Thursday, May 28, 2009

Piano Recital

Piano lessons with Aunt Janice (actually she's Lori's aunt but we claim her as our own now)
I love that she comes to our house b/c I don't have to worry about showing up at her house late.
Yes, it was a chore to get her to practice every day & when she'd complain & get frustrated with
the fact that she wasn't a professional after her second lesson...we both wished Aunt Janice could show up every day & deal with her drama!

piano w/aunt janice

She barely made it through her first book, just in time for the recital...phew!

piano feet

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Grandma's Magic Touch

My mom arrived on the night of Mother's Day so we celebrated all week long by going out to lunch almost everyday, running lots of fun shopping errands, I kept her up until the wee hours of the night hoping to weaken her ability of keeping any family secrets or juicy stories so we had lots of quiet time to talk & predict the future, for instance...will I have to get these varicose veins removed or will my legs recover from this pregnancy (like I said...real juicy gossip) I had to fight for the attention of my own mom b/c of course these girls couldn't get enough of her. She told them the stories of when they were born & how she remembered holding each of them when they were tiny & she made them laugh a lot. So they wanted her to tell those stories every day while she was here (really, they couldn't get enough)
This is how Grandma makes an ordinary weekday breakfast magical...she sets it all out the night before & gets every girl to make a pinky promise that they will stay in bed & wake up happy (it was even easier for me to get out of bed...unbelievable, I know!)
Below is a picture of her magic hands at work again making snack time a delectable & adorable mini buffet (toothpicks will make kids eat almost anything)



After bath time all the girls lined up for Grandma's pomegranate lotion rub

A little dancing before bed to get them good & tired is also magical



She just couldn't resist drawing her self portrait so the girls wouldn't miss her while we went out for a few hours.

Then our last night came rather fast so she made an invitation for the girls to look forward to our Friday night...

  • backyard picnic at 5pm
  • bath time so Grandma could paint every one's nails
  • movie (Hotel for Dogs)
  • intermission for root beer floats
  • by 9pm they were in their sleeping bags ready for bed so we could escape for our own movie:)



We cheated for our picnic food & got these most delicious california rolls...I can't get enough of the pickled ginger that comes with it, mmm.







We made it before the rain began to pour...storms are very cozy when your indoors.





We captured most of the pictures with the kids b/c Summer takes after her Aunt Debbie by always telling us "take a picture of this Mom"



Here's to the Good night hugs that will be so missed! Every morning while Grandma was putting on her make up, Tessa would walk in and say..."Grandma, I have to tell you something that will make you very sad...you only have four days left" she did this every morning until Saturday morning when we were all very sad to know she had to leave.
Thanks for leaving your magic touch on our home & family!!!




Monday, May 11, 2009

May day was my big day

Eliza designed my b-day decorations, apparently...if you read the fine print...I rock.
Look who came through on her little promise...chocolate covered cinnamon bears! They were worth all her effort & thank goodness she married a man who can carry her good intentions all the way to the post office


My friend treated me to a little pampering but the trouble of taking chances with new colors is that when it doesn't look as good on your toes as it does in the bottle, you get this...the color of Shrek goop



but all is well when sweet friends make sweet deliveries!
Now you see why our girls love to celebrate any one's
birthday...lots of treats


I chose Carrie's cake for the candle ceremony b/c she put lemon curd & fresh raspberries in the layers...so good & so cute
and very good for the baby belly


34 years & happy to be here!!!