Sunshine and happiness

We're all smiles today because the sun is shining and the sky is a bright blue!!! Lovely.

More Ohio pictures

Just how many pictures did I take in Ohio???? Who knows, but it is taking forever to go through them!!! Love it when I find cute ones, though...

Addie got a new bike yesterday at the village sale. The training wheels are a little wobbly so we need to fix that, but she is becoming quite comfortable riding up and down the sidewalk. I think (hope) Jack will get the hang of the tricycle in the next couple of months, so that will be a lot of fun this summer.

Happy Friday

Here is Ms. Gabby and Sophia... We miss playing with you guys!

What is he thinking?

It's taking me awhile to go through all of the pictures I took on our trip - but found this cute one of Jack. He looks silly!

This week has flown by! Addie was so excited to be back at school this week and her very best friend is coming over tomorrow morning before school (her mom has a doctor's apt) so we're going to make pancakes.

Funny story--- Addie loved riding her big girl bike in Beaufort. When we came home she got on her little tricycle and she wanted to know "who shrunk her bike!!!!!" So funny! She thinks Dada shrunk her bike when we were gone. The village is having a Bike and Blade sale this Saturday (people bring in their old bikes for the Recreation Committee to re-sell to the public) so we're hoping to find a good deal on a new (used) big girl bike for Addie.

I promised myself that I would go to bed early tonight... so GOOD NIGHT!

Looking much too old.

Don't you think she looks old? She's growing so fast. I'm finished going through SC pictures... now onto Ohio (there's just about 300 of them!).

addicted.

can you tell I've been away from my computer for almost a week? Here it is midnight and I'm still up playing with photos. Found a few more cute ones.
Going to bed now.

There's no place like...

home!

We're home from our big "grandparent tour 2007!" It was so much fun seeing everyone, and it is also great to be home.

After leaving Ohio we went down south and enjoyed some sunshine, blue skies and warmth. The kids enjoyed seeing Nanie and Poppy and they especially loved playing with Quinn and Christi. Addie became proficient in riding a tw0-wheel bike (with training wheels, of course!) and Jack just loved chasing her with his lawn mower.

More later, and more pictures later, but I thought this was a cute one of the cute boy and silly girl.

cousins

Thought this was an adorable picture of Addie and Sophia. You'll probably see it again when I tweak it in photoshop. We had fun playing this afternoon. We'll miss everyone!!!!

We're heading down south in the morning - and NO COMPUTER -- whatever will I do????

I seriously need a laptop!

We're missing the snow.

Talked to Dada today and he said there is a lot of wintery weather and snow back home. Oh, too bad we're missing it! At least it's sunny here in Ohio, cold, but sunny. We're headed down south tomorrow to visit Nanny and Poppy and the forecast is looking bright and warm! Oh, how I hope! I REALLY need some warm sun!

We'll play one more time with Sophia, Gabby and Lorenzo - I'm sure it will be fun this afternoon when they come over.

first attempt at "photo of 5"

We spent a gorgeous afternoon playing outside with trucks, balls and coloring books. We did log rolls and took a walk through the field next to Nene and Papa's house. We ran around and played hide and seek behind the big tall trees in the back yard... then we ate pizza and played some more in the basement! WHew! What fun.


Here is Mama's first attempt a photo with the grandkids... not easy, as you can see... we'll try again! I got some cute pictures of the kids individually - will be fun to play with them in Photoshop, since Nene has no photoediting on her computer. :)

A really fun airplane trip!

The kids and I packed our bags for our big "grandparent tour 2007!" We left yesterday for stop #1 in Ohio to visit Nini and Papa, as well as aunts, uncles and cousins.

The kids were excited to go on an airplane trip and everyone was happy and in a good mood. Our flight was delayed for about an hour at the airport due to bad weather in NYC, but the kids remained content and happy. We boarded our little airplane and the plane taxied down the run way... and then stopped. The pilot announced that we were grounded for another hour. Yes, HOUR on the runway. Eiey, yaiy, yaiy. The kids were still very well behaved - we got out the DVD player and they were happy. The flight finally took off. I realized at this point that we would not be making our connecting flight, but I tried to take it all in stride! The flight was very, very bumpy. Jack fell asleep for about 1/2 hour. He woke up as we were starting to decend. And then he vommitted ALL OVER himself and ME. I started laughing, because what else could I do. Here was this little boy getting sick all over the place on a very cramped and stuffy airplane. The flight attendant was very helpful and brought napkins and lysol wipes, etc. I got him cleaned up and two seconds later he threw up again. This time I cried and laughed because what else was I supposed to do??!!!! Luckily Addie was just sitting there watching and wasn't freaking out or anything - she was such a good girl! Jack just kept saying, "yuck! yuck!" Poor little guy...

