Easter Bunnies

We had a wonderful Easter! Rylan and Arianna loved their Easter baskets and could not get enough candy (although I sure had my fill). Mem, Dallie, Papa, Liam and Chase all came over to help the us celebrate the morning and we enjoyed watching the kids tear the house apart during their hunt for dozens of Easter eggs. The amount of candy the kids collected was a bit obscene. I had to keep sneaking candy out of their baskets and hide the goodies in the kitchen cabinets so it would not all get eaten at once. The sugar high the kids were experiencing was getting out of control and I had to put a lid on it by telling them the candy was all gone.

Here are some pics from the days events:

Newport News

Our family recently visited Newport Rhode Island a few weeks ago. It was sort of nostalgic being back in that small state as Ryan and I had lived there when we were first married. Verizon sent me to work the Providence campaign for a little while until I had the desire to move back to Mass and thank goodness I did because I became pregnant a month or so after moving. The trip made me think of all of the good times we use to have with all of our work friends; going out all of the time and not having much responsibility in our home lives. I do miss those fleeting moments but I love where I am in my life right now. I am just glad I have been able to have so many exciting experiences and opportunities that I will be able to share with my children as they get older.

Anyhoo, enough of living in the past. The visit was so much fun and the kids had a great time. We stayed right on the ocean in a townhouse called the Oceancliff Resort. At night we had a great view of the Newport bridge all lit up. We took plenty of trips to the different area parks and I brought my parents along so Ryan and I could go out for nights by ourselves and have some alone time.

Unfortunately I broke my camera while at one of the parks. I was lifting up Rylan and my camera fell out of my pocket and smashed on the ground. I was able to take a few shots of our time there, but wish I could have gotten more.

The Oceancliff

Arianna's first day at Preschool

Today was Arianna's first official day at preschool. It was all she could talk about this past weekend. When we took her for a tour last Friday, she fell in love with the school right from beginning. Arianna's teacher, Mrs. Ginny, really got her involved in some super fun activities with arts and crafts and she wanted no parts of leaving to go home. I seriously had to drag her out the door with remnants of crafts in my hand.

This morning Arianna woke up and told us all that she was a big girl now and was going to preschool. We got her ready and took her to school, which by the way, is right across the street from us. She seemed a little shy when she stepped through the school doors, but seemed to warm up as soon as she saw her teacher. I snuck out the door when I noticed that she was starting to become emersed in a game. I was not about to make a production about leaving or she would not be happy. I am currently at home writing this a half an hour after dropping her off so I will be sure to inform everyone of how it went.

Here are some pre-preschool pics from this morning:

Funny Close-ups

The kids love getting nice and close to the camera. I thought these were pretty funny/cute so I just wanted to post them.

Arianna at Chuck E Cheese

Arianna was fascinated by the Chuck E Cheese band and could not keep her eyes off of the characters as they sang.

Rylan loves to check out what is going on outside

Princess Ballerina

Arianna's dance recital is quickly approaching and as the time draws near, the class has been gearing up by lots of dance practice and fitting for their recital costumes. The class will be dancing as a bunch of beautiful little flowers in a garden. Last week the flower costumes arrived for the girls to try on. Here is a quick shot of Arianna in her beautiful little outfit. I had my camera phone with me so the quality isn't great but she looks oh so cute all the same.

Little Artists

The house has been a miserable mess this past week. The entire family came down with the stomach virus once again. We were plagued three weeks ago and it came back, only this time ten fold. We sorely needed to get out of the house so yesterday we went shopping for what I am not sure of. We picked the kids up a couple of items at Targets (the store I cannot leave without spending at least $100-sad but true). Arianna, who now has an extreme passion for arts and crafts, demanded we get her an art box full of paints and other various supplies. As I put the box in the cart a little voice kept saying, "BAD IDEA... MESS, MESS, MESS!" But seeing as I am such a pushover when it comes to my kids, I compromised with myself and thought if I asked Ryan and he agreed to it then I would go ahead with the purchase. Okay, I should know that Ryan is worse than I am when it comes to spoiling the kids, but this is what I had to tell myself in order justify the situation. As soon as we got home the kids ripped into the art box and painted their little hearts out. Yes, the mess was about as bad as I thought, but it is all worth it to see the smile on their faces.

Check out Arianna's morning hair... Okay, who am I kidding? It always looks like this.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Arianna!

Saturday, January 31st was Arianna's 3rd birthday. We started off the morning by taking her to ballet class. Halfway through her class the teacher called me in because Arianna was in tears. No matter what I did to try to calm her down, she just was not having it. In a quandary, we took her home to get her ready for her small birthday gathering which would begin around 3pm. By around 2pm, Arianna could not keep her eyes open and just passed out asleep on the couch. This girl NEVER sleeps during the daytime, so we knew something was up. We felt her head and sure enough she was hot to the touch. Unfortunately it was too late to cancel the party so Arianna just slept on the couch as people arrived. We woke her up to try to get her to unwrap presents and have cake but she had no interest at all. When a child is not interested in presents, you know there is cause for concern! I just felt so bad that my little princess could not enjoy her special day :(

Here are some pictures from the party:

The Cakes!

Dallie made this beautiful giant cupcake

Auntie Elli made this amazing ballerina cake for Arianna

Arianna did not have much interest in her new bike.

She slept for most of the party :(

The race was on between Rylan and Dani


Dani checks out Rylan's engine

Autie Heidi and Cousin Connor

Uncle Jeff and Cousin Dani

Uncle Shawn and Cousin Connor

Happy birthday, my sweet girl!