Who wouldn't love her??

Acadia - "Mama? Does everyone love me?"
Me - "Yes, baby - everyone loves you!"
Acadia - "But what about the people who don't know me?"
Me - "Well...I guess if they don't know you then..."
Acadia - "Mama! I'd better to go their houses so that they can meet me then love me!"

I suck.

I have been horrible lately about updating my blog!! Horrible. The last few months have been nuts and the blog has been the last thing on my mind. Every time I sit down to write or post pictures, there is a mental list running in my head of all the hundreds of other things I should be doing instead.

But no more! Honestly - I am going to do a much better job at updating. I've done this before, but I'll have to pre-date some of my postings (ie. stuff from early May, etc - so it will post "after" this post - further down, if that makes sense.) People who have google reader won't need to worry about this, but to my family and friends that don't have google reader, hit the "page down" button if you want to view new posts :)

We're moving!

It's true! We're actually moving!

We found a house in the exact town and neighborhood that we've been wanting to be in for about a year. Two of our friends told us how much they love, love, love their street - children riding their bikes up and down the street, block parties, New Year's Eve parties, coffee in the mornings before play dates, kids running in and out of each other's houses, walking distance to the school and 5 local parks. We SO want that. We love our neighborhood but we just don't have that neighborhood feel. We like this neighborhood - everyone is very friendly, but we don't hang out with each other which is something we've always wanted.

While I'm very excited to move to this new house - it's a dream come true, really - it's also very bittersweet. My children were born here. We brought them home from the hospital to this home. We went sledding in our back yard with them. Roasted s'mores on the bon fire. Acadia learned how to ride her bike in the front of our house. Matt and I have had many date nights on our back deck. Drinking wine while talking for hours about our lives, our children, our future. We have hosted many parties - birthday, retirement, Christmas, winter, NYE - all memories that while I know we'll take with us, still makes me sad to leave the place where they were created.

But as Matti and I have been saying lately during our late night talks...our home is not the four walls that surround us...our home is where we are. We will create a home wherever we go...we will create amazing memories for our children in the next home, just as we have here. So although I'm sad to be leaving the home we've known for the past 4 1/2 years, I'm looking forward to our next adventure. And I know that as long as I have my husband and children with me, our next adventure will be completely amazing...

Smarty Pants

My sister just graduated from Champlain College!! We are so proud of her - she's worked so hard these last few years - working full time, going to school, cooking, cleaning, doing the grocery shopping - she's amazing!! Not only did she graduate, but she graduated cum laude!! :) She's real smart. She definitely got the brains of the family!

Holding back tears when I saw her - I wanted to jump out and give her a big hug...but not wanting to embarrass her kept me from doing so. Instead I just jumped up and down, waving, Hi sissy!! Much better.



Where's Sissy??



Have you ever seen anyone so beautiful??

WAY TO GO SISSY!!!! We're sooooo proud of you!

What's that??

Matt and I found out recently that we have mint in our back yard! You'd think we'd found gold! Since then, my bartender husband has been making us Mojitos a few times a week. We've been sitting on the back deck playing games and having this yummy summer drink after the kids go to bed. YUM!

If the weather hands you lemons...

make lemonade!

The Haggerty's

We've known Jon since we were children and now our children are friends! We love, love hanging out with them and love even more seeing all four kids play so well together :) We had them over recently for a BBQ and, of course, the couch boat! :)

The Royal Wedding

I was watching clips of the royal wedding this morning and here is what Acadia had to say:

"Mama? Are they just acting?
"No, baby - that's a real prince and princess!"
"So she's going to live in that dress and wear it forever?"
"No, honey - this is her wedding day so she's wearing that beautiful dress, just like when Mommy and Daddy got married! See? Here is a picture of Mommy and Daddy getting married - see how I'm wearing a white dress and tiara? That's what you wear on your wedding day."
"Mama? I really, really wish I get to marry Daddy when I grow up!"

Breakfast

It's funny how, as a parent, you tend to take pictures of the "big moments" - trips to the fair, the first steps, apple picking. But I sometimes forget to take pictures of the day to day life. The mundane won't seem mundane 10 years from now. I'll cherish these quiet moments years later - just having a simple breakfast. One that they wanted to dress up for, no less. They are best friends right now. I hope that will always be the case...

Acadia's drawing

Look, Mommy! It's a funny monster!

Her new room

I'll have to post pictures of her room soon, but her reaction was PRICELESS!!

Beach day

Acadia had beach day at school - she was so excited!! They cranked up the heat and all the kids wore shorts and t-shirts. She even got to wear "fwip fwops" which she was really excited about!

Watching TV with their friends

Best friends

Acadia's Mardi Gras Mask

This is how she sleeps

With all her "friends" - every. night.

Dance Party USA

Mercedes

We made the difficult decision to put our dog down last month. It was one of the hardest things we've had to go through. It's weird, even now, posting these pictures and seeing her. I still can't believe she's no longer with us. She was an amazing dog and we had such fun times with her. We try to focus on the good memories we had instead of the last year of her life. We will always miss you, Mercedes!

St. Patrick's Day

A leprechaun came to our house while Acadia was in school and gave us some donuts!! The girls were so excited :)