Super Claire...

Did you know my children (including Claire) are superheroes?   Oh yes, due to an adventurous 3 year old, fondly called double L here at 'mommie blogs' -- we find ourselves pretending we all are superheroes often.   LL is either superman, batman or spiderman.   Little L is "batgirl baby" (so cute -- LL made it up).  My bub is usually Robin (makes me laugh everytime!) and Claire, well she is super Claire.   Oh me -- I am batgirl.  

Some inquired about LL's cape in my 'best friends' post and I wanted to give Stonyfield a special thank you for providing my family with three capes.   Little L received one during the luncheon at Fork which quickly became LL's and than Claire's.   So, they sent us two more (more pics to follow...).   Now, our children will all be official superheroes.   Without the cape, their power is just not the same!!!

best friends

We talk about best friends a lot.   Double L has a lot of friends from several circles (school, sunday school, kids joy, our friends' children, cousins).  He even pairs everyone in the house together as well.  One day I am his best friend, the next day daddy is, the next day Little L is mine, etc...

But everyday, it would appear to an outsider that Double L's best bud is Claire.  He loves her and she certainly loves him too.  He is the only one with more energy than her!


We adopted Claire when I was almost three months pregnant with LL.  I always grew up with dogs (my bub too) and we had been casually looking for some time.  I remember when I got the email about cocker/golden mixed puppies.   There were nine pups -- half black and half golden.   I could not hit forward quick enough.   It was Christmas time, which is such an adopt-a-puppy kind of time, right??  Anyway, at first Kris said a flat out NO and than I warmed him up to a visit.   Actually, I whined because our friends had gone and adopted one of the pups and I was soooo jealous.   Anyway, I told him we would just look.  HA! He smartly said "who just looks at puppies".   So true, we left with Claire (almost another one as well -- I was very emotional!!) and our life is better for it.   Honestly, I truly believe our lives are better because Claire is apart of our family.  Everyday she gives us unconditional love.   Everyday, she just wants to sit by me.   Everyday she wants to play, cuddle, walk -- whatever you want!   Its like Claire is a best friend to all us!

But no one except LL can play as hard as she wants...

p.s. please excuse the weeds and lack of flowers!  Ahem, its on the list!!

Easter 2011

I hope your weekend was wonderful and if Easter was celebrated, that joy filled your homes.   Joy certainly filled our home.   We had an inspiring service at our church and than headed back home to do the final preparations for Easter dinner.   We hosted some family (13 ~ not including us!).   Our home is small, but it always seems to come together and have just enough room (no matter how many).

I did not take any pictures of dinner or any prep pictures -- Oops!   My table and buffet were simple.  I love tulips!  So they were spread around.  We had nine at our table and than a kids' table, so not much more fuss could fit.   We ate family style with some veggie and rolls behind us on the buffet.   I like serving family style.   Yes, there is no room for flowers, candles or elbows, but there is alot of interaction.   You have to interact with someone you are leaning over to get at the turkey!! Our menu was vast: grilled turkey tenderloin, lasagna, green beans, pineapple stuffing, spinach, rolls, and ham (not a favorite in this home, but mom-mom told me I had to have it and my aunt was kind enough to bring it!).  Oh and dessert -- so many desserts: cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, apple pie, apple cake, coconut cake, and a ton of ice-cream.   Needless to say, there was tons of leftovers and as always my mama brought one lasagna to eat and one for us to freeze!  Gotta love Italian mamas!

Double L and Little L enjoyed every minute.   From the time they woke up to the time we said our prayers!!!  They were given tons of fun stuff and heard several books telling the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.   The day was so fun filled that as my bub and I were cleaning up late last night, we turned to each other and said "we forgot the egg hunt".   Well, it was not missed, but we certainly will try to remember next year.

Here are some pictures from yesterday morning...

 Along with some chocolate, LL got little surprises which included the Tangled dvd!  He was so excited.

 Here is Little L taking out her books...

 and checking out her "Jesus Lives" book.   Just like her mama (always reads the back of the books)!

 Home from church and hanging with her favorite person!

The boy who refuses to look at the camera...

Yep, gave up after the last one.   I pick my battles and yesterday it wasn't going to be about photos!

Hope you are enjoying your day.  Today is summer like with warm hair and bright sunshine.

Croup:The Hijacker

Ah, Spring Break!  We had a full agenda for this week.   Double L was looking forward to all kinds of adventures:playdates, the gym's kids' club, long walks, even running errands in preparation for Easter.  But we have been hijacked, by none other than CROUP!  You all know it and hate it.   Well, there is a little, and might I say adorable 3 year old that now hates it with us.  No, not because he remembers ever having it as a baby, but because his little sister has it now and it is RUINING his spring break.   Playdates have been canceled, no kids club to be had...

