " Guiltless Cheesy Mac ". I think we'll be trying that one out later this week. Someone donated a bunch of Red Sox tickets to the families of first responders, so we're taking S&Z to a game on Tuesday night! 3/4 of us are lacking in gear, so this morning we went on a shopping mission so that we can appropriately represent at the game. We ended up buying 3 t-shirts at 3 different stores. All that shopping left us hungry so we hit up Five Guys for burgers and fries. It was mine and the kids' first time there - that food is crack. Zoe double fisted her bun and kosher dog. And Silas ate his first-ever burger. Zoe was being her usual goofy self providing entertainment for the rest of us. Derek worked again tonight and the kids and I made Vegetarian Enchilada Cas...

4/19/13: Just when you think a terrible week can't get any worse... I don't work on Friday's so we had a lazy morning. S&Z were up by 7:30 and they got into bed with us to snuggle. When we finally got up a little after 8:00 I was shocked to see my phone on fire with missed calls and text messages. We turned on the news to get up to speed. S&Z are too young to understand what has been happening this week, but they are little sponges who absorb the energy of what's going on around them. Their behavior was out of control as we were trying to get breakfast on the table, make coffee, and figure out what was happening. We pretty quickly switched from televised news to NPR to try and minimize the impact of the news in the house. For the first time I can remember, both kids declared after breakfast that they needed some quiet time. Zoe opted to read books in their bedroom, And Silas laid on "Grandma's bed" and put money in his piggyban...

4/16/13: After a horrific day I was so glad that Derek got some sun & fun outside with the kids on Tuesday morning. It's school vacation week and it was a warm morning, so he took S&Z to Fallon Field to try out the stomp rockets that Auntie Timery gave them for their birthday. First hopscotch, and first picnic of the season. I am so incredibly proud of Derek and the work that he and his colleagues did for the visitors and citizens and city of Boston on Monday. And every day.

Words cannot express the unthinkable. I cannot explain it to them Thankful I don't have to... Not yet. I want to protect them forever. There will be more  unexplainable  inexplicable horrors in the world. Thankful not for them, not today. The face of innocence. The faces of the innocent.

7/1/12: It was my last day of vacation, so we went to see the Tall Ships that were docked at the Boston Fish Pier. This ship was from Indonesia!

My friend Bill and his family were in town this weekend. It looked to be a beautiful day, so we decided to meet up at the Public Garden. I was over in this area earlier this week with my sister, and was happy to go back again before winter is here! We started out in Boston Common and enjoyed what will probably be our last picnic of the year. We ran around the Common before heading over to the Public Garden. The swan boats are packed up for the year, but the pond is beautiful regardless. While we waited for Bill to arrive it was the perfect time for Zoe and Silas to meet the ducklings!!!!  Make Way for Ducklings  is a wonderful book that was given to S&Z by my cousin Lee, who also happens to be one of the namesakes of Zoe's middle name. This book served as the inspiration for the wonderful bronze statues in the Public Garden! The ducklings are the perfect size for the little kids to ride on them. We also tried to...