Isabella's First Dance Recital - May 28, 2014

Isabella has been taking dance class once a week every month for the past eight months at her school with Priscilla School of Dance. Every Monday, they practice dance for an hour. Bob and I first signed up Isabella for dance class outside of school when she was 3 years old and I can remember taking her to class every Saturday and she just stood there and didn't move for an entire month. Bob and I decided to take her out of class, perhaps she was not ready or did not want to, even though she said she wanted to. Fast forward two years to the age of 5.....this little girl GLOWED this evening. And I don't know who was more excited. Everyday, she would wake up and say..."MOMMY, How many more days until my dance recital?!" So the countdown began. And as each day passed, I continued to get more and more excited for her because she was excited. All dressed up in a royal blue outfit, she danced a total of 2 songs but the length of the show did not matter. She glowed from ear to ear and couldn't stop smiling as she stood before her friends and family. I could see it in her eyes, that it meant the world to her that her friends and family were there. And that is what matters most in life, right? That your family and friends are there for you. Thank you to all that came out this evening to see her and her performance. I know you may have had a long day, traveled far or perhaps traffic was bad, BUT you made her DAY, WEEK AND MONTH! Thank you. She was so excited and thankful that she did not want to go to bed : )

Celebrating 100 years and White Fence Farm

On Saturday, we ventured up to the city and made a day of it. Bob had received Cubs tickets through work that were right behind home plate and it just so happened to be that the Cubs were celebrating 100 years. 1914-2014. The girls have been to several White Sox games but never to Wrigley Field. Before hitting the game, we stopped at D'Agostino's pizza where they all had pizza and I enjoyed a nice, grilled chicken wrap. There was a train that kept circling the ceiling and the girls were quite amused with that. After pizza, they enjoyed a snow cone and off to the game we went. Neither girl seemed interested in the game, but Bob and I enjoyed it as we devoured a bag of peanuts with the girls. And of course a game would not be a game, without cotton candy! The Cubs were playing the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cubs ended up winning! Yes! Giselle was toast by the end and fell asleep in the car. Isabella was of course, five alive as always. On Sunday it was such a beautiful day, that we all decided to have a picnic in the park. My idea of a picnic is packing a cute little basket filled with yummy goodies and spreading out a blanket. Bob was craving White Fence Farm fried chicken though. I remember my grandparents always getting that chicken but I didn't recall eating it or what it even tasted like. I have not ate fried chicken since December 2010. I remember the date so clearly because I was pregnant with Giselle and told Bob I had a taste for fried chicken, so he took me to Brown's. Hours later, I could not stop throwing up and Bob said I think it's time to take you to the hospital. I had got food poisoning from that fried chicken while pregnant and they ended up admitting me to the hospital, where I spent almost 2 days recovering. Bob was initially in the room with me but then he had to go home because he started throwing up like crazy and had also got food poisoning. So I'm still trying to get over the whole fried chicken experience. I have had a craving lately for Popeyes, but since Bob wanted White Fence Farm, I took one for the team. We picked up the chicken which came with cole slaw, corn fritters and French fries. Once at the park, we spread out a blanket, took our shoes off and enjoyed lunch. Afterwards, the girls played for hours and we enjoyed the beautiful day. What is my review on White Fence Farm? Chicken was DRY. GREASY. Not crunchy. The corn fritters were SOGGY and so were the French fries. Cole slaw? Not that exciting either. Overall YUCK! I think I will stick to my mom's fried chicken OR popeyes the next time I want fried chicken...which will be like a year from now : )

Mothers Day 2014

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society! I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day! I got to spend time with my mother & father in law, sister & brother in law, nephew, my mother & father and my kiddos! When I woke up, Bob asked me what I wanted to do and I said, let's go for a hike! So we did with Baxie. The girls enjoyed picking dandelions and I equally enjoyed sneezing, as I failed to take an allergy pill! All in all, it was great to relax and take the day off : ) We followed it up with lunch and a great dinner with my parents. Here are some pictures from the day..... Hope you all had a BEAUTIFUL day!!