But this afternoon, Gigi saved the day!  She picked him up and whisked him away to my brother's baseball game.   He was so excited by her arrival, he literally ran around the dining room table a hundred times (well maybe five), giggling.   Perhaps, also due to all the energy he has bottled up all week.

So, for a few hours LL will forget all about the hijacker and I will have some much needed cuddle time with my sweet baby girl!

Hope your spring breaks going well...

update: double l had an awesome time at the game.  there was a playground there with SIX slides.  he came home and ran over and gave me a big hug.   needless to say, he was scrubbed down head to toe in the tub.  a tell tale sign of a fun afternoon!!!  many thanks to gigi who made a little man very happy today!  wait until he finds out that we need to go to the doctor's office tomorrow... yikes.

Stonyfield Lunch

Last Thursday, I attended a luncheon at Fork hosted by Stonyfield featuring Robyn O'Brien.   I am not sure how to tell you how excited I was when Jo-Lynne sent me the invite and I received confirmation I was added to the list of attendees.   We are totally a Stonyfield family and not only because our babes love their yogurt, but we do too.   I knew the discussion would be about food -- not just organics, the food industry as a whole which is important to me.   Since 2003, I have been committed to having better food choices for my family.   At that time, it was just me and my bub.   Our first change came with milk.   I switched to Soy and felt an almost immediate change in my digestive system.   Knowing I was not lactose intolerant, I quickly started drinking organic milk and still felt great.   Little by little, I made additional organic changes -- meats/poultry came next, all dairy, and finally fruits and veggies.  Then our family grew and my desire to know more about the foods we were eating became even more important.   I started reading every labels and oh what I found.   Even the "all natural" peanut butters and ketchups had the yucky stuff in them.   I started taking  a serious look at how the animal I was cooking was treated and found troubling news.  I began seeking out food stores (examples:here and here) and food brands (example: here) that would take an active approach to offer healthy foods options and without compromising the treatment of animals.    However, I knew Thursdays lunch would be more about what's in our food and how it is affecting ALL of us!  I just didn't know what more of a change I needed to make and the stats on why were overwhelming to say the least.


Here is my recap on the afternoon...


The Host ~ Stonyfield


Spend some time on their website in the "about us" section.  What you will find is a company dedicated to offering their customers the highest quality yogurts with truly organic ingredients.   A company dedicated to supporting organic farmers and making sure their stories are told.  The company's mission (straight from the cows mouth!!) - "We’re committed to healthy food, healthy people, healthy business and a healthy planet."  Stonyfield is engaging their customers in a fun way.   They are asking for you to share "your organic moment".  So take a moment, share your story and you never know you may win some great prizes or encourage another to make an important change in their daily diet!


Follow Stonyfield on Facebook and Twitter!!


The Menu

First Course

Baby greens with pea shoots, blood oranges, herb yogurt dressing

Made with Oikos Greek Yogurt

Second Course

Yogurt marinated grilled chicken, tandori style with quinoa, cucumbers, shaved fennel

Made with Stonyfield Whole Milk Yogurt

Dessert

Yogurt Panna Cotta

Made with Oikos Greek Yogurt

Lunch was absolutely delicious.   I ate every last bite!  Fork has been a favorite place for years.  Actually, my bub and I went on one of our first dates there!  That was almost eleven years ago!!!

The Speaker - Robyn O'Brien


I was honored to hear Robyn speak and her ability to connect with every women in the room was amazing.   As she told her story (and if you have not seen her video - check it out NOW!), she made tears fill up in my eyes.   I saw a passion in her that inspires me to stand firm when other's question me about my choices in food or where I choose to spend my grocery budget.  And truths were told that convinced me that I still have so far to go in making a lasting, healthy change in our family's diet!  She armed us with troublesome statistics.   And when I heard what I or others maybe feeding my children could lead to hyperactivity, I took note.   When cancer, girls reaching puberty at age 7, ADHD, etc... were discussed, I got scared.   But than I started to calm down when Robyn spoke candidly about her 80/20 rule (80% of the time her and her family are eating the best they can) and how starting out small and working through your food journey slowly is most realistic.


Here our some steps that were discussed during lunch

• If you are thinking organics and changing up your family's diet, start small - Milk, first! (its what kids ingest the most, right?)
• Move towards the 80/20 rule.  Lets be honest, our children aren't always with us and if I am being honest - sometimes I just want a package of Twizzlers!
• Talk to your spouse about how a change to organics will effect the food budget, why you think its important, and what other expenses can change to support the financial move to a more healthier diet.
• Speak in facts, but with compassion when talking to others about the reasons for your change.  For example - when you are explaining why you would prefer your children be given organic milk at grandma and grandpa's house, arm them with the stats that made you change your mind! 

