The Greatest Show on Earth

It should've been called the "Wettest Show on Earth". It was raining going into the circus, not a drizzle but it wasn't crazy. The forcast was calling for heavy winds & strong rain but we were there & the "show must go on"!! ;0

We've been going to the circus for the last 3 years & each show has been better than the last! Joe got us amazing seats...and except for the guy practically sitting in my lap we had a great time! (I had to fight the urge to say something...grrrr!) Any-whoo!! Like I said great seats & a great show!

Marissa got a charge out of this clown's outfit, but Gianna wouldn't give him the time of day!

This is my favorite part---the TIGERS!! They are so beautiful!!Another surprise Joe had for us was VIP seats which at one point they brought us out to center of the ring to watch. SO COOL!! It's such a different perspective too! This pic is from inside the ring.

This couple were AWESOME!! They were BUILT like you couldn't believe & so graceful!!Yes that's the man being held up by the lady...she really supports his career! LOL!! I had to say it!!

The elephants are another favorite of mine.....

I'm not going to post every pic but if you ever get a chance to see a Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey show GO!!

After the show, as we were leaving, we got a peek of outside....it was NUTS!! The winds were blowing the rain horizontal! And the rain was coming down HARD!! We buttoned up, grabbed the girls by the hand & went as fast as we could! You could barely catch your breath the wind was that strong but we made our way through & got to the car...soaked but we made it!!

We made it home but the storm continued through the night & by morning slowed down some then it picked up again later on. Yeah it was another cruddy day. We had no water damage but a tree in our neighbor's yard came down by the roots, luckily it didn't hit their house. The town called & cancelled school for Monday. The highway was closed & there was flooding in areas around us but it missed where we live. It's been a wild weekend!

365: Week of March 9

Mon. March 9 #68
Gianna likes every chance she gets to help in the kitchen. Here she's making breadsticks to go with dinner.



Tues. March 10 #69
My Flower Girls! (got those headbands at Target in the $1 spot)



Wed. March 11 #70
Got an email late at night about the Brownies taking a group pic for the newspaper the next day after school. Had to catch up on adding the badges Marissa's earned.




Thurs. March 12 #71
Thursday is my day to go food shopping. The amount of bags sometimes varies but each week this is what my counter looks like.




Fri. March 13 #72
Treated myself to a new purse, with some of the birthday money I got from my F-I-L. Thanks Dad!

Sat. March 14 #73
We took the girls to see Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey's Circus. It was even better than last year's show!



Sun. March 15 #74
My sister Chet & my Mom, came over to watch the girls while Joe & I went out for dinner. Not the best pic (ahem thanks Chet) but it's in the album!

Weekend Update

What a weekend! We had things to do every moment of the weekend which I'm not always crazy about since I don't like rushing around but it was all good.

Friday night my sister Marie came over with the kids to continue my birthday celebration. We were card sharks & played Crazy 8's, a rousing game of Go Fish & a nail biter game of Old Maid--which I lost & was the Old Maid--coincidence?? I think not!

Afterwards we had cake--a oh so low-cal Cannoli cake--YUMMMMMY!! Then we opened gifts. Joe had gone & exchanged those Cricut cartridges I wanted to return & picked me up some different fonts which I love! He also got me the tool kit (which he thought came with the machine). Then my sister & her family got me some pretty clothes but she got them too big so
I get to do some returns & go shopping! Perfect timing too since I'll need some new stuff for our Disney trip which will be here soon!!!! Of course we took some pics & my sister snapped this one of us--love the look on Gianna's face, like she's up to something!!
On Sat. we went to see the circus. Like I said I've never seen a Ringling Bros. circus & this was so cool! I really had fun & loved seeing the looks of amazement on the girls' faces!! Of course I took pics there too. They didn't come out that great since it was so dark but I did manage a few good ones--it also helped that we had great seats! My favorites are the tigers which were so beautiful & HUGE!! It didn't help that the tamer was so tiny but those cats were seriously ginormous!!

Another favorite of mine were the elephants. It's also all Gianna talked about before we went.
Then there were the clowns. They were fantastic! Didn't realize how far they've come since the shows I've seen on TV as a kid. Am I dating myself here?? Loved seeing the frilly girly clowns dance around. There were also some cool not too goofy looking clowns. I don't think I got too many good pics of the clowns but I'm ok with that. I did mange to get a great shot of some of them. These were my favorite clowns.....

Aren't they the cutest clowns ever????

Our friend Bobby actually took this pic & also took this family shot for us. They girls had a really great time!!

Saturday night we had my sister Chet come babysit since we had a "Cabin Fever" party at the neighbor's. Sorta like a block party but mostly adults since it runs late. We had so much fun. It's good to be able to catch up & talk. Found out my next door neighbor scraps too so we'll be getting together soon for that! We stayed later than we normally would but since my sister slept over it was all good & we stayed till the end--2am. 2am was now actually 3am with the time change & boy did it hit us the next day!!

