Stowe Weekending

Skiing

Sledding

Snow Shoeing

Griffy ate dog food

And I got sick

Shrimp, lobster, oysters

Pink Champagne

Hot tubs

Ben and Jerry's

Ed and Nancy's house

We love you guys!

Cousin Leila!!

Lots of quality family time in the car

Snow, snow, snow

Fun School vacation

Back on the treadmill tomorrow

Thanks again Flanagans...

Can we come up in the Spring? 

Little Old Ladies at the Grocery Store

Before I write about the little old ladies can I just say how amazed I am that I can take a picture on my phone and come home and share it with the world? Seriously, it still blows my mind.  I remember all too well my little camera with the 110 film that I would put in the mail and weeks later it would come back developed.  And I'm using my phone camera because I left my Nikon on the Vineyard. I'm not psyched about that since we're going skiing. What are you gonna do?

Anyway, the little old ladies in the grocery store. I swear I attract them like flies. It's not a bad thing..I love it actually. I love talking to them in the grocery store about Griffy and how fast time flies and before I know it he'll be all grown up. As the mother of an almost 16 year old..I know this all too well. 

Today at the deli counter an older woman started talking to me and Griffy...how she missed those days with a little one in tow.  She told me she had 6 boys and 2 girls. That right there made me want to sit at a coffee shop with her over a cup of Earl Grey and chat with her. We talked for a while...she asking me how many children I had. Me saying ONLY 4 compared to her 8..but how I still yearn for another....and that I'll probably always feel like that. She came right out and asked me how old I was. I was totally not offended....I've never really understood why that is such a touchy subject with women.  I'm not thrilled I'm turning FORTY THREE next month but I'm not hiding it either. Anyway, she was very sweet and said she had her last at 42 and that there is 20 years between the oldest and youngest.  She also told me how close they all are. 

So as we were parting ways at the fish counter she told me I'll always regret not having another. 

You never regret having a baby...You just regret not having another baby. 

P.S....do you see the hula hoop way off by the bread in the first picture? Griffy carried that around the whole time we shopped. :)

Vineyard Weekending

Ferry's

Lot's of Cousins

iPhone camera

Great Food

Fashion Shows

Memories in Nana's attic

Happy Birthday David

So many laughs

Love my family

Love going to the Vineyard

School vacation

Wine and Ina's Brownies

Back on the treadmill

Beach Therapy

This day did not start out too good.  The baby was up WAAAY too much, I had crazy dreams..I think I woke up crying at one point. Don't you hate when your day starts out bad? You know it's not good when it's  7:00 A.M and I want it to be time for bed. 

 I had to take Hannah to the orthodontist before school and the baby is just a nightmare in there so I was dreading that. Anyway, after I dropped Ha Ha off (that's what Griffy calls her)..and Griffy cried because he didn't want her to go..we went to the beach. I'm so glad I thought about bringing my camera.

The beach is therapy for me. And I needed some this morning.

This one needed it too..little bugger. 

I feel better now. 

What I do on Date Night

Go ahead. Laugh. This is me..duh...getting ready to go out Saturday night for date night. I love wearing curlers. Seriously. I have stick straight hair. So when Tracy Porter did a video on how she does her hair I was watching carefully....taking notes.  I ran out that day to buy my first set of curlers. Now I don't hate my hair that much anymore. Anyway, I've been known to walk around all day with those things in my hair...usually with an apron on too. At least I don't have a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. 

Please don't look at the mess behind me. The windows that STILL have no shades...my neighbors are probably looking in at me right there wondering what  I'm doing. The crib that has been in the  middle of our bedroom for almost 2 years and hasn't been slept in once.  Just look at the stupid look on my face. 

http://blog.tracyporter.com/smashing-fashion-beauty/tracy-porter-beauty-video-the-secrets-out-messy-curls-in-no-time

Here's the video..

Girl Party

Hannah had a Valentine Party with a few of her girlfriends this past weekend. Steve took the boys out for the afternoon.  I know Hannah had fun..but so did I! I'm so thankful to have a girl that loves girly girl stuff! I loved these girls! I swear I don't think I was as confident at 12-13 as they are. 

Hannah and I had fun setting up before the party. We went to Michael's and Target and got crafts supplies and candy. I think my favorite part was sprinkling rose petals on the table. 

Pink lemonade served in my Grandmother's champagne glasses = sweet!

They painted frames...

...and decorated cupcakes...

...and made tissue paper flowers/rings..

...and of course a little JD2. 

More crafting...

Girlfriends are the best...and Hannah has some sweet ones! 

P.S...I posted the recipe for the cheesecake on my cooking blog...and Will's Valentines..the ones that look like iPods..found the instructions on Family Fun website.  

xoxo

Steve never asks for anything...EVER. Birthday, Christmas, Anniversary. But on Valentine's Day he wants this cheesecake. I've been making it for him for years. 

You just take your knife and cut through the chocolate and you'll make a heart...

I got a little distracted watching the Grammy's so it overcooked just a bit...

