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Here is my favorite little speller. She got second place in the entire 4th grade!!! She spelled catastrophe wrong. Even I had to think about it as I typed it. LOL! I am so proud of her!

For mother's Day we headed down to Il Cortile on Mulberry Street. My family, my sister's family, my bro and SIL and my parents of course all went. After dinner we took some photos in the park outside my parent's building. They are not the greatest but they will have to do. Dylan, me and Natalie. Yes it was that cold that I had my jacket buttoned up to my neck and my nose was red. But what can you do. Me and my kiddos, Dylan and Natalie, my niece Nicole and nephew Marco. :) My Mom and all her grandchildren. :) My Niece Nicole, my SIL Denise and Natalie. My SIL is due July 6th. She is having a baby girl and so far they are naming her Sophia Rose. Pretty. :)

What You Need! 1 cup finely crushed pretzels 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened 2/3 cup sugar Zest and juice from 1 large lime 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint 2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided Make It! MIX pretzel crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of plastic wrap-lined 9-inch round pan. Freeze until ready to use. BEAT cream cheese, sugar, zest, juice and mint with mixer until well blended. Whisk in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spoon over crust. FREEZE 4 hours. Serve topped with remaining COOL WHIP. Kraft Kitchens Tips: Pina Colada Freeze Omit lime zest, juice and mint. Add 1 can (8 oz.) DOLE Crushed Pineapple in juice and 1/4 cup toasted BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut to cream cheese mixture with the COOL WHIP. Garnish with additional coconut, if desired. Make Ahead: Dessert can be stored in freezer up to 24 hours before serving.Size-WiseDessert can be a part of a balanced diet, but remember to keep tabs on portions. ...

Here is a little something to let my kiddos' teachers know that I appreciate them. I wrapped hershey chocolate bars in black polka dot patterned paper. Then I printed out the saying courtesy of eighteen25 on red cardstock and adhered it on top. I tied a bow with black grosgrain ribbon and had the kids sign the back. Instant teacher appreciation gift. :)

On Sunday, April 25th, Natalie was in her first rated horse show. She was in the walk/trot/canter division. She had to wear the full riding outfit which we were lucky enough to get from a rider who has since outgrown her clothes. My favorite part of the ensemble is the hairstyle...two braids with ribbons tied on the ends. So CUTE! Here are a couple of pictures from the day. Ready to Ride. And here is my girl with her four first place blue ribbons. She already picked out a cute corkboard from Pottery Barn that she wants so she can disply them. :)

I have been waiting for this day since Kindergarten T Ball. He has been on the Royals, Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Dodgers...almost every team they have in our town league but the Braves. So, when the e mail came in saying he was on the Braves, I literally started screaming. This is a big deal to the lone Brave fan stuck here in Yankee and Met territory. :) And his number is...3!!!!! The number of the great Dale Murphy!!!! We played our first game this past Saturday. It ended in a 6-6 tie. Dylan walked twice, struck out once, got a RBI and reached on a fielder's choice. Most importantly, he really enjoyed himself. Here are a cuple of pictures from Saturday. A shot in full uniform right before heading to the field. Dylan and his best buddy Nick after the game. Here's to a great season!!!

Spring Soccer has begun. Natalie is on the Red Bulls and she has a good team and a great coach. Today we played our first game almost entirely in some form of rain. Yuck! I'm hoping for a very sunny season. Go Red Bulls! I think that Natalie loves buying new funky cleats almost as much as she actually loves to play the game. So neon green it was.

