Seventeen years ago we were experiencing the magic of having a 2 month old around the house.  Today we experienced her being asked to junior prom in the most magical way possible.  Two hundred tealights, lighting up the sky and her heart. May she experience magic like this all of the days of her life.

Potting some flowers and planting some carrot seeds…well, because you eat so many carrots!

Where do the years ago? Thank goodness for pictures!

I’m glad I enjoyed every little bit of them.

There was a time when I considered her my little baby, she was helpless and needed me. Now, shes one of my best friends and someone I can call on when im feeling helpless.

Happiest 17th birthday my little queen. 

It’s finally cold enough to convince you to wear a jacket and snow pants! Only took a few years.

Snow is finally here! I’m so happy I can cry. A blanket of white would be greatly appreciated! What is winter without snow? Hoping this is the beginning of a white winter!

One thing we all look forward to on a snowy winters day is a hot bowl of soup.

I’m sure I’ll miss this pile of shoes one day!

Hanukkah and Christmas are here again.

In our family, there hasn’t been one without the other.  It’s all that my kids know, although both holidays are different they simultaneously exist in our home, melding together like a salad. Although I try my best to separate the two, I do wish I could enjoy eachone entirely on its own.  I didn’t grow up celebrating Hanukkah, but I can imagine how beautiful this holiday is on its own, without the Christmas flare that exists around it in our home. The Holiday is so beautiful and simple and doesn’t need any bells and whistles. The candle lights flickering on the menorah are enough to fill your heart with peace, love and joy. It’s a holiday I never knew I needed and In a world where Christmas is so overpowering and overly done, Hanukkah is refreshing and needs nothing more to embellish it. Sometimes it ends up being a competition around here, like “why are we giving these gifts to the kids for Christmas and not hanukkah” and vise versa. Or we argue about our holiday card and it having too much red and not enough blue, or too much blue and not enough red. We get caught up in what these holidays are not.

Not sure if we will ever get it right but what I do know is that it all ends up being ALRIGHT in the end.

Sandwiched in the middle, you’ve always found your way to wiggle out and shine. You’re unique, quirky, loud, silent, fashion obsessed, starbucks lover, know it all but you sure do know how to make a delicious sandwich .

Your first time at pre school was truley your first time away from me and your family. Although the program is only 2 days a week, for a couple of hours, I Had a feeling you werent going to skip your way into class, and in a way, after 3 kids who cried everyday I left them at pre school, I definitely anticipated you would cry. But I anticipated you would cry way longer, for many more days and weeks to come.

You cried so much the first day that Mrs. Ellen called me back the minute I arrived home to come back to the school and hang out with you. I didn’t mind, actually I was happy she was that kind of teacher. She wanted you to be happy, not traumatized. What I felt like would never get better, she knew would get better with time.

The 2nd day, you made me promise to wait on the front steps. Silly me, I did. And I would hear you behind the door screaming for me. They finally called me to come in for the remainder hour amd a half of the class. And happily I did.

To my surprise, with each drop off you got less worried and much more happier. I think by your 4th day you finally got the picture. And I finally got to leave you knowing that I wasn’t going to have to head back to the pre school again.