See With Your Eyes

Mom...can we just go and look at that fountain over there?

Oh, well.....okay, just don't get wet we have several more stops to make after this.

Okay, Mom........we won't touch it.....promise....

Kids will be kids!

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

It's Favorite Photo Friday at Long Road to China

Happy Valentine's Day

Black and White Wednesday: My Christmas Wish

Two Extraordinary Children

make for one VERY happy (and fortunate) Mama!

Yep...my Christmas Wish came true...

I woke up on Christmas morning and there,

right under my Christmas tree...

sat those two smiling sweethearts!

There is no greater gift!

It's Black and White Wednesday!

To see some superdeduper images from some very cool mamas,

click on over to

The Long Road to China

Maison Malfara

I'm tellin' ya right off....this is going to be a serious teaser post.

You're not going to be happy.

Heed my warning 'cause I'm not kidding.

Now, don't get me wrong; you're gonna love these pictures of our visit to Quebec to see Wanda and her Lovelies. The problem is, I love these pictures so much and there are more than 500 of them that I took in a little over 2 days. Well, let's just say, the editing, organizing and posting really needed to be done by a team of professionals....not me with JR and the kids at my feet after what now seems like the longest days since its dark when I get home from work. Yes, a team dedicated to photos would be nice.

However, I don't have one...so each one of my photos will be lovingly touched by me...to see if it passes muster for the slideshow I'm making for Wanda.

These are cherished the moments I've been spending going through every picture to remember each unique little detail of Maison Malfara and its very special inhabitants.

To say we had a wonderful time is an understatement.

To say we all had trouble saying good-bye a week ago Saturday,

really doesn't do our trip justice.

Here are a few photos capturing the flavor of our trip...

beware....you are about to enter into the Lovefest Zone...

which spares no adult nor child.

Yep.....you've been warned.

I assure you, though, MANY more wonderful photos of our very special trip are to follow in the next few days so stay tuned!

(oh, and don't bust my chops about Black and White....if you notice, no self respecting member of either family had the nerve NOT to wear black and white the entire weekend at Maison Malfara....so THERE'S your black and white...!)

Pumpkin Picking

It's the Tender Moments

The tender moments between these two are the ones

that make all the times I want to pull my hair out....
completely fade away.

Well, for a while anyway.

This is Sweetie, fresh from her slumbers

watching her brother get ready for school.



Here he is....Light of her life (and mine, too!).

She hates when he leaves for school;

especially if she oversleeps and he's gone before she gets up.

That's a free ticket to Meltdown Mania for me.
Front row seat.

She seems to be able to handle his leaving

if she spends a few minutes watching the morning scurry
(translation: my scurry since he is in no particular hurry!)

She reminds him, ever so softly,

that she needs her brotherly mornin' lovin'

before he gets on the school bus.



And he always obliges.

Yep, that's when I just can't help but feel the ends of my mouth curl up.
And my heart swell with pride.

It's the little things that are the biggest things, indeed.

How do I love them? Let me count the ways....

(and yes, that's Kiddie in tow...as usual, only now, he tucks Kiddie in right next to his baby sister when he heads off to school)

La Dolce Vita

We were busy this weekend making up for lost time.

I was away from the family last weekend for only the second time EVER.

I was attending

Lisa's Incredible Photography Workshop.

I promise, I'll be posting about that amazing event very, very soon.

(as soon as I can get my photos edited...I am so behind all the other girls!)

So, this weekend there was no shortage of Mama Hoarding.

JR and the kids all took turns being attached to me at the hip.

Mind you, I might moan a good piece however,

I can't say that I don't enjoy all the lovin' they bombarded me with...

even when its hot and sticky here with nearly 100% humidity.

On Saturday, Sweetie had her first ever big girl birthday party to attend

and WonderBoy spent a couple hours with his tutor.

He's been visiting a tutor a few times a week for a month now and

I'm betting on him to be the very first horse out of the gate

when the new school year starts.
Look out 6th grade!

JR and I divided and conquered with the kids' activities in the morning

and the 4 of us met up for lunch at one of our favorite lunch spots.

