Leading Up to 3.....

This month is absolutely flying by!  Before I show you photos of Gabby's birthday here are a few things that led up to the big day that she turned 3.  This was Monday the 9th.  A very exciting day for us... Gabby finally decided to go on the potty.... on her own accord. I had been trying 6 & 7 & 8 times a day to get her to go.  She was on her own time table, and I guess she just needed her Daddy around.  Steve didn't think it was so hard to get her to go when he called me on the phone.  He simply put her on the potty and she went.  Can you see her celebratory stickers and cupcake?  Well... the celebration might have been a little premature because that was it for the week.  However... Saturday... the day she turned 3 years old... she was back to using the bathroom and she hasn't stopped since.  It was like 3 was the turning point.  She has been wearing underwear for the last week and a half and I'm hoping we are pretty much done with those expensive diapers!! Yahoo!!!

 

Yes... this is a half basket of laundry... I was in the middle of baking cookies, thinking about how I was going to race from getting Nick to piano, to pick up Amanda from talent show practice, to get her to piano, to thinking maybe I should put dinner together before I go to the bus stop, and should I keep Gabby in underwear if we were going to be in the car for too long....etc.  That was a lot of stuff swirling around in my head. Well, I'm a great multi-tasker... and while I was thinking these thoughts I was unloading the dryer and getting ready to put in my next load.  Would you believe that I started the washer, added the laundry soap, and proceeded to take the clothes that I had just emptied from the dryer and dumped the basket into the washer!!!  As half of the clothes got wet, I realized what I was doing and snapped out of my daze... The clothes that were warm and dry...were now being rewashed and wet.  Unbelievable!  That was a sure sign I was out of my mind.  Talk about needing a moment to sit down and relax....

These were the cookies I was baking while throwing the clean clothes back in for a second washing.... I've learned it is easiest to bake them one day, make the icing one day, and decorate one day.  They are a 3 day process.  I was happy that they came out so cute.

Here I am working on Gabby's birthday cake compliments of Nicholas.  Last year I made Mickey Mouse... so this year it was Minnie Mouse covered in fondant.  This was time consuming and yet fairly simple...especially with a cute cake topper I didn't have to make.

I was getting tired of coloring and rolling out fondant... you can see my powdered sugar mess... so I recruited Nick to help me.  Fondant is very moldable (is that even a word?) and feels a lot like Play-doh.  Nicholas is a Play-doh expert... so with his help we made all the little pink balls around the cake.  He was an excellent assistant.

After his job was done and Gabby awoke from her nap... I was still working on that cake.  It took close to 3 1/2 hours to put it together.  Nicholas kept Gabby entertained by playing music and spinning around in the living room.  They were making themselves dizzy and having a great time.  As long as no one got hurt... I was fine with it... it allowed me time to finish up... but of course I had to snap a picture of their craziness.  (Amanda was at her girlfriend's house the entire afternoon or I'm sure she would have been joining in on the spinning fun.)

And.... here she is.... a simple and easy.... yet very sweet Minnie Mouse cake for the 3 year old birthday girl...

I hope to share photos from her actual party very soon.  Until later.....

Easter Day 2012.....

I'm just going to forewarn you.... there are a lot of pictures ahead...

The kids were so excited for Easter morning to arrive.  Nicholas came into our bedroom 3 times in the middle of the night to get a Kleenex and check the clock... and check the clock.... and check the clock... At 7:00 there was no holding them back... it was time to hunt for eggs.  First thing on the agenda was to find their Easter baskets.  The Easter Bunny usually leaves a note with scavenger-hunt-type clues to help lead the kids to their baskets.  Amanda was in charge of reading the clues...

 ....and Nicholas was very helpful figuring them out. One of the last clues led them into the kitchen.... but it wasn't in the microwave.... it was in the oven... which led them to the basement....

They had found their baskets... alongside some new bikes for the summer...

After the baskets were found.... the kids were in search of eggs... Nicholas was tearing through every room collecting eggs at break neck speed... at least there was one left in the kitchen for Gabby....

