slumber party

 

occasionally dan travels for work.  his can be traveling many weeks at a time or few and far between.  right now we are in a few and far between lull.  

when he does travel, there are two little rascals that like to sleep with me.  in trying to keep it fair, we trade off nights.  i fear having both in bed will lead to very little sleep for me.    

the other night both ben and emilia managed their way into my bed.  it was ben's night but emilia played the 'sad card.'  i felt so bad for her (she's good!).  she cried that she was scared, lonely and couldn't sleep in her room without ben (did i ever mention they share a room?).  i could turn her sad little face down.  

my plan was to move one of them when i came up later but i didn't.  i couldn't.  when i walked in just before midnight their little heads were turned into each other (not pictured) in the most heart fluttering way.  i scooted emilia to the middle and prayed we'd all get a good night sleep.  and we did.

i love that they love sleeping in our bed.  and while we miss dan while he is away for work, i know both of them are looking forward to the next time he is out of town so they can sleep in our bed.  it's the little things that make them happy.  

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ice cream night

 

i love ice cream.  i love it to the point i could easily eat it every day.  even in the winter.  i don't.  

growing up it was a special treat to go out for ice cream.  the house i lived in until i was 10 had a baskin robbins in town around the corner.  i loved when we went.  i remember when bubblegum ice cream came out.  it was a big deal...ice cream AND gum together?  AWESOME.

as i got older and we moved, my mom and i stopped going to baskin robbins and went to dairy queen.  my mom loved a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate and i loved the peanut butter cup blizzard.    

now as an adult and more importantly a parent, going out for ice cream has become a special treat for my kids.  it's not one of those treats that happens once a week.  it's a treat that happens out of the clear blue because it's been a kick-ass week, because we need to get out of the house, because ice cream just hits the spot, because, because, because.  

last night was one of those just because nights.  after dinner, while ben was looking through the cabinets, scouring for dessert (our candy stash is running low!), i told him we were headed out for dessert.  the looks on my tired kids' faces lit up.  i love seeing their lit up faces.  it's pure joy.

ben is like me, we have our favorite flavor(s).  we think we're going to branch out but we don't.  even after a taster, he went with an all around favorite - mint chocolate chip.  emilia on the other hand, she's our unpredictable.  truthfully, it was hit or miss if she'd even eat what she ordered (she's very selective* in what she eats).  after a taster, girlfriend went with cotton candy.  part of the reason she went with cotton candy was because it was pink & purple.  ice cream after her own pink & purple loving heart.

i'm glad we had the night.  i love when the little things like a little scoop of ice cream can make an ordinary night a little extra special.  i love that kids scoped out which flavor they're going to get next time (ben says very berry straweberry and emilia says mint chocolate chip).  i hope that our next ice cream night out can be with dan!  he was away on a business trip.

*by selective i mean picky, let's be honest..

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emilia's last day of school

today was emilia's last day of pre-school.  her school year, compared to ben's, is much shorter.  she started after labor day and ends before memorial day.

sister is officially on summer vacation.

being the good, photography obsessed mother that i am we had to take the obligatory last day of school picture.  there is no question my children inherited the ability to roll their eyes with so much emotion...there were lots of eye rolls this morning.

 

and then, of course, there is the obligatory sibling last day picture.  you better believe there were even more eye rolls and gasping then the picture of emilia by herself.

 

aren't these two adorable?!?!

from the sounds of it, emilia had a great last day.  her class spent the entire morning out on the playground.  after i picked her up, we had lunch at the park with a friend and then spent the rest of the afternoon outside playing and in the pool.  not a bad start to her summer vacation.  i joke that i am conditioning her for our days that will be spent at the pool.  like last summer, i foresee a lot of pool naps her future.

emilia will start class up again after labor day.  and while it seems worlds away, i know it's just around the corner.

for now we are going to celebrate a fantastic school year and look forward to a fabulous summer vacation!  

congrats emilia bear!  we're so proud of you!

if you want to see a small blast from the [recent] past here is emilia on her first day of school.  le sigh...

