Welcome to.....

Mystic Aquarium

2010-06-26T21:45:00.000-04:00

This weekend we visited Mystic Aquarium. We received free press passes, I just have to blog about our trip. Easy enough considering it saved us over $100!! Yup you read that right, had we paid for all four of us it would of cost us over $100. $28 per adult and $20 per child 3 and over so we would of had to pay for Allison too. Plus they charged $3.00 to go on the Voyage adventure (Holly and I went) and then $3.00 each for us to feed the birds (we got 3 sticks of food). Total = $111 for 3 hours.

Steve would of never paid it, I said we would of because the girls enjoyed it, but I'm glad we didn't! lol

I'd say the girls favorite part was feeding the birds. I will admit I really enjoyed it too...

And Allison loved the Sea Lion Show. She looks so grown up in this picture!

How cute is this! I'm so glad they like each other (most of the time) LOL

There must of been about a million frogs and tadpoles too! It was pretty cool. The girls loved trying to find them all. They blended in very well!

Holly's Pre-K Graduation

2010-06-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

Holly graduated from Pre-K tonight. She was so excited and nervous at the same time because they had a few songs to sing. I knew she'd do great and guess what? She did!

Here is Holly and her teacher Miss Justine:

Here is the proud and excited graduate!

Holly sitting next to her good friend McKenna..

Getting her diploma from Miss Chrissy...
Proud Daddy..

Proud Mommy...

Allison and her Pre-School teacher Miss Candace..

Our Front Yard

2010-06-08T17:57:00.007-04:00

I feel like I'm exposed now when I walk out of my house, but in a good way. We've been really bad about keeping up with a lot of our trees/bushes/hedges/weeds etc. But this year I managed to get Steve to agree to let someone come and do some really good clean up. Well today was the day and let me tell you it was money well spent!

Here are some before and after pictures:

The hedges in the parking area of the driveway:

Before

After

He couldn't cute them down anymore because the branches are very thick from not cutting them for about 3 years and last year Steve started cutting some of them then the hedge trimmers jammed and he never got back to it so the right hand side is a little lopsided because of not being able to even it off, but it doesn't look bad in person, barely noticable but I noticed it looks weird in the picture above. In the fall we need to cut them back a lot when the leaves are gone.

The Island on the right before:

The Island on the right after:

The island to the left before

The island to the left after

Looks like a different place! I need to spray the ground with Round up each week to kill the rest of the low weeds and then we'll put some mulch down. The BIG White Flowers we get each year, well we won't have as many this year, but they will all be back next year. He was only able to save one of those this year because the weeds were to tangled into the other two. They will still grow but not as big. I'm not upset over it.

And the hedges along the side of the yard. Again they are so big he did the best he could to shape them due to the thick branches. In the fall we'll cut those back a bit more too.

Me & My Silly Girls

2010-06-07T21:49:00.000-04:00

We spent the weekend at my parents while Steve was traveling and before we left I wanted to leave some cute pictures of the girls on my mother's camera. They were so silly. The camera settings were off at first so some of them are blurry but they were too cute to not post.

Allison was being silly closing her eyes.

Holly thinks she's a model, always striking a pose.

Allison isn't quite sure what to do.

She figured it out. lol

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-06-03T21:26:00.000-04:00

I turned 37 today. Yup 37! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was turning 30 and now it's 7 years later. Time really flies, especially when you have kids.

My mother had us over for dinner and cake this past weekend for my birthday. It was nice. The girls loved signing happy birthday to me.

They are such good helpers. LOL

Tonight Steve took us out to dinner, we went to the bar in Pawcatuck, we use to go to all the time before kids. I love their burgers so I was happy to go there. Plus the girls really like going there and sitting on the high stools.

It was a nice birthday. I wasn't looking forward to it but it turned out great in so many ways.

My First Veggies!!

2010-05-28T11:53:00.005-04:00

After just a week of planting my garden I have some tomatoes and even some little peppers and cucumbers.

Cherry Tomatoes

Bell Pepper
My growning Garden now with the chicken wire.

More pictures to come.

Yeah Yeah Yeah, I know...

2010-05-22T07:54:00.004-04:00

It's been almost a year, I know but I've become much busier in the last year and this just kind of fell through the cracks, I'm sorry. But let's just forget about all that and enjoy these pictures because it could be another year before I post anymore (just kidding, I will try).

Holly started Tennis lessons last night. She loves playing it on the Wii so I figured why not let her learn how to play in real life. The lessons are only 30 minutes each week (which I found out was just enough time for them) on Friday afternoon's for 4 weeks. I'm not sure if they offer more after the 4 weeks but I'll figure it out then.

Now of course I'm her mom so I'm going to say she did good, but really she did good! The first ball Sarah tossed to her she hit, right over the net. OK, granted she was standing only about 5 feet from the net BUT not all the kids hit it over the net. AND she held the racket correctly and swung it exactly as Sarah told her too, which again some kids did not do properly. So yes, this mama was proud of her, she was a natural.

I took my camera with me but then left it in the car and I was too lazy to walk all the way back to the car (honest) so I used my phone. I know bad mama but I will not forget it next time and will get more close up pictures and maybe I might even post them here!

(let's see if I can remember how to add pictures lol)

Checking out the racket...

Reaching high for the ball and she hit it!! (she's the one in the middle in the pink)

Another hit!! Yeah Holly!!!

Allison wanted to play too, but she's too young. You have to be 5. But all in all she did really good. She sat on the edge of the court and gathered the balls as they were hit into the grass. She was very proud to be able to help out.

My First Garden

2010-05-21T11:40:00.001-04:00

I've been saying since we moved here that I was going to plant a garden. We have more than enough room but I just never did it since we began having babies shortly after we moved in. A garden was the last thing I wanted to take care of.

But my babies aren't babies anymore and don't need as much "taking care of" so this year I when I said I was going to plant a garden, I meant it. (Steve kept laughing but looks who's laughing now!).

I bought an above ground garden starter kit at Walmart and some dirt. I looked online to find out exactly how this worked and it seemed pretty easy.

First I put the garden in place..

Then I put down newspaper and then soaked it. This will help to kill the grass underneath and stop the weeks from coming through. I don't need anymore weeds, we have plenty.

Then I added the dirt. Boy those bags are pretty heavy! But I did it.

Then Allison started playing in the dirt even though mommy told her not too. She's lucky she is cute!

And finally I planted all the plants.

I didn't do any seeds this year. That was the original plan but my mother brought me a bunch of tomato plants for mother's day (isn't she the best!) and then I grabbed some cucumbers, bell peppers and zucchini. That will be good for this year. Next year I may try doing them from seeds.

I placed chicken wire around it so the bunnies and deer will (hopefully) stay away.

Ready for School!

2010-05-18T12:10:00.000-04:00

Allison is now in the pre-school room and still loves going to school. About a month ago she was home sick for a few days and then didn't want to go to school so she cried for about 3 weeks when I dropped her off.

She looked really cute this morning so I had to take a picture of her. Auntie Jodi gave her that pretty blue dress for her birthday.

Family Picture

2010-05-01T23:09:00.000-04:00

My youngest nephew Kristopher made his first communion today. It was a beautiful day! His uncle is a photographer and he took a bunch of pictures of us while we were there. I was very happy that he took one of the four of us. We haven't had a picture taken of us in over a year, a nice picture that is.

He also snapped this adorable picture of the girls.....

They are such cuties!

Our Cute Little Visitor

2010-04-25T12:02:00.000-04:00

We had a really cute visitor this weekend. REALLY Cute!!

In case you don't know this is Baby Joey, Jodi's youngest. And I should mention that he didn't come alone, his older brother and parents came too. They are all cute.

Cousins

2010-04-24T12:14:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since we've had a picture of the four cousins so we decided to take on at Allison's Birthday Party. Of course it's impossible to get them all to smile perfectly at the same time. But they are kids and they are cute!

Allison - 3 years old
Holly - 5 years old
Kristopher - 8 years old
Jonathan - 12 years old

The Flood of 2010

2010-03-30T23:27:00.003-04:00

I am so glad we put the drain in our backyard back in 2008 otherwise we would of lost way more than just our basement rug.

It rained and rained and then rained some more. It was the worst rain storm in 100 years in Rhode Island.

We did get some water in the basement this time. It came in from the foundation in the boiler room and from the floor in the garage, storage room and TV room. Steve and I took shifts staying up all night keeping up with the water using the wet vac so it wouldn't get out of hand. We did a good job even though it was a pain in the butt.

Our floor looks horrible under the rug in the TV room. They must of had tile down here at some point and it looks like they also had a crack they tried sealing up (the white), but that sealer kept coming up as it got wet. So we know this wasn't the first time it's happened.

I'm glad we never replaced the rug from a few years back. We've had a temp rug there and just haven't put anything permanent down due to having to spend money on more important things (like a new driveway, new roof etc). We can pull back the run whenever needed. It may not look very nice right now but someday we'll put in something better.

Now we have to work on getting the floor fixed so we don't go through this all the time. That should cost a pretty penny!

Anyways, the drain outside the garage worked perfectly but had it rained more than it did, it would of started backing up because the back yard started flooding where the water came out. It only goes down hill for so long.

