It’s been a little more than a year since we moved to North Kingstown and I’m very sad to say that we’re moving again. My husband has been accepted into Carnegie Mellon’s MBA program in Pittsburgh as a full-time student. It’s an unexpected surprise that we’re actually leaving, but the opportunity for Erik to expand on his education for a better career is too good to pass up.  While it’ll be two years until we can move again, we’ve fallen in love with North Kingstown and are keeping it on our list of potential areas to move back to. So, for this column, I’d like to dedicate it to the town of …

It was inevitable. I knew from the moment I watched my oldest go down a slide for the first time that she was going to be trouble. Most kids will go down a slide feet first and be hesitant. Not my Ava.  She practically dove down the slide and, of course, she had to do it her own way, which was head first and not feet first. Luckily there was a pile of leaves at the bottom of the slide for her to crash into, making a soft and fun landing for her and causing a wave of panic for me!  I’m not sure if it’s just because she’s my first and I have this innate instinct to be overprotective, but I fuss…

Trying to find places to go with children during any months of the year can be challenging. During the past year I’ve explored new places, but getting the information on where to go and what to see was challenging to say the least. Much of what I learned was from word of mouth – which beaches were the best for children, favorite family playgrounds (Wilson Park was a fan favorite of several people) and of course family friendly events in the area. However, not being close to family and dealing with new experiences with young children on my own, I’ve sometimes found myself going back and …

Anyone who has children knows there are certain things that seem to keep getting put off. Dentist appointments are a big one, mostly because we all don’t want to hear that taboo word, cavities. The dentist I don’t mind so much, but I dread going to the eye doctor.  I haven’t quite figured out what it is exactly, but I have a couple of theories. One, I have terrible eyesight. I don’t think I’m considered legally blind yet, but I make a conscious effort to not walk very far without either my contacts in or glasses on. Unfortunately, in the past I’ve mistaken items for something they were not …

Being pregnant was one of the most wonderful experiences in my life.  I loved being pregnant and it’s been hard for me to slow down with just my two girls, because my Irish, Catholic genes are screaming at me to put yet another bun in the oven. However, with our busy schedules and crazy days with our two young girls, I can’t even utter the words “I’m late” or “just one more” without my husband breaking into a sweat of panic. Ok, I’ll admit, sometimes just to mess with him I’ll say, “I’m late…in putting supper together” or “just one more...load and I’m done with the laundry”.  However, until …

Before Easter we had the girls' pictures taken together (Perfectly Imperfect Pictures) and while we had some great pictures, it was a crazy experience with both girls going in opposite directions.  I really wanted to get some family photos (and I want to keep it a annual tradition from here on out), but decided to practice picture taking with the girls beforehand. With some time, both girls learned to pose and say “cheese” for my little digital camera and even learned that mommy’s camera is slow so  hold the pose for a few seconds.  I would reward them by showing them their picture, which was…

Erik and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on June 24 and were ecstatic to do so and still like each other! We started reminiscing about what we’d done over the past few years – successfully moving seven times and having two adorable girls were some of the highlights. We decided to celebrate our life together with the two people that make up the center of it, Ava and Izabelle. I planned an afternoon beach getaway later in the afternoon so that we could just spend a couple of hours while the girls cooled off in the ocean. Any longer than that and we run the risk of getting their fair …

I’m usually not too picky of a person when it comes to exercise equipment, but lately just taking a glimpse at the treadmill gives me a feeling of dejection. I love the endorphin rush I get with running, but I’ve gotten bored with the monotonous routine of jogging in a place with little to take in aesthetically. Remembering that Sarah Simeone had written an article months back on places in North Kingstown to jog,  I took a look and planned a new, outdoor running routine. Wanting to keep my first outdoor running experience easy and convenient I decided to try out the Quonset bike path – mile …

We all know some sayings about men, and of course I use them for my husband all the time.  “Men are like trees: they take forever to grow up” and even Confucius said, “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” However, in my experience, nothing changes a man more than the day they become a father. I made a conscious effort while birthing my girls to glimpse over at my husband to see how he was holding up. He was a little pale in the face, but he hung in there well. When our first daughter Ava made her appearance and he held her for the first time, the expression on his face was one …

After a very long and exhausting day, in which my ears were almost to the point of bleeding from the screaming coming from my youngest, I gave my sister in Maine a call.  “Please tell me you have a weekend free to come and visit me? Erik and the girls are driving me nuts!” Bless her heart, you can’t blame her for not wanting to come down (Izabelle has quite the lung capacity), but she did some research and sent me an email with a link to Greyhound Bus’ website.  “Why don’t you come to Portland and help me with my last wedding dress fitting?” Amanda said. What a great idea! That’s where I’m …