My friend Karen and her husband Keith came to NYC for her birthday. This was the first time that either of them had been here. I was so excited to take them to our favorite place to eat Italian food in Little Italy...Il Cortile. I was a bit nervous as our spouses had never met each other but the evening went really well. We had great food and even better company. I wished we lived closer so we could this more often. Here's a shot of Karen and I and then the four of us right before we left. :)

I saw this great idea on The Purl Bee and I just might do it for my Mom or maybe myself. LOL! It looks fast and easy, yet really elegant. I just love the sparkles in the yarn. ■ 1 skein of Tilli Tomas Symphony Lace, 63% Kid Mohair, !0% Silk, 18% Nylon, 9% Wool. This color is "Natural with Silver". ■ A set of US #8 knitting needles. I used Skacel Addi Lace, 24 inch circular needles because they make knitting fine yarn really easy! The Pattern Gauge 4 1/2 inches = 1 inch in garter stitch Finished Size 6 inches wide and 58 inches long. (There is enough yarn to make your scarf wider or longer if you want.) Cast on 46 stitches. Row 1: K2, yo, knit to last 5 stitches, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k1. Row 2: Knit. Repeat the last two rows until the scarf measures 58 inches or desired length. End with Row 1 and bind off loosely in knit stitch

I love Easter. It is my favorite holiday. So, it is the one I host. We have my whole family come over and we eat, drink and hunt for eggs. This year, the weather could not have been better. It was sunny and warm. :) Our Easter festivities started on Saturday afternoon with our annual egg dyeing. I was so happy that it was warm enough that we could dye them outside. :) Some shots of our dyed eggs. We tried the tie dye kit from Paas and they didn't quite turn out as we had hoped so we ended up just dipping some eggs in the dye. This year, I had it easy as Stew grilled all the main courses. He was so proud of his brisket that he took a photo of it. LOL! I was in charge of appetizers, sides and desserts which was fine by me. ;) Here is a group shot of the kids after they hunted for eggs in my yard. :) For dessert one of the things I made was Easter Bunny pops! I got the idea from this fabulous blog called eighteen25. You should check it out. They have fabulous easy to do...

It's March Madness or should I say Girl Scout Madness. LOL! This was the month for lots of fun activities. There were sleepovers, brunches, cookies sales, meetings and fencing too. Mother/Daugher Brunch. Every year the girl scouts hold a Mother/Daughter Brunch. It is usually at the girl scout camp at Rock Hill but this year it was at the Putnam National Golf Center. They had a record turn out. And every year there is a craft for the girls to do. This year it was a scrapbook page! SO CUTE! Natty and me. Me, Linda, Christine and Jessica. Liz, Christina and Natalie. The whole troop. Cookie selling at the Katonah train station. We had a nice night for it weatherwise. Sales were decent. But the girls had fun. :) Fencing at the Peekskill Fencing Academy. This was such an amazing event for the girls and the two brothers who tagged along. They spent over two hours learning all about fencing. And at the end they even had some duels. SO COOL!

I thought I better get a photo of us girls from the CT crop up on here before March ended. LOL! I wish we all lived closer so we could go to these more often. I love these ladies. They make me laugh. They inspire me. And Nancy enables, er, I mean, entertains me like no other. LOVE ya Nancy! The punches are still in my bags! :O This was by far my most successful crop project-wise. I got 8 layouts and 2 cards done. As soon as I get those scanned and photographed, I'll post them for you. Until October girls! Mwaaaaaaaaaaah!

made my day. Right before we left for spring break, one of my sweet sweet 3 year olds, Bisty, gave me this plant. It has already developed 5 blooms and it brightens my day every time I look at it just like sweet Bitsy Lou (as I affectionately refer to her) does every Tues-Wed-Thur. I love my job. :) I hope someone makes your day today. :)

I am such a sucker for kitchen gadgets and baking apparatus that it is quite comical. I've seen the commercials for this for a while now and I have resisted. I've passed it in the aisles at CVS and resisted. Even when my friend Sam bought one, I didn't cave. Good girl. I kept telling myself. But, then, while shopping at BJ's, there it was, out on display and for the cheapest price I've ever seen it. I.could.not.resist. :O It will be making it's debut on Easter Sunday. I'll let you know if it's worth the hype. ;) Mo

Thanks to trusty HomeGoods, I found exactly what I was looking for for the corner of my kitchen counter. I got the glass container on clearance for $12.00 each for a package of lemons and limes cost $9.99. So, for just over $30.00 I was able to bring some height to that area of the kitchen. Now just to swap out the old toaster for a pretty new stainless steel one and I'll be all set. :) What do you think?

