family

my week in instagram

Melissa

busy week. lots going on!

friday we had so much fun on colin’s first trip to nyc.
he loved times square, despite the chill.
runs in the family.

saturday i went to my friend kassel’s birthday party.
love that girl.

it was nice the other day, so we spent lost of time outside,
swinging and playing.

and naturally, the day after we were outside with no coat,
it snowed. check out the view from our deck.
about 10 deer were in our backyard.

date night at the local brew pub.
beer samplers are fun.

gracie wrote a story for school. look at the dedication:
“this is dedicated to my family who make my life AWESOME.”

great week.

happy birthday, elmo!

Melissa 4 Comments

On Friday my little man and I took the train up to New York. He was very very very very excited about the train. The commuters in our car were all giggling at his excitement. He waved to people on the platform at every station – and you would be amazed how many people waved back!

Then we were in NYC! We got there a little early, so we decided to head a few blocks north to Times Square before catching a cab up to the event.

After a cab ride that was much too short for Colin’s taste, we arrived to find Cookie Monster waiting to greet us!! We went upstairs to a kid’s paradise! I love Sesame Street: its like every one who works there has channeled their preschool self and knows exactly what preschoolers love! Colin hardly knew where to look first – Balloon animals? Decorate cookies? Color? See Abby? Play with stickers?  Personally, I loved the balloon animals. I’ve never seen  balloon animals like this. Check out how realistic: Cookie must have felt like he was looking in a mirror.

After a yummy lunch, we headed over to watch the “Birthdays” episode of Elmo’s World. The kids were all giggling and singing along – and then… then… ELMO WAS THERE!

I almost died. It was really the REAL Elmo. Colin was literally shaking with excitement. He had a birthday cake (with 3½ candles) and then – we sang. Colin and I sang with Elmo. An old song that I grew up singing along with on Sesame Street – I am now singing along with my son . It was incredible. I love that a huge part of my childhood is now a part of his.

Then, we met Elmo. I was starstruck to meet Kevin Clash. Such a talented man! Colin was chatting with Elmo, Elmo gave him hugs and kisses… I was practically in tears. What a moment. We will never forget it.

We came home with a copy of Elmo’s new DVD, Elmo’s World: Elmo’s Favorite Things. It has eight episodes of Elmo’s World – including the birthday episode we saw at the event and Colin’s favorite episode ever, dinosaurs!!  We’ve already watched it – and by ‘we’ I include my older kids as well. You know, despite being “too big for Sesame Street,” I know that my girls still love it. They sat and enjoyed the DVD, laughing right along with their little brother. And I can tell you that at Busch Gardens this summer, those ‘big girls’ were the ones running to get their picture taken with Big Bird. 😉 I think Sesame Street is one of those things that we never outgrow!!

By the way, check out SesameStreet.org – it is an amazing resource for parents! We recently viewed the section about  helping kids deal with grief, who are dealing with the first death of a family member in their memory. I’m so thankful for organizations like Sesame Street who are helping us talk to our kids about subjects that are so hard to explain.

disclosure: we received a gift bag for attending this event, including an elmo’s world dvd.

my week in instagram

Melissa

Featuring mostly my cats. Hum.

Ellie was trying to get Sadie to eat her math homework.
It didn’t work – apparently she just likes to eat ants and spiders.
Is that normal for a cat? Our cats gobble up ants like they’re cat treats.
Perhaps they’re not getting enough protein.

At the car show, Ellie reminded us that she is turning 16 is just 7 years and we should start saving because she wants this car.
Such a sweet, innocent little thing she is.
She has no idea that as soon as she can drive, she’s getting my yucky mini-van
(which is made up of mostly cracker crumbs at this point and has had the nickname Stinky Yuck Van)
and she can drive her siblings around
while I drive a convertible.

Shadow declared the wooden clementine box her official bed, ignoring the nice, plush cat bed that we actually paid money for.
Figures.

We spent most of the week outside.
65 degree days in January are not worthy of working.
We made the driveway into a huge mural, played on the swingset, played soccer… and even grilled.
Remind me of this when its snowing next week.

I have eaten much, much too many of these.

i see a teenager poking through

Melissa 4 Comments

She may only be turning nine, but she is rapidly turning into a teenager. Check out “the look”:

Can you tell how COMPLETELY TRILLED she is to be at the auto show?  And “the look” is just one thing…

I’m getting the eye roll.
And the “I know, Mom!”
And the “I need my privacy.”

