I Love Ice Coffee

Last weekend when it was still hot and sunny, we spent Sunday afternoon by the pool again. As a treat I ran (well actually drove) to Dunkin Doughnuts and got large iced beverages, Ice Coffee for me and Grape Coolatta for Paul. Brooke was really into our drinks and not so into her watered down apple juice. Next time there will be a small fruit coolatta for her. We were able to pacify her by pouring her apple juice into one of the big cups when we were done.

In these pictures Kristen had started to cry. Brooke walked to the monitor, leaned in closely and try to calm her thinking it was a 2-way connection. "Don't cry Kris, it will be OK, we'll rescue you, we will" It was the sweetest thing ever. Of course the moment was over before I could get the video.



She looks SOOO grown up in these pictures.

Are you serious ????

Our New Friend

Two weeks ago, Brooke and I spotted a little baby deer in the backyard. "Where's its Mommy?" Brooke asked "He wants his mommy." Then almost as if on cue, the Mommy trotted into view from behind the shed. Brooke seemed relieved as they walked off together, "to snuggle" she said. I'm skeptical about the snuggling part but they did walk off together none the less. If you look really close in the picture below you can see the baby just to the left of the tree trunk and the Mommy to the left of the picnic table in front of the hammock. It was tough they came late that evening.


Last Friday afternoon as I returned to my desk with an ice cold Coke, I saw the baby out the window. Alone this time he, she , "the deer" was hanging out under the apple tree eating away. Now most of you know that seeing deer under the apple tree in August is NOT that uncommon, however it has been some time since we have seen one this small. It is also unusual to see them in the middle of the day. I was able to get some nice shots, gotta love that telephoto feature. The deer stayed almost an hour and has returned several times since then, always alone. Paul and I choose to pretend we don't know what that probably means......



Paul is contemplating using a lasso to catch the cutie and make him a part of our family. He thinks it would be fun for Brooke to take it to daycare for "show and tell". He has about as good a chance of capturing that deer and making it tame as he does getting a goat for a pet. Not in my lifetime!!!!

Saturday by the Pool

We are fortunate enough to have a swimming pool but the summer has been sort of hectic with a new baby and the weather hasn't been that great so we have not spent too much time by the pool hanging out. Once August hit so did the hazy, hot and humid weather, we were able to sneak in a few hours by the pool last Saturday. With sunscreen and baby monitor in tow, off we went.

Brooke is fascinated by water and loved playing on the steps.



Brooke tries out the new seal float.


Storm got in on the action too and swam a few laps.


When we told Brooke we had to go in for a nap her response was that she would rest by the pool. She laid right down on the concrete and covered up with her towel.

Yellow Miracles

As many of you know, we have a flower garden in front of the house. On the advice of the Nursery Staff we planted marigolds since the deer supposedly do not like the scent. I have to admit that I bought my beautiful bright yellow, healthy marigolds at Walmart. I am happy to say (and I am knocking on wood as I type) that the deer have not touched my garden where I planted these hardy, yellow blossoms. It has been very hot and humid here so I am happy to go outside after returning from my daycare pick up run and let Brooke play in the sandbox and water the flowers. Today she was busy with her task and was watering her favorite marigold --- again.

"What plant are you watering now, Brooke?" I inquired.

"The yellow miracle, Mom" She proudly replied.

Perhaps she's wiser than I give her credit for.

Brooke Picks Blueberries - Live Footage

This is the video of our first blueberry picking adventure. You can see how fast she gets distracted from the task by Storm and the clover. Pay attention to when her Daddy accidently drops an unripe "pink" berry into her container. She promptly plucks it out and throws it on the ground. Apparently she has no patience for imperfection.

Kristen's 3 Month Photo Shoot

Kristen received a GORGEOUS handmade quilt from my boss, Sherry. The ducks and colors are just perfect so we used it for a background for some of the pictures.



Kristen looks GREAT in purple so we used this dress that was Brooke's for some more traditional shots.

They never cease to amaze me!

There really isn't a day that goes by where at some point I am not awed by the gift of our girls. Kristen will smile when she hears a familiar voice or catches a glance of a familiar face, I just melt!



Brooke is so smart and doesn't forget a thing. She constantly amazes us when she recalls something we said, we did, or a family outing. A few weeks ago I was watching a recorded episode of Dinner Impossible from the Food Network - cool show. If you are not familiar with it it's where the chef is given a challenging mission and what seems like impossible time constraints, etc. This particular episode was to feed a bunch of NBA fans and the mission was delivered by "someone" from the NBA management (read that as I can't remember his name) and Wayman Tisdale a retired player. At the end of the episode when the credits started to roll, there was a dedication to Tisdale. At the beginning of the episode he was clearly alive and seemed well. I was curious as to what had happened to the well spoken and spirited former player. This is when you have to LOVE the Internet. You go to Google and you type in his name and you have a wealth of info. It seems that Mr. Tisdale was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and after losing part of his leg to the disease in 2008, he finally lost his fight in May 2009. I watched a video clip from the ESPN website and Brooke walked in as it was playing. She wanted to sit on my lap and watch too. You could almost see her mind working, trying to process what she was watching. I simplified and said that the man was sick and it made him fall. He got hurt so he lost part of his leg. "The man was hurt, Mommy?" she asked as though she was getting this straight in her mind. Then I told her that the Dr's couldn't make him better and that he was in Heaven now with her Grampa Joe. "Heaven, with Grampa and Jesus???" she asked. I smiled when I confirmed her conclusion. Then we moved on to the next thing and I figured my teachable moment had passed.
This morning before she left for school I was at my computer trying to start the day. She strolls in and asks "Mommy, can I watch the movie about the man who got hurt?" At first I was at a loss - what the heck was she talking about? Then I realized, she wanted to watch the clip about Wayman again. Maybe my teachable moment made more of an impression than I realized.

