Birthday Boy

Today is Hubby's birthday.

Our original plans were to go out to dinner with the girls to celebrate.

Unfortunately, E wasn't feeling well today.

She stayed home sick from school.

She has been complaining all week that she wasn't feeling well.

I ended up taking her to the doctor this morning to get tested for strep.

Negative.

Thank goodness.

So she just has a virus.  It appears to be going around at school.

I swear kids and schools are just one big germ fest.

Blech.

Tonight instead of going out to eat, we got Chinese takeout and a Carvel cake.

Yum.

It was all delicious.

Everybody was happy.

And full.

potd #333.  Hubby with D&E.  Happy Birthday Hubby!  We love you.

Morning Light

Today I spent the day at home cleaning.

My baking cabinet was a disaster.

Absolute disaster.

Disaster as in afraid to open the cabinet door disaster.

So I emptied it out completely.

And reorganized the whole cabinet.

This organization makes my OCD self feel happy.

After finishing with the baking cabinet, I headed down in the basement.

I started to pull out the Christmas boxes.

And I went through other boxes.

Within a couple hours I came up with 5 boxes of "stuff" that I could donate.

And I happily loaded the boxes into the car and drove off to donate.

Ahhhh.  That felt good to get rid of some things that we will not be using again.

I just love getting things organized.

I took this picture of D when we got home from school.

I had taken off my scarf and left it on a kitchen stool.

Next thing I know, D is wearing it.

And looking adorable.

It's still my scarf, but something tells me she will try to abscond with it anytime she can get her hands on it.

potd #332.  Took this picture after I took my shower this morning.  The sunlight looked so pretty coming through the steamy window.  And you can faintly see E's handprint in the window.  She did that this morning when she came in to say "good morning".

Perfect Snowfall

Yesterday we had the perfect snowfall.

It snowed just about all day.

Pretty white flakes.

Sometimes small and sometimes they were great big flakes.

I just love the great big flakes.

And yet even though it snowed ALL day, all we got was about 2 1/2 inches.

The ground was warm, so the roads were just wet all day.

To me that is the perfect snowfall.

It is pretty and it doesn't mess up the driving conditions or affect school.

This morning the trees looked so pretty with snow clinging to the branches.

The sun was out, the sky was blue and there were a few clouds in the sky.

And the white of the snow against the blue sky was just breathtaking.

If only every snowfall we have this winter could be like the one we had yesterday.

potd #331.  I snapped this picture out our back door this morning.  I knew if I didn't take it then, it would be too late.  Sure enough, a few hours later and all the snow was melted.  Like I said, it was the perfect snowfall.

Press Here

Today I was in Barnes and Noble with my friends J and R.

We wandered through the kids book section.

J pointed out the cutest children's book I have seen in a long time.

It is called "Press Here" by Herve Tullet.

R and I read the whole book.

And we had so much fun reading it together.

There was lots of giggling and oohing.

I highly recommend finding it in a book store and reading it.

You will love it.

Guaranteed.

I will be giving it to everyone I know that has little ones or is about to have a little one.

potd #330.  Took this with my phone.  Wish it didn't have the glare on it.  Oh well.  Can't get every picture perfect.

Monday Snapshot

Early post tonight.

Hoping to do some online Christmas shopping done tonight.

And order my Christmas cards.

If I can get the above done tonight, I will be very happy.

Especially the cards.

First, it's showers and to bed for the girls.

Then I can get down to serious business.

potd #329.  E is really wishing that Hubby wasn't allergic to cats.  Here she is snuggling one of her piano teacher's new kittens.  The kitty is very sweet and snuggly.

Christmas Lights!

D had a birthday party to go to this afternoon from 5-6:45.

Hubby & E decided to go ice skating while D & I headed to the party.

Hubby took this pic of E while they were ice skating.

So cute.

I do believe that ice skates are going on the Christmas list.

Hockey skates, not figure skates.  Apparently hockey skates are better, according to Hubby.

I am most definitely not the expert on ice skates.

I will go with what Hubby says is best.

Anyhoo.

Since the girls friend M was also invited to the party, Ms' mom, my friend K, and I decided that we should ride to the party together.

Since the party was at a bounce house place, we dropped the girls off and had some time to ourselves to go and chat.

We had a great time.

And on the way home, we drove by a house that was all decked out for Christmas.

