We've moved...

Come check us out at our new blog! It seems fitting to switch now that we aren't living in Sicily anymore and I am officially "in business" now that we are back in the US!

http://lindsaypowellphotography.typepad.com/

Random musings..

Here are a bunch of random thoughts and pictures to recap the last week or so... .

*Valerie absolutely loves Pepper and I used to feel sorry for the cat until I realized the feeling is mutual. We got her in April and slowly she has become Valerie's cat. She follows her around the house and was -ridiculously- clingy to me when Valerie was at Grandma and Grandpa's last week. She especially likes to lay with Valerie when she watches her morning 'toons. I don't see why Pepper puts up with it since she inevitably ends up with a ribbon for a leash almost daily, but the bond is there.

Eleanor has been full of sass and a half lately. Yesterday I told her to please put my post-it notes back on my desk and she threw them down her shirt and said, "You'll NEVER find them now!! hahaha." and ran away giggling. man. Valerie never has said anything like that to me. It's a whole new world with this little pill!
She does look awfully cute when she's sleeping though :) Even if it's on the stairs.

Look who's 6 weeks already!

Happy Birthday to you..

Happy Birthday to you.. Happy Birthday dear Derrick.. Happy Birthday to you..

Derrick's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated by eating lunch at Portillos (for those not familiar.. they have Chicago-style hot dogs and italian beef and the BEST cheese fries.. it's D's fav these days although we rarely eat it for obvious reasons!!) Valerie wanted to get him a game, so we got him Mario Kart with the wheels for the Wii and played that in the afternoon. After dinner we had a Coldstone Ice cream cake.. it was phenomenal!! What a great day!!

We love you for being such a hard working, active Daddy and Hubby-- may you have many more...

Build-A-Bear

For Valerie's birthday this year, we chose to do it out of the house for the obvious reasons of cleaning, food prep,etc. with a newborn. We also have touch up painting to do among other things and aren't quite ready to entertain. Valerie chose Build-A-Bear for her birthday, and I couldn't have been happier with the results. At first I thought, "That's crazy expensive".. but then realized I was only paying $10-15 (we set the limit at $15.. so you decide how expensive of a bear they can choose from and the party lady gives them the choices) for each kid plus a .75 cent cup of ice cream and homemade cupcakes at the food court. Easy day!! I think I'd have spent twice that, atleast.. on a meal, decor, games, goodie bags,etc. at home. This way every kid got a super awesome gift for coming too and with little kids (like Ellie.. lol), it's sometimes hard to have all the glory go to the birthday kid!! Three of the guys Derrick works with have 2-3 year old little girls and our new neighbors came as well.

At any rate here are a few pictures of the party. We had a great time! A special thanks to my Mom who stayed and helped with the kids, especially Maddie. My parents so wonderfully kept Val and Ellie for us for a couple days beforehand to let me catch up on housework and rest and drove them back up here Wed morning!

Valerie was originally going to have a butterfly party here at the house. Since we had to bail on that, I atleast kept her invites and 'cake' in a butterfly theme. These cupcakes looked *gorgeous* in person but unfortunately the one picture that was snapped for me before they got handed out.. was over exposed and blah. Atleast you get the idea. The butterflies were piped onto wax paper with chocolate and colored candy melts and let dry.. it's easier than it looks. I can't take credit for this idea - I followed the instructions on Annie's Eats food blog! She's fantastic! http://annies-eats.com/2009/05/26/butterfly-cupcakes/

Valerie Grace turns four..!!

Wednesday was Valerie's fourth birthday! I just ran out of time and didn't get to post this, but figured better late than never, right? It is so hard for me to fathom that I have been a parent for four years. I honestly remember the details of that pregnancy and birth so clearly, I suppose because it was my first. It seems at times like so long ago and at other times I can picture Valerie crawling up to me making that squealing noise she used to make around 8 months old. ;) Valerie had a great little birthday at Build-A-Bear with some new friends and Grandma Deb could so graciously stay to help! I will post pics of that later, need to edit. As a tribute to our birthday girl- "Here's your Life!" :) We love you!

Morton Aboretum

I am trying to catch up on posts, so expect a couple coming soon!

Last Saturday we had planned to do something fun with my parents, trying to meet in the middle somewhere. Chicago is halfway, so often times it's hard to find things that don't involve parking downtown (and spending a whole ton of $). My mom suggested the arboretum this time and it was fantastic!! While a little pricey, I thikn it's worth it once or twice a year (more if you live closer.. you can buy an annual pass) because the children's gardens and play areas are absolutely fantastic. They are spread out and we spent the entire day in this one area, which was about a tenth the size of the entire arboretum. There are hiking trails, and just acres and acres of beautiful land.