April, Peter, Kayla and Sofia

Its been a while!!!!

2009-10-31T21:18:00.002-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted. Trying to get back into it again. So many holidays coming up soon. Here are some pics from trick-or-treating tonight.

Ahhhh the Circus!

2009-05-17T17:31:00.007-04:00

On mothers Day I went with the girls, Grandma & Tom to the Circus. Kayla was very excited to the circus.I had talked to her about it for weeks before that day. I thought that Sofia was going to be scared to death and thought about maybe leaving her home. When we got to the circus it was the other way around. Sofia loved the dancing dogs and horses and even roared at the tigers! Kayla, however, only managed to see the elephants. She and Tom spent the entire time walking around outside of the arena. Whenever he tried to bring her in she would scream uncontrollably and carry on until she was taken back out again. Sofia didn't care for the elephants. Whenever the elephants came out she would sit there facing the show but with her eyes closed! Here are the best pictures I could manage to get.

Some pictures for Auntie Heather and Uncle Geoff

2009-05-10T21:40:00.002-04:00

After reading Heather and Geoff's posts this week I have decided to post some pictures for their enjoyment.
Sofia showing some Red Sox spirit
Kayla's 1st trip to Fenway
Kayla

Elizabeth Park

2009-04-26T14:01:00.003-04:00

Today Kayla,Sofia and I went to Elizabeth park to look at the tulips and ducks. I brought my camera along in hopes of getting some cute pictures of the girls with the flowers. They didn't want anything to do with sitting near the flowers and posing. I did get a couple cute pictures. After the park we headed home to have lunch. After some macaroni and cheese I gave the girls each a piece of a chocolate bunny. Sofia REALLY enjoyed herself with that chocolate!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Kayla

2009-04-19T15:36:00.010-04:00

Today is Kayla's 5th birthday. Here are some photos of her through the years...enjoy!
Kayla was born 4/19/04 @ 4:08 and weighing 6 pounds
1st trip to Big-E

Kissing the lion
1st Christmas
playing with Lola
2nd trip to Big-E
1st haircut
1st day of pre-school
1st day of 2nd year of pre-school

Kayla's 5th birthday party

Easter

2009-04-19T15:30:00.003-04:00

Some photos of Easter at Grandpa's house.
Sofia found a treat that grandpa hid
Kayla found one too!
They are all looking in the same direction...kinda!

Jamaica

2009-04-08T13:05:00.005-04:00

Our trip to Jamaica was good (except for the horrifying plane rides). The weather was great. It was in the 80's all day but it was never too hot because of a constant breeze always coming off the ocean. Peter and I didn't get burnt. I only laid in the sun for 3-4 minutes on each side before I got so hot that I couldn't bear it anymore. It was great to go to an all-inclusive resort. We were truly spoiled with all we could eat buffets and restaurants. And then there are the bars that serve pretty much everything no charge... they mix their drinks so strong it is hard to sip them! As I mentioned previously, the plane rides on the way home were interesting. I have never experienced turbulence quite like there was on these two planes! It was a white knuckled ride all the way home. OUr plane from Jamaica was delayed so by the time we got to Georgia, collected our luggage,took the luggage through customs and ran through the airport we almost missed our next plane to JFK.We were supposed to have a 3 hour layover but most of the time was spent waiting to collect our luggage (which by the way never made onto our next plane and had to be flown to Bradley and driven to our house) The landing at JFK was incredibly scary. It felt as if we were going to roll over because the plane lurched to badly to one side! But, we are here again and back to work and daily life. Here are some pictures to share.

Us in front of our room

Someone had gotten married that day and in the gazebo they left up a palm in the shape of a heart.
Inside of our room

The New Car

2009-04-08T13:01:00.002-04:00

Well, I don't have much time to write.. Just trying to catch up. Here is a picture of the new car. Goodbye crappy van!

Good bye crummy van,hello heated seats and dvd player!

The Double Birthday Party

2009-02-18T12:26:00.007-05:00

My dad and Pat had a double birthday party for Heather and I since everyone was so busy we couldn't get together any sooner. That morning as I was getting everyone ready to go and I went into Kayla's room to get her moving when besides the major mess on the floor I noticed something else.....

.....So Kayla decided to make her room "beautiful" with some markers that she received for Christmas. Her exact words in response to my very angry "why did you do this?" was "I just wanted to make my room beautiful". There are balloons, suns, people. As angry as I was it really is kind of cute.

