We Love Lego's.

Jacob has been working on the same Lego creation for a couple of weeks now. It is a Lego Base, a complete city for his Lego guys. The base includes everything from a store, to a jail, a restroom and a restaurant. He wanted me to post some pictures on the blog. Jacob is the photog who took the pictures.


An aerial shot of the base - taken from the Hood Blimp (ha,ha)


Lego guys cooking


A view from the front


Careful that burner is hot!


And finally - the restrooms.

Jacob would like everyone to know that he thinks "This is my best creation yet." and that the "The base is called the Lizard's Headquarters."

The Agony of being a UNH Hockey Fan

The sad UNH players

Many of you know that George and I are dedicated UNH Hockey fans. We have been season ticket owners for 10 years now and hockey is a big part of our lives in the fall and winter. UNH always puts a good team together and does well in the regular season but just can’t win in the playoffs. This has become very frustrating to UNH fans as they watch UNH do well each year but then lose very early in the playoffs and tournament games.

Last night was the perfect example of this – UNH was playing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They were a number one seed and were playing Notre Dame, a number four seed. So overall UNH is number four in the country and playing a team ranked 12th in the country. Also, the Notre Dame team had not won more than 2 games in the two months.

So the stage is set and George and I are feeling confident. The boys are watching the game too and Benny is cheering “UNH, UNH”.

UNH scored just minutes into game. George and I both jumped up from our seats. We were feeling good. "Wohoo!" I yell.

Then Notre Dame scored a minute later on their first shot of the game and on a shot that should have been stopped by our goal tender. That was too much for me so I got a glass of white wine.

UNH then scored a couple of minutes later to go up 2-1 and confidence was once again restored in the Snow household. UNH controlled play for a bit but then seemed to falter. They took a late penalty at the end of the period which put Notre Dame on the power play. (Side note: At this point they had not called a penalty on Notre Dame so George and I were getting upset with the referee as well.)

Notre Dame tied it up on their power play and went into the locker room tied at 2-2. The momentum had turned and Notre Dame was feeling confident whereas the UNH players and fans were wondering what was happening to their top team.

Notre Dame carried that confidence into the second period and scored two goals in a row to lead 4-2. At this point I threatened to turn off the TV but George wanted to watch the game so I grabbed a cookbook and looked for some good dessert recipes while keeping an eye on the game.

I was starting to feel very bad for our goaltender too. He had been the backbone of the team and had only allowed 4 or more goals in a couple of games all year. So this was not the time for him to have a bad day.

UNH was able to score later in the 2nd period to bring it to within one goal. Perhaps they had weathered the storm and would come out strong in the 3rd period.

The 3rd period revival never occurred. Notre Dame scored 23 seconds into the period – I actually missed the goal because I was refilling my wine glass.

After that it was all over – Notre Dame scored a couple of empty net goals and ended up winning 7-3. So another sad morning for UNH fans across New Hampshire – each of us wondering what this team needs to do to win in the playoffs and to take it to the next level.

No need to worry – the Snow family is okay. We are used to this. But we did talk about ending this misery and not getting season tickets anymore...I think George was joking.

Another Snow Day!

The snow is falling again and they are forecasting anywhere from 2 - 8 inches. Jacob's school has closed but George's school has not. A unique situation for our family because George's school is usually one of the first to close. I will be home with the boys today working from home and refereeing the various board games, Lego building and video game playing that will take place throughout the day. No complaints - although it will be tough when the kids are still in school in late June.

Thursday Night Follies!

After dinner Benny and I played some board games. (This is our new thing - really a low-tech replacement for video games.) Once again I lost at Chutes and Ladders. We then moved on to Memory and Benny beat me at that too! (I was trying.)

George then joined us. Benny referred to George as "the Master" and sure enough George beat both of us. Benny later got his revenge and beat George. And George never lets another person (adult or child) win any type of game so I know that Benny beat him fair and square.


Benny did try to look at the cards while George posed for the picture.


Jacob was finishing his reading homework and wanted to have his drawing of a helicopter posted on the blog.


My studious son...


Jacob's masterpiece!

Counting the days.....

Until we can open up the pool.




We have been telling ourselves that we will open the pool during April vacation week, but I am not sure the snow will be gone by then.