Our area along with Warwick/Cranston were hit really bad. Our road was closed about 10 miles north and 10 miles south of us. Getting to town was a pain because the road we had to detour down, was slowly breaking apart from all the water and traffic.

I hope this is the first and the last time I'll ever witness anything like this.

My Sleeping Princess's

2010-03-10T23:40:00.001-05:00

I love watching the girls sleep. As a matter of fact I look in on them every night before I go to bed. They are just so cute and so quiet when they sleep. Yes they both take after mom and talk a lot, but then again when daddy gets talking he doesn't shut up either!

It's been a while since I've snapped a picture of them sleeping so I couldn't resist.

Allison and Zebra (he's like the son we never had)...

Holly and Lamy (her stuffed animal of the month)....

Dress Up Time!

2010-02-27T23:43:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love this little girl and I love her outfit. I'm so glad she let me snap a picture! This is one for the scrapbook!

Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) meets Snow White. Love it!

Allison's First Day of Preschool

2010-02-02T12:06:00.003-05:00

Allison started Pre-School even though she isn't quite 3 year but she's so ready to go and is all potty trained. For now she is in the 2 year old room until she turns 3. We love her teacher Miss Jen and so does she. She never even cried once when I dropped her off. I'm so proud of her.

My Little Fashionista!

2010-02-01T23:13:00.000-05:00

The girls got another trunk full of dress up cloths from Auntie Jodi for Christmas. They love playing dress up. This particular morning Holly just looked adorable. She is quite the fashionista!

And a cute close up of my princess...

Allison was showing me the picture that her and Holly drew online of Max & Ruby. I think they did a pretty good job! Holly is very artistic, she pretty much did all the drawings.

Allison has her Cinderella dress on behind the picture, half on half off. My other Princess.

The Washington County Fair

2009-08-16T09:45:00.002-04:00

Remember me?? and my girls?? Yeah Yeah I know it's been a long time since I last posted but mama's been busy making money to put in a new driveway. lol I know excuses, excuses.

We took the girls to the Washington County Fair yesterday and it was Allison's first time riding any rides and she absolutely LOVED it! I was afraid there wouldn't be anything she could ride since she is still little but there were 3 and she rode all 3 of them. She even rode one alone without her sister and she wasn't the least bit scared. We were very proud of her.

Here are some videos I took of Allison's rides....

Holly's Preschool Graduation

2009-06-14T08:39:00.001-04:00

Holly graduated from Preschool and is off to Pre-K. Not that there is a BIG difference but it's still a step forward. She had a great teacher this year that we really loved and Holly enjoyed going to school everyday.

Here are a few pictures from Graduation. They sang a few songs too and it was adorable.

The teacher in the black and white dress is Ms. Jessalyn, Holly's teacher.

Holly getting her beach bucket and certificate....
A proud daddy...
Holly made this flower... I absolutely love it! It's in our dining room now.
Holly and her best friend Emily...
Holly and her friend Kaili....

Allison's Party

2009-04-26T11:59:00.003-04:00

Allison had a great time at her party. She wasn't sure of everyone at first but she enjoyed it once we got outside and there was room to run! She spent most her time in the sandbox. She loves the sandbox!

She really enjoyed having "Happy Birthday" sung to her this year. She didn't like it so much last year so I was happy to get some smiling pictures of her today. (Thanks Jodi for taking such GREAT pictures!)

Mama helped her blow out her candles. I'm sure this is the last year she'll need mama's help.

Allison snuck her finger into the frosting. She got that piece, no one else wanted it, I wonder why??

Happy Birthday Allison!!

2009-04-24T08:59:00.000-04:00

My baby turns 2 today! I can't believe how fast the last 2 years have gone by. She's getting to be a very big girl and talking up a storm and getting into everything...........she's being a 2 year old.

Sisters

2009-04-19T22:56:00.003-04:00

The girls are getting bigger and having trouble sharing at times, but not always. They do a good job keeping each other busy and really do love each other. When Allison and I pick up Holly from school, Allison gets giddy when we pull into the school parking lot. When Allison gets up from a nap Holly is so excited to go in and see her. They hug each other before bed and I love seeing that.

I haven't been able to catch a good picture of the two of them together in a while until today. I just love how this came out. This one will be going in a frame.

And the best part, they got their two best friends in the picture, Zebra and Beary.

2009-04-19T22:42:00.001-04:00

Picnic in the Dining Room

2009-04-18T22:52:00.000-04:00

The girls were playing and said they were going to have a picnic. Holly lost interest and found something else to do but only after helping her sister set the table. Allison then proceeded to have her picnic, with Zebra. It was absolutely adorable and I'm so glad I got a picture of it. She is going to love looking back at this someday.

The Dogs

2009-04-12T22:42:00.000-04:00

While in Agawam over the weekend, we visited with Chris (hi Chris) and her dogs. She's got two great dogs who are so well trained (great job Chris!) and the girls absolutely LOVED them and they were so brave. We will get a dog someday (yes we will Steve) but not for a while yet. But it was nice to know the girls will do so well when that day comes.

Holly even feed the Jake a snack! She loved it!!
Allison had June with her, of course.

They were trying very hard to get the dogs attention. They were not bored for even a moment.
Steve had to guide Allison's hand while petting the dog because she was a little aggressive.
Holly did a great job. She loved petting them.

It was a nice visit and so good to see our friend. Thanks Chris for having us over.

Happy Easter

2009-04-11T22:33:00.000-04:00

It was very difficult getting a picture of the girls. I may have to dress them again and try once more. They looked adorable anyway. Here's the best I got.

Enjoying a Snack

2009-04-04T22:27:00.000-04:00

Since Allison was sick her appitite has picked up tremedously! She's snacking more than she ever was before and that's ok because she only weighs 23lbs!!! and she's almost 2. So I'm happy that she finally has more of an appitite. She was enjoying a cheese sick the other day and just looked so cute, of course. And I got the cutest smile too.

Allison's High Heels

2009-03-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

Allison loves wearing every one's shoes, I think I've mentioned this before. She looks so stinking cute when she wears the pink high heels. Please ignore the pacifier in her mouth, I know she's almost 2. She only has it at night but we've been fighting illness after illness and well... I give in way to easy and why am I explaining myself LOL :). As I was saying, she looks so stinking cute... and she knows it.

Of course "Z" got in on the picture. She's getting more and more attached to him!
The shoes are just a tad bit too big for her!

The Wedding.....

2009-03-19T22:08:00.000-04:00

Jodi and David spent a few days with us while Steve was on his trip. We had a really nice time and the kids were really excited to see each other. David and Holly decided that they were going to get married and they did. They are now friends forever. It was cute. Notice Holly had on her high heals and Jodi did her hair. We had a 'fake' ceremony and everything.

The shared a hug, not a kiss. We have many years before the kisses start, I hope! They were just too cute and had a lot of fun at the 'wedding'.

"mommy I need a haircut"

2009-03-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

Allison doesn't know how to say it yet but if she could she'd probably tell me she needs a haircut. I swear this girls hair grows so fast!! But she's still cute.

The Sick House

2009-03-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

We've all been sick. First Allison, then Mommy, then Holly and finally Steve. The wonderful stomach and intestinal bug......... fun fun fun. We have been just lying around the house for a few days. I felt really bad for the girls, they were not themselves, but they were still cute. Steve took some pictures of the girls sharing the couch. Holly smiled, but Allison just couldn't.

Holly felt better cuddling with Penquin..........
Of course Allison had June with her to help her nap.....

Snow Much Fun!

2009-03-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

While Allison napped today, Holly and I went outside to play in the snow. I made a path for her to slide down the little hill right outside the front door, it's perfect for sledding. She loves doing it but gets a little nervous the first few times, then she won't stop. She decided to go down on her back so she closed her eyes, just in case it was scary. She's so funny! We had a good time.

Then she wanted to build a snowman. I haven't made too many snowmen in the past but I think this one turned out really cute. She's a girl so really she's a snow girl. We don't make boy's in this house, only girls! Daddy's out numbered even with the snow people! LOL

I loved this close up picture of her. Her hat was just a little too big and kept falling in her face but she tried really hard to let me see her eyes. She was having a lot of fun. I am glad we got to use the snowsuits this year. They both looked cute in blue.

You've been caught!

2009-03-04T19:43:00.000-05:00

We don't have anymore gates up, except for the top of the stairs. Now Allison can get into every room which isn't really a problem EXCEPT the one fact of she LOVES to play with all the hair pieces and everything in the bottom draws of the bathroom sink (no cleaning stuff there). She takes everything out and lines it up, then puts it back. She thinks I don't know she's doing it but mommy always knows.

This happens almost every week when Holly's in school and mommy's doing something. The good thing is most of the time she will clean it up too, most of the the time. :)

Snow?? Your Kidding Me!!!

2009-03-02T19:39:00.001-05:00

March 2nd and it snowed. Now I know it's still 'technically' winter on March 2nd BUT really, we hardly ever get snow that late anymore here but we did today. The girls enjoyed it so I guess that's the important part but it was a lot of shoveling, again.
It probably doesn't look like much, but it is a lot of snow for us!
Holly was taking all the icicles off the car, she was showing me the "big" one she found!

