Superbowl BOUND!

Me - Major New England Patriots Fan!
My Hubby - Major New York Giants Fan!

Can you feel the love? lmao!!

Those 2 Championship games were CRAZY!! Both teams won by a mere 3 points! From the volume of screaming and cursing, I am sure that the Patriots and Giants heard everything we had to say!

I'm sure many of you now know... that we have a very very interesting Superbowl coming out way. February 5th cannot come quick enough!

Backstory:
4 years ago, the Patriots and Giants were Superbowl bound. On Saturday, February 2nd, my husband proposed to me in the middle of the mall... it was one of the most special moments of my life. Every time I think about it I cannot help but to smile. (*insert cheesy smile here*) lol. The very next day, my husband and I were MORTAL ENEMIES! Oh the fun we had; a nice party, good food, and of course Family! Things were pleasant...UNTIL! If I remember correctly... there were about 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the Patriots were WINNING! So I said... "HAHAHAHA, I told you the Giants would LOSE!" and then the Giants scored a FREAKIN TOUCHDOWN! and ended up winning the game 17-14.

Blah Blah Freakin' Blah!...

After a few days... I decided to love the hubby again! :)

NOW... oh yes... REDEMPTION is coming! I can taste it!
On February 5th, 2012 Giants vs. Patriots and my sweet, sweet Redemption is on its way! I will get the bragging rights this time! I will be able to grasp sweet victory and hold this over the hubby's head until the next time these teams meet up. Can you feel it? I CAN!! :) (*insert sinister smile here*)

And I wonder why my 4 year old is so head strong? I guess now I know! lol!

Superbowl XLVI here we come!!

Love,
Heidi

Gone With The... Sanity!!

I have to admit, I was probably the ONLY woman left on Earth that had not seen Gone With The Wind. Well, last night I watched it for the first time! I wish I could say "OMG I'M SO IN LOVE!!!" but I can't. The movie was okay at best. If you are one of the last ladies left that hasn't seen the movie... do not read anymore unless you want to know ending details. I am not a huge fan of romances that don't end well. Poor Scarlett goes through so much loss in what seems like 5 minutes of movie time, she loses her baby, then her daughter, then her "friend" dies while she's pregnant AND THEN lost the loves of her life; Ashley and Rhett within 2 minutes of each other, I mean really? Aren't these movies supposed to end happy? Why are women so flippin' nuts over this movie???? I can't understand it! I can understand the love of the costumes and the love of the thought of a happy ending but after that... I got nothing! I was left with a big fat "ARE YOU SERIOUS??" It makes me wonder about other old time-y movies that had been raved about actually being big flops! BUT me being me... I will try out some others before I lose hope on these movies. I mean, after all I am a huge fan of The Honeymooners! :)




Film-makers were really sadistic back then!! :( lol


Speaking of movies... I have to say, I am very excited for my adventures tomorrow! My husband and I are taking my daughter Olivia to see her favorite movie in 3D, Beauty and the Beast!!! :) She LOVES Beauty and the Beast! I cannot wait to see her reaction to this movie in 3D and the characters jumping out at her! Right now I am more excited than her I think haha!! :) This is going to be her first experience with the "Big Screen" so, I am very optimistic that this could become a regular thing for us here! I just hope that she doesn't get freaked out by the characters coming out of the screen and want to leave! .... Did I just jinx it? lol I hope not!!



Yay for 3D!!


For all you movie fans out there... I wish you lots of luck in these older "classic" movies! If you happen to stumble across one that doesn't leave you feeling like you've been hit by a mack truck... twice, then please send your suggestions my way! I love movies and I am open to GOOD suggestions. :) I think my next review for an older movie will be Creep Show, hopefully I won't want to blow out my brains after watching. So, be on the lookout for that review!
Love,
Heidi

Resolutions & Chaos!

Happy New Year! (I know it's already the 7th but I am a Mom and I don't always have the time but you understand that... right? =) ) Anyway, I hope everyone had an awesome New Year celebration!!

So what was YOUR Resolution? My resolution this year was to not make one at all... And I have to say, so far I've been very successful! :) Aren't you proud? hahaha!!!

