Snowflake Wishes Cranberry Holiday

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Two weeks in December

It started with the town Holiday parade


Holiday Dance Expo






Gingerbread house making





Tree shopping

Irish Tenors Christmas Concert

Goo Goo Dolls

A weekend away

Its been a busy December and its not over yet...Christmas is coming--eve here at home, a road trip to visit family and a rocking New Years Eve bash in the lovely Chatham. Excuse me while I go take a nap, I am tired already.

Weekend plans

Last weekend I was in sunny (cold) Florida with my beloved. I forced all thoughts of to do lists and chores out of my head to be dealt with when I got back. Well, I'm back and now this weekend is chock full of STUFF.

Here's the short list...no need to read it, it mainly is for me to get organized!

- girls 1st basketball practice
- get Christmas tree
-decorate tree
-decorate outside of house
-wrap gifts
-figure out what other presents are needed
-sort and bundle items for PTA mitten tree
-take Christmas card photo
-upload photo
-pick out and order holiday cards

I hope that is all.

Ok, off to sleep now..night shift over. Tonight kicks off the holidays for me..Irish tenors with my mom and then let the chaos begin!

Holiday Cards

It is that time of year again...

I choose the matching outfits, get the matching hair bows and pray that no one gets a head injury that could leave a mark...

Its time for the annual Christmas card!

I just LOVE getting mail in December and so do my girls.

We like to see all the beautiful pictures of our friends and family and proudly display them around our home.

I love to see all of the different card designs and to see how creative some of them are.

The past two years I have used Shutterfly to design our holiday cards. I have not been disappointed.

The quality is great and they always are delivered quickly.

Here is our final product from 2009



Some of my favorites for this year are:

I love the monogram in the corner of this one above.

The black and white photos of this are a nice touch.

This one might be the winner for this year...

but you will just need to wait and check your mailbox!

Guess what?

Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE cards to bloggers who blog about this giveaway. How great is that?

If you have a blog, you can get in on this great deal too!

Check it out here

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Besides the obvious things like my kids and food on the table there are some things that I am truly thankful for..

1. Shop rite online grocery shopping..need I say more. It is heaven sent.

2. Drive thru Starbucks

3. Marcia~ my cleaning lady

4. OPI color gels---seriously this manicure lasts 2 weeks.

5. The googoo dolls---I love them

6. Keurig coffee machine

7. Chicken nuggets



And last but not least I am truly thankful for



Target.

Have a happy Thanksgiving..gobble gobble

Great Giveaway!

One of my favorite blogs to read is Lisa Leonard. Lisa also makes incredible stamped jewelry. She is sponsoring a great giveaway right now, so head on over for your chance to win!

Lisa Leonard Online

Good luck!

16 months

Maeve, you are 16 months old! How is that even possible? It seems overnight you changed from a tiny baby who spent most days in a baby carrier to now...a happy toddler into EVERYTHING!

You now weigh just 20 pounds, you are a little petite peanut!

You wear a size 3 diaper and most clothes are 12-18 months and a size 5 shoe!

You are into everything. I was worried about you walking late (almost 14 months) and now you practically run everywhere. Your most favorite thing to do is go in your sisters room and pull every single book off the shelves and pull their clothes out of their drawers! FUN TIMES..

You are a good eater and your favorites are mac and cheese, meatballs, ziti. Every morning for breakfast you have cinnamon toast, followed by most of your Daddy's cereal.

You are a daddy's girl and you go crazy when he comes in from work. Which is nice for me....its a good break!

You are down to 1 nap a day, and if I time it right you can sleep over 2 hours sometimes. Bedtime is getting tougher now, you like to be held and rocked and we just recently started letting you settle on your own.

You are such a good little girl and so happy. Your big sisters love you so much and play so nicely with you (even though you steal all their things!)

It makes me sad sometimes to see you getting big, but each age comes with its own set of happy times!

We love you Maeve!

sisters

The girls have been letting their hair grow since the summer. Sadly, they were not blessed with thick, wavy hair like me, thankyouverymuch. Their hair is straight, wispy and thin. They need it shorter to give it some life. I convinced Olivia to get it cut. Ava wanted no part of it. She declared she was growing her hair long. So, off we went Livi and I to Zig Zag salon. The nice stylist, propped Livi up in the booster seat and gave her a proper shampoo and condition. She was thrilled. The stylist began cutting and shaping and a mere 15 minutes later my little girl had a shoulder length bob with some long layers for volume. She look so polished and GROWN up. Most importantly, she loved it. As she skipped out of the salon, she told me how great it felt. Upon our arrival at home, Livi ran to show her twin her new do.

And within seconds, Ava announced she wanted her hair cut EXACTLY the same way.

