Out of the mouth of E-rie

This gal just cracks me up, but as she gets older it is scary to hear my words come out of her mouth. This week she has been home sick all week so I've been able to catch even more of her funny quips- Enjoy!

Rocking her costume from when she was only 17 months old!

While snuggling in the chair...

"Mama I'll make you a deal. I'll play clean up in my room if you make muffins!"

And later...

"This is not a good deal. The mess is making me sick" 

I think she was trying to say she was sick of the mess ;)

She has recently started calling me Mom and I don't like it- it just sounds so whiney and big girl. So whenever she does it I correct her by saying "what is my name?" So while putting her hair up this went down...

"Mom yous is killin my piggie!"

"What's my name?"

"If I say mommy will you stop killin me?"

On the way to the doctor for a follow up...

"Mama I'm not going to the doctor."

"E-rie we need to go so he can listen to your lungs and you can feel better. Daddy is going with us won't that be fun?"

"No mama, daddy is going to get pejato (gelato) because that is fun!"

What a silly gal...

Tasty Tuesdays: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

We are committed to a healthy, preservative free, whole food way of life. That means we cook every meal and every snack for every single day! Since I spend so much time in the kitchen I have a ton of recipes and tricks to make it easier. Thus we begin- Tasty Tuesdays! Where I share a good recipe I found or a tip that makes cooking with two kids under my feet a happier, smoother experience.

For me , and I'm pretty sure everyone else, Fall=Soup and Butternut Squash and Apple Harvest Soup is one of my favorites. It goes together quickly and is great leftover too!

Add caption

I originally found the recipe on my All Recipes app but have made a few changes to make it fit our whole foods lifestyle and dietary needs- omitting the wine and light cream and use a homemade stock. Even without the cream the soup is still smooth and creamy, however with the homemade stock I find it needs more salt. Since I chop up the leeks, onion and carrots at the beginning of the week I can have this dinner on the table in about 30 minutes. If you find yourself with extra time definitely try roasting the squash- it really makes for a completely different but still amazing flavor!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of butter

2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only)- chopped

1 large onion- diced

1 large potato- cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 cups of cubed butternut squash ( I can find frozen cubed raw squash)

1 cup carrots-diced

1 Granny Smith Apple 

I quart of stock

1/4 cup of dry white wine

1/2 c light cream

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

chopped chives for garnish

Directions

1.  Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and onions, and cook until onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potato, squash, carrots, apple and stock. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. 

2.  Carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender, or use a stick blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Once the soup has been pureed, return it to the pot and stir in wine and cream. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, simmer gently for 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped chives. 

Buon Appetito!

Erin

Fun in the Sun

So my husband travels frequently for his job which means I get to travel frequently to see new places too! Whenever he gets an email about a meeting or a training course he has to take his first move is to call me and say "How do you feel about..." Well this summer it was "How do you feel about Cyprus?" And let me tell you I feel amazing about Cyprus!

I know we saw a good amount of the island, experienced quite a few new things but in all actuality it felt like we were in the pool all the time. And I'm completely okay with that! Me and the kiddos started every day by hanging out in the pool for a few hours, then while they napped I hung out on our balcony and worked on my needlepoint project and after my husband finished up "working hard for the money" we went off to explore something new.  It was the perfect summer vacation formula: a little sun, a little history/sightseeing  and a ton of fun!

Mr Cool and look at princess touching the Sand!

I will admit to being a bit bummed when we walked off the plane in Cyprus because I was thinking Greece and got Tel Aviv. It looks very Middle Eastern and not the least bit Greek- all sand, hills and a little green not the least bit white with crystal sapphire blue water. Getting over that I saw the palm trees, felt the near constant breeze and decided I could enjoy this :)  and enjoy we all did!

Yummy lunch by the pool

Not straying far from the pool even for food

On Sunday afternoon we crossed over the border, through the Demilitarized Zone into Turkey. It was amazing to see the difference and they are less than a block apart. I love that the UN chose to use olive trees to delineate the border. What better reminder that peace is achievable?

