Five summer getaways every kid should experience

Summer is a great time in the life of a kid. I mean, come on, no school, nice weather with which to do fun things with friends, an a chance to live what some would call the epitome of childhood!


So, how do you help your kids stay busy all summer? Social Moms and Alamo asked that question recently, and it got me thinking. There are some great opportunities available to kids, and these are the ones I think are the most worth looking into.


1. Send your kid to summer camp. There are so many things to be learned at summer camp, whether it's a day program or an overnight camp! Many town recreation departments offer camps at affordable rates to town citizens. Or, maybe your child is a Girl Scout and could go to Girl Scout Camp. Children learn so much about themselves when they have chances to do things that are out of the realm of "normal" for them. Outdoor activities such as hiking, rock climbing or swimming can teach new skills and a sense of accomplishment. When I was young, I looked forward to summer camp every year. Now, as a mom, I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to start going to the same camp I spent so many summers at!


2. Take a family vacation. Now, now, before your kids start groaning, there are some fun trips that can be done with kids that are also educational. Some great ideas are: Washington, DC, campgrounds, dude ranches, and adventure trips. The thing I like best about visiting DC (aside from the fact that DC is our family destination this year) is that there is so much to do that is FREE to get into, like the Smithsonian museums or the National Zoo. But a dude ranch can be a lot of fun too, and many of these offer things other than just horseback riding, such as spas and pools.


3. Visit Niagara Falls. Whether you spend time on the US or Canadian side, there is so much to see there, besides just looking at some giant waterfalls. You can check out the Maid of the Mist, or Journey Behind the Falls if you really want to get wet! You can also check out the Butterfly Conservatory, or follow the Heratige Trail, where you can explore the historic sites of Niagara, learn about the War of 1812 and more!


4. Spend a day at the ocean, at least. This one can be hard, especially for people who live in the mid west, in the totally landlocked states, like Oklahoma. But the trip to the ocean is so worth it. My personal favorite is Ogunquit, Maine, if you like something touristy, or York, Maine if you want something a little more low key. You just can't relax at the beach like you can anywhere else, and it's such a unique place for kids to play and explore. It's amazing the things one can find in a tidepool!


5. Spend time with extended family. Give your kids the chance to spend some quality downtime with relatives they don't see on a regular basis. It's a wonderful chance for them to bond with their family, and learn a little more about their legacy. It gives your family a chance to know more about your kids, what they like and don't like, what their favorite subject in school is, and who their best friends are. Kids can form strong relationships with their families in such a short amount of time, so even if they protest, it's well worth the time.


These are just a few of the thoughts I had about great getaways for kids in the summer. I'd love to hear what some of your thoughts are! Leave me a comment and let me know!




I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Alamo blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Tell A Gal Pal!!!

Every day, one in three women die as a result of domestic violence.

Scary number, isn’t it? Here’s another scary one: three out of four women know someone who is affected by domestic violence. That means that you probably know someone who is affected in some way.

The National Coalition of Domestic Violence defines domestic violence as “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime.”

Domestic violence (DV) is a scary reality for many men and women in the country. It is an important topic to discuss. Women especially, need to talk openly about domestic violence. Tell your Gal Pals – whether it’s your best friend, sister, mother, daughter, niece, cousin or neighbor – to face domestic violence, share their opinions and experiences and show support for survivors.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline has some tips for people who want to help a friend or family member:

Don’t be afraid to let him or her know that you are concerned for their safety. Help your friend or family member recognize the abuse. Tell him or her you see what is going on and that you want to help. Help them recognize that what is happening is not “normal” and that they deserve a healthy, non-violent relationship.

Be non-judgmental. Respect your friend or family member’s decisions. There are many reasons why victims stay in abusive relationships. He or she may leave and return to the relationship many times. Do not criticize his or her decisions or try to guilt them. He or she will need your support even more during those times.

Encourage him or her to talk to people who can provide help and guidance.Find a local domestic violence agency that provides counseling or support groups. Offer to go with him or her to talk to family and friends. If he or she has to go to the police, court or a lawyer, offer to go along for moral support.

If you need help getting a conversation started with a friend or loved one, visit ClickToEmpower.org for easy ways start the conversation, check out resources for survivors or read inspirational survivor stories. This website is a wonderful resource, and even has information on local DV coalitions in your area.