"Sporty" Allison

2009-02-28T19:27:00.001-05:00

I love this sweatsuit on her, she is just so cute!

Another Necklace

2009-02-27T19:25:00.000-05:00

Another day, another necklace (she previous post). Oh and she likes to look at the picture after I take it so she's reaching for the camera saying "I see I see I see" then she looks at herself and says "Allison" only it doesn't come out that clearly but she's trying. She's so cute!

Fashion Model

2009-02-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

Allison will be two soon..........
She has discovered necklaces, and loves them......

And she usually has one on every day now and sometimes even sleeps with it, if I don't catch it!

OH and that's ducky and Junie (from Little Einstiens) her other two friends besides Zebra. We aren't very original with the names in this house.

So Cute...

2009-02-23T19:10:00.001-05:00

I think I use that blog post title quite often but I can't help it, my girls are cute! Allison usually gives me that scrunched up nose smile like Holly used to do give me but I was able to catch her before she did it and this is what I got and yes, she is "so cute".

I didn't expect Allison to be able to wear many of Holly's cloths because they were born opposite seasons but it actually worked out pretty well and Allison has been able to wear a lot of them. This outfit is one of the ones that was Holly's and I'm glad we got more use out of it. Doesn't she look 'so cute' in it? :)

Pink High Heels

2009-02-22T19:04:00.001-05:00

Like most 2nd children, Allison loves all of Holly's stuff. Lately she's been wearing her shoes, or mine and even Steve's. It's really cute and I think just about every kid does it. But today was the best yet. She came walking down the hallway wearing her jammies (blue - from David, we love hand me downs) and Holly's Pink High Heel Shoes! And of course her buddy Zebra (otherwise know as "Z") was with her. I am so glad I was able to grab my camera and catch a picture of her. If you can't really see the shoes click on the picture for a larger view.

Almost 2!!

2009-02-18T14:10:00.003-05:00

Allison really likes to color... a lot. She holds the crayon really well, even better than Holly does. And she tries to color in the objects, but of course she still goes outside the lines. We have plenty of time to perfect that. She would prefer to use markers, but since she likes to write on things other than paper, she is only allowed to use crayons. She doesn't really like that, but for now she has to listen.

She likes to write also. If you write her name, she'll write right over it, as if she is tracing. It's cute. It's another way of her copying what we do. She likes to follow Holly around the house and do exactly as she does. I am going to pull out the little potty hoping that maybe she'll copy her sister doing that, though I'm not to hopeful. She is still small but no one says she can't potty train now. Her diaper is barely wet in the morning most days so I am hoping to get her on there first thing in the morning. We'll see how that goes.

Can you believe she is going to be 2 in just two more months. I can't believe how fast that went by. I was just telling Steve last night that it makes me sad to see her grow up. Not only is she my last baby, but she was the sweetest baby and I enjoyed her so much that I want her to stay a baby forever. I know it makes no sense since I was just talking about potty training her. I won't lie, I do look forward to no more diapers, just like I looked forward to no more bottles, but still, I want her to stay a sweet baby.

She is talking up a storm too. She has the cutest little voice. The best part is now she can tell me when Holly does something wrong, but unfortunately she learned pretty fast that if she does then Holly will get in trouble and we caught her a few times telling us Holly did something when she really didn't. Smart kid. It's the 2nd child smarts she got that from her mother!!

It just makes things so much easier when she can actually tell us. It also means that when she wakes up in the morning she now calls "MOMMY" (or HELP ME) over and over again until I go and get her. I try to ignore it some days because when I look at the clock it's only 6:15 am and everyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person. At least give me until 7am. But some days I can't ignore the "MOMMY" or "HELP ME" so I have to get up. But that's OK, once I am up, I enjoy her little voice again.

That is the latest Allison update. I will do a Holly update soon.

Silly Smile..

2009-01-26T21:44:00.003-05:00

Allison learned from her big sister how to smile..............and scrunch up her face! But she's still cute!

The guilty Big Sister...

The slacking has continued....

2009-01-24T09:50:00.004-05:00

I was just told by a few family members who will rename nameless, that I needed to update my blog. Sorry! :)

Here are some new pictures of the girls this week:

Ok that's all I have right now. Hope you like them Steve and Marge! :)

I know I know.........

2009-01-12T22:48:00.004-05:00

I've been slacking on this blog, I'm sorry. I've been spending so much time on my other blog that I keep forgetting to put up some new pictures of the girls. So here are a bunch of random photos from January 09.

We got more snow on New Years Day so the girls were able to wear the new snowsuits that Nonnie gave them for Christmas. I love the Blue on them. Allison really enjoys the snow. They both wanted to help shovel too, so they got their sand shovels and gave mommy and daddy a hand.

Allison loves getting her picture taken. And I love taking it!

Allison just looked so cute cuddling with Zebra I had to grab the camera.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:52:00.007-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all had a great Christmas. We had a wonderful day and it was so much fun with Holly and Allison this year. Holly was every excited about Santa and this was really the first year with so much excitement. It reminded me of when I was a little girl and I'd get so excited too. I'm amazed she fell asleep so easily too.

When she got up this morning she was in complete awe that Santa actually came and knocked down hers and Allison's stockings, but he filled them up so that was OK. (Once they were full, they couldn't say on the holders but she didn't get that part, she thought he knocked them down, how cute).

The gift opening took 1 and 1/2 hours. Yup you read that right. They both had so many presents from Santa, Mommy & Daddy, Nana & Papa and Uncle Rick and Auntie Connie. I thought it was be extremely overwhelming for them, but it wasn't so bad. We did open a few things to play with today, but we are keeping some in the boxes for a rainy day. Otherwise they won't play with it all.

Here are some pictures from our day. Enjoy...

This is one view of all the presents....

And here is the other view....

Grandpa and Holly..

Me and my mom...both in red, we didn't plan that one but it worked out well.

Holly hugging Nana.......she loves her grandparents...

Allison has on a Baby's 1st Christmas bib even though it's not her 1st Christmas but the other one was no where to be found. I washed it, but I think Allison put it in her laundry basket, she likes putting clean cloths in there. :)

Allison wheeled her stocking into the kitchen with her new carriage she got from Auntie Marcia. It was really cute!

All the Snow!!

2008-12-20T19:40:00.006-05:00

We got a lot of snow yesterday. There is probably about 7 inches. That's a lot to shovel. But my man did the job and he's now exhausted! He did really good since we need room to put a few cars this coming week for Christmas. We have a stone driveway (most of you know that) and we really hope to get it paved in 2010. As long as nothing else big breaks in the house in 2009.
Holly was very excited to go outside again and
once Allison saw her out there, she wanted to go out too. So I bundled her up in Holly's snowsuit from last year (I love this snowsuit and I'm so glad that Allison can wear it now) and she looked so cute, of course. I don't have any snow boots for her but the blue rain boots work out fine. I kept her in her footed PJ's underneath it all so she'd stay nice and toasty.

Allison didn't enjoy the snow the way Holly did around her age. She was really unsure of it and was not interested to walk in it right away. It was very high so that probably didn't help. Of course Miss Holly just ran right into it and made lots of snow angels. She loved it. She tried to use her sled again but the snow wasn't packed down enough for it to work, so hopefully tomorrow she'll be able too. The third time is the charm, right?

Holly tried pushing Allison in her sled, but she couldn't. She's such a good big sister!

My Little Ballerinas

2008-12-19T19:23:00.003-05:00

After dinner tonight the girls put on their ballet dresses and danced for us. It was really cute. I did get it on video but it's too big to upload here so here are the pictures. Allison was copying whatever move Holly did, it's so cute when she mimics her moves, except when Holly is doing something she shouldn't.

Our littlest Ballerina Miss Allison...

Our bigger Ballerina loves to do twirls............ and I caught her in action...

Hot Chocolate!

2008-12-19T19:16:00.000-05:00

When it was time to come inside Holly asked if we could have some Hot Chocolate, so I said "sure!". She was all excited, this was the first time she was trying it. I mixed it up, added some cold milk to cool it down and then added one of her favorite things......... marshmallows!! Oh Boy life can't get better than this right now (she is thinking). She LOVED it! Of course she didn't drink much, which is what I expected, but she sure did eat all the marshmallows. She's such a cutie.

It's Snowing Today!!!

2008-12-19T19:02:00.005-05:00

We got a LOT of snow today. Holly was so excited. It was supposed to start in the morning but it didn't begin until about 1pm. Holly took a short nap and when I woke her it was snowing and she was so excited. We put on her old snow suit (she is getting a new one for Christmas but don't tell her that) and her rain boots because she didn't like the way the new boots fit her, and out in the snow we went! She wanted to use her sled but there wasn't enough snow to sled but she had fun anyways.............as you can see!

These pictures were taken after only a few hours of snow, we got much more, you'll see tomorrow.

First we had to taste the snow...

Then we tried the sled but it didn't move...

Then we had to throw the snow up in the air....

Then we ran in it...

Then we fell in it.

What a fun time!!!

Baking Day!