Young olive trees

Now remember that I am a huge history nerd, so seeing an old cathedral turned into a Muslim Mosque was cool. It was like neat to see in real life exactly how conquerors and religions just absorb what is already there and make it fit the new regime or religion. 

Stained glass replaced by Arabic writing.

You can just barely see how a steeple was replaced by a parapet. 

The saints were removed from the arches

We also saw a Greek Monastery, friends and took the kids to their very first movie. But by the best part of vacation- two zonked out babies! Nothing like sun and fun to wear em out.

Hines up and zonked out!

Cha Cha Changes

So the day I have been dreading since last winter has finally arrived, my "bestest friend E-rie" has started Scuola Materna.  To be truthful I did not think it would be such a huge transition in our life, but just goes to show you I don't know much! It seems like this one change has affected almost every aspect of our lives from daily routines, to budgets and meals too.

My day starts when my phone alarm rings out at 4:55, then the fitbit buzzes at 5 and my ipad starts singing to me at 5:01 (I'm tough to wake up!).  After all that I'm still not usually flinging back the covers until 5:20 and then its exactly 60 minutes to get myself clean and dressed. Kiddos up at 6:30, hair done, shoes on and sitting at the table by 7 (we don't put on clothes until after breakfast) and out the door to take the dog on a walk at 7:40. And by 8 we are all headed to school so we can drop her off before all 26 kids are in her classroom. Even though I know exactly what this is supposed to look like and have it planned to the minute I'm still feeling cranky and rushed just trying to get the dog out for a walk. Thank goodness E-rie and Wildman entertain each other the whole 20 minute walk because that gives me enough time to get over my bad mood.

Since the Wildman is, well, wild we then hoof it to the park for him to play. Thankfully there is a great cafe there where I can sit, enjoy my cappuccino and spend about 10 minutes preparing my plan of attack for the rest of the day. Usually after I'm done Wildman has decided I'm worthy to be in his presence and we do some serious playing for like an hour. Poor guy misses his sissy so much during the day that I try to do everything I can to make it as fun much as possible. He is beyond excited when he hears my phone alarm go off at 3:30 because he knows it means we get to go see sissy! "Sissy Mama... Shoes and feet... Sissy Mama"

Once we are home from school it is dinner, baths, taking the dog out again, stories and bed. After they are snoring away I can do all of the stuff that needs to happen to make the next day roll smoothly- you know iron clothes, pick up and hose down the kitchen!

Have you noticed what's missing? My workout! I can't seem to figure out where to fit that in so it still makes sense. I'm usually a get up and do it in the morning but I tried that and it got skipped more often then it got done. I guess I will have to try it at night, but by then I've usually lost my mojo. For now I'm just glad that my usual routine means I'm walking anywhere from 5- 6 miles a day.

I never said we were thrilling, exciting people- just traveling fools! And since she is in school we have to actually plan those trips before the week before now. But never fear we will be hitting the road at least once this fall, Edinburgh Scotland.

Who knew that starting school was such a huge change? Thankfully everyone here seems to be adjusting and loving it!

Happy Day!
Erin

Whoosh... It flew by!

I don't know about you but I feel like I blinked and my summer was over! All the way back in May I was feeling like there was a ton of time to do everything I had thought up and more and now I feel like we got a whole bunch of nothing accomplished. Considering the amount of pictures I have from this summer I must have done something besides sit on my rump. So here we go, a photo recap of my jam packed but fun nonetheless summer.

First up it was a trip back home.  A great time to catch up with friends, soak up family time and meet my little nephew.

A toast to the new family of three!

Then it was a quick stop in Italy and off to our "vacation" in Cyprus. It was really a work trip for my hubby but the kids and I decided to tag along and hang out by the pool, the beach, see some sights and catch a movie. 

Too Cool for School!

Future Star of Cocktail the remake!

