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!

O Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree a few weekends ago. Arabella had a lot of fun decorating the tree. She is so surprised when she finds another beautiful ornament in the box and loves to hang them on the tree. She is pretty gentle, I think we only lost one this year! Our tree is on the smaller side this year, but I still think it looks beautiful. Arabella loves to have the lights on and I enjoy sitting next to the tree in the evening with just the lights on and I can smell the pine. As much as the needles that fall can sometimes make a mess, there is nothing like a real tree for Christmas!

First Snow

When we were in the States for Thanksgiving, Montreal had a little bit of snow - most if not all of it was melted by the time we got home. And this is about all the snow we have had so far:

I keep hoping that one morning I will wake up and it will look like a Winter Wonderland outside...I never thought I would say this, but I WANT snow!!

Making Pizzelles

One of my favorite holiday traditions that I remember from when I was a little girl are Pizzelles. May grandmother and great aunts would always make the Italian cookies at Christmastime. They are so yummy and go great with a cup of coffee. I think they are pretty easy to make and Arabella helped me this year. She loved it! She also enjoyed eating the fruits of her labor...Jay has been enjoying them too!

My Treat

A few weeks back, I wanted to treat myself after making it through a rough, long day, so I cracked open one of my treasured bottles of Ravenswood Zinfandel. It was a 2001 - I must say that it was delicious! I even enjoyed it in one of my favorite wine glasses - there is nothing better than enjoying a glass of great wine at the end of the day to relax.

Little Swimmer

Arabella did great in her latest swim lesson session! She had a lot of fun and looked forward to being in class with one of her best friends, Cristina. She is working hard and doing so good - keep up the great work Arabella!!

Mommy's Helper

Arabella is such a good helper - she always wants to help me around the house and with whatever it is I am doing. I am so lucky to have such a great little helper!