Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Little Miss turns 3

Three years ago today, our baby girl was born! We met her the day after and we have been in love with her ever since..




Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Rain, rain, go away...

...and don't come some other day (in the near future anyway). So, this historic flooding has even managed to tack on another day at the end of the school year. Who would've thought rain could cancel school?? Here's what our backyard looks like today. This is weather for ducks or a couple of kids in rainboots!










Luckily we decided to attach the bridge to a tree after another rainstorm we had several years ago. I'm just hoping it stays attached and doesn't take the tree with it.




I leave you with a few quotes; about what you ask? Rain, of course!

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."-Satchel Paige

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."- Langston Hughes

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Butterfly Birthday

Just a few pictures from Little Miss' birthday weekend.... filled with butterfly bliss! As you can see by the first two pictures, she is E's number 1 fan! He can make her giggle like nobody else can.






More birthday pictures to come this week as the celebration of this little blessing's birth continues.
"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."
-Author Unknown

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Birthday Goodness in the Mail

Little Miss is turning 3 this coming Wednesday...eeeeks! We got home on Saturday just in time to meet the mailman with his special delivery. Little Miss' birth family sent gifts for her birthday, along with some Easter gifts. They even included gifts for E; both the kids were thrilled (of course-who doesn't love getting packages in the mail?).

On a side note
, Little Miss has gotten into the habit of biting her nails. I couldn't figure out where this habit of hers came from...I blamed it on her big brother, but it turns out her birthmom, along with her sisters, used to be nail biters. I love finding out those little tidbits of information...they may seem pointless and silly to some, but to me they are what open adoption is all about. When I see Little Miss biting her nails now, I have a completely different reaction to it. :)
Excuse the long bangs...Little Miss lost her clip before the photos.


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Legos

Legos and E don't always get along...by that I mean the perfectly made sets that get put together and left on the shelf to collect dust. E prefers to play with them, which is great...unless you expect Mommy and Daddy to put them back together every 5 minutes as they fall apart. We repeatedly try to convince E to make his own creations, but he prefers to stick with the specific designs. I was thrilled to see what he had made the other day all on his own....way to go E!

By the way, I think it would benefit Lego to market Star Wars pieces without any specific directions on what to build....just a big box of Star War Lego pieces....just a thought! I also wish E had been so into Legos last February when we were in Florida at the Lego Store...bummer!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Dirt!

Tip of the day:

Be cautious when eating ice cream before playing outside....you could end up with a face like this...

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Wii

Everyone has the Wii...so E says! But, really, it seems like everyone DOES have the Wii. What is going on? Oh, the pressure!
He and his cousin had a blast playing for a good 2 hours (can't believe I said that outloud) on Sunday! But, it was a rainy weekend, so I feel like it was justified and they did play the Wii Sport and were sweating by the end of it.
Maybe Santa will bring it next Christmas, E...maybe...

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A birthday and flowers that last

Avozinha celebrated her 97th birthday today...3 more years and she'll be on the Smucker's Jar! As you can see the kids belted out "Happy Birthday" with pride...the louder, the better (as far as they're concerned).

We made these quick and easy coffee filter flowers this morning before the celebration. I'm working on the step by step photo instructions. But basically, you just use water-based markers and color the coffee filter. When the entire coffee filter is colored, squirt with water and let dry. Tape onto a "stem" and add hand-made leaves.


Here is a random picture of Little Miss (sitting on the big girl potty). I couldn't resist; she looked so darn cute sitting there.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Swim and best friends

Little Miss is in her first big girl swim class. Even though she isn't officially 3 yet, they moved her up because she was doing so well in the younger class. It's good that I don't have to go in the water, but sad that she doesn't need her Mommy to go with her.

My camera kept fogging up when I first started taking pictures because of the change in temperature. I actually like the effect it had on the first picture.

She smiles the entire time she is swimming; I'm happy both my kids love the water. It makes summers much more pleasant!



E still struggles with his endurance when swimming on his stomach, but he's a pro with the backstroke.



He swims on the opposite side of the pool from Little Miss. I waited until the last 5 minutes of his class to just snap a couple of pictures in an attempt to prevent distracting him. Of course within 5 seconds of my arrival, he began "performing". He is supposed to jump straight off the block...no spins, belly flops, etc...As you can see, he didn't conform...but now why would he?? He never does; he prefers to make up his own rules. I suppose that will come in handy some day...maybe?



I will end this post with my favorite quote of the day. When eating at Panera this afternoon, Little Miss leaned her head into my shoulder and said "Mommy, you're my best friend." My melting heart!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Magnets and Chalk

I recently painted the side of one of my cabinets first with magnetic paint and then with chalkboard paint. This picture is a little on the dark side, but I think you can get the idea. I can't find the before pictures right now, but hopefully I'll find them and post a before and after pic. I'll also get into the details of the project at a later date..it wasn't all that smooth!

I've wanted to paint this chalkboard after seeing several posts online. Here are Ashley's and Tara's versions. I really love Tara's idea of the sign-in board and leaving the notes of wisdom! Here is another post showing her chalkboard cabinets in her kitchen....so much fun! Check out the photography on these two blogs while your at it...BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Dirt

My kids are definitely dirt magnets. When I called Mom on the way home and asked how the kids were, she said, "Dirty!". Eh, that's nothing new; they seem to attract the dirt! Here is E on a typical day of playing outside...if you look closely, you'll see the dirt on that cute face of his.
Love him!

Word has it, I was a dirt magnet too...and there are even some pictures to prove it.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Turning 3

My baby is almost three! It's time to plan a party.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Lions, monkeys and kangaroos...oh my!

The animals at the zoo act differently in the winter as compared to when you visit them in the summertime, especially the kangaroos. When we first arrived, they were doing running laps around the yard and then later they were seen boxing with each other. Guess the animals are a bit more active, trying to stay warm in the New England winter weather.

Hear them ROAR!!


4 little monkeys...not sure what that one on the far right is doing...ick!
When I asked Little Miss what her favorite thing at the zoo was, she said, "the ducks"( that was not my guess).
Can't you just picture this guy with a British accent telling us all how to behave? He obviously thought we were acting ridiculous...

The best thing about going to the zoo in the winter was that there was hardly anyone there!

Monday, March 1, 2010

March is here...

...and Spring is on its way. We went to the zoo on Sunday and played at the playground, soaking up the warm weather (I think it made it to 35 that day).



Yes, he made it all the way around, quickly too!

Love Little Miss' big blue eyes and her cute little nose!