Camping With Dad

In June, one of the themes in Arabella's Petite Gym class was camping, and since then, she has been wanting to camp. I suggested that Jay and Arabella camp in the backyard since there was no way that I was going to go camping (not even in the backyard, it is not my thing). Besides, we only have a 2 person tent so that leaves me out! Yesterday, Jay decided that it was perfect camping in the backyard weather so he and Arabella put up the tent. She was very excited to sleep in the tent. I was happy to have the silent house all to myself. I was also thinking that at some point during the night they would make their way back into the house. But it never happened, they spent the whole night in the backyard. Other than it taking Arabella a while to fall asleep, they had a fun time. The sun woke Jay up at about 5:30 and Arabella was up at 6:30. I think they will probably do it again and I am fine with them camping, so long as I don't have to go. I am just not cut out for roughing it!

Dress-Up Fun

Before I could even get Arabella out of her PJ's yesterday, she wanted to get all dressed up! She had on every single one of her pieces of dress up jewelry! She had to wear her "glass slippers" and have her wand in the pictures!

At one point, Dad even got in on the dress up. He sure was being a good sport about it, probably because Arabella kept calling him the "Prince"! He even had a pink hockey stick, I mean sword to keep the dragons away!


And before I knew it, I was dressed up too! We had so much fun laughing and being silly. I love you my little princess Arabella!

And the dress-up continued today, when Arabella's babysitter, Emily, watched her for a few hours this morning. I was upstairs doing homework and I could hear them being silly and having a fun time!

Swim Lesson Update

Arabella has been kicking butt in her swim lessons! So much so that she really doesn't need her swim bubble anymore and there is only one thing keeping her from moving to the next level in her swim classes. Our pool uses the Olympic Way swimming program to teach kids to swim. I really like it and it is not too different from the program that I used when I was teaching swim lessons at the Y in high school. This last session was 3 weeks long and 4 days a week. She worked really hard on her starfish back float and swimming while blowing bubbles. Her teacher, Elana even told her on her report card to "Keep on trying to swim all by yourself, one day you'll be a swim star!" There is only on thing holding her back in the White level - she needs to be able to swim forward using her arms for 12 meters (or one width of the pool). Her new 3 week session starts tomorrow and I know she is very excited to start!
Swim class fun...she is on the mat right next to the instructor with the great tan!

Monet, Matisse, Picasso, Arabella

A few days ago, Arabella had enough of the pool sooner rather than later. So we came home, had an early lunch and decided to do, what she calls "projects". Since it was a warm and sunny day out, I decided we should do them outside. Since it will be cold here again before we know it, I try to spend as much time outside as we can! We purchased a wooden bird house a while ago and she hasn't painted in a while so that is what we did. She had a blast painting her bird house, a wooden dog and then my favorite, we painted sea shells that we had collected on the beach. Painting the shells brought back memories of doing the same when I was little and spent my Summers in Westbrook.





We had a great time and it was the perfect way to spend time between lunch and nap time! Note to self: take more craft projects outside!

Thursday's Thoughts

Hearing: Arabella say: "I love you so much Mommy"..so sweet and melts my heart.

Tasting: A salad of tomato, cucumber, hard boiled egg, and "dry" cottage cheese with some white balsamic vinegar and spices. Might not sound too good, but it really is!

Seeing: Beautiful blue sky and perfect Summer sunshine.


Smelling: Not too much, my nose is stuffy...thanks Summer allergies!

Feeling: Tired and stressed...too much hometowrk, too little time!

Beautiful Girl

Yesterday, Arabella was watching a few of her shows on PBS while I did a few things around the house. She was pretty quiet and when I went to check on her, this is how she was laying on the couch...pretty cute right??

I know I may be partial, but she is just so beautiful and so stinking cute. I am seriously considering modeling for her! Anyone know of a great way to break into the business???

Fabulous Find

This fabulous find is not something I recently found, but rather something that has been a source of discontent between Jay and I. You see, Jay hates "stuff" - if he hasn't used it in so long, he gets rid of it. He randomly will go through his things and discard items all the time. Sometimes, he will take it upon himself to even go through Arabella's toys and get rid of the broken items or used up markers since he thinks I am taking too long to do it. In my defense, I am usually running around with her and doing other more important things like schoolwork or household chores to get to her toys. I wish I had the time to do it more often, but sadly, it is not at the top of my list. I on the other hand, keep things. I am not a hoarder by a long shot (Jay might have a different take on this), but I keep things that I think will be useful in the future. This particular item (and another one like it) has been hanging around since we lived in Dublin. When we got the notice we were moving here, Jay even become more relentless in his pitching of things. He wanted to get rid of this item when we were given a larger replacement and then again when we moved. I found it in the recycling bin on multiple occasions and took it out. After doing this more times than I can count, Jay relented and let me win this one. Every so often, he asks if he can get rid of it, my answer is/was always "No". I knew that eventually we would find a use for it. Besides, it is not like it was going to take up a lot of room and it would stay in the garage. And last weekend when I finally figured out a use for it. At this point, you probably want to know what it is....

