Monday, May 31, 2010

A Lake Break

We decided to make a last minute trip to the lake this weekend with Brett's family.  We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather!  S and J had a fabulous time....and aside from a few little brother/sisterly arguments...I must say they were good little munchkins..especially during the car rides.  Joseph stays pretty well occupied just watching all the cars and trucks on the highway and hanging on to lolli's...and well Miss Sophia had some fun with Daddy's new games on his phone....and coloring of course!

The pool on the dock is always as source of fun at the lake....




Joseph was pretty excited about the big boats this year....and was anxious to ride on Omi and Papa's!  Here are a few pics from our outing on Saturday morning...

Juice time is always a treat!!

A BIG thank you to Omi and Papa for catching and holding tight to my little mover.....he wanted to move all over the boat...press all of the buttons... and of course honk the horn.


A family picture... and look who's driving!!! :)


Another exciting event.....  Look what Omi found for S and J.....

It was small....

Spotty,

It hopped...AND Miss Sophia....LOVED to hold it..... Can you guess yet???

Ribbit!  She named it Prince Naveen of Maldonia, from Princess and the Frog, of course!!!

And believe it or not...she willingly agreed to let him go...back to FREEDOM.  A few tears were shed afterwards....but she was pretty proud of herself for letting him go back where he belonged.  I can't believe my pretty little princess likes to hold frogs... oh my.....

And had to get a few pics of the little man's hat... it was pretty cute.  He had some fun sharing it with daddy too!!


Thanks for a fun time, Omi, Papa, and Auntie E.  Hope everyone had a great Memorial weekend!  Glad summer is here!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Good-Bye Kindergarten....


Teacher gifts this year...
included... home-made flower pens and of course COOKIES.  We also gave Border's gift certificates (hidden behind the flower pots) because BOOKS are one of our most favorite things!

Do you remember this little girl??


Well....some how, in some way....she became a FIRST grader.  I am still in shock.  I want her to stay this age forever... I want her to come home for lunch every day..... I want to read Junie B with her every afternoon....



When I asked her what it felt like to be a first grader...she told me...."MOMMY!!!.... I'm still a kindergardener until first grade starts next year!"

I think I like that answer.

I am so proud of this little girl....Just the other day we got a letter from Sophia's school announcing...that they were pleased to inform us that Sophia's art work had been chosen to be framed and on display at her school's Education Center.  The letter noted that "It is because of (her) creativity and dedication that (her) art work is on display."  CREATIVITY and DEDICATION....describe this little girl to a T.  She has the best imagination of any 6 year-old I know, and her determination is evident in EVERYTHING she attempts.

I snuck into her school after Mass this morning and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her artwork framed on the wall.... It really WAS excellent!  So of course.. I had to run to my car, grab my camera,.... steal Sophia from her classroom, and snap a picture of my creative little girl.  I am soooo proud!  And we even got the Art teacher to join in on the fun!!!  Apparently the project involved creating a picture that went along with David Shannon's "A Bad Case of the Stripes."  



In the book,  young Camilla Cream is so concerned with being popular that she literally changes her skin in an attempt to please, and fit in with, those around her. 




Congratulations my soon to be first grader!  I love you and can't wait to spend the summer with you!!!!

Monday, May 24, 2010

A Tribute

When one of my teacher friends from my past asked me to make cookies for her husband's farewell party.... I couldn't have been more excited....  and it couldn't have been for a better cause.   Her husband will be leaving for military obligations for an entire year in a few short weeks.   I know there are thousands of families who have loved ones making these same sacrifices for our country each and every day....and I hope that we can all take a few moments each day to remember and pray for them.

I knew exactly which cookies I would make for this special friend as soon as she asked me.... These cookies were some of the FIRST cookies I ever saw by my "hero" baker.  These cookies "wowed" me from the moment I saw them...as do most of the cookies I see on this amazing woman's blog.  I knew the cookies would be a challenge...but I was up for it!  I must admit... I did have fun with the detailing!!!

So here is my version of the cookies and a few more originals...








