Splendid Saturday

Yesterday, we attended the Annual Easter Brunch hosted by our friends, Cynthia & Wendy. It was a morning/afternoon, full of food, food and more food and lots of fun and laughter! The kids had a great time playing in the park and with the hula hoops. Arabella even took off dribbling a soccer ball, it was so natural, I wish I had it on film! I wonder if that is in her future for the Fall??
I brought a yummy 5 layer Greek dip that I found on Pintrest. Super easy - spread hummus in a layer and then cover with chopped red pepper, cucumber, kalamata olives and feta cheese and then sprinkle with oregano! I served it with fresh cut up pita and it was so good!
Arabella had fun with GiGi, Allyson, Emily and Christopher! It was so cute to see them all trying out different tricks with the hula hoops!

In addition to the yummy food, June brought some of her famous "adult" jello eggs!
And these are a few of my fav girls - June, me, Cynthia & Laura! We had so much fun!
Arabella and I decided to take a nap when we got home...it was so nice! And as soon as she woke up, we colored Easter eggs! She was so excited and loved to see the eggs turn colors and even make a few fun colors herself. She was so focused and concentrated, it was adorable and we had so much fun!

Party, Egg Hunt & Repeat

This weekend has been one of non-stop parties and egg hunts that started bright and early on Good Friday morning! Our first party and egg hunt was at playgroup. The kids did a really fun Easter Bunny craft, we enjoyed some yummy treats and then had a egg hunt outside in the sunshine! Arabella had so much fun running around and searching for eggs! The fresh air, sunshine and possible sugar crash made her so tired she fell asleep in the car on the way home!


Later that afternoon, we headed to June's house for an Easter egg hunt and party. It was so much fun. June had the hunt down to a science for all the different age groups and had the kids searching in different areas of her yard based on their ages! They had decorated Easter houses and had a fun painting craft! We also enjoyed some yummy food and had a great time spending the afternoon and evening with all our friends. Arabella had fun playing and did more running around outside! It was a great way to end Friday!

Arabella & Allyson concentrating on their house!

So excited to find the eggs!
Kids, kids everywhere!
The party at June's would not be complete without her famous (thanks to me and my egg molds) jello shot eggs!
Hanging out with Christopher!
Checking the eggs!
Painting project!
Arabella and Allyson - such serious artists!

I have to say, this was the perfect way to start our long Easter weekend!

Birthday Parties Are Beginning

It seems as if there are a lot of birthday parties starting to happen. We missed one earlier this month when we were away, another friend in the States turned 2 this week and yesterday Arabella went to her friend, Ethan's birthday party and there are more coming up in April!

She had a blast yesterday at Ethan's 4th birthday party and it was nice that it was indoors since the weather had turned cool again. Spiderman made an appearance...Arabella was scared at first but then warmed up to him. There was also face painting and lots of fun to be had.

Christmas Social Butterflies

Last weekend, we had 3 parties to attend! It is nice to be busy, but we were really busy! Friday morning we started out with our great playgroup - Arabella had fun making a really pretty Christmas ornament and doing the sit-n-spin (I remember having one and loving it when I was a kid)!

Then it was off to Laura and Allyson's for lunch before heading to Tamara and William's for a Secret Santa and Christmas Tea Party! The tea party was beautiful! And it was a nice relaxing afternoon despite a house full of kids - I guess having three, yes three, nannies on the premises to watch and keep the kids in occupied in the playroom helped with the relaxation!



The tea party was a true high tea but we added champagne. There were scones, jam, clotted cream, tea sandwiches and petit fours - delicious!

I love this beautiful chocolate centerpiece!

After our tea, it was time to exchange Secret Santa gifts which was a blast - I got an awesome cross body purse and I love it! The kids had fun hamming it up for the camera right before we left! It was great! Thanks Tamara for hosting a beautiful afternoon tea and for having your nannies decorate cupcakes and keep the kids occupied!


On Saturday, we got to celebrate with Ryan and Tanya at Ryan's 2nd Birthday party! It was a great afternoon filled with fun and food! All the kids loved the animator and the bounce houses - it wore them all out! Once again, Arabella was wiped out and had a great sleep!



Arabella helped Jay put up some Christmas lights outside. They did a great job and it makes the walk so pretty at night!


Our final party was on Sunday evening, at our house! We had some of Jay's CAT co-worker's and their families over for cocktails, appetizers and dessert. It was so delicious and we had a great time! All the kids had fun running around and playing dodge ball in the basement...not too sure how that worked since I stayed upstairs and enjoyed my wine with the other wives!
One of my new favorite wines - Cupcake Malbec - just perfect!
The raspberry trifle I made for dessert!
Arabella sneaking a piece of salami from the antipasto platter!
The beautiful table! It was another successful party! Our weekend was busy but full of Christmas cheer - we wouldn't have had it any other way!

2nd Annual Cookie Exchange

Last year, Arabella and I hosted a cookie exchange party and we did it again this year. It was so much fun and we loved every minute of it. We did a few things differently this year - we included lunch and the kids decorated sugar cookies that Arabella and I made the day before! It was so nice to have a house full of kids and friends for a great afternoon! Arabella loved rolling out the cookie dough and then cutting out the shapes. She was so disappointed when there wasn't any dough left for her to cut out. I guess that means we will be making more sugar cookies soon!



I love when my dining room table is full of yummy treats! There were a ton of different cookies, this is only the beginning. Everyone loved making up boxes to take home filled with all the different treats.

The kids had a blast decorating the sugar cookies. It was a mess, but so worth it!



We even got to Skype with our favorite Jersey Girl! Christa and I had planned it out in advance and we surprised everyone...she would have been here if she could, but Skyping is the next best thing!

It was the perfect day spent with great friends and Christmas cheer! We can't wait to do it again next year!