Later when we finally made it grandpas house Heather and I got to decorate our own cake! I am quitting my job and becoming a cake decorator! I will say that the cake did taste a lot better than it looked.
I wrote the happy b-day part and Heather decorated the rest.... The pictures speak for themselves! I won't say what I think the A looks like, you can use your imagination.
Heather putting on her touches.
This is supposed to be a flower and a squiggle.
The finished product.... Happy birthday a&h... notice that initials were used and they were lower case. I crack up just looking at these!
Geoff really likes purple frosting. This was not posed, I just turned around and there he was just like this!

I Didn't Forget You BLogger!

2009-02-01T22:21:00.003-05:00

A lot has happened since last I blogged. After Christmas we babysat Kenny for two weeks while Heather worked for the cleaners. Since Christmas life has gotten back to its normal fast-paced self. Lets see, there is school, cook, clean, work, sleep (not a large amount of time for this)...a couple days off and start over again. I have been using facebook a lot more than Google these days because most of my old and new friends are using that website. Here is what we have been up to recently in pictures.

Heather, Geoff and Kenny after the baptism. Kenny did very well during his baptism. He didn't seem to mind the pastor holding him or thewater on his forehead.
A picture I snapped of Kenny while he was at my house.
Kenny and I after the baptism.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-01-05T15:41:00.004-05:00

Well its been a while since I have done anything on here. I am finally going to post something new. Christmas was good. We went over to Grandpas house on Christmas Eve and then over to Peter's Uncle's house on our way home. At Grandpas house we had a mini photo shoot to try to get e decent picture of the three kids together. It was pretty funny and hard to try to get all three of them to look in one direction at the same time.Sofia wanted to wipe Kenny's face off with his bib and when Kenny and Sofia would look at the camera Kayla would look in another direction. On Christmas day we had mostly Peter side of the family over for lunch/dinner and to exchange gifts.

New years was pretty boring this year and seems to not have happened. I worked at Otis from 3:30 til 11:30 and rushed home in time to see the ball drop. Peter spent the night sleeping on the couch and watching the girls. He didn't even wake up when I got home. Hopefully next year they will let me have the night off because they made me work this year.
Kayla got a new bike from Grandma
Kayla is being knocked out by Kenny and Sofia is somewhere in space. This picture makes me laugh every time I see it

Bob's Furniture Fiasco

2008-12-07T11:40:00.003-05:00

The living room is finally finished. I must say I am so sick of dealing with Bob's furniture. I am normally pretty patient and understanding with people but this business just did not have their stuff together. The quality of everything is not bad but the way that it was sold to us and delivered rubbed me the wrong way. We should have went to another store and paid some more money without the hassle. We originally went into the store to look for a couch that has a sleeper in it for guests. The sales person quoted us the price, we paid, set up the delivery date and went home to start finishing the floors and painting. Come delivery day over a month later we received the incorrect couch, the lamps and tables were on back order. A week or two later the tables and correct couch arrive. surprise, we charged you incorrectly for the couches, the one with the sleeper is more money! Great, now correct couch and tables are delivered.. where are the lamps? The delivery people don't know anything about the lamps and the person on the phone says they are still on back order. Now being nearly the second week in December, the lamps have arrived and the room is done. What a test of patients and loss of time waiting around for deliveries to arrive. Next time I will go to Raymour and Flanigan to have it done right. Here is the finished product... finally!

Christmas Party @ Northeast Utilities

2008-12-07T11:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday the girls and I went to the annual Northeast Utilities party with grandma. Kayla got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas. I'll give you one guess as to what it was... of course it is a baby that uses the potty and bushes her teeth. We tried to sit Sofia with Santa but she would not have anything to do with him. She screamed the first time he walked into the room and again every time we went near him. This morning we woke up to a dusting of snow outside. This time Sofia reacted to the snow with a big woooah oooohh! I even reached out the door to grab her a little pile to touch, she took it from my hand and it went straight to the mouth. Yummy snow, luckily it came from the railing and not the ground.
Kayla giving Santa her list

Sofia enjoying some Burger King after the holiday party
Kayla with her crown

Sunday football

2008-11-23T15:25:00.004-05:00

Everyone came over for Sunday football today and I finally got to spend some time with Alissa. Usually when she come over I am walking out the door for work. I had some fun with her and the camera while her mom watched football...
This one is my favorite
Tia and Alissa
Alissa likes to smile for Kayla