Nicholas left a few stragglers for Gabriella to find.... She really had a lot of fun this year...

I think this is one of the only pictures I captured of Nicholas in the morning... he was too busy off searching for candy.  Here was his basket filled with some Lego Ninjago goodies.

Amanda's basket was filled to the brim with chocolates and girlie things....

Gabby and her Easter basket treasures....

Wow... the bunny had some good hiding spots this year... on top of the alarm sensor.... who knew he was that tall?  Amanda displaying her stellar egg hunting skills... (and retrieving skills, I might add)

In the afternoon it was time for the rest of the family to come by for Easter dinner and another Egg hunt.  Fortunately the weather was pretty nice... but it was REALLY  WINDY... all the eggs were flying into the neighbors' yards, and out of the trees.   Gabby's got her eye on a pink chocolate egg that has managed to somehow stay in the tree through all windiness.....

 Nicholas and Cameron spot a few.....

 Tyler was finding my egg stash hidden around the side of the house....

 There were a dozen eggs for each of the kids to find... most were chocolate.... but a few were filled with confetti... you were suppose to crack the eggs on your head.... or your cousin's head....

 And let the fun begin....













Amanda wanted in on the confetti fun....

 Paybacks from Cameron to Nicholas.....

Brad and the kids...

 Such a great photo....

It was great to see Uncle Leon...I'm so glad he was able to make it to dinner.... and he brought a swirl cake.....

Tyler takes after the rest of us..... enjoying Nonna's recipe.... and Uncle Leon's swirl cake...  I never make that cake at home so it is always a treat to have it... it always reminds me of Nonna....

 Dad was content watching the Tigers... It was a crazy and exciting win by the Tigers

 Such a cute photo of Mo, Mom, and Amanda....

 Amanda and Laura look great....

And finally... my best attempt at trying to get all the cousins together... I have to say... it's a little better than last year's group shot.  Well... I'm off to do some cleaning before the kids get home from school.  Until later.........

Color Explosion!!!

I'm totally annoyed as I type this.  I just typed an entire post and it disappeared into cyberspace.  UGH!  This is my second attempt at posting so I'm going to be brief.  The past 2 weeks have been filled with activity around here.  The kids were off of school the week before Easter and spent a lot of time playing tennis while Steve and I worked.  I was preparing for Easter, Gabby's Birthday, and Nicholas's upcoming First Communion.  In addition, we had the usual piano, talent show rehearsal, pot luck dinner, therapy, church projects, etc.  Here are a few photos leading up to Easter.
I decided to paint my nails for the holiday and Gabby insisted that I paint her fingernails pink too.










She usually makes me nervous that she is going to leave my bathroom with a trail of pink blotches all over the cream carpet.  I decided to start singing songs while blow drying her nails with my hair dryer... it worked perfectly... beautiful nails and beautiful, cream carpet...

I think I was making dinner and washing dishes.... here the kids are making dinner and dirtying dishes... I think they were cooking a delicacy..... old sock stew

Of course we dyed Easter eggs... the kids just love to decorate them each year... this year I hard boiled a dozen and a half eggs

We tried our hand at making speckled eggs this year.... Nicholas is reading the directions...VERY LOUDLY!

My cutie pie, patiently waiting for her brightly dyed orange egg....

The Easter egg dying pros.....

It was so hard for the kids to wait for the eggs to dye.... the longer you kept them in their cups... the brighter the eggs would turn out... they couldn't wait to move on to the next step..

My attempt at helping Gabby... she kept telling me, "I do it!"  Her method definitely resulted in several cracked eggs... however, no one eats the eggs... so the fact that the white and yolks were probably infused with orange and blue and green dye wasn't going to poison anyone... Gabby's eggs were colorful on the inside as well as the outside!

The dyed eggs before the speckling began....

Amanda speckling... (i.e. sponge painting....)

Amanda perfected her egg artistry while Nicholas gave up after 1 or 2... he found that mixing all the colors together on the sponge resulted in brown and gray.... not a beautiful egg.... he went off to play Legos and Amanda finished up....

