La Petite Fashionista

What can I say??? My daughter has quite the sense of style. She wears what she wants and is not afraid of the statement she makes. This child has always had a thing about shoes, too. She loves her feet and calls her piggies her "bitsy toes". We paint them and cut them and rub them with lotion. She is a girl who likes fashion and being pampered. I guess it is never to early to appreciate being treated like a queen! Especially when that queen knows the powerful effect of a fine pair of froggy galoshes paired with a simple Red Sox shirt! Here is Chelsea fresh from a tubby and ready for bed. Ribbit Ribbit!

Opening Day!

It was Opening Day for Little League yesterday! This is Travis's first year playing. I think he likes it. He gets bored waiting for all of the kids to bat each inning (it is kind of like watching paint dry, actually!) but he seems somewhat happy about being there.

He is on the blue team, which makes him very happy! Our neighbor is the coach. He posed for a picture in his uniform for me. He looked so old. It reminded me of watching my brothers suit up for their games when we were kids!

Chelsea decided that the perfect accessory for the baseball parade was her baseball glove. It has princesses all over it and she wore it for a long time when we were waiting for Travis to walk by. Just like big brother!
Chelsea and I waited at the field for Travis to walk by in the parade. He chose his Dad to walk with him. Chelsea would have liked to walk with him, also. I had visions of having to carry her the whole way. Plus it was Travis's special day. No need to have little sister tagging along!
Travis managed a wave for his cheering section! The kids were so cute in their little uniforms!
Chelsea hung out and chatted with everyone around her as we listened to the speeches. She still has her glove.
Rich Gedman (a former Red Sox player) threw out the first pitch. He gave a little speech. I think the dad's appreciated it much more than the players. Now Rich Gedman has some high position with our local independent baseball team, the Worcester Tornadoes (or, as Travis calls them, the Worcester Tomatoes).
During warm-ups Travis decided to take a little rest. He hung out on the grass, played with his hat, and looked utterly annoyed when he had to run for the ball.

Chelsea made friends at the field and was thrilled to entertain Mimi and Daddy. She was so enthralled with her own shadow and the fact that when she turned around it was in back of her.

Here is Travis at bat. He hit a few line drives down the first base line (and ended up getting out in the second inning because of it). I was just thrilled that he made contact with the ball.
Now my big challenge is juggling baseball with spring soccer! Who had the brilliant idea of signing her kid up for two sports in one season???!!! Should be interesting!

Spring Break!!!! Wahooo!

The kids and I have been on vacation this week. Overall it has been great. A lot of hanging out with friends and getting organized here at home. Not as much as I had planned... you know me... if there is any offer put on the table when it is time to do housework, I'm game. A few little projects were completed though! Of course I came home from school on Friday and, true to form, Chelsea had green gunk running from her nose and a mild temp. She woke up Saturday wheezing and coughing. After a trip to the doctor she was put on Albuterol and a steroid. We gave her the medicine and she went nuts!!! She was running around like crazy and talking really fast! It was entertaining because she was happy (even if she was as high as a kite) but I am glad we only had to keep her on it for a few days. When her engine died, she really crashed. She would have been a blur of motion if I had taken her picture when she was running around, but I did manage to get a good one of her during her nap. Here she is: our sleeping beauty. I could watch her like this all day!
Travis started baseball this week. He needs to become a little more familiar with the game. He gave it a good try. Here are a few "in action" shots. It should be interesting trying to juggle baseball and soccer this spring. I think it is going to be quite a busy few months. This is the last time he will be doubling up on sports. We did it this time kind of by accident. I didn't really think about the scheduling difficulties because I signed Travis up for soccer last fall. Then I went and signed him up for baseball late this winter. My bad!

I did manage to rearrange a few things in the living room this vacation. I switched my little shelf for one in my kids' room and reworked the bench a little. I am satisfied for now.

I also had my first two At Home America shows this week. They were fun. I am not sure it is something I will continue long-term, but for now I will do it. I am excited because I am able to get some very pretty things for my house at a great discount. And my friends who have hosted parties will also! I didn't know what to expect because I have never held a job like this one. I thought it would be more nerve-racking speaking in front of adults. I spend all day in front of a large group of kids but I tend to be very anxious when I need to address grown-ups. Once I got used to it, I calmed down.

