Butterflies Go Free

Today, Arabella and I joined a a group of our friends for a trip to the Montreal Botanical Gardens to see the Butterflies Go Free exhibit. It was amazing to see so many butterflies flying around and Arabella was in awe. The warmth in the greenhouse was also a welcome change from the cold and snow that was falling outside. Arabella would find a butterfly and say "Look Mommy, Look!" and then another one would fly by and she would say the same thing. She was so gentle and loved looking at them and trying to find the ones that were hiding. The butterflies were in all shapes, sizes and colors. It was such a beautiful sight to see. If you were lucky, one might even land on you! Our friend, Carrie, had one land on her leg and it stayed there for a while as she walked around. After checking out the exhibit, we all had lunch together and then it was time to hit the road. All of the kids had a great time and were totally worn out by the time we left.
Look Mommy!

This one landed on Arabella's sweater!
Not sure what to make out of this one...

Arabella and Gigi checking out the butterflies.





This one landed on my stomach...Arabella was so curious about it.







Thanks for organizing this Laura! It was the perfect way to spend a snowy, March day!

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Sofia

Today was a very special day. We helped Sofia celebrate her 1st Birthday! We had so fun celebrating with Sofia, Christa and Joe at Zig Zag Zoo! We enjoyed lunch and yummy cupcakes. Sofia was so adorable digging into the cake and going to town on the frosting, it was so cute. Christa let the older kids blow out the candle on Sofia's cake and they also helped to open Sofia's presents. All of the kids had a fun time climbing and running around and were all worn out by the time we left. I swear all of them fell asleep in our cars on the way home...a sure sign of a great party! We are so happy that we could help Sofia celebrate her 1st Birthday! Happy Birthday, Sweet Sofia! We love you!


All the kids helping to blow out Sofia's candle!




Arabella and Cristina helping Christa open Sofia's gifts

Worn out from her party!

Tea Party Fun

We had a lot of fun on Sunday at the tea party for Christa and we decided to do a few silly group shots of all of us minus Sheila, unfortunately she had to leave early. I love this amazing group of women! You are all my saving grace(s) here in Montreal!

Spring Snow

Yes, we live in Canada. Yes, it is March. Yes, it is the first full day of Spring. Yes, it snowed today and is still snowing. And I am sure this is not the last time it will snow this Winter. I wonder when we are going to see the grass again. Anyone want to make a friendly wager? End of April, May...

Saying Goodbye To Our Jersey Girl

Beautiful Christa!


Yesterday, on the first day of Spring, I hosted a tea party in honor of our friend Christa, who is moving back to New Jersey in a few weeks. In order to get her to my house, without knowing that we were throwing a party for her, we planned to have a Spring Clothing Swap. The idea for the tea party came about when we decided that we should all get dressed up and do something fancy since most of use live in jeans and leggings! Christa also loves tea...she and I have become addicted to David's Tea (a loose tea store at our local mall)...there could be worse things to be addicted to, right?!? I also thought having a beautiful tea party on the first day of Spring was fitting for this type of occasion. We spent the afternoon enjoyed wonderful food, tea and celebrating friendship. Christa was surprised and overcome with emotion but enjoyed her celebration.

The tea table with beautiful china tea cups.


She arrives and still has no idea.

Carrie explaining to her the meaning behind the gift we gave her.
This photos is so perfect, it shows her raw emotion and how overwhelmed she is with the surprise.

We each did a few scrapbook pages and put them into this beautiful album.

Two of my scrapbook pages. I am very happy with how they came out and I am not usually into scrapbooking!

It is hard for me to believe that I have only known Christa since September, honestly, she is one of those people that I had an instant connection with and I feel like we grew up together. We are both East Coast girls from Italian families so we get the same things. Case in point, she calls pasta sauce gravy, just like my family does. She has such a silly sense of humor and can make me laugh at the drop of a hat. We have daily phone calls or sometimes 2 or 3. We see each other at least twice a week and she (was) one of my Bikram yoga buddies. She is so honest, kind, caring, genuine and full of grace and I am truly blessed to have her as part of my life. Christa is one of those people that will be a part of my life for a very long time to come and I am honored to call her my friend. I am going to miss you, Arabella will miss Sofia and Jay will miss Joe. Our door is open anytime you want to make a trip back to Montreal. You have touched my heart and soul in more ways that you will ever know, I love you Christa.

Everyone Loves A Parade

Yesterday was the perfect day for a parade and we met up with friends to enjoy the Hudson St. Patrick's Day parade. We met a group of our friends at Allyson, Laura and Richard's house and walked down to the parade route. Arabella was very excited to go to the parade and she had a lot of fun watching all the floats, fire trucks and even her friend Emma, who was in the parade. She and Allyson got to enjoy a front row seat to the parade from the comfort of the wagon. It was a lot of fun and the perfect way to spend a sunny, if brisk, March afternoon. Afterwards, we went back the Laura's place and had pizza and relaxed before heading home. It was a very nice afternoon and I know Arabella really enjoyed herself since she was asking if she could see another parade this morning!
Arabella and Allyson enjoying the parade.

Arabella trying out her rugby skills!



Laura and I being silly!
There is Emma!


Jay and Richard enjoying their "coffee"...yeah right!