Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Boston Museum of Fine Art

One of the best things I did when I first got to Boston was sign up for the Boston Central email. Every Monday it tells you what is going on that week. I found out that the Museum of Fine Art was doing a "kids free" day and there was also a coupon for two adults. So we were able to all get in for free! It would have normally cost us $75 if we had to pay for everyone...



The outside alone is impressive...



I was worried that the kids might think it was boring...but I was wrong!





Keeping Camden off of the exhibits was a little nerve wracking at times...



This ceiling was so beautiful...you could get a sore neck admiring it.




They had a cool station set up for kids to make their own metal goblet art right in the middle of an exhibit. I think it was their favorite part of the visit.




Camden...always the ham.



Sewing is one of my things so I had to include this photo...




I loved this piece. It might seem a little creepy but I think it is just beautiful. I can't get over that it is carved out of marble which is so cold and yet she seems warm and comfortable.




I also LOVED this statue. I love the placement of it. You can see if from outside too. The title had to do with motherhood. I like to think that is how my kids think I view motherhood. Sadly, I'm pretty sure the  facial expressions they see on a regular basis don't reflect that same jubilant feeling plus I always wear clothes....but I do dance, that should count for something :)



They were in the process of restoring this painting. Aric and I couldn't get enough of it. Besides the fact that it was gigantic, the story behind it was insane. Something about the queen and all her children trampling over the people and her husband who didn't like her...lots of interesting symbolism.



Here is the mummy of some poor kid. Isn't it creepy to see what he looked like?



This bust we found interesting because it represented and african young man in Roman times who wasn't a slave but a person of honor...




I found this room quite fun to look at so I took a picture but then quickly got reprimanded for taking a picture...that wasn't allowed in this part of the museum...whoops!



I still can't get over the ENORMOUS size of this painting....Amazing! I would have stared longer but I was so afraid of the grumpy lady who was watching me like a hawk so I wouldn't take anymore pictures of things I wasn't supposed to.



When I asked Aric to send me the pictures that he took that day, these are the pictures he sent, I should have known that I would be getting something special...look closely at the next series of pictures. Do you see a theme??








If you figured out the theme was "mustaches" you are quite observant and you must know my husband well...



Taking the T home...before we got on the train we walked around Northeastern University and found a Qdoba and stopped for dinner. We had fun people watching. I couldn't stop watching a table of people communicating with ASL. It was so fascinating to me. 



 We heart the T...






Getting to and from the museum was quite the trek. We had to take the Red line to the Green line. The Green line is brutal...long, bumpy and smelly...not a good combination for this motion sickness kind of family. I was ready for home by the time we got to our Red line transfer.


It was such a fun fall day. I have lots of favorite days in Boston and this was one of them, mainly because Aric got to experience the fun with us and the kids were great and we all enjoyed our adventure. At one point at dinner I remember looking at each of my kids and Aric, listening to their conversations, I thought to myself how blessed I was to be able to be in that moment, sharing this life with such neat people. Makes me smile remembering it...now that I have it documented I know I will never forget it.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Halloween 2012

This is how you do Halloween on a budget...

You volunteer to help decorate for your church Halloween party. While you are there you mention to a friend who likes to party that you don't have costumes for yourself or your husband. He mentions all the costumes he has and you take up his offer to borrow his Sherlock Holmes costume for your husband.


Then you go in your closet and find what you have that would work as "Holmes". You find this awesome coat you just bought at a 2nd hand store and realize that a hat you just found will work perfectly.

Then you wear your costumes proudly and embarrass your kids by making them take pictures of you posing outside of the church.


The girls costumes cost me a package of white duct tape. I drew bones and cut them out. I'm not gonna lie, that got a little obnoxious because it made my scissors all sticky but it was still totally worth it.

And Camden's costume was a hand me down/gift from cousin Sam and Uncle Tia.




I was pretty excited how we managed to pull off the cheapest Halloween ever!



We had such a fun night hanging out with our fun friends...

Me and Cherise



Rich and Spidey C



Me and Kristen



Eden and Erin playing my favorite game



I was in charge of this game and I was so happy that there were lots of good sports



Trunk or Treat did not disappoint...

Me and Jerrica



Here is C with Mary one of his Sunbeam teachers



I was so impressed with this costume! So cute and creative...



Camden and Vaughan...Vaughan was our costume supplier, he is so awesome!



Jerrica and Julian



Maya and her friend Faith



HaLLoWeeN NiGhT


My Goulish Girlies



I love my Halloween kiddos!


About a week before Halloween I was out trying to find a new running route and ended up finding a great neighborhood near our house to go trick or treating.


We were only out for about 45 minutes and the kids got LOADED! The neighborhood is kind of tucked away and there is only one way into it and out of it. There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood but more older couples so they were happy to dump a ton of candy into the kids buckets.
The girls got lots of compliments on their costumes and that made me happy :)


The costumes were cheap. The weather was awesome. We were out for less than an hour. And the kids got their buckets full. It was hands down the best Halloween ever!