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.

TGIF and "apres le tubb" (which is French for after the tubby!)

Scenes from "apres le tubby."
Love how much dust in our house, as noticed in the photo of Jack!
The kids love brushing their teeth!

The garden club meeting and my presentation went well. I did very well with my card sales, which I was really excited about!

Busy weekend ahead. Gym in the AM, a Sock Hop at Addie's school after that and then Kevin and I are looking forward to an adult night out tomorrow. Hard to believe that Sunday is APRIL... where, oh where did March go?

feeling better!

I'm on the mend. A mother doesn't really have time to be sick, though, you know?! My sore throat is almost gone and the aches and chills have long since left me. I actually felt good enough to get to the gym and run on the treadmill. Progress.

Anyway... we had a BEAUTIFUL SUNNY day today. That's all I ask for every once in awhile... a little sunshine! It was lovely. Not quite as warm as I would like (maybe low 50s), but certainly sunny.

I am gearing up for my presentation to the Garden Club tomorrow. I forget the actual title my presentation was given, but something along the lines of photography and the garden. It all started last spring when someone bought some of my flower cards and loved them. Ginny, the president of the club, then asked if I would do a presentation on how I make my cards and my garden/flower photos. I've made a power point slide show of some of my favorite images and have included some tips on how to take pictures of flowers in the garden (as if I have all the answers!). Ginny told me to take lots of my cards for sale and she's sure they'll be bought right up. I hope so!!!

I'm posting JUST OF FEW (!!) of my favorite images that I'll be showing tomorrow.

A sore throat, aches and the chills...

That's been my state for the past three days. Actually, the aches and chills are gone but my sore throat is hanging around. Did you know you the variety of sounds you can make when you gargle? Gargling (how do you spell that?) is such a strange thing to do. And, it doesn't seem to help!

Anyway... enough crying.

I wont even start to talk about the weather! It seems that the rest of the country is having nice warm spring (and summer) weather and we're stuck under a lovely gray rain cloud. P-LEASE.

On a happy note, the kids aren't sick. Knock on wood. Addie became interested in my camera today and I let her take a couple of pictures. This is what she got: Jack wouldn't pose with me so I hugged the bear, which Addie thought was really funny.

She took a couple of great pictures of the TV and the wall, too! Pretty cute. Here's a silly one of big boy Jack, who now likes to walk up the steps instead of crawl.

Random thoughts

Oh, to be a toddler jumping on a bed again! These pictures are far from technically "correct" but I just love the emotion in them!
Hard to believe that April is right around the corner. We finally got some mild weather and the snow is just about gone (of course the huge parking lot snow piles are still around). We took a little walk in the backyard yesterday (with boots on!) and boy, is it wet. Addie is thrilled with all the little crocus blooming in the yard. I am trying to teach her the names of some flowers. Today she noticed that a few crocus are blooming in the grass and she said, "MAMA... there are some little flowers blooming in OUR YARD!" And, then she proceeded to pick them.

Another cute thing today:
she was drawing a picture in her notebook and she wanted me to guess who she was drawing.
She said, "this is someone who has whiskers."
So I guessed Ruby.
She said, "no."
I guessed a cat, and she again said no.
She then said, "this is someone who sleeps in our computer room."
Again, I guessed Ruby, thinking she was mistaken the first time.
She said no and repeated that he has whiskers.
I said, "Ohhhh. Papa."
She said "YES!"

For you, Papa!

Warm up, please!

Glorious sunshine this afternoon. I can see some green grass again. The weather is supposed to warm up the next couple of days luckily. I am being a big baby about the cold, but I am sick of it!

The kids and I are taking a big trip in a few weeks... we're doing a whirlwind family visit to Ohio and then to SC for some beach time. Addie is very excited - she wanted to start packing her bags already!

Are you kidding? A Nor'easter?

I am sick. I know that it's silly to think that because we had a couple of mild, sunny days this week (in March) that spring is here... but it was hopeful!!! I just heard on the news that we are expecting a nor'easter tomorrow night that may bring 4-8" of snow to our area.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!!

