Introducing Daniel's Puppies

Daniel has been talking about his puppies for a couple months now. At first I didn't give it much thought, but as the weeks have passed I've gotten more interested. He has four puppies. Two are big and two are little. The big dogs, Margaret and April, have to sleep on the floor, but the little puppies get to sleep in his bed. From the sound of things, Daniel and his puppies do lots of fun things together. Recently they went out to eat at their favorite restaurant, Salmon Rae. Contrary to it's name, there is no salmon at Salmon Rae. They only have five things on their menu - macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and a couple other kid-friendly foods. Daniel was hoping we could go there Friday night, but he couldn't quite give me directions. I can't wait to get to know the puppies better.

Christmas 2013

My pictures of Christmas are pitifully poor. I must have been living in the moment instead of behind my phone. It also might have to do with the fact that I use my phone for pictures instead of a real camera. I guess that falls into the category of things I'll get when I'm grown up. One day. Christmas was a wonderful time. The boys loved it and were so excited to receive every gift. Everything was a hit this year. Hard not to spoil them when they love everything. We were also spoiled with family. Aunt Kelly and Aunt Maggie were here the week of Christmas, and my parents arrived just after Christmas. I really love having a house full of people. This house was build for times like the holidays.

All ready for bed on Christmas Eve!

A carrot for each reindeer.

Bowling with Aunt Kelly

Monkey bread time!

Loving our eukeleles!

So you hammer here, Christopher?

Reading with Aunt Kelly

Loving having our family here!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Ever since Matt and I were engaged, he has made me a cake for my birthday. This tradition did not start out smoothly. I will confess that it was more or less forced; however, Matt did make me a cake. The first year I asked him relentlessly, "So, when are you going to make my cake?" He procrastinated so long in buying a box of cake mix that he had to make a cake from scratch. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face when I came downstairs after he had turned on the KitchenAid with the spatula still in it. Whoops!

His technique has greatly improved over the years, and Matt (like most of us) has learned the joys of boxed cake mix. My plan was always that Matt and our children would be able to make me a cake for my birthday, and here we are. Matt and the boys made me a cake with ingredients Matt procured, and they had a wonderful time doing it. Sometime around the time the buzzer on the oven went off, Matt realized that he forgot to get frosting. Oh well, one step at a time :) I was happy to supply my favorite cream cheese icing for the top.

The team in action

I always wear my best sweater for red velvet.

Red cake!

Yummy!

Christmas, the Warm-Up

"Hi Santa, I would like a flying car for Christmas."

I'm not so sure about this.

Oh, you get a candycane. I can find the courage. "I would like something made of plastic for Christmas."

Special wrapping paper for Grampy.

A tradition I might let pass next year. Too much work!

Yes, it will be a white Christmas!

18 inches later :)

So much snow and no mailbox.

The costumes were a hit... So was Aunt Kelly!

Let's decorate the Christmas cookies.

Poor Neglected Blog

Believe it or not, I think about my blog daily even though I have been a rather infrequent blogger in the past year. I guess life is busy. The combination of the new year and being pregnant has me wanting to tackle every house project that's been circling around the back of my mind all at once. I had one really successful purge day where I managed to pitch all sorts of expired pantry food (mostly old kid candy and unopened sodas) and clean out a mound of paper and old grocery bags. It felt so great!

I also feel rather proud that I was able to find new homes for almost all of the Christmas gifts! The boys were in great need of a toy shake up. Christmas couldn't have come at a better time. However, finding these new homes has somehow aroused the organization monster that lies within, and now I'm dead set that the basement is getting painted, carpeted, and affixed with much new toy storage and even maybe an art room. Chalkboard walls sound like so much fun! This is about the point where I get totally overwhelmed and end up quitting the project before I even get started. We have not done anything down there since moving in and the pastel blue paint and carpet are not for me. Not to mention the condition of the carpet which was stained when we moved in.

