Joseph is now officially a Marinello

He had spaghetti for dinner!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Kayla's "Totally Cool" 8th Birthday Party

Kayla's 8th birthday party was "so cool" - according to
Adelina. Aunt Michelle setup stations so the girls could
get their nails done, makeup, and super cool diva hair. So fun! But
that was just the beginning. Then they did a fashion show,
karaoke, and even a dance party. Whoa! Check out the
girls' dance videos under "Our Videos" on the right - so
fun!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Dance Visitation Day

Today was visitation day at the girls' dance school.
Adelina is in the 4/5 ballet and tap class. It has 21 girls
in it! She is really enjoying the class and especially
loves making noise with her tap shoes! Isabelle is in the
3/4 ballet class. It is a great class that is nice and
small so each of the girls lots of attention during class.
Isabelle is doing really well and had a great time showing
off her sautée (to jump) and chassé (to chase) dance steps.

For the rest of the year the girls will work on their
routines for the end of year show. Adelina will do two
routines - ballet and tap. She is so excited because that
means two costumes!!!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Infamous bath photos - we all have them

I am trying to get a photo of a brother taking a bath with
his sisters that will haunt him well into his 30's :) We
all have those photos, Joseph deserves one too. But I can't
quite capture a good bath photo. I'll have to keep trying!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Snow, snow, go away

This year it feels as if winter has brought a continuous
flow of school delays and early dismissals. A little snow
here, a touch more there. Haven't had the big doozie of a
snow storm yet, but just enough to throw lots of wrenches
into the daily routine. February 4th now - how many more
days until Spring?

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Joseph

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Pictures vs. Sleep - pictures always win

Who was I kidding - wait until tomorrow to post Joseph's
pictures? I could never go to sleep without seeing them.
So they are all posted under "2009 winter".

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

First Birthday Party - check!

Another first birthday party complete - check! Off the
list! Thanks to Lori for playing photographer for the day.
I'll post all of the pics tomorrow. Thanks for a great
party everyone!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Ready for some football?

Here is a sneak peak at the football cupcakes Aunt Geneen made for Joseph's 1st birthday superbowl party today! So cute!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Where has the time gone?

You know its been a bad week for me when I look at my blog
and my last entry was 6 days ago! A touch of the flu, a
spattering of soar throats, ear aches, a smidge of
dizziness, and a whole lot of sleeping and its already
Saturday night!!! Joseph's 1st birthday party is tomorrow -
yes, tomorrow! First, how did it get to be Saturday already
and I am no where near ready but more importantly, how is
that little boy almost 1 year old already? WOW! What a
year!

Superbowl / 1st birthday party prep in progress. Must
decorate.

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Valentine Lollipop Lillis

Today we made Valentine Lollipop Lillis for the girls'
schools for Valentine's day. I need about 50 total between
their classes so I recruited Aunt Geneen to help.

Here is the original idea:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/02/08/how-does-your-garden-grow/

Aren't they adorable? But I had to modify our version
slightly to get the girls involved in making them and also
to cut down on the cutting. Man - the cutting was a killer!
Here are my modified instructions:

1. Print out flower shapes onto colored cardstock.
2. Cut flowers out following the dotted line. (This is by
far the hardest part! Definitely need a good scissors and
an adult to cut. A 4 year old couldn't handle this.)
3. Then, poke hole in center of flower and feed the lollipop
through the hole. Unfortunately - you can't use a hole
punch - it won't reach the middle of this template. Also,
the best way to get the wrapper through is to twist against
the wrap.
4. For the leaves, we did not use the template. Instead we
printed on Avery 5160 labels. This saved Adelina from
having to write their names 50 times plus it was a great way
to secure the flower in place.
5. Gave each girl a sheet of labels with their name on it
and a green highlighter to "decorate" the leaves.
6. Last, we attach the leaves to the lollypop stick by
folding the label around the stick, covering the bottom of
the lollipop wrapper - no glue needed and it holds
everything together nicely!

These turned out really cute. I'm glad I found the
http://www.skiptomylou.org website!!!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Joseph's 1st Haircut

Keeping with tradition, Joseph got his 1st haircut tonight
with "Nicky the barber". Nick cuts Joe's hair and Grandpa
Joe's hair too!

Joseph actually sat in the chair all alone - a regular chair
not even a kiddie chair. The buzzer got his attention but
he did really great right until the end. So cute!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Microsoft to cut jobs

Sad day. This is what will consume my life for the next few
weeks.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28791669/

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Tonight... I decorate!

I've been struggling with finding things that interest me
and doing things just for me - not for work, the kids, the
family, etc. So I decided to find a cooking class (or two)
to get me out of the house and my mind off of work! I found
a local class that isn't really cooking, but cake
decorating - how fun! It's a two night class focused on
just that - decorating! I figure with 3 kids and a zillion
people in my family, I'll be baking a cake or two in my time
and doing more than the standard whip cream or icing might
be a nice treat.

On paper, this class sounds fun and really interesting. But
I am just struggling to get motivated to get out on this
Tuesday night. Not sure why. Regardless, I'm forcing
myself - I even threw on some lipgloss!!! I am off to
decorate. More later.

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Future Mrs. Fields?

Lori DeCoite got the girls these adorable baker sets. SO
CUTE! The girls immediately wanted to break out the flour
and the eggs! Adelina thinks she is the next Sara Lee.
Thank you Lori - totally right up their alley!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Nate!