It has been so nice to look out the window and see green. Here's the deal... I like the snow in the beginning of winter. I like the enormous snow storms.... I like that. Now, all of that pretty and fun (and magical for two little kiddos) snow has turned an ugly shade of gray. I'm sick of gray, I'm sick of yucky snow. It's March. It's time for green (ish) landscape and little tiny buds popping out of the ground.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!

Ok, thanks for letting me rant. On a happy note, Kevin is sooooo excited the Duke "bowed out" in the first round of the tournament.

And, another happy note... here's another pic of that "she's so cute" baby Annika.

"She's so cute!"

We visited our friends today and Addie got to hold new baby Annika. She said, "she's so cute"about 10 times!!! It really was cute, as is Baby A.

WOW! What an afternoon!

Warm temps, the beautiful, warm sun and such a suggestion of spring...
ahhh... great day!

We played outside for a good hour or more this afternoon. Addie had her bike and Jack his "wheels"(push toy) and they cruised up and down the sidewalk. We played with chalk and drew some great pictures on the driveway. We played "tag" (or some 3year old rendition of the game!!!). Just a little taste of what is to come. I can't wait for spring!


The snow is slowly melting. It was so strange enjoying such a gorgeous afternoon in the midst of all the snow we still have.

Tomorrow is another full day... tumbling class in the morning and then playtime with our neighbors.

A couple of pictures from a warm day!

FINALLY... temps in the 40s and possibly even 50s. Tomorrow promises to be as warm** (as if 40s and 50s is warm!!). We all enjoyed some playtime in the fresh air. The sun was out for awhile, too, which was extra special!

Calla Lily

We had the most fabulous standard calla lilies at work the other day, they just begged to have their picture taken. I hardly did them justice - they were gorgeous (and a mere $12 a stem!).

Today was a rainy, gloomy day. The good news is that it was rain, not snow. I'm a little sick of winter and am ready for some more mild weather.

Addie had a birthday party today for a boy in her class. It was held at a big play-area for kids equip with trampolines, mats, huge balls, slides, climbing walls, etc... There were about 25 kids and they had a ball. I got to chat with a few of the moms in her class that I haven't previously met, which was nice.

Dada was excited today because his team, the Tarheels, advanced to the finals in the ACC tourney. He and Jack bonded over the game while Addie and I went to the birthday party.

Going to bed early tonight to try to make up for the hour of sleep we'll lose in the AM. Don't forget to change your clocks!

Sharing Tofu

So, do you think it's a problem that my kids finished off an entire container of tofu this afternoon? Addie had 3/4 of it and surprisingly Jack ate his fair share, too. Yes, an entire container, gone.

Addie and the Icicle

Addie is infatuated with icicles... granted, they are pretty interesting. We had a couple of big ones coming off the front porch so we took it down. She was so excited that it was as big as she was. Then, she turned around and the icicle hit the post on the porch and that was the end of the big icicle!

Winter can be finished any day now. I'm a little sick of shoveling snow. And let's not even talk about the cold. Brrrr... I dare say that the weatherman is reporting a warm up next week. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!

She knows her dog.

Addie and I were trading bedtime stories tonight and the subject of dogs came up. I asked her if she knew what kind of dog Ruby was and she confidently responded,

"yes... a Labradog."

Awesome!!!!

Crayon Toes

My creative child put crayons in her toes and actually let me take her picture!!! It's been a busy, busy week here. I had an event at church on Friday night that was very time consuming... the result was a very fun evening and a successful party. We had a little, teeny-tiny, small, brief (very brief) taste of spring yesterday... beautiful sunshine and temps in the 40s. We'll take what we can get because now it's snowing AGAIN.

Visit from Nene and Papa - fun times and new paint!

We just enjoyed a weekend visit from Nene and Papa. The kids were so excited to see them! Jack just walked around saying, Nene. Papa. Many thanks to Papa for his expertise in painting! We finished the upstairs hallway and the dining room. I have been on a re-arranging and redecorating spree. Boy, do I wish money grew on trees!

