You're The Cat's Meow

Miss Sydney has a shadow. His name is Uno. These past few months, she is rarely in her bedroom or on the sofa alone. She always takes that extra minute to scratch Uno behind his ears and talk to him.  

Tonight before going to bed, Sophia told me that I was pretty... Sydney added, but Uno is the prettiest. Not sure how I feel about being replaced by a cat, but it is so darn cute to see the two of them together.

On our way home from running errands the other day, I mentioned to the girls that we had to get home in-time for their naps. Sydney said she had to check her calendar to see if it was a nap day or not. (A calendar she made on her own!... Isn't she a smarty-pants.) Here she is in the photo above and below looking at her calendar. ["x's" are nap days and "|||" are no-nap days]

 

flurrious food

Today we had another taste  HUGE helping of Old Man Winter [I may post some pics tomorrow]. They were calling for blizzard conditions so we remained inside all day. Daddy made the girls pancakes for breakfast. The girls baked a Red Velvet Valentine's cake with dark chocolate icing and sprinkles. For lunch, I made a Moroccan Lentil Chickpea Soup with crusty-buttered bread (Wegmans recipe... my new favorite grocery store). This recipe calls for some lovely, fragrant spices including turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, coriander and cayenne pepper... A Perfect Soup for a cold, snowy day.

photo courtesy of Wegmans

While I'm on the subject of FOOD (one of my favorite pass-times), Wegmans opened a store in our area a few months ago. I'm beginning to rely on the Wegmans for planning my menu. They make it so easy by including the recipe, photos, and pictures of the ingredients in their magazine... and the best part? When you walk in the Wegmans store, the display items include the ingredients for the recipes in the magazine. Even better, there are coupons in the magazine for a good-bit of the ingredients. It makes grocery shopping for specialty items EASY. A grocery store that does marketing right!

 

our sliding glass door is beyond the cake stand... notice all the WHITE!

My winter wish is for Old Man Winter to go slip sliding away. I'm looking forward to Spring!

Stay Warm,
xo

baby, it's cold outside!

A few pics of the weekend snowstorm. It's beautiful, but I'd rather be in the tropics soaking in the sun.

 

For me, snow is overrated.

Finally Back

This is my longest absence since I started this blog.  It's been a crazy few months with vacation, holidays and birthdays, but more importantly just spending time with the girls and needing a break from the computer/blog for a few months. I'm going to play catch-up this week. I will post some photos from the past couple months and then blog a little bit about our Disney Cruise and Christmas Holiday. I would like to archive this as a book for my girls someday so I am back dating my post in chronological order :)!

Still Magical As Ever

View of the "Mickey Boat" and the Flying Dutchman from the Castaway Cay beach.

This was our third Disney Cruise as a family. My fourth because I went many years ago on a work-related vacation. Even after 3x, it's is magical as ever, especially when you have young children or grandchildren.

This year, we went with Bob's Dad and Step-Mom. We love the fact that Nana and Pop Pop live in Punta Gorda Florida because we can extend our vacation for a few more days after the cruise and celebrate Christmas a week early with them.  I love going to their house after the cruise because I'm not ready for our vacation to end, but in need of some real relaxation.  They have a beautiful home right on the water with pool, boat and the best part... They are the most amazing host/in-laws ever!

Sydney was more excited to see Nana and Pop Pop then the cruise (and she LOVES the cruise). I tried to take her picture when we were heading over to the Cape Canaveral Port. I asked her to smile for the camera, she told me not until she sees Nana and Pop Pop. I love the fact that our girls cannot get enough of their grandparents. Our Staterooms were connected by an interior door which made it extremely convenient, gave us double the space and the girls had maximum time with Pop Pop and Nana.

Last December, I went into detail on our Disney Cruise vacation [7 Separate Post!]. I'm keeping it short this year. I'm only doing one post with a few photos with captions. Okay, maybe more than a few photos in the form of collages !

Photos Above:

1. Sophia (turning 3 in a couple days!) with an early Birthday present. A Leap Frog Tag Pen and Book. Perfect for on the airplane! 
2. Our girls are gadget wizards!! They know how to use both the iPhone and Laptop with no problem!
3. Sydney with Nana's Minnie Santa hat. We are seconds away from boarding the Mickey Boat
4. The entire gang (minus Bob who's taking the pic) during the safety drill.
   

 

 Photos Above: A wonderful lunch just after boarding the ship. We had a few special guest stop by during our lunch. Their names were GOOFY and PLUTO! Last Photo: Daddy and Sophia at the Bon Voyage Deck Party!!

 

Photos Above: They saw dozens of characters each day and were never board with it!  I probably have hundred-plus shots of them with Disney Characters! Even Pop Pop was in on the action!!

 

Photos Above: Mickey Boat, Mickey Pools, Pirate Mickey and Island Mickey with his two favorite girls ;)!

 

 Photos Above: Princess Belle, Cinderella and Tiana. They LOVED seeing all the princesses!

 

Photos Above: Castaway Cay Rocks! They do it up for Christmas! Sydney still loves Stich... she has a soft spot for him!

 

Photos Above:

1. Miss Sophia dropping into the water from over 10 feet high! What a way to celebrate her THIRD BIRTHDAY!!
2. Syd and Sophia having fun with Nana in the water!
3. Pop Pop sitting back while enjoying a few.
4. Relaxing on the beach with my girls and an island drink in hand.
   

