Happy Birthday my Sweet Eden!

Tomorrow is Eden's 4th Birthday and her second time spending it without Daddy. The first time he missed Eden's birthday was when Eden turned 1, and Kevin was in the hospital for a week with Renal Failure from Rabdomiolisis, caused by taking too much of the wrong medication. My friends Michele and Karen had watched the girls the night before so I could visit Kevin and when I got home at 9:00pm there was a beautiful home made cake, flowers and presents set out on the table for Eden and Lily ready for the next day. I was so blown Away. God is so good to surround me with such amazing friends.
Thankfully when we went home to Maine for a visit about a week or so ago, we celebrated all the girls birthdays one day with Mommy Daddy Gamma, Pappa and Auntie Karrie. And she is still young and doesn't care too much about birthdays, besides the cake, but I am reminded of how as the girls get older, there may be many more things that Daddy will miss and has missed for the girls and for me, like anniversaries and holiday spent in the hospital etc and it makes me sad.  But I have to be thankful for the good days we have together and that's what helps me get through, That, and knowing that God has a Plan and a Purpose for everyone.

Isn't it Ironic

Feeling a bit like Alanis Morrissette! Just after I finally posted that Kevin was feeling better and life was beginning to return to normal.

Who would've thought... it figures

Kevin spent all of friday evening and all day saturday in bed with abdominal pain. Only to finally go in to the ER at around 10pm and then they ran some blood work and gave him some Barium to drink for a CT Scan at 2:30 am. He told the tech about his Renal failure and The docs decided to do the CT scan without the contrast injection. It was much too uncomfortable for him to have me sit on the bed with him, but after they gave him some dilaudid for the pain, he asked me to come up on the hospital bed to snuggle. We joked with the tech, that it was "Date Night" since we rarely get out without the girls. When they got the results from th ct scan, they decided to admit him at 5:00 am, I finally left the hospital to go home and take care of the girls. We had left them at our house in the care of my friend Michele and her mom Eileen, who have been my adoptive family out here in NY and have helped tremendously throughout Kevin's illness. When I got home the girls were still asleep with their friend Livy in the middle, my house was absolutely spotless and there were donut holes on my table. They are so good to us. They told me to go and rest and I was so exausted that I took them up on it. Then I woke up about an hour later and Grampa Gary, who comes over every sunday for church, was here, talking with Eileen and Michele. After he left they called my amazing neighbor and friend Karen over to help out. She shaved the dog for me on the back porch in this terrible heat and watched the girls so I could take a quick shower. There are definitely days I wish we lived closer to my family in Maine, but I am so incredbly blessed and thankful to have friends that treat us like family out here in NY. I would be lost with out them.

Thanks so much to all who have been praying also. We are so grateful and we know that God is listening.

Star Cottage Cafe

I have such fond memories of playing restaurant with my best friend Kate and her little sister Sheila, when I was a little girl. It was so much fun, and I often reminisce about it when I see my own girls playing with their little kitchen. And now, even at thirty something, I sometimes like to don my apron and pretend I own a cafe, where I serve up delicious salad, fancy sandwiches and hot soups followed by irresistibly yummy deserts. Only difference is now I am actually playing with real food instead of that of the plastic, wooden or play-doh variety. My friends and family are gracious enough to play along. It really is quite fun. And I don't think we are ever too old to play pretend ;)
I only wish I lived close enough to my dear friends Kate and Sheila for a restaurant reunion.

Today's Lunch Menu~  

Piping Hot Panini, Fresh off the Press!~Hummus, Pesto, Spinach, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Shredded Carrots, Shredded Chicken (Marinated in Ranch Dressing) and Provolone, all Melted to Perfection on Home Made Sun Dried Tomato and Herb Bread.

Salad~ Spinach, Arugula, Romaine, Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Chopped Celery, Cucumbers, Yellow Peppers, Sliced Apples, Craisins, & Sunflower Seeds tossed in a Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Soup Du Jour~ Creamy Tomato

And For Dessert~ Strawberry Shortcake!

Surprise Baby Shower

My Friends Michele and Karen are so thoughtful, and threw me a surprise baby shower for my "little pearl" Chloe this weekend. Kevin was in on it too! I can't believe they all kept a secret for so long. I was completely surprised, especially being that I am having my third little girl and didn't really need too much for her arrival. Even so, It was such a blessing and so much fun to have a relaxing afternoon with friends and delicious food. I am so thankful to have such great women in my life ;)

Fools Rush In

This photo was taken by the Lovely and Talented Andrea of SgtandMrsHub .