2008-12-18T18:43:00.004-05:00

I've been baking cookies for the past 8 years now and last year was the first Christmas that I didn't bake (I think I baked the year Holly was born but I'm not sure, I might not of, it's all a blur). I was so sorry that I didn't so I made sure this year I did. I usually stress about getting it done but I didn't. I enjoyed the process and I especially enjoyed Holly helping me. She was such a good helper and very eager. Here are some pictures of her baking...........

Peanut Butter Blossoms........yum yum!!

Cinnamon Oatmeal yum yum......

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies yum yum....... and Cinnamon Gem Cookies yum yum.....

OK I love Peanut Butter and Cinnamon, can you tell?

Thumbprint Strawberry Shortcake Cookies yum yum!! This year I made them much bigger than I usually do and I put the icing on them too (not in this picture). After I tested one (I have to make sure they are good before I give them to my guests) I remembered why I don't usually put on the icing... it makes them much sweeter. I will make a note on the recipe for next year.

Don't ask about these because they will NOT be on the cookie tray. Something new I tried and it didn't work out so well. The picture looks like nice yummy chocolate cookies, right? WRONG they are chocolate but they aren't yummy. Perhaps I did something wrong? I'm not sure.

OK moving on....

And finally my cookies, all done! (The only one I don't have a picture of are the Butter Balls yum yum) I may make more before Wednesday. Not that I don't have enough because I have plenty. But I want to make at least 1 more kind, so we'll see.

Now I need to go and walk on the treadmill for 5 hours to make up for all the taste testing that's been going on the last few days. LOL

Decorating the Tree

2008-12-15T18:20:00.004-05:00

I love decorating the tree. It's one of my favorite things to do this time of year. It's funny because when I was a kid my mother would make me help her, I remember it so clearly, and I never wanted to help. I'm not sure why but I always had to help her anyways. (I'm sure my mother will comment about how true that is!)

Well now I love decorating the tree and I'm glad Holly enjoys helping me. Last year she did a little but this year she really helped. I love her age because she really gets into doing things. While Allison napped today, Holly and I went downstairs to begin our decorating. We put the tree in a different place because we've moved things around a bit and I really like where it is. There is so much more room around it and the presents will fit perfectly.

Here are some pictures Holly enjoying decorating the tree.

She's such a ham sometimes!

She was having so much fun!

One of Santa's Cute helpers

After dinner we all went downstairs so Daddy could lift Holly up to put the tree topper on. Allison was very excited and interested when she saw the tree. She did touch a few ornaments but it wasn't bad. She is such a good girl. I tried really hard to get a picture of the two of them in front of the tree but I had absolutely NO luck at all! Here are the pictures I did get...

My attempt to get a picture of the two of them together...

They were listening to the Night Before Christmas....

Me and My Santa....

The Wilmes Family 2008 Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Nonnie's Ornament Tradition

2008-12-14T18:05:00.001-05:00

Every year Nonnie (my mother) buys a new ornament for her grandchildren with each of their names for her Christmas Tree. Eventually the tree with be full of ornaments that say Jonathan, Kristopher, Holly and Allison. Then she'll have the perfect tree! She likes to have the kids put the ornaments themselves and I always try to get a picture of it. Here are this year's "ornament hanging pictures".

Allison wasn't sure what she wanted her to do with it so Nonnie helped her.

Holly was too quick so we didn't get a picture of her putting it up, but she pointed to it for picture purposes, she's such a great kid!

New Hats......

2008-12-12T17:59:00.002-05:00

The girls both needed new winter hats. Holly's were to small from last year, even though she looked cute and Allison was wearing one of Holly's older hats, but it was a little snug and we needed a back up anyways. We met my mother at Sears and she bought them each a Hat and Mitten set. Allison didn't want to wear it (I guess she doesn't like change either) so to make it 'fun' I had them wear them when we got home. They LOVED it! And I was able to get this cute picture of them.

Family Hair Cuts

2008-12-07T22:13:00.005-05:00

On Saturday we all went for haircuts, including Allison. She really needed one and I couldn't wait anymore. She has hair just like Holly's and it's very fine. The back isn't growing in very well yet, just like Holly's and I can't not cut it like I did with Holly. I've learned so off to the hair dressers we all went. Allison did great getting her hair cut, she just didn't want to sit in the chair, but that was OK, she let mommy hold her and had no problem at all letting Betsy cut her hair. I did take some pictures but my camera settings were still set for nighttime so they didn't come out to well. Also she wouldn't smile for the camera. Here is what I did get..

She sat on the chair, but then decided she didn't want to be there, but I was able to get a picture first, but as you can see, she wasn't very happy. And she didn't even know how her hair would look yet! You can see that she really needed the bangs cut too.

She is a little bit happy here because mommy is holding her. Mommy always makes things better...........well maybe just sometimes.

Once she was done, I tried to get her picture but she refused to look at the camera... (remember the pictures aren't great because the settings were off)

Still, no looking at the camera....

Once we were home, I did manage to get her to look at the camera, but she wasn't very happy. This look is intentionally directed towards mommy. What she is really trying to say with her eyes is "mommy I'm not very happy that you let me get a boy hair cut".

Then she quickly realized that someday she will have lots of long beautiful hair just like her sister so she decided to give me a smile. Or was it the cookie I promised her? Not sure but it worked! Isn't she so cute with her new hair cut??

Holly had her bangs cut, that was about it. We cut 3 inches off the length back in October and that was such a great idea. She looks so cute too! But then again, they are my girls so I am going to say they look cute.
Mommy had a LOT of hair cut off, but mostly in the back. I have a stylish hair cut now, so I guess that makes me a hip mama. LOL

We didn't get a picture of daddy, but his hair barely looks different, it's a guy thing. I'm OK with that because I don't think I'd want him to have a crazy hair style anyways. I'm boring like that.

Santa Claus Came to Town

2008-12-07T09:14:00.006-05:00

Last Friday night Santa arrived in town on the local fire truck. I guess the reindeer aren't ready to travel yet. After dinner we gathered with everyone else to await Santa's arrival. This was the first time we were there to greet him so we had no idea what to expect.

The girls were becoming impatient so we gave them so lollipops to buy some time and it worked, very well. When Santa finally arrived he began to visit the children in the crowd but unfortunately we were in the wrong spot. We are at the end, but we didn't know that so we waited and waited until it was our turn. In the meantime Santa had all sorts of helpers there to entertain and visit the crowd and the girls loved it.

Here are some pictures of our adventure. It was fun and we look forward to doing it again next year. We were told by the people we chatted with while waiting, he never starts in the same spot so we won't have any idea where he will begin then either. Oh well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T19:23:00.003-05:00

We had a very nice Thankgiving and everything was delishous, of course. My mother has us all over for dinner and she does pretty much all the cooking herself and it's always so good. We had a fun day and the kids all had a great time.

A few pictures of the girls with their cousins Jonathan and Kristopher.

Happy 4th Birthday HOLLY!!

2008-11-16T22:09:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it but Holly is 4 years old today. How fast did that happen? Wow! She is such a sweet girl too. We had a birthday party for her yesterday and she loved all her presents and had such sweet reactions to. Today we opened up some of the toys and she just had a ball. I'm trying to hold her off from opening them all so she doesn't get tired of them too fast. We'll see how long it takes to get them all opened. Allison has been enjoying her presents too. One of Holly's favorite toys she received is Hungry Hungry Hippos. She's been asking for this for a while and her godparents gave it to her. That was the first toy she had to open. At first I didn't want Allison playing with it because it has small marbles, but she did anyways and isn't at all interested in putting them in her mouth, she just wants to play with her sister, and they played so well. Of course Allison wasn't really playing the game, but Holly didn't care, she just enjoyed playing with her sister.

Today, for her actual birthday, we went to Applebee's and they sang Happy Birthday to her, she loved it. We had a nice dinner just the 4 of us. It was a great Birthday weekend celebration but unfortunately Holly is starting a little cold but hopefully it won't last long or amount to much.

I don't have all the pictures yet from her party because my camera battery died so I have to wait for Jodi to send me some pictures but here are a few.

Pampered Chef - 20% off Stoneware!!

2008-11-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

I need to replenish my stock of Pampered Chef.... it's one of my favorites! I can't seen to go a year without getting something from them. Any who, I am going to be placing an order in a few weeks and select Stoneware is 20% off this month!

If anyone is interested in placing an order you can email me. You can see all the products HERE. My consultant doesn't have a website so you can't order online

Rectangular Baker - On Sale $28.80 Regular Price $36.00
12-Cup Muffin pan - On Sale $26.00 Regular Price $32.50
Mini Loaf Pan - On Sale $24.80 Regular Price $31.00
Large Round Stone with Handles 15" - On Sale $23.60 Regular Price $29.50
Large Bar Pan - On Sale $23.60 Regular Price $29.50
Stoneware Fluted Pan - On Sale $21.60 Regular Price $27.00
Large Round Stone - On Sale $20.80 Regular Price $26.00
Rectangle Stone - On Sale $20.40 Regular Price $25.50
Medium Bar Pan - On Sale $17.60 Regular Price $22.00
Medium Round Stone with Handles 13" - On Sale $17.20 Regular Price $21.50
Stoneware Loaf Pan - On Sale $15.60 Regular Price $19.50
Small Bar Pan - $12.00 Regular Price $15.00

If you are a past host (within the year I believe) and you have your Host # you can get another 10% off too!