I feel as though I’m getting a little lazy now that the days are getting sunnier and longer. While I usually try to get the girls out of the house to explore, lately I’ve been letting them out to play in the fenced in patio while I sunbathe and read a book. However, there’s one thing that the girls always seem to want when the thermometer rises. Ice cream.  I’ve heard from one of my high school friends who went to school at the University of Rhode Island that Del’s is the place to try and she couldn’t believe that we hadn’t been there yet. However, I still haven’t gone. I usually take the …

Is it summer yet? This is all I’ve been hearing from my grumpy husband as we’ve had day after day of rainy weather. You would think he’d be used to it, especially since Maine has an annual precipitation of more than 40 inches (almost 80 inches in snow accumulation as well).  After about two weeks of fog and rain, the sun decided to pay North Kingstown a visit. To take advantage of the nice weather – being that the weather forecasted rain in the near future – we went to Wilson Park in North Kingstown.  I’m really a fan of this park, mostly because of the playground, but also for the soccer …

After spending the past three months sweating and training over the Mill Creek Community gym equipment, I was starting to get bored with my daily workouts.  I’m not sure if I’m just the type of person who needs a little adventure or change, but when I start getting bored with my workouts I workout less. In order to keep my momentum going I decided it might be time to try some aerobic classes, but where would I go to do that and when would I have time?  Honestly, I drive past the West Bay YMCA almost every other day and I’ve noticed the parking lot full of minivans and SUVs, but for some …

It’s that time of year again. The air is warm and fresh, but the bugs, ants and creepy crawlers have decided to invade your porch steps and some even penetrate inwards to the kitchen. This propels my husband and I forward in a frantic spring cleaning phase. However, this year I decided to play hooky and scheduled a visit to a local hair and nail place called Studio 401.  My neighbor was nice enough to give me a referral card, to which she would save $15 and I would as well and she also raved about Shellac. I don’t get out very much (and manicures in my mind are a waste of money since they …

It’s Mother’s Day weekend. I’ve done my due diligence, sent out the cards and flowers to those special women in my life and now I’m going to recognize not only some wonderful moms in North Kingstown, but also some other women who inspire me as mothers.  First off, I would like to start with two fellow columnist, Cheryl Butler and Michelle Girasole. Both wonderful writers and wonderful mothers. Cheryl, being the mother of eight not only deserves a medal, but a bottle of wine for relaxation after her hectic days. Michelle, who I’ve been lucky enough to meet in person, is a wonderful, caring …

In one of my previous columns – “Tis The Season” – I wrote about a not-so-great experience with a big chain photography session we had outside of North Kingstown. I also had people send me some great information on local photographers for future professional family portraits (which I’m going to decide on one once the weather is a little nicer). However, the opportunity arose for a 15-minute Easter photo session through the Washington County Mom’s Meetup group here in Saunderstown. I just couldn’t pass it up, even if I was a little apprehensive about my two girls' lack of interest in having …

Spring brings with it flowers, birds (for those of us in the northern part of the U.S. at least), the abundance of pastel colors and a favorite among the children – the Easter Bunny and his basket of goodies.  My mom is and always was great with holidays, from the big ones (Christmas and Easter, for example) to the smaller ones  (St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day).  So when it came time for me to strap on the motherhood suspenders, I certainly had a good example to follow. However, my mom possesses a certain talent I have yet to find in myself – the gift of coordinating colors, gifts and …

It’s inevitable when you move away from family that they’ll eventually come to visit. Surprisingly for us, everyone decided to come and visit around the same time, making it a whirlwind of stress in April. Well, at least stressful for me and the cleaning products and hardware I tend to take it out on. I’m not sure why women do their heavy duty cleaning when they have company coming, but I’m just as guilty as the rest.  While I don’t mind spaghetti stains on the floor, the piles of laundry in the downstairs bathroom, or a few spots on the carpet I’m always afraid that company will.  Then there…

It’s certainly not the best feeling in the world – to flush the toilet and see it not swirl in perfect harmony clockwise and downwards. I certainly didn’t like the fact that my oldest daughter was the recipient of a slow-draining toilet, but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that the project of fixing it was well out of my hands. While I see myself as an intelligent person – except on those mornings when the coffee is running low and I didn’t think to stock pile it in the fridge – I knew this would have to be one of those moments when I pleaded idiocy.   For the last several months I’…

I’m always looking for something to do in the middle of the week to get out and play with the kids.  While we haven’t seen everything that North Kingstown has to offer, we’ve certainly put a impressive dent in the list of indoor play areas. So, you can imagine my excitement when a new business moved into town geared towards children and moms. After reading Elise Burroughs' article on Kite Tails in North Kingstown, I knew I just had to go and check it out.  In January I joined a Mommy & Me weight loss challenge to help me shed the rest of the baby weight I gained from both my daughters. I’m …