Easter Morning...

 

Today was the Easter party at Tommy's church.  They had a "Pot Luck" and an Easter Egg hunt for the kids... It was a perfectly beautiful day outside too

Rachel decided it was the perfect day to bring the sock puppet bunny out to play with us

 

My beautiful bunny... Just waiting for the egg hunt to start

 The Easter Bunny arrived and was giving instructions for proper egg hunting etiquette!  I don't think everyone was listening... I was sure of that once the hunt began LOL...

We took advantage of all the great photo ops... Rachel and I almost NEVER get our picture taken together (mostly because I am usually the one TAKING the pictures)

 I was absolutely thrilled that we were able to get a couple of nice family shots.  Again, it doesn't always happen (especially since we are rarely "Dressed UP".)

Passover 2013

Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Shabbat and Yom Tov light.

It's Passover once again... One of my favorite holidays. This year, Rach is old enough to recite the 4 Questions, so it's even better than ever!

 I really love breaking out the good china and having special people join us for this wonderful holiday.  And I was so excited to finally get to use my new tablecloth... yes, it's the little things Haha...

 

We had the BEST TIME making the Matzo Balls for my "infamous" Matzo Ball Soup.  Rachel made all the matzo balls herself, while I was making the soup. She loves it when we have holidays at home because she gets to help cook

 Time to put on our special holiday clothes.  She picked out her dress herself. She is looking SO grown up!

The guests will be arriving soon and we have to look our best!

 

Rachel and "Uncle Dick"

Getting ready to start the Seder... everyone ready?

Rachel has been preparing for this all week by reading her Sammy Spider's First Passover book

Our family is gathered, and we are ready for the Passover Seder to being...

Can't wait to open the door for Elijah! 

C is for Cookie

 

It was a really good day to make cookies... and so, we did!  One of Rach's class projects was making these really cool chef's hats so we had to put it to good use!

 

 

The waiting is the hardest part...

 

Time to enjoy the fruits of her labor! (She even saved some for Daddy, AND for Nana & Papa!)

Catch Me Daddy

Today was the annual "Daddy Daughter Breakfast" at Rachel's school.  She was SO excited, I don't think she slept all night!  She helped plan her outfit for the big event, and talked about it all week long!  She even let me put her hair into 2 pony tails!  That almost NEVER happens! LOL...

She's getting SO tall!

Well, What do you think?

Wearing one of her favorites... Hello Kitty!

Grapes & Cheese... hmm.... 

Donut Holes... now THAT's more like it!

Daddy's Little Princess... 

Snakes And Ladders

We had a great time celebrating Chinese New Year, as well as attending a wonderful birthday party for another little Chinese Princess... Little Emma's birthday party was GREAT fun!  And it was SO nice finally meeting some of the people I've been "Facebook" friends with for so long!  Rach & I went to the party first.  The kids all had a great time celebrating the Year of the Snake as well as Emma's 2nd birthday!

Our friend Anne Marie was also there, with our little buddy Nicole!  Anne Marie's mom also attended

Trying to get all the little cuties to pose with the big balloon... 

Yes, Rachel was the oldest at the party. She loved being the big sister!

Waiting patiently for the beautiful cake!

It was worth the wait!

The Birthday girl leading the band!

Thanks Ms Sherri for the Parasol! 

One of the craft projects at the birthday party.
We made a Chinese Lantern

AFTER the birthday party, we FINALLY made it to the local Japanese restaurant... we had been trying to go there to use my Birthday coupon for 2 weeks!  We are so very blessed that we have such an amazing daughter and can take her to ANY restaurant! She is so well behaved that we never have to worry.  We had a really nice Sushi dinner (ok, so not exactly the classic way to spend CHINESE New Year, but what the heck! LOL).  We all enjoyed the Sushi and Gyoza.  And of course, after all the fun of the day, our little princess crashed right there in the booth, sleeping pretty soundly for the last half of dinner!

Our beautiful China Princess!

Brave & Crazy

What a long crazy day!  First & most important, Happy Birthday to my awesome Mom!  We had a conversation a couple of days ago and she admitted she really did not expect to make it to this birthday.  I had to be honest with her and admit that I didn't think so either... it was a strange moment for us both... but SO grateful she fooled all those naysayer doctors!  Cancer isn't going to kick HER to the curb without some major fighting!

 So here's how the day played out!

Tommy took off from work because I had to go in for a Colonoscopy & Endoscopy.  Not allowed to drive home from that... Mom & Dad went to pick up Rach from school... She was SO excited about it because she had been telling everyone it was her Nana's birthday & she couldn't wait for all her friends to meet her Nana!  (Especially after just a short time ago, she was telling them all that her Nana was going to die!!!!  Yes, she really did share that with all her Pre-K friends! We had discussed it so much at home since we were all so sure it was really inevitable!  Thank G-D the doctors were scaring us prematurely! )

Well, Nana got a little confused when she headed into the class... she was using her walker even though she was on the stairs... and she ended up taking a MAJOR fall, landing really hard on her back & slashing open her hand pretty badly... She was SO lucky that she didn't break anything!  She was feeling pretty lousy the rest of the night but insisted on continuing with our plans... We all went to the Chinese Buffet (yes, I know... gee, what a shock, right?)  with about 10 or 11 of her friends... It was a nice little crowd!  Rach had a great time & ate herself silly, of course... because she REALLY wanted the Green Tea ice cream!!

All in all, despite all the little medical distractions, Mom's birthday turned out ok... here is a little video from the restaurant (they do this for all birthdays). I forgot my camera so this is actually the only proof we have that it was a good day LOL


Mom's birthday bash at Asia Buffet (and mine too, I guess lol)

Saturday night we will be hitting the Japanese Hibachi/Sushi place in town to celebrate MY birthday... Rachel says she can't wait for good sushi! Is she REALLY only 5 years old?  LOL

Wedding Song

Mom & Dad have been married for 55 years. WOW...
     Tonight Rachel & i joined them at the Italian American Club, where they shared their special night with us and many of their friends. We had a really good time... especially Rachel, because she was the "Belle of the Ball"... the club president asked her to help him pick the winning ticket for the 50/50 drawing... and then he proceeded to guilt the winner into giving her a "tip" for picking his ticket! (I couldn't believe the guy didn't think of it himself, really!).  Then one of Nana's friends rewarded her for her outstanding dancing! LOL... She was SO excited to be out with the grown ups on such a special occasion!

 Took this shot before we left the house...

 Dancing with her Papa

It was a really nice cake...

From the left, My Dad, Rachel, Me, Uncle Babe & Mom... the rest of the table decided to sit out the picture ;-)

Grow Old with Me

I can't believe it's been 13 years since I married this dear man!  He has been the most amazing partner, friend, & father!  And SO blessed to be able to celebrate & share the joy with my parents... in just a couple of weeks, they will ALSO celebrate THEIR wedding anniversary!  

September is a great month for weddings!