Halloween

2008-11-02T09:08:00.006-05:00

The girls had a BLAST on Halloween this year. Holly was counting down the days while Allison had no clue. We go to downtown Westerly where they close down the street (yes, town is so small it's just one street LOL) and the stores all pass out candy. We went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it so we decided to do that every year. We really can't walk the street and trick o treat where we live anyway.

We we got there Allison was in awe just looking around trying to figure out what was going on, it was really cute. The first few times someone put something in her bucket she was a little confused, but caught on quick and had a great time! We stopped and took a little candy bread half way through and after that Allison just wanted to eat more candy.

It was fun and the girls looked so adorable. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Getting ready to begin!

Snow White is already to go, except the shoes are on the wrong feet, we will fix that!

Cinderella or as Holly calls her "Cinder-baby" is very excited!

"Cinder-Baby"s dress was just a tad bit to big so I had to pin the back together. Hey whatever works!

Ready to begin!

Taking a candy break.

Allison LOVED Dora!!! She wouldn't let her go. It was so cute!

Allison is 18 Months Old!!

2008-10-25T11:37:00.003-04:00

I can NOT believe that Allsion is already 18 months old. That was the fastest 18 months of my life! She was such a sweet baby and is turning into an adorable toddler (with quite the temper) and I don't want her to grow up anymore. If I could keep her this age forever I would. She is my baby and always will be. Now that that is said, we are enjoying hearing her finally say things. She's got a sweet voice and is building a good vocabulary.

She says.....

up
help
dada
apple
doggie
cookie
holly (not very well but she tries)
papa
grandpa
thank you
please
animal

I think that is it, but she tries to say so much more.

Notice that mama, nana and nonnie are NOT on that list. If you ask her to say mama, she'll say dada.... if you ask her to say nana, she'll say papa.... and if you ask her to say nonnie, she'll say grandpa. Nice huh! Not one of her grandfathers has ever changed a diaper and her mom takes care of her all the time (daddy does too, just not as much as mama) and that's the thanks the ladies in her life get. Nice...but we still love her and she's still my baby. Someday it will be all about mom again, I just know it!

Here is a picture of her with her zebra, her best friend. She sleeps with zebra every single night. Zebra came to PA with us too, of course. I don't think she would ever sleep without him. I wish I could find another one, just as a spare, but I can't. He came from JCPenny so anyone who reads my blog if you ever see one there, please please please get another one because I don't even want to think about what would happen if we lost him.

Her cheesy smile.....

Her serious look.....

and her :get me off this table good:

Holly's Hair Cut

2008-10-22T09:44:00.003-04:00

On Friday Holly went to get her bangs cut (I can't believe how fast this kids hair grows!!) and I decided to have Betsy take off about 2 1/5 inches from the back. She complains all the time when I brush it because it's getting really knotty as it gets longer and also in the winter it gets very flyaway with the cold air so less hair to fly away. Holly really didn't mind cutting a bit and it's still long, just not as long. I think she looks cute. I know when my father sees it he won't be happy, he loves long hair on little girls. When I was a kid, I had really long hair and for some reason ( I think I wanted to do it) my mother cut my hair A LOT. He kept the hair in a bag for a while, he was so sad and upset. Needless to say she never cut my hair again till I took over. But again, Holly's hair grows so fast, it'll be long again in no time at all.

And a cute picture of Allison!

If you'd like to get some cheap hamburg patties from Omaha Steaks check out my FrugalRIMama blog for details.

Ebates and Ice Cream

2008-10-15T19:46:00.002-04:00

Have you heard of ebates? It's a website that gives you cash back when you shop online. I've been using it a lot lately and I'm very happy with the selection of stores that they have. They usually give you $5 when you first sign up but right now they are offering a special. If you sign up now you will get $10 to start you off!! That's a really great deal. If you are not already a member you can Join Here.

It's really easy to use too. All you have to do is before you shop online, go to ebates, sign into your account and search for the store your looking for. As long as you click the link to that store while in your ebates account, it will automatically track your purchase and in a few days the money will be deposited into your account. Every 3 months they will send you a check or paypal for your account balance as long as it's over $5.00. If it's below $5.00 then it will just stay there until the next 3 month payday. It's that simple!

When you search the stores on ebates, it will tell you what percentage of the purchase you will receive back for your rebate. Each store is different and every day they have one store spotlighted for the day and you'll get double the money back if you buy that day. It's a great way to do your Christmas shopping online. This offer ends October 31st.

The girls (along with their mommy) really enjoy Ice Cream cones. Their (our) favorite kind is Chocolate!!! The other night they (we) had some and I grabbed my camera to snap a few pictures of them, especially Allison, enjoying it.

I guess you could say that Allison really enjoys her ice cream. Needless to say we went from the chair to the bathtub! At least this time it wasn't in her hair too!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

2008-10-13T21:15:00.005-04:00

Today we made our annual trip to Manfedi Farm's Pumpkin Patch. Holly has been looking forward to going for a while and was very excited today! Allison really enjoyed it this year too. Last year she was just 6 months old and sat in the stroller just looking around. This year she touched the pumpkins, tried to pick up a few and enjoyed the ducks and the chickens.

In the end, we left with a small pumpkin for Allison, a little bigger pumpkin for Holly, a medium size pumpkin for Holly to take to school to carve and paint and a bigger pumpkin for mommy to carve.

Here are some pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch....

Daddy walking in with his girls...........love this shot!

Trying to get a picture, trying to get them to both look at the camera. It didn't work.

Allison made a friend. He's the same age as her. It was cute, they kept going to the same pumpkins.

Allison and her friend again..........it was so cute!

Look at all these pumpkins!

Holly and her pumpkin.
Allison with her pumpkin.

Putting her pumpkin in the wagon.

Good News

2008-10-09T08:25:00.003-04:00

Our family received some good news yesterday. Some of you who know my cousin Mia (46) had open heart surgery in June and has been paralyzed ever since from the waist down. Last week she was able to wiggle two toes on each foot and after a few days she was wiggling all the toes on one foot. She went to Boston yesterday for an evaluation and they said that since she is able to do that, then it means that she WILL walk again someday!!! That was the best news ever. We had an idea that would be the case but they confirmed it. She needs to just be patient and keep up with physical therapy and just give it some time. They said from what they can tell from the MRI's, it looks as if there was a blood clot during surgery that narrowed the way through her spinal cord causing it to swell (I could be off just a bit but that's the idea of it) and she just needs all the blood to dissolved and then she will be able to move everything.

Needless to say everyone in the family is THRILLED, but no one more than Mia. Thanks for all your prayers through this long ordeal and please continue to pray that she can do what she has to do to recover.

Sorry no pictures, I will post some later.

Holly can spell two words...

2008-10-02T13:55:00.002-04:00

Holly learned to spell her name a while ago and can even write it. I've been told that's really good that she can do that at her age. She is constantly asking me what a bunch of letters together spell. It's very hard sometimes to even try and pronounce the letters she puts together. Here is an example: cdgghok - What does that spell? I have no idea. So I decided that since she wants to learn how to spell words then I will take a 3 letter word and work with that for a little while and take it from there. So our word for this week is DOG. Each day I ask her through the day how to spell DOG and she spells it for me. She gets it right everytime. I even wrote it down for her and she read it. I am so proud of her. She really wants to learn so why not. She even asked me how to write it so we are working on writing it too. Her teacher told me that she is the youngest and the smartest one in her class. I'm a very proud mama!!

Here are my two cuties wearing the Mustang T-Shirts that Grandpa gave them....

My New Camera!!

2008-09-24T21:08:00.003-04:00

I received my new camera the week before the wedding so all the pictures I took were with that and I love it. It's very similar to my old camera but it's a newer version so somethings were improved and they changed the way some things worked so I'm still learning. But I am very happy with the pictures it took. Glad I had to get a new one.

A few people have asked me how I made money to buy the camera. Well some of you know that I've become very frugal and save a LOT of money when I go shopping and I really enjoy taking surveys and doing mystery shopping. I put together a blog about all the things I do and the survey companies I've hooked up with. Your welcome to take a look at it. I post there daily and have even added some advertising to possibly generate some money to make up for the time I spend working on it. If I could get the readership up really big then it could turn into something great and then I can buy myself a new camera every year! But really the point of the blog is to show people how I save money and make a little bit of money so you can do it to. So check it out and let me know what you think. Leave me a comment here or there.

Frugal RI Mama

I can't post here without pictures of my girls so here are a few...

At the hotel before we left. They had a beautiful gazebo there.
Holly was blowing bubbles for her little sister.

They were waving bye to PA.

More Wedding Photos

2008-09-23T18:59:00.009-04:00

Here are some more pictures from Bob and Melissa's wedding:

Melissa and her Dad

The Vows
The best man, Jeff, handing over the rings
The Kiss (sorry it's a big blurry, I couldn't use my flash)
One flower girl and One ring bearer
Getting attacked by Bubbles!

