the adventure that is life

Tumblr

2019-04-04T14:10:00.001-05:00

I think I’ll just have to give up on ever posting here lol. I have tumblrs for each of the girls, so if you want to keep up with us that’s probably your best bet!:)

http://sophiacosette.tumblr.com/

http://pennyesmee.tumblr.com/

Christmas 2018

2018-12-29T13:51:00.001-06:00

Maybe I’ll just make it a thing to post after holidays or exciting life events 😂. Let’s go back a bit to Thanksgiving. After years of stomach issues and pain I, finally, discovered I had a very unhappy gallbladder with numerous stones. Uggg. Because our AirBnB was booked all of Oct I had to wait until Nov for removal. Nov 19 I lost that awful organ! My body is still figuring out how to live with out a gallbladder, but I am so happy to be pain free! My parents came out for Thanksgiving and stayed a week after to help- I couldn’t lift, push, or pull anything for 2 weeks. Nikki and Dan came up for Thanksgiving too.

We all took the train to the city after Thanksgiving and I was able to go as well. Had to walk slow and take some breaks, but it’s always fun to go down there around Christmas time!

We set up the tree while my parents were here too.

Painting with Grandma!

We became the owners of a giant bin of free legos. Kept the girls busy for days!!

We did some fun Christmas activities and cookie making leading up to Christmas!

Hot Cocoa Spoons

We hosted a neighborhood Christmas party with all our favorite food and drinks! It was a big hit and we all had a blast!

Lit the advent candles at church

Decorated cookies and gingerbread houses

Angel for the Christmas Eve Service

And then PRESENTS on Christmas!!

It was so nice to be in our house for Christmas since we were in the hotel last year! It will be one year on January 13 that we’ve been in the house and it’s been a wonderful year!!

Apple Picking

2018-09-30T15:12:00.001-05:00

We went apple and raspberry picking today on a perfect sunny and 70 some degree day!

Back to School 2018!

2018-09-05T13:50:00.001-05:00

It’s already that time! Sophia went happily off to 3rd Grade this morning and Penny ( still in her pj’s) happily stayed with me!:) Here’s to a good year!

3.5 months in

2018-04-21T20:53:00.001-05:00

Apparently this poor blog has been LONG neglected. wow. So much has happened since I last blogged and I don't even feel like thinking about all of it again. For now, I'll just say that we've been in our house for 3.5 months and we've loved every minute of it. It was a long journey and we are now just soaking it all in and waiting for the warmer weather to appear. It's been a long winter. I'm just going to talk about what we did this last week because why re hash stuff I don't want to revisit! You can always visit my other blog for a few more house updates- House on High.

My Dad ran the Boston Marathon last Monday and we all went to Boston to cheer him on. Except, the weather was so pitiful that we didn't really cheer him on, we just waited around inside a building. He finished, but it was not an easy race!

We visited Plymouth and Plimouth Plantation before and after them marathon and really enjoyed all we saw, despite the weather. The weather was just awful the entire time we were in MA!

The other big thing around here is that we are renting our downstairs apartment on Air BnB and it's been insanely popular! If you need a place to stay near NYC-let us know! But, do it far ahead of time because we've been booking up fast!

I also pulled up some dying boxwoods out front the house and planted some azaleas. It looks much better now! Spring is slowly showing up!

I just realized I needed to go back a week or so and show pics from our visit to Nikki. Going to Richmond was the first time in months that we had gone away, and it was so wonderful! Sophia had spring break so it was nice to be somewhere a bit warmer and sunnier than here!

Moving Right Along

2017-11-22T16:31:00.001-06:00

If you've been reading my other blog, House on High Street, you know that we are making major progress on the house! Our contractor said we should be in before Christmas. All this depends on ConEd turning the gas back on, so we're hoping for a speedy turn on! We're still living the lovely hotel life. Cooking in the instant pot and on a hot plate. Enjoying being very close to each other all.the.time. We decided to stick around here for Thanksgiving because we weren't sure what would, or wouldn't be, happening with the house. Thankfully we've been invited to a couple meals so we won't be stuck in the hotel all day:) Let's catch up with some photos!

Hotel life..lounging in a suitcase

Fourth tooth lost while eating a bagel!

Ben's parents visited and we took a trip to the Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty and a trash barge...

Hotel hallway running..

Mal & a princess for Halloween

90% off Target Halloween Costume Haul!

Mall Pretzel treat

The Hatchimal emerges! She saved up her money for a few months for this toy!

