Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Easter

First off, Happy Easter to all our family and friends! I hope your Easter Sunday was lovely, and I hope you remember to celebrate throughout the entire Easter season!

We had a wonderful day on Sunday. The girls were very excited to wear their new dresses and the special hats they picked out at the mall with Glammie. Even though it was chilly and rain was threatening, we walked to mass, with the girls in their usual wagon. We were there early enough to sit in our regular pew, and we were met at the church by Glammie and Guapo, Erin, Jason, and Audrey. After mass we all met back at our house for brunch, baskets and an egg hunt!

Guapo and Glammie with all the grandkids

Jason, Erin and Audrey

Zach, Katie, Constance and Victoria










Constance brought out her radio and the girls danced for Guapo.



Later in the afternoon, we had Easter dinner at Glammie and Guapo's house, and the kids had even more candy. Needless to say, they loved it.

Oh, a cute Victoria story: she is VERY into Moses lately. Her favorite movie is "Prince of Egypt," so this didn't surprise us. When we were talking about what we celebrate at Easter, Victoria says, "Jesus came back... can Moses come, too?"

Wicked

the set from our seats

Zach and I were able to have an overnight getaway to San Francisco to see the musical "Wicked." My parents gave us tickets for my birthday, and they took the girls for the night. We so rarely go out alone, even to dinner, that this was a real treat. It was also really needed for us.

It was actually a perfect San Francisco trip, which is rare. Trips, even day trips, to SF are usually fraught with traffic, parking woes, confusion and delay. We had no traffic, found street parking across from our little hotel, took the street car directly to the theatre, enjoyed a wonderful play, and made it back to spend the evening in a sweet old hotel that only charged $75 a night. It was absolutely wonderful.
The best part for me was simply being able to see a show. Attending musicals used to be my number one, favorite activity. Then real life called and I didn't have time. Then kids called and I didn't have discretionary spending money. It was wonderful to be able to take it all in. The conductor, the music, the sets, costumes, the ensemble, the leads... all of it. Fantastic. Thank you, mom and dad!

Name Change

I have received a couple questions regarding the name of my blog. Yes, I have changed it. I like to change things sometimes, sort of like rearranging the furniture. Plus, I feel the new name, "Life's sweet at the Smith house," suits my home better. Now that the twins are three, our lives aren't nearly as chaotic as they once were. Come to think of it, our lives aren't quite as blissful, either. However, even facing uncertainties and changing circumstances, life still is sweet. We are blessed.

St Patrick's Day


I guess for most people, St Patrick's day is either an obscure holiday, or a reason to get drunk, but in my family it is a big deal. I am equal parts O'Neill and Cullivan, which makes me a whole lot Irish, with a little bit of other European heritage thrown in just to make me interesting. Also, because my birthday is the day after St Pat's (March 18, for those of you totally out of the loop,) we oftentimes celebrate my day of birth as we celebrate the holy Saint Patrick.

My sister and brother-in-law hosted our party this year. Glammie made corned beef and cabbage, with potatoes (of course) and carrots, and I was in charge of the Irish Soda Bread. I couldn't find my usual recipe, got confused by the many versions online and in my recipe binder, and felt like an overachiever, so I baked three different recipes. Jason provided the Guinness. It was awesome.

Probably the best part of the evening, for me, was my birthday gift from Glammie and Guapo. Tickets to see Wicked in San Francisco the next week! PLUS, overnight babysitting!! Woo hoo. Date night :)

Cousin Audrey's Party

The girls' cousin, "Baby" Audrey, (the girls still call her that,) turned one on Feb 11, just two days after the girls turned three. Erin had a party for her with a "Puppy Love" theme. It was super cute.
How about that cake?! My mom (Glammie) decorated it. So impressive.

Me with the Birthday Girl

Victoria, Constance and Audrey

Gymnastics

Even though the girls loved ballet, I thought it would be fun to put them in a different "tot" class with the City. So I signed them up for gymnastics. These classes are 6 weeks long, and I think the first 4 weeks, the girls protested that they wanted to go to dance class, not "nastics." But the loved it when they were there. Go figure.


It was a pretty good class, and the girls learned to do a forward roll, and practiced a lot of bouncing and balancing.

Also, their favorite girls were in the class. Sarah and Rachel are twins, born a whole two days earlier than the girls. (You can see them in the photo above, in the purple and pink shirts) They also go to our church, so we see them after mass several times a month when we meet with the young families group. We have started getting the girls together outside of organized activities, too, which is great, since the whole family is fabulous, and we are happy to be friends with them! :)

Red Robin, yummmm


Apparently that is a TV commercial. We don't have TV, but ever since my sister sang, "Red Robin, Yummmm," to the girls, they won't stop repeating it. They also think we're going to Red Robin every time we drive near the parking lot. My guess is, they liked it.




Constance and Victoria's 3rd Birthday

The girls turned three in February. They requested a Ballet theme birthday party, which I was happy to put together for them. The girlier, the better :)

Our Ballerina Cupcakes and beverages.

Jake and Franklin

The "girls table:" Sarah, Constance, Victoria, Johanna, and Helen

Our craft was creating ribbon wands. I prepared everything in advance, so all the kids (OK, the moms) had to do was tie a ribbon onto the hook in the dowel. The kids got to choose the dowel color and the ribbon. It turned out pretty cute, and made for a great favor.

Goofy birthday girl Constance

Cheesin' birthday girl Victoria