How can you help right now?

For each person who “likes” the Click To Empower! Facebook page, The Allstate Foundation will donate $1 to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (up to $20,000). Click here to go to the Facebook page.

The Allstate Foundation will donate another $1 if you take the pledge to Tell a Gal Pal about domestic violence. As part of the pledge, your photo will be added to the “Faces of Support” gallery to show survivors that they aren’t facing domestic violence alone.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call: THE NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE at 1-800-799-7233

I wrote this blog post while participating in The Allstate Foundation’s Tell a Gal Pal blogging program with TwitterMoms, making me eligible to get an interview with Cheryl Burke. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

10 ways to make your favorite foods healthier

ORIGINAL POST DATE: September 6, 2010

Over the 9 months, my husband and I have been working to make our diets a little healtheir. Mostly this is because we have a young daughter and we want to be healthy for her, but also because we want to model a healthy lifestyle for her. So here are 10 ways we’ve come up with making our food healthier.

1. Use whole wheat or low carb pasta. I’m particularly a fan of Dreamfields brand pasta – it’s low carb, but you’d NEVER know it to taste it! It’s lower on the glycemic index, making it great for people on a low carb diet. You can barely taste the difference between it and “regular” pasta.

2. Try frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. Many kinds of frozen yogurt are creamy, and still come in fun flavors like cookies & cream or Moose Tracks (YUM!!!). It’s lower in sugar and fat, making it a great alternative.

3. Use corn flake crumbs instead of bread crumbs. You’ll barely taste the difference, but they’re lower in calories than most bread crumbs.

4. Use brown rice or long grain rice. Again, this is lower on the glycemic index, making it a better choice for people who enjoy a low carb lifestyle. Brown rice is flavorful, and makes a great add in for stuffed peppers, fajitas and so on.

5. Use ground turkey in place of ground meat. The two are interchangeable, so you can pretty much use them however you want. Turkey is lower in fat, but is still full of a meaty flavor. It’s a great alternative in meatloaf or soups and chilis.

6. Use applesauce in place of oil in cake mixes. The flavor is almost identical, but don’t use any sort of flavored applesauce, or you WILL skew the flavor of your cake!

7. Eat whole grain foods whenever possible. You’ll find them to be more filling, so you’ll eat less. Plus, whole grains are a better source of fiber and protein.

8. Eat Romaine lettuce instead of Iceberg lettuce. Romaine has a higher amount of fiber, B vitamins and folate. It also contains more calcium, potassium and trace minerals–and it has seven times the vitamin C and 18 times the vitamin A.

9. Add two cloves of garlic to soups, sauces, stir fries and stews. Garlic is great for heart health, and help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

10. Opt for organic whenever possible. This can definitely be a problem for those trying to live within a tight budget, but it’s definitely something worth exploring. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in every two people tested positive for one or more of up to 116 chemicals that were coming from food. However, if that doesn’t fit in with your finances, be sure to wash all your fruits and veggies thoroughly.

I wanted to include a widget on the sidebar of this post, but unfortunately, it wasn’t working in my blog, so I couldn’t share it with you. I hope these tips help you get on your way to having a healthier diet. I know they’ve definitely helped me! Happy eating!

DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and WeightWatchers SmartOnes blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

10 Things my Daughter Needs To Know

ORIGINAL POST DATE: September 2, 2010

Taking a cue from the Totsy Blog today, I thought I would write up 10 things I want my daughter to know. The difference, though, is that Audry geared hers to be about her son’s year in Kindergarten. Mine is more generalized, since my daughter is only 2 1/2 and isn’t in any sort of day care or school yet.

1. Your dad and I love you, no matter what.

2. You will screw up and make mistakes in life. It’s okay, because that’s how you learn.

3. You are an amazing girl, with a body that lets you move, bend, stretch, jump, run, see, hear and speak. Don’t take any of that for granted.

4. We will let you try just about anything (within reason) if you really want to. If you want to try taking dance class, gymnastics, horseback riding, music lessons, I’m all for it. Just try not to break the bank, please.

5. With #4 said, we will not force you into an activity we know you don’t want to do, but we would like you to give everything a chance. You’ll never know if you’ll find your new favorite hobby!

