Best cousins, best pals.

Ok, I have to share this picture. I love it. It's Justin and two of his first cousins who were visiting from California.  They were all sitting at the piano, playing to their heart's delight.

Three budding pianists! Having such a good time. And here're a few more during their jam session:

Looking on as big cousin plays.

Jamming.

Just the boys. 

Linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Justin's Sesame Street party: part 2 (party pics).

You probably (hopefully!) already read Part 1 of Justin's Sesame Street birthday party, which was all about the planning and the decorations (if not, visit here to read).  Now here are some great pics of the birthday boy enjoying his party "so much" (his words).  And what a sweetheart he is, hugging and kissing all of his little friends! Enjoy!

Birthday boy in action!

Hugs with his "older" friend Lila.

Kisses for his friend Noah.

Tickles from his friend Colin.

Big hugs from cousin Abby.

Little friends hanging out.

Blowing out candles with some help from mom & dad.

Great big friends and great little friends.

Happy Trio.

I adore this little boy.

I can't believe my little boy is already two!  It's incredible to watch him grow and learn. And such a happy happy little boy he is. Justin brightens our lives every day! Happy Birthday little buddy!

And now it's time to start thinking about birthday #3! Will it be Thomas? Super Why? White Sox Baseball?  We shall see....

In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions for themes or great sites for party ideas (or even better, your own), let me know! 

Summer favorites.

This week's p.52 theme is summer favorites. Here are some highlights of our summer:

Staying cool in the Apple Store fountain.

Trotting along the Evanston lakefront path.

My two favorite people!                      

Climbing.

Daddy and his boy at the zoo.

First time at the ocean.

Sprinkler time.

Enjoying the kiddie merry go round.

Family fun at the pool.

And the summer's not over yet!

Summer treats.

Little boy at a big table.

Summer treats! Yum! That's the subject of this week's (week 28) p.52 photo challenge.

We were visiting my grandma last weekend and amazingly, at 99, she is still setting out snacks and serving them to us when we visit.  The snacks usually consist of (see inset image): a small bowl of bugles (LOVE), a small bowl of Chex snack mix and her delicious bagel cookies (subject of this post). Sometimes a plate of kiwi or a dish of chocolates are part of the spread as well.

She has a specialty known as "bagel cookies" -- not sure exactly why they are called "bagel cookies", but they are. They are braided and twisted sugar-esque cookies and I grew up loving them. When my grandma used to live in Florida and would come to visit us, she'd bring dozens of bagel cookies for each of her children and present each family with a giant tinfoil package of her delicious cookies.

And now, anytime we visit, out comes a little plate of bagel cookies.  So, it was really fun when the little guy reached the age where he could taste the bagel cookies. And he loved them immediately! (I know, I should not be giving him cookies. But I find it very hard to say no to him ... but that's another post!).

So, every time we go, he happily grabs a few cookies and noshes away.  Here he is, enjoying one of his Summer Treats, aka Bubi's Bagel Cookies.

Mmmmmm.....cookie!

P.52 photo challenge: week 25.

Fathers.  I am so incredibly lucky that my dad is my dad. He is the best dad ever.  And now Buddy is also incredibly lucky, because my husband is also the best dad ever. There can be more than one right? One is for me and one is for Buddy.   Here they are - the best dads.

(ps - My dad is also an incredible father in law to my hubs)














I took a wonderful picture of Buddy and Buddy's dada last week.  I definitely want to frame this for the house. So happy --- both of them. Happy daddy and happy little boy.

Think they look alike?

   

P.52 photo challenge: week 23.

This week's theme is water.  I must admit I've been a bit stumped - not because I can't think of anything to shoot - but because I cannot think of  a pic I can take easily and quickly.  And this week closes in one day, so I'll have to dig into my arsenal of pics.  I've not missed a week of this photo challenge, and I'm not about to do so!

A-ha - I've found a pic. And I think it's legit because I actually took it just two days ago with the intention of capturing a cute moment. SO - sounds good, right?

