It's the most wonderful time...of the year

I love this time of year. The leaves changing color, the crisp air, apples and cider. All the fairs and carnivals. Warm sweaters, fried dough, salted pumpkin seeds. The list goes on and on. Yesterday the three of us met up with Kara, Rob, and Reillyn for Reillyn's first pumpkin pick. Here are some pictures from the day. Some might be duplicates because I was playing with some new photo software I just got. Enjoy!

Reillyn was so excited about the pumpkins. See the excitement behind those closed eyelids? I love the binkie hanging out of his mouth.

A little distracted

There we go! My little cutie patootie! (BTW this was his first time touching a pumpkin)

I know how to color pumpkins orange!

Cousins

Not sure if you can see in this picture but the cheese says "1 year old". We thought it was cute that the cheese was older than Reillyn. But now that I think about it any consumable, that you digest, that is older than a year, is kind of nasty don't you think?

Are these the cutest kids ever or what?

Yup, me playing again. Now I can color pumpkins, and clothes.

My girl. To me she looks so old in this picture.

After we played on the grass while we enjoyed hot apple fritters, cold cider, and lemonade.

Ha ha ha silly Uncle Rob!

So that was our day. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful brother and sister, and such amazing daughter and nephew. And my husband is great too!

Uncle Pete's camera work

Took these 2 pics from Uncle Pete's blog. These were taken at the game yesterday

Reillyn stopping the soccer ball. Is he gonna be a goalie like his Godfather?

Jules. Not sure what she is doing but she looks good doing it!

No pictures, not much to report

Let's see what have we done in the last few days?

Yesterday Julia had a soccer game. As did Abby and Molly. I was able to catch a little bit of Molly's game because the field she was playing on was pretty close. But Abby, she was all the way at the other end, so I missed hers. Mema, Papa, Auntie Kara, Uncle Rob, and Reillyn came to cheer Julia on. Team pictures were yesterday. I'm waiting on my cousin Kasey to post them because I forgot my camera. As soon as they appear on her blog I will post here. Which reminds me school pictures should be coming up.

After the game Mema invited us all over for dinner. I think this is a nice Wednesday post game tradition we are starting here.

Today the highlight of my day is the Grey's Anatomy season premier. Sad I know. I am sitting here in my jammies, drinking my Dr. Pepper, eating Reese's peanut butter bars that I made last night, blogging during the commercials, and loving my favorite T.V. show. The husband is at poker. The kid is snoozing. Me time rocks!

Changing the world one med at a time

Ok for those of you that don't know this is the Humira Pen. I used this for about 4 months before switching over to the regular syringe. Like most, I opted for the pen because all you do is take the cap off of each end, press it to your skin, and hit the button. It's spring loaded. Needle goes in, you get your meds, you are done. What they never told me was how painful it is. I actually started taking apart these pens and then I would have someone manually inject the meds.

Here's the interesting part. When you take this apart by just popping off one end, you separate the syringe from the plunger. The plunger is still attached to the button that you press to inject the meds. To detach it you can press the button and the plunger literally goes flying across the room and hits the wall. Reminds me of the force that makes a cork fly through the air from a champagne bottle. The spring that creates the force is almost the length of the cylinder you see above. If you place a hand on either side of the spring to push the coils together, you can't. It's to hard. I have had several people try, grown men, and they have not been successful.

So then I got to thinking. No wonder the shot was so painful. All that force, for a tiny needle, and only .08ml of meds.

2 weeks ago I saw my nurse up in Boston. She has been dead set against the pen because of the pain and the anxiety it creates for her patients. I would, no joke, sit there for 2 hours sometimes trying to get the courage up to press the button. Ok so 2 weeks ago I actually take a pen apart in front of my nurse and her mouth drops to the floor. She asks if she can keep the pieces, especially the spring. Which she can't push together either. A Humira rep happens to come in that day and she shows him. Then over the course of the week some more reps visit and she shows them.

Now here's the good part. One of the reps actually takes the spring. My nurse then gets a call some time later. Humira....ready for this?......is changing the design of the pen (for real) and may call me regarding this. How about that? Changing the world one med at a time!!!

Fairy Princess Cooking

Julia has been hosting a cooking show for a few weeks. Tonight we taped her most recent show. I was running out of batteries so we had to made it short. She has made an array of different dishes from popsicles to cookies with fruit jelly to celery and peanut butter with raisins. Tonight's dish ~ Granola Bananas.

To make this you will need:

a banana cut in half (width)

your favorite yogurt

granola

toothpicks

Click below for the recipe via the video clip

Stay tuned for more episodes of Fairy Princess Cooking!

Monday Monday.....

Hello Internet! Not much to report on this Monday afternoon. The weekend flew by! Yesterday was a busy day. Our Goddaughter turns 7 on the 26th so we went to her birthday party. Her little sister just turned 2 so we celebrated her birthday also. Didn't take any pics though. Was to tired.

After the party Joe and I left town. We headed to a 5 star resort in Jamaica! Julia stayed with Joe's parents because she has school today. But we called her to say good night though so that's not bad parenting right? So back to Jamaica...We arrived about 7:30 last night. We were greeted by the Resorts CEO and a few others (that were there to use the amenities). We were fed a wonderful dinner. The spread included tons of fresh veggies all grown locally. A salad with feta cheese and avocado, and an African stew with pineapple....mmmmm. Then it was off to bed in a room the color of the ocean. We woke up this morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee...ok fantasy over. All was true but misleading. We were in Jamaica Plain, in Boston, at Tara and Michael's. They let us bunk there last night because we had to be at BIDMC at 7:30 a.m. this morning. We just got home and it's already been a long day so off to rest before the kiddo gets off the bus.

