Winter Walk

As much as I am a lover of having four seasons, I have always wished winter could be much shorter than the others. Every year my New Hampshire husband reminds me about layers and I try to focus on how pretty snow is and that there is more indoor time for reading. Still, I miss being outside, and this year I want to make more of an effort to brave the elements.

On a December Saturday morning (mercifully mild) we joined the "Friends of the Blue Hills Reservation" for a Winter walk.

Nana was here for a visit and helped us find things on the scavenger hunt list, such as an "interesting rock".

Sophia loved finding the bear paws that told us which way to go on the trail, and a fallen tree that acted like a "see-saw".

She also loved the freedom to run far ahead without having to think about cars. 

Until she wore her legs out and welcomed her father's shoulders.

First Haircut

While visiting our family in Pennsylvania, Sophia's Nana brought her to her own hairdresser for a very first haircut after 2 1/2 years of hair growing. We weren't particularly sentimental about not cutting it, but only recently had we noticed her trying to brush the hair out of her eyes.

She was provided with three pillows to sit on and a book to read as well as what she called, "a pink cape".

She was encouraged to sit very still, but then wouldn't even speak back to the hairdresser as she was frozen in position.

My Mom had asked to save a few clippings of hair. When we got back to the house and encouraged Sophia to show her Dada, Uncle James and Bop-bop her "haircut" she asked for the bag of cut hair to hand to them.

She was also offered a free manicure, pink sparkles as her color of choice, to complete her new look.

So Much Thanks to Give

Our littlest one's first few weeks with us have been an incredible transition. He is a really content little guy, who likes to eat and sleep most of the time. He smiles with his whole face and is as cuddly as they come. We have been really proud of Sophia, who calls him, "my baby". She has yet to demand that I put him down, but instead points out that there is a side of my body still available to hold her.

We spent thanksgiving this year with Nana, Bop-bop, and Uncle James.

We had the privilege of introducing J to our Pennsylvania friends and family.

Like us, they had been praying for his arrival for the past year and instantly fell in love.

He's Here!

On National Adoption Day 2014 I walked our application for Massachusetts Adoption and Foster Care to the post office.

About a year later we are holding a beautiful baby boy.

We said yes to becoming foster parents with the deep hope of becoming forever parents to this little one.

We aren't permitted to share any pictures of his face online until his adoption is legalized which may take several years. 

We will be taking a brief hiatus from weekly Archive posts while we enjoy snuggling our sweet boy.

Super Sophia

Supergirl hugging Batman

I have enjoyed the surprise of not knowing what Sophia will dress up as for Halloween each year. Each year we have been the grateful recipients of gifted costumes, the first year a hand me down pumpkin, the second a tiger costume from her Grammie and this year supergirl from her Nana. 

The festivities began at the South Shore Children's museum where she got to make her own treat of a toilet paper roll filled with four candies of her choosing wrapped up with a Jack-o-lantern covering.

There was also a Magician to provide the "tricks" portion of 'Trick or Treating'.

Our neighborhood had a pre-trick or treat gathering which included cookie decorating.

Halloween ended with a special visit from friends Kevin, Jessi, and Desmond.

Longest Time Away: Week 3

The third and final week of this grand adventure we drove back to Orlando for a work conference for Joshua and to spend time with Sophia's Nana, Bop-Bop and Uncle James who were flying down to join us.

On this leg of the trip we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot, as well as Universal Studios. We also enjoyed the pool and my Mom and I joined the conference for several sessions about Health Care and Foster Care. After three weeks of warm weather and amusements, we returned to colder temps and a life that we love very much.

Longest Time Away: Week 2

The second week of our longest time away was spent in the Naples, Florida area. There was one week between the big Archambault family trip and a conference in Orlando for Joshua, and it turned out to be cheaper just to stay thanks to a generous friend who wasn't going to  be using their condo.

We spent one of the days at Delnor-Wiggins State Park. It had a beautiful beach and also reminded us of the names in the Beatrix Potter books that we had all been reading together.

One of our favorite things about Sophia is her passion for food. Instead of spending her time building castles she requested a cake that she could decorate and decided to grill some seashells.

She also had some creative ideas back at the house, asking to be given rides in a roasting pan.

In addition to the roasting pan, we also enjoyed some time at the pool.

It was wonderfully shallow for quite a distance.

During the course of the week, we consumed a LOT of Florida oranges.

Even more so than the pool (perhaps tied with the oranges) Sophia would tell you that her highlight was the playground.

My favorite moments were playing Rummy and Boggle on the screened in porch at night with Joshua, a family bike ride, and watching Sophia attempt hide-and-seek with Geckos. I also always love watching her swing with her head tilted back and eyes closed. I took this picture to remind her that it is the best way to truly savor the experience.

Longest Time Away: Week 1

Joshua and I had never been away from our home together for longer than two weeks. We changed that by starting with an adventure that brought 16 Archambaults together under one roof. Our oldest niece is now 13 and our oldest nephew turned 13 while we were there. Their Grandmother had just retired and so the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all met in Orlando for a week in an 8 bedroom house with a pool that got a lot of use. We loved spending time in the house together as well as a few visits to the local attractions.

Sophia started the day at the Typhoon Lagoon water park like this:

And properly ended it like this:



A highlight in between was this:

Sophia and her next oldest cousin Anna (age 7) plotted out their time at SeaWorld with a map: 

  

And enjoyed watching several Shows:

 

 
Their grandmother got to take all of her granddaughters to meet the princesses at the Magic Kingdom:





We loved this very memorable trip and hope it isn't too long until we are all able to make our way from Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont to be together again.