Sadie's New Couch

When Adler was alive we never let her on the couch or the bed. When Sadie came along, we continued to say no to the bed but as with your second and third child, our rules got a little less rigid and we allowed her to sit on only one part of the couch. It happened to be the chaise part of the couch that I always used so if anyone was going to complain about her being up there, it was going to be me. And I didn't mind, snuggling up to the warmth of her 110 pound body on a cold winter night. 

Well, we decided to move that couch up to our Michigan beach house in December so for almost two months, we had no couch in the living room - just a few chairs and the floor. I swear Sadie was thinking, "What the hell did you do with my couch?" So imagine her glee when just last week, they delivered not one but two couches (one was a mistake and free) to my house with two chaises! Well, she didn't know which one to sit on (and I didn't know how to set up my family room to try to accommodate both. I'm still working on that!). 

I swear she hasn't moved off the couch since they arrived. She probably likes the placement of them better than the old one because she can see the whole kitchen from her perch. It's a good thing I love her so much because I'm not entirely loving the fact that there's an abundance of dog hair (shedding season) all over my new couch!

Soccer in Arizona

Austen with backpack and yellow shoes

We left last Friday for some warmer weather and to play some soccer in the sunny state of Arizona. And, while it was a bit warmer than our Chicago temperatures and lacked the snowfall we had here, it still was unseasonably cool in the southwest.

Despite the frigid temperatures, we still managed to have a good time playing mini golf at our resort, frolicking in the lazy river and socializing with our soccer friends. Austen played four soccer games against teams from New Mexico (2), Washington and Arizona. The first game ended 3-0 in our favor. Austen scoring one goal off of a breakaway down the side and a cross/shot. The second game was 5-0 with Austen adding 2 more goals. Third game ended 2-0 with Austen providing great defensive play. The fourth and final game (championship) ended in a hard fought 2-1 game. However, they could have easily won that game by a goal or more. Two bad or no calls by the ref certainly contributed to the end result as Austen was pushed down in the penalty box as he was shooting with a no call. On another take down in the box, Austen was called to shoot the penalty kick when all of a sudden the ref gets yelled at for the call by the other coach and reverses his decision. I've never seen anything like it. Ridiculously poor reffing for sure. But, at the end of the day, these kids are 12 and there's sure to be more games lost, more bad refs and bigger problems in the world. The kids had fun, bonded as a team, played some great competition and learned more lessons on and off the field that they will carry with them throughout their lives. I know I did.

Team bonding at In and Out Burger

Volleyball in the pool

Having fun after a game!

Will You Be Mine?

Working on his Valentine's cookies

Yesterday, was the usual day of running errands and getting ready for the week ahead. Haircuts for the girls, grocery shopping, sport practice drop offs/pick ups, etc. But, yesterday we had a new errand to run and it was for Valentine's Day.

Austen has been talking a lot about wanting to buy something for a special someone (who shall remain nameless to protect my promise to never reveal who she is to another soul). He started out wanting to get her a card then it progressed to a flower and then to a bracelet or a necklace. Of course he's discussing these ideas with friends who also plan to get the girls they like special gifts too. However, not wanting to scare this girl off (in case she just saw him as a friend), I suggested keeping it a little lighter. He found a card that said:

You're smart,
You're cool,
You're fun,
You're kind,

Now you've officially been Valentined!

Not too deep and nothing too revealing. He purchased some candy, made some homemade sugar cookies and frosted/decorated them for her, and put it all in a cute Valentine's basket along with a super cute little stuffed animal.

He's not sure how he wants to deliver it. Ring the doorbell and run, maybe?! He did sign his name to the card though so she would know it was him. He contemplated having Hailey ring the doorbell and hand it to her (she wouldn't know who Hailey was but she would recognize Peyton). So we're still working that one out.

I did ask him the tough question of - what if she doesn't like you like that? He said, that's okay, mom. And, I said, well, she might not and she might like someone else but I'm proud of you for putting yourself out there and wanting to give something to someone you like without expecting anything in return. He just smiled.

He says she's kind. So I hope whatever happens, she's kind with his heart even if she doesn't want to be his Valentine.

Don't take my picture Mom!

The final products! She's not a soccer player...

Hailey's Trip to Boston

Ready for Takeoff!

Each time one of my kids turned 5, I took them solo on a trip to Boston with me. It started with Austen when I had a work trip there and what better present than to skip schools for a few days and have mommy all to yourself. I followed with Peyton's trip shortly after she turned 5 and just a few months after I "retired" from working. Now it was Hailey's turn and I couldn't very well leave her out of this tradition.

So I booked a trip last week to spend a few days with my aunts, uncle and cousins. We talked, we ate, we drank, we ate, we talked some more, we ate. Did I mention we ate? Lot of eating but then again we are Italian!

We missed the deep freeze in Chicago sending temperatures plummeting into the negatives and helped celebrate one of my aunts 84th birthday. Hailey got lots of attention. She ate my Grandma's famous lasagna (made by my cousin) and homemade pizzelles (made by my aunt); she got a Vanilla Bean at Starbucks; rolled out some pizza dough at Bertuccis and helped my aunt eat her chocolate birthday cake; she visited a cute (kids) bookstore and she rode two airplanes and was especially patient when we sat on the tarmac upon arrival home because flights were so backed up because of the weather that there were no available gates.

It was a nice trip to Boston to round out my solo trips with each kid. It was nice to see my family. And, it was nice to spend a little more time with my youngest.

Happy Birthday!

Family!

Birthday Love!

I Love This Book (or really Peyton does)!

Nothing Like My Big Brother's Favorite Starbucks Drink!