Here is a link to her wonderful flickr page. For our Anniversary Andrea Blessed us with a fabulous photo shoot back in November @ the place we stayed for our honey moon. It was so gorgeous and romantical and we couldn't be more pleased with how the photos turned out. She is magical! And I can't imagine how I could ever repay her. And if that wasn't enough, one night when I showed up @ her house for a "Girls Night" she surprised me with a huge print of my favorite photo from the shoot. Yeah I cried. Kevin and I got married January 8th, 2005.
This is a totally weird bit of random but cool information, that I just found out today when I stumbled upon a blog I hadn't been to before, Dogwood Cottage. Elvis' Birthday is on January 8th, 1935. "Fools rush in", or "I can't help falling in love" by Elvis, was our wedding song. I first fell in love with the song and surfing, when I saw Blue Hawaii as a teenager. And the song was perfect for Kevin and I, because everyone thought we were fools for getting married after only dating for a few months. But we knew we were in love and we couldn't wait to be together, especially since we had been dating long distance. And here we are five years later, very happy these fools did rush in ;)

See original post here

Aprons

I made some Aprons for a few of my Friends and Family members for Christmas. I wanted to wait till they had received them in the mail before I posted pictures.

Since I made all the patterns myself, I am still working out the kinks and trying new things with each one I sew.
I can't wait to make more and even one for myself would be nice, but finding the time to sew has been tough lately. I am quite busy with the girls between homeschooling and all the regular day to day stuff of having a young growing family.

Some of these photos were taken at night so the colors are a bit off.3 photos of Apron # 1 above

Apron #2 above

Apron #3 above And finaly the Children's Apron

apron # 4 above

Heather and Dan's Green Wedding Weekend Extravaganza Part 1

We arrived @ Heather and Dan's house pretty late thursday evening, after a long hr drive. It was so good to see them, we stayed up and hung out for a while. Then we were ready for bed. To our surprise Heather had turned her livingroom into a bed and breakfast. It was set up all nice and pretty and cozy. She bought new linens and the hugest most comfortable air matress I've ever slept on. It was high off the ground and totally didn't feel like an air matress at all. It fit Kevin, me and the girls and comfortably. We slept so good ;)
Then on Friday morning Heather and Dan treated us to The Friendly Toast in Cambridge, MA. I got the usual, chocolate chip pancakes. It brought back great memories of when Heather and I used to go to The Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, NH back in our college days.

Just look @ the Happy Couple. They are absolutely perfect for each other. God has blessed them both very much. ;)Later on we took Dan out for some lunch @ Spikes while Heather went to the salon and ran some errands. The guys stuffed their faces, the girls enjoyed chicken fingers, fries and onion rings & I ate a hefty Steak & Cheese sub. Yumm! Eden, being silly & letting us know her belly is full and she's all done ;)We definitely didn't have time to shop while we were in Boston, but if we did, I would have loved to stop in here. I took a couple of quick pics as we ran by.

We had to get back to Heather and Dan's house to get ready for the Rehearsal. It was so much fun meeting the wedding coordinator and the photographers. I was very impressed with their creativity & professionalism, yet they were incredibly funny & down to earth. They made us all feel really comfortable. After the rehearsal we went to for the rehearsal dinner. I tell ya, we were spoiled with so much eating out over the course of one weekend it was insane and yummy!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

It was such a gorgeous day and The Girls were having such a great time playing outside, I thought I'd grab the pink bench out of their playroom and take a few photos with my new camera. While we were outside, my friend Angie stopped by the house and happened to have her daughter all dressed up in pink/brown and wearing Eden's old hat too. Perfect ;) So I took a few photos of them while we hung out. I think they came out pretty good considering I still really haven't got a clue as to what I'm doing. And of course it helps, that her baby girl is absolutely gorgeous and has awesome cheeks. I played with the saturation alot on these. It was fun with all the colors.

Puppet Show

My friend Bethany invited us to her church for a Puppet show followed by Harvest inspired Food, crafts and activities. She did a fabulous job coordinating the everything, & the Girls had a blast.

Little Miss Sweet Tooth ;)Lily had a few bites of cake, but prefers fruit over sugary sweets any day.

Kate & Tim's Wedding

We went back home to New England for the weekend and It was such a Joyous Trip. My friends Kate & Tim tied the Knot In Maine. I was so excited to be a part of their wedding. Kate and I have been best friends since second grade. And I was the one who introduced Tim and Kate. They make a wonderful couple. I can't wait till they have munchkins. They will be great parents and their kids will be absolutely gorgeous! The Beautiful view the evening before the Big Day!

We brought my new camera, and Kevin took some great photos of the event.

I had the Honor and Privilege of doing a reading For Kate & Tim . They Chose 1 Corinthians 13 . I was so blessed.

I loved the dresses, but @ that moment I was especially happy that Kate chose long bridesmaid gowns, so no one could see my knees knocking. I couldn't look up @ either of them without bawling my eyes out. I am so happy for them. ;)Kate Looks Absolutely Radiant!This is My Favorite photo. The joy in Tim's eyes as he Smiles @ his Gorgeous Bride, is so precious.My wedding partner was Austin, an old friend. I was happy to see him after quite a few years. In fact I got to see so many old faces, it was quite the reunion. All of our lives are so intertwined it's awesome.

The Most Fun Bridal Party Ever! Such a great group of girls! I will treasure this day forever!

My Handsome Hubby Taking a break from snapping pictures, to take a bite of the Hors D'oeuvres. They were delish. Everything was perfect.