So, the kiddies are back at school and all seems calm... YEAH RIGHT! lmao! This week was the short week and the drama begins! 4 school days this week and we couldn't even make it through... what a freakin' nightmare!!! For starters... Olivia's backpack broke in school. The entire zipper took a crap and decided to not close up leaving all her belongings exposed. You would think after noticing something like that, that I would double check all her stuff is there... NOPE! Not me. I just figured it's still nice and full... looks like it's all here. So the very next day as I am getting her ready for school... her sneakers are missing (she wears her boots to school and changes into sneakers for gym class). After yelling at Olivia to find them because I figured they were just buried in her toy bin... I realized they were really gone! unFREAKING Believable!!! So, I bring her to school hoping and praying that they were just left behind and the teacher confirmed that they weren't there. Then I called the bus garage hoping they were on her bus and they also confirmed that there were no shoes! So, the cool, calm, and collected person that I am decided to call the hubby and give him an earful! "Why would anyone want to take USED SHOES??" Assuming the worst in people... not my finest quality but I'm working on it! Anyway... after a whole day of freaking out and yelling at the hubby that now we have to go buy new sneakers, it was time to get Olivia off the bus. I get out there and there is the bus driver holding up her sneakers. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? I mean.. I'm relieved and all... but again, ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?? Did I not just call you in the morning and you said you were checking and NOTHING was found. Give me a freaking break!

I'm so glad the sneakers were found and I don't have to dish out money for more sneakers... YET! lol. Olivia is asking for these Skechers Bella Ballerina sneakers... and we'll see!

I will leave you with this thought... If all seems well... DOUBLE CHECK!!! :)



Has anyone actually bought these Bella Ballerina sneakers? If so, I'd really like some input!! Thanks!!!

 Love,
Heidi :)

Almost Over!

So... the holidays are almost over and all I can say about that is THANK YOU GOD!!! lol

For all you Moms and Dads... I bet you are just counting the days until the kids go back to school. If you are saying "not me" then you are LYING! :) It's okay... I was in denial for a while too but then I came back to Earth and realized I get ME time again! Yay!!!

I gotta say, I cannot WAIT until I can take a shower longer than 5 minutes and not have to worry who is killing who & who is doing what. Like right now, as I am typing up my new blog post... my daughter is walking around in my heels... We buy all these presents for you to entertain yourself with MY shoes? Geez! It's like when they are still really small and they hide in the boxes their gifts come in instead of playing with the toy... seriously Why don't we just get smart and buy these kids boxes for gifts and be done with it all? lol.

With the New Year quickly approaching... PLEASE remember: Do NOT Drink & Drive! You love your kids and we want to educate them to do the right thing... so be an Example of that!

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  ~Elizabeth Stone
-Your children are your heart but remember you are their heart as well!



Olivia modelling Mommy's shoes... ALL THE TIME! lol



Trouble... lots of Trouble!

New Year... New Me! :)

One last thing before I go...
For you parents who are about to clean out your children's toys to make room for the new... Please, Please, PLEASE don't just throw them away. Please donate those toys to either a church or local Salvation Army or even ask your school! There are so many children without... we could all do a little more to help out! :)

I hope everyone has had a blessed Holiday season and an even more blessed New Year to come!

xoxo,
Heidi :)

Christmas is almost here!

I bet your children are counting down the days now huh?

All I hear is "Santa is coming in 3 DAYS!" Which just reminds me that I only have 3 days to get my act together and finish up all the little details that no matter how hard you plan, you just never get done in time. Which ends up with you awake until 3 a.m. trying so desperately to finish so you can at least an hour of sleep before the wake up call.... "SANTA CAME!!!"  

I so love their faces Christmas morning! Their innocent faces with their eyes so wide that they seem like they will ultimately fall right out of their heads... it's really the greatest feeling!

One thing I am looking forward to this year is my cat Peach's reaction to the whole day. This is her 1st Christmas and she makes an adventure of everything! I can already imagine her chasing the wrapping paper as it's ripped and thrown all around... like in one of those movies where the people end up with a lot of money and roll around in it on their beds, she'll do the same. Or she'll just end up helping the kids by unwrapping everything under the tree before they even wake up... because she's a little nutty! Hopefully, I won't be too sleep deprived so that I can capture all of this on my camera!