So, we landed finally (around 1:30) and I called Dad who told me that my connecting fight was scheduled to leave at 1:42. We bolted off the plane - feel bad for the people who had to sit in our row on the next flight - and found our next gate - luckily our connecting flight was not leaving as soon as we thought. The rest of the trip was less eventful (got Jack into new clothes... however I got to wear the vomit for the rest of the trip becasue I didn't pack a change of clothes for me), but the kids were about fed up with the trip. They weren't as well behaved on the second flight and Addie never slept a wink. Ugh! Not easy!

We're enjoying visiting with Sophia, Gabby and Lorenzo and Nini and Papa have a fun basement with lots of toys and bikes! Picture time tonight... the goal is to get ONE cute picture of all 5 grandkids... think I can do it???

Hoppy Easter!

yes, yes, yes... it was cold today. Probably colder than Christmas was this past year, but honestly I didn't go out much today. miserable... ugh... Here's Addie pouting about the weather... Actually, she was pouting because she was tired. The pout was followed by a wonderfully long nap!

Anyway... there was much sunshine in the house today as we made egg cupcakes (in egg-shaped cupcake holders) and got ready for our friends to come over. Addie was so excited to ice the cupcakes and as we were decorating them she told me the "icing was lovely!" Funny.
The kids had a ball and ate about one bite of real food. The rest was jellybeans, M&Ms and cupcakes.

Colder on Easter than this past Christmas???

There was an article in the paper today that it may very well be colder here tomorrow for Easter than it was on Christmas this past year. Ugh. I am so ready for warm weather it's not even funny anymore!

We're having our good friends over for Easter dinner tomorrow, but I took a lot of shortcuts - Honeybaked Ham and store-bought cheesecake (along with some other goodies and homemade side dishes).

We colored Easter eggs today and it took all of 5 minutes to dunk a dozen eggs in the coloring. The kids had fun and maybe the Easter bunny will hide some of them tomorrow - in the snow :(

Mama's Night Out

Ever since Addie was 6 months old I have been friends with a group of wonderful ladies with kids' Addie's (and Jack's) age. We used to have playgroup every Monday morning, rotating houses. This past fall, since most of the kids are in different pre-schools, we got out of the habit of having playgroup. We have maintained our "Mama's Night Out," however. We try to meet out once a month, usually for dinner. It gives us a chance to just be WOMEN, rather than mamas... and it give us a forum to vent, complain, brag, ramble, listen, and just "be!" Tonight, instead of dinner, we went to a new place called Make and Take Gourmet, where we each prepped 6-12 dinners of our choice (from their menu) and brought them home in freezable containers. The idea is wonderful... you prep dinner with your friends (while sipping wine!!!), thus, making some weeknight dinners easier on you! I am so exited to try the meals. I was very impressed with the facility... VERY clean, trendy, comfortable, organized and easy to navigate. The staff was accessible and very helpful. I think we all had a great time.

In other news... it SNOWED, yes, you heared me correctly, SNOWED here today. UGH. UGh. ugh. What the HECK???? Of course it didn't really stick, but the fact that it snowed sucks. And, it's going to be cold the next couple of days. I was really hoping for a nice mild Easter so the Easter Bunny could hide his eggs.... maybe he'll stil be able to do that.

I went on a bit of shopping spree the past couple of days. When my parents were here a few weeks ago we painted the dining room and the upstairs hallways... well, ever since then things have been a little less than "finished" so I tried to tidy some things up. I brought home a beautiful plant from work for the dining room, and I bought a new runner and matching rug for the upstairs hallway (natural jute). The rooms are starting to shape up....

And, because it's more fun to read a blog with pictures, here's another one of Addie from her tumbling class other day.

another nice day, another park

a beautiful day and play at the park

The kids and I got some primo outside time today as the rain held off and the sun even made an appearance.

Oh... before I start... is everyone geared up for the Ohio State-Florida game tonight. Kevin is sad it's not the Tar Heels and I'm sad it's not KY, but alas... it is still the NCAA tourney. Hope everyone enjoys the game.

Kevin and I had a lovely night out on Saturday with Joe and Kristen. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Gentiles, and had one of the tastiest meals I've had there. YUMMY! Luckily, I'm headed back there tomorrow night with the work crew.

I enjoyed some mommy time at the mall with a friend on Sunday. I found a FABULOUS deal on a floor model rug at Pottery Barn Kids for J's room. FABULOUS deal!!!! I love getting good deals and now Jack's room is too darn cute. Of course, now I want to paint his green walls blue... but that will come at a later date!

Back to today... the sun was out, the temps were mild... it felt good. I even put my wintered-over hydrangea out in the driveway for some sunshine today (don't worry, they are tucked away back in the basement for the night).

I took the kids to the park to play... they had a ball! Of course I took my camera and of course they hardley looked at me... oh well!
Enjoy.