Sunday was a long day. Not only were we tired from the night before but it was a lot of waiting. My cousin was due to fly in from Italy at 3:30 but due to the storms we had the night before it got pushed to 5:30. We drove down to my mom's & my sister Marie (translater) & her hubby Danny (driver) along with Joe (who was the navigator) went off to the airport to get him & his son. I hung out at my mom's along with my sister Chet & all 6 grandkids. We helped my mom get things ready for dinner & kept the kids out of her hair. They finally got back around 7pm & it was nice to see him again. Found out that he doesn't live in Italy, he lives in France. Not just anywhere in France but right on the water on the French Riviera! He showed us pics of his view from his house & it's stunning!! Just breath taking! If I were him I've never want to leave it!! He's a lucky guy!! Might have to go visit his house someday!!!!

This is us after we ate my mom's never-ending meal---that woman cooks like she's feeding an army!! My cousin Ciro is sitting down next to my mom whose holding Marie's daughter Nikki. Next to them are my sister Rita's kids Destiny & Michael. I'm in a white top in the back, my sister Chet is holding Gianna on the left & my sister Marie is holding her son Tyler dressed in blue. Missing from the pic are the hubbies, my other sister Rita & the only grandchild missing was Marissa & my cousin's son Anthony. The kids were squirming & tired so we're lucky we managed this shot!!

This is Chet's dog Lorenzo. He's a tiny thing that thinks he's a big dog the way he barks at people! If we were better prepared we could've taken his pic next to a bottle of Tequila!!
Today I made up this cute card for my friend Diane's birthday. I was short on time so I lifted the card that Heather sent me with my box of goodies awhile ago. This turned out to be a much longer post than I intended! Sorry to bore everyone--I'll try to have some scrappiness posted tomorrow!

Tuesday Planning

So this past weekend I officially started scrapping the last Disney trip from June. I usually do an album for each daughter so this will take awhile. I also skipped around a little & started (finally) using my Feb Kit from Scrapbook Bakery (sorry I don't think it's available anymore). This kit has so much FUN stuff to play with & Heather really packed it full! Laura was the guest designer & she came up with some BEAUTIFUL LO's as well as a fun & pretty garland. I have to admit that I totally just lifted her work----she makes life so easy with her un-complicated designs! She knows I idolize her--hey it's better than stalking!! LOL!

Today as much as I wanted to stay home & scrap I was offered the opportunity to go to lunch with my hubby. Basically he offered & I said yes. It's nice to be able to have a meal with him without having a power stuggle for his attention with the girls around. Of course being that he was working we had to make it quick so we went to Hooter's. I'm not complaining one bit I actually enjoyed my food & especially his company. Didn't care for the waitress who kept calling him "honey" though. After my dirty looks & my frosty attitude to her I think she tried to fix her goof cause then she started calling me "honey". She's not our usual waitress who is a doll & I'm not thrilled with today's waitress at all (my claws are out chickie!!)

Tomorrow we're going out to Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. My sister Chet offered/was asked to babysit but I'd like to be with the girls on my birthday. She can sit another night when we can take advantage & go to dinner and a movie. Love her!! Besides she's watching the girls this Sat. so we can go to the neighborhood "Cabin Fever" party. It's like a block party only it's grown ups, we do it every year & have a good time. Sat afternoon we're going to the circus & I'm looking forward to that since I've never seen Ringling Bros.

Sun afternoon my cousin Ciro is arriving from Italy. So we'll all be at my mom's house to visit. That's gonna be a late night since he's arriving at JFK. By the time he goes through Customs & gets his bags & my other sister Marie drives him to my mom's it'll be at least 6pm. Then you know we'll all be chattering loudly & of course eating a big dinner that my mom's gonna make so you know the kids will be tired & cranky come Mon. morning. I'm physic like that. Not that I'm complaining. I haven't seen my cousin since our family visit to Italy in 1984 so we'll have fun.

Basically this birthday girl is getting her wish to not have a party & be fussed over. There's just no free time this weekend & if we pushed it to the following weekend it'll just be --I don't know--over. My older sister Marie did offer to have us up to her house Fri. night for cake but I'm not sure how concrete that plan is. Birthdays just kinda suck when you get older. But I guess getting older is better than not so I'll just leave it with that.

Cabin Fever--Randomness

I am so done with Feb.! I guess it's really the snow & cold that's annoying me so I guess I mean--- I am so done with winter!! It feels like Feb is taking FOREVER to be done & over with! I am such a summer type of person & this dreary coldness is seriously annoying. I can't even imagine living somewhere even colder so I guess it's not too bad here in Jersey!

I'm excited about tomorrow--I'm getting my hair cut! (yeah it's the little things that get me going!!) LOL! I just got my haircut in early Jan. but the girl didn't do the greatest job the last 2 or 3 times so I'm going somewhere else.

I'm also excited because it's just over a month away until we go to Disney World for spring break!! Some people go to Cancun--we go to Orlando...yeah we're wild & crazy like that!!

I just started scrapping our last Disney trip from this past June. I would love to have it done before we go but I'm not kidding myself that I can scrap a 2 week trip in a month's time. But I would like to have a nice chunk done so I'll be working on that.

Something I'm not excited about is my birthday next week. Don't know why but I'm not. My age isn't bothering me but it's not fun for me. I have to clean the house. I have to deal with my F-I-L. That sort of thing. It's not like I'm a kid that has to have clowns & balloons & stuff---oh wait that reminds me...we're going to see Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey Circus that weekend so I guess I will have clowns & balloons & stuff!