I caught this moment, it wasn't posed. Bob was just checking out the rings. I love this picture!
The flower girls, ring bearers, and Jr usher.

Melissa's family.
I didn't catch a picture of Bob's family.
The best man Jeff, doing what Jeff does best, taking pictures.
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Laffen
The Happy Couple
The beautiful cake. I loved the colors she choose.
The first dance as husband and wife!
Father / Daughter Dance
Mother / Son Dance
Daddy dancing with his girls
(it was getting late and I changed Allison in case she feel asleep, but she didn't)
The Cake - They were both very good.
Awww, so cute!
Bob and his sister Allison

That's about it. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a GREAT time. The bride and groom are now enjoying their honeymoon in Italy!

Bob & Melissa's Wedding

2008-09-21T22:51:00.005-04:00

This past weekend our friends Bob and Melissa were married in PA. They asked Holly to be a flower girl and she hasn't stopped talking about it since that day. Well now she has even more to talk about. She was the cutest flower girl and did such a GREAT job. Mommy and Daddy were very proud of her. She didn't even hesitate when she went down the aisle. She was having fun tossing the flowers along the way.

Allison was also a hit since she looked so cute too. She was a very good girl during the ceremony and sat and ate her goldfish like a big girl. Of course she doesn't say much yet so making lots of noise wasn't the issue. Both girls had a great time and they were so good on our trip.

They loved staying at a hotel and both went to sleep very well all 3 nights. Allison has been getting up early so this trip wasn't any different so her and mommy cuddled a lot not to wake up daddy. Allison feel right back to sleep but it's hard for mommy to do the same while holding her and sitting up. I do enjoy the cuddles just not the early mornings. But now we are home and in our own beds/crib so mommy is hoping Allison will sleep better. Both girls were exhausted from all the excitement of the weekend and I think they were happy to be home to all their toys.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. More to come later this week. I don't want to overload this one post.
Holly getting her hair done the morning of the wedding

Holly right before the wedding, looking cute of course!

The bride

Walking down the aisle

Cute little Allison

I will post more this week.

The Big E

2008-09-18T06:42:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we went to the Big E in Springfield Mass with Nana and Papa. The girls had a great time! The weather was perfect for being outside all day too and that made the day very enjoyable. Nana and Papa bought Holly a 'ride all day' pass and she really wanted to ride all day. She had a blast! Every ride that she was tall enough for, she went on. She was very brave with a few of them and she made mommy very proud. The height requirement was 36" and she just made it at 36.5". We got lucky! I can't imagine what we would of done had she been an inch too short.

Here are some pictures of her enjoying herself on the ridess.....

More to come later!

Feeling Better...

2008-09-14T08:24:00.005-04:00

The girls and I are finally feeling better. Holly still has a little bit of a cough but last night she didn't wake up coughing so that is good. I felt so bad for Holly last week because she was running a fever for two days and she just hung out, but she was so sweet even though she was sick. She also has learned to give into being tired and will take a nap now. She hasn't had a regular nap since she was 2! She naps at school two days a week and I didn't think she'd even nap there and she does. So when she was sick, she wasn't afraid to tell me she was tired. I got the cutest picture of her sleeping on the couch the other day. Isn't she so adorable?

Allison was feeling better by the time Holly started running a fever so that was easier for me. While Holly slept on the couch, Allison just let her be and played by herself. Of course when she saw me she flashed me that cute smile.
My new camera arrived this week!!!

Just in time for Bob and Melissa's wedding. We are heading to PA this week for their wedding on Saturday the 20th. Holly is all fired up to put on her dress, her pretty ballet slippers and walk down the aisle. She wants daddy to walk with her and Melissa said that is fine. It's probably the only way she'll go down the aisle. I think it's going to be adorable seeing her and Steve walking down the aisle together.

Hopefully I'll get some good pictures considering I'll also be trying to keep Allison still in church without Steve's help. It's not an easy task, as it shouldn't be, she's only 1.

We are all sick...

2008-09-08T20:41:00.003-04:00

We are all sick here. Not fun at all! The joy of back to school. Everyone has been really healthy and after 2 weeks of Holly back to school (mind you she only goes 2 times a week) we are already sick. Basically we all have colds, Steve's is just starting today, but the girls have been running temps up and down for a few days. No one has been sleeping good so we are all tired. Better this weekend though than next week because we are heading to Bob and Melissa's wedding so we don't want to be sick for that.

Just a cute picture I took of Holly the other night. My parents went to a car show over the holiday weekend and my dad picked up t-shirts for the girls with mustangs on them, after seeing the cute pictures of them in the car (the post below). Holly was modeling the shirt and she looked cute.

Good Night Hugs

2008-09-03T22:13:00.002-04:00

Allison is usually very good about going to bed. She has been from the beginning. We didn't have to go through any kind of sleep training with her, like we did with Holly. And I'm happy about that because it wasn't easy.

When it's time for her to go to bed I tell her and then she goes to give Steve a hug and kiss (and she pats him on the back while she hugs him, it's so cute) and then she runs up to Holly and puts her arms all the way around her, sometimes almost knocking her over. And then I get my hug and kiss and off to bed with Zebra.

I kept meaning to get a picture of her hugging Holly because it really is adorable. I finally did.
Isn't this cute??

Holly eats it all up too!

Driving

2008-08-30T18:56:00.004-04:00

Holly and Allison are eager to grow up and drive. Grandpa let them test drive his Mustang the other day. He said they can use it anytime because they are good drivers. Geez he didn't let me drive until I was 17 and they are only 1 and 3. Guess who likes his granddaughters better than his own daughter. Just kidding.

When we arrived at my parents house this past week, Grandpa was cleaning his Mustang for their trip this weekend so the girls jumped in to check it out. They had never seen a convertible before and were pretty interested. I snapped a few pictures of them.

Holly's First Day of School

2008-08-26T14:27:00.003-04:00

Today was Holly's first day of her new preschool. She was VERY excited this morning and could not wait to get there. She got dressed right when she got up and was ready to go. We packed up her bag with the following items...

Sunscreen
Change of Cloths
Blanket and Sheet
Pillow
Littlest Pet Shop Stuffed Penguin to sleep with during her nap

And then we were out the door. I completely forgot to take a picture outside the front door, do you believe that! I will take one when we come home before going in the house so I'll have it for the scrapbook. I'm so scatterbrained sometimes.

When we got there she was a little shy. We met a few of her new classmates, they were all very friendly and eager to be her friend. I thought it would take her a while to settle in but NOPE, she was shy for about 5 mins and that was it. She sat at the table ready to have breakfast with the rest of the kids so Allison and I left.

Once in the car, I got a little teary eyed.......she's getting to be such a big girl. Then I got over that and realized that with her staying a longer day, I get some free time while Allison naps! And I did, she napped for 2 1/2 hours, nice!

I called around noon time to see how Holly was doing and Lori, the director said she was a natural. She made friends with Olivia and was having a GREAT time. I'm was happy to hear that, though I figured she'd do just fine. Hope she's happy when I pick her up. We are leaving shortly to get her.

A few pictures from school this morning...

Mystic Aquarium

2008-08-23T20:28:00.006-04:00

This past week the girls and I went to Mystic with Nana and Papa (Steve's parents). It was so crowded but we still had a good time. The girls loved it. They went a few weeks ago with Steve but he didn't have the camera with him but I had it this time.

Holly was a little scared at first when she saw the big whales, but she got over that pretty quickly. Allison just looked and smiled at everything.

Here are some pictures....

Holly was very excited to see the fish!

Allison was enjoying the seals
The penguins are mommy's favorite part!

See the frog??

Holly was so brave. She went into the bird area and fed the birds and even held one. I was so proud of her!

Just a few pictures of the many fish they have there

Holly even touched a millipede. Mommy would never do that, but my brave girl did!

It was a really FUN day!

My poor camera......

2008-08-20T22:32:00.006-04:00

I'm so sad. My camera is broken, and it's not something the warranty will cover. They say it's physical damage and the warranty doesn't cover that. I think that's silly, when you have small children, the warranty should cover for physical damage. Oh wait, I guess that would on be the warranty for the child, not the camera. Oh well.

We could have if fixed, but for double the price of fixing it we can get a brand new one. Why not get one that's more up to date with the latest features, right? I think that's what we should do. Steve thinks we should see if we can have it fixed somewhere else for cheaper. I'm going for the new camera route instead. He just doesn't know that yet. So I've decided that I am going to save up for my own new camera. Since I don't actually receive a paycheck, that makes it a little harder. So instead I am going to save up all the money I get from filling out surveys and rebates and instead of using that to buy say some scrapbook supplies which I usually do, I'll put it aside for a new camera. I'm half way there already, I started saving for this a month ago because deep down inside I knew my camera would not make it this time. But the bright side is, I did get over 16,000 pictures from it, so I think I got my money's worth. Besides, it's 4 years old, time for an upgrade.

Then after the camera, I'm going to start saving for a Dyson bagless vacuum. Now that will take much longer to save for, but maybe by the end of the year I'll have 1/4 of what I need. Unless someone buys me one for Christmas. Now that would be a great Christmas gift for me, if anyone is listening out there. DYSON BAGLESS VACUUM...........they sell them at Target and have them on sale very often.......hint hint hint.