I have visions of a space that is warm and invites creativity while allowing for much jumping, climbing, and wild play without having to stress about what is getting destroyed or broken. Every mother's dream, right? I also want our guest room to be spiffed up just a bit. It's nice and private now. I'm sure the guests would enjoy warm and cozy, too.

This must be the nesting instinct kicking in. I'll be sure to keep you updated if I ever make any progress in the basement. If any of you Madison readers know a great decorator, pass the name my way. I might have to punt on this one.

Big Brothers

Matt and I decided that it was a good time to tell the boys about the baby. We told them after church on Sunday when we were eating donuts at our favorite grocery store. They were so excited to hear about the new baby. Really, genuinely excited. It was so fun to see their reaction. Matt asked them if they thought the baby would be a boy or girl. Christopher thinks it is going to be a boy. Daniel thinks it is going to be a girl. Daniel also thinks that, "This baby is going to be a girl, and then you will very quickly have another girl, Mommy. Then our family can be 3 and 3." He cracks me up sometimes. The boys have been talking about being big brothers. It's fun to listen to. Christohper told me today that the baby can sleep in his bed if it wants to. He'll take the big pillow and the baby can have the pillow pet. I really can't wait to hear more little thoughts from them!

New York, New York

Last weekend I left the boys at home with Matt and headed to New York to visit my sister Kelly and my Mom came, too! We had a wonderful weekend full of great company, great food, and an awesome city. Last time I was in New York City, I was 22 and had just graduated from Notre Dame. I was really poor, so I crashed in three different places over a short week. It was a bit on the crazy side, but I was able to see most of the sights. So I didn't have to check too many landmarks off the list on this trip. We just enjoyed seeing different neighborhoods and tried to avoid Midtown.

Friday, after a light trip with no checked luggage or kids in tow, I explored Kelly's neighborhood while waiting for Mom to arrive. She lives on the Upper East Side at 78th and York. It's a great residential area. I spent the better part of a couple hours at this market called Agata & Valentina. It was so visually pleasing and was laid out in somewhat of a serpentine manner that was fun to explore. It was also full of awesome smells. See the apple pie construction below. Just imagine how it smelled! I had a traditional bagel and smear for lunch. Delicious! Why isn't there chive cream cheese everywhere? Once Mom got there, we started our stroll down Madison Avenue through the fancy shops.

The apple pie in construction.

Lovely pastries!

Pasta in progress.

Look at all the ravioli choices!

No Wisconsin girl can resist the cheese department.

I couldn't believe how much produce was piled on this display.

Stand back and look.

 Our one Madison Avenue purchase, macarons from Lauderee.

So pretty!

Yummy!

A stop at The Plaza ended in a brush with fame. Jimmy Rollins of Phillies fame was hanging out there, too.

All the way down to Radio City Music Hall and Rockafeller Center before a wonderful dinner at Mesa Grill.

Saturday morning we headed down to Times Square to hit up the TKTS booth to get some show tickets for that night. The line was really, really long. Luckily I found the "Play only" line which had about 20 people in it. 30 minutes later, we had tickets to War Horse in hand and were off to eat, again.


The boys love this picture!

This one too!

 From Midtown, we headed to Soho and Nolita to do some more exploring.

Snooty Soho coffees.

Cool Soho dining. Seriously, tacos cooked in a VW van? What's cooler than that?

Kelly's smiling because the roasted corn in a cup was so awesome!

I guess there are no pictures of the next 20 hours or so. Sorry. It was complete with a lovely Italian dinner in Kelly's neighborhood at Uva. War Horse at one of the theaters in Lincoln Center. I had to crash after the show. A headache and a growing baby wore me out. That's right, baby Lee No.3 is on its way!

Sunday we headed to mass and then brunch in the neighborhood. Then we walked to the Met and explored Central Park. I love the park. It is such a treasure for the City.

Had to take this one for the boys. So many children's books rerepresent this painting. They had to see the original. It's amazing!