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2008-11-23T15:01:00.005-05:00

I have not had much time ti blog lately,things have been so busy for me. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week already.. that means Christmas is not far behind. I am a little bit late with Halloween, but here is what iI have been up to in pictures.
The almost finished living room that I have been slaving in.. Notice the re-finished floor, new couch,table and still missing lamps. Phew, almost finished!
Kayla and Sofia all dressed up for Halloween.
Kayla looking graceful.
Sofia is practicing to be a mannequin while trick or treating at the mall.
Kenny and auntie joined us for some trick-or-treating chaos at the mall. Boy I have never seen so many strollers and costumes!

We're still here

2008-10-16T12:46:00.003-04:00

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had the time to blog. Peter has been playing softball on Mondays and I have just been working and running from here to there as usual. Peter has been sick the past couple days, Sofia has had a runny nose and managed to get a cold sore on her lip... that cold sore has ruined yet another appointment to have her picture taken ad JC Penny..Oh well, I will try again soon to get it done. I have the cutest little dress for her to wear. Other than that I did get outside and take some pictures of the girls on my own. Of course I can not get any of them together. See everyone on Sunday.

Alissa is Born

2008-09-25T09:13:00.005-04:00

Liz and Jesus had their baby early Monday morning. Her name is Alissa Madison. She is so tiny and cute! Her father has already nicknamed her Alissa-saur because when she first starts to cry she makes sounds that sound a bit like a dinosaur. It is just too cute to hear. Here are some pictures from our visit yesterday. I think that she looks like Liz from her nose down and like her father from the eyes up...lol

Big E "08"

2008-09-19T12:16:00.005-04:00

Heather and I went to the Big E again this year. It seems like every year we are adding on another child to bring with us. Last year was Sofia's 1st time going and now this year Kenny went for his 1st time. Sofia still didn't care much for the Big E. She had fun sitting in the stroller and playing with Kenny's toys. Kayla wanted to go on every ride especially the ferris wheel. Auntie went on the ferris wheel with her because it is not one of my most favorite rides. his year was different because they had a little circus complete with trapeze acts, dancing horses, performing dogs and even two girls that somehow squeezed themselves into a tiny little box together. That was not one of my favorite things to watch. I don't know who decides one day that they are going to bend themselves in half backwards and squish into a little box with another person.
Kayla and the goat struck a pose for me.
Poor little chicken trying to hatch.
Kayla and the huge clydesdales
Kenny waiting for mommy to get off the ferris wheel

Babysitting Kenny

2008-09-09T20:26:00.005-04:00

Today Kayla, Sofia and I went to Auntie's house to visit Kenny while Heather went to a job interview. He was on his best behavior today. He went down for a nap just before Auntie left around 2:30 and woke up around 3:35. After 3 ounces of milk and a new diaper he enjoyed some play time with Kayla while Sofia took a nap in his room. I must say he really seems to like Kayla. Whenever she talks he just cracks up. Maybe its her high voice. Just before Auntie returned home he was fussy so I put him back in his room to swing. Two minutes later Auntie was home and he was back asleep.
Kayla enjoyed playing on the mat with Kenny for about a half an hour.
No matter where Kayla went with that pillow Bogey would sit on top of her.
Bogey was looking left out so here is a picture of her.

Daddy's 34th B-Day

2008-09-09T19:59:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Peter turned 34. He went to a German restaurant called East Side Restaurant while I was at work. He went with his friend Mario and some of Mario's family members. Mario shares the same birthday with him (only slightly younger). Peter says that anytime someone in the restaurant buys one of those huge beers the whole restaurant sings ticki ticki ticki oye oye oye very loudly. Sounds like fun. They also give them the funny b-day hats they are wearing. Here are some pictures.

