Cousins!!

Over the holidays we've spent a lot of time with both my own and my husband's cousins. Our kids love catching up with all their extended family. Here is my daughter with three of my husband's cousins. They're sisters 5 years age difference between them. Aren't they beautiful?

Here is my daughter with one of my youngest cousins. She is my youngest uncle daughter and she is only 6 months older than my girl.

Here is a blast from the past. I haven't seen her in a while. I used to dote on her when she was a little girl, now she's taller than me.

Lastly, here is another grown up that I used to cuddle and play with.

Time flies, life beckons, no one ever stays the same. Love them while you can for tomorrow they'll be too old to receive your affection.

Life is a ball

I learned so much about my kids today. We took them to a play center and I saw a different side to both of them! Halfway up a particularly difficult climber, my daughter asked me to take her to the baby play area. My daughter who is usually fearless and tries her hardest to keep up with her older cousins, showed me that she knew her limits. My son on the other hand is quite cautious by nature. I expected him to be reluctant to try new things, but he also contradicted my expectations. He climbed every ladder, slid down every twisted chute and crawled through every dark tunnel. He only balked at the zip line .
Their favorite part was the ball pit!

This is eight

We had a really relaxed wedding anniversary this year. I usually plan some sort of a surprise but this year I decided to just go with the flow. My mother kept the kids and we ventured down town to spend the day together. We started out with lunch and then we watched This is Forty. If you are a married person I would highly recommend you watch this movie. It's hilarious but also painfully true. We ended the night with all-you-can-eat sushi. I was so busy having fun that I forgot to take pictures. The only shot I have of the day is one my husband took of me at the restaurant.

Christmas with the Glue tribe

Our Christmas festivities this year included making a gingerbread house. This is how it was supposed to look.

This is how ours came together. In the early stage of constructions it was apparently falling apart and needed emergency cooling down. The patio doors where opened to let in some cold air.

My husband did most of the assembly, whilst the kids cheered him on.

There were several tense moments where the kids tried to eat the house before it was complete.

This is the final result, yum right?

My sister and brother in law slaved away in the kitchen for over six hours to bring us the following delights:
Shrimp salad roll sandwich
Philly cheese steak sandwich
Lasagna
My uncle brought over some turkey to lend a traditional air to our meal.

The shrimp roll was my favorite!

We barely had room for dessert.

Note - the kids are still trying to eat the gingerbread house - it's a miracle it made it to the dessert table intact! We took some family photos after the feast was done. It's been a long time since we took a portrait of my family of origin.

Here is my mother with her youngest sister and youngest brother.

Here I am with my  favorite aunt, cousin and my sister.

Here is a decent shot of my very own little family.

My dad surrounded by all his grandchildren. Doesn't he look overwhelmed but happy?

Just us girls were hanging out, and I got us to pose for the camera. This was a self portrait, so my sister was holding the camera to take the shot. It took many tries to get right and her arm really hurt from holding the camera up so long =).

My little lady posing first with her aunt then with me.

She and I were wearing identical outfits, grey sweater dresses with black leggings.

Cousins hanging out with each other.


My sister with our girls.

My mother and I. I love my mother's half smile in this shot. In fact I love everything about my mother.

So grateful to be surrounded by my family this Christmas and for the good food and the fun times!

Christmas eve with the in laws

We usually spend Christmas eve with my in laws. All the aunts, uncle and cousins get together so it is a boisterous time.

Did you see the photo bombers? The house is full of people and laughter and the tree is overflowing with presents.

This year I helped my sister in law make deviled eggs.


Then it was time for Christmas nails. If your wondering what that looks like, here's a visual.

Mine were the least christmassy nails, the shiny purple ones. The kids got to play with all their cousins.

Somehow in the middle of all of it, we found a chance to take a family photo.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Girls' night out

I came home past midnight last night. It was the first time in a long time that I had been out so late. I was weary after spending the evening out with three very wonderful friends, my sister, my BFF, and a new very lovely friend.


We got up to what any group of mothers who've been give a night to do whatever they please. We had a three hour long all you can eat sushi meal, complete with scrumptious dessert. Afterwards we made our way over to a very happening midnight sale at Old Navy which we followed with a last minute Christmas shopping spree at Walmart! I made lots of tired irrational purchase and am pooped today. Nevertheless I enjoyed every moment of fun we had!

Holiday cheer in the g1ue homestead

Is anyone else finding the Christmas season lacking in spirit this year? Between the Sandy Hook shooting and the doomsday warning dominating the media these days, I find it very hard to feel cheerful. Especially what happened at Sandy Hook, my heart hurts and I can't articles or watch the news without tears gathering in my eyes. Well one thing I do when I feel sad is try focus on the small joys in life. I have three reasons to always smile,my loving husband, my adorable son and my exuberant daughter. Look at the sweet Christmas ornaments the children made! They bring a little ray of sunshine into my life during the grey times.