I had to head on campus today at work and the UNH students were enjoying the warm weather in their flip flops, tank tops, shorts, and sandals. I am sure it is only a matter of days before they are outside sunning themselves and showing off their trim little bodies! (Oh, to be 19 again!)

Years ago when I first started working at UNH, I used to think that people might mistake me for a student. Now, 2 kids and 10 years later, I don't worry about that as much - especially when the students refer to me as "Ma'am" as in "Yes Ma'am", "Here's your change Ma'am".

Easter or Christmas? Too much stuff....

The Easter Loot - all of this for two kids!

The Easter Bunny was far too generous to my kids this year. Jacob and Benny were at my parent's house for Friday and Saturday night as George and I had a weekend away in Boston to watch UNH hockey. (Sadly the hockey team lost but we still had fun!) So, the Easter Bunny visited Grandma and Grandpa's house to deliver their Easter baskets, hide eggs and leave other gifts. It took George far too many trips to pack up the car and I wondered how things go so out of control. I thought that the Easter Bunny had cut back this year.

Easter gifts had been arriving in the mail too - both Grammy and Grampy sent cards with a little green stuff enclosed! The kids understand what cash is all about and were both very excited. (Thank you cards are on the way!)

We did have a wonderful Easter dinner at my parent's and it was great to catch up with my family. It was a pretty calm day since the boys are now board game enthusiasts and Benny can beat anyone at Chutes and Ladders. He trash talks pretty good for a 5 year old too. I wonder who he got that from? Jacob also took out Grandpa and Uncle Billy at poker but alas could not beat his father.

Easter Eggs

Jacob likes eggs; Benny is not so sure.....

We colored Easter Eggs this evening. I boiled a dozen and ended up losing 4. They cracked when I put them into the boiling water. (George told me I was not using the right spoon and that I had to be careful!) I had never had this happen before. Naturally this frustrated me, so I went on-line to see what other techniques I could have tried - the put in the pan first technique, the boil, remove and cover approach, or the boil for 15 minutes and don't worry about the grey ring around the yolk method. When did things get so complicated?

The boys were not concerned though and had fun sloshing the eggs into the cups of dye. Jacob wanted to eat one of the eggs that did not make it. Benny gave the egg a smell and then a funny look and opted not to eat it.

"Peep Show"

My friend Julie, who is stationed in Hawaii as her husband is in the Army, sent this picture to me in email. She said it totally cracked her up and I agree! Very funny stuff. Notice the appropriate clothing choices for the bunnies!

Poker, Puppies and Good Pals

It was a busy, but fun weekend for the Snow's. Originally we had planned to visit The Putnam family, old friends from college who live in NY, but it turned out we had too much to do this weekend between Jacob's hockey, UNH hockey and the dog show.

The weekend started out with Jacob's hockey practice on Friday night. After that a few friends came over to play poker and so Mr. Lewis, Colin, Bill, George and I settled down to a tense evening of Texas Hold Em. I played pretty well and ended up coming in 2nd place for one of the games. Luckily, the Snow family had a good showing overall and we made back our buy-ins. If I keep it up could I be a contender for the World Series of Poker bracelet? (Not!)


The coveted bracelet

On Saturday Jacob had his buddy Brendan over and the boys entertained themselves with computer games, Lego's and wrestling. Below is a picture of the boys building their Lego creations.


Brendan and Jacob are Lego masters!

On Sunday we decided it was time to give the boys haircuts so George got out the trusty clippers and went to town. Look how handsome they look!

Ben and Jacob after their buzz cuts!

After the haircuts we then headed out to the dog show to meet some of the Field Spaniel breeders. I have been interested in getting a Field Spaniel and have been researching the breed. The show was excellent and it was very exciting to see so many beautiful dogs altogether in one place. The Field Spaniel breeders were very nice to us. It looks like we passed their review and should be able to get a dog for the summer. So hopefully in a few months we'll have a new addition to the family and will welcome home a cutie-pie like the one below. How exciting!

A future member of the Snow family?

In case anyone is interested, the UNH hockey team won their quarter-final games this weekend and is now headed down to the TD Banknorth Garden next week for the Hockey East championship games. George and I will be there to cheer the Wildcats onto victory. We also plan to visit our favorite stomping grounds, The Boston Beerworks, and have a draft or two in honor of UNH! (Yummy Blueberry Beer!)


