...and celebrate Bica's 30th with the girls!

It was my besties 30th birthday this past weekend and I was soooo lucky that her hubby booked her a flight to come down here to Miami. After picking up Bica and Manny (their real identity has been concealed for their safety) we headed to the hotel and out to dinner. Believe it or not it was my first time in South Beach. I guess it is kind of like how most long islanders haven't been to the statue of liberty. Weird I know. Anyway, I won't be going back anytime soon but the company I was with made it so worth the trip. The next morning we headed to the beach, where we got poured on, okay almost poured on, okay well it looked slightly cloudy and I was a bit concerned. Thank goodness Manny got us a big umbrella from the nice young man working there. After taking a shower, together, I mean separate but in the same shower, at different times of course, (note to self NEVER wait to go after Manny! Lets just say I felt dirtier after the shower then I did after swimming in the nasty parasitic ocean!) we headed to the art studio. But first we headed to lunch at a Mozzarella Bar. Yes it was as awesome as it sounds!! I had an amazing artichoke souffle....totally recommend it if your into that kind of thing. Then we headed to the art studio. There was a teacher (and Bica acquired a special tutor halfway through) and empty canvases. He taught us to paint the same picture (well most of us painted the same picture lol) from the first to last brush stroke. It was a great afternoon with great girls! Then I meet up with the girls in the morning for a quick goodbye. I brought the boys along to sing happy birthday and eat cupcakes. Then we snapped some pictures like real tourists. Then the girls headed to the airport to catch their flight. Thanks for the great weekend chicas! I can't wait for us to do it again!

The beautiful birthday girl! Hey did you pay to sit there?

Can I get any whiter? Well I guess that is what happens when you sit next to a bunch of brownies. hehe 

Lunch. <3 this pic!

Bica! Love you!

Sunitha! Gorgeous pic girly!

Almost done....serious artists in action!

Oh Manny you were definitely blond in another life. 

With the artist himself! He is a lucky guy. 

My boys got to come along to wish Bica a happy birthday too!

Kissing cousins! hehe Love you girls...just not that much. 

...and join us for preschool

Maddox turned 3 in May and while most kids his age started preschool in September I decided to keep him home. Well kind of. We are so lucky to have meet two wonderful families that were looking for an alternative to formal preschool too. We have based our "lessons" on play. After all, that is how three-year-olds learn best! We started in September with an around the house theme. We did activities based on laundry, mail, and recycling. I don't have many pictures from this first month but here are a couple. After sorting different type of recyclables we asked the kids if they could come up with something to make with them. They had been putting a large tin and box on their heads earlier and were acting like robots thus it was only to obvious that they choose to make robots. How cute are these?!

Later that week Maddox and I pressed old supermarket fliers, added watered-down glue into these cookie cutters to make  decorations.

...to visit Mike and Lisa in Naples

This past Sunday we got into the car at 8 am and headed towards Naples. It was a beautiful drive! It was our first time actually driving through the Everglades. We had the top down and enjoyed all the sounds and views nature had for us there. Harold and I saw alligator road kill which was a little different from a raccoon we may have seen in NY. We also saw what I called a wolf, but found out it was a coyote, on the side of the road. Definitely not the types of animals I'm used to seeing. When we finally arrived in Naples we meet my brother Mike and his girlfriend Lisa at her nieces house. The boys started playing with the girls after about 1 minute of acting shy. We made a stop for breakfast before heading to the Children's museum. It is a new museum and has so many interesting features as you will see in the pictures.  

Maddox just loves Sophia (kneeling) and Stephanie! 

He wouldn't make a very good newscaster and he kept putting the pic on his lips! Oh the germs! 

They have a whole section on seasons. In the winter season is this igloo that has a sheet of ice on the backside of it. Here you can see Maddox is cold. 

They had a section from the orchard to the supermarket. I think he was trying to work out his muscles because he loved cranking the belt to push the food to the cashier. 

Landon slept for the first half of the museum but when he woke up he was pointing at everything and really seemed to have a good time.

We stayed at the museum until it was almost closed. All the kids had such a great time. Afterwards we got in our cars and grabbed some dinner and headed for the beach. The kids played soccer for a little bit before heading to beach. 

Love this group pic!

Landon enjoyed tasting the shells that he found. At this point he was so tired as he only napped a third of what he normally does. The water was so warm he just sat and enjoyed the water running up around him.

Mike buried Sophia and Maddox tried to rescue his buddy! He stuck to her like glue the entire day.

After the beach we went back to the house and got cleaned up and played for a little bit before having to say goodbye. We love you Uncle Mike, Lisa, Sophia, and Stephanie!!! Thanks for making it a great weekend!! 

I'm back!

