Thank ya.

We had a great THanksgiving! We celebrated early this year with the Conlin side which made travel on Thanksgiving so wonderful. The 5 mile drive to Mimi and Grampy's house was way less stressful than the years past in which we drive to NH/MA and back. I think this may start a tradition~

The weather has been just beautiful..can you believe it? It was actually nice to get outside this weekend and rake leaves in the sun! We also got to take Jake out to play and take walks on rides on his bike.

Jake has been coming up with some cute sayings.. when I asked him one morning last week to come to me so that I could put his shoes and socks on he looked at me dead serisouly and said "I'm not playing this game" How could I not laugh at that?

We have a visitor for the next month..he arrived the morning after Thanksgiving..Elf on the Shelf..otherwise known as "Elfie". He watches Jake and reports to Santa each night. The first morning he told us that "he looks like a statue, he is fake". Oh boy. We then read the book to him and explained who/what this Elf is all about. He then got it. After he ate some of his breakfast he turned to the Elf with his empty bowl and said "look elfie, I ate all my strawberries". Too cute. He has told Elfie every night that he wants a bicycle for Mommdy, Daddy and Jake.. ONE bicycle for the THREE of us. That would be a trip!

Jake is still in a crib. Its something I find myself feeling guilty about a lot lately. BUT, he sleeps in it happily and doesn't get out of it at all. What's that saying "if its not broken why try to fix it?". Ya..thats exactly how I feel. But..we will put him in his toddler bed soon. I am thinking after Christmas. We are so busy lately with finishing up the semester and various parties we have to attend in December..it can wait one month. ;)

Thankful..that is us once again this November. I can probably recite the same list I did last year..home, family, education, love, cars, friends, food etc. We have a good life and a great family..what is there to complain about? Not a whole lot..in the grand scheme of things we have it pretty good. :) Hope you all feel as blessed.

Hide and Seek

One of Jake's favorite games these days is Hide And Seek. He loves to hide but usually picks the same spots over and over..under the dining room table, next to a door, in the bathtub, etc. Last night we were playing and as I was counting and he was suppose to be hiding he ran up to me and said "Mommy, can you put the light on in the bathroom..I am going to hide in there". Welll Jake..how much fun is that for me to find you? lol. Or, if he does hide somewhere new he giggles until we find him. Another favorite game of his is Memory..but he doesn't like to flip the cards over. He likes them upright so you can see the pictures and make matches. Hopefully Santa will bring him a few new games for Christmas!

We are headed to MA on Saturday for lunch with The Conlin clan and will be in RI for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to a great holiday with family!

Slacking..

We've been clowning around...




One of Jake's new favorite pastimes is to take the camera and take pics of everyone..he is getting pretty good at it!


We have been slacking on the blog! November 1st! This is the month of Thanksgiving which means next month is the C word! How did Christmas sneak up so quickly?

California came and went..Alex and I had a great time. It was nice to be on that coast..but we did miss our little man. It was odd to walk down to Downtown Disney and see all the families and not have Jake with us. The park is open until 12 midnight and wow do people take advantage of the late night hours! There were kids passed out left and right on the shuttles coming back at night. Those were the moments we were happy not to have a child with us. But..we do hope to get Jake to Disney world someday soon.

Alex at the hotel..



Me at the Anaheim Garden Walk..


Halloween! Jake looked adorable in his Mickey outfit..on Sat afternoon we strolled downtown East Greenwich and practiced trick or treated. jake had a blast and even got to sit in the EG firetruck. He loved it..and then asked the fireman for candy. :)






On Monday we had a great time in Coventry trick or treating for real. Jake was so cute with his "trick or treat" or "Do you have a dog?" and then.. "Thank you...Happy Halloween". So cute!







One of his favorite parts of the night was when he got to give out candy..






Happy November!!

October

Boy do we have a busy month ahead..Apple Picking outing this weekend with Auntie Courtney and crew..a wedding next weekend.. a trip to CA at the end of the month. Whohoo! Oh.. and Halloween! A week or so ago, Jake wanted to be Super Why (Wyatt) from the Super Readers..until we went shopping at Target and he saw a million other possible outfits. He then wanted to be be everything he could get his hands on in the store..but I resisted to buy him the Darth Vader,Monkey, Banana, Mr Potato Head or Spider Man costumes to name a few. I then told him this past weekend that his friend Sidney will be Minnie Mouse..he is now on a Mickey Mouse kick. Our daily conversations go like this:

Me: Jake, what do you want to be for Halloween this year?
Jake: Mickey Mouse, because I love Mickey Mouse.
Me: Are you sure?
Jake: Yes, I was just joking when I said I wanted to be Super Why. It was just a joke.

Cute.

Ahh October. It's a great month, kicking off fall and all the fun things it brings. October 1st always reminds me of Tahoe and our beginnings out there. When Alex and I packed up his Pathfinder and trekked out to the West Coast in September of 2001, it was quite a journey. We raced out there in just 4 days and lived with his dad in Reno before we found our place in South Lake Tahoe. I remember finding it mid- September and being SO excited to move in on Oct 1st!
We drove the jam packed Pathfinder through the Sierra Mountains and settled into Linda Avenue with nothing but our snowboards, winter clothes and an air mattress and over time turned it into a cute 2 bedroom apartment. Those were the days.. we were gypsies as my dad liked to call us..not a care in the world, quitting our jobs in Ogunquit and following our hearts and dreams of West Coast living.
At times it was stressful but most of the time it was very laid back. I didn't even have a bank account out there (no need for it when you are making $7 an hour!), no car of my own for the majority of the time I was out there and I relied on public transportation..season passes were dirt cheap - $199 was a steal! That's pretty much what it costs for a family of 3 to snowboard one day now a days. I love looking back at those days and am proud we did it..it definitely made me get outside my comfort zone which I never realized how badly I needed. Our relationship was tested at times (like the summer I had to go home because I was so homesick, but then couldn't wait to get back to Tahoe) but it made us stronger and allowed us to see that there is nothing the two of us can't do.
Some day Jake may come to us and tell us he needs to get out of New England. When the time comes I will fully support him, as our parents did for 3 years. Worst case..we will just have to move with him.....

Fall has arrived!

Well..with the 61 degree weather..fall is surely here! The layering of clothing has begun. No one is more happy about that than I..i LOVE to layer! However, with fall comes school and with school comes work. No one is more unhappy about that than I! Alex is settling into his role at his school with his school work and loving it (minus the school work part, im sure)..Jake is settling back into a routine with being back at Pre School and we are loving that as well. What hasn't been great are the colds, sniffles and coughs that have come about. Jake and Alex are battling a cough..with Alex feeling a tad worse I think. It's amazing the germs that reside in classrooms. Yuck. Let's hope this is the last of it..although I know that's probably impossible.

Next month Alex and I head out to CA at the end of the month for some R & R. We are only going for a long weekend really..but it will be nice to get away. Hopefully we get all of our school work done before we leave, so that we can really enjoy the time. We haven't been in California since May of 2003 when we left Lake Tahoe for good. Seems like yesterday, in a way! I miss the west coast and it's laid back attitude..but I dont miss the paychecks we got as minimum wage ski bums. ;) October will be a usy month with apple pickng outings, weddings, birthdays and get aways..oh..did i mention school work too. This will hopefully be the last of me dreading a fall semester (until the one when Jake starts college!)..but Alex is thinking about his Masters. Good luck, buddy. That's all I have to say! ;) Of course, i will 100% support him..but I know it's not easy..especially with a family.

Happy Fall all!!!

August is almost over..

This summer honestly feels like the quickest one EVA! Possibly it is because of what looms ahead..my last year of grad school. I couldn't be more stressed about it and it hasnt even started yet. Alex is hoping to complete some coursework this semester as well..it should be an interesting fall! Also, Jake starts preschool.. how crazy is that?

This summer has had it's ups and downs.. the ups were definitely the trips we took. There were a couple to Ogunquit and WElls Maine.... weekends full of lobster, beach and time with good friends is always a great way to celebrate the 4th of July weekend and Jake's 3rd birthday. Jake being potty trained has been a plus as well..although he has "acdidents" here and there, he has certainly mastered the art of peeing and pooping in true 3 year old style. Our trip to Lake George was a fun family filled time..A day at Saratoga, The Great Escape, The water park, and a few days at the beach made up a fabulous vacation. We spent tons of time with family and friends and cherish all the memories made!
While Alex was laid off at the end of July..it was a down.. but we have hopefully found a way to turn it into a plus..if he can finish his certificate this fall it will all be worthwhile. He certainly doesn't miss the long hours and the trip to Newport daily!
Each of the Gregson's had a birthday this summer...a trip to Ogunquit for Jake's, Daddy's day was spent at the beach and Mommy's was spent at the Red Sox game.. I hope we continue to celebrate in style in the summers to come.

With YaYa's birthday tomorrow, we want to wish her a VERY happy ##th birthday! You are the best Mom and Yaya we could ask for and we all love you more than words can say!!!! We also can't wait to see you this weekend to celebrate YOU!!



We love you!!

VACA...

Fathers Day..

Fathers Day we woke up in Massachusetts after celebrating our good friend Julie's wedding and met Papa to get Jake back from him..he spent his first sleep over at his house the weekend of his birthday and fathers day.. after lunch with Papa and family we spent time with Grampy & fam as well.. all around it was a great weekend...

Pics for Jake's 3rd birthday..

Here are some pics from Jake and his Grampy Jack's birthday party...















Grampy getting ready to blow out his candles...







It took a lot out of him, apparently....




Jake...loving his cake!

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