They never ceases to amaze me!

To view the Wayman Tisdale clip click here

They never cease to amaze me - Part II

Today I swear that Kristen rolled over and she is only 3 months old. Don't tell the SIDs police or the pediatrician, but she LOVES to sleep on her stomach - LOVES IT. She was snoozing on her belly and when I checked her one time she was up on her side - I'm amused but not really impressed. Then she wakes up and cries, I don't come as quickly as she likes, she cries louder. I make my way to the portable bed under the ceiling fan and what the heck she is laying on her back looking up at me and she is MAD bright red face and all! I'm not sure if that counts as rolling over since it was in stages, but I seriously think this one will be walking way before I am ready for her to.


The picture isn't from today, but this is her favorite way to nap!

Daddy's Little Girls

They both could wear Kristen's shirt - he is definitely wrapped around their finger.

Three Months Old

Can you believe this little princess is 3 Months old? We started her on the playmat this week, she loves it and has figured out how to kick and reach for all the fun stuff hanging down.

Hot Summer Nights - Live Footage

Shot with the video camera on my little digital still photo camera this is "ok" quality. Brooke Romanski, age Almost 3, reports live from Mohegan Sun's Hot Summer Nights.

When we asked her if we were going to see Fireworks, she says we are going to see Fireflys. Where does she get this stuff?

And the Flamingo I think was really a parrot from the Margaritaville booth. I tried to zoom in on it - its that fuzzy pink think on the right.....

Hot Summer Nights

For those of you who read this blog and aren't local, we live near 2 Indian Casinos. For the last several years the Mohegan Sun Casino has sponsored "Hot Summer Nights" in July & August on the roof of one of the parking garages. It starts at 4pm with a farmers market, battle of the bands and a cruise night style car show. The casino sponsors a food tent where every item is "1 ticket" and the tickets cost a buck. They give out free popcorn and bottled water too! In other words this is a really cheap night out for our family. We spend 10 bucks at the food tent and then another 6 over at the farmers market to get FRESH strawberry shortcakes. The night is capped off with a beautiful fireworks display around 9pm. Last night Daddy was home from work about 7 - one of the earliest nights in a LONG time. We loaded up the girls, the strollers, our "chairs in a bag" and headed out. We found a parking spot without much trouble and got down one elevator bank and up the next without a long wait. That might not sound like much to be excited about - but with the crowds this attracts and all the paraphernalia we carry it set the tone for the evening. Most of you know that I started back to work on Monday and I was dreading it, not the work or the people I really missed that, I was just really anxious about trying to work out a routine. I have been pleasantly surprised, everything has fallen into place. The night out felt like a little victory party for us, one everyone deserved. It has been really hot and humid here the last 2 weeks and there was a slight breeze on the top of the roof - it was nice to have a little time to sit, cool off and just be together and chat. Brooke was loving the music and was dancing her heart out in the middle of the little circle we created with our chairs and strollers. When the music stopped she was happy to climb into her Daddy's lap and enjoy her water bottle.



Hanging out waiting for the fireworks - not a great picture of me tired, hot and sweaty but it was really relaxing to just sit!



Brooke has recently become very sensitive to loud noises - we wondered how the fireworks would go. She told us she would just cover her ears and you guessed it she did!



This is how Kristen enjoyed her first fireworks display

Cruise Night

Last week we were lucky enough for Daddy to get a rare day off so we met Gigi, Poppa and Aunt Judy at Ocean Beach in New London for Cruise Night. Brooke was not all to interested in the cars but was VERY interested in the Carousel. She and Daddy went on it twice.

Brooke's Blueberry Patch

It sort of started on a whim - last summer we discovered that Brooke LOVED blueberries. She loves them so much that she would eat a whole pint if you let her. Daddy said that she loved them so much and they were so expensive in the off season that we should grow our own. Poppa & Gigi didn't think that one bush would be enough so they provided us with 6 young bushes last Spring. We had our soil tested and did research and we finally found the perfect spot to plant them. Paul took the project very seriously and carefully prepared the area, planted the bushes, weeded and mulched and fenced it in to protect it from the deer. Last September we ventured to the Big E in some of the worst rain I had ever seen so that we could get 3 things - - one being a sign for Brooke's Blueberry Patch.



So this year we weeded some more and hung the sign. We were patient and hoped that with all the rain and little bit of sun that our bushes would flourish. Lo and behold we started to see fruit appear on our bushes. Out came the bird netting to protect our precious crop (more work for Daddy!) Yesterday while Kristen napped we grabbed a container and headed out to the patch (OK so it is a little dirt area behind our shed with 6 bushes - but to Brooke it is the most beautiful blueberry patch a girl could ask for.) Daddy and Brooke carefully collected the ripe berries "Not the pink ones Daddy, only the BLUE ones" She was very serious about the whole thing.



Brooke takes a break and inspects the goods



Brooke carries her first crop to the house to be washed before she had them as a snack - well she did sample a few in the patch, but most made it to the sink.