Sorry September...

Not one post in September ...that means either not much happened or too much happened and I never had time to blog about it.


Too much is still happening. October is CRAZY...one week in and my head is spinning.


The girls are in Kindergarten...its half day...which is both good and bad. It is nice to have them home with me, but its also annoying to try and keep them occupied. We spend most of our late afternoons in the car running to ice skating, dance, science club etc.

I have been working a bit more, thankfully the unit has been usy so they have needed the help. But even one night shift a week can send me into a tailspin and I play catch up for awhile.

The girls birthday is coming up and with that comes the PARTY! They are excited. We also have plans to take them to American Girl in NYC so that should e alot of fun and I'll post all about it.

I really want to get back to regular postings on the blog, to record some of the daily stuff that goes on, one day I know I will want to look back and remember these CRAZY days!

Dream house

Since we came home from vacation I have been playing catch up with laundry, getting things put away and just trying to get some order around the house..With three girls, who like to pull everything out in every room, I spend more time putting the "stuff" back where it belongs than actually cleaning or making the house "pretty".

When we bought our house almost 9 years ago, I instantly fell in love. It has great bones...nice woodwork, beautiful mantle over the fireplace, gorgeous hardwood floors and an amazing perennial garden.

When we moved in to #423...I was just excited to own my first home and decorate something other than a bedroom. Sadly, my taste back then was not too refined. I bought furniture too quickly just to fill the rooms and now I am stuck with most of it....I love my house and it is truly a "home" but I have dreams about how I might decorate if given the chance again...

here's some eye candy..

Claw footed tub and those big beautiful windows!!

An all white kitchen...with DOUBLE farmer sinks!

A trough sink for the kids bathroom, plenty of room for three girls to brush their teeth.

I just love this mirror collection over the bed...but even we just had a king sized bed that would make me so happy!

What would your "dream" house have?

Vacationland

New Jersey is the Garden State...Maine is Vacationland..This is our 5th trip to Maine. We've done the seacoast towns of Ogunquit and Kennebunkport..Ate lobsters on Boothbay Harbor...and been far north to Moosehead Lake. When I was young, my parents took us on a vacation to Maine..to the Belgrade Lakes of Maine..so that is where we chose to go this year.

We rented a private house on a beautiful lake.. We had all the comforts of home..the lake was perfect for the girls to swim in...shallow and calm..they loved it. The cabin also came with some kayaks which we made great use of. Ava and Olivia are still small enough to squeeze into the one person kayak..It is so much fun to paddle way out with them and just enjoy the scenery and listen to them talk..

We had campfires and roasted marshmallows...made smores..told silly scary stories about lake monsters..gazed up at a beautiful dark sky..littered with thousands of stars..like nothing I have ever seen before..truly amazing..Even more amazing was that Ava and Olivia could point out the Big Dipper, the Bear and more..Where they learn this stuff I'm not sure...Maybe I should watch more Noggin.

We went on a boat ride..which they loved..and Maeve fell asleep the ENTIRE time..so I was able to enjoy it too!

Best part was that all that fresh air every day knocked them out and they went to bed early most nights..While there was no local or cable TV..there was a DVD player and some old cheesy 80s movies..We watched Air force One, Beverly Hills Cop I and II and On Golden Pond..So fun..

It was a great vacation and one that I know I will fondly remember..the girls will too I hope. I can remember my trip to Belgrade Lakes when I was young and I still have such great memories of fishing, sleeping in the cabin, going out on the motorboat and so much more..It was truly a family vacation.

What I'm..

What I’m [reading] = The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

What I’m [also reading] = Dune Road by Jane Green

What I’m [eating] = lately not too much..which is good. Down 8 pounds and being accountable. I'm sadly too old now to eat whatever I want and not exercise..It's over or
rather the beginning.

What I’m [hearing] = Goo Goo dolls, new songs have me amped up for their concert next week at PNC. Date night here we come!

What I’m [writing] = This blog. I am trying to keep it up. Its fun, and a nice way to be creative.

What I’m [missing] = sleeping in. The girls get up so early and really do not go down until 9 some nights. The days have been realllllyy long.

What I’m [loving] = My girls. Maeve is just delicious lately. She's getting a little personality and saying some words. It is so fun to watch her little self come to life! And Ava and Olivia are getting so big and ask questions and have opinions (sometimes too much)but they are great girls. I am so proud of them.

What I’m [googling] = NO joke. Hiking trails in Maine. We leave in 2 weeks and I am hoping we can get some easy trails to explore.

What I’m [watching] = Bethenny getting Married. And that's about it. TV stinks in my opinion.

What I’m [surprised about] = that I went to Target twice today..that is just ridiculous.