Jack got a haircut

And he's so darn cute! And so is his sister, if she didn't have the d$*m paci in her mouth 24/7!

A beautiful sunny day and a balmy 30 degrees

So, the snow did end and today was a bright and sunny day.
Sun+snow-sunglasses=ouch on the eyes!

Thought I would post a couple more pictures of the snow, although I don't think they do justice to actually seeing how much we have! It is so much more impressive in person.

We came home from the gym this morning to a ladder on the front of our house. Our friendly neighbor graciously braved the dangers of the snowy roof to do some roof snow removal (we have a flat roof on the back of the house). His wife was less than thrilled with his kindness, understandibly (is that a word?)!!! Thanks, Joe! We really appreciate you!

The snow ended

I am not sure if I've seen this much snow at once before. Our first winter here was rather snowy, but I think this tops it.

Last night we were playing "Simon Says" with Addie. Dada was "Simon" and turned it into a Q&A sort of game by asking her all sorts of fun questions such as, "what has wheels," to which she responded, "our car," and "what color is the grass," to which she responded "green." My personal favorite was, "name a vegetable" to which she responded, "FRUIT SNACKS!!!" Fruit snacks are the gummy type of snacks that have about .01% of fruit in them so they pass them off as fruit snacks. Addie LOVES them, and apparently they are now a vegetable.

Ok... so it wasn't all hype.

Well... it seems that the forecasters were right this time and we have gotten the huge amount of snow they they predicted! It's STILL falling (almost 24 hours of falling snow). I think we must be close to 2 FEET by now... I will get the latest measurements and let you know. Pictures will come soon, too. Ruby is in heaven - she loves the snow and just hops around in it because it is so deep!

GET READY FOR SOME SNOW!!

Is it all media hype, or will we get the 2-3 FEET the forecasters are predicting... stay tuned!

Sledding

We didn't get out today, but we were out playing in the snow over the weekend. Not much happened today. Both kids are starting to get runny noses. Ugh. Addie is busy making her Valentine's for her school's party this week. I decided to *TRY* to be creative and let her make her own rendition of a Valentine (rather than buy a commercial-type one). So far, not so bad. I gave her stickers and glitter glue and cut out hearts, etc... I'll have to see if I can get a picture of the lot before they go into envelopes.

The snow...

So, we've only gotten about 16" of snow, but the latest reports from Oswego County are at about 7-11 feet of snow! Regardless... Ruby loves the snow, Addie loves the snow... and Jack is indifferent. If he doesn't have to figure out how to walk in it he's ok. We got some snow playtime yesterday because it wasn't as cold as it has been.

Mama and Dada got some adult time out tonight with our friends. Yummy dinner and a realization that we're all going through the same parenthood issues (just different versions!).

Weather depending, Nini and Papa will be making another trip to visit us this coming weekend. We're looking forward to that. Little does Papa know, we're going to paint the upstairs hallway when they're here!!!!!

"Are You My Mother?"

Addie LOVES this book and tonight I had the joy of listening and watching her read the entire book (obviously not word for word). I was so amazed at some of the small details that she remembers from page to page. I am going to try to capture it on video, something that I am sure I would treasure for years to come. I can't believe how quickly she's growing.

We have been trying to stay warm... SO cold here and the snow keeps coming. Areas just a tad to our north have been pummeled by snow, up to 5FT, yes, 5 FEET of snow. I can't imagine!

Uncle Quinn

...Quinn came on the coldest weekend of the year!!!! We enjoyed his quick visit. The kids were so excited to see him. Quinn got a little taste of babysitting for two active kiddos, too, while Kevin and I went to the gym in the morning. We got a little bit of tech support while he was here, too. Thanks for visiting - we hope to see you (and the Dog Lady) soon.

Hope everyone is enjoying the SuperBowl. We went to a party for the 1st quarter, then we came home to get the kiddos in bed. Addie almost won the 1st quarter poll.