6. We have always done and will always do our best to provide for you and take care of you. We hope you know that.

7. Save money, give to charity, spend wisely. I may not be the best example of this, but I’m sure trying!

8. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

9. As Fernanda Mirmontes-Lenderos said, “Give thanks for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow.”

10. I can’t say it enough – your dad and I love you, no matter what.

10 tips for back to school savings

ORIGINAL POST DATE: August 10, 2010

With back to school shopping getting under way around the country, parents are now looking for great ways to save money. Here are some ideas to help you save a bit of cash.

1. Shop in your house first. Look through your closets, cabinets, junk drawers and anywhere else you can think of to see what you already have. You may not need a new pack of pencils if you’ve got 10 that are still usable. You may find a calculator, making it so that you don’t have to buy one. While these items may not seem expensive, they can definitely add up quickly, especially when shopping for more than one child. Let kids decorate old binders with stickers or photos to jazz them up. Instead of buying book covers, use paper shopping bags that kids can write on and decorate themselves.

2. Coupons, coupons, coupons. Kind of self explanatory, you’re going to save extra when using coupons. You’ll save even more if you can pair them up with sale prices at stores.

3. Shop for clothes after school starts. You’ll get a good vibe at what’s going to be the fashion trend, and prices will be coming down as new things start coming out for the next season.

4. Stick to the class list. Many teachers say that they are amazed at the number of students that come in with things they probably won’t use. If your kid is going to need it, it will be on the class list.

5. Decide how much you can spend, and stick with it. Don’t be afraid to let your kids know that there is a limit on anything they might want for school, and anything above and beyond either needs to wait, isn’t needed, or will have to come out of their piggy bank.

6. Pounce on the “loss leader” items at stores. You know the ones, the 10 cent spiral notebooks or the 25 cent box of Crayola crayons? But don’t go overboard. If you find out that the pens are on sale this week, buy the pens. If filler paper is on sale next week, wait until then to get it!

7. Separate wants from needs. That pencil sharpener that lights up may look really cool, but it’s going to be a distraction in class. The $1 three pack of sharpeners will do the same job without getting the child in trouble.

8. Buy basics in bulk. If there is a great sale on notebooks at the store, stock up. Your kid will probably need a few over the course of the school year.

9. Buy quality when necessary. If you buy that cheap backpack, it may break during the school year. If you replace it with another cheap one, it may break again. If this keeps up, you’re going to wind up spending more money on cheap backpacks than you will on one quality one that will last for four, or even eight, years. Leaky pens may cost more than that if you have to replace your son or daughters school uniform or clothes because you can’t get it out.

10. Invest in fun, reusable lunch-ware. Reusable water bottles and lunch boxes are better for the environment, and will save you money in the long run. It’s cheaper to buy juice in a bottle than to buy single serve juice boxes or pouches. It’s easy to find BPA-free plastics now, so spend the money ahead of time, and you’ll get a return on your investment at the end.

I hope these help you save a little bit of money while planning your back to school shopping trips. Share your favorite tips in the comments section!

DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Staples blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Emergency Information and Emergency Binders

ORIGINAL POST DATE: July 25, 2010

Lately, I’ve been working on putting together two things: A control journal for my family (Thank you very much, FLY Lady!), and an emergency binder. I thought I would share the emergency binder with you, because I think it’s great to have all the information you need stored in one, easy to access location. Once mine is complete, I plan on getting a safe deposit box at one of our local banks to store it in. I thought I’d walk you through what I’m putting in mine, in order to help you put together yours!

I picked out a three ring binder in a color that doesn’t look like any of the other ones sitting in my bookshelf in my kitchen. In my case, it happens to be purple. I put a label on the front that says Cardin Family Emergency Binder, as well as one on the side, so I can easily read it when scanning the shelf.’

I use tabbed dividers and put the pages in plastic sheet protectors, too.

The first section is for Emergency Contact Information. There is a great page all made up already that you can just print off and use. It’s also perfect for babysitters, nanny’s, and day cares.

I also have a copy of this in my control journal. I’ll talk about a control journal another time, but for now, let’s just focus on the emergency binder.