...it still tastes good though..I had to try a little piece. 

I found a heart in my soup. 

Will's Valentine's for his school party...fun to make!

Happy Valentines Day

xoxo

Valentine Weekending

Red

Pink

Homemade Cards

Girl Party

Boys day out

Visiting Mom

Candy

Flowers

Date Night

Sunday Family Dinner

Sending/Receiving Packages

Painting

Cleaning

Laundry

Traditional Cheesecake

Red Nails

1-4-3

Seeing Red

How I Feel About My New iPhone

We made some heart brownies yesterday. And while we were making them the doorbell rang. It was the UPS guy. The kids were all.."woo hoo!!" So I signed for it and said to the guy.."I bet you've delivered a bunch of these today huh?" He just turned and left. We have THE most unfriendly UPS man ever. I don't get it. I would think being the UPS man would be fun. People are always happy to receive a package right? Anyway, so it's here. I have it. It's great. I guess. 

I mean..yeah it's cool and everything but really when you think about it...I'm a stay at home mom. Those first three words mean I don't really leave the house much. The other day I was a half hour early picking Hannah up from violin. The baby was sleeping in his car seat and for a brief moment I thought it might be nice to have the iphone. But then I got distracted watching all the high school kids getting on the bus to go on a ski trip. I started thinking about when I was in high school and went on ski trips and how fun they were. Then I watched Griffy sleep and snore and thought about how cute he is. Then I read a poem. If I was on the iphone I would have missed all those quiet moments. And I love those quiet moments...they don't happen often in my world. 

So I've mentioned a few online magazines that I love...well, just found another one that is SO beautiful. It's called 79 ideas..this is the English version. It's total eye candy. 

Stephen had a doctors appointment today. Instead of bringing him back to school, Griffy and I took him out to lunch.  Made me think I should do that more often...it was so nice spending time with him. Plus he taught me how to use my iphone. Then we went to Trader Joe's and I stocked up on flowers and fancy lemonade.  The tulips are so pretty right now!

Ok and THANK YOU all so much for posting your Views from Your Kitchen Sink! I have LOVED looking at what you all look at while you do your dishes. Everyone has such beautiful and unique views don't they?? So cool. :)

Our Life in Houses

I love houses like some women love shoes. If Steve and I are bored on the weekends (which doesn't happen often) we like to ride around town and peek into the open houses. I've mentioned before that we've moved a lot. This is our first house..kind of. We did live together in Boston in this apartment. Right after we got married we drove to Alabama so Steve could start flight school.

I went to some discount store and bought all this furniture on a  whim..probably with wedding money. I don't regret a lot in my life but man I wish I could say to my 25 year old self.."hello?" Oh well. I wanted so badly to display all the wedding china. Anyway, we were in this house for a year and a  half. Stephen was born here.

Here we are in Germany. Can you tell I just took pictures of my albums? I'm too lazy to scan. So in Germany we decided to not live on the military base and it was one of the best decisions we've ever made. I loved this house..loved our landlords..Erich and Lieselotte who could not speak a word of English except "Steve want schnapps?" I swear whenever Steve came home from flying Erich would be waiting at the door with a drink for him. Stephen called them Oma and Opa and they were like his first Grandparents.

Here they are outside are house on our last day in Germany. I want so badly to go back there with the kids. Hannah was born here.

From Germany we moved to Ft. Knox Kentucky. We lived on the military base here. While I wasn't crazy about the house I did love the neighborhood. We had a big playground right in our backyard. And remember that non-existent green thumb I talked about recently? Apparently I had it here in this house. I loved to garden here. 

These are pictures of our backyard. My good friend Angie lived here too with her son Jack who was Hannah's age. I was so thankful to find Angie! We're still friends...and her husband is still in the military...Miss you Ang!

This would be the first house we bought after leaving Kentucky and the military. Steve took a job with Boeing outside of Philly. We wanted a good school district for Stephen so we ended up in Chadds Ford, PA. I wrote about our house here. We were only in this house a little over a year.

I wasn't kidding about the wine labels. I was pregnant most of our time here so Steve did all the work. Isn't that always the case? Will was born  here.

We left PA for NH. We're getting closer to home now. We lived in 2 houses in NH. This one was the first. It was close enough to walk into the village. I loved this sunliner. We had a stream in the backyard. Once again Steve painted and painted and painted. 

I wanted a pink dining room and he made that happen. No births or pregnancy's here. We were in this house for a little over a year and then I saw this house for sale in the village...

I was dropping Hannah off at school when I saw the women put the sign in the ground. I called when I got home and BEGGED Steve to come look with me. He swore he'd never buy another old home after the issues we were having with the house we were living in. But I won him over and we bought it. 

I loved the backyard. Many many parties held here!

View from my kitchen sink in this house was nice. 

You all know how I love a well organized/stocked pantry. No babies in this house either.

I cried and cried over leaving this house. 

And here we are. Back home. Griffin was born here. And although there won't be any more babies born I do know that this is not the last house we'll live in.