Search this site:    

It’s rainy out today but sometimes, a rainy day isn’t a bad thing. Plus, it helps the flowers and trees look gorgeous. Stay dry local friends!

(Azalea bushes in my backyard)

I love Dr. Seuss’ birthday. It’s such a fun day for the kids when it falls on a school day. It’s Read Across America Day and that means the kids get to literally drop everything and read! As school Historian, I usually pop over to the school and take the cutest pictures of kids wearing Cat In The Hat hats, the Kindergarteners making green eggs & ham, etc but today I had a newborn shoot so I couldn’t be there. I still incorporated Dr. Seuss into my shoot though. ;) Check out the sneak peek.

This is the first year in school that Emily gets to read to a younger grade (3rd grade reads to Kindergarteners, 4th grade reads to 1st graders and 5th grade reads to 2nd graders). She brought in our big multi-story Dr. Seuss book. Andrew brought in a few books and Green Eggs & Ham (the cartoon) because his teacher told him if he brought it in the class could watch it. Grace made this adorable Cat In The Hat.

After my shoot I baked a dozen cupcakes to surprise the kids with when they get off the bus.

It’s been a busy, Dr. Seuss-inspired day! I’m thinking we’ll probably squeeze in a viewing of The Lorax this weekend too!

This weekend I am hoping to edit the two newborn sessions I shot this week, finish my Blog entry on the remainder of my February Instagram photos and catch-up on Project Life. I have one more shoot tomorrow and then I am off until March 20th. Mickey Mouse better be ready for the Millers. We’re coming back!

Have a great weekend!

… I am planning on vegging out while the littlest little is in school, picking her up, doing a light shopping and coming home to bake. I promised Grace we would bake some treats today. She wants to make cupcakes. I was thinking of setting up a test kitchen on a new recipe or two. Maybe one that will get Blogged soon!

Despite the gray, rainy day outside, I had this picture ready for the Blog so here you go! If you’re in NY, pretend it’s sunny. We are in for some gorgeous weather for the next week anyhow.

Happy Wednesday!

Yesterday, the 3 kids, me & my parents all went to Hicks Nursery to visit Otto the Ghost. We had a fun morning picking pumpkins, taking pictures with Otto and going on a hay ride, even if it was drizzling rain. Then we stopped for lunch at one of my very favorite restaurants: Papa Razzi. My husband and I used to go there when we were dating. Nice memories. :)

Fall is one of my very favorite times of year! I love the scents, the scenery and of course, the colors. The kids have off from school yesterday and today and I’m happy that we kicked-off our Fall fun list in style. I’m sure there will be more pumpkin farm adventures in the coming weeks.

I took this picture a good week ago and it still cracks me up every time I see it, so I have to post it here. One day last week, Vin and I were outside after dinner with the kids, watching them ride their bikes. He was supervising. I was taking photos. Emily was getting a little tired of my camera so she tried to run me down a few times. When that didn’t work, she took to making funny faces every time she passed. I promise she was not about to crash into a parked car or run over a baby kitten.

Have a great night!

(pictures gathered from across the web)

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief.”

Today I spent September 11th how I always spend September 11th: Thinking of everyone who lost so much 10 years ago. Crying to video clips. And doing a little scrapping because sometimes, it’s just the right form of therapy. Proud that I am married to one of NY’s bravest every day but today especially.  I hope that today, even though this is not the happiest date in American history, you found some peace and comfort in your heart.

The countdown is on until Summer vacation officially starts. We’ve been getting lots of tastes of Summer here with all of the BBQs, sprinklers and sunshine, but there are still technically 14 school days left until we’re officially on Summer vacation!

We had a nice, relaxing Sunday yesterday. My Dad drops off bagels and donuts every Sunday morning so if I am being honest (and you promise not to judge), I will admit to laying around and usually eating a bagel in bed on Sundays.  I got sucked into a few Lifetime movies this weekend: one that left me in tears and one that made my hair stand on end which if you think about, it precisely what every Lifetime movie ever made was designed to do.

Around noon, the kids were hungry so I asked if they wanted to go out for lunch. Here’s another confession since I’m in the habit of airing my dirty laundry this morning: we picnic in the car. With McDonalds.

Recently I stopped buying Happy Meals because I end up spending $15, nobody ever eats their fries and we certainly don’t need three of the same toys (two of which always seem to end up in the garbage). Now I spend either $8 or $9 and we get more food and when we picnic, it’s more fun. (Truthfully this only started because McDonalds is right across the street from Target and usually I have to end up there for one thing or another. So yes, if you are following the way this story is unfolding, you will have by now realized that the picnic takes place in the Target parking lot. Oh for shame…)

A few cheeseburgers, a 20-piece nugget, some dipping sauces and a frozen strawberry lemonade to share and we’re happy and laughing and enjoying a silly lunch together.

After lunch & shopping (& coffees on the way home!), the kids helped my husband plant our garden.

My girls were so excited to wear their “farming overalls”. Emily was loving all of the extra pockets.

I asked them to put their heads together for a photo. Apparently, they heard “Stick them partially through the wire fencing…” LOL! I am laughing. What silly kids. Grace couldn’t take her eyes off the dirty water in the cooler that Vin was dipping the plants in before putting them in the ground. Grace is *such* a squeamish little girl. If she sees a bug, we are d.o.n.e.

Laughing at something we said or did. I can’t recall now but hey, it looks like it was funny.

