And this, this is the best news

Yesterday, a beautiful baby boy was born against all odds. His name is Stellan and his birth story is here. 

Please take a moment to say a prayer of thanksgiving for this wonderful miracle and give your kids an extra hug!

I promise Stellan's story will warm your heart and soul :)

GOD IS GOOD!

Comments closed because it's all about Stellan :)

WW--Let it Be Known I took a Picture of All 4 Children At The Same Time

A Four Things Meme

I got tagged from Mamasphere, a very funny lady whose husband officially became an American citizen the other week--woohoo!

Four jobs I’ve had:
*waitress at mob run restaurant
*copyrwiter
*tech writer
*party hostess at a water park

Four movies I can watch over and over:
*Gone With the Wind
*Fight Club
*Elf
*High School Musical (HA--kidding--it's Casablanca)


Four places I’ve lived:
*Akron
*Columbus
*Dallas
*Bath

Four TV shows I love:
*The Office
*Heroes
*The Soup
*The Amazing Race
Hooray for the new fall lineup finally starting!

Four places I’ve vacationed:
*Fort Myers Beach
*London
*Vienna
*Munich

Four of my favorite dishes:
*Chicken Parmigiana
*Baked Ziti
*Rigatoni with kale, sausage and butternut squash
*Wild Salmon

Four sites I visit daily:
*my blog
*Food Network
*J Crew.com
*various blogs

Four places I would rather be right now:
*a beach, any beach 
*wherever the Cleveland Browns are playing
*a warm, cozy local coffee house
*a cooking class in Italy


And I will tag anyone who wants to play ;)

A Night To Remember

The tickets were bought three weeks ago. I arrived with my daughters and their friends an hour in advance. We were the first there and sat patiently behind the velvet rope playing the newly downloaded songs from the iPhone. More and more moms with children arrived. The atmosphere got louder and louder. The excitement of opening night was contagious as I looked at the various groups of children and fellow moms.

A man came and unhitched the velvet rope. Grabbing hands, we ran inside, giddy and screaming with joy. We waited as everything grew dark. We watched various ads as the excitement grew. 

Then silence as we saw a giant sweat drenched Troy Bolton on the screen. Screams and claps flooded the theater. 

High School Musical 3 had arrived.

I would be lying if I said I sat glued watching the screen,  but I will say I had a sore neck as I spent most of the moments turned to watch the girls reaction as they saw their very favorite characters dancing and singing on the big screen. That was magical.

They laughed, they cheered, they screamed 'ewwwww' at the kissing scene (this was followed by some very intense mommy laughter by every mom in the place) and they even danced in front of the screen during the credits. 

Watching them, I knew this was one of the moments they would never forget, a night to remember--for all of us :)

For those without a preteen in the house, High School Musical is a massive hit of this generation. And the songs are pretty catchy.

WW--This grocery inflation is insane ;)

**Yes, it was a mistake and yes my sweet cashier Michelle caught it right away. There's no way I would ever pay over $75 a roll ;) **

(Please excuse the messed up lines--I'm new to this)

Why I Don't Have Tons of Pictures

The other day I took my children to the Pumpkin Patch. I was so excited--it was cooler than usual and slightly overcast--perfect light for taking pictures. I pulled out the giant super cool super sharp digital camera and made myself a cup of coffee. I was going to get great pictures. I was determined.

And this is what happened.......

We get to the patch and I see friends. 

Yak, yak, yak.

The kids are playing by the maze. Oh look one is doing blah blah. Too bad I don't have the camera out of the case.

I take the camera out, ready for the next move.

See more friends.

Yak, yak, yak.

Can my kids look any cuter? Crap I didn't turn on the camera yet. I swear if I paid this much for the camera, it should turn on instantly.

I turn on the camera.

The girls run off with friends. I am hoping a mother is somewhere in the crowd with them. My boys are doing cute stuff and I need at least one picture.

Dino and Spanky smile at each other. 

I need to capture this. Darn, there's no where for my coffee. Great, now they are doing something else. I can't see the girls any more.

I gathered up the boys to hunt down the girls.

Look, there's Miley doing cute stuff. I'm going to get this shot--wait, Spanky don't rush out in front of the car. Where did Miley go?

I bump into more friends. 

Isn't this so much fun? Look at how cute Sarah is in the bounce house. Why must this camera be so big? I can't get it positioned in time.

I decide that I do not care how dorky I look. I am going to walk around with the camera in my face to get at least one picture.

Click.

OK. One more.

Click.

OK, let's go home. Oh wait,  is that so and so?

And this is how a mom of four beautiful children has less pictures than most people who only have pets.

It was a very good weekend (minor correction)

Even though the Cleveland Browns lost, I still felt like winner! First I got the make-up and bag I won from the great blog give away for victims of families of 9/11 on Burgh Baby'. (I will post when she does this again--she donated all money made that day to the fund--how cool is she?!)

**Quick Correction--She donated the entire month to the fund--wow!!**

Look at how awesome all this stuff is--I am not going to be needing skin care til the spring. Woo-hoo!

And if you can believe it, the Saturday got even better. As you might remember, my wonderful panini/indoor BBQ  broke last month. Mike (the husband) has been insisting that because he bought it at Williams Sonoma that they would replace it no questions asked. He insisted this was their policy, no matter what.

I thought he was crazy. We have had the press since two Christmases ago. I figured they would just say the warranty expired and beside they were not responsible.

So this Saturday morning, I attempted to make french toast on the stove--it was horrible. Mike once again mentioned he would bring it to Williams Sonoma after getting a contract from a client. I told him to give it a try.

Hours later I get a text 'All is Good'. He took my broken appliance into W-S and they replaced it no questions asked, just like he said.

And I was a very happy mommy! 

Paninis anyone?