Before I end this post... I just briefly want to touch on something. The holidays are usually where people spend a lot of money and that's fine but... PLEASE Remember the environment this holiday season. Don't just throw away pieces of wrapping paper that seem too small to wrap a present! Get Creative! Get Festive! Make use of the paper! The more we do for our environment, the more it can do for us!



My little wrapping area!

 



I used 2 scraps to wrap a stocking stuffer! (came out cute huh? :) )




Recycle and Reuse!

 If you have any other ideas for recyling your wrapping paper, please feel free to post or link to me! I would love to hear some of your ideas and possibly put them to good use!

Love,
Heidi

Christmas & Tantrums

For all the parents with children over the age 6...  you made it out ALIVE!!.
For all the parents with children under the age of 6... HANG ON!

Christmas time seems to really bring out the best behavior in our kids. And when I say "best" I mean the absolute worst when they are under the age of 6! The "I want that" and the endless crying over the toy commercials seem to really peak at Christmas. Don't you agree?

My absolute FAVORITE has to be bringing these kids into the stores at Christmas... why? haha... Because that's when all the toys are placed right smack dab in their faces. Hear me out for a minute... you are driving in your car having a good old time... singing Christmas songs, playing games... whatever it is you do in your car... everything is Happy-Go-Lucky... then you get in the store and "I WANT THAT ONE!" and it's all over. Even when you explain... "Well if you are good Santa might bring you one" they still throw themselves to the floor or bring on some big scene, so that other parents who were smart enough to leave their children with babysitters will stare at you like they have perfect children... HA! And if you are anything like me... at this point you'll do ANYTHING to stop the screaming... so distract them with candy. Which I am starting to learn only quiets them for moments and then the SUGAR RUSH kicks in and things get far worse!

My advice... leave the children home until after New Years! Even if you are going grocery shopping!! And rest easy... because after the holiday is over you get to stand on line for Returns!! :)

And for the best part... I leave you with a video of my beautiful Olivia singing Santa Claus is Comin' To Town (she's so good at PLAYING innocent! :) )

Love,

Heidi 

Oh the Holidays...

I am a big fan of the holidays... but who isn't?

You get to spend all your money... stress over the trendy gifts... worry about the kids finding those trendy gifts (because those little rugrats can't wait another 2 weeks)... wrap the gifts... and then you snuggle those gifts safely under the tree for the next morning. All of this for the 10 minutes of pure Joy of ripping the presents open, 20 minutes of playing with the new found toys...

followed by "I'm bored" and BAM there goes your sanity... RIGHT OUT THE FREAKIN' WINDOW! All of this, just to have the cycle repeated the next year. Over and over... again and again... and yet we wonder why we end up getting greys so early?! lol

Anyway..............

So, with this holiday fast approaching, my Olivia has been doing more and more Christmas crafts in school. Today, she made a "gingerbread" house. (It's really made with graham crackers not gingerbread).

 It's really adorable (as you can see) and her first. The BEST part of this house is... I DID NOT HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE MESS! Usually when you make these things... you get icing everywhere, sticky gumdrops stuck to your table and candy bits all over your kitchen that you find for days and days wondering, "Where the hell do they keep coming from????"

...Again, there goes the sanity! lol

I really do love the Holidays...
I love the warmth of Family,
The crisp white snow,
The hustle and bustle to find the Perfect gift,
and most importantly... the Love.

So, while you are out there chasing after that perfect gift, running over that Grandma to get the last game, and standing on lines that take hours just to checkout 1 item... remember one thing... there is someone else doing the EXACT SAME THING somewhere else! (I bet that made you smile... =) ) Rest assured you are not alone!

Happy Shopping!!

Love,
Heidi

Olivia's first Christmas concert

I am SOOOOO beyond proud of my Olivia!!! These are the moments that make parenting and dealing with those crazy, make-you-want-to-rip-every-strand-of-hair-out-of-your-head moments so very worth it!!

So, today was my daughter Olivia's first concert... ever! (BONUS: that it was a Christmas concert!) So after watching the video clip... I bet you are wondering why it's a Hanukkah video when we celebrate Christmas?!