This year we’re attempting to grow cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, red & green bell peppers, chili peppers, basil & eggplant. The kids are excited. Andrew wants us to add some hanging strawberry plants so those will round out our garden plans. Hopefully everything starts coming up and flourishing because there’s nothing quite like a tomato & cucumber salad in the Summer that you picked minutes before dinner.

A scrapbook page using my Farmer’s Market kit:

Have a wonderful week!

One of my brother’s is an amazing cake decorator. Think I’m exaggerating? Take a look:

That’s his latest masterpiece made for a little boy’s 4th birthday. It’s about 8 homemade cakes, pounds of fondant, quarts of buttercream and hours upon hours of labor-intensive work. He made everything from scratch (yes, including Buzz!) I just thought I would share this one here because his work isn’t showcased enough!

Enjoy your weekend!

1. I love that you are my only child to call me “Mama”.
2. I love that you never just say I love you. You always say “I love you soooo much Mama” and cap it off with a squeeze.
3. I love that when you left for a birthday party on Saturday evening, I said “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t be allowed to do at home.” I was thinking of stuff along the lines of not playing in the street, not jumping on furniture, etc. You waited a moment and then very seriously said “What if they have soda? Can I have some?”
4. I love that you are so responsible. I can really ask you to do anything and know that it’s going to get done.
5. I love that you are a little teacher’s pet and have earned more free homework tickets this year for making extra credit projects than I can count.
6. I love that you make friends so easily and people seem drawn to you.
7. I love that you are a total girly-girl …but can walk all over plenty of boys in the athletic department too.
8. I love your sparkly eyes and big-girl smile.
9. I love that you ask me a few mornings a week if I want a cup of coffee. I don’t think I’ve ever said okay, aside from the one watery cup you, your brother and sister made me on Mother’s Day last year. In fact, the next time you ask, I do believe I’ll say “Sure!”
10. I love that you are my serious, studious, brilliant oldest daughter and a real asset to this family.

1. I love that you love to get dressed up. Ties, button downs & jackets.
2. I love that you are very concerned about my very mild purple grape allergy. Last week you got off the bus eating a lollipop and held it behind your head. “Mom, don’t come near me. IT’S GRAPE!” Last night you made a cookie pizza on your iTouch. “It’s a chocolate cookie with strawberry jam and gummi worms. I was going to use grape jam but then I remembered.”
3. I love that you can build anything out of LEGOs.
4. I love that you have a pair of gray & red striped boxers that you actually call your Christmas underwear.
5. I love that you are the only kid in your class to have no stickers on your lost teeth chart …and you don’t really care.
6. I love that you always go by Andrew but the one and only time you refer to yourself as Andy is when you are talking to Grace.
7. I love that you share my love of 80′s movies, especially the Back to the Future trilogy.
8. I love your imagination. You take action figures, LEGO men or even Barbies and act out scenes to 95% of the movies you watch.
9. I love that you don’t have a mean-spirited bone in your body.
10. I love that you are sensitive, sweet, good-natured, my only son and my built-in little man for life.

1. I love that you think your play kitchen is fully functioning. You put your dirty cups in the sink, fill the sink with water and leave cookies on the plastic plates.
2. I love that you are in a sneaky phase but still rat yourself out. The other day you stole a marble from a small glass vase, showed me a closed fist and said “I didn’t take anything”. If I do find out you did something, you just blame it on a baby doll.
   
3. I love that I found you laying in bed eating animal crackers the other night. Snacking in bed is something you totally got from me.
4. I love your chipped tooth.
5. I love that you are obsessed with stripes. Especially if they are striped shorts. Whenever we find an article of clothing with stripes now, we must purchase it (and you must come home and put it right on. Most times you’ll wear striped shorts under your pants).
6. I love that you know how I love to watch The Golden Girls. You’ll recognize the theme song or an actress at a quick glance, smile and say “Aww, you’re watching the old ladies?”
7. I love that you call the television show Oobie “Boobie” and Fresh Beat Band “Rubberbands”. Those are the only two tv shows you will watch so I have them DVRed all throughout the house.
8. I love that 6 nights out of the week I am guaranteed to have you climb into my bed around 1am. I love snuggling with you. (I can’t say that I really like taking a foot to the throat but thankfully, that’s not as often).
9. I love that I have been teaching you to read. You recognize the following letters now in stories and on games: “A for Andrew, E for Emily, G for Gracie, D for Daddy, M for Mommy …and MILLER!”
10. I love that you are the perfect, cutest, funniest, roundest little meatball girl that completes our family.

Have a great day everyone!

I was fiddling around with one of my studio floors on Sunday and thought it would be the perfect time to get some shots of the kids. I ended up with a really cute one of Andrew and his LEGOs plus an adorable sister shot of my girls. <3 Hoping to scrapbook those soon (and get the sister one printed as a 5×7 for Andrew’s room and visa versa).

In the meantime, I will share one of my three kids together. I love when I get them all together, even if the girls are in dress-up clothes and Grace resembles George’s wife, or Marie Antoinette.

Speaking of scrapbooking, here are some of my recent layouts. I am putting the finishing touches on a Gracie page and then Andrew is up next. I love scrapbooking and missed it so much. Glad to have found the time to play around again, when I am not photographing little sweethearts or making things with yarn that is.

Before the day is over, I will have a BRAND NEW mini session package posted! It’s going to be geared towards Spring / Easter studio shots. Can’t wait! My Communion package info will be posted shortly as well. As always, feel free to contact me if you have session questions and don’t see the info posted here.

Have a great day!

Next Page »