Voila... the eggs in all their glory on Easter day....

Finally... I made these little guys for Easter with a few of their birdie friends.... too much effort for silly cupcakes....

So that is the first batch of photos I have to share.  I have a lot more coming.  I hope no more of the posts delete themselves.  Until later.....

A Few New Photos....

I only have a couple of minutes so I thought I would try to blog a few thoughts before the month of May arrives.  Last week was a little hectic because it was the week before spring break.  There were a lot of exams and projects for the kids.  On Monday... I made the decision to not return to my design class I had enrolled in at Schoolcraft....( a waste of time and money unfortunately.)  Since I already had a babysitter lined up Steve and I enjoyed dinner together without the kids.  We had a birthday party for my nephew on Tuesday evening, tennis and piano lessons, a sleepover on Friday and the list goes on.  Unfortunately Nicholas got a throw-up bug on Saturday and Amanda and Gabby have come down with colds.  I guess it is a good thing we are on break this week so everyone can recuperate.

Here are some pictures:  I loved that Gabby was so interested in watching her Dad wash dishes.  She pulled her chair right up to the kitchen sink so she could lend a hand.  I wonder if she will be this eager in a couple more years......

Enjoying the nice weather again.... Gabby is finally figuring out how to blow the bubbles instead of taste the bubbles....

Amanda joining in....

The cousins came for a visit last week.... playing at the park 

A cute shot of the kids stopping to have a seat on the walk home

Gabby pushing Emmersyn the whole way home... this worked out great... Emmersyn wouldn't allow Gabby to have the stroller and Gabby hates sitting in it... Here they are both happy....

Amanda was invited to attend Principal's Breakfast this card marking.  Her teacher commented that she always works hard and is responsible and reliable.  She helps other students and helps her teacher clean up the classroom at the end of the day.  Maybe all that responsibility and cleaning at school makes it difficult to throw her dirty clothes in the hamper at the end of the day.  I was wondering why the clothes are always on the bottom of her closet... a foot from the hamper.... she has been working extremely hard keeping things neat and orderly at school... there is no room for that at home!

















Amanda with her certificate.....

















Which was filled with kind words from her teacher Mrs. Gray.  In all honesty... I'm glad Amanda is mature, responsible, helpful, and a hard worker at school.  It is hard to be that person all the time... at home she can let loose and just be herself. (Messy clothes and all!)

















Just thought I would share this creative and cute idea to package a gift card..... especially if you are going to a tween-agers sleep-over birthday party.... candy and gift card hot glued to craft sticks... inserted into some floral foam... covered with paper shreds... genius!  I can't take credit for the idea... I saw it on-line and thought I would give it a try....

















I was a guest reader last week in Amanda's class...I just made it March 30th for March is reading month.  I told Amanda I could always do it in April... but she cornered me at Principal's breakfast with Mrs. Gray and wouldn't you know it.... she was happy to have me.  Anyway.... what does this have to do with odd 2 liter bottles...  After I was done reading and passing out donuts, Amanda informed her teacher that I would gladly bring home her ecosystem.  It has a fish living in the water and a snail to eat all the slime.  The crickets on top have all died but there are some isopods living (roly-poly bugs).  Mrs. Gray said I could fill the top with other backyard critters.... (yeah right...) I pasted a smile on my face and our ecosystem sits next to my coffee machine in the kitchen.  I'm just waiting for Gabby to knock it off the counter... oh brother...when is garbage day..... Did I just type that?  I mean how long will this fish survive?  For a long time on the duckweed and elodea Amanda tells me......
















And finally.... I'm hoping to do a better job this year and get the Easter photos uploaded in a timely manner... This was Easter morning 2011...(Have the kids grown that much?  They all look pretty much the same to me)

And who can forget the shot of all the cousins together after the outdoor Easter egg hunt... this is a CLASSIC!  What's not to love... everyone looking at the camera... Amanda closing her eyes...Cameron giving his best smile, Tyler and Emmersyn studying their baskets... I can hardly wait to get a photo this Sunday!







I should have lots of fun photos to share this weekend.... Until later....