Travis has his Little League parade this weekend. He is only a little excited about it. I think he will love it once he is there. I wish I could say the same about the actual game of baseball. I am just not sure he enjoys sports. I just want him to try them until he finds one that fits him. At his last practice he said, "It's kind of chilly. I think I will wait in the car!" What a trooper! Time will tell!

Hoppy Easter!

The Easter Bunny visited our family on this happy Easter morning! And he must have really known what would make my kids smile. They were very pleased with their baskets and their goodies. Here they are showing off their treasures!
Then I dressed them in their finest. Daddy had to go to work, which made us sad. Travis got to wear his new blue sneakers (FINALLY) and Chelsea had her dress with a matching one for her doll.
We headed to Grandma BJ's to celebrate Easter and Grandpa Ernie's 80th birthday. There was a bigger crowd than usual. We had fun. Travis got to spend time with his cousins, which is one of his favorite things in the world. Here he is getting a tutorial on Star Wars from Ethan!

Chelsea got reacquainted with her cousin Elise. And we met her baby sister Chloe! The little girls had a blast. I have no doubt that, once Chloe is old enough to join in, the three girls will be quite the crazy team!!! Once Elise and Chelsea finished looking each other up and down and playing shy, they were inseparable.

We visited with my side of the family at Auntie's house. The kids were tired and hungry and started to melt down so we didn't stay long. Just long enough to inhale some strawberry cheesecake truffle my aunt made. YUMMMMMMM!


Once we headed home we took it easy. The kids played with Lego's and I made dinner. Talking to their Mimi must have put them both in the mood for ravioli, because they both wanted it when we got home (a rare treat for me that they agreed on a meal! even though I don't make it like Mimi! Apparently she has a secret recipe (Francesco Renauldi, I think). They ate and ate and ate.

Travis has been really into drawing lately. He drew this picture of our family. Notice Chelsea down on the ground crawling. I think life was easier for Trav when Chelsea was small like that. This is a picture of us at the fireworks on the Fourth of July.
My friends Susan and Lisa get a kick out of buying Chelsea girly-girl stuff. Here is her flower headband. She loved it. She actually got a big kick out of when I put it on, too. She kepts saying "You're a silly mama!" Happy Easter to one and all!

My Spare Time

I have created a monster. Actually two of them. I have been so inspired by stories of people who go to thrift stores and yardsales and find great things to make over that I have started looking around myself... And I have been fairly lucky. But that is only part of this issue. My children love to come with me. My son is a true junker... He loves to find little things that people are throwing out and play with it. At the last yardsale it was one of those egg beaters with the handles and gears. He begged me to take it home so he could play with it. I talked him out of that one because it was huge! He loves to look through the housewares at Goodwill and Salvation Army and give me his advice on what I should buy. And he actually is pretty good at it. He told me to buy the wooden sconce in the picture below so I could paint it. At 99 cents I figured why not?!
These two finds were $1 each at a yardsale. I like the sifter but I really love the other thing. It turns out it is used to grind nuts. Pretty ironic since my husband and my son are deathly allergic. I just thought it was cool so I picked it up.

In other Campbell news, my daughter has a new love...flowers. Each time she goes to the grocery store with daddy she convinces him to buy me flowers. He has always been pretty good about that on his own, but it doesn't hurt to have a little elf-like reminder on my side. Here is the most recent purchase. Mini roses. I took a picture of them today because it was so gloomy out and it just made them look all the more cheerful. I have them sitting on my kitchen table and can't help but smile when I catch sight of them!
Here she is... The girl who helps daddy pick out mom's flowers! She is also a budding shopper. She picks up everything and says "Oooooooo! Pretty!" Uh oh! I am in trouble!

My personal big news is that I signed up to be an At Home America Rep. I was looking for a way to bring in a little extra money... something that did NOT involve kids as I see my class all day and my own cherubs all night. I love to decorate so I figured I would give it a try. If I hate it I will just do it until I earn my free kit and then I will stop. We will see! More details to follow!

I spent the weekend getting myself organized and came up with the idea to have my son draw a picture of a house to use on my labels and business cards. He came up with this:
I love it! It is perfect and it is another thing that makes me happy each time I see it. Can't have too many of those around!

My friends and family and colleagues have been so supportive of this. I already have several bookings and I think I am going to enjoy it! I guess time will tell!!!!
Check out the link to my webpage with AtHome.com (in the right column!).