Just a couple of gals working on their tans

Mama its a mooobie, on a big TV! 

Another quick layover in Italy and it was time to head back over the pond to celebrate with family once more. While the whole family was together we toasted E-rie's third birthday. I'm pretty sure the adults had more fun at the little kid amusement park than the kids!

This boy loves him a hat!

All the girl needs is a balloon and a bell.

Hi! Truck!

Sweet Boy!

What the heck???

I'm pretty sure he drives like that in real cars too!

Then we all gathered to celebrate Peanut's initiation into the family of faith. I love baptisms, their symbolism and the beauty of the ceremony. I feel so honored that I got to share in his special day and am able to serve as a godmother to Peanut.

The whole crew. 

Bring this white garment unstained to the Kingdom of Heaven...

Back to Italy once more and this time the visitors were coming to us! My parents came this time to visit Venice once more and to revel in E-rie's first day of school. Quite the day, quite the summer actually. Now life has settled into a routine that includes walks to school and trips to the park- but don't let me fool you, we are already talking about our next trip! Until then...

Happy Day!

Erin

Thank you!

My husband and I have been so lucky to be blessed with amazing friends.  Every time we travel back to the States they are willing to rearrange their schedules, open their homes and arrange dinners all just to welcome us. My family and I are fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful examples of sisterhood, brotherhood, fraternity, and friendship. I can never say it enough- Thank You! Each and every one of you mean the world to me, Jimmy and our children. We look forward to when we can see you again- how does everyone's calendar look for New Years Eve?!

ZLAM, 

Happy Day!

Erin

PS: How is it with all of these parties we do not have a picture of everyone? We need to make it happen when we get together next! 

Bye bye ciuccio

Now I'm not a very emotional person. I might tear up once in a while but you will never catch me crying at a movie or commercial (like some sisters I may know). However when I realized Wildman had bitten of the end of his Gigi ciuccio I was heartbroken. Maybe it was just the realization that my baby was one step closer to being a big boy or maybe it was the fact that I'm almost certain he is our last baby and is no longer a baby or maybe I was sad he was losing a trusted friend. Or maybe it was all of the above. Whatever the reason I was expecting tears from him and not me when he said "bye bye Gigi ciuccio". He was such a brave big boy and just gave him a hug and said "mama trash". I'm constantly amazed at the small events in life that signal they are growing up. I'm excited to see what the new phase in his life brings, but I will miss my baby boy. 

Just between us though that ciuccio will not be going in the trash quite yet! 

Happy Day!

Erin

Excuse the fuzzies- it is his first selfie :)

Just let me pay you $30

 I swear people who design websites do not ever have to use them! Wildman is 21 months old- no longer an infant and not a child yet either. I just want to pay for him to have his own seat and not hold him for over 17 hours. Not a strange request right? Well you would think I was asking for the moon. Online I can't buy him a seat because he is too young and so when I call the telephone number the rate skyrockets! Over an hour on the phone, two representatives and a few supervisors later and hopefully soon Wildman will have a ticket... 

Please Air France just let me pay you! 

Happy Day!

Erin

It's done...finally

I finally finished wildman's belt! Upon inspection I realize I need to work on keeping even tension and making sure my thread is not twisted, but since it is my first one and it is finished I'm going to call it a success. And I even finished it in time for him to actually wear it. Now just to get it to The Sign of the Arrow to have them add the buckle so he can model it of course!

I wonder what I should do next? 

I stuck!

The Wildman talks more and more every day but the words we hear most often are "I stuck" (after truck of course). So one day I decided to document what he was doing every time he said it in one afternoon. Now ignore the mess in the background- he was having a good time!

What? I got this!

Okay maybe I don't... Now I'm starting to panic!

Ride 'em Wildman!

I understand Hercules- we are both just so misunderstood!

Who needs a couch? I can scoot in this!

What a funny boy!

Happy Day!

