Picture This.....

It's almost 9 and Heros is about to come on. I wanted popcorn but I didn't want to make it, so I asked Greg if he would. He relented and went to the kitchen to make it. I gave him the directions, he got it ready and came back in. A few minutes later he asked if I could turn up the tv because he couldn't hear it over the popcorn. Which got him thinking that it is not ususally that loud when I make it. He then realizes that he forgot to put the lid on the pot. I jump up and head to the kitchen where popcorn is flying all over the place. The stove is covered, the floor is covered, shelving, the refridgerator, and the table all have popcorn on them. There is oil all over the stove. As i am trying to put the lid on popcorn and oil are spewing up in the air at me. It was incredibly funny. Needless to say I ending up makking the popcorn anyway because we had to make a whole new batch. I am still finding popcorn this morning that was missed in the clean up effots. :)

I'm 30!

I had an excellent birthday weekend! Saturday I went out with Greg, David, and a couple of our friends. We were supposed to go to dinner at PF Chang's and then go to Phatom Fright Nights at Kennywood. The wait was forever long at PF Chang's and some of the other nicer restaurants so we ended up at Red Robin. I was quite happy with that however cause I pretty much only get RR twice a year when I'm out in Missouri. When we were finished with dinner, we went outside and of course it was raining so no Kennywood for me. Instead we went to Dave and Busters where we shot pool and played games. It was a good time. Sunday was my actual birthday. I got to sleep in and Greg did most of the parenting which was really nice. Greg got me a back massager (yippee, it will be welll used) and the kids (with the help of daddy) made me a book. The title....Why Our Mommy is the Most Awesomest Blossomest Opossomest (a rating system that Greg and I made up years ago based on a project I was doing at the time) in the Whole Wide World. I can't load up the pages and they wouldn't have photographed well but here's what each page said....page 1:She Loves to Play, page 2: She loves us when we are all pouty faced, page 3: She even loves the terrifying Toby Wonster and Lili Zilla, page 4: She loved us before she ever met us, page 5:Most of all she loves us way up to God and back...We love you too mama, Happy Bday. It came complete with pictures and the paper background was created by the kiddos. Isn't that SO sweet. I was crying the whole way through.


Later we went to dinner at my parents house. Mom made me Chicken Cordon Bleu....YUMMY!!! with green beans and potatoes and tomato salad. It was incredibly good! Then it was cake and present time. Godfather got me a fenton basket that is beautiful. Mom and Dad got me the 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch dolls complete with their own patch. This may not seem like a gift for a 30 year old, but I collect them. I have like 30 of them some still in their original boxes. So it was a very cool gift. They are sitting in my hutch where they will be safe! :) Okay enough of me talking, here are the pictures.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

FFF: Silly Smiles

For FFF this week I was not in the mood to go back through pictures to find Silly Smiles, so I went through my unposted pics from this week. This is also to stop my Daddy from complaining there are no new pictures....not like you don't see them 3-4 times a week. hahaha. LOVE YOU!!! Okay here we go.

Pumpkin and Sausage Spaghetti Smiles (don't knock it til you tried it)

Her toothy smile

A Peek-a-boo smile

The I-did-it-all-by-myself-smile. She finally figured out how to climb up the steps and then go down the slide. She did it like 30 times in a row. It was so cute.

Messing around on the slide smiles

The Look at Me smile

A picture of some adorable little boy toes

The inchworm

Being chased by my brother smile

The playing with my sister smile just before they both bit the dust

The running through the house smile

Laughing Smile

Lounging with my Uncle Dave smile....I had to act fast to get this pic and it turned out blurry. I still love it cause it's so sweet!

Have a great WEEKEND!!! I know I will. ;) And for more FFF go to Sarah's Blog at http://kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/

It was totally wicked!!!!

For those of you not familiar with the above slang.....it was FANTASTIC!!!! I absolutely loved it. It differed from the book, and not just in what they omitted. The musical changed the whole ending. I liked the musical version's ending better, but that was because it ended very fairytale like where as the book was more a realistic (and by realistic I mean not happily ever after-ish). The costumes and the set designs were beautiful. And the girls that played Elphaba and Glinda were superb! I liked it so much I added two of my favorite songs from the night to the playlist on the right. Look for Defying Gravity and For Good in the playlist if you want to give them a listen. (You'll have to hit the skip button until they pop up, as you can no longer scroll down the list due to it's placement.) As for pictures they were STRICTLY FORBIDDEN, like they would of confiscated my camera....I love it too much for that to happen. So you will have to settle for the two I got to take.

A blurry pic of the stage with a dragon and the map of OZ. Yes we were high, but not nearly as high as you could be.

