P.S.- one funny thing

Today during church someone's cell phone rang (it happens all the time- I hate it!!) Anyway, the ringtone was Alecia Keys' song "No One" - the song I had playing on our blog for way too long! It only rang for about 2 seconds of the song, but right afterwards Zanna started singing the song "no one, no one, no wah-ah-ah-one" and the girls in front of us just started laughing so hard to this little 4-year-old belting out Alecia Keys in Church- it was comical!

tHis iS hOw DaD playS CaRds aFter wOrK...

some of our friends...

The Water
the park
Mom
Ara
Sam
Jonah and Anikah having a berry picnic
Jess, David and Val in Central Park w/ bagels
Q-tip
(one of Zanna's new obsessions and a very sweet puppy)

Maui- our other Maltese obsession
Alley and Emma from gymnastics
Jack from Church
And Jonah!

We had a great day at the Jones Beach last week :)

This is our fun day at the Queens Zoo with our friends Payton, Halle, and Kristen. It is great zoo for little kids and they loved feeding the animals at the petting zoo and feeding themselves cotton candy- yum :)

belated BiRtHdAy post

This is a Belated Post but I had to say how cute Dave was for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had to go get a new driver's license in the morning of my b-day and when I got back he had made fancy cornmeal pancakes from scratch with strawberries and powdered sugar! We had a fun relaxing day- the kids and I dug for worms outside and just played while Dave studied, and then that night Dave threw together a pizza/movie party at our friend's place. Ryan (the boy in the picture) and I share the same birthday- he turned 8 and I turned 28 so it was fun to party with him. We watched "Enchanted" in their theater room and ate lots of cake and ice cream- my favorite thing to eat!!! So, thank you Dave for making my birthday a happy one!

your favorite pantry items?

Hello friends-

I was asked to help with a cooking night for our Young Women and for part of the night we will be discussing "stocking your pantry" and what you need as far as basics in a kitchen. Many of the girls are moving away to college and don't have a lot of experience. So, I thought I would ask you experts and get more ideas than just mine. Please let me know your top 10 basic pantry items (you can do more if you want) and a gadget or two that you feel are "must haves" in a kitchen.
I think it will be fun to see what we get!

Thanks much-
Mel

"excuse me"

Tonight at dinner we were discussing manners because Zanna was acting very poorly today. We were at a new friend's house and her Nanny made us lunch and Zanna came to sit down, looked

at the food, pointed and said, "Gross, I don't like that! I'm not eating" and stormed off. I was a little embarrassed, but she was very nice about it turned out fine. So, during our "manners talks" I said you should say "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" if people are talking. James looked at me and said, "sometimes you have to say excuse me to your bum." I just laughed and said, "that's right."

fyi

I can practically vacuum my whole apartment from one outlet (besides doing the corners) and my cord is not an extra long cord. Just wanted to let you all know that. My housework is done.

I just have to vent about...

PRESCHOOL!!
Why does everyone around here keep telling me that I have to put James in preschool?!! Actually- I don't have to and I am tired of it being such a status symbol around here. "So, where does your child go to preschool...why not?...ohhhh really." People pay between $4,000-$9,000 to put their kids in preschool around here and I think it is CRAZY. I personally can't afford that, and I wouldn't pay it if I could. I feel like a lot of mom's or nanny's do it to get a break, and I totally understand that, believe my I know about needing a break- but I would just like people to stop telling me I have to do it and I better hurry so we can get a spot!

I love being home with my kids and teaching them their colors, numbers, letters, shapes, how to dribble a basketball, how to kick a soccer ball, how to finger paint, cut with scissors, tell stories, to use polite manners, how to buy things at a store, how to share, how to care and the whole bit! We have a fun playgroup and do lots of outings and they have church each week, which teaches them how to behave in a classroom setting.

I have nothing against preschool and I am very excited for Zanna to start Pre-K in the fall and know she will love it.(I will miss her though, but am excited for one-on-one time with James.) These last few years have been priceless to me and I am so glad I had this time with my kids at home to play with them and teach them and laugh with them- they crack me up everyday!

So, I just had to vent and say that you don't HAVE to put your kids in preschool, but more importantly you just have to do what you feel is right, not what all the other mom's are doing.

my girlie weekend

I had a fabulous weekend in Boulder,CO with my bestie bride-to-be, Heather, and a dear friend Beth (who I hadn't seen for 12 years!) and we all just picked right up and had a blast together. We took a fun little girls trip with some of up to Estes Park and had a great time dressing Heather up and going out on the town. We stayed in a great little cabin and then took a beautiful hike (covered in snow) in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park. It was so fun to reminisce about our "Pullman Days" and just be together again. I can't wait 'til the wedding in May and am so grateful to have such wonderful friends- love you girls!

"Dave and the Blowfish"

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My man has NO SHAME!

What Happens in Mexico . . . Gets Blogged!