Besides cookie baking....we've been getting ready for the end of the school year.  As I sat in the car line waiting to pick up Sophia today... I couldn't help but think about how I only have a few more days of picking her up from KINDERGARDEN.  I can't believe her kindergarden days are already almost behind her.  It makes me sad to think about how fast the year went and how next year she will be in school ALL day.  I remember like it was yesterday...the first few weeks of school when she needed me to walk her in to her classroom.  I remember the first day... she did it by herself.  I have loved watching her skip into school and wave to her classmates each day since then.  I have loved watching her come running out of school with a smile on her face.  I loved watching her skip out today waving her field day ribbon in the air so I could see it.  I am SOOOOOOO thrilled that she loved her first year of school.  No parent could ask for more.  I pray that she has this same anticipation and excitement in the years to come.

Saturday was her last soccer game....I was sad to miss it...but J's allergies were bad and I didn't think a missed nap at that point would be a good idea.  Thanks daddy for capturing this GREAT memory for me!!!


At least I was able to get one of my own when my soccer super star got home!!!


And I can't leave out my other little buddy in this post... Mr. J has been pretty excited about the nice weather lately.  He absolutely loves going to the park....playing outside....helping me water the plants ( or water himself or me), swinging and just being all boy.  Occasionally he is too curious and touches the thorns of rose bushes or tries to ride scooters that are too big for him...so of course..injuries are bound to happen.  Nothing serious yet.... but the other day he was being his crazy self and fell on his chin... a minor, minor red mark resulted.  But this little guy cried like he'd broken a leg.....When he finally recovered...he quickly went to the boo-boo box...unwrapped the biggest "boo-daid" he could find and placed it directly on his chin.  He wore it for the rest of the day and was pretty unhappy when daddy removed it before his bath.  



My next project... I have been working on learning to make 3-d eyes for my cookies using royal icing.  This involves making a template, placing wax paper over it and "drawing" eyes with icing and then letting them dry until they are ready to be placed on a decorated cookie.  A little harder than I thought.  I actually bought some "already made" frosting eyes...which of course made me think I NEEDED to learn to make them on my own.  Everything is better from scratch...right?


Saturday, May 22, 2010

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We celebrated Brett's birthday yesterday!  No huge celebrations...just a few presents....time with Omi and Yiayia and of course CAKE!  Looks like all three of them made some good wishes.  Hope they all come true!



It was hard....but.... YAY a picture with all of us in ONE Spot!

Here's Daddy and Omi.... they are DARN cute, don't you think?

Speaking of cute...

The little mister had some fun listening to the card Sophia got daddy....it was a sound card...of course! I think this is the only time all day he did not have his fingers in his mouth.  Poor little guy...those 2 year molars are sure giving him a hard time!!!


And here is my almost first grader.  I can't believe it.  Only 3 days left of kindergarden.  She brought home her book of kindergarden memories yesterday...made me cry.  Her teacher went to a lot of work to put these together....and coming from an old teacher myself.... I know how much time went into the project.  So grateful for that sweet memory book.... I will cherish it for years to come.  Sophia's class also got to make pillows with the help of some of the parents (who could sew.....wish I was one!!!).  She chose Princess and the Frog fabric and when it was all done, it had all of the signatures of all of her classmates.  What a NEAT idea.  She is in love of course...and drags it every where she goes.

So....Brett is another year older...and Sophia has her first year almost behind her.....I don't think life is about to slow down any time soon...so I guess I'd better just make sure I don't take for granted a second of it!!!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Rain Rain Go away...

We've had a few days of rain... and I am ready for a long stretch of sunshine....

So I'll post some sun-shining pictures from early in the week....just to get me by...




Hope the sun is out tomorrow... because somebody I know is turning a year older.  Cake is done and I am just reminiscing.....Can't believe I have known this special someone for TWENTY years....he was just in FIFTH grade when we met....I knew then....

Monday, May 17, 2010

Stacking up....


So... I've been trying a few new recipes...
-a few peanut butters with a touch of bittersweet, 

-some "great with your morning cup of coffee espresso bars"

-and yet another crack at some good old chocolate chippers

I've had some fun taste testing....but my vote (no surprise) goes for the chocolate chip cookies.  Think I like this recipe even better than my last.  I'm just a sucker for chocolate chippers, I think.  The kids, of course have their own opinions....Sophia went for the espresso bars....(probably just because they have a glaze on top), and Joe (who normally devours chocolate chippers) went for ....none of the above.  Poor guy....he's had a pretty weak appetite with all these meds he has on...not to mention those stubborn two year molars trying to add to his troubles..