Section Two: Hannah. This is a section with all relevant information about my 2 year old daughter. I downloaded the forms from Emergency Binder, and keep them saved on my computer for easy updating. The information includes all medical insurance information, copies of her immunization records, a copy of her social security card (with the words COPY written on it, because it’s a color copy), and anything else the forms asked me for. She wears glasses, so I also keep her current eyeglass prescription there.

Sections Three and Four: Melissa and John. It’s pretty much all the same information as for Hannah, only it also includes information about the location of our spare car keys, access information for bank accounts, email addresses and other websites, as well as information about power of attorney and final arrangements.

Section Five: Home Owners Insurance. I actually keep an entire copy of our policy in there.

Section Six: Auto Insurance. Same thing – a whole copy of the policy.

Section Seven: Bank info – pretty self explainitory.

Section Eight: Photos. These are photos of all the big expensive things we own: Cars, piano, computers, TVs, and things like that. I just keep them on a CD, rather than keeping the hard copies of the photos themselves. I also keep copies uploaded somewhere online so I can access them from any computer.

Section Nine: Emergency Plans. Where should we meet if the house is on fire? What if we need to evacuate? What if we need to get away from the house, but not out of our neighborhood? That’s where all this information is. Everyone should know it BEFORE putting it in your binder. If only one of you knows it, and you take the binder, everyone else is out of luck. This also includes things to remember to pack if there is an emergency, such as a hurricane, a few days away and you’ll have time to grab a few things before leaving.

Section Ten: Vital Records – Birth Certificates, marriage certificates, adoption records, car titles, name changes, social security cards, all of that stuff. This is precisely why this information should all be kept in a safety deposit box, and NOT in your home. If your house catches on fire, you may not have time to grab it.

So that’s it, my basics on how to make an emergency binder. Please take the time to do it for you and your family. I pray you’ll never have to use it, but if you do, at least it will all be in one spot.

Must Know Summer Safety Tips

… from Safe Kids 

1. Safe Kids can always talk to their parents or another trusted adult about anything.

2. Safe Kids always “Check First.”

3. Safe Kids know how to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency.

4. Safe Kids never talk to anyone they don’t know well.

5. Safe Kids always use the “Buddy System.”

6. Safe Kids say “No!” to anyone who tries to touch them in a way that makes them uncomfortable. Then they tell their parents or another trusted grown-up right away.

7. Safe Kids never open the door for anyone but a trusted friend or relative.

8. Safe Kids always tell their parents or another trusted adult if anyone asks them to keep a secret.

9. Safe Kids always follow their Family Safety Plan of Action.

10. Safe Kids know their parents would never send someone they don’t know well to pick them up.

Additional Safety TIPS -
- When out and about with Toddlers and pre-schoolers write your cell number in your child’s shoe or their hand and teach them that is where it is in case they get lost.

- Teach your children your cell number, knowing their home number does not help if you are NOT home.

- Kid ID tattoos- www.spotmeid.com and www.Mypreciouskid.com.

- Place ID Bracelets or dog tags on your children that you have engraved with their information on it. ( Walmart has make your own ID Tag machines)

- Give your children Cell phones that you can buy minutes for to use while you are out and about if lost.

- Have kids keep a Walkie Talkies on them while playing around the neighborhood.

- Update your car kit kit with eye drops (for swimming), tweezers, band aids, aloe vera, sun screen, benedryl and tylenol, etc.

- More Safe kid information at www.safetykidsclub.com

Moms on strike

Today I checked out an amazing blog post by Holly Robinson, a freelance writer who works from home. A mom of three, ages 6 -16, she went on strike to show her family what it is, exactly, that she does around the house.

It’s a long, detailed description of how the seven days she spent on strike went, and it got me thinking. I would love to go on strike, so my husband could see how much housework and what not I do around the house.

Sure, he’s pretty good at keeping up with dishes, he cooks (more than me, usually), he mows the lawn and keeps up our car maintenance. Outside of those things, though, he doesn’t really DO anything around the house. He plays with Hannah (age 2) and our pets, but mostly he plays video games or whatever. I just had to explain to him why you can’t let Hannah stay up in her room for 30 minutes after she wakes up from a nap because she trashes her bedroom. She’s two, and she’s bored, for Pete’s sake! What else is she going to do?