I know I know it has been wayyyyyyy too long (3 months to be exact). SO much has changed since I last posted. Landon has since turned one and has changed in too many ways to list right now. I will be sure to include those things slowly so we can look back and see what an amazing boy he is! I now have a goal to post once a week. I had been trying to do one a day but with everything going on if I promise once a week I may actually be able to keep up. So where have I been you ask....Harold had been studying for the CPA and I was worn out from being a single parent for the past 10 months. I am so proud to say he has now returned to us and things are slowly returning to normal. For the past few weekends since he received his test results we have kept busy busy busy. I wanted to share pictures from this past weekend and figured this is the perfect opportunity to start posting again. :o)
To start Saturday morning Maddox had his second soccer game of the season. The first in their adorable little uniforms. He is so excited to play, sometimes even too excited that he takes the ball away from his own teammates. While other kids sit on the bench and tell the coach they are too tired to go in he raises his hand and says "coach I'm ready". Yet somehow he can still manage to run to the car after the game. His energy is never ending!!

He is the most popular player, at least with the coaches, for both good and bad reasons.  Here he is leading the stretches.

Maddox and his buddy Uma. She is so cute and  seems to like him too. 

How cute are they!! Two minutes after we snapped this picture the coach came over and told them to sit on the bench . This was during the game...hehe....they are so silly!

Later that afternoon we headed for the "kite" park. We took the top down on the car and headed about 45 minutes north to enjoy the most amazing weather!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! This afternoon of nothing but pure family time was time well spent and enjoyed by all. 

I love how in the new new car their seats are so close they can hold hands as they often do. <3

 Brothers! How awesome is that blue sky?!

 My boys! <3

 Maddox says "like Woody". If you have ever seen Toy Story 3 you should understand.

 Love the running space!

 Landon is so much more aware of everything going on around him. He now points and makes noises so that you will look too.

 This is what he looks like the entire time we are driving in the car with the top down! I love how amused he is and always pointing!!

 Playing peak a boo with mommy!

...and play inside (part 1)

It has been raining everyday here for the last year, okay couple months. It seems it is either the entire morning or the entire afternoon. So it takes much creativity on my part to come up with ways of entertaining these two curious little guys. I don't have pictures of many of the random things I come up with at that minute when I say to myself "think of something quick before they drive you crazy". Some of our favorites are "peek and hide" which is what Maddox calls it and I find very fitting because he peeks while I hide. I love when it is his turn because he only has two hiding spots, his closet or Harold's closet. Although we play this on a daily basis he still will answer me every time I say "where are you", which I guess is actually a good thing. Landon loves to tag along when I look for Maddy he gets a huge smile on whenever I open the door and we see Maddy standing there. Some other favorites are playing on my bed doing somersaults, playing in the sink with the water, and playing in he crib with all the stuffed animals. Below are some other rainy day activities that we have enjoyed. Hoping the rain will end soon. We are missing the beautiful sunny days of Miami!

Letting them help prepare meals is awesome. It helps me get something done I need to do and they have fun doing it. This is Maddox my professional meat grinding boy!

Playing with colored rice. 

We usually use this as a drum but works this way too!

Jumping on the bed is always a fun time!

Even Landon got in on the rice activity. 

This is Landon watching Maddy jumping on his bed trying to imitate him. 

Magnet fishing. I threw this together quickly one day and Maddy loves it! Im going to make a better set for him one day. 

...to a little chef's birthday party!

A couple weeks ago we went to a birthday party for a friend of Maddox. At this party they got to make their own pizza and cupcakes. They each got to wear a little apron but for some reason Maddox refused to put on. I was quite surprised he didn't want to wear it but it was nap time and he was tired so...it is what it is. No cutesy apron pictures. 

This is after they asked if he wanted to wear the apron. 

Very serious measuring going on.

Apparently his favorite color is YELLOW! :o)

Who wouldn't smile at this cupcake!

The best part....eating it! Can't you see the sugar kicking in already?! hehe

...to watch these two amazing boys!

I LOVE these boys with all my heart! They just make my heart so happy! Of course we have those rough times but at the end of the day when I get my goodnight kisses I forget all those low moments and and so thankful. I love how Maddox really cares for Landon. He tries to comfort him when he is crying. He tries to encourage him when he is trying to do something. And I love how Landon loves Maddox. He tries to imitate certain things that he does and he cracks up pretty much anytime that Maddox just walks towards him. I know that these two are going to be best friends one day. Watching them grow is amazing!
Here are some of my favorite moments of them lately.

Landon's first taste of a smoothie...and its from his brother! 

Poolside kisses!

Hehe....I love naked baby butts!

Fourth of July fun!

Landon bothering Maddy at dinner one night....hehe 

Now Maddy wants to share all of Landon's toys too. 

One of my favorite brother moments to date!