Moving hotels....uggg

Picking up the new Master Bath Vanity with my mini helper

Hotel portrait

Piling on Mom

Our Current Adventures

2017-10-12T12:27:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting in a hotel room while Penny naps and figured I'd just write a small life update. For a more detailed house update-with pictures and all-go to houseonhighstreet.com. We had to fire our contractor for the fact that it's been 4 months and nothing at the house has been accomplished. We should've been living in there by now, but you know, instead we're in a hotel. The last few months have involved lots of house and lawn projects and that's pretty much been our entire life. I'll do some picture recaps for you-

Last day of school!

Met Grandma and Grandpa in PA to pick up the camper ( our home for the summer)

Home Sweet Home:

Happy Birthday Ben! (June)

July 4th Cookout:

Dinner stop on the way to St. Louis:

City Museum:

Science Museum:

St. Louis Zoo:

Fisher Fair! The girls and I stayed in Fisher for a month this summer because we thought we would escape some construction, which never started.. But, we had a blast!

With all the flat terrain Sophia finally learned to ride a bike!

Trying to make the best of the crazy house situation:

Eclipse Viewing:

Our crazy life..

First day of 2nd Grade!

Happy 7th Birthday Sophia!

My new clothesline!:

Setting up the swingset!!

Loving our new yard!

Just like Sophia:

New toy bought with birthday money. She was so happy!

Third tooth lost!

Trip to NYC with Dad

Our current hotel life:

Lunch at the zoo:

Happy Birthday to me! Birthday Cake!

2nd Grade Picture

Whoops!

2017-09-17T08:36:00.001-05:00

This poor blog has been so neglected. I've been focusing more on blogging about the new house so you may want to just read over there. If you care. :). I'll try to update here when I get some time... someday. For now, check our: houseonhighstreet.com

We did it!!

2017-06-06T21:55:00.001-05:00

We closed on our old house last Tuesday and sigrned for the new one today!! Only homeless for one week. Now we've got major work ahead of us. I started a new blog to Chronicle all the drama! houseonhighstreet.com

It's happening!

2017-05-25T18:53:00.001-05:00

This is the current state of our house. But, you know what that means? That we're moving!! All our stuff goes into storage on Saturday, our house closes the 30th and the foreclosure- hopefully- a week or so after. Ahhhhh!

2017-04-15T20:05:00.003-05:00

You guys....we are, officially, under contract on the foreclosure and almost under contract on ours!! It looks like it's all really happening! If all works right, fingers crossed, we should be owners of a house with no walls or plumbing in June. Our plan is to use my in-laws rv camper to live in while the house is fixed. We looked into short term rentals for 3-4 months but it's not even doable for us. So, it will be like camping for 3-4 months, next to our house. The house has electricity we can use and we're planning to get the water fixed as soon as possible so we can use the bathrooms and showers. It's gonna be a crazy summer, but we just keep telling ourselves it will all be worth it in the end! Meanwhile, this is what we've been up to. The last week we spent most days out of the house for showings and started to get really tired of it....thank goodness we are almost under contract! I've decided to start another blog to document our house progress..once I get that going I'll post the link.

Penny is 2!

2017-03-26T19:51:00.002-05:00

Penny turned 2 on the 12th and I went to write a blog post but the pictures didn't upload. Then, my parents were out here to visit last week and I just plain forgot. So, here it is. Penny is 2! We had a little party with cupcakes and presents and she had a great time opening them up.

We also had a big snow storm just after her birthday. Both girls loved playing in the snow!

Nikki came last weekend to visit for a few days and we went thrifting and took a trip to the city too

My parents arrived after our trip to the city and stayed all week. It was great to have them out here!

This kids hair is too much!

We came home with a new car for Penny after a thrift store trip in NJ

We also checked out the Great Falls in Paterson, NJ. The 2nd largest falls on the East Coast...in the middle of lovely Paterson, NJ

We took a snowy hike to Teatown Reservation. Penny loved putting her finger in the snow then in her mouth.

We're still in limbo on the possible new house and ours is back off the market. Not sure what's going to happen but hopefully we'll know in a week or so. It's been a long few weeks and we're just ready to know what our next steps are-either a new house or staying put! In the mean time we're patiently waiting for spring and warm weather!

it's been crazy!

