Phantom Farms

It's become a family tradition for us to go apple picking at Phantom Farms. It's a great apple orchard only a few miles from our home. The kids love the hayride. They also have a great country store with a yummy bakery. This year we got whoopie pies.

Julia reaching up high to get the good ones...

The trees were full of beautiful, crunchy, sweet apples this year...


My three cute, cute babies who are all getting way too big way too fast...

My little dancer who loves to pose...look at those Jazz hands Auntie!

Julia took this picture...

Crunch...

And tonight I made a delicious lazyman apple pie which the kids, once again, turned their noses up at. But Danny and I loved it!

Salad Heaven & Weather H-E-double hockey sticks

I've had this for lunch for the past two days. It's salad with candied pecans, pears, and blue cheese and it is so unbelievably yummy.

For the recipe click here.

On another note...yes the hockey stick part. Gianna is having one heck of a time with the change in the weather. It has gone from the high 70's to a brisk 60 degrees here in New England. The wind has been blowing and it is darn chilly especially in the morning. Gianna just can't understand why she can't wear her shorts. She had preschool yesterday and I wanted to be a good, responsible Mom and dress her appropriately so on went the pants. You would have thought they were burning holes in her legs. Oh the crying and carrying on. I refused to give in and made her go to school with the pants. I had to leave her crying with the teacher. This child is slowing driving me nuts with her clothing and shoe issues. Do we all remember the shoes??? This morning on went the pants again and she cried and cried for almost an hour until she fell fast asleep on her bed from all the crying. I'm exhausted too.

Seriously

Not that either of these pictures have anything to do with the other except cuteness.

Nicholas before his first game (which I ended up missing)...

And Lucky just relaxing on the porch...

thoughts

Three things in human life are important.
The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind.
And the third is to be kind.

- Henry James

September 11, 2001

A day I will never forget. Thankfully, I didn't know anyone who died on that awful day. Especially when two of the flights departed from Boston.

I was home on maternity leave with Nicholas who was just one-month- old at the time. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The air was crisp and the sky was the deepest blue. We were living in Braintree at the time and I was busy folding laundry in my living room. The sun was pouring in through our huge picture window. I had the Today Show on but the volume was turned off. I remember seeing one of the towers on the TV screen with smoke billowing out. At the time, Katie Couric was reporting and thought it was a small plane that hit the building. I remember watching it live when the second plane hit. It was a terrifying moment. I was supposed to have lunch with Patty that afternoon but we both decided to cancel as we were just too upset and frightened to go out. Both of us wanted to stay close to home with our families. All day long, I had the TV on watching the horrible and scary aftermath. I made two phone calls to friends that lived in the area just to be sure they were safe and they were. I had to keep going outside for fresh air just to get away from the images on TV.

That evening, I was up in the middle of the night feeding Nicholas in his room. As I rocked him in the rocking chair and the house was dark and silent, all I could hear outside was the hum of fighter jets circling Logan Airport. They would actually fly very close to our house as we only lived about 15 miles from Boston. Most days airplanes would fly right over our house, often very low at times, depending on the landing patterns at Logan. It was so scary hearing those planes, knowing they were fighter jets because all other airplanes had been grounded. The days that followed everything on TV was 9/11 related. It was very depressing and so emotionally draining to see all those people pleading and begging on TV to find their loved ones who worked in the towers.

I can't believe it has been seven years already. And what was the point of all that killing? I didn't get it then and I still don't get it now. Just no purpose.

I'll never forget that day...the weather...the emotions...the images.

Never.

Gianna's first day of school

Well today went much better than yesterday. Much better. Gianna was very excited to go to school today. No tears at all. Julia was a wonderful big sister encouraging her and showing her around the classroom.

She helped Gianna find her name on the floor for circle time.

She was all smiles when I picked her up. She said she got to water the plants as her school job. She talked endlessly about the fish, how she made play-doh and got to play outside in the playground. So a big PHEW! Hopefully next week will be just as easy.

Dance Lessons - A big no go

What is she running from??? Oh that's right...DANCE LESSONS! I have to say that I'm very disappointed! I was really looking forward to having two little girls in dancing school this year. But Gianna kept telling me that she wasn't going to dance lessons and that she wasn't wearing a leotard and that she wasn't going to wear the dance shoes. I really should have listened a bit more closely. She pitched a HUGE fit today as I tried to get her ready to go to her lesson. She just cried and cried and squirmed and kicked and scratched and pulled off her leotard. This is a first for her. Needless to say we never even made it out to the car. Good thing I saved the receipts for her (expensive) dance shoes, leotard and tights but not so good that I already paid her registration fee and first month's tuition.

Next up...her first day of school tomorrow! I'm REALLY looking forward to that! Better put on my body armour now because guess what? She says she's not going!

Three in school

We have all three in school this year...first grade, kindergarten and preschool. One bump in the road though. Julia has afternoon kindergarten while Gianna has morning preschool. That's OK. It will give me some alone time with Julia two mornings a week before she's off to school all day next year. Next fall I will have three mornings a week to myself which I am so looking forward to. It will be the first time in eight years!

Nicholas was very excited for school this morning. He was really looking forward to recess and lunch! Typical boy!


Julia was excited too and not nervous at all. She is very independent. The bus was taking a long time today which she wasn't too pleased about. When it finally arrived she was a little annoyed that I asked for another picture of her getting on the bus. She was like, "Mom"!!!!