See you soon!

My baby turned 6 and another Boston visit

My baby girl turned 6 this past Sunday! I can not believe how fast time flew by. She is an amazing kid with HUGE heart! She still cracks me up with her comments and blows me away with her innocence. On Thursday we went to her 6 year appointment and I told her how the doctor will be shining a light in her eye and she said "oh remind me to bring my sunglasses" She is progressing right on target. In the words of her doctor "Julia you are just perfect". She is 47 inches tall and 46 pounds. Not to big not to small. PERFECT!

Last Sunday we celebrated her birthday with a party at Mema and Papas. Below are some pictures from the day. Julia is so lucky to have so many people that love her and wanted to celebrate.

Abby, Julia, Katie, and Annie on the swing set.

Just Julia

Auntie Meg (Julia's godmama), Lizzie, and Uncle B

Christin and Alyssa

My God daughter sporting the pinata on her head

Abby was so flippin cute with this ribbon. She put it on her head "look Auntie Brigid, a hat!" she put them on her feet "look Auntie Brigid, shoelaces!" You get the idea.

Opening gifts

Blowing out the candles. Auntie Ann made a beautiful Barbie cake for Julia and tons of cupcakes on the side.

Katie

Ellie

Lizzie

Abby, Julia, Tyler, and Peter bouncing

Tyler

The men watching the game

Tyler and Peter

Katie and Annie

Molly and John

Katie sporting her new hat

Joe and Uncle Glenn

Julia, Mrs. Nelson, and Tommy

Daddy was pooped at the end of the party

Watch out Papa!

Thank you so much to everyone that helped out, setting up, cooking, baking, and breaking down the party. It was greatly appreciated.

On Wednesday Joe and I went to Boston to meet with a neurologist recommended by my rheumatologist and I received my first dose of the new medication we are trying. I don't want to go into to much detail on that because hey we are on the Internet and I do want to keep some things private. Seriously I can not believe the things that are revealed on some blogs and facebook statuses. But I am going off on a tangent here.

If you would like to know anything about the visit please call.

On Wednesday, straight from Boston, we went to Julia's open house and we met her teacher. We also found out that Julia is part of an enrichment program headed up by her teacher. It's a program that basically challenges the more advanced students. So proud of my girl. Then right from open house we went to Julia's soccer game. Mema, Papa, Auntie Kara, and Reillyn came out to cheer her on. After the game we all went back to Mema and Papa's and hung out for a bit.

I will leave you with this last bit of exciting news. From Mon-Wed my sister's husband Rob was away on business. When Rob came home Wed night he was greeted by his son, who looked at him and said "dada". His first word!

Have a great, safe weekend!

Happy Shower Day Meghan!

Today we went to my cousin Meghan's bridal shower. She and Tim are getting married next month. Meghan had no clue about the shower and thought she was just coming to lunch with her friends after a sat morning pedi. Julia was asked to be the flower girl because Meghan is her Godmother. (you know I'll be posting pictures of that) So here are just a few pictures from the day. I didn't take much but it's better than nothing.

Julia, Abby, and Molly playing nice for once.
My mom and Auntie Pat
Ursula, Cassy, and Emily
Julia and Auntie Kara

This was my favorite gift. From Lisa! I guess Tim has been wanting this for a while. It keeps the beer keg fresh for 30 days.

Molly helping Meghan open her gift
Karen got a little hungry
Johanna got a little teary eyed
The girls waiting for Auntie Meg to start opening gifts

A better angle. Julia loved the heart cookies with the "L" for Lawrence

All these gifts!

Meghan trying to convince Tim that there were to many gifts to fit in his truck.

Off to get ready for tomorrow. Gotta be up early. See you then with lots more pics!

First Soccer Game and my visit to Boston

On Wed we braved the first cold day of fall and went to Julia's first soccer game. Joe, Mema, Papa, Grammie and I cheered from the sidelines and we couldn't have been prouder. Julia made friends fast with her team. I was a little nervous about that because her whole team goes to Rocky Hill schools. Molly and Abby also had their games. Luckily Abby's game was right next to Julia's so I was able to get a few shots.

Abby and Julia

Team Westside huddle

Not sure what this is all about

Watching her teammates

Abby's got the ball!

Go Julia

Goalie! Following in her Daddy's footsteps

Good game, good game, good game, good game....It was cute because at first the kids had no idea what to do.

So day 1 was a success. I say that because my kid was not the one crying and she had a blast. This weekend my baby girl turns 6 so we will have lots of pictures. I can't believe she's that old!

On a different note Joe and I went to Boston on Wed morning for my monthly check up with my doctor. We are trying another course of treatment because we aren't getting the results that we had hoped for. I have to go to Boston every 2 weeks for IV treatments. Joe has been taking so much time off that I don't want to abuse the generosity of his boss. If anyone thinks they can take a ride up to Boston with me I'd appreciate it. It's not a bad ride and I sing to my iPod pretty well. Just Facebook me if you are interested.

So that's all I have for you. Oh I want to give a shout out to my cousin Beth. Great job with the blogging. I loved seeing the pictures of where you live and what you see everyday. Love you much! Bye all!