Friday, April 27, 2012

Birthday Girl

She was my FIRST baby....


Hard to believe she will be EIGHT tomorrow.


She is still the same beauty she was eight years ago.  She is brilliant, headstrong, stubborn, determined, imaginative, creative, artistic, and loves with all her heart.  She couldn't be a better BIG sister....She complains about Mr. J often...they fight, they bicker....but deep down...she LOVES him.  She is a mini mommy to little Sammy.  She adores him like no other....and the way he looks at her....simply sweet.


At eight, she outsmarts me in more ways than one.  She teaches me about soccer, she teachers me about the iPad, she teaches me about fairies, she teaches me how to be a better person....she teaches me how to forgive.  She can throw the best of tantrums, she can talk back like no other...


She can cry big tears, she can tug at my sanity.....but she is quick to apologize, and her heart is ever so tender.


I am proud.  I am proud of the independent little girl she has become. I am proud of her GIANT heart.


I am proud of her Faith.  I am proud of her love for learning. I am proud of her dedication.  I am proud of her sincerity.


At eight, she still loves to read...and especially loves her Rainbow Magic fairy books.


She will read till we force her to turn out her light.  She studies her Bibles and knows every story almost word for word.  She makes wish lists of BOOKS.  She told me just the other day that she really would like to read "Moby Dick" because she heard it was a "pretty long book!"


She loves to be outside, she loves to organize (no surprise), she loves art.  She loves to play soccer.  She even runs with a smile on her face.


She has an incredible memory. She is always thinking.


She is girly.  She knows what she wants and doesn't stop till she gets it!


She loves pink rollers, ice cream, a good cheeseburger, spaghetti, salmon and still despises most fruit, candy and only drinks milk (strawberry), water or occasionally lemonade.


She loves to play basketball on the neighbors' driveways.


She loves to write to her special "fairy" and dream of fairyland.


She loves her Daddy....and gets her sense of humor from him.


She's loves to watch the Smurfs, and would probably watch tv or read all day if I let her (the tv obsession is definitely from Daddy....:)


She has grown up sooooo quickly.



Too quickly!



She was my first miracle.  She has challenged me each and every day.   I love her so much.


I hope all of her wishes come true this year and always.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

First Holy Communion


Last Saturday, April 21st, our sweet Sophia celebrated her First Holy Communion.  


God was certainly looking down on her....and gave us a beautiful sunny day!   I tried to get lots of pictures in her sweet little gown.  


A big thank you to Yiayia for finding a marvelous woman who lovingly made this dress just for Sophia.  


I wasn't really sure that I wanted her to wear a veil....(seems more like wedding attire to me), but we ended up with a very simple one...adorned with some sweet little flowers.


I envisioned lots of yellow for this celebration...and I love how the flowers turned out.


Here is one of the sweet little bracelets she received.


Isn't she so darling?  She is such a pretty little lady...and what a special gift she is to us.    She was so excited to put her hair in pink rollers the night before.  That hair of hers....gorgeous.simply angelic.


Cookies from her "cookie mama" of course...:)


She asked for a lemon flavored cake.....and she got four layers of it!!!


Some of the girls from Sophia's class...and her teacher, Mrs. Vaughan.


Love her excitement in this picture!


Those blue eyes....so sweet.  And look at all of those cute second grade teeth!


After the ceremony in the courtyard with her teacher.


Such a sweet picture with her Thea...who she has adored since day one:)


My baby.....my first miracle....


Yiayia...who helped design the dress....and helped me get everything ready for her big day.  Don't know what I would do without my mama:)


I think she got those pretty baby blues from her Pappou:)  What a great picture of the two of them.


A few of her friends who she has had class with for a few years:)


Omi and Papa:)






She was so excited to have the priests bless her rosary that I gave her for First Reconciliation...but she panicked as we were leaving home because she could not find it.... She had her bracelet blessed instead...and we later found her rosary at home after all!


Fr. Bill on the left and Fr. Mike on the right.


So sweet.


Our morning ended with a celebration with our family at our house for a light little lunch and perfect company.  I am so proud of this little girl.  It's her birthday week...and birthdays always make me a little weepy.... My soon to be 8-year old....where did the time go?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Caught. Red-handed....

Don't be fooled...this face...can not be trusted...


In the blink of an eye....he can get under the kitchen sink (even with two supposedly "child-proof" locks), he can break the magnet off the window shutter, he can pick up my keyboard and throw it on the floor, he can find S and J's forks and start poking everything in sight....

Today when I was putting food in Willie's bowl....I thought it was too quiet....I peeked around the corner and found he had taken every piece of stationary, envelope, card, etc out of my very unorganized "letter" drawer in my desk.  


Look at that face....he's so proud of what he has accomplished while mama wasn't looking...



And this stationary can be very intriguing, I guess.


Uh-oh...now brother is in on the action....