I am usually the one to clean the kitchen, sweep, vacuum (though he’s been better about that since being home on summer vacation), and I’m the only one that does laundry. In his defense, he did fix the washer when it was broken, and he’s kind of a “d0-it-yourself-er,” because he’s tiled two floors in our house, and has the ambition to remodel our bathroom soon. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. But sometimes it makes me want to go on strike too.

He claims he “doesn’t see”  the clutter that’s in our house. I would be the first one to believe that. I can’t tell you the number of times he’s walked by piles of clothes and not done anything about it. But I’d love to not do anything for a week and see what happens.

Oh sure, I’d still go to my job, but I mean not do anything around the house. No cooking, no cleaning, no laundry, no feeding the pets, no shopping. I’ll play with my daughter, but the discipline and everything? That would be all him. I would get to be the one to go out two or three nights a week, instead of him going to a rehearsal, I would just go out with a friend or something and let him do everything at home.

I don’t think I’d have the conviction to stick to it though. I guess this just means that we should talk about some of that stuff. Who knows, maybe I’ll get home today, and the new storm windows will be installed on my upstairs windows and the broken screen in the front of the house will be fixed. All without prompting. Maybe.

Lots of new pendants

Lots of new pendants up on my Etsy and Artfire shops - please take a look! I'm excited about a lot of the ones I've been making lately, and I'm happy to say a few things about them:

1) They're getting progressively better the more I make

2) I'm starting to branch out and make some that are a little different than I've made before, so I'm hoping to have something for everyone!

Other than working on my shops, it's been a quiet weekend thus far. John's been feeling a little under the weather since Wendesday, and is almost back to 100%. He even took a sick day yesterday, which he almost never does!

Hannah and I made a trip to the Children's Museum of NH on Friday - I love having it so close by! It's hard to want to get there when the weather is nice, but since Friday was so chilly, it was a great day to go. It wasn't too crowded, which helped a lot, and she plays pretty hard every time we go, which is awesome.

Anyway, that's about all the news from here this weekend. I'm pumped that next weekend is Easter weekend, aaaaaaaaand they're talking about it hitting 75-80 degrees here!

I'm so neglectful!

Okay, it's been a really long time since I've done an actual blog post. I spend a lot of time working on my writing for Examiner.com that I find myself neglecting my blog a lot. It's kind of sad, really. But the writing for Examiner has been going well. I've also been doing some freelancing for Parenting NH magazine. I had two articles published in the spring, and will have a third published in October.

John is back to school now. He had three teacher days last week, and will start with his students on Tuesday. One more day off tomorrow, then he's back to a relatively normal schedule, holidays aside. He's been busy with gigs and lessons this summer, but the fall will slow down his performance schedule a bit. He'll be picking up some new students this fall, which is exciting.

We did some projects around the house this summer, like power washing the house, staining the deck and ripping up (two!) linoleum floors to tile the kitchen, which looks fantastic. We still need to lay the decorative tile we're going to put down between the kitchen and living rooms, and then the project will be done.

Hannah is growing and changing every day, which is really fun to watch. She's starting to talk a lot and is using to "use her words." We're still attending moms group at Frisbie Hospital on Wednesdays, but that will change after she turns two, because she'll age out of that group at that point. We'll look into going to a story hour at the library at that point, as well as going to play groups with Little Sprouts, which she can stay in until she's 5.

I never got the chance to post her 18 month photos, so I will put them up here:




I'm hoping to start finding some time to get out and do more "adult" stuff on my own too. I joined a knitting group that I haven't gotten to go to once yet, and would love to get there before the end of the year! =) I'm also hoping to maybe join a book group, but I've got so many books I want to read before I get to do that! I'm currently reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer, and before that I read the entire Twilight saga in 8 days (also by Stephenie Meyer), and I have read Lucky by Alice Sebold, The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood, and The Shack by William P. Young, all of which were excellent books. I'm re-reading the Twilight saga as well, but now that I'm on the 4th book again, I've sort of put it back on the back burner so I could get through the rest of my "to read" list. I want to re-read the Chronicles of Narnia for fun, and I want to read Crime and Punishment because I found it at a library book sale for $1. I've also got a copy of Memoirs of a Geisha that I've been looking forward to reading too, and I've had my eye on Unconventional by J.J. Hebert.

I guess that's about all from here. Hope to start getting into posting more often again, now that we'll be back in our routine!