As always... things never go according to plan because if they did people would be smarter and more organized instead of "winging it".

Days before the show, I kept telling my husband, "we are DEFINITELY recording this!" I kept telling Jim how excited I was to see her perform and when she gets older, she'll be able to watch it and really appreciate the things that she had done. HA! ... Why is it people insist on making their hairdo's HUGE especially when they know they are going to sit in a crowded auditorium? I mean you KNOW you are going to block someone's view... but do they care? Nah. Because people can be really selfish... I mean doesn't anyone care that HEIDI WANTS TO RECORD HER DAUGHTER'S FIRST PERFORMANCE... EVER?! lol

Yeah, I guess I'm a little selfish... but I love my kid and I want to be one of those stage mom's that's right there doing it with them! But I cannot do that if people and their huge hair are in my way!

Anyway... I got off into a tangent... I know... back to the story. The reason why you are seeing this clip of the song about Hanukkah is because when my husband Jim FINALLY found a spot to record Olivia... this is the song they were singing. As you can see in the video he still has a little trouble keeping Olivia in focus. And of course once the song is over... my memory card is FULL! Again, you plan and plan... and things are still out of control!

All in all... we had a blast. And even though we recording basically only a song about Hanukkah, I know that when the day does come that she sits down and watches home videos... she'll be glad we caught this.

So my advice to all you "stage moms and dads"... 1. Get to the event WAY early so you get the best seats in the house and to set up way before anyone else does! 2. If you happen to get caught behind the ladies with the big heads and even bigger hairdo's... make sure you stand in the aisle right in front of them to show them whose boss! :)

When all else fails... do nothing and complain like I just did! :) lol



Proud parents with our lovely daughter! :)

 Love,
Heidi :)

Cat Adventures

I love that when a cat is still young... everything and I mean EVERYTHING is an adventure for them. From figuring out that their reflection is in fact THEIR reflection and not another kitten trying to take over. It usually takes them a while... a few hisses and arched backs later and they are over it but nevertheless... still an adventure.

The first time they meet Mr. Vacuum. Oh how I love the vacuum! Either they will be really brave and take it on, only to in fact find out they are petrified of it, OR they will run and hide like the "scaredy cats" (lmao) that they really are!

Anyway... for Peach, life is still an adventure. From jumping into the garbage chasing after an orange peel that was tossed in, to chasing her tail, nothing goes unnoticed to her. Making my bed is always a fun time for her. Running under the blanket as it is tossed in the air or when I am changing the sheets, she is busy chasing all the little folds before it is completely flattened out. But her newest adventure... she has figured out that she can sit behind the bed on the edge and see who she can attack!

"hehehe! They cannot see me!"

"Ooooh!! Is that a bug??!"

Kittens are like little kids... just trying to figure things out. But I gotta say, they are sometimes a whole hell of a lot funnier! So, the next time your cat is climbing your leg because of a belt strap, or attacking your feet just because you happen to walk by... you will know, that the best has just begun!

Embrace it... because when they get bigger... their nails hurt even more! lol! =)

Roots

Do you know where your roots lie?

My family is American, Italian & Russian. I grew up in a world of Sinatra, Gotti, The Godfather, GREAT food, close bonds, and with the most consuming love you could ever imagine.  I value all the things I've learned from my family.

Some things you should understand about me and my family:

1. Blood is ALWAYS thicker than Water.
2. Good food will always bring us together.
3. Holding a grudge takes a lot of work, if you are not in it for the long haul, don't bother.
4. We are LOUD whether we are happy, sad, or in between. :)
5. Yes, we will ALWAYS "tawk" with our hands.
6. Anyone that messes with our family will be "sleeping with the fishes" :)

Well, maybe not so much the last one, but it's fun to add in.

My family is everything to me. I love everyone in my family, they all have a special place in my heart! My parents showed me how to be the best person I could be... My sister showed me how to be stronger... My brothers... they showed me how a woman should be treated and because of them, I chose a husband who worships me. Every person in my family plays a vital role in the person I turned out to be and I am so very thankful for each one of them.

So, with that being said... I leave you all with: Frank Sinatra - New York, New York! :) Enjoy!

Love,
Heidi