soup

I must confess they have eaten soup 3 of the last 4 days.
I know I won't win any great mom awards, well maybe from them.
They love soup, currently Campbell's chicken noodle soup, the goldfish version.
So last night as Rosie brought me the can of soup and said in an excited voice "Soup!" I did the mom thing and opened the can and stuck it in the microwave (don't start, my life thrives on simple) While the soup was cooking Rosie did her little happy dance soon joined by Yahaira who heard the beeping of the microwave and came running. Seeing the soup can on the counter she started singing "soup, soup, soup, we are going to eat soup!) As I professionally served up their soup, I was met with "thank you mom" and big grins. So most certainly I lose points in the variety department...but hey seeing them this excited about a simple can of soup just makes me smile. Quite honestly I would feed them soup every day just to see the simple joy that can come from two excited little girls eating soup.

snow fun?

Beckie took the kids outside yesterday, with warm temps in the 30's it was actually fun to be outside.
The snow is hard, compact, dirty...mix in some trash that inevitable blows into our yard from the neighbors and honestly I couldn't see the fun in it at all...Anthony and some of the daycare kids dug a fort, impressive, the girls simply shadowed Beckie. Beckie is my hero for cleaning up the invasion of dog poop, accumulating since that first snowfall last fall. Sigh, I choose to not make that one of my jobs, which means it simply doesn't get done. a few pics of the kids enjoying the warm day, and hanging out with Beckie. She took these photos with her new camera, she has been getting a lot of practice taking pics while home on break.

Gone Baby Gone

Just watched this on video the other night. I had no idea what the movie was about, who starred,directed ect, not a clue. I was renting videos on Redbox.com so I could just simply pick them up at our local box and thus avoid the having to wait and discover the one movie I wanted to see was gone for the night. So when I read this title out loud to Beckie she said 'yes, I want to see that one. I heard it's suppose to be really good." So it was added to my purchases and picked up later. Here is an official synopsis from a movie website:

Ben Affleck's adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel Gone Baby Gone stars Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie, a private investigator from working class Boston who takes on a case involving a kidnapped girl. The girl's mother begs Patrick to take the case because he has connections to criminal Boston that the police do not. He agrees and, along with his partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) they uncover a web of corruption that threatens the relationship between the two. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman co-star as members of the Boston Police Department. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

It was a very good movie. I completely disagree with the way it ended and certainly wanted to side with the female leads stand on how it should play out. Sorry Beckie I know you felt it ended the right way. It opens a huge pot of speculation on the whole doing the right thing morally or doing the right thing in the best interest of a child. Yeah I did just go there. (interesting perhaps that this is the movie I watched at this time, considering all the current drama that is my life) I won't ramble, you know I can, but I will simply say, I will always err on the side of best interest of a child, always. I have lived far too long with the results of addressing the best interest of parents.

in a little

over a week, we are going to see the Nemo Ice show.
Can't wait to once again watch the kids reactions to the show, last years show was amazing!
I was playing/practicing with some new die cuts I just purchased, and came up with this birthday card.
These new dies, not only cut, but emboss, really liking that feature, and yes the nemo was entirely purchased simply because of the ice show...honestly it's a sickness this need to coordinate pages. ....and no to answer your next questions the kids do not have matching Nemo outfits....yet. :)

baker in training

she discovered the apron in the drawer,and had to wear it immediately.
Became Cassandra's shadow, whether Cassandra wanted her help or not.
Lot's of giggles and "I help" were heard.
amazingly they did accomplish their goal of baking cupcakes.

everyone was home...

this weekend...
loved seeing the surprised faces on the kids when josh walked in friday afternoon. Lot's of "josh! josh!" being uttered. Later when Cassandra came home there was a new round of excitement with ther name being repeated over and over and over (wondered if perhaps they both wanted to escape back to school :) Saturday afternoon when beckie walked in they simply went nuts...I think she had a shadow called rosie for the next three hours. So busy when everyone is here, loud, and crazy, and I simply woulnd't change it for anything. For as much as these little ones keep us busy, I do miss seeing my big kids too...especially all at the same time.

her day

I deleted the original entry in a fit of anger...not at her of course, simply at the way some people in life can have control and the power to take something and make it wrong and ugly.
now that I'm calmer I still feel she deserves her moment. although I won't be reprinting the original entry, and yes I do stand by every word I typed. I do not believe it was distasteful, or discriminating, or a gross misuse of my position. Perhaps I should be flattered that someone actually thinks I'm that talented. :)
So I will simply say, it is done. The drama that has played constantly in the background of her life is over. finished. Perhaps the best gift of all is just simply that she had no idea that any of it was there, and she will never have to live that chaos. Period.

sometimes

sleep just overtakes you, whether you want it to or not.
not sure what I like best about this picture, the knee bent with the toes curled, or her mouth open, maybe just the overall sense of calm she exudes while she sleeps. Most likely the calm, gives me a chance to recharge.

finally done...