I really love organizing. I need organizer's anonymous. I kid you not. A fun afternoon for me consists of cleaning out my pantry and reorganizing its contents. :O We recently painted our kitchen and I am starting to spruce it up with accesories but first I needed to clean and reorganize. I sent my family out for the day and away I went. I was merciless when it came to throwing stuff out. If I had 2 of something, one went into the garbage. It felt so good. I did a deep cleaning and then put everything back in its place or in a new spot that worked better for now. Let's see what I did... First off, is my desk area. This is where I write bills, look up recipes and fill out school stuff. I use the basket on the left to hold my current and most used cooking magazines. It is a Longaberger basket. The basket on the right is for important papers, bills, etc. I got that at a store called Hold Everything. And in between are note cards and a little thing of scrap paper. The d...

one of my favorite Food network stars has a blog! And her new cookbook is being released on March 30th!! Here's a link to Giada's blog http://www.giadadelaurentiis.com/category/blog/ And this is the cover of her new cookbook... And here is a recipe from the book... Stuffed Baby Peppers From Giada at Home 4 to 6 servings My mother always loved to serve stuffed vegetables; she stuffed zucchini, potatoes, onions, and, of course, all kinds of peppers. It may have been her way of getting us to eat our vegetables, but we loved them so much we ate them right out of the fridge the next day. I've used pancetta in the filling, but this is an easy recipe to vary and you could certainly substitute ground beef, sausage—almost anything savory that you like. These taste better the longer they sit, so they make great leftovers. Vegetable oil cooking spray 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped ½ medium onion, finely chopped ¾ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese ...

I just adore this author. I have read 3 of her books so far and if it wasn't snowing like crazy outsdie right now, I'd be picking up the sequel to this brilliant novel. I'm not sure if it is because I can relate to the characters in her book being an Italian American who grew up in downtown NYC or because she writes so vividly that I can actually see and feel what she is describing. I think it is a combination of both. Altho, I must admit this one did not make me cry as Queen of the Big Time and Lucia, Lucia did. It was more of a feel good story. I was rooting for her to find love and success and at the end of the book she finds one and not the other. I am hoping in the sequel she gets it all. I'll give you a little bit of the story without ruining it. Valentine is a 33 year old Italian American who lives and works in Greenwich Village making custom wedding shoes. She was engaged but that was a few years ago and since hasn't found love. Well, she finds a man...

I am big on family meal time. I had it when I was a kid and we have it now that I am a Mom. We lead such busy lives these days that it is so nice to have some down time with each other that doesn't include the television. I like to cook and try new things and I am blessed to have an adventurous family who will try anything once. I am a cookbook and gadget junkie. But I also like to have a clean uncluttered kitchen. The two normally don't go hand in hand but I make it work. And, it is not as hard as it sounds. It just takes some work. Marcia Ramsland is a wonderful author and speaker whose main focus is on simplifying lives. I recently got this e mail about simplifying supper and I thought it had some really good tips that I would pass on to my friends. :) Here you go: What's for Dinner Tonight? Every day millions of women are asked the same question, “What’s for dinner?” That can be the worst question of your day if you don’t know the answer. That’s because you ...

So, I've decided to take this journey with the fabulous Becky Higgins. I have been trying to remember to take a photo a day and I've been doing pretty good. I think I only missed 3 or 4 days tops. And for those days I will just include a piece of memorabilia or journaling. I will post my photos here on a monthly basis so I can have a place to refer to in case I get backed up with photo editing, printing, etc. For now, I'll share with you some of the contents of the kit. The album and the page protectors. Isn't it gorgeous!? And it's red...my favorite color. :D Monthly dividers. I love that they are acetate! More embellies and a date stamp too! Some samples of the little journaling cards and the cute boxes in which them come. :) A couple of the papers that are included in the kit.