Spring Kick-Off

We celebrated Spring today by heading over to Tobay Beach and playing at the playground there. We packed up some sandwiches for lunch and met up with our neighbors/friends. It was a beautiful day.

Snotty mornings w/Leah

Some mornings go off without a hitch. We wake up, Leah gets ready for school without any issues. Clothes are put on, teeth are brushed, hair is done, breakfast is eaten and off she goes. Then other mornings are pure hell.

This particular morning was going well until Leah decided she needed to have yellow elastics for her pigtails not pink, not purple, not black...YELLOW. Unfortunately I had no clue where her yellow ones were.

We have always had two morning rules.

1) We do not fight about clothes.
2) We do not fight about breakfast.

We have added a third:

3) We do not fight about hair.

I finally located two yellow ones in my collection of hair bands.

This her post crying session, still needed to get her nose cleaned up but she wanted some pictures snapped of her outfit. She absolutely loves this outfit. She bought it all by herself at H&M.







Some pics of Leah waiting for her bus & walking towards it. Every time I watch her go to her bus I am shocked at how sad & proud I feel, all at the same time. I love that she is growing up and independent but still I just want it all to slow down a bit. Goes by much too quickly.

Silly Leah

Wearing her lil brother's clothing.





Here is the baby with his stuff on.

Spring Tease

Spring teased us a bit today. When Leah got home from school we went over to the park. She said she wanted to show me a surprise.

She can get herself swinging all by herself. She also goes pretty high now.

Purest of Loves

The love between siblings is pure. Unconditional. I learned this growing up with 3 younger siblings. We drove one another insane (and sometimes still do) but we were the best of friends (sometimes our worst enemies). But I wouldn't have had any other way.

Leah and Louis are already developing a beautiful bond. I look forward to seeing it grow over the years.

Leah is wonderful with the baby. She finds new ways to entertain him and she is already trying to teach him the names for things, colors and songs. She loves being a big sister. There are times that she gets a lil annoyed with the baby stuff but then she immediately feels bad for it and apologizes.

We are blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. She is a great help.

Party Time

We went to a birthday party for one of Leah's classmates this morning. It was held at Just Fabulous & Outrageous Events. It was a glamour party where the girls get dressed up & have their nails, make-up & hair done. There is music and dancing, and at the end a run way fashion show. This was Leah's second time there. We had a great time.

Afterward we hit up Toys R US & Babies R Us for some shopping. Then we went to Olive Garden for a late lunch/early dinner. We filled up on good food and delicious desserts. After being cooped up inside for what seems like forever due to the cold weather it was nice to get out for the afternoon.











Tired after a long day of parties and shopping.

Ice Skating Fun

We went ice skating with Lindsay today. Matt, Lindsay & Leah spent the morning skating around the ice. Well I should say holding up Leah as she attempted to skate. After an hour or so she became more independent and took a few steps on her own. She handled her falls well.







This is what Louis did:


Lunch & ice cream afterward at Friendly's

Happy Valentine's Day

Leah & Louis got all dressed up for Valentine's Day. After spending the afternoon with their grandparents we went out to dinner. Leah got us cards and gifts. She loves celebrating holidays and she always makes sure to make them extra special.

Clarinet Time

Leah is interested in music, especially in learning how to play musical instruments. Matt took out his clarinet and gave Leah a lesson on to hold and play the clarinet. We need to get her a mouthpiece & reeds of her own.

Snow Day

The local school district was closed today due to a huge snow storm we were expecting. Good thing too cause there are nearly 2 feet of snow outside.

Leah was bouncing off the walls all day, she could not wait for Matt to get home from work so she could go out to play in the snow. She bundled up in tons of layers, threw on her snow gear and out she went. Our neighbors and good friends were also out so Leah played with her friend Mayah out in the snow for about 2 hours.



While the girls played I spent time catching up with Mayah's mom and letting our two youngest ones get to know one another. Mayah's sister Alana is 7 months old.

It is wonderful having such good friends with kids around the same age. I look forward to the Spring when we can all be out and about together.

Leah & Louis's First Photo Shoot

Leah did marvelously (as always) at her photo shoot with Louis. She was tender and careful with him. She made him laugh and smile. Looking at the two of them together...nothing quite like it. Makes me tear up every time. You can really see just how much she loves her brother.

Leah's 1st & hopefully last bully

Leah had her first incident with a bully on her kindergarten bus this past week. I have to say the way she handled the situation was admirable. This girl had been teasing her and calling her ugly for about a week and Leah didn't retaliate. She just brushed it off and let it go. Unfortunately the girl decided to escalate her bullying (probably because she wasn't getting the attention from Leah that she was hoping for) and scratched Leah on the hand. Leah came home and told me what happened. I called the school and the principal assured me she would take care of it.

The school's administration did a wonderful job and spoke to the young girl who in turn apologized to Leah. The rest of the week went well, no more problems on the bus.

I hope it will be a long time before Leah has to deal with a bully again but if/when the time comes I know she will handle it well. It didn't phase her to be teased by another person. It wasn't a big issue to her. Leah is confident in who she is and knows when someone else is just being mean for the hell of it.

There are many adults who cannot do the same.

Many faces of Louis & Leah

Louis has much in common with his big sister. They both have very expressive faces.

Cutie pies