2017-02-27T19:50:00.000-06:00

Life's been a bit insane since January and I didn't even document it on this poor, neglected blog! There's a foreclosed house a few houses down from us and through a random circle of events we decided to check it out. It needs lots of work, but with a 203k loan we can actually get it all fixed and like new. So, we got our house ready to be on the market in one week last month, had 48 viewings and 9 offers. It's been insane. We're waiting for the mold removal to be finished in the other house and then we'll- hopefully buy it! If not, we won't sell our house bc the inventory is so low and we don't want to be homeless! Our buyers have agreed to this, and for everyone's sake we hope it all works out! It could be a crazy next few months, but it will all be worth it in the end! The house now needs some walls and major work, but it's got great character and way more space for us! There's even a studio apartment in the lower basement level for visitors or to rent! So, fingers crossed the next time I update this blog it's about the house. Here are a few pics with and without walls. It has beautiful dark wood under that white, peeling paint. Why do people do that?! Thankfully, the white paint is already peeling off so it shouldn't be too hard to peel off the rest and expose the gorgeous dark wood!

So, that's been our focus and stress the last month-I doubt this stress will be over anytime soon, but hopefully it will all be worth it! It's been nice weather recently so the girls have loved spending time outside.

We've also dealt with snow, flu, croup, an ear infection, and various colds. We seem to, finally, be better!

She's perfected a good evil eye...

Merry Christmas!

2016-12-25T14:11:00.000-06:00

Not so sure about the dress...

🦃 Thanksgiving 🦃

2016-11-26T22:54:00.000-06:00

We drove down to Richmond to celebrate Thanksgiving at Nikki and Dans! I busted out the SLR and we took some family photos while all together!

And the annual funny photo:

Patiently waiting on me taking tons of photos..

Enjoying all the good food!

We set the tree up and decorated yesterday!

Happy Halloween!!

2016-10-31T18:31:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween from Mal & Penny the Strawberry

2 Days Off

2016-10-04T19:49:00.000-05:00

Sophia had yesterday and today off of school so we did a few more fun things than normal. Yesterday was the pumpkin patch..

Today we went to Bear Mountain and checked out the animals at the little zoo

These 2 held hands much of the way and it was so cute!

Last bits of Summer

2016-09-23T17:52:00.000-05:00

We've made it through the first 3 weeks of First Grade and survived! Penny's been modeling various accessories at the bus stop each day

Sophia turned 6 on the 11th. I still can't believe we have a 6 year old!

We bought a swing set for the girls and Sophia's been out there every day. She loves it. And I love that it keeps her busy!

Happy 6th Birthday!

Ben took her to Playland on her birthday and she had a great time!

Hanging out in the yard

Discovering crayons..

Ben took a class in Boston last weekend and we tagged along

Such a goof

Pretty flowers and butterflies in my yard

These girls have my heart! ❤️

✏️ First Grade ✏️

2016-09-06T13:31:00.001-05:00

How is it even possible that we have a first grader in this house?! And she turns 6 on Sunday! Time is going way too fast. She was a bit nervous when she woke up and shed a few tears, but after that she was excited and ready to go! She chose a total Sophia, fancy outfit for her first day. Surprisingly enough, she didn't wear her clip on earrings or any other Sophia type accessories.

We took a few pics before walking to the bus stop

On our way!

This photo is totally misleading because she was really happy and excited. Just mad because I was taking a photo ha!

See you after school!

Penny seems to be enoying the quiet and freedom of being the only one at home. I'm enjoying that as well! So much more calm with just one around!

The Cape

2016-08-08T18:11:00.001-05:00

My parents drove out last week and we all went to the Cape for a few days. I had been there a few years ago for one day and this time we were there for longer. We started out getting groceries the day before we left.... At Aldi, of course!

They brought out some garage sale Playmobil finds to add to our ever expanding collection. Sophia loved setting them all up.

Our first Cape stop was in Falmouth. We stopped at a small aquarium and park

Hotel room shenanigans in our Super 8

Our first day was for exploring the National Seashore. We stopped by the Bass Hole Boardwalk before we went to the shore.

Marconi Beach was one of my favorite spots. Seals kept swimming by and it was so cool!

Lunch stop at Marconi Station

Highland Lighthouse

Race Point Visitor's Center

We saw whales in the distance here- so cool!

More hotel fun!

Day 2 started with the Chatham Fish Pier. Seals swimming around while the fishermen unloaded their boats- a super fun thing to see!

We went to Monomomy Wildlife Preserve and walked along the beach- it was so calm and beautiful!

We stopped by the Cliff Walk in Newport on the way home.

We got home and played Barbies and relaxed.

