Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day was very nice. We celebrated at my Mom's house and Rory cooked us dinner. I brought dessert. Rory spoiled us that night - he made kabobs and fresh salmon and striper. It was all very delicious.It was a very nice evening to be together and everyone was in a great mood - even the kids. We took lots of fun pictures to remember the day. I am so grateful to be able to celebrate with my own wonderful mother who is so amazing and loving and so many thoughts I can't even put into writing. I am also so happy that my grandma is still around. It is always fun to think when we are together that there are 4 generations of women in one room. How cool is that?We opened presents, enjoyed each others company and generally relaxed. That is how I love my Mother's Day. Oh - and my husband promised me we would go to NYC for a weekend together and he would take me to see a show of my choice - I am thinking Wicked.

Jasmine's First Solo Violin Recital

Jasmine is becoming quite the little musician and we can't be more proud of her. Even though it is often a fight to get her to practice, she gets excited when she learns something new and we were excited to hear her play for her first solo recital.The other exciting thing was that her Abuela would be her accompanist. This is especially special because all my life, my mother has always been my accompanist and now she can do it for her granddaughter. It was a very special moment for me to see that.Jasmine did a great job and we were so proud of her and her stage presence. Did I mention that she had a bad case of pink eye in both eyes? At this point she was medicated but if you look closely, you can see it. She begged to play anyway and we thought it would be OK. We took some pictures when it was over. We were so excited that Tio Rory was in town and he was able to be there for the recital.

After that we went out to lunch to celebrate at Famous Dave's BBQ. It was fun to be there as a family and these are the times that we create lasting family memories and hopefully Jasmine will know how many people love and support her.

Stinkin' Criminals

We were on our way home from somewhere and were coming north on Route 1 when we felt and heard something hit our car. For a moment we thought it was a rock that had hit a windshield and so we ignored it and then I saw a car a few minutes later with an orange paint spot on the side of their car. I didn't think anything of it until I saw another car with a spot on it too and then it occurred to me that we had been hit by a paintball. A few minutes later we saw a police officer on the side of the road and another car with an orange spot so we stopped to report that we had been hit too. They didn't know who was doing it but they did know it was someone in a moving vehicle because different people had been hit at different places. I don't know if they ever caught the hoodlums but I hope they do because it is very scary to think if that had been a gun, it would have hit Lorne as he was driving.

Ava Playtime

Ava has become a fast crawler but isn't walking yet. This has become a source of frustration because she is getting the knees of all her clothes dirty and also because we think it will be easier when she can walk. She has definitely pulled herself to standing and she has a toy she loves standing next to in the living room.She is a huge fan of music and she got this toy at Christmas but has only recently discovered that she loves it. She looked too cute not to photograph.

Ellie's Birthday Party

Jasmine and Ellie have been friends since they were 2 and a half. They have done 3 years of preschool together and they are now going to be starting Kindergarten at the same school - if they are lucky, in the same class. We have also been to a couple of her birthday parties.This year, Ellie had her birthday party at the GW Rec Center - where Jasmine and Ava have had their swimming classes. She had an Under the Sea theme and the kids all went swimming and had a great time together.After swim time, it was cake time. Everyone gathered into the party room for cake and snacks. The birthday girl was happy and all the kids were happy too. It was a nice party and Jasmine had a great time!

Mary's Bachelorette Party

After the bridal shower, we went back to Mary's sister Michelle's house where we got ready for the bachelorette party. I love that they did them both in the same day so I could be there for both. We were a small group of girls but we had a great time. After we got gussied up, we got Mary ready with all the appropriate costuming she required to have a great night.Our first stop was an area winery where we got a tour of the facility and a tasting - I had a fruity water which was very good. We had fun getting a behind the scenes tour of the wine making process and I found it interesting to see how everything is done.After the winery, it was time to go out to dinner so we went to a sushi restaurant and it was such a cute and delicious little place. I did a funny face with the wine bottle since I don't drink - and I thought the picture was funny - don't anyone get offended! I ordered some pineapple rice which was amazing and reminded me of when I was in Thailand. Anything served in half a pineapple is bound to be good and this was no exception.After dinner, we headed to a hotel for dessert and drinks. I had my signature drink which is half pineapple and half cranberry with a twist of lime and we each got a different dessert and had fun sharing and trying the different ones. We tried to dare Mary to do funny things but she wouldn't have it - even still, we laughed and enjoyed each others company. I ended the night crashed in Mary's sister's house on her living room couch - too reminiscent of college but fine for a short night's sleep.

Mary's Bridal Shower

Finally, after knowing them for years, my friends Mary & Travis announced they were getting married and I had the opportunity to travel to Pennsylvania for her bridal shower. I was so excited because I met Mary when we were at GW and she was my swimming teacher when I was pregnant with Jasmine. We remained friends and still love each other after meeting a bit more than 5 years ago.
They had the shower at this great little restaurant and Mary looked radiant when she walked in. She was even a good sport about having her picture taken even though normally she hates it.There was some good food and a very nice cake. Just in case you were wondering, I didn't make it. But it was very cute and tasty.Mary got lots of nice gifts and she had a really good time. I was so glad I was there because I had a really good time too. It was fun to meet her sister Michelle and her best friend Michelle and her mother.