After the show, while we were waiting for the bus to leave. It was great taking a bus. No need to worrying about driving, traffic, or parking. And best yet I was able to enjoy a drink with mu Mom....I NEVER get to do that. i'm always the DD.

No pics of the kids. I didn't have the camera charged until right before the show. So in the words of my high school spanish teacher.... SUFRA!

FFF: Hope

As you can see this week's theme is hope. I however have no pictures that scream HOPE to me. So instead I am going way off topic and doing a hodgepodge post. I have some pics and some other stuff to share and I will pretty much be occupied over the weekend so now seems like the perfect time.

Yesterday I did some learning through play activities with Toby. He loved them. Once I make it to the teachers store I will be doing more of them. As the wether gets colder we will need something to do...so I am going to take my years of expereince and do something with it. Here he is painting in shaving cream. This is not for children who still eat everything (notice that the princess was napping at the time. If you want to do it wih them too whipped cream works better). The activity can be used for just play, color mixing, or shape, number, letter recognition. This is definately a time when you as the adult will also have to get your hands dirty. I drew shapes, pictures, and his name and he told me what they were. We had loads of fun and my table sparkled afterward.

Here he is beading with colored pasta. We made bracelets. He just had to make one for each of us. Very cute. To make the colored pasta (or rice for that matter)....place the pasta in a ziploc bag, add a capful of rubbing alcohol and some food coloring. Mix up the contents and spread it out on a paper towel to dry. Makes as much or as little as you want. Again make sure your little one doesn't eat the pasta or the rice.

*************
In order to be equal opportunity, here are some pictures of my sweet girl

Here's Liliana playing peek a boo with Toby

My sweet princess

****************

In other news, I bought the best jeans ever! Levi's perfectly slimming jeans. Let me tell you ladies these are so comfortable and they fit great. Definately worth the price I paid for them. Run, don't walk, to get a pair.

****************

In even better news, My Mom and myself are headed out on Sunday for a special treat. We are going to see WICKED!!!!! I have read the book and loved it, but to get to see the musical. Now that is s special treat. I absolutely love musicals so i am very excited about this. Greg used to take me all the time when we lived in Pittsburgh. The last one we went to see was Beauty and the Beast put on by the Pittsburgh Playhouse. It was very good. Some of my other favs were Suessical and Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk and Big River. When we went to see Big River, we had no idea it was being done by the deaf acting company, Truly FANTASTIC and so very moving. I can't wait for Sunday now,

****************

And lastly, this whole post is coming from one sleep deprived Mama. Toby is cutting the last of his 2 year molars, both top ones at once.....yeah and boo hiss all at once. So he is either a whiny mess or a grouchy wonster. Not sure which one I like better, they both are exasperating. Liliana also is just not right though I cannot pinpoint why. She is not running a fever and I cannot see or feel any new teeth. Her eyes seem puffy and dull, so it could be allergies. And her sleeping is completely off track. She woke up screaming at 4:15-4:30 this morning and didn't go back to sleep for 30 minutes. Then as soon as I laid her down she screamed her lovely head off. In the process waking up EVERYONE. It was at least another 30-45 minutes before I got her back to sleep. Then it was back up at 7 after just falling back to sleep. I am so tired I think I might take a nap today. lol

Here's hoping that today is a better day and this weekend is even better!

HAPPY 4th ANNIVERSARY....

to my best friend, my husband. I could never even begin to put into words what you or our love means to me and how it has affected me all the way down to my soul. So I will let the words to our wedding song do it for me....there was a reason we picked it and it still rings true today. I LOVE YOUE BABY! And to quote another song "He's the voice I love to hear someday when I'm ninety. He's that wooden rocking chair I want rocking right beside me. Everyday that passes I only love him more. Yeah, he's the one that I'd lay down my own life for. And he's everything I ever wanted and everything I need. He's everything to me." (ps you'll notice I changed the pronouns to fit. lol) Can't wait to see you at dinner!!!!


If you get out in the drivin' rain Stand in the eye of the hurricane And never think twice If you turn your back on selfishness And your thoughts are for someone else Cause' they've changed your life
That's how you know it's love That's how you know it's meant to be When the span of forever Just never seems long enough That's how you know it's love
When your heart insists that you give it all When you no longer fear the fall And you just let go When the past is finally dead and gone Fate leads you somewhere to the one That has your soul
That's how you know it's love That's how you know it's meant to be When the span of forever Just never seems long enough That's how you know it's love
No part of you questions No part of you doubts You're only sure this is what love's about And nothing and no one Can stand in your way Or keep you from sayin' what your heart is dyin' to say
That's how you know it's love That's how you know it's meant to be When the span of forever Just never seems long enough That's how you know it's love

What We Learned Last Night....

