April Happenings

Mia's last soccer game of the season was earlier this month, and while Mom and Dad watched the nail-biting season finale, Emma and Zach took a little stroll. I love this series of pics... I just wish I knew what they were talking about! Emma adores her big brother and whenever he's not around, lifts up her little hands and asks "Where's Zachy?" with a quizzical look on her little face. You can see here, he has a soft spot for Emma, too.

After the game, Mia was awarded with her very first trophy! She was so proud, as were Mom and Dad. A wonderful ending to a fantastic season!

Easter weekend was jam-packed with fun-filled and very special events... We spent most of Friday and Saturday with some of my dearest friends celebrating the life of their father who passed away earlier this year. In his passing, just as in his life, he preferred food and wine, joy and laughter... and his girls did it right. Spending time with these friends of 20+ years was the perfect way to remind me of the many blessings in my life. I am so grateful to be a part of their lives.

To Hanky Poo & Dottie Too!

Sweet Emma had so much fun she couldn't take any more... literally! This is her tucked away in a chair at Julie's house with all kinds of commotion going on around her. Aren't they just so sweet when they're sleeping?

The girls decorated Easter eggs while Mom cooked a HUGE pot of Memee's Dirty Rice (yum!). This was Emma's first Easter... As always, she followed Mia's lead and the two of them dyed the most beautiful eggs. Hmmm... reminds me, I need to make tuna fish today...

There's so many firsts around here these days... My two experienced beater lickers, Zach and Mia, were too happy to show Emma how it's done!

He is Risen! What a glorious day! I love Easter morning, seeing everyone all dressed up celebrating our Risen Lord. My favorite is the little girls in their beautiful dresses and bows, lacy socks and gloves and the little boys in their handsome little suits and yes, sweater vests! Here's my sweet girls with their angel hands....

And a few more pics while everyone is clean and dressed all at the same time...

But don't be fooled by their angel faces... sitting through Mass was another matter altogether! :)

We celebrated at our house after with food, family and an Easter egg hunt. What a wonderful bunch!

Ahhhh... the end to a long and wonderful day!

WAAAYYYY Over Due!

Okay, so one more kid DOES make a difference! Before Emma I thought, "Hey... life is already crazy, how much crazier can it get?" Silly me... :)

So while I haven't posted in forever and this is way over due, know that we have been having the craziest, most chaotic, wonderful, fun time of our lives! There's less time to sit and relax, more car rides back and forth to soccer games, track meets, school and doctors, more meals on the run, toys everywhere, dirty clothes piled up, beds made less often, fifteen conversations going at once and fewer pictures as evidence of it all... but it is all good!

Here's some highlights I did manage to catch on film over the past two months. Working backward...

Mia and Emma play Hair Salon -- does Mom look beautiful or what?!

Bathing Beauties!

Mom's Executive Assistant...

Yes, they are dressed alike! And I'll do it as long as I can get away with it... which frankly isn't going to be long because Mia just keeps growing taller and taller every day! I figure I have until the end of the summer and then Mia is going to be out of the kiddie sizes and on to big girl clothes. So until then, they'll be "twinkies" every chance I get.

They might be dressed alike, but they are each their own girl!

Playing dress up is a favorite around here... not only with Mia and Emma, but with Chloe, Sara and cousin Anna too... Here's Fairy Princess Emma!

Stickers!

The apples don't fall far from the tree! Mia, Emma and Mom spent all day Bacchus Sunday on St. Charles Avenue between Fourth and Washington! We setup around 9:30am and didn't get home until 10:30pm. Four parades and several bags of beads and stuffed animals later, we were all wiped... but we had a fantastic time. I will admit, Mom was pretty sore the next day after holding two girls all day and carrying them up to the floats -- but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

How could you NOT throw something to these two?!

February and March were filled with soccer games. Mia's team is the Purple Tigers and she sports the #10 jersey. Her favorite part of the game is socializing and waving to Mom and Dad on the sideline. And snack, of course! Emma loves being outside and watching the big kids play -- she's quite fond of snacks too!

Mia makes a silly face while practicing with Dad in the front yard!

Is she cute in her practice jersy or what?

And just so you don't think we've forgotten about Zach, here he is...

Yes, he is a teenager and pretty much feels this way about us most of the time!

Believe it or not, Zach is one of Emma's favorite people -- we've nicknamed him "Zachy Mama" because when Mom's not around, Emma wants him over anyone else. He really is a great big brother and underneath all that tough guy stuff, loves his little sisters!

He's going to love me for posting these pics!