Today we hit up the Bronx Zoo and had a great time!

We ❤️ Summer!

2016-07-14T20:38:00.001-05:00

Summer is here in every way and we're taking full advantage! Swimming, popsicles, vacations, etc.

Sophia finished Kindergarten in June. I can't even believe we'll have a first grader in this house!

First Day & Last Day

Best buds

No more school ice cream treat!

Daredevil Penny likes to sit/stand in the windowsill

I had a dr appt that lasted an hour... An hour too long for them

First day of summer... I put her to work

Baking a birthday cake for Ben. The best piano cake we could swing this year..

New stroller for these 2 since Sophia never wants to walk... They also enjoyed hanging out in it on the porch.. Silly girls

We had a major project done in our backyard. Our retaining wall was cracked and falling over so we got a new one put in. They also moved it back a few feet so it's easier to park and open our car doors. It's so nice! This was before:

During:

Done!

We even have new grass growing now and it all looks a million times better!

We went about our normal days as the wall was being built

Trip to the zoo!

Swimming at the neighbors

The girls love to use all the fun Snapchat filters

Peat Moss for the new grass!

Trip to the park

More swimming fun

Piano with Dad

New haircut!

Next Stops in our summer plans: Jersey Shore & Cape Cod!

Summer!

2016-06-21T15:58:00.001-05:00

Summer is officially here- yay!! Sophia, actually, has 1 half day of school left- but close enough! It's definitely warm enough to feel like summer though! Here are some of our latest activities and adventures:

Lots of water table time...

Lots of apple juice popsicles:

The beautiful Hudson River:

Walking ALL over!

Church play:

Guilty?

Waiting for the Dr:

She loves dill pickles!

Father's Day at the zoo!

She's way too adventurous

Standing where she's not supposed to be standing!

The Latest Happenings

2016-05-24T18:57:00.001-05:00

Summer is slloowwllyy making it's way here to NY and I'm so ready! Sophia has school for a few more weeks and is already looking so forward to the summer! We have all sorts of fun things in the plans for summer- we're ready!!

In the meantime, here's what's been happening in these parts

Enjoying some warm sunshine

Always trying to escape

Working on walking

Pony ride!

Picking up mulch for the yard

Baby jeans.... I can't even!

Kombucha scobys... My new yummy homemad obsession

Chillin' by the stove

Bubbles and PJs ( I think it was a sick day)

Her best bud...poor guy...

Chilling on the dog bed

Poor Penny was sick with a fever a few weeks ago..

Kindergarten Musical. Arrow pointing at Sophia

Planted my little garden

Went to the park on Mothers Day

And she's finally making more walking progress-Just taking her time!

She loves to munch on dill pickles- a girl after my own heart!

🌞

2016-04-16T19:09:00.001-05:00

Last week Steinway Hall had an employee open house to show off the new store in NYC. We all went down and had fun checking it out!

The weather is finally warming up and it makes me so happy-I'm so ready for summer! Penny had a great time pushing her walker on the porch today.

Penny loves the sunshine and we sat out back a few days ago and just enjoyed it!

Sophia had Special People Day at school this week and I got to hang out with her in her classroom a bit.

Penny also enjoyed some Daddy time this week after he came home from work

Spring Break

2016-04-08T18:39:00.001-05:00

After a week in NY, my parents, the girls, and I all hopped in the car to head to Illinois. Sophia had the week off for Spring Break and we figured it was time to visit Illinois since it had been about 1.5 years since our last visit! The trip out went pretty well but the way back I was alone with the girls and it about did me in! Penny is just not an easy kid.. Ever. Despite that we had a great time! Sophia went in to school with my Mom every morning to help with art class- she loved it!

Penny's favorite activity..

Fisher has a Dollar General now! I had to take a picture because it's so crazy to me. I, actually, went there 3 times for random things and it was quite handy!

Sophia got these amazing glasses there for only 1.00. What a deal!

Visiting the school

We took a trip to the Illinois Children's Museum and Sophia had a great time! Penny enjoyed being pushed in the stroller and playing with the trains.

Baby chicks and ducks at Rural King

Halfway point in WV on the way home. We visited Cabela's and I slept-maybe- 4 hours that night. Uggg

The night we got home I ended up in bed with some flu. Ben stayed home Monday so I could recover and I was ok by Tuesday. Thankfully, I was better because we got our new couch delivered on Tuesday! It's been back to real life and catching up on stuff all week - I'm ready for the weekend!