That we are highly unprepared for the power to go out for an extended period of time. Yesterday Tropical Depression Ike came through Ohio. Now my area was lucky, we only got the high winds....no rain. The wind kicked up after dinner and was impressive to watch. As we drove home, it pushed the car around and several times cars had to drive around tree branches. We had no sooner got in the house and started picking up the yard furniture that the power went out. Evidently two transponders blew. Yippee! I knew where the candles were and where the lighter was. One major problem...the lighter didn't work. And we couldn't find any other lighters or matches at that point in time in the dark. Greg also needed batteries for the radio so he could listen to the Steelers game (and to a lesser degree for the weather report). We couldn't find any batteries for the radio so Greg headed back out to the corner store for batteries, a new lighter, and a flashlight. While he was gone, I got out Toby's cluck cluck chicken flashlight to look for some matches that I knew were somewhere. I found some in Godfather's office....THANK YOU Godfather...and began lighting the candles. When Greg came home with batteries, we got the radio to work and we remembered where one of our flashlights was that wasan't burned out. So what we learned...I have to go shopping so I can make a power outage kit. And I need a couple better flashlights, because cluck cluck chicken flashlight isn't the best. lol

The power came back on in the middle of the night. And upon surveying the damage in the daylight....there are tons of leaves and sticks all over my yard and a few branches here and there but no down trees...which is really amazing because I have a ton of trees and some are not in good condition.

Rainy Day Fun

Yesterday Toby and me had some fun playing in the rain. He really wanted to be outside but it was pouring so we made a compromise. He could play in the rain if he wore the raincoat (a size too small but it worked) and a hat or used the umbrella. He had a blast. A special treat he never gets. If you're wondering where the princessa was she was in the middle of her four hour nap. You read that right people! She has been taking one huge 3-4 hour nap. It's great for her and great for Toby and me to get some one-on-one time.

And I just have to share this before the pictures cause it's just too cute. Whenever something isn't where it belongs Toby says "Look missing piece." Yesterday morning he rolled over and gave me my kiss good morning. Then he looked where his daddy lays. He looks at me and says
"Daddy?" I told him Daddy was at work. He then looked at me and with all seriousness says " Daddy, missing piece." It was so very sweet. I absolutley love that little boy.

I realize that some of the pictures are alittle fuzzy. It's a combo of the rain and of little fingerprints all over my lens. They still turned out adorable!
I'm SO silly! I love how he covers his mouth when he laughs.

His Daddy says this looks like a magazine add.

Such a big boy now...he can reach the pedals and make them go really well.

Singing in the Rain

Love this pic too even though I can only see his feet

Such a beautiful smile

Peek!

I see you Mommy!

Just one more minute

And just because it's Saturday...

O-H-I-O....Go Buckeyes!

Go Notre Dame....beat the crud out of Michigan

I would usually cheer for PITT too (my husbands alma mater) but they are on a bye week.

FFF: Create Your Own Theme

Since I already posted all my pics from this week with yesterday's slide show, I had to come up with something different. So I decided on Flashback Friday. These pictures were taken this time last year. They are so stinkin cute and little! Enjoy and Have a fantastic (wet) weekend!

For more FFF go to Sarah's Blog

Okay break's over

Hey everyone! Those couple days off sure have been helpful. I really just needed a few days to relax and recoup. We have travel so much in the last six weeks....I'm really impressed with how the kids have done. I have finally caught up on all the dishes and the laundry. Now I just need to finish putting everything away and then I'll be done. I really hoping to have that done by the weekend so I don't have to spend the whole time cleaning. We'll see if that happens. Here are some pictures from the last few days. I have decided that whenever I have more than a few pictures you are going to get some kind of slide show. Blogger only gives you so much space and I've already used half of it. So I need to conserve alittle. Besides making the slideshows is fun. I promise to try and post on a more daily basis and then I won't need to make so many slideshows. Enjoy my little cuties.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

HOME!!!!

So Friday the kids and I were set free in Chicago. We decided to check out Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a very nice zoo. We had a great time. It was a cool day so all the animals were out and about. We only spent $30 there and it was all in taxi rides to and fro. On Saturday we met Greg's family for breakfast. It was really nice to get to spend a couple hours with them before we left. Chicago was nice to visit, but I think I would have enjoyed it more without the kiddos. traversing a city, an expense city, with two toddlers, no husband and no stroller was not my favorite. We did get to take in some really fun things while there though so it was worth the trip. The slideshow contains friday's pics and yesterday's. Enjoy! I'm taking a few days of to recover from all the traveling we've been doing. See you soon!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