So here is my little guy before his hair cut today...
And here he is the little man after.  I know...I know....I hate to see the curls cut off....but sorry.... I needed some neatness to some of those unruly locks.  He is cute with his hair any way.....(wish I could say that about myself) and I know those curls will make their appearance again in a few weeks when the hairs start growing back.


Missy still prefers her chocolate Haagen Daz to my cookies any day!

We kind of had one of those lazy Mondays today.  Weather was gloomy...soccer was cancelled....so we did some practice reading work and some coloring while J was napping.  Hard to believe this little girl has only a little over a week left of her kindergarten year.  We started talking about all the fun things we can do this summer...and Sophia quickly decided to write a list of summer activities we need to accomplish....some of her choices included...swimming, going to the park, MOMMY doing the monkey bars, feeding the ducks, and of course trips to the ice cream store.  Sounds like some perfect summer plans to me.  I can't wait!


The rest of our afternoon was spent praying to Saint Anthony for a missing bouncy ball that "someone" was bouncing on the stairs even after numerous warnings to use better judgement about where she was choosing to bounce the ball.  Sophia later told me she just didn't understand why she never found her ball....she prayed to Saint Anthony SIX times.  I hope I can find it before she wakes up....but I"ve tried and for the life of me can't understand how on earth we could lose a ball that bounced away right in front of our eyes!

And one more trauma today....we began watching part of Toy Story....can't believe I have never seen this movie in its entirety....and you know Sophia is on a HUGE movie kick these days (I guess limiting her movie/tv time when she was young...may not have been the best tactic....although it did force her into being able to read like a  SUPER STAR).  We only watched part of the movie tonight....and she was pretty much in her movie mode stare the entire time....except when we turned off the movie....she quickly went into full out cry mode.  She told us she was very afraid of the mean boy next door.  She sobbed the whole way upstairs and barely made it through our Junie B chapter.  We tried to console her...but she is still pretty afraid of that mean boy and the fact that he is not very nice to his toys.

Hope she recovers soon:(

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Well...and Not so well

Miss Sophia had her SIX year well check on Wednesday!  Her appointment went great....no tears...no shots....just an overall good report!!!  I always like to compare stats from the year before...but I guess things went so well this year... I was a bit too relaxed and forgot to write down her new height!  I do know that last year she weighed 40 pounds and this year she weighed in at a healthy 47!  This girl deserves a good long healthy summer....she had her share of yuckies during the school year!

At her five year check...

And this year...all grown up and soon to be a FIRST grader...



Can you tell what she really wanted me to get in this picture???? YEP... her SPARKLY shoes finally came in the mail.  I still really like the plain pink ones....and you can see it in her face when she puts these on that they are not the most comfortable ( a little stiff), but she would never admit it.  She wanted these so badly... I think she would sleep in them if I let her!

So I tried to get a picture of both of the newly dressed sets of tootsies....but this is all I could get before my escapee tried to run off...


By the way...those pretty red toes....(not mine....)  I wish I could say they were...but mine are a sorry sight these days!!!

As for the "not so well..." poor Mr. J.  This little boy has had a really tough go this year!  I will never forget holding him in my arms the night he was born and listening to his birth mother tell me about her family and her other children.  She told me they all had horrible allergies.  I thought...."What a perfect fit...we can handle that....we all have horrible allergies in our house too" (I thought!!!)  But boy was his birthmama right.....this guy does have HORRIBLE allergies.  We've been fighting his 8 sneezes in a row multiple times a day since he was an infant.  We've been fighting yucky noses, sinus infections, and croup far too many times to count.

This was inevitable....

Introducing... THE NEBULIZER!


Poor guy... he does not like his breathing treatments every 4 hours.  But hopefully in time he will get a little relief...and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this is not the beginnings of asthma.  Thank you Handy Manny for helping us get through these treatments! :)