If You Give a Mom a Cookie...

If you give a mom a cookie,

She's going to want a latte to go with it.

But before she gets a latte, she has to find her toddler's pink ladybug boots.

To find the ladybug boots, she has to venture into the playroom.

When she tries to straighten up the playroom, she finds Daddy's left shoe, the salad bowl, and an open package of graham crackers. She also finds her cell phone.

So she'll yell at her toddler about the cell phone and wake up the baby from his morning nap.

But if she goes in to pick up the baby, the cell phone will ring.

When she answers, it'll be the doctor's office reminding her that she had an appointment this morning and would she like to reschedule, say, sometime in November?

While she's trying to mentally re-create her calendar, the baby will start to cry.

Then her toddler will run to see what's the matter and find the graham crackers.

When she finds the graham crackers, there'll be crumbs all over the playroom.

So the mom will get the broom from the hall closet and notice that Daddy forgot to buy diapers last night, as she asked.

But she will find her toddler's pink ladybug boots.

And when she finds the pink ladybug boots, she'll remember her emergency stash of diapers in the car.

So she'll wrestle her toddler and her baby into their car seats and drive to the store to buy more diapers and more milk.

While she's buying the milk, she'll remember that she wanted that latte.

And if she manages to order her latte without a tantrum or poop episode from either of her kids...

Then she's going to need another cookie.

~Julie Tilsner... our of an old Parenting magazine.

outside play-

We've been pretty sick the last couple of days with a bad cold/flu.. and poor Val has an ear infection. Her first one! poor thing. Who gets sick in the summer? Anyway- we spent the morning outside to get some vitamin D and cheery sunshine in our system!!

here are the rest---

This is my favorite picture ever and so accurately describes the dynamic in this house. Notice how Valerie is glaring at Ellie, who is crying because she can't reach the cake.

Getting my birthday kisses from Val-Val

Sadly I forgot to make a wish this year before blowing out my candle. See below for cake explanation.

So you might be wondering why I have a #1 candle on my cake. That's because I AM #1 ;) No really.. I forgot to buy a candle and that's all we had from Ellie's bday. Oh well. What are you gonna do. I'll just tell my kids later it's because I'm the #1 Mom and they better remember that.

Kylan and Lovie- Kylan and Ellie both decided to rub frosting all over their heads. Somehow I didn't get a picture of that. Lovie has become such a great friend to me as we have so much in common (her hubby is in Iraq!) and can really lean on each other for support.

Linds and Lovie at Cavaliere's- It's a restaurant in Motta (the tiny town up on the hill with the castle) where you eat outdoors on a patio .. nice atmosphere and inexpensive. I wish I had taken pics before it got dark but the three of us like to talk and somehow sat there until 12:30 before realizing we were waaaayy passed our mama bed times! Jannelle and Lindsay- Jannelle has been coaching me on learning new photography skills and dealing with my silly rookie questions all the time. She's so wonderfully talented and a great friend to me-

On a very side note. I was wearing a sundress although you can usually see about 2" of it in each photo. Not a fantastic choice to wear for taking pictures but I assure you it doesn't look as hideous in real life. ;)

Ciao bellas!

Happy Birthday to me...

happy birthday to me.. happy birthday dear lindsay.. happy birthday to me ;) The big 26!!

I had a fantastic birthday today.. thanks to my cutie pie girls and wonderful friends. I told Valerie yesterday that my birthday was today and that she could be in charge of the cake. Of course that is the best part to her so she said, "My make mommy cake. My like PINK! strawberry cake. ooooh with princess sprinkles. princess party?" So we bought some princess sugar decorations and she did it all by herself. I was so impressed that she placed them pretty evenly spaced around the cake .. I think a few months ago even she would have bunched them all together on one side. Just the little things you notice as they mature.. awe. ;)

Lovie brought her little boy Kylan over and they joined us in eating birthday cake so the kiddos felt part of the fun. Then our sitter came over to watch them and I went to dinner out in town with Lovie and Jannelle. I feel so blessed to have such amazing friendships here. I was sad to have Derrick gone today but am honestly only just focusing on the fact that he is going to be home in a few short weeks and we can celebrate then! Here are a few pics for now.. will shoot some more up tmrw. I'm finally winding down and ready for bed! G'nite!

She thinks she's the next food network chef.. could be... ay? We actually just ordered her a toy kitchen for her birthday because she loves to cook so much.

it's my party and i'll cry if i want to.. someone was mad that she couldn't stick her fingers in the cake before our friends arrived
lately they have been playing so well together.. a rare moment of quiet captured on camera!

Ellie's first beach day!

Yesterday we went with a group of friends to one of the beaches in Catania. Ellie went twice as a baby last summer but obviously didn't do much swimming. I think she slept on a blanket. This year was super exciting to have both kids playing in the sand and surf! (..and quite honestly a lot easier to not be worrying about a newborn in the heat and sun!) It was over 100 yesterday, according to my car and weather.com so I was glad to be there enjoying it! Ellie ate a TON of sand but you can't really keep them away from it.. so I just gave in and let her go for it. Luckily she hasn't gotten sick. Just like her sister, she loves to splash and swim in the water and get as messy as possible in the sand. It was a fantastic day! I left my camera at home so luckily my friend Lovie sent me a few pics today- thanks Lovie!!!!!

Cleaning Frenzy

Happy belated Father's day to all those Dad's out there!

I've been cleaning like mad the last day or so. For some reason us wives have this obession with making everything spotless before our husbands come home.. we all do it. why?? Today the girls helped me do some yardwork and vacuum out the van. It is always a nice treat to find melted m&m's and month-old chicken nuggets under the carseat! mmmm

Ellie is really getting into books right now. She constantly has a book in her hand and wants to bring one in the car, in the stroller,etc. Valerie was very much the same at that age. A whole new world seems to open up after you turn one! Val has been climbing on the pbk chairs and making forts while I scrubbed down the kitchen. Here are a few pics of our 'normal life.'

P.S. I will also throw down there a couple pics from yesterday--- I was chatting with D online when Ellie woke up from her nap. I was just sitting here typing while Ellie was playing behind me on the patio with sidewalk chalk (it's literally 2 feet from my chair here). I turned around to watch her full out run and jump into her wading pool with her church dress on!! Silly girl. I snapped a couple pictures for the memory -

Backyard Pool Day!