Recipe for a Perfect Mother's Day

3 beautiful children
3 pandora beads (picked by beautiful children)
1 hour at park in sunshine
5 delicious butcher's block kabobs
1 bruster's ice cream cake
1 game of monopoly
8 mile run
1 thoughtful husband

add all ingredients and a dash of tlc for mom. bake for 24 hours. serves one mom for entire year's worth of appreciation for services rendered. ;)

hope your day was as nice as mine.

Easter pics

Enjoy!

Today

It's been a long week... a really, really long week. Puking kids, working hard and late dad, stir crazy mom, and lots and lots and lots of rain.

But today things are looking up. Today I'm glad it's just puke and not something serious. Today I'm glad it's raining and things are so green and beautiful, and I look forward to a spring bbq with wonderful (and I mean wonderful!) friends next weekend in the sunshine. Today I am glad that I have a treadmill and can sweat it out at home when I can't get to the gym, because it certainly lifts my spirits and makes all things seem more tolerable. Today I'm happy it's almost April... because there are just so many good things to look forward to here shortly. Today I'm glad it's Friday, because I made it through this long week no worse for the wear.

Hope you have a great day today too.

Winter Break

We had a fantastic winter break... tagging along with Josh on a business trip to Columbus so we could see my family, and then stopping at Great Wolf Lodge for a mini-vacation on our way home.

Even better, it's almost March and the forecast is looking good. Yay Spring!

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of my favorite things about being a mom and having my own family is creating traditions, which sometimes means borrowing from traditions that either Josh or I had with our own families as children. One of my favorite holidays growing up was Valentine's Day. My mom always had a card, a yummy breakfast treat (sometimes petit fours - not sure if I spelled that right - or doughnuts with red sprinkles, and then a small gift). I vividly remember getting zinc pink lipstick one year in high school. I thought that made her super cool. We have done the same for our children. We always get them something little just to show them that they are all OUR Valentines. They are really the loves of our life. Today I had so much fun picking a new book out for each of them and cd's for Conor and Riley, and a dvd for Quinn... I know it's nothing big, but I also know they'll love feeling that they are loved tomorrow morning.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Riley

In just three weeks, Riley will celebrate her 7th birthday. As the middle child, I'm sure that her birthdays may somehow seem "less" like milestones to me, if only because Conor celebrates each birthday "first" and Quinn celebrates each birthday "last". But for some reason, this impending birthday is hard for me. Riley is such a unique and wonderful person. She is so smart and creative and FUNNY and self-possessed. She is so much cooler than I could ever hope to be.

I've been thinking about all the little Riley-isms we've encountered over the year. All the times she set up tea parties for umpteen stuffed animals and dolls, her love for accessories and clothes and boots and all things fashionable and how she loves to show it all off, her true and deep friendship with Max - which I always thought was just the sweetest thing, how she's genuinely adoring of BOTH of her brothers and would do anything for them, the special place she has in her heart for my mom, her Gigi. She's been through a lot, my Riley... if you can catch it, she will somehow. She's had dozens of painful laser treatments on her birthmark, scary allergic reactions, minor oral surgery, a dog bite to her face that left her two and riddled with stitches. She's beyond a tough cookie. She's more special than I could possibly put into words.

These last couple years we've enjoyed a little more girl time... we go to get our nails done together, we've seen High School Musical on Ice together, for her birthday this year we are taking a couple friends to have a girls night at The Jonas Brothers 3-D in concert movie, and I so look forward to all the girl times to come. And so as much as I feel sad about how my sweet girl is growing up, I am also truly embracing our mother-daughter future together.

What a difference a week makes

As many of you know, Josh resigned from his position with AIG one week ago to begin an entirely new division of a smaller company. This week was an adjustment, as he went from crazy-busy and gone from 6am to 6pm at least to just hanging out at home, but next week he'll be actually working again. :) The kids have loved having him around. At first, I was a little off from my normal routine, but he was able to stay with Quinn while I ran outside (such a treat when I'm usually a slave to the treadmill), went and stood in line for preschool registration for next year, and today I'm getting a haircut. He's like my built in "manny". He helped the kids with homework every night, helped around the house... I think actually got a little spoiled. The best part has been seeing the complete relief wash over him as he moves past the stress and drama that working for AIG has brought this year. Wish us both luck as we move forward to a new chapter...