I completed Anthony's memory tote two years ago. At that time I fully intended to also do a tote for each girl. I had the supplies, I simply never found the time. Finally a few weekends ago (during the scrapping marathon) I did find the time to complete them, with some help from Linette on Rosies (thanks Linette). It feels good to check one more thing off my list, and Yahaira was so excited to fill her preschool folder with some of her art work from this year. Loved seeing her grin as I traced her hand on the folder...her concentration as she "wrote" her name on the front of the folder was priceless.

lunar eclipse

above you see last night's lunar eclipse.
What? all you see is a black box? Are you sure you don't see the moon? It's there, in the top center of the photo. Still don't see it?
Ummmmmm perhaps if you tilt your head to the right and squint. Still no success? Sigh, I'm afraid I can't see it either, yes that is an actual photo and not just a creative photoshop rectangle done in black. If you could see it you would have noticed the dark outline of the trees in the lower left corner, the moon was high in the sk, the clouds that had lingered most of the day were dissapaiting, there were a few stars out, and at the time of the night it was very still, and quiet. The first time we looked (we being Jay and I) it took us a bit to find the moon since at 8:58pm (that's when Cassandra called to tell us she was watching the eclipse and that since she didn't have a camera at school I should take some pictures to capture the moment) it was almost entirely covered, except for a tiny crescent. Once we figured out what was clouds and what was actually the moon it was a rather spectacular sight. Then the cold set in, a toasty -6 last night. So we scambled back inside to thaw out. I did continue to watch the progress for the next hour, peeking out the window often. Love when these events happen and I actually get to see them. Love knowing that for this brief moment I am sharing something with people in so many other places, something that happens so rarely. I have been known to wake my kids, and drive them to remote country locations to take in one of these spectacular events. So Cassandra, I guess this is the picture you get of the eclipse last night, since your mom has no idea how to take photos of this nature....sigh, it would have been a pretty awesome photo, by the way.

a baking frenzy....

it seems when Cassandra comes homes she ends up baking. The kids love this since they often get to help. Last night Cassandra decided to bake cupcakes and cookies, they were still going strong at 8:30, when much to Anthony and Yahaira's dismay they had to head off to bed. Rosie on the other hand continued to help in her own unique way, take a peek at the picture above that was just one of her many ways of helping. Love when Cassandra decides to bake, love the smell, and the fact that what she bakes goes back to school with her.

a few

more valentine goodies.
The above pic is of teacher gifts, the lower was an attempt at making white chocolate covered marshmallows. With enough sugar to make you float, seriously one bite would be a sugar rush to last the entire day. Those went to school with Cassandra.

Just had to share....

this layout was created by Tracy (Icanhascherryontop) from the ACOT message board. Awhile back she posted a message on the board that she had run out of photos and was wondering if anyone would like to send her some pics to scrap. I joined several others in expressing an interest in sharing some photos with her. She contacted me last week asking for some pics and here is what she created.
Stunning isn't it? This is done entirely in digital....which leaves me speechless. I have yet to venture into the digital world, sigh still trying to master the paper side of scrapping. A big thank you to Tracy for sharing her amazing talent in creating this layout.

Valentine's Day

Not sure what was more fun, sorting thru all those different cards or receiving all that candy. Yahaira was so excited by the Valentine's from preschool, she had to tell me who each one was from. Anthony was comparing and sorting the ones from school and the ones from daycare, I heard him say quite excitedly now I have two of these. His favorite were the Pirate valentines. Rosie opened her daycare valentines later in the evening, she had fallen asleep after school, which was when the daycare kids opened their valentines, from experience when she sleeps I let her sleep. She was quite excited when she did start exploring what was inside that valentine bag of hers. "see? see?" she kep saying to me.

valentine's day

part 2 (before the sick germs invaded)
Here are the girls enjoying Kevin's gift. The top two photos of Rosie are her enjoying the gift she gave me.
She came up to me yesterday morning with the box of chocolates and said "Happy Valentine Mommy"
so cute, made me smile. She then proceeded to open the box and eat the chocolate (all three pieces, thank goodness it was a tiny box)
When I asked if I could have a bite she said "No, I eat it for you" gotta love that!

Happy Valentine's Day!

More pics to come....big change of plans here, I now have two sick little ones, washing machine is spinning as I type. Not exactly how I planned this evening...sigh. (of course being thrown up on is really never in any plans I may make ) The pic above is from some who happen to think I'm wonderful :) Right now the chocolate may just get me thru this night, that and lysol and bleach. Ugghhhh!

peanutbutter cups

Cassandra decided to make home made peanutbutter cups this past weekend. She received a lot of help from the little people in our home, their help leaned more towards the sampling type of help. They managed to create a few dozen mini peanutbutter cups and one super size one. All of which went with cassandra when she returned to school. Yahaira is already asking when Cassandra will be home again so they can "cook" some more.

Deceptively Delicious

This was our Saturday afternoon project. The cookbook above was my sisters, notice I said "was" I borrowed it from her and pretty much never returned it...she eventually purchased another one. Thanks, Linette :) Jessica Seinfeld is the writer and the thing that made this cookbook stand out from others was simply the idea behind it. That idea would be to simply get your kids to eat healthy foods without the whining and complaining that usually occurs. How to accomplish this goal, why by being deceptive of course. Love that concept. She takes standard kid food and adds in veggies, since you puree the food they really have no idea what is added in. Thus the deception. In the picture are ready to go servings of squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower. Sunday Linette made the banana bread recipe which required a stir in of cauliflower, I was quite cautious in my first taste, I am after all worse than my little people when it comes to consuming those healthy veggies. It was excellent, imagine that! Next on the menu, bbq's, scrambled eggs, and chicken nuggets...and yes all have veggies added in.

snow pants

When we went to see the Hannah Montanna movie we of course stopped do to a bit of shopping. While attempting to manuever thru the crowds and clearance racks in my attempt to get to the baby section at Walmart, Yahaira excitedly starts jumping up and down, when I tuned into to what she was saying, and then figured out what she meant I had to laugh. What had caused her excitement? why these snow pants which she spotted on a rack across the aisle, the only pair hanging on the rack...and as you can see by the picture the reason for her excitement...they matched her coat. Naturally we had to buy them, and she has been simply thrilled everytime she has to go outside. I'm thrilled simply because they were on clearance, love those markdown prices.