Last night after baths I decided to let the girls help me
"wrap" the birthday gift for Nate. It was so so so fun! I
gave them a big piece of brown craft paper to make their own
wrapping paper. We've done that before but this time they
really enjoyed it. Adelina specifically said things like "I
think Nate likes cars" or "Maybe he'd like a choo choo
train?". They both got really into it! The hardest part
for me was using their creation to wrap the gift - not all
of their masterpiece was visible and I couldn't decide what
"art" to put on the top of the gift, etc. So here are some
pics for prosperity :)

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Thanks for the shoes, Uncle Goo

According to tradition, whoever discovers baby's first tooth
buys baby's first shoes. Uncle Goo was that lucky person :)
Today we went shoe shopping for the new walker!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Surprise Snow Day

Maybe we just live under a rock over here on Stafford Road
but we didn't know we were expecting snow so this morning
was a great surprise! By 9am the girls were all bundled up
and headed for the snow. They broke in the new sleds that
Aunt Geneen and Uncle Goo got them for Christmas. It was
perfect timing because Grandpa visits every Sunday morning
so he brought the bagels (yum!) and also got to play with
them in the snow a little. It was sweet because he doesn't
see them as much as the other grandparents.

Here are a few pictures. I'll post the rest once the Kean
servers are back up.

Also, check out the videos I posted to You Tube (click under
Our Videos!). There is a funny one of a "super bomb" and a
big snowy wipe out!

Super Bomb and Wipe Out Video

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Photos

Just an FYI - if you are trying to look at our photos, the
server is down and won't be back until Monday. Sorry!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Adelina Ice Skating

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Watch out, here she comes!

Ice Skating lesson #1 complete. Lots of bumps but no tears.
She totally loved it and can't wait to go back. The
countdown has already started. "Mom, how many days until
Friday?"

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

The next Dorothy Hamill or Michelle Kwan

Today at 9:36am Adelina walked downstairs dressed in her
"outfit" for ice skating, ear muffs and all. For Christmas
she surprised us with a comment to Santa that she wanted ice
skating lessons. Interesting - I thought. I signed her up
for lessons at the local rink about two weeks ago. Our
family hasn't been the same since. The end of an agonizing
2 week wait is upon us. Every day was judged by how many
days closer it was to today (ice skating day) and every
activity was a medium to talk more about ice skating.
Today, every hour since 10am she asks what time it is, how
many more minutes, and who is coming to watch her. In her
mind, she will be the next Dorothy Hamill or Michelle Kwan.
How do you explain to a 4 year old that it will take lots of
practice, many falls, and not always fun - while not
stifling her excitement? I tried her bicycle analogy;
explaining that the first time she tried it she was very
excited but she fell off, wasn't strong enough, etc but that
then with practice and time she enjoys her bicycle and is
much better than the first time she tried it. Without
hesitation "How many more minutes now?".

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Personal Reflection

This week I am at a management retreat near Philly focused on manager excellence. This next 30 mins is about personal reflection - assessing our current lives and activities. 30 mins of no talking and just thinking. hmmm.... I am reflcting and thinking I am not very good at this part.

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Joseph is Walking!

Great news - Joseph is walking! Boo that mommy wasn't even home to see it. Boo! I'm away on a business trip but keep practicing Joseph, I'll be home soon!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

I miss my kids

Tough being away from the kids and family. Thanks for the pics Dave!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Yesica!

This weekend we celebrated a birthday with our babysitter
Yesica. The girls had a great time. Joseph also turns 11
months old this week - can you believe how quickly this year
has gone???

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Someone needs a haircut!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Yumm-o Melting Pot

Tonight we did dinner with NO KIDS at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. So fun! For next time we decided we want to change things up a bit. We'll do the fiesta and spinach cheese. The lager cheese was OK but nothing special, we wouldn't recommend it. For dinner we really liked the burgandy but the Mojo was just so-so. Next time we'll do the broth for sure. Last up is dessert! Chocolate S'mores and lots of dippers. Defintely coming back again!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Bye Bye Libby Lu

Yesterday Adelina and Isabelle's little friend Miss G went
to Libby Lu for her birthday. I had never heard about it
before but it is a store / experience in the mall for little
girls. They do makeovers! You pick a hairstyle, makeup,
nail polish, etc. Everything includes glitter! Adelina had
not stopped talking about it all day today so I called and
got the details. Libby Lu is going out of business on 1/31
(all of them, not just ours) and stopping the makeovers on
1/11. Normally I wouldn't bring a 3 and 4 year old to
something like this, but since they are closing and
everything is ridiculously discounted (including the
makeovers!) I figured it would be a fun thing to do with
them. They looked so adorable! Adelina picked pink and
purple eye shadow with pink nails. Isabelle picked blue eye
shadow with pink nails. Both picked a pink princess crown.
Then (I had no idea about this part!) they got to pick 6
items for their "goody bags". Plus cute hot pink sashes.
So cute! We now have a plethora of glitterized hair
accessories and jewelry to add to the dress up box. It was
so fun - too bad they are closing!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We rang in 2009 kiddie style at the
Rainforest Café with friends. So, so, so cute! They did a
New Year's countdown at 7pm with a balloon drop and an apple
cider toast. Kids had a blast! Then back to our house for
the "after party" - ha ha! Here's to a happy and healthy
2009!

To view all of our photos, look on the right side under "Our Photos" and click on the most recent date.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!