The Good Home Cookbook

A couple of months ago, I signed up to review the Good Home Cookbook. I didn't really know what to expect when I signed up, except that I was looking for good food that was easy to make and wouldn't require too much planning.

What I got was a whole lot more!

The book is full of tips and tricks for preparing different foods, such as chicken, fish, meats, and other things. There are great references for conversions, substitutions, canning and food preparation, among other things. I gave a copy of The Good Home Cookbook to my mother-in-law as well, and we have had fun discussing which recipes we like, and which ones we can't wait to try. My personal favorite is a recipe for steak kababs using a marinade that is so perfect, I use it for tons of stuff! One of my families favorites, too, is the recipe for chicken noodle cassarole.

The thing I like the best about it is that most of the food is all homemade, but using things that are easy to find. I like feeling like I am making the best food choices I can for my family, and this cookbook allows me to do just that. Often times, when I find myself planning meals for the week, all of them come from just flipping the pages of the book and seeing something that looks delicious!

The best part about The Good Home Cookbook is that the recipes aren't intimidating to try, and the ones I have tried have been hard to mess up. Many that I've done even allow some wiggle room for me to make substitutions or eliminations (for mushrooms, for example) that don't cause the final product to be an inedible mess.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking, or is looking for some great, easy, family friendly recipes! Please check it out!

What a week!

Well, for those of you that hadn't already heard, Hannah and I were in a car accident on Tuesday, 5/12. While no one was injured, the car wasn't quite so lucky, and I totaled my 2003 Hyundai Elantra hatchback. It was quite unfortunate because the car was running great, just had two new tires put on it, and everything...
I was driving home from work on Tuesday, and was coming up to an intersection with a stoplight. I noted that the light was green, and figured that the line of traffic would be moving by the time I got there. I set down a container of animal crackers that I had been giving Hannah on the passengers seat. The faux pas was that I also happened to look at the container as I set it down, and when I looked back up, the traffic was not moving, and I hit the car in front of me while driving about 35-40 miles per hour. I slammed on the breaks, but to no avail. I hit him, and he careened into the car in front of him, which, fortunately for me, was an SUV, so there wasn't a ton of damage there.
The car that I hit was also totaled, which makes me feel terrible. The SUV was relatively unscathed, just some bumper damage. Fortunately, there were no injuries, just some bumps and bruises. Also fortunately, my insurance covers most of the cost of a rental car, so I was able to drive one of those until we found a new vehicle, which we did on Sunday.
After lots of test driving and looking, we settled on a used 2008 Chevrolet Malibu LT V6. We went back and forth between an '06 and an '08, but ultimately decided we would get more years out of the newer car, despite them having just about the same number of miles.







Those are the photos of the car we bought off the dealers website. It rides great and is very comfortable inside. The trunk is very, very roomy, so it will serve as a good trip car when we need to take it on long rides.

That's about all the news from here, and that's about all the news I want from here right now! Hoping things go back to normal now!

So much time, so little to do....

...Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. =)

I feel like I haven't done a family oriented post in a while! But, here I am again, and I've got LOADS of pictures to share of Hannah! =)

She and I have been keeping very busy lately. We joined another playgroup, and we get to that when we can. We'll be hosting a playgroup here in May, too, which will be exciting for us!






These are from when our playgroup met at Rochester Commons last week. Hannah thoroughly enjoyed taking advantage of the playgroup, and we hope to get back there again soon!

We had a nice Easter yesterday, though we didn't get to spend it all as a family as I would have liked. John had a gig in York, Maine, so he spent the day with his family. Hannah and I drove to Hancock to visit my family. We had a nice time! It would have been even better had the weather been warmer - it was bordering on downright cold! But our Easter dinner was delish (great job, Dad!) and Hannah got to try eating ham for the first time. She didn't really care for it though. She did a great job sitting through church on Sunday morning, considering the 1h40m drive it took us to get to Hancock BEFORE going to church! The rest of the day, she had a great time playing at Nana and Grandad's house.







I apologize for the "out of order-ness" of these pictures - it's just how they get uploaded. Anyway, I LOVED Hannah's Easter dress this year, and I'm looking for any excuse to have her wear it again, so if anyone has any ideas, let me know!

That's about it from here, though!