Happy New Year 2009!

May your trees always be full of life........

Fisher's 1st New Year's.

Who put on some red lipstick?

So you noticed the new look around here at the Treehouse? Don't you get bored of the same things from time to time? I know, I do too. So enjoy this look until I get obssessed with the website where it came from and change it.

So how are you spending your New Year's Eve? We're staying in.... just the way I want to ring in the NEW YEAR -at home with my family. Nothing too crazy, been there, done that. Time for quieter nights. Not forever, just for right now. I'm in that phase of my life.. I think it's from all the traveling and separation. We're together now and it feels nice to be home.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009..... Celebrate! More to come, naturally.

precious words from sister bear....

sister bear: "mama?"
mama bear: "yes, baby?"
sister bear: "i love being you family"
my heart melts into chocolate
mama bear: "baby, i LOVE being your family. you are the best thing in the world."
tight hugs, in this moment, i want time to stop and never forget this feeling and the look in her eyes.


this photo reminds me of how quickly time passes by and to slow it down even more and take in these very precious moments with the little ones. this photo is from the "italian festival" with my mom, when sister bear was just about to turn 2. it's right near where my grandmother was born.. it was a hidden farm in holley, ny. she resembles my mother aka "nonni". at this age. it's one of my favorites, among many.

ok, back to my bowl of delicious pumpkin soup, homemade by the chef herself, mama bear. i'm not one to brag, but this bowl is one you want to keep refilling. the recipe was graciously given to me by my mother in law's next door neighbor, carlene. she's quite a cook! i'll share with you the recipe.... maybe!

Monkey See Monkey Do!

This powerful video should be a must see for all parents.

I came across this on another mother's blog and it moved me and I could not help but want to get it posted to my blog as soon as possible. Kids touch my heart, they always have. Just listening to each child speak in this video was quite amazing. Parents, lets be more and more aware of what we say and do. Now take a look for yourself....

Happy Birthday to Grandma Bear

Nonni, we wish you the Happiest Birthday always. BIG warm loving hugs.

All our love,

Sister and Brother bear

Mommy, I love you with all my heart. You continue to show me what being a mother is all about.

Mama Bear and Sister Bear "Together Time"...

We DVR "Gullah Gullah Island" every day and watch it every morning. It's one of the greatest family shows that I am so glad we stumbled upon. It aired and was made in the 90's, so it has that great vibe I miss. If you loved "Roseanne", prime time, then your kids most likely loved this show too. You can still find it on the "Noggin" channel, you have to tivo or DVR it since it airs at 4:00 and 4:30 am (EST). Search for it and you will be so thankful! The valuable thought provoking lessons, songs, dancing, creativity, imagination and family togetherness that it offers is just lovely. Sister bear says, "James, Shaina, Vanessa and Sara are my best friends!" We usually talk about something we learned by watching their show, at least once a day.

Here's a snippet of the show, you'll want more after watching this clip...



Meet Ron and Natalie!
Get to know Ron and Natalie Daise, the creators of Gullah Gullah Island. Learn about Gullah culture and Beaufort, South Carolina!

Well known for modeling effective and joyful parenting and for bringing Gullah culture to national and international television audiences through Nick Jr's Gullah Gullah Island, Ron and Natalie Daise are actors, singers, storytellers, entrepreneurs, craftspersons, songwriters, producers and publishers.

Through their company Me and My House, Inc., Ron and Natalie work individually and collectively to provide services and products for family-audiences. Their books, recordings, performances and presentations engage individuals and groups to believe in, pursue, and achieve their dreams. Their dream is to keep reaching for higher heights as performers, partners, and parents. They reside in Beaufort, South Carolina with their two children, Sara and Simeon…

You can find all sorts of fun here; Music, Books, Cakes, Painted furniture and more....

Visit their website:
http://gullahgullah.com/index.html

lost photo, great memory....

this was a photo taken of us at noppy's the last week we were in florida, just right before we started to travel and make our long move to texas.... we sent this to papa bear from my cell phone.

santa claus is coming to town again and again...

we're working on it. here goes the story......

so we're at the bass pro shop, shopping for papa bear of course. they are nice to offer complimentary photos with santa. so as you may remember last year, sister bear was not going for the whole sitting on santa's lap thing. so i had to be apart of her tug-of-war photo experience (pregnant and all). so this year, i thought, maybe we have to take baby steps and warm her up to santa by visiting him fairly early at the mall this year.. or wherever we can find him. our first run in with mr jolly was when we were in oklahoma, visiting with nana and we headed to the mall one day... santa was there! this was before thanksgiving, we were surprised by his early arrival, but that's when the idea hit me, "lets go and say hello to santa!" sister bear was brave enough to take my hand and go and say hello, he complimented her on her bright yellow crocs and all the fun little gadgets she had attached to them. oh, i got so excited that he was conversing with her.. this did not impress her one bit. so we said, we'll try again another day, at least she made her way to him.

our next run in with mr red pants was when we got to texas, we stopped in to daddy's home away from home aka "the bass pro shop", where we discovered "santa's workshop" and all the fixins. parents, take your kids here, it is quite an experience with "arts and crafts" tables where they can write their "