Then we went on to have some of the best frozen yogurt ever.

I decided that it was time to introduce the kids and JR to one of my secret haunts...

a real old-fashioned candy store.

Sweetie thought she was dreaming when she walked in.

And WonderBoy...well, he couldn't catch his breath.

There, among the shelves were the candies I had told him about from my youth...

Delfa Rolls (I drool just writing that), super huge Pixie Stix, RAZZLES,

Licorice pipes, SenSen, Ice Cubes, TeaBerry, Fruit Stripe gum,

Violets and the enigmatic and oh, so politically incorrect (but , so fun!) candy cigarettes

(all varieties...candy, gum and chocolate),

and so much more.

Well, why talk about it when I can show you...
Welcome to Candy Nirvana.

(at least that's what I call it!)

Here's WonderBoy negotiating with JR regarding the overabundance of

his bag compared to that of his sister's bag.

Gotta give my little lawyer in training credit...

he used a ratio by weight argument; made his point well and won his case.

I'd say that tutoring is paying off in gold (covered bubble gum) nuggets!

The kids had a ball.

(so did their parents!)

As we drove the sugared up littles home,

we marveled at the giant clouds above,

and commented

(so contentedly!)

how gorgeous they were,

whilst downing their earthly cousin...

a massive bag of blue cotton candy...

which was completely devoured by all 4 of us in the car on the 5 minute ride home.

Here's the cull that did make it home

(absent a few hidden treats that Mama quickly secured to the Pirate's Booty bag in her purse for rainy (unruly kid) days.)


Er, uh, ummmm....guess I'll start that diet on Monday.

Some Monday.

Black & White Wednesday: A Special Bond

Divine Intervention

enabled these two

to travel through life together

as beloved brother and sister.

There is no greater gift.

Except, perhaps, the one JR and I have been given...

sitting here front and center witnessing every second of it!

It's Black and White Wednesday
To see some fabulous images, click on over to

The Long Road to China

Black and White Wednesday: My Babies and Me

These photos were taken 3 weeks ago.

Clearly, they are far from the best in terms of photo quality

(did I mention the blur I was plaqued with with my new lens on our vacation?);

however, they are two of my favorite photos taken to date?





Why?
Because I'm in it with my kids (a complete anomaly)

and all three of us were captured displaying our true personalities.
(Good goin', JR!)

WonderBoy is the intoxicatingly handsome, born charmer workin' it

for whatever he's being promised on the other side of the camera.

(Whatever came after "hold still for just one more picture" )

Sweetie is both curious and careful at the same time;

curious as to what's going on all around her but careful enough to stay close by

in case she needs to avail herself of the big guns.

And me? Well, I'm rarely in front of the camera so these are, indeed, special.

My kids will know that I actually did go on family vacations with them.

More, though, these photos capture the way I feel about these two amazing children...

they're my whole world and there's nothing more important

to me than sharing life together with these two very special little people.

It's Black and White Wednesday
To see some fabulous images, click on over to

The Long Road to China

Swimming

WonderBoy has been practicing Judo

three times a week for nearly four years.

He decided it was time to give Judo a rest for a while

so that he could experience some other activities.

This Spring he chose swimming.

Although he's a real fish in the water, especially underwater;

he doesn't know any of the formal strokes and can be a bit haphazard

when he swims above the water.

We thought he'd really enjoy going to a local University for swim lessons
especially given the chilly Winter we've had.

Turns out the President of his Fan Club sits front and center;

cheering him on the entire time and she can kick it up a notch...

don't let her tiny size fool you.

Though he pretends not to hear her across the pool;
that sly little smile of his begins to curl up the ends of his mouth

the second he gets out of the water as he makes

a mad dash right over to her.

She can barely contain herself out of excitement as he approaches.
I hope these two will cheer one another on and

be each other's biggest supporters throughout their lives.

It sure does my heart good!













There's no other love like the love for a brother.
There's no other love like the love from a brother.
~Astrid Alauda




It's one of my favorite days of the week:

Black and White Wednesday.

Hop over to The Long Road to China and join in on the fun.