Erin

Home Sweet Home

I love traveling and enjoy seeing as many places as possible, but there is nothing like home. All in all we  will spend three weeks at home between May and September and absence does make the heart grow fonder! Over the last two weeks we have just soaked up being in Italy and loving every minute. I would love to say we have done thrilling, exciting stuff but nope not the case. It's been a lot of time at the park, playing with play doh and of course shopping. 

I realized I missed quite a bit about our life here-  

The peal of San Vitale's bells at noon and seven, the sights and sounds of our streets, trips to the market and of course a good cup of coffee. My kiddos seem to be embracing life here and I think they finally see it as home. They love taking the dog on his walks every day, seeing the changes in the shop windows, eating gelato (of course) and our new baby sitter. 

We hit the road again next week to see my new little friend and for the first time in a while- I'm looking forward to coming back home. 

At least until I get the itch to pack a suitcase and go! 

Happy Day!

Erin

Happy Birthday!

I can not believe that it has already been 3 years since our sweet, sassy and full of fun little girl was born. 

E-rie we are so proud and blessed to be your parents. We love every day we share with you and are so excited to see what the next years bring. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Happy Day,

Erin 

Land of the Free

And Home of the Brave!

There is nothing like moving away from home to really appreciate everything it means to be from the States. There is of course the fun things like fireworks, barbecue, cold beer, baseball and real football! We enjoy unlimited access to resources like electricity, clean water and even cell phone coverage. But the thing I treasure most is that we are always completely free.

 " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Yes as a society we need to always push ourselves to become greater. We must be more accepting of our differences, allow everyone to love who they choose to love and ensure every person can take care of their basic needs. All the while we must remember that we are able to focus on those issues because we are free to do so. We have a democracy that is stable, a Supreme Court that is just and a military that ensures we stay safe and it only takes a quick glance at the news to remember not everyone enjoys these luxuries.

Today is a day to celebrate our country, her successes and of course eat good food and watch fireworks!

Happy 237th birthday America!

How Sweet It Is...

...to be an Aunt!

 At the end of a last minute trip to the US I was lucky to be able to meet my newest little friend before I headed home to Italy. Even Erie and Wildman were pumped! And when the much anticipated signal came to head up to the hospital that excitement turned to nerves for us all- this was my baby sister and I had never been on the waiting side of the equation. Erie was nervous that her good friend might not want to be her friend anymore. She said over and over on the way to the hospital "Nannie Aims gets a new friend today. Someone for her to talk to and look at!" And the Wildman- he was nervous because we had skipped breakfast! That boy is always nervous he won't get fed again. Nerves turned to jubilation pretty quickly and we all got to spend a few days snuggling and smelling his newborn head.

So Cheers to you Harrison (and your momma and daddy too)! I'm so excited to watch you grow and change and am beyond proud that I get to be your aunt.

You Live, You Learn

We had two trips scheduled back to back- Rome and Venice. And after a rough trip to Rome I knew I better take note and figure a few things out for Venice. So here is what I learned and what I changed...

1. You can not expect your child to be on restaurant behavior all the time. By the end of Sunday in Rome wildman was so fed up being stuck in a highchair for 2 hours at a time that he threw a plate of spaghetti in the floor. Not acceptable behavior but I can't blame only him! So instead of long drawn out meals we stopped and had lots of snacks in Venice and grabbed a few things from the grocery store so we could eat quickly and let them play. And picnics too- grab something "portare via" and head somewhere for a picnic lunch. It's the best of both worlds: you get good food, they get to play!

2. A day spent in the stroller seeing new things is still a day spent in the stroller. Both kids were just bored- not enough time running around and playing and too much time being drug from one cool sight to the next. While it is tough to find a safe place for kids to play during the high tourist season it became a must in Venice. We found some smaller piazzas and spent more time in our hotel room just letting them play. It meant we were able to keep them going later in the day and had a better time doing it!