Yup, you are seeing right, it is the old recycling bin. When Dublin replaced the small bins with the large ones on wheels, I kept it. As much as Jay will say he has never used it, he has...I actually had to take some of his car cleaning supplies out of it last weekend to use it! Last weekend, I was cleaning up some of Arabella's outdoor toys and needed to find a places for the larges stacking blocks that our neighbors gave to her. The bin that they were in was all cracked and they were too large for the other bucket have for her sand toys, etc. Then it hit me, the green recycling bin! And sure enough, perfection! Big enough to hold all the blocks, holes in the bottom to let the water drain and not too obtrusive on the patio!

See I knew there was a good reason I was keeping it!

Summer Scenes

We have the most beautiful hydrangea plants in our yard. I am amazed at how large the blooms are! I was out in the yard over the weekend and I captured these shots. I think I may go and cut some since they would make a beautiful arrangement on the dining room table.



We also had a serious thunderstorm one afternoon earlier this week. The clouds turned quite dark and the thunder rumbled for a long time before the sky opened. The storm was quick moving, but it was very loud and the clouds were ominous. I was surprised that Arabella slept through it since it hit right in the middle of nap time.

Cucumbers & Cleaning

Arabella loves cucumbers! Often, I can't get it sliced fast enough. Case in point, one morning last week, after breakfast, she was still hungry so I asked her what she wanted and she opened to refrigerator and took out a cucumber. After I peeled it, I set it on the cutting board and turned to get a knife and when I turned back, the cutting board was empty, because...

Sh ate the whole thing! But I am not complaining, anytime she asks for any fruit or veggies, she gets them!

And the same morning, before she would get ready to go to swim lessons, she had to clean the mirrors in the mud room...now if only I could get her to pick up her books!

Trying To Beat The Heat

Yesterday, the weather here was unbearable. So hot and humid and there was a lot of smog. It really was hard to breathe and even Arabella didn't want to spend too much time outside, which is an oddity. Last night after dinner, we decided to get in some pool time before Arabella went to bed and I went to hit the books again. However, Mother Nature had other plans...right as we were walking into the pool, I heard thunder in the distance and immediately thereafter the shrill of the whistle and the lifeguards clearing the pool. It was hard to try and explain to Arabella why the pool was empty and all everyone was just standing around. All she wanted to do was jump in and cool off. And after making the very short walk, that is all I wanted to do to, the sweat was just rolling down my back, YUCK! So we waited a few minutes, the pool was still closed and in our desperation Jay and Arabella cooled off this way:

Thursday's Thoughts

Hearing: My IIN lectures that I am trying to get caught up on.

Tasting: WATER and not too much else! For a couple of reasons, see "FEELING" below and also because I started a new diet...so far I am down 10 pounds!!

Seeing: Bright sunshine and a backyard full of summer toys.

Smelling: Humid and stale muggy Summer air.

Feeling: HOT, HOT, HOT...even with the AC going, it is still a very, warm, humid, muggy day here in Montreal...about 32C which is the low 90's but it feels like it is over 100 out!

Arabella's 3 Year Photographs

I received the DVD with Arabella's 3 year photographs on it yesterday and I am so excited to share the results with you. I couldn't be happier with how they came out and I truly feel that the capture her in every way. They came out absolutely beautiful and I can't thank Melanie Siena-Thomas of Siena Photography for doing such a wonderful job! I had not seen Melanie since high school or maybe once or twice we bumped into each other when we were both at The University of Connecticut and it was great to spend the morning with her. We decided to have Elizabeth Park in Hartford as the backdrop for the photos and it was perfect. Instead of trying to find words to describe the photographs, I think it is better to share them and let them speak for themselves. Thank you Melanie for capturing Arabella's true spirit! I look forward to working with you again!

Swimming with Dad

Arabella and Jay had some fun in the pool the past few weekends. It has been warm here so it has been nice to be able to just take a short walk and then jump in the pool. Surprisingly, the few times in the evening that we have gone, it has been almost empty, which is a huge change from when we are at the pool in the morning for swim lessons! It is nice to have such a large pool all to ourselves! Arabella has been doing great in her swim lessons and can swim without her bubble on...it is usually only for a quick moment, but still she is making progress. She is also getting daring and will jump off the diving board all by herself! Way to go Arabella, keep up the great work!

More Birthday Party Fun

Right after our trip to Boston, another friend of Arabella celebrated his birthday - William turned 3! It was our first event back and it was great to see everyone again. There was a lot to keep the kids entertained, but the favorite was the pony rides! It was hard to keep Arabella off the pony and a few times she had minor meltdowns when her turn was over. I guess I really do have a budding equestrian rider on my hands! Arabella was happy to see her friends and we had a lot of fun and enjoyed yummy cake and treats! Happy 3rd Birthday William!

Boston Randomness

Here are some more fun shots from our Boston 4th of July trip. I wasn't sure where to put them, but they do show how much fun we had! Thanks Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff for a great time, we can't wait to do it again!
Waiting for the fireworks that didn't happen with Uncle Jeff!
I love you Uncle Mike
Taking Macy for a walk...she loved it! Maybe we need a dog??