OK I will leave you with these pictures...

My baby......she'll always be my baby, even when she is 35.

Actually they will both ALWAYS be my babies, even when they have their own babies, but lets not rush anything now.
Those 2 bottom teeth are really out now. Actually the 2 top teeth are finally coming out. Wow she's got 4 teeth and she's 15 months old............lol

Getting Big!

2008-08-14T07:49:00.005-04:00

These girls are getting so big, so fast............it's amazing!

Allison likes to carry a 'bunch' of things at a time by tucking them under her chin. It's really cute when she does this. One day I let her play with the tub of wipes so I could finish up some things around the house (of course I have plenty of wipes to spare). Once they were all pulled out of the tub, she then carried them from room to room, and of course tucked them under her chin. I was able to catch a couple of pictures of her....

We decided to keep Holly home from school the month of August and we've also decided to send her to a different school in September. Her and I are going to look at schools in the next few days to pick one out. Since she was leaving her other school, we made cupcakes for her last day of school. Holly really enjoyed the entire process. I don't bake much, since I really can't eat a lot of baked goods, so this was her first time making cupcakes. Actually it was pretty much the first time I made cupcakes too, pretty sad, I know.

I had my camera on hand, of course, and got some cute shots of her enjoying herself.

One Flower............

2008-08-05T17:03:00.003-04:00

Holly and I planted some seeds earlier in the summer. We didn't water them very often and then we went almost a month without rain so I didn't expect anything to bloom.

Well, today we went outside and to our surprise we saw this...........

And a picture of the girls in their matching dresses, waiting for mommy while she took pictures of the One Flower.......

A Popsicle with a Friend......

2008-07-26T22:25:00.003-04:00

The Knight Family came to visit us last weekend and the kids were so excited to see each other. David went right up to baby Allison to give her a kiss.......it was so cute. They were late getting here and Holly was not happy about that. LOL The next day she told David that they were late because his Daddy drove slow........how cute is that!! I love the mind of a three year old!

It was a nice visit, quick of course but we were glad to have them. Just a few pictures of the 3 of them having Popsicle's together.

The video...

2008-07-12T09:47:00.000-04:00

I finally got the video of Allison 'talking' on the phone uploaded.

Enjoy!

Allison on the Phone

2008-07-08T21:28:00.004-04:00

Allison has discovered that she can get herself up onto the couch, Holly's rocking chair, the Dora chairs (though she topples over in those quite often) and now she's trying to get onto the dining room chairs. She can't quite do it yet, but she's trying. I helped her up yesterday morning and we sat together for a while. I was able to get some really cute pictures of her. She was still in her pajama's but she looked adorable, of course.

She grabbed the phone off the table and began pushing the buttons and 'talking' on the phone. She doesn't really have any words yet, I have heard her say something that sounds like Hello a few times, but that doesn't stop her from chatting on the phone. She even knows which button's make the phone ring. It's really cute. While she was 'talking' on the phone I grabbed my camera and started filming it, but she was more fascinated with looking at the camera then talking. She still said a few words but not as 'chatty' as she had been before the camera.

The video is taking to long to upload so I will post it tomorrow.

More Swimming...

2008-07-07T15:47:00.002-04:00

Here is a video of Holly 'jumping' into the pool. She was doing it from a step higher up before I started the video, but that's ok, I'm still proud of her for jumping in!

Strawberry Pickin'

2008-07-07T08:34:00.005-04:00

Last week, the girls and I, along with Danielle met Jodi and David to go strawberry picking. It was pretty overcast and we knew it was going to rain but we did our best to get the picking done before the rain came, and we did, just in the nick of time!

The kids LOVED it. Holly doesn't like to eat strawberries but she loved picking them. While we walked to the field, Holly and David held hands, it was so cute.

I'm not sure if someday they will love us for these pictures, or hate us, but they are just so cute together!

Now onto the strawberry picking. The biggest strawberries were already gone, but we sure did get some yummy, sweet and juicy strawberries!

Have a GREAT week!

4th of July

2008-07-04T12:37:00.000-04:00

We didn't have very good weather for the 4th of July but the girls still got to play at the beach at the yacht club for a little while.

This was Allison's first time in the sand and she LOVED it! She also enjoyed the water, she didn't want to go all the way in but she was walking in as much as she could. But she wouldn't leave mommy's side, so she wasn't all that brave.

Of course, Holly LOVED the water. She didn't want to go in at first but after a little while she went in with daddy.
Sorry the pictures are blurry, my camera's auto focus isn't working very good lately, probably because we've taken over 16,000 pictures since we got it almost 4 years ago. It's time for a new one!!!

Hope you had a great 4th of July!

Water Fun!

2008-07-03T12:25:00.000-04:00

Allison received a really FUN Water Table for her birthday from her Godfather Joe, Becky, Joey and Tommy. What a great gift, she LOVES it!! And so does Holly. While Daddy and Holly were in the pool on Thursday Allison played with the water table.

Here are a few pictures.

She got pretty wet!

And then there is our fish, or mermaid as she likes to say... Miss Holly....

About to jump off the stairs into the pool, she's very brave this year!

Pretending she's sleeping.

Holly Swimming

2008-06-30T09:27:00.003-04:00

Holly LOVES the pool this year. Last year she never got in it, but this year she'd be in there everyday if she could. Her and Steve were swimming the other day and I got a video of them. She was playing pretend and daddy was a monster. She's so cute.

Enjoy!

Long Time no post...

2008-06-29T21:14:00.003-04:00

I know it's been a month since I updated, sorry!

We've had a busy month and now the pool is opened so lots to do.
Here are some pictures of the girls.

Getting so big so fast!

2008-05-30T19:46:00.005-04:00

I can't believe how big the girls are getting. I look at Holly and the baby is gone and so is the toddler. She is getting to be such a big girl it amazes me that not to long ago she was a baby. It's like I blinked and she's 3 1/2. And I know November will be here before we know it and she'll be 4!!!

Allison, wow she grew too fast. Funny how the first year for the second baby seems to fly by! I can't believe she is already ONE and walking and trying to run and feeding herself (not all the time but she takes over pretty fast). I was thinking about it today, she'll be out of her crib this time next year! I gave her a pillow this morning when she took a nap and she LOVED it. When we first started giving Holly a pillow, she didn't quite know what to do with it. Nope, not Allison, she slept on it for both her naps today hugging her Zebra. It was so cute. I took a picture of her before her afternoon nap to share here...

And while changing her tonight, I realized she is the entire length of the changing table. The pacifier is a result of her being tired. See below for that story.

A few pictures of the girls playing in Allison's room...

Those brown eyes............love em!!!

Allison's been getting up early, very early. A few weeks ago I was up at 5:15am for an entire week!!! Now I'm not a morning person so 5:15am is like the middle of the night for me. With Holly, I refused to get up that early, but I can't let Allison stay in there and cry because she'll wake Holly up. So over the long weekend we decided to try and get her to take just 1 nap a day, and see if that helped. She's not entirely ready for 1 nap a day but we've made it through on pretty much just that this week and she's getting up about 6:30 now. That I can handle, though I'd prefer 7:30 but anything is better than 5 am!!!

The problem is, if she naps early in the morning by dinner time this is what happens....

She just couldn't stay awake so I let her sleep for a little while like that, and she looked so cute! And it seems that by the end of the day, we are giving her the pacifier more to keep her happy till bedtime. But she's only ONE so why not!

Yesterday my friend Jen visited us. She and her husband Chris are expecting their 1st baby in September and she's having a boy. I haven't seen her since she's been pregnant and I couldn't wait to see the pregnant her. She looked so cute and is having a very uneventful pregnancy, which is the way you want it to be. Here's a picture of her and her cute belly. (Hope you don't mind Jen!) She's all belly, without seeing it you wouldn't know she was pregnant.

Isn't she such a cute pregnant gal??

Jen and I have known each other since the 5th grade, but it wasn't really until high school that we became good friends. That was a long time ago! We were discussing how those few girls that were pregnant in high school (back then there were just a few) now have 18 year olds and here I am with a 3 and 1 year old and she's having her first. Big difference there! But we are both glad we didn't have them back then, our entire lives would be different right now.

Just a few more cute pictures of the girls from this week.

She's walking all the time now....

2008-05-28T20:52:00.006-04:00

Allison is a full fledged walker now and even tries to run at times. She no longer crawls! She started walking a bit right after her 1st Birthday and each week it got more and more and for about 10 days now it's been a full time thing for her. We love to watch her walk, she waddles a bit still but is very steady. Her run is a really fast walking and it's amazing she doesn't fall over.

Here is a video I took of her tonight walking back and forth down the hall to her room. I guess she was 'dancing' to the music and kept coming back to turn it on. She's so cute. Holly had to get in on the action too, she loves playing with her sister.

We finally finished the swingset this past weekend. Holly loves it! So does Allison, I put her down the slide, with help of course and she was OK with it, but she didn't cry so she had to of liked it somewhat.