Way to go Cats!

Memory Lane.....The Sofarelli Sisters

In our Easter finest


We loved our Cabbage Patch Kids!

I may get picked on by some bloggers (Colin - I am speaking of you here), but I have posted some old pictures of me and my two sisters, Michele and Elizabeth. I am 3 years older than Michele and 10 years older than Elizabeth. I had very short hair while I was growing up and I was all about the 80's fashion. (At least I thought so at the time!) Now, if I could only find some pictures from my neon fashion phase!

Wacky Tag!

Here is the latest “tag” from my blog friends. You know the drill...

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes, I love it in salads – blue cheese and pecans are a great combination. And blue-cheese dressing is wonderful on chicken fingers. It is stinky but so good!

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No, not into drugs. And if I ever did heroin I would end up like Amy Winehouse but without the ability to sing or write songs! I would be a talent-less mess!

3. Do you own a gun? No.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I have never been to Sonic but I like their commercials. My kids are familiar with the Sonic Heroes video game though. (Ha, ha!)

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Yes, I get nervous before doctor and dentist appointments. My heart rate goes up and I perspire.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I love hot dogs on the grill in the summer. At our house, we have hot dogs as an appetizer before moving onto the rest of the meal!

7. Favorite Christmas movie? It’s a Wonderful Life but The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is also up there! (And I have to admit that I did watch some Christmas movie that stars Vanessa Williams over and over one holiday season.)

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee but I can’t have too much or I get shaky and nauseous.

9. Can you do push ups? Yes, but the girlie ones with my knees bent.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? It is a tie between my engagement ring and the necklace that Jacob made me.

11. Favorite hobby? Cooking, watching trashy TV about people trying to excel at superficial things.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? No but sometimes a touch of OCD.

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I am sometimes too hard on myself about things that don’t really matter and will obsess about pretty meaningless things such as mundane conversations with neighbors, co-workers.

14. Middle name? Michele. It is also one of my sister’s first names.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: Am I sharing too much?; I need to get up early to exercise; and I can’t wait to have a bowl of cereal for a snack.

16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: Gas, cup of coffee at work, nothing else.

17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, coffee and (surprise) white wine.

18. Current worry? Benjamin, our 5 year old, has been a bit too aggressive at school and sometimes at home. So I am concerned this is more than a phase and I’ll end up with a brute for a son!

19. Current hate right now? Nothing really – I spend more time worry than hating.

20. Favorite place to be? At home with George and the kids.

21. How did you bring in the New Year? Visiting old friends in Stratham and enjoying Chinese food!

22. Where would you like to go? I would love to go to Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun with George for a long-weekend get-away.

23. Name three people who will complete this: Most of my blog friend are way ahead of me and have already completed this.

24. Do you own slippers? I do but don’t wear them.

25. What shirt are you wearing? A black long-sleeve shirt with a black sweater.

26. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Never tried it but seems too slippery for me.

27. Can you whistle? Yes.

28. Favorite color? Black.

29. Would you be a pirate? No. No stability and I don’t care for rum.

30. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don’t sing in the shower.

31. Favorite girl's name? Abigail (Abby)

32. Favorite boy's name? Jacob & Benjamin

33. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing

34. What's something that made you laugh today? Sadly I can’t remember a specific thing but I was happy today.

35. Best bed sheets as a child? Nothing in particular.

36. Worst injury you've ever had? I never got really hurt as a kid – no broken bones, no crazy trips to the ER. No big mishaps as an adult either.

37. Do you love where you live? Yes, I never thought I would have a house as nice as our current home in such an inviting, friendly neighborhood. Even though it has been 5 years since we bought our current house, George and I still remark on how fortunate we are.

38. How many TVs do you have in your house? Four

39. Who is your loudest friend? My friend from college Laura.

40. How many dogs do you have? None right now, but we are looking to get a new dog this summer. We did have a golden retriever who passed away last spring.

41. Does someone have a crush on you? No.

42. What is your favorite book? Hard to say, there are quite a few that are up there.

43. What is your favorite candy bar? Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. There have been times when I could not stop eating these.