More about Robyn:

Book: The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It

Twitter

Facebook

...Oh and one last thing, I was able to enjoy the lunch, the inspiring discussion, and other fabulous bloggers -- because they provided child care right there at the restaurant!  Double L was at school, but Little L had so much fun and was so well taken care of!!


Disclosure:While attending the luncheon, I was given a gift bag and copy of Robyn's book!

better than expected!

It was about 8PM last night and as we drove down 476, Kris turned to me and ask me "how was your day?".  My response, "better than I expected".   He had uttered the same words earlier in the day while we sat and enjoyed lunch in Media.  By our side, Little L, who loves the bread at Iron Hill.  We headed there right after Little L's procedures at CHOP.  We knew she would love it and needed to give her a rest by driving a long way up Baltimore Pike (anyone who lives in my area knows the traffic on BP is a nightmare!).   We did not mind at all!  Saying our trip to the hospital went better than expected is an understatement.   I was so concerned about the invasiveness of the VCUG, but Little L did not even cry A TEAR.   This was a complete 180 from her doctor's visit which determined the UTI.   She was so calm and sweet.  I just stood there, bent over the hospital bed, kissing her forehead and thanking God for answered prayer.   Little L smiled and chatted with all the medical staff.   They seemed to enjoy her and kept telling us what a beautiful smile she has and how sweet her demeanor is.   It was wonderful to hear.   And even more wonderful to hear during our time at the hospital, the VCUG showed no signs of reflux!  And later in the day, her doctor confirmed that the ultrasound showed all was well developed with her kidneys and bladder.

Praise God!

I can not rave enough about the medical staff at CHOP.   Besides having state of the art equipment, every inch of the hospital planned out for a child's ease, and the best doctors in the world -- the entire medical staff that we worked with was so kind, gentle-spirited and walk us through every step!   I still am so thankful and know how blessed we are to have this wonderful hospital less than  20 minutes from my driveway!

After lunch, we headed home for awhile and Little L took a very long nap.   Even though she was an angel, I am sure she was tuckered out from the adventures of the entire morning and early afternoon.  Gigi (my mom) had LL and he was having the time of his life.   We headed over to my brother's baseball game (um, yeah I have a bro who is a freshman in HIGH SCHOOL!!!) and cheered that sweet UNCLE on...

So while we headed home and the car was so quiet!  My bub and I reflected on what a full day we had and how it was so much better than we could have ever expected!



hope your weekend is turning out to be better than expected...

*reference posts for little l's procedures can be found here and here*

april showers...

aw, look at that...  after a soaking rain (of course little l got caught in it), the sun is trying to break through.

I am afraid it may not happen today.   Wow, it's April 12th and this is my first post of the month.   I love April!  It's my birthday month, my mother's birthday month and always feels like a month of fresh new starts.  Not sure if its because of the rain washing all of winter away or because I turn another year older (and hopefully wiser).   I just love APRIL!

As I have been ignoring my blog, I have been busy celebrating another birthday!  It was a special weekend.  And between yummy homemade breakfasts, a small gathering (wine & cheese soiree of sorts) and tons of cake & ice-cream, I managed to gain some pounds!  Joined our local Y and plan on working those LBs off as well as my left over baby ones!   This week, I will be attending a fun event at a local Philadelphia restaurant.   The event is sponsored by Stonyfield.   I will tell you all about that later!!

Oh and I am trying this simple recipe for pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches tonight.   I found the recipe on the Reluctant Entertainer.   Don't you just love her blog.   I try so many of her featured recipes and they are all so yummy and EASY!  Meanwhile, I have totally wanted her book forever.   I just need to go get it!!

Double L is enjoying his last few months of preschool and has been keeping us busy.   Pre-soccer (actually soccer doesn't start until 4 around here - odd!) starts next week!!!  And he is anxiously anticipating our Disney trip.   Poor guy doesn't quite get the whole calendar thing as its months away!!

And Little L is moving more and more.   Total blessing.  She now scoots around on her bum!  Its rather hilarious to watch!   I think she is going to skip the entire crawling phase all together and just get up and walk.   Her bestie gave her this cute, little ride-on or walk assist toy!  We tried it out last night and she love it.   Check out the pics.   Love her totally dirty, sweaty hair.   It was hot and humid yesterday.  The mixed of sweat and sunscreen tamed her normally sticks-straight-up do!

I just love this little girl.   I have a prayer request as well.   Little L goes in for her ultrasound and VCUG later this week.   If you could, please pray for God's healing hand and comfort for my sweet little girl.   The tests are invasive and she is just to young to understand.   Please pray for wisdom for her doctors and medical staff that will be performing the procedures.    She will be at the best hospital and I know how blessed we are to have CHOP a few miles from our home!   The test were order due to her UTI.  I know she will be fine whatever the result.   She is in the Lord's hands and that's the safest place of all!

hope you all are enjoying your April...