Promise to hold my hand, Internets. I’m not sure I’m ready for this.

lost and found

Melissa 19 Comments

I had one of my scariest moments as a mother.
We took the kids into Philly for the car show. We’ve gone a few times before and its always a really fun day.
Minutes after this picture was taken, we were over in the Subaru section and I noticed Grace wasn’t there.
“Where’s Grace?” I asked, looking around, not really worried. She was probably with her dad or inside a car or something. But we didn’t see her with a quick look around the immediate area.
We searched that whole section…  she still was gone. My mom stayed where we were with the other kids and my husband and I searched in opposite directions.
5 minutes later, she was still gone.  (Oh, God. Please help us find her.)
10 minutes later, she was still gone. (Oh, God, please. Be with her. Find her. Please, please, please.)
I was in a blind panic. The huge EXIT sign right next to where we lost her was making me shakey. The door was right there.  Did she leave? Did someone take her?
I found security and reported her missing. They sent out a description of her. I was sitting in a chair in the security room, shaking uncontrollably and trying to breathe, praying desperately. (God, help us find her. God, help us. God, protect her. God, be with her. Oh, God, please.)
I tried to tweet out a desperate plea for prayer, but my hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t type on my phone.
My husband was calling me every few minutes as he searched.
The guard asked for confirmation from all security personnel the exits that they had the description.
I heard a voice through the security walkie-talkie that someone was sweeping the men’s restrooms.
I almost threw up.  My mind was just screaming “Oh, God! Oh, God!” I couldn’t get past those words to anything more.
The security lady told  me to come with her to search the women’s rooms, probably to get me out of that office.
We were searching a restroom when she suddenly touched my shoulder…
“We have her.”

We went back to the security office to wait for her.

She walked around the corner with a security guard. Our eyes met and she ran to me, sobbing. Her little arms, squeezing around my neck, as she sobbed. She kept whispering, “I was so scared, Mom. I couldn’t find you.” Her little body was shaking. We just held on until we calmed down. She only let go when her daddy came in, so he could hug her.

They found her on the other side of the convention center. She had realized she was lost and walked until she found someone in a security uniform to ask for help. We had a call on our home phone when we got home – she had told the security guard her phone number and he called it on his cell phone to say he had her. If only we had checked! We would  have found her sooner.

I can’t believe how quickly it happened. We blinked and she vanished. It was completely innocent – she just got confused and was trying to remember what we taught her about being lost. We turned for a second and missed her wandering. The security people said it happens all the time. I can see why.

I am so thankful. I can’t even think about what could have happened. I’ve seen too much on the news lately about the dreadful things people do to children. Grace is having some anxiety still – she has been crying in her sleep is nervous about leaving us. Frankly, I’m nervous about letting her out of my sight as well.

Snuggle your little one. And teach them your cell phone number.

 

 

my week in instagram

Melissa

mostly i spent time this week with my sick little one. he had a cough and a fever for two days. poor babe.

he gets a little clingy when he’s sick, so we spent lots of time snuggling, watching cars and kung fu panda and reading…

but the week had bright spots. like my sweet husband

and my sweet girl, who called me her BFF

how was your week?

behind the scenes

Melissa 12 Comments

These fashion posts are really popular. But I confess… I HATE taking those pictures of myself. I usually manage to take them while everyone is out of the house. There’s a reason for that.

1. If my husband is around, he’ll usually make comments like “Work it, Work it! You’re a tiger! RAWR!” in an Austin Powers accent. Which usually result in pictures like this:

2. If my cats are around, they will insist in being in every picture. Which usually results in pictures like this:

3. If my kids are around, they make lots of comments. I can’t imagine where they learned to do that. Then the cat will jump in, too! Which usually results in pictures like this:

4. Or sometimes they’ll just walk through the picture, totally unaware of what is going on.

5. Sometimes, my pictures get hijacked completely:

Sigh. Its never as easy as it looks!

good memories

Melissa 4 Comments

We spent the weekend in Boston, saying goodbye to my husband’s grandma. It was an amazing weekend – she will be missed so very very much. His Grandma was such an incredible lady. And she loved her family deeply. So what better way to celebrate her life than having a weekend together chatting, playing games and having a massive snow fight?