44. Favorite Sports Team? UNH Hockey.

45. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping.

46. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? "I am so tired. I am not going to shower.”

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Memory Lane.....Our First Anniversary

The Happy, Young Couple

In "My Favorite Things" post I mentioned that the favorite gift I gave someone was surprising George on our 1st anniversary with a horse and buggy ride into downtown Portsmouth. My parents read my post and then my dad scanned the picture of us arriving at the restaurant. (My parents also had dinner plans in Portsmouth that night and made a point of getting a picture of us on our big arrival!) The picture was taken on June 3, 1996 - look how young and innocent we look. George looks like a kid!

My Favorite Things

Each player uses this list. The person who is tagged needs to post the list on their blog, answer the questions about their favorite things and post these rules.

At the end of your blog, you need to choose one person to be "it" and list their name/blog. Don't forget to leave a comment on their blog telling them they are tagged and to read your blog.

Favorite food: Mexican, but I also like a good thin crust pizza and I can never turn down pasta in a seafood cream sauce.

Favorite dessert: Peanut butter and chocolate desserts – especially when they are together as in peanut butter chocolate cheesecake or peanut butter fantasy ice cream (from Annabelle’s in downtown Portsmouth)

Favorite vacation destination: Las Vegas – been there twice loved it each time!

Favorite song: Dave Matthew’s Band “Grace is Gone” but I still enjoy our wedding song Bob Seger “You’ll Accompany Me” (George used to sing that song to me in college.)

Favorite outfit: Dark jeans, black v-neck top, black boots, warm socks

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Favorite season: Summer…the sun, the pool, the mixed drinks (oops – get to that later), kayaking, the beach, and the overall slower pace of life!

Favorite book/author: I really enjoyed the comedy/mystery books by Carl Hiassen – he is a Florida based author who writes these crazy stories about unsavory characters – he can be a bit crude, but his stories are entertaining.

Favorite Movie: Last of the Mohicans

Favorite magazine: Southern Living – good decorating and great recipes!

Favorite sport: College hockey – especially UNH Hockey

Favorite cocktail/drink: My favorite all purpose drink is white wine. In the summer I enjoy frozen drinks and a frozen mudslide sure hits the spot. If I need to have a fancy drink and order a “proper” cocktail then I’ll go for a lemon drop martini.

Favorite TV show: Project Runway

Favorite gift you ever received: Several years ago my oldest son Jacob made a necklace for me at a paint your own pottery place. I would have liked it no matter what it looked like, but he did a wonderful job and it looks like a professional piece of jewelry. I cried when he gave it to me.

Favorite gift you ever gave: For our 1st anniversary I surprised George and arranged for a horse and buggy to pick us up at our apartment. We lived in Portsmouth at the time, so the buggy took us for a tour of downtown Portsmouth while we had some champagne and then took us to dinner. I am typically a bad gift giver when it comes to George and I don’t plan surprises well so it was a miracle that I pulled this off.

Favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon: A lazy day at home with the family, listening to music and reading while the kids play Lego’s or do their crafty projects.

Favorite Date night: Dinner in downtown Portsmouth with George – a cozy restaurant in the winter and dinner/drinks on the decks in the summer.

Favorite animal: Dogs, but frogs are a close second.

Favorite blog site: The Shaughnessy Tribe – since this is how this blogging stuff got started for me!

I now tag the Ault Family! : )

Uncle Colin is Back!

Colin playing poker and losing the chip lead.

George's brother Colin just moved back to NH! We are all excited to have him back in the area. The boys are especially happy to have Uncle Colin nearby. We celebrated his homecoming by playing some poker. As usual, I lost first and then George and Colin traded chips back and forth for a while. George ended up chip champ once again.

Trains at Big Grandma's

Benny thinks trains are exciting!

Head on collision. Yikes!!

Benny and Grandpa.

We went to my Grandma's house for dinner on Thursday night. She made up a big pot of her famous spaghetti sauce, which she refers to as "gravy". We all enjoyed her delicious baked ziti. (And in keeping with my goal to drink red wine I had a glass or two of Cabernet Sauvignon.) After dinner the boys headed down to her basement to play with my grandfather's trains.