An example of the very large beers you can order. I don't want to know how much one costs. To the right is Mario's cousin "Speedy" and to the right is our friend Jack.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-02T21:36:00.000-04:00

This Labor Day weekend was very busy. On Sunday we went to Ludlow, Ma. to the big Portuguese festival. People come from all around the country to go to this festival. There was a carnival there with rides and other entertainment for the kids, Lots of space for you to picnic. At the end of the day there is a big mass held and everyone lights candles to celebrate Our Lady of Fatima. I don't have any pictures of this as the camera battery died but, it was very beautiful. I didn't understand what they were saying but everywhere you looked there were people with candles in the dark and they were all singing. At the end of the 3 block procession that many of the people take from the church and back they all wave goodbye to Our Lady of Fatima with their tissues and handkerchiefs. Kayla rode on some rides and had her face painted. We had such a beautiful day for the picnic.

Kayla wanted to have her face painted. I am setting out to find these now for halloween. The paint washed off so easily. I would love to try this on her.

Kayla, Sofia and Jasmine almost all sat still for a picture before the camera battery died.

On Monday the girls and I went to Grandpas house for another picnic while Peter stayed home by himself. The kids were very good and seemed to enjoy themselves. Sofia practiced her new walking skills and even found some new shoes to put on her hands. Kayla enjoyed playing with Garrett, that is until they started to fight over a doll and Kayla tried to take his head off with it. Had another beautiful day for a picnic. Sofia's favorite part of the day was the watermelon. She could not get enough of it. She would take a piece and keep it in her mouth until it was gone. Never did she take it out to chew or swallow.
I caught Kenny smiling at me! Well sort of.
The kids enjoying cake
Sofia enjoying some juicy watermelon.
Kenny and uncle Geoff. I think I see Kenny eying the cake.
Kayla and Garrett
Grammy Pat enjoying a moment with Kenny

First Day of School!

2008-08-25T12:41:00.000-04:00

Today was Kayla's first day of school. This year was very different from last year. She was so excited today. She didn't care if I stayed or left. The school informed me last year that she would be able to stay all day,but this year told me that the 4 year olds only are going to stay for 3 hours again. We'll see if they change their minds. Three hours is good enough for now.

Kayla finds a new doll

2008-08-22T13:55:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday Kayla and Sofia went upstairs to play in her room. After a wile I went up to check on them. When I peek into the room I see Sofia with 2 dresses on. She had on the orange dress that I put her in and a premie baby dress. This dress is so small that it fits on Kayla's cabbage patch dolls. I don't know how Kayla managed to get this onto her but it was funny to see.

Babysitting Kenny

2008-08-22T12:10:00.000-04:00

On Monday Heather had a job interview so I am excited to say I had a chance to babysit Kenny for the first time. When Heather and Kenny arrived Sofia was very upset with me for holding the baby so she went for a nap and I was able to spend some time with the baby. He was happy when he was eating but did not want me to put him down. She did not bring his favorite bouncy chair or his pacifier. He had a nice long nap in my arms while I watched a movie with Peter. The second I tried to put him down he cried. Here are some pictures I was able to take of him before he got angry with me. I am looking forward to being able to spend more time with Kenny again.
Kenny making a grumpy face at me.

Yet another grumpy face for auntie.
The happiest face he gave me for the camera.

Maine August "08"

2008-08-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

We just got back from a weeks long vacation in Maine with grandpa. The girls had a great week full of chasing and feeding ducks, getting muddy, "black sticky bugs", and moose hunting. The 1st day there was slightly stressful as it would rain on and off every couple of minutes. This really made our already very muddy swampland of a campsite even more swampy. I thought we were living with Shrek. After talking with the campground and eventually moving across the dirt street to a lake-front campsite everyone was far more comfortable and dry. Sofia enjoyed her 1st dip in the lake and even tried eating some dirt off of a shovel. You will see later she didn't enjoy it as much as she had though she would. Kayla was most happy when she was in the lake or chasing the ducks around the campground. That was until the black sticky bug (or leech) attached itself to her heal. PIcture taken on our boat ride around the lake and up the river
Sofia taking her first dip into the lake. She loved crawling (yes, crawling not walking) around in the water
Sofia on her 1st boat ride on the lake
Kayla on the boat ride
Kayla on the long ride up to Maine with her cool sunglasses
Sofia wearing my very cool sunglasses on the trip up
Sofia and Grandpa on the boat
Kayla and Grandpa on the boat
What does this taste like?

Yuck!

So, all in all the trip went great. Sofia did very well on the trip up and back. She normally last 20 minutes on car trips before she cries. She did the 6 hour trip very well. Kayla did well too. Although she asked that famous question...are we there yet not 10 minutes after leaving grandpa's house.