oh, look. cuteness.

I was going through some recent pictures and found a couple to be particularly cute. I figured some of you (particularly the grandparents) would find these particularly enjoyable. This one might be my favorite picture of SP2.0 to date:


But SP1.0, of course, is not to be outdone.


I may be biased, but I think these kids are pretty cute.

easter a-go-go

Because we were driving back to Connecticut on Easter Day (actually, our trek started on Good Friday) after my father's funeral service and other arrangements, there was little to no planning concerning Easter festivities for the wee ones. Luckily some very good friends prepared Easter baskets for the boys which provided a goodly amount of bunny-rific joy.

SP1 did ask where the eggs were however. So upon our return to Connecticut, Papa had to go and find some. Shockingly, he found a grocery store open and bought some eggs for dyeing.

As we ate some of our newly dyed eggs, SP1 wished me a Happy Easter, it was pretty cute. But not as cute as this:

Thanks for the bunny ears Dru, Marley and Lennon!

in memoriam

My father passed away on April 3rd, 2009. He had just finished his breakfast and was ready to start his work day when his heart failed him. My aunt, who found him, says he had a peaceful expression on his face and he looked as though he was sleeping. I choose to take comfort in the peaceful state he was found in.

Upon hearing about his passing, we packed the mini-van for a return trip to Pensacola, Florida and drove for 25 hours. As sad as the occasion was, I have to say, it was an opportunity to get together with family. I was able to see family members that I haven't seen in years.
I was able to take my kids to some of the great places my dad took me to growing up.

But most importantly, and probably what would please my father the most, I was able to grow a little closer to my two half-sisters (let's just call them sisters, shall we?) who live in Miami.

the expression on SP2's face is priceless

When I was growing up, I was pretty close to my cousins, so it was pretty great that SP1 got a chance to spend time with cousins he had never met before.
He spent a ton of time with the girls (which isn't so shocking, really, he does like girls, afterall).
My dad's funeral was lovely. He always said he wanted something simple (yes, he did talk about his wishes, before hand...morbid, but true) and he wanted a veteran's burial as was his due. I think his girls were able to achieve that for him.
I will miss my dad a great deal. It will be strange to not have my dad to report good news to, I always puffed up a little when he told me he was proud of me. The things I will miss most however are his jokes; the sounds of his laughter (he really did live up to his name, Isaac--he laughs in Hebrew); and his birthday phone calls which usually came two months after my actual birthday (he didn't always remember that I was born two months prematurely).
As sad as I am, I have some really great memories of my dad to cherish; and, those memories will always make me smile.

a birthday, belated

Some of you may have been wondering how SP1's birthday celebration went last month. Let me assure you, the ascendancy to the age of three was celebrated with due diligence. There was, of course, a birthday week, which began on St. Patrick's Day this year...because it seemed right.

He got a Frisbee on the first day, which in hindsight, was probably not the most brilliant gift to bestow upon someone newly three (feel free to learn from our mistakes).

As our family tradition dictates, the birthday prince/king (there are no princesses as we have no girls save me, and no one bakes cakes for me, really) gets to choose his cake. SP1 said he wanted a "strawberry cake." Which really, could be anything. I took it literally and made him, well, a strawberry cake.

It was Ina Garten's Country Strawberry cake, which really, is a glorified strawberry shortcake; but, there you are.

We had two parties on his actual birthday. First there was the celebration at school.

Eighteen goodie bags--it isn't for the faint of heart--that's the parents' perspective, of course. But it was pretty fun. The kid liked it, so really, that is what matters most.

We also had a few friends over to celebrate at home. It was pretty low key, as low key as we get, I guess.

The Pup's favorite present was the yoga mat he asked us for a month before his birthday. No, seriously.

He said he wanted a yoga mat for his birthday. A blue one.

And then we wrapped up the celebration the day after by writing thank you notes.

The whole celebration was a nice way to welcome in the big three, I think.

carpe diem

I kept meaning to post about the Florida part of our Spring Break trip and never got around to it. The Florida part of our trip was a pit stop to see my dad in Pensacola followed by a quick trip to Disney World. Little did I know at the time that it would be the last time I would see my dad. He passed away on April 3rd. It was really nice that he got a chance to meet his newest grandson (SP2) before his passing.

SP1 also had fun spending time with him during Spring Break. My dad was quite the Tickle Monster.

After spending some time with my dad, we went down to Orlando for a day at the Magic Kingdom, it was just a taste really.

We have plans to go back before the end of the year. There are lots of pictures of our visit to Pensacola as well as Orlando in flickr, of course.