A Very SAD day in the VAIL household

There is a difference between saying good bye and letting go. Today, we feel super sad and it is all because of a 30 something year old tree and a BUG! Who knew something could make several family members feel sad! The Emerald ash borer bug that is, that infects trees. OUR ash tree. When I woke up today, I took the girls out at 6:45 a.m. to play on their FAVORITE TREE. One last time. As I drove down the road after playing on the tree with them and taking pictures, I passed the tree service coming to our house, and my heart and stomach sank to the ground immediately. All of the memories of my girls and this tree were flashing through my mind at that moment. And those that know me, know that there are very FEW things that I get sappy about. This particular tree was an ash tree and when we moved in to our house, 3 years ago, it instantly became their favorite because it had a swing on one of the branches. It was UNIQUE. NOSTALGIC, to say the least. Forget that we had a play set in the back with swings. THIS WAS THE ONE. That they played on, all day everyday, for 3 plus hours. And I, as well as Bob, smiled from ear to ear watching their ENJOYMENT. The tree was completely dead and we didn't want the girls to be playing on the swing and have a big limb come down and hurt them. Last year we had the arborist out and at that time, he told us the tree was dead that there was no saving it. We had our other trees treated and HOPE they make it! It was time, yet I was not ready to LOSE those beautiful hours of enjoyment watching my girls GIGGLE and SMILE as they circled the tree and watching them swing. Giselle, especially. She really loved this tree and swinging. It took them all of 40 minutes to take down that tree of 30 plus years and as I watched out the window, tears were forming in my eyes, yet I held back, turned and walked away. When I brought the girls back home and they saw what had happened, both were super sad and asked me what happened to their tree and swing.......And that was when I had to explain yet again, that the tree was sick and that is why we enjoyed it one last time this morning. This sadness too shall pass. I will never forget the beautiful memories from this tree with these girls. I saved their swing to attach to another tree on the property. I plan to take them shopping to pick out a new tree for that area that we can all plant together. Something that they choose. Perhaps this will mend our hearts. Children are pretty resilient, but I am not sure we are as much as adults. In any case, who knew a tree could make you so sad, young and old alike.

An Easter EGGS TRAV a GANZA

We hope you all had a nice, relaxing Easter weekend. We had a very nice weekend together as a family. Bob was off on Good Friday, so it made for a nice three day weekend = BONUS! While we continued our spring clean up and projects, we also did a lot of fun activities with the girls. They got to color eggs two times and also have two Easter egg hunts, one at home with the neighbors and also one with their cousin, Tristan at grandma and grandpa Vail's house. We gathered around for a lovely Easter meal which included ham, baked beans, green bean casserole, corn and rolls. YUM! By far, out of all the holidays, I have to say Easter eats are one of my favs! Check out the pictures and until next Easter!

National Siblings Day

So....a little birdie told me that today is National Siblings Day. Who knew there was such a day! Although it is not federally recognized, it still proves to be a special day. In honor, I have put together some of my favorite photos of Isabella and Giselle, two siblings. At times they antagonize one another but at the end of the day, they love one another unconditionally. As their mother, I love watching their relationship, as siblings, evolve. Here is to two sisters, ages 3 and 5.

So What's New?

Well, let me tell you. For starters, Isabella had her doctor's check up for kindergarten. She is 5 years old and weighs 42 1/2 pounds and her height is 44 1/2. She could use to gain a few pounds but for anyone who knows her, she eats on her own time clock. Giselle on the other hand, eats ALL AROUND THE CLOCK. All day, everyday. Giselle is becoming quite the socialite these days. For example, on a recent Sunday, I took her to Menards and I had her in the shopping cart sitting down. Upon walking in the door, there were a group of 3 men, in which she stood up in the cart (at 3 years old) and smiled and waved as she said "Hey boys, how ya doin?" I don't ever have to worry about conversation with strangers when I take this girl out because she is SURE to make conversation with EVERYONE and 9 times out of 10, she makes me BLUSH. Which is hard to do by the way! Isabella had her spring musical last week in which they sang several Easter songs. She always gets so excited to dress up and perform...and speaking of dressing up and performing...Lately, the girls have been dressing up to bake in the kitchen. Most recently, we made peanut butter kiss cookies and rugalach (one of my all time FAVORITE desserts!) together. They LOVE to help in the kitchen and even around the house! And lastly, the creamery opened (YEAH!), so we had our first ice cream cone of the season and boy was it GOOD! Hope you are all doing well! XOXOXOX