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a day with the girls

tomorrow is the last day of pre-school for emilia.  as of 11:15 am she will be on her first official summer break.

just because her summer break doesn't technically start until tomorrow didn't stop her from having some summer fun today.

emilia had a friend over for the day.  a good friend that is going out of town to visit family for a month! in 4 year old language that is 1,000 years!  because these girls are going to be separated for a few weeks, we made sure their last playdate was amazing!

the weather has been warm enough the last few days that water guns/water fights and freezie pops are our new normal.  no one is complaining.

after lunch, the girls [bathing] suited up, filled buckets of water, sprayed water everywhere and took a break with some fla-vor-ice (a childhood staple).

it was a fun day.  emilia was exhausted by the time we had to pick up ben from school although it didn't stop her from joining in the water fight ben had with his friends after school.  the energy of a 4 year old never ceases to amaze me.

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mother's day 2013

without a doubt, mother's day 2013 was the best one yet.

i would say that mother's day started on thursday making it an extended weekend for me.

thursday evening, ben's school held it's annual open house.  as a family we were able to spend a few hours at school seeing all that he has been doing (aside from the papers that come home), speak with his teachers, see his friends, walk the school and stop at the book fair.  with only 3 weeks left of school, the open house was later than normal but torrential, flooding rains caused the event to be postponed.

dan and i enjoyed the evening with ben at his school.  he is such a wonderful student and excels.  i love how proud he is when he shows us around.  if time permitted and ben had his way, we would have covered every nook & cranny of the school.  a fabulous night.

friday was emilia's dance recital.  emilia's excitement and energy all day were high.  she was ready.  we spent the afternoon getting ready.  emilia's class was scheduled during the early performance.  it was a great time.  a lot of the younger classes but we were able to see a lot of friends (both of emilia & ben).  i cried during her performance, a happy cry.  i was so proud of her and it was obvious how happy she was up on the stage.

following emilia's performance we had our family over.  it was a very nice, relaxing evening celebrating my girl.

saturday was relaxing but busy.  we spent the day down at my mom's.  we ran errands and hung out.  it's not uncommon for us to head down to my mom's and spend the entire day there.

sunday, the kids had enough of hiding their gifts.  at 7:30 both of them were on either side of me.  they ran to get their gifts.  handmade, the best kind.  ben wrote & illustrated a story along with a set of accordion hands while emilia colored a poem and made a flower with her picture on it.  the best kind of gifts - my heart was bursting.  dan and ben made coffee & breakfast.  we spent part of our afternoon bumming around and then headed to dan's parents for a family barbecue.

i wouldn't be a mom without ben or emilia.  i thanked them countless times yesterday.  i'm so very lucky to have them.  they are two people that i cannot imagine in my life.  i'm so happy to call them mine.

the [extended] weekend of mother's day couldn't have been more perfect.  my time was spent with the people i love most and my heart was bursting.

perfection!

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recital practice

on friday evening, emilia has her first ever dance recital.  she has been counting down to her recital for weeks.

last night was the dress rehearsal.

all of her hard work these last 8-9 months has paid off.  she has the routine down and is so proud and excited.  

i am so proud & excited.

the hour we were at the auditorium, emilia was beaming.  she was in her element.  emilia sat and watched other classes practice before and after her slotted time.

 

on friday, i will be sitting in my seat with a huge smile on my face watching my girl.  she will be up on stage, in her element, dancing her little heart out.  i can't wait.  she can't wait.  

more pictures to come later!

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recent iphotos

 

a hodge podge of some of my favorite iphotos from the last week or so

i always have a hard time narrowing down which photos to share here.  i take so many photos during the week it is hard to narrow down.  a few end up on instagram while others have the intention of getting there but never do.

i never delete any photos from the phone library until the warning pops up letting me know i have no more room.  

i am so thankful for this space.  these pictures are why i write.  i look forward to ben & emilia seeing this space later in life.  i look forward to them seeing our everyday.  i have no doubt there will be moments & pictures they won't like.  i'm sorry!  

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starting at the top going right:

i asked ben & emilia to smile one morning to send a picture to my mom who was vacationing in florida // emilia and i wore sunglass in the house all afternoon to be fancy like fancy nancy // ben started his own disney planning grid.  love it! // ben laid upside down on morning while reading to keep the morning sun out of his face.  // after a pricy week a glass (or two of wine) was much needed // my little coffee stealer while waiting in the school drop off line // bike ridin' // ben loves writing, he spent one evening working on a story // emilia has had enough with my picture taking

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in the time it took me to write this, the memory full warning popped up on my phone.  i guess now i really have to delete some off my phone...wish me luck!  they're all my favorites!  haha!

happy monday!

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