Julia posing again...


Julia was all smiles when she got home and Nicholas looked like a zombie he was so tired. Day one was a success. I hope they both have a great year.

Gianna starts school next week. Nicholas asked me last night at bedtime if Gianna had school the next day too. My stomach literally dropped. I guess I hadn't really been giving it too much thought and it just hit me like a ton a bricks that she will be in school soon. She looked so little laying there in her toddler bed sucking on her binkie. (Yes, she still has a binkie but only at bedtime.)

The Cake

That's what Gianna called it. "The Cake" instead of "The Cape". Last week we went to visit Pops and CeCe down the Cape. They rented a wonderful house in Dennis for two weeks. The house was within walking distance to Corporation Beach and had a beautiful ocean view. This beach is great for catching minos, baby eels and hermit crabs.


(Julia loves to pose for pictures now.)


My little girl is now SIX! We built six sandcastles in honor of her sixth birthday.


CeCe planned lots of fun things to do especially on Julia's birthday.


We went out for a yummy dinner and then on a hayride which took us down to the beach. It was just so beautiful.









Afterwards, we went back to the house to have birthday cake and open her presents.

The Cape is where I want to live after our kids are grown. Hopefully Danny will join me! ;)

Backstreet Boys Concert

I love the Backstreet Boys. Kimmy and I had a fantastic time at the concert in Lake Winnipesauke and can't stop talking about it. It just made us love The Boys even more! Everyone knows how I "heart" Howie, right? Well, I was so excited when he came out to sing a solo from his new album. It started out good. It was a Latin song but then he started doing some kind of a dance similar to Ricky Martin. Sorry to say but he's no Ricky. His hips just don't move the same way and what he was wearing was all wrong. It looked like a leisure suit. Kimmy noticed it looked like he got dressed too fast and he looked all disheveled. As the dance progressed, my smile began to wear off and a look of horror took over. I kept saying to myself..."That's enough dancing Howie. OK, you can stop anytime now. Howie! For the love of Pete just stop dancing!!!" Thankfully he redeemed himself quickly right after that. He was back to my cute Howie. The Latin dancing just isn't his thing. Kimmy and I have had a lot of laughs over it anyway. We had seats in the 11th row and could see everything. By the end we walked right up to the stage because everyone else was up there too. I got to see all of them up close and personal! We can't wait until the next concert. Hopefully we won't have to wait three more years!

Canobie Lake Park

My animated little girl...

Congrats to the new Daddy

To my incredibly handsome Ricky Martin,

Congratulations on your beautiful twin boys! I wish you had asked me to be the mother of your children. I would have gladly accepted! I'm sure Danny would have understood. He has put up with years and years of my drooling over you and those swiveling hips of yours. I will be honest though. I don't enjoy pregnancy and can only imagine what it would be like with two in there but Ricky, for you my love, I would have endured the discomfort and the pain of childbirth to make you happy. Well, maybe next time. Although you had better hurry because time is not on my side!

Lots of love, hugs and wet smooches for you and the babies,
Dini

x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

P.S. I'm a great babysitter too!

My Big Day

I don't like my birthdays anymore. I think the last one I actually looked forward to was 21 so I could be legal. Since then I could care less. But hey, what's the alternative? I'm here, healthy and happy. 

Birthdays make me think about what I've accomplished in my life so far and what I still want to do with my life.

Things like...
Learn to relax and do nothing
Do things I want to do
Master patience
Be an amazing Mom

Travel to:
Italy
France
Cancun (I will never get tired of Cancun.)
Aruba
Greece
and lots of cruises to anywhere and everywhere
And finally in about 15 years or so (after Gianna is done with high school) move out of this kiddie filled neighborhood and move closer to the ocean to live out my years with Danny in peace and quiet.

It's what I crave...peace and quiet.

He's 7...Finally!

I say finally because for the past six months or so we've been listening to..."Am I seven yet?"..."When is my birthday?"..."Is it August yet?"..."What are you getting me for my birthday?"..."When I'm seven..."

Usually I'm all weepy around my kid's birthdays but not this year. We're all very, very happy today has finally arrived! I'm sure in a day or two we'll be hearing, "When I'm eight..."

But how we love our baby boy...



He asked to go to Chuckie Cheese today which we did and had lots of fun playing games and eating pizza.

 

Nicholas is such a smart, loving, and affectionate boy. No one gives better hugs than him. He is quick to laugh and has an infectious smile.


He loves to play sports especially hockey. He loves to use his hands to build Lego's, fix and paint things.

He has a heart of gold and we couldn't be more proud of him.

16 kids OH MY

Yesterday we had the kids party for Nicholas and Julia's birthdays. There were 16 kids here (thankfully we had four no's). Before the party I had a little one-on-one chat with God to give me the strength and patience to get through it. He did come through for me but I guess I forgot to ask him for an extension on that time. A bunch of the neighborhood kids stayed here well after the party was over because their Dads were having a few beers with Danny. The party started at 12:00 so by 6:30 I had reached my limit. I was D-O-N-E with kids. My temper was flaring and all the cuteness of the kids was gone at that point. Thankfully everyone was out of here by 7:00 and I retreated to my bedroom alone to destress. Overall it was crazy, loud, and hectic but all the kids had fun and that's what matters. Every year I say I'm not doing this again but I still do because it makes my kids smile.

Some of the craziness...