Buddy loves splashing water around. In the sink, in the bath - he's a big fan of the faucet.

He is happy. Pretty much always.

I love him so.

And I love his daddy too (the nice man standing behind him at the faucet. Who I did not mean to behead in the second picture).

Splish Splash little boy.

Happy 99th birthday Bubi.

An overdue post, but I have been sort of delinquent writing. It's been really busy and I've been trying to get to sleep earlier (previously late night was my blogging time).

So let's see - time to catch up. This post is going to be about my grandma's 99th birthday.  We had a party for her. She is incredible and until very recently was 100% taking care of herself. Now she has a lady for a couple of hours a day, which is hard because she's always been so independent.

Anyways, the party was great. Relatives from all over the world sent in some videos wishing her a happy birthday, and my brother and I, on behalf of the grandkids, made a sweatshirt for her.

The theme was The Bubi Bunch (a la The Brady Bunch) and we made a design that featured all of the immediate family surrounding a nice picture of my Grandma with the words "The Bubi Bunch". On the back we wrote "Bella's 99th".  Here's a pic of the shirt:

Front of shirt

Our Model

Wishing my grandma  many more healthy & happy years and many more celebrations! Much love.

P.52 photo challenge: week 21.

This week's theme is favorites. My most favorite favorites are my family.  My husband, little boy, mom, dad, brother, grandma(s).... these wonderful people to the right (minus my brother, who is not in the photo).

Then there are my mother/father/sister/brother-in laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

And then, for fun, there's "favorites" as in food, band, hobby, team, etc.

To that I answer: pizza, Pearl Jam, photography, White Sox. For etc., I answer: online shopping, taking walks, tv, sweet treats, writing my blog....

But, for this week's photo(s), let's go with my most special, favorite  little person.  My little boy.

One of my favorite things to do is just sit and watch him -

laughing, smiling, having fun.

Another favorite is to watch him deep in thought, playing intently,  taking in the world.

And after my heart swells with love watching him, I like to grab my camera and capture those moments.

I absolutely adore seeing his beautiful smile.  And how excited he gets. And how funny he is. How he giggles. How happy he is. And curious.

I love love love this boy.

My favorite little peanut.

I cannot help myself from kvelling (if you aren't familiar with the word, it is a Yiddish word and means to be delighted, happy, extraordinarily proud, to beam, to rejoice).

I am a kvelling momma.

P.52 photo challenge: week 20.

Mothers. That's the theme, appropriately right after Mother's Day.

I first celebrate my mom for being the  most wonderful mother in the world, for being an amazing, caring, loving, happy, inspirational, positive, open minded and strong person.  She is a great friend, mother in law, wife and grandma.  I could not ask for a better momma and I love her so very much.

I also celebrate my little boy and husband, for they made me a mom. And being a mom to Buddy is the most wonderful thing I could ever imagine. I just want to cuddle and kiss this wonderful little boy.

And that is what my photo is of - kissing my spectacular little boy, relishing and loving being Buddy's momma.  Oh how I love this boy!

Just in time for Mother's Day: cute and free online cards.

If there are other procrastinators out there or people who just like to send online cards (a fun way to brighten someone's day) - I found a great online e-card site, punchbowl.com.

I still think an actual hard copy of a card is best, but if, like me, you sometimes get around to it a little bit late (meaning: tomorrow is mother's day and I still haven't sent out cards), this is a very cute, classy way to send an e-card.

Punchbowl has lots of free choices, tons of different categories and customization options (you can change fonts, wording, colors, etc.)

And it's sent almost like it's an actual card - there's an envelope with stamp and label, you click to take the card out of the envelope and click again to open the card . There is even customizable envelope liner!

Take a look at the two cards I just created for my sisters-in-law.

cute right? I especially like the choice of fun fonts. Makes it more my style. Hope they like them too! And if either of them are reading this, I'm sorry I didn't send you physical cards in time! 

Happy Early Mother's Day to all the moms!!