What I’m [wondering] = why my house gets so messy 5 minutes after I clean it up!!!

Party all the time..

I've been best friends with Tara since 1st grade. I'll be 36 next month. We've been friends for thirty years...thirty. That is just crazy. We've seen each other through most of life's ups and downs. We have had some laughs and cries. It all started with sharing a black crayon. We share such a long history, she knows me so well...she is part of my history.

Cathy is my other best friend. Is it childish to call someone your best friend when your almost 36?..Oh well I don't care. Being freinds with Cathy means we don't have to talk every day but when we are together it is like we were never apart. My friendship with Cathy goes deep. She has shared one of my life's biggest losses with me. She held my hand when Kelley slipped away and she will never know how much that meant to me. She was also there for me in our early 20's to drink many Amstel lights and to rescue me out of the "weeds " during my stint of worst waitress ever at Houlihans. Okay, maybe not worst ever, but most certainly not a very good one!

We celebrated Tara's daughter Gracie turning 2 years old this past week. It was a great time, swimming in the pool, eating pizza and cupcakes and enjoying the company of friends. So, there we all were. Tara and her 3 kids, Cathy and her three and me and mine. As I looked around at the nine children we have between us, I have to say it was pretty amazing. I realized what a gift we all have. We grew up together and now our children will too. There was a special comfort felt among my friends that day. I could casually say, "hey keep your eye on Maeve, while I help Gracie" and we passed baby Keira around like she was one of our own. The kids all played together. Cheering each other on as they took jumps off the diving board or shooting down the water slide. It was a great day.

I only hope that in thirty years, Tara, Cathy and I will be sitting around watching our grandchildren play together.

that's more like it..

Apparently 11 hours of sleep makes everything better..Much nicer day today.. Lots of catching up with bills, laundry and other nonsense. Maeve took a super long nap and 4 hours with the girls at camp passed by too quick.

Ava and Olivia have been playing Disney World most of the afternoon. Props included a measuring tape (to determine height restrictions), Maeve's Winnie the pooh ride on toy (aka the roller coaster) and Littlest Pet shop toys placed in tea cups (Mad Hatter's tea party ride) Poor Maeve has been denied entrance to all rides, they keep telling her she's too little..She'll get them back someday. BIG TIME.

My bliss is short lived..I'm working nights tonight and will be sleep deprived again in a mere 12 hours.

Back to bed

So, letting ALL three girls stay up way too late did bite me in the arse. They all slept in, including me, however it ended up throwing me off for the entire day.

It started with the girls going to camp and needing showers in the am. We typically do baths at night. It was annoying to have to deal with that and breakfast. Oh and then, I realize that I was supposed to run to the deli so they would have something for lunch. But we SLEPT in, no time for that! I ended up sending them in to camp, and I dropped off lunch after I went to the deli. After all this running, Maeve decides napping in the car is a great idea. So there went the long nap I was hoping for.

I decided to be somewhat productive. Our neighbors are away so we have been caring for their pool (which they let us use anytime) They are awesome. I decided to vacuum it and put some chlorine in to keep it tip top. I ended up bleaching one of my favorite shirts from the chlorine and after I vacuumed, the skies opened up and it poured. I mean torrential. The pool is full of leaves. **SIGH**

On the bright side, since it was pouring rain, a great friend offered to pick the girls up at camp for me. It was the highlight of my day. The afternoon was looking up, until piss and moan came home and were tired, hungry, cold etc...you name it, they were IT!. Even Disney XD could not keep these two happy. It was a long afternoon. Maeve had no nap, again..

By the time, Prince Charming arrived home, I was not in a good way. I fed them all, bathed them and then bid them all farewell. I went to Target, I bought myself a new Burts Bees lipgloss, a Glamour magazine and Peach Mango bubble bath. I came home and soaked until my fingers were pruney. Now, 2 Advil and my pillow...and dreams of a better tomorrow.

How was your day?

some fun

Why do the weekends go by so fast? We spent the afternoon on Sunday at the Newark Museum..Its small, close and just what we needed on a hot, muggy, overcast day. We spent some time walking around the small garden and the girls loved it so much.

They called it the "fairy garden"

Olivia trying on the firefighting gear at the museum.

Maeve had fun playing with the pebbles..She is always that happy.

Ava playing in the firetruck

David and Maeve or as I like to call her "Mavid"


On Friday, we spent the day with our cousins at Colony pool. This year the girls Olivia and Ava were able to go down the frog slide. They were so excited they were finally big enough.

Maeve loved the sand..and she was doted on all day by a great girl..Gizzy made my day so enjoyable by carrying Maeve for me and playing with her!!


See those smiles...that's because they had 2 icecream cones, 1 slushie, chicken nuggets and sun and sand.. Nice life!