3. A nap in the stroller is not a real nap. My wildman is still a two nap a day kind of guy. He tosses and turns all night and wakes up early, so he requires a short rest in the morning and a good nap in the afternoon. Hoping that a nap in the stroller would suffice just didn't work. No one sleeps that great outside of their bed and sure as heck not surrounded by a bunch of loud tour groups. 

4. Overscheduled is a recipe for disaster! In Rome we tried to go, go, go and see it all. Thus we ended up with two cranky, sick kids by Monday and ended up catching the early train home. So in Venice we scheduled one thing a day. Whether that be a museum, or walking around to see sight see or a gondola ride. One thing... and after the kids played for a bit we would set off for something less structured. Much nicer time! 

Of course it is not always possible to adopt the attitude "we will see it next time" because there may not be a next time. So here are a few suggestions:

- some hotels offer baby sitting. You could utilize them during nap time or after dinner so you can go and see more.

- one parent gets an afternoon free to explore while the other takes the kiddos to play. You can see a ton while by yourself or see those things your other half doesn't want to. This is usually when I shop or my husband heads to his 4,000th art museum! 

Learn from my mistakes people- don't end up red faced frantically trying to clean up a broken plate of $15 spaghetti!

Roman Holiday

I can not tell you how many times I have seen the old Audrey Hepburn movie and day dreamed of one day seeing Rome, so it was a thrill to finally be off for our quick weekend. Of course seeing Rome on Easter weekend and with two little ones meant my trip would be nothing like the movie! We certainly did not see all that Rome has to offer but I loved (almost) every minute of it.

The night before we left we realized that the Easter Bunny and the Mimi Bunny were entirely too generous for us to pack and bring with us, so the Easter Bunny decided to make an early stop just for us. So early Friday morning E-rie and Wildman were delighted to find a table full of presents.

Every day for a whole week leading up to our trip E-rie asked if she could ride the train, so you can only imagine how excited she was when we finally said yes. I swear she made no fuss about putting on her coat and getting out the door, in fact I think she even volunteered! Since our trip I have told everyone I know that I will not get on another plane if it isn't necessary. There is all kinds of space, a large table, internet, a much nicer bathroom and coat hooks too. 

My husband and I both love to explore new cities and try to find what we call "the real feel" of a place. We try to get away from everything tourist and see what the normal people do. So it came as no shock to me when he suggested we walk to our hotel. It was only a couple of miles away and we got to see some amazing sights. We even stumbled on the changing of the guards (though much less impressive than the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetary).

Do these uniforms remind anyone else of the costumes from a musical?

We spent the next couple of days just meandering around seeing the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Piazza de Fiori and of course the Vatican. I'm pretty sure E-rie's favorite thing is the fountains where she throws the "mooneys" and Wildman is always a fan of food. 

Mama look there is lots of mooneys!




I definetly want to buy some fruit from this guy!

 

This man loves him some gnocchi! And yes that is E-rie in the background in timeout for pitching a 2 year old fit :)

I think I will always be in awe of how modern cities just build up around some of the most important sites of the ancient world. I swear I walked around a building and there was the Pantheon! No fanfare, no signs even just a centuries old building with a law office next door! 

We walked around the corner and there it was- the Pantheon!



Apparently I was so excited to see the Colisseum that I closed my eyes!



And everywhere we turned there was another church. They truly were neighborhood churches that seat at most 100 people. Each one was more beautiful than the last with art and altar decorations that were hundreds of years old. 

Of course the main reason we were there was to celebrate Easter Mass in Saint Peter's Square. And it was every bit at awe inspiring as I could have ever imagined. The Pope, the Latin and the people. It is definetly something I will do again once the kiddos are older. 



I got goosebumps when he processed out. The holiness of the whole experience was breathtaking.





Watching Pope Francis' Easter address on the big screen.





So close to holiness- it was awe inspiring!





Proof we were all there, Mickey too!



Just a few parting shots of a great weekend. Can't wait to do it all again!











Look Mama I threw the moooneys. I need more moooneys Mama.

I'm a cool cat!



Modeling her Peter Rabbit dress