We had seen it on the way to the party and decided that we should most definitely stop by on our way home.

It was fantastic.

I don't think that this is even 1/2 the decorations/lights.

Amazing.

And more lights.

I can't even begin to imagine how long it took this family to set up all these lights.

We loved it.

And we all decided that we needed to come back with the rest of our families to see it again.

It just so happens that one of my favorite Chinese restaurants is very close by to this house.

I think the girls, Hubby & I will need to go out for Chinese one night and then do a drive by of this house.

Sounds like a great plan to me.

potd #328.  Here is D and M posing in front of the house.  They were a little skeptical of getting out of the car for me to take a picture of them.  But, they did it anyway.  Love it!

Candy Galore

Today was the day we decorated our gingerbread houses.

Think we have enough candy?

We always overbuy.  We can't help ourselves.

Love these Santas.

A few years ago, Sissy got the idea of hiding a chocolate Santa inside the gingerbread house.

Brilliant.

E organized all the candy.

Not even decorating yet and D is already eating a candy cane.

Usually Sissy & I do all the assembling. And the girls do the decorating.

This year, Sissy decided it was time for Kate and the girls to get involved in the assembling.

Getting the method down.

Good thing we had 3 houses for them to practice on.

They will be pros next year.

D & K assembling.

E getting the frosting inside her house ready for her Santa.

And a couple other surprises that Sissy bought.

I just love the hidden Santa.

Can't decorate gingerbread houses without a little fun mixed in!

E is helping K empty the bottom of the decorating bag.

E loves frosting.

D, not so much.

Lots of concentration goes into decorating the M&M roof.

A little break to have a turkey sandwich for lunch.

E's house.

D's house.

J & K goofing off while Sissy was trying to take a picture of them.

Love them.

E's house.  Done.

Three beautiful gingerbread houses.

D's  house.  Came out great.

I just love the creativity that comes with decorating each year.

We may use much of the same candy, but where it's placed year to year can change.

There is nothing like a homemade gingerbread house.

So beats the kits that can be purchased.

And it's really not all that hard to do on your own.

Sissy and I found this book almost 17 years ago.

It is just what you need if you have always wanted to make your own gingerbread house from scratch.

E loves to make the log pile using pretzels.

Think she has enough spearmint leaves on her house?

Think she likes spearmint leaves?

We had a great day decorating and eating candy.

And K has decided that next year she wants to be in on the baking too.

So we will bake and decorate in 1 day.

Looking forward to it!

D took this picture of me today.  She was so cute using my camera.

I think both her & E are future photographers.

No surprise there.

Even though it's a little blurry, I love this picture of K and D.

I love that the girls have K & J.

potd #327.  Love this picture of D.  Nothing like being 9 and decorating gingerbread houses.  Good memories made today.  And as always, what happens matters.

Scenes From The City

We had a great couple of days in NYC.

From a great time at the parade yesterday to ice skating in Bryant Park today, it was a fabulous time.

And we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Just picture perfect.

D excited for the parade to start.

E snuggling up to Hubby waiting for the parade to begin.

D watching for the start of the parade.

Everybody is eager at this point.

We made friends with a great family next to us.

They had 5 kids. Wow.

All the little kids had a great time being at the rail together.

Hello Kitty.  First balloon of the parade.

Charlie Brown.  He was a big hit.

Jimmy Fallon!  He was great playing up to the crowd.

He played with The Roots, his band from his show.

Kung Fu Panda turning onto 34th St.

Just a bit farther up is the "stage" area for the TV performances.  Right in front of Macy's.

E with the monkey balloon behind her.  It was fantastic to be so close.

Gotta love Spiderman.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?  Spongebob Squarepants!

The girls loved the Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon.

Love this street shot.

Elf on the Shelf.

Sam from ICarly.  This was a highlight for D&E.  They were so excited to see her.

Santa closes out the parade.  Perfect ending to a fantastic parade.

Post parade.  Big Smiles.

E ice skating in Bryant Park.

They have a great rink set up.  And it's open until March.

So much easier than skating at Rockefeller Center.

D was a bit more tentative than E.

So like her personality.

She did great.

Happy girls.

No trip to NYC is complete without a stop in Times Square.

And the girls love going to M&M World.

potd #326.  Love this picture of Hubby with the girls.  Happy. Fun.