 

Photos Above:

1. View of Castaway Cay and the Flying Dutchman from our stateroom veranda.
2. Sophia EXHAUSTED at the end of a long (BIRTH)day.It started with Scuttle's Cove kids club on the island (lots of games and digging in the sand), then swimming with the family at the beach and then a long island bike ride with Pop Pop and Daddy. Her nap started on the bike ride. Bob said she was like a bobble-head on the back of PopPop's bike.
3. Me out on our stateroom veranda after a day on the beach.
   
4. Me with my two FAVORITE girls!

 

Photos Above: Our Beautiful Birthday Princesses and my wonderful In-Laws!

 

Photo Above: We celebrated Sydney's FOURTH Birthday (again) on the ship. Here she is with her cake. She looks so grown up in this photo :((.

 

Photo Above: The Gang! Every night after the Live Show and before dinner, we went to the Family Dance Party that was held in the Promenade Lounge. Sydney insisted that we go dancing each night.

 

Photos Above: Our last night and our first dinner without the girls [who were banished to the Oceaneere Club for the evening]. We enjoyed an adult-only dinner in Palo and celebrated Pop Pop's birthday. It was a beautiful night with amazing food and great company!!

During the year, I find myself thinking about going somewhere new in December. Then we end up back on the cruise because it's addicting! It is an magical vacation for the girls (especially at this age) and for us. Watching their faces and excitement each day on the cruise makes me want to do it again next year!

Thank You Nana and Pop Pop for making our vacation extra special!

santa's little helpers...

The Best Four Years of Our Life

My Sweet Sydney, You turned Four yesterday! It amazes me how much you know and how self-sufficient your are at such a young age. You will spend hours by yourself working on a couple art projects, reading books in your bed or arranging your stuffed animals while making a cozy bed for them. A year ago when you were three, Daddy and I woke up and found you sitting at the kitchen island with a carton of eggs. You had three eggs cracked open in a bowl. I said to you, "I can't believe that there are no shells in the bowl". You said, there were a couple, but I picked them out". You must have been really hungry that morning! Here are some many things that you do each and every day that amaze me and make me smile.

You love art and spend hours each day doing crafts, coloring and painting. Before starting a project, you decide who you are going to give it to. You make projects for Daddy and me daily. You must have inherited her artistic ability from Daddy or Grandmom.

You will diligently clean up the playroom and bedroom until everything is put away and in its proper place. You are responsible and reliable!

You run your own bath and always offer to run mine (and you do it perfectly).

Your absolute FAVORITE pastime is reading books and being read too. You love going to the library each week to pick out new books and videos.

You can hand-print your ABC's, your name and Sophia's name. You practice writing your letters all the time! The first word you wrote from memory last year was Pop Pop [even before writing your own name].

You never get tired of playing games. You make up games that you can play with your sister. Your favorite games are hide-n-seek, duck-duck-goose, freeze dance, musical chairs, tag, memory games and board games.

You LOVE to dance, dance, dance and perform "on stage" for us. You are very artistic and serious when you dance. It warms my heart just watching you.

You are my little helper and a mother hen to your little sister.

You want to be the best (and first) at everything.

Your favorite TV channels are Noggin and Sprout. Your favorite TV shows are Upside Down Show, Little Bear, Imagination Movers, The Backyardigans, Olivia, Wow Wow Wubbzy, Scooby Doo, Max and Ruby and Mickey Mouse playhouse.

You still love to sleep in bed with us. [Sophia is the complete opposite and wants to be in her own bed until morning when she comes into cuddle.]

You love to tell stories before going to bed and you like to read books in bed with a flashlight.

You like to pray to Jesus in private.

You are a whiz on the laptop (your favorite is PBS.ORG) and you play games on my iPhone.

You like to pick your own outfits out in the morning.

You help me set the table and have great table manners.

Your favorite drink is water with ice. You take a glass of water to bed with you EVERY night.

You eat cheesy eggs almost every morning for breakfast. You like PASTA, Shrimp, Broccoli, Veal Chops, Hamburgers, Mac-n-Cheese and French Fries. You are a great eater and will try anything. You love to go out to restaurants and help cook dinner.

You listens to (and remember) everything we say... it is no longer a surprise when you bring something we said up a few weeks (or months) later!

You are always helping your sister and are easily frustrated with her when trying to teach her something new.
You adore Grandmom, Grandpop, GMa, Popie, Nana and Pop Pop.

You love animals especially your cat Uno. You are very gentle with them. Uno loves to sleep on your lap.

You are Daddy's little girl. If Daddy is not home when you wake up in the morning, you ask about him or want to call him.

Your favorite princesses are Belle and Cinderella.

You love your cousins Rose, Corban, Morgan, Anna, Noah, Velia, Tony and Isabelle (and the list goes on...). Your best friend is Rose.

You’ve been doing ballet/tap for almost a year and you just started gymnastics. You are good at both, but have more fun at gymnastics.

You tell me many times throughout the day that you love me and you hold your hands up in the shape of a heart. It makes my heart melt.

I LOVE YOU SYDNEY ANGELINA! Happy Birthday!