Mother's Day

Last week, you saw what Emily made for me for Mother's Day, although she's already taken back the plant she gave me, claiming that it's hers. Anyway....On Mother's Day, I received a great present from Lee and a bunch of presents that Elizabeth made for me at school.

The card that Elizabeth made for me.

Notice that both girls like my cookies.  A big thanks to my mom for teaching me to bake!

  

And my present from Lee - popcorn is my absolute favorite snack and I'm very concerned that our popper, which is heading into its tenth year, is on it's last legs.  This one came highly recommended by Jen and Sheila!

A Beautiful Baby Shower

Last weekend, we celebrated the impending birth of my friend Melissa's little girl with a baby shower in Niantic.  Melissa got a ton of beautiful presents - as I know from experience, people love to buy clothes for little girls and she received some incredibly adorable outfits.  Her amazingly talented mother made her some gorgeous quilts.  Melissa looks wonderful and I simply cannot wait for the new addition to her family to arrive!  More pictures here.

The arrival (notice the station wagon, ahem, performance vehicle, in the background). 

A moses basket passed on from one of Mark's cousins, filled with wonderful goodies.

Just some of the cute outfits for the baby.

This is such a cool wine glass, for that first post-birth alcoholic beverage.

   

Elizabeth and Marcella

A Yankees onesie - thankfully, the Red Sox gear outnumbered the Yankees gear!

One of the beautiful quilts made by her mother.

Ten years ago next week, Melissa and I graduated from law school together.  My how times have changed!!

Salmon River Run

Last weekend, I participated in the Salmon River Run, a 5.5 mile race that starts and ends at the beautiful Comstock Covered Bridge.  It was an great day for running (cool) and even though it rained almost the entire race, it was refreshing and didn't seem to interfere with the run at all.  The course was a dream - uphill for the first two miles, level for the next two miles, flat or downhill for the last mile and a half.  It was almost all dirt road or trail, which I thought would be a challenge but was actually wonderful on the legs and knees.  I far exceeded my own expectation for a finish time - I finished with a time of 47:52 and had only hoped to finish in 50 minutes or less - I was the 22nd woman to finish, 5th in my age group (which included the winner).  This was my longest race ever and being able to complete it in a respectable time has gone a long way to moving me toward my ultimate goal for 2010.  Thanks, as always, to my biggest fans for coming out to cheer me on!!

The girls at the edge of the Salmon River.

Me and my girls before the start.

Waiting to start.

This fife band played the National Anthem and then started the race with the firing of muskets.

That's me at the finish - the blur behind the umbrella - I can't really complain about the photos, considering that Lee is a very unwilling photographer to begin with - at least he tries!

Devin is Two!

On May 2nd, we celebrated Devin's second birthday at a great party thrown by Cathy & Brian at Peckam Park.  They had a bounce house, which Emily just loved, and the kids had the use of the playground, which is always a huge hit.  Devin, who seems extraordinarily even tempered, just sat back and took in the festivities.  He broke out a cute grin when his sister snuggled up with him while everyone sang "Happy Birthday."  Happy 2nd Birthday Devin!!  Thanks for sharing your special day with us!!  More pictures here.

The birthday boy.

Taking it all in.

Emily in the bounce house.

Elizabeth in the bounce house!

Mmmm....lunch.

What are those guys doing over there?

Kyla

Cake time! 

   

Kyla and Devin

Gratuitous shot of my girls. 

Tavio Turns Two!

Last weekend, Jen & Sal's little miracle Tavio turned two.  It hardly seems possible that two years have gone by since Sal knocked on our door and told us that Jen had delivered a tiny little boy who weighed less than two pounds (I remember it so clearly, like it was yesterday).  Today Tavio is a handsome little guy and is as strong as can be.  To celebrate his big day, Jen & Sal through a huge party!  It was a great time and I'm sure that we overstayed our welcome, but we had to much fun!  Happy second birthday Tavio!  We feel so privileged that we have had the chance to watch you grow!!!  Many, many more photos here.

Elizabeth and Victoria on the giant, inflatable slide.

Cathy and Jen, with Devin. 

A pile of TDI dance girls!

Christina and Tricia on the slide. 

Jen, Tavio and Sal watching the pinata festivities - I think that Tavio was a little freaked out!

Madison, Elizabeth and Victoria

The fabulous Diego cake made by Jen's mother. 

The many Diego cupcakes "made" by Jen. :-)

Sal, Tavio and Jen, getting ready to blow out the candles. 

Can I have this cupcake?

Taking a very gentle bite.

Mmmm, mmm good!

Cathy and Tavio (I just love this little snuggle).

Sit and Listen

When the girls were little, they each had a CD player in their room so that they could listen to music while they fell asleep.  When they started sharing a room, we packed the CD players away and pretty much forgot about them.  A few weeks ago, when we were doing some cleaning, Lee came across them and asked the girls if they were interested in having a radio/CD player in their room - of course, they were delighted!  Not only do they listen to the radio and their CDs (Lee was thrilled to get all of the Disney CDs out of his truck!), but they have been listening to audiobooks as well.  We noticed that several of their books contain a CD with an audio version and they really enjoying listening to the stories.  Elizabeth enjoys it so much that I've actually added some audio books to her birthday list - listening to a good story seems to be the one area where she exhibits the most patience, especially when she can follow along in a book.

Elizabeth

 Following along in one of their books with the storyteller.

Getting just a little closer to the CD player.

Mother's Day Tea

Emily's preschool class had a Mother's Day celebration on Tuesday.  The class sang a cute little song and then we had tea and cookies (as soon as I arrived, Emily informed me that she did not want tea, even iced tea, so she had apple juice...).  The two of us had a good time hanging out and I enjoyed watching how Emily behaves when Elizabeth isn't around to influence her every move.

This was a song about a tadpole becoming a frog (I think).

This is the "about mom" paper that Emily made for me - she's pointing to a pancake that she drew because she loves it when I make pancakes.

In case you can't read this, it says "My mom is special because she's old."  According to her teacher, she tried to talk Emily out of that, but Emily was adamant that being old was what made me special...

Playing with her friends on the playground.

In motion - tongue out.

Mommy's little girl.