FFF: Coming to you live from Chicago

Yesterday Greg's Aunt Rita came into town and took us to the field museum. It was loads of fun. Toby really likes exploring museums, which I am really thankful for. We had a great time seeing the dinosaurs and exploring the what makes an animal exhibit. Today it's just me with the kids. We'll either be going to the Aquarium or the Zoo. If you hang out to the end the of very short slide show you'll be rewarded with my FFF (yes I did stick to topic). If you want to see more FFF go to www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com

Make a Smilebox photobook

Well after our tire fiasco (you can read about it last post) we got here just intime to meet our frinds at Navy Pier. We had a fantastic day with Amy, Matt, Brayden, and Malayna...THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for taking the time to come hang out with us. The rain held off which was very nice and it certainly wasn't hot...also a plus. We spent our time eating, taking in a pirate show, and watching the kids run and play while trying to make it to the end of the pier. But let me tell you, whoever designed the pier did not have children in mind since most of the pier just has a simple chain to "protect" you from falling in. It made this normally laid back Mama very worried. Here's a photo book of our day enjoy. And Amy if there are any pics you wnat let me know and I'll email them to you. Thanks again...it was really fun. And completely exhusting, we all came back and collasped from our fun day.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Today Greg is actually attending his conference so his Aunt Rita is coming to take us out exploring. Yeah!!! Tomorrow the kids and I are on our own, so i hope the weather cooperates with us so we can take in some sight seeing. It will be my first time sight seeing all by myself. Should be an adventure...and that's probably an understatement. Stay Tuned for more adventures.

The day was going so well....

until my brand new tire went flat. We had had a lovely day of traveling I-80 through Ohio and most of Indiana headin to Chicago. We had just finished dinner and were leaving the travel plaza when Greg said I think something's wrong with the tire. (It should be mentioned here that right before we got off at the travel plaza the car was riding funny but we thought it was the road because it seemed to get better.) So we pulled off the side of the road, a mere 100 feet from the end of the travel plaza exit ramp we had just left, to check the tire. And sure enough it was FLAT. And I mean flat. So we put the doughnut on with the kids waiting not so patiently and we loaded the car back up and headed for the next exit on the turnpike. As we're paying the toll we ask the worker where we should go and he sent us to a Truck and Tire center just down the road. When we get there Greg opens the door and an alarm goes off but nobody came so he walked around and looked for another door. The delivery guy pointed him back to the orginal door, so he opened it again. Still no one came so he rang the doorbell, which he said was very quiet, and the guy showed up. The nice man, who only had one arm, said all his guys had gone home and he couldn't do it so he sent us to Walmart...of course! He made sure that Greg understood this was the country and negleted to tell us this Walmart was like 10 miles away and then sent us on our merry little way. After a lovely drive, we arrived at Walmart only to see the guy closing up. We look at the clock and it's a half an hour past closing time but we thought he might take pity on us. He told Greg it was actually an hour earlier than we thought and he'd be happy to take care of us, BUT....and this is where it gets really good.....they have NO power. All we could do was laugh. Turns out that half the town had no power so nothing else would be open to fix our tire. We are now at a nice Holiday Inn Express in LaPorte Indiana awaiting Walmart's opening tomorrow. At this moment the princess is asleep and Daddy has Toby at the pool to unwind, and Mommy....well I'm drinking a beer! Tomorrow will be a great day however cause we are going to meet up at Navy Pier with this terriffic familiy.


And seeing this was the highlight of my day. And as of now I'm going to take it's advice!

Whirlwind Weekend Adventure

So Friday evening we loaded in the car and drove 4.5 hours to Lewisburg, PA for our Rich and Heather's wedding. For the past four years we have had season Pitt tickets with our buddy Rob and his brother Rich and Rich's girlfriend Heather. They both looked so happy and we are incredibly happy for them. When the festivities were over Saturday evening, we loaded back in the car and drove back home. We were gone for about 31 hours total. lol. And we are only home for two days cause we're leaving this week for Chicago for Greg's Conference. While he's learning at his seminars, the kids and I will be living it up. Sounds good to me! Here are some pics from the wedding.

Rich and Heather saying their vows.

Toby being back in the corner by little girls. He most certainly did NOT want to dance with them. That didn't stop them from trying to drag him out there. Yikes, it's starting already.

Rob with his Mommy...I told you guys this picture turned out good.

The bridal party all dressed up for YMCA

Starting to get sleepy

Liliana and Daddy sharing a dance

Getting even more sleepy

My balloon, my balloon

Where did it go?

Too cute

Even though it's not in focus...I love it

Playing in the mulch

A family photo (at the end of the day so we look alittle tired)

Liliana and her Godfather Rob

Love this shot too.

There you go everyone. Something to tide you over. Enjoy your Labor Day!