Thursday's Thoughts

Hearing: The garbage and recycling truck in the neighborhood...why can't they be quieter?

Tasting: The fresh tabouli salad that I made this morning!

Seeing: Rob Lowe on the cover of my Vanity Fair magazine...can he get any better looking?


Smelling: The Asparagus and Cheese Tart that I made for our Mom & Tot's Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow...it smells delish and I can't wait to try it tomorrow!


Feeling: Excited! We have so many outings planned for the remainder of the month - Easter Egg Hunts, weekend in Toronto, birthday parties, Easter Brunch, EASTER itself, travel to Ohio, Ashlee & Dustin's wedding and the list goes on and on!

A Few More Shots

Marie-Claude snapped a few pictures of Arabella and I today while we were riding. I just can't get over how happy she was riding! Thank you again Marie-Claude!!

Budding Equestrian

I forgot to post this picture from Arabella's riding lesson. She loved leading Dakota by herself. I am still amazed at how well she did. Keep up the great riding Arabella, and maybe, just maybe, we can convince Dad YOU/WE need a horse!

First Riding Lesson

This morning Arabella had her first riding lesson and so much more! Our friend, Marie-Claude, has a couple of horses and offered to take Arabella to the stable. So this morning, since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to meet Marie-Claude and her son, Matteo, at the stable. Arabella was so excited when I told her she was going to go riding! As soon as we got there, she couldn't wait to meet Dakota. On the way up to his paddock, Marie-Claude talked to her about how she she be calm, not talk loudly, what to look for. It was a crash course for Arabella and some reminders for me, since I hadn't ridden in a very long time. As soon as we got there, it was love at first sight! She was so unafraid of him - and rightfully so, he is a gentle giant - she went up to him with Marie-Claude and was so gentle.


She watched everything that Marie-Claude did and wanted to do it all. She groomed him, clean his hooves, and put ointment on a little bite he had. She watched intently every step of the way, taking all if it in. Once all the prep work was done, I watched Matteo and Arabella had her first lesson!




She was such a natural! She loved every minute of it and even loved riding him herself.




I even had a chance to ride Dakota with her and was loving it. It has been too long and I could really see myself getting back into it! Now, the only tricky part is convincing Jay that riding is in her future!

Camera Fun

Arabella received some mail last week from Grammie and while she was opening it, I decided to try and have some fun with my new camera.

I love this picture of her - she looks so focused.


Grammie sent her some foam shapes to make crafts out of. So while she was checking some of them out, I decided to play around to...

Take 1 - not so good...


Take 2 - pretty good...


Arabella's turn!

Park Fun

Today, Arabella and I joined Carrie & Cristina and Cynthia & Giacomo for a kids yoga class. The class was just alright, Arabella had no patience to sit and try out the poses that the instructor was doing. She was content doing her own poses and staying in downward facing dog. Needless to say, we did not leave the class feeling Zen like!

Afterwards, Carrie and I were planning on hitting a warehouse sale but had time to burn before hand so we took Arabella and Cristina to a nearby park. They had fun and burned off some energy which made shopping that much easier - seems like a win - win situation to me!

Sure Sign of Spring

This afternoon while playing with Arabella and talking on the phone with my mom - yes, I can multitask - I spotted this sure sign of spring:

Actually, there are two - the robin and almost all of the snow has melted in the backyard! And right now it is warm and rainy out so maybe when we wake up in the morning, it will be all gone!