Here are a few pictures of them playing on the swing set. Sorry for the blurry pictures, I had to adjust my camera, but didn't realize at the time they were coming out blurry.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T08:40:00.005-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a nice day. Every year since before I became a mother, we invite our 4 parents over and we have steak and lobster. Yum Yum!! It's pretty much a mother's day/father's day dinner. Holly was very excited for Mother's Day this year. From when she first heard it mentioned a couple of weeks ago, everyday she'd ask me if it was Mother's Day next. It was really cute! She wanted to buy me a card last week when we were at the store, I told her to wait till Daddy came home and he would take her card shopping.

Our day started out early, well it did for Steve more than me. Allison decided at 5:30 she wanted to get up, this was very early for her. But Steve was already up since he was trying to get himself back on US time (he was in Libya last week). She he let me sleep till 7:30 and then Holly woke me with a kiss and my card, it was very sweet.

We spent sometime outside, it was really nice out. While out there Holly sang me a "mother's day" song. It melted my heart, she really is so sweet. Allison had fun playing with the rocks and the car. Here are a few pictures.....

Holly and I after she sang to me....

Allison putting rocks in the car.....

She's in!!!

Holly wanted to try the lobster so she put her bib on just like us and tasted it. She said it was good, but didn't want anymore. She wasn't really hungry, dinner was earlier than usual, so she just went and played.

Here she is in her bib, she really didn't want mommy taking a picture of her, can you tell?
Mommy and Her Girls....

Me, my mother and the girls....A kiss from my baby girl....

Me and My Mom....

She liked the cake...

2008-04-27T19:18:00.003-04:00

The night of Allison's birthday we tried the cake thing again and she did taste and and she did like it, but she didn't cover herself in it or make a mess. She did, however, cry when we sang.

That cute little giggle.....

2008-04-24T20:55:00.004-04:00

This past weekend our GREAT friends Karen, Charlie and Jessica came over to help us put together the swing set that the girl's grandparents bought them. It was an all day Sunday project. Steve has been putting up the swings and toys during the week, but the entire structure was done on Sunday.

Last night Steve got Allison's swing up. This is her first time on a swing and she LOVED IT. She giggled the entire time. Here is a video I made of her....so much fun!!!

Thank you Nana, Papa, Nonnie, Grandpa, Charlie, Karen, Jessica and Steve. Those giggles make it so worth it!!

PS.... Miss Allison decided that she would take 5 steps and then 10 steps on her 1st birthday!!! We are so proud of her. Shouldn't be long before she's running after her sister!!

Birthday Party....

2008-04-24T15:38:00.009-04:00

We had Allison's 1st Birthday Party this past Saturday and we couldn't of asked for a more perfect day, weather and all. It was beautiful outside and the kids had so much fun. Allison enjoyed the day but got really tired from all the days activities. She was a little bit interested in the gift opening but not interested in the cake. She cried. Part of the reason was because she was hungry and she didn't know that was food, it didn't look like her regular food. I'm sure someday cake will be a recognizable food for her but not at 1. Today being her actual birthday, we are going to try the cake thing again so hopefully this time she'll enjoy it.

A few pictures from the day.... OK a LOT of pictures.....

Holly getting ready for the party...

Birthday girl in her party dress!

Grandpa and Nonnie (my parents)

The 'not so happy' birthday girl...
Now she's happy, she has food! And of course she has to feed herself.

A little nap after a LONG DAY!

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Allison!

2008-04-24T07:45:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to you.....
Happy Birthday to you.....
Happy Birthday to ALLISON.....
Happy Birthday to you.....

Dear my baby Allison,
Amazing to know that 1 year ago you were born.......before I know it you will be 18 eek!!! We've had a wonderful year with you and you've been such a sweet baby. We look forward to learning more of your personality and we can't wait till you can walk and talk.

Love you!!!
~Mommy, Daddy and Holly
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

At ONE you....

Have TWO teeth (yup that's it...barely two!!)
Your trying to walk - you are always up on your feet and taking a step here and there
You wake up at 6:00 / 6:30 everyday (not fun for mom)
You love to feed yourself and you have quite the appetite lately
You are wearing 12 month cloths and size 2-3 shoes
Your almost too big for your size 3 diapers
You do NOT like to get your diaper changed
You LOVE to go into stores and smile at just about everyone
Mommy is your favorite person and must be around at all times
You enjoy banana's, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, chicken with apples, oatmeal
You HATE peas!!! You gag every single time I try to get you to eat them, green beans are ok, some days!
You love taking baths and get right under the the running water.
You enjoy the feel of the grass
Your favorite spot to play us under the counter in the kitchen behind the stools
You say mama and dada and a few other little things
You love talking on your play phone
You love to dance

Photo Shoot

2008-04-23T19:49:00.004-04:00

Steve took a trip earlier in the month and Jodi and Little David stayed with us for a few days. The kids had so much fun, even Allison! David and Holly are at a great age and they love to pretend and it was just a fun time. I scrapbooked a few pages from their visit....

When I dressed the girls one day I happened to but them both in red, I didn't plan that but, when Jodi saw what they were wearing, she decided to put David also in red so they all matched. She lined them up on the couch to take a picture because they looked so cute!

She jokingly said to me "hey we should go have their picture taken somewhere". I thought that was a great idea so I suggested we go and see what happens and we did. Here is what we got....

We were very happy with the results!

Happy Birthday Steve

2008-04-23T10:32:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Steve's Birthday. Holly was all excited and told everyone she saw even the guy that came over to look at our roof! LOL. We bought him an ice cream cake, per Holly's request and had a little party before bed. The girls enjoyed it, well mostly Holly.

Tomorrow is Allison's 1st Birthday! We had her party over the weekend, I will post pictures later. I can't believe a year has gone by already!

Easter Pictures

2008-03-27T12:17:00.004-04:00

We had a nice Easter and the girls had so much fun. We are still having Easter Egg Hunts in the house. Did you know that the Easter Bunny left me a note saying he would be back this weekend to pick up all the empty plastic eggs. Yup! And then he will bring them back next year. Isn't that nice of him?? (lol) I'm so glad because I have eggs EVERYWHERE in the house. Allison loves playing with the eggs too and dumps the bucket all over the floor several times a day. I'm glad she is enjoying them too, but we have lots of other toys too so it's good that the EB is picking those up in a few days.

Here are some cute pictures of the girls in their dresses....

Allison playing with the eggs....

Here is a picture of a Bunny that Holly drew on her chalkboard. Not bad at all!

Getting better........

2008-03-05T12:35:00.002-05:00

Allison is getting better. She hasn't had a fever since Sunday so the antibiotics are working their magic. She's been in such a better mood too. I'm glad because she is such a pleasant little baby, it was so sad to see her unhappy.

Holly is still doing great in school, loving every minute of it and doing well. We are really proud of her!

Isn't she getting big???

Poor Allison....

2008-03-03T20:34:00.004-05:00

Poor Allison, she's sick again. Only this is not something she caught from anyone. She has a UTI. Not FUN! She started with a low grade fever last Monday night and we just figured it was teeth (which she still has NONE of) but on Thursday her temp went up over 101.6 so I called the doctor. She checked out fine without anything going on that was visible, so he told me if her fever continued over 101 then to come back the next day and they would do blood work and check her urine. Her fever went up to 103 Thursday night so back to the doctor on Friday.

The office called me Saturday morning to tell me that she did have a UTI and we started her on some antibiotics immediately. I was somewhat relieved when she said she found something so at least now we can move forward and treat it. Her fever's were getting worse and lasting all day at this point so we needed to start making her better. The Tylenol wasn't even touching her fever, I had to give her Motrin.
The Dr said they'd call me again on Sunday morning when they got the culture back again to see if she needed something different as far as meds. Well she called back on Sunday and we DID have to give her something different so off to CVS again. Poor kid, she didn't want to take anymore medicine, but mommy keeps finding ways of getting it in her.
By Monday morning we were already seeing an improvement, she woke up with NO FEVER and stayed FEVER FREE all day! I did give her Motrin anyways, so maybe that helped but it was a good sign when she woke without one.
She needs to take 10 days of the antibiotics then we will run some tests to see what the cause was and to make sure there isn't a problem that caused the UTI in the first place.
I'm just glad she's starting to feel better.
Here are some pictures of her over the weekend, you'd never know from her smile that she was sick and uncomfortable. She's such a trooper!

As most of you know, we have an old swing set in the back yard that the previous owners left here. It's old, doesn't have a slide and is pretty much falling apart. Holly LOVES to play on the swings, slides and climb on play sets so we've been talking about getting a really nice set this year. Yesterday Toy R Us had an awesome set in their flyer, that personally I love and wish I had when I was younger. I showed Steve and he liked it too. We looked around online and couldn't really find anything else like it, for the price so we are considering buying it. We need to make our decision by the end of the week before the sale is over. Perhaps it will be on sale again, but who knows for sure if it will. I wouldn't want to take the chance. Of course then the next thing will be putting it together, I don't want to think about that yet, but we will probably call a few of our friends to give us (or should I say Steve) a hand.

Here is what we have now.....

and here is what we are considering buying........
Quite a difference, don't you think? I'm sure Holly would LOVE this!!!

Have a great week!