Great weekend leading up to a busy week. Hope yours was great too.

Total "eclipse" of the heart..

I started to read the Twilight series but never finished past the first two ooks. Some girlfriends were going tonight to see the 3rd movie, Eclipse and although I did not read the book, I needed a night out!!

Needless to say it was a great movie. I will probably finish the books by the end of the weekend now.

I might even finish the Harry Potter books too!

Summertime

July already?? Summer is in full swing around here..our days are filled with lots of swimming...watermelon eating, ice pop licking and lightening bug catching come dark...

We celebrated big for Maeve's 1st birthday..Its hard to believe she is already 1!!!! We have had such a fun time with her. She is the center of attention most days..and her big sisters dote on her constantly...and to be honest me too!! She is a happy baby and brings us so much happiness.. We may be creating a monster though!!

Ava and Olivia are going to summer camp, three days a week and it keeps them busy.. and keeps me sane. Actually they are at camp right now, and Maeve is napping so I guess I better go be productive..

Sparkle

A short five days after my last entry on this blog, Kelley lost her fight with cancer, and we lost her. Words cannot even express the extreme sadness that came over me and the rest of my family. Trying to come to grips with loss and grief is probably one of the hardest tasks we all need to go through in life. It is so hard to go on and not question WHY?? Why Kelley? Why now? But all the questions in my head could drive me crazy... I learned I just needed to accept it and move on.....but move on in the right direction.

Jack met Kelley and to say it was a whirlwind romance would be an understatement. I had truly never seen him so happy in his life up to that point. He told me when he met her.."She is exactly what I want" They were married a short year later. The rest they say is history.

Work, kids, house remodels, vacations and the rest soon followed...and as they say.. life got in the way...I never had the chance to spend girl time with Kelley. We never went shopping, never went for pedicures, never to the movies..Life got in the way. It was not until Kelley got sick that I was able to tell her how I felt about her..that I loved her..that I loved her for loving Jack so well.

Jack was scheduled for a business trip to Sweden. Nanny was to go stay at the house with Kelley and the kids. For some reason, I called Kelley the week before and asked if I could come sleepover with the girls...(Emma would love it!) Little did I know that this was all in the plan.

The day before Kelley died, I took her for radiation, then we went to a local furniture store so she could order a coffee table!! Then back to the hospital for chemo. The most heartfelt conversation I ever had with Kelley took place that morning. She told me so many things..most of all how she was at peace with her prognosis, and as I cried as she said it, she told me to be brave. She was so strong.

We talked a bit about heaven and she told me a story of a prayer group friend's sister who had died from breast cancer. This woman told her family that when she died she would give them a sign that she was okay. She determined that she would be something shimmery or sparkling. I asked Kelley if she could come back as something what would it be? She told me she was not sure, but not something cliche like a bird or butterfly!! Kelley looked at me and simply said "I just really love the idea of a sparkle" I replied that is such a nice thought...to be a sparkle. And that was it.. nothing else was said about it.

Kelley died on Wednesday, a day after I was sitting with her talking about coffee tables. We all knew she was terminal but you are just never ready. I was in furthur turmoil because Jack could not be there. I was there for Jack, I held her hand, I cared for her the way Jack would have done. But that was Kelley's plan, she was protecting Jack. She loved him so much she did not want him to suffer. The day following her death was terrible, I was in a fog and just emotionally and physically spent. I went home to David and my girls.

I did not sleep much that night, as I thought so much about Kelley. Maeve woke up extra early that morning as well. I was anxious to get her from her crib and as I went to pick her up, I see as plain as can be, a small fleck of glitter in the middle of her forehead. That was the sparkle. I knew that Kelley was ok and was watching over us.

And I knew then that we would all be ok too.

Mother's Day

What a better way to start the week than by celebrating ME!!! I really do love Mother's Day especially now that the girls understand and want to make my day special. We started the day early with breakfast at the diner.

David and the girls waiting on a table.

After breakfast we headed out for a drive to run some errands and went by the Great Falls. It was FREEZING and very windy so we only stayed a short time. We then ran some errands while the girls stayed with Nanny.

It was like a mini vacation for me!

Dinner was my choice and I decided on FRIED CHICKEN. It was so yummy and then we had a delicious ice cream cake. The girls were so excited to give me their gifts and cards. They made me these ceramic plates that they decorated. David had made one of these for his mom and I always say how nice it is to have something from his childhood. So he had the girls make me some. It was really sweet!

Ava's plate

Olivia's plate

Of course no Mother's Day would be complete without this lady. I am so thankful for my mom, she is truly the glue that holds us all together and she never ceases to amaze us with her strength and love.

~We love you Nanny~