All About How Life Just Keeps On Moving

Dear World,

            I've been busy the last week.

 I've been to Boston twice (!). Seen where Paul Revere resided(!). Saw a chamber pot from that time, (and I think bottoms may have grown since then.  :) ) Ate some cannoli's for the first time in my life (that I remember)(!).  Finally organized and emptied most of the boxes in our apartment(!). Had our first visitors to stay for the weekend (Reed's brother and family!) (!). Enjoyed Reed's first spring break(!).  Had a birthday (Reed's)(!).  Fed the missionaries once (!).  Got a pass to the YMCA (!). Walked, for the first time in 2 months, on the street that I live (?!). Left my children in someone else's care (!!).  Bronwyn turned 10 months!

So much has been going on that, well, I just didn't know where to start. So, there ya go.

Aftyn hates going to the Kid Watch at the YMCA, and she hates going to Nursery at church. Poor kid is having some adjustment issues, but we are working on that and working on her seeing her own potential and all the things she can now do on her own and that we WANT her to do on her own.
We just love the heck out of her, and it's much easier on me, the permanent parent, now that I have my exercise outlet and a little break at the gym.  Aaahh.
 Bronwyn is the silliest, spastic kid who loves loves loves her sister. She will giggle and squirm anytime Aftyn enters the room. Aftyn is also beginning to see the fun potential of our little Bronwyn and wants to play with her a lot more now. Aftyn tells me often that they are playing hide and seek. :)  Also, our cute little Bronwyn is now starting to be calling Bronwynnie. Ha.  But not by Reed yet. Maybe shortly, we'll finally get to calling her Wynnie? Couldn't tell ya, but we sure do love her fun personality and how much she loves to play with us all and she always has a ready smile. Her latest skill is climbing our stairs. She's pretty good at it, but has also had a few little tumbles. Mostly, I try and make sure that if she's gonna do it, I take off her socks so she doesn't slide as much.
Reed is, as always, the man we love to have at home. Especially since he's not here a whole lot, other than Spring Break. School started up again this week, and he's starting 3 new classes. Lucky guy. That's a total of 5 classes for now. Only 7 more weeks until School is out! :) Just in case I forget, Reed was e-mailed by the school for a position in their Small Business Development Center, which I was completely excited by. They approached him because of a recommendation from one of the staff members he has talked with. I thought that was a great compliment for the oh-so- humble Reed. We're still figuring out the details on that so we will see, but still neat. Reed is doing great in his classes and works hard to keep up good grades.
Well, as for me, I'm doing my best to stay sane and to plan fun things for my girls and I to do. I'm still searching for a good friend here, preferably with a child close to Aftyn's age. If you know anyone, I am currently accepting applications.  ;)  Going to the gym the past few days has been a huge help and I'm excited at the freedom it gives me to get back into shape and gives me that little break from the girls that I need. I am grateful for the opportunities for growth that I see for myself here and am already experiencing. I'm grateful for the gospel and for the testimony that I have of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Without the church, it would be easy to feel lost out here. But with it, I have easily found my way.
 Okay, enough said. Here's some pictures of some of our fun!

For some reason, there were quite a few men dressed up after this fashion. It was SO neat!

Cousin Samantha and Aftyn in front of Paul Revere's house!

Cute little family . . .  I love Bronwyn's facial expression . .

Talking To Strangers, II

We had the entire laundromat to ourselves on Friday!
It was extra fun because Reed came along and we all know the difference an extra set of hands can make.
 I kept telling Aftyn that because we had it to ourselves, she should run up and down and around as much and as often as she wished. (There was more straight running space in this laundromat than we have at home and this is often a problem since I have a little girl who wants to occasionally run and jump and dance, all things that seem to be inhibited by the lack of space for these activities in our apartment.)
  Because no one came in, we made good use of our time there, if I say so myself. Aftyn and I played hide-n-go seek which I feel was the most fun, running around trying to "find" each other in this large square of laundry machines. Lots of giggling ensued. Followed by bagging up our dry clothes and packing them back in the car!

Probably the quickest trip to the laundromat yet!

A Bronwyn Moment

This morning after bathing the girls, Reed brought Bronwyn out to me so I could dress her.

And to further illustrate what Bronwyn's been learning lately, 

I brought her two little hands together

so he could see how eager she was to clap but how she hasn't mastered it yet.

And she clapped! With the biggest grin and the most enthusiasm I had seen yet!

Reed and I both were surprised, but happy 

that we both got to witness such a cute moment with her.

We love her playful little personality in our family.

Let me out!

Rosy little cheeks from her nap and her mouth in its normal position: making some kind of sound or other

2 people who also love our little Bronwyn

Big Things Happening Around Here

Bronwyn has finally uttered my name: Mumumum
She has mostly said it when she wants out of her crib. :)
Or when she gets left downstairs and she wants to come up.
But she seems to have the grasp of who she's talking to!
(She gets a big grin on her face when I say it to her to get her to say it.
She won't say it unless she wants to. So far.)

Aftyn, the girl who doesn't like ketchup, has found a love for tomato soup. Odd.
And finally, spaghetti sauce as well!
Now that I've said it out loud, she'll probably stop liking both of these things. Again.
Oh well.

Reed finishes one of his classes this week. He can't wait. I can't either.

Next week is Spring Break!! And Reed's birthday!!
We're planning on taking the train into Boston and making a fun day of it.
Walking the Freedom Trail. Seeing Paul Revere's house.
Have some good quality family time.

Before Reed has to go back to crazy school hours again
 and he's adding 2 more classes into the mix for the next 2 months.

Joy!!

As for me, our lives here at home (just me and the kids) seems to have finally gotten back into our
old rhythm. Aftyn just finished digging out all her toys out of the boxes this morning.
T-Rex!
Martian!
Mr. Bubbles!

It's a family reunion! :)

I'm looking forward to meeting my goal of nursing Bronwyn full time until 10 months. I haven't found a way for me to lose weight and continue to nurse Bronwyn, so since we needed to save money over me losing weight, I determined that at 10 months I could start to exercise and diet in earnest and that we could feed Bronwyn formula for 2 months and I would continue to nurse Bronwyn as long as she felt interested in the little I would be giving her. So, with mixed feelings I am looking forward to 16 days from now when Bronwyn turns 10 months!  :) 

I'm looking forward to Thursday night when Reed has his last class
and his Spring Break officially begins!
Can't wait!!

And Then it Snowed

It has felt so like springtime here with warmer temperatures and some sunny days that I had positively decided that this weekend was going to be my winter/spring barrier.
Time to break out our spring dresses and other sunny spring attire.
Today I dressed my girls up in warm springs colors and decked them out with jackets as we prepared to go out shopping for groceries.
 Just as we pulled up to our first grocery stop, it started to snow.
Not kidding.
Oh well.
We hurried and the snow stayed light until a few hours later when we had a bit of what appeared to be a blizzard in the air and nothing on the roads or sidewalks. Since we need some new pictures of my kids on here, I will oblige:

p.s. I know, Aftyn is not wearing tights. Other than some wind though, the temperatures didn't really drop for the snow! Odd, hmm?

A Skyline Full of Possiblities

Don't you just love the green of the bay windows? After 6 weeks, these 2 buildings are beginning to become favorites

I love how gothic this church looks. The one slightly to the right of the middle of the picture, in case you don't see it.

For some reason, this painted on name reminds of a hotel in an old abandoned ghost town. It seems a pretty old way to identify your building.

Mildly crooked, but yet another church steeple in our view out our front room/kitchen window. LOTS and LOTS of old brick buildings in this city. It's pretty neat.

Talking To Strangers

I've decided that I have a bi-weekly, sometimes weekly experience, that is mostly worth writing about. It's called "doing laundry at the laundromat". And I've decided to write about it as often as it happens, especially if something noteworthy occurs. Because most of the time, it's day - altering!

I happen to go to a laundromat in the next town over. Why the next town over? Well, if you saw where I live and the people I see and experience, you might understand why I choose to go the next town over. It's a little less rough, I pay a little more money for a nicer crowd of people, and have yet to really be disappointed there. Plus, it's only about a 7 minute drive.

My first visit to said laundromat ended with 2 very friendly women, one who told me her name was Patty and a few of the close local stores where I could find cheap groceries and household items, and the other woman helped me figure out all the laundromat machines. It always helps when I have my children with me because their cute little faces could charm the pants off of most people, on a good day when they have both been fed and napped. :) My 2 girls went to work, and soon enough we were all talking like old friends! It's always rejuvenating when complete strangers will be kind and helpful. Patty even helped me out to my car with all my bags of now-clean-laundry! What a sweetheart!

I seem to go bi-weekly, so my 2nd visit was two weeks ago and Reed was able to accompany me for the first time since I wanted him to see "our" laundromat and the neat store that Patty  had informed me of on my first visit. That week there was a grumpy hispanic lady who frowned at me anytime I tried to make eye contact or even smiled at her. Her wall was impenetrable. No talkative strangers that day.

This morning I had everything ready to go and despite a rather sleepless night thanks to a teething Bronwyn, I was up and at the laundromat *by myself* by 9 am! Reed stayed home with the girlies, so I got to go do laundry by myself. It was heaven. I was mostly alone until my clothes were almost finished washing, when a man wearing sweatpants approached me to ask me how to wash something for his fiance.
 I was literally tearing up as this man explained he was trying to wash his fiance's sheets because it was their anniversary and the one thing his sweetheart loved more than anything was clean sheets and so he wanted to have that as one of his surprises for her. He just didn't want to mess it all up, so what temperature should he wash them at, should he wash them together and what heat should he dry them? Honestly, at first I thought he was going to ask me for quarters and I was debating what my answer would be.
 So the Bedding Guy and I started talking as he seemed open to talking and very kind hearted. We talked about all kinds of things including kind people and how they're rather hit and miss in this area. Then a man who only dried his clothes began to talk to me. He was a driving instructor named Bill who taught in my city. I learned some interesting driving tips from him, but mostly that you have to drive defensively AND aggressively here otherwise you'll get hit and honked at. And you have to watch out for the red light runners. Evidently they're everywhere. 

All in all, a very talkative day in the laundromat. Such kind and caring men. A little odd that I find the men here more caring and open to talking than the women. (But that's not just at the laundromat). I had to go back into the laundromat after I was done and starting up my car because I hadn't talked to the B.G and wished him good luck with his bedding washing and his anniversary.
And he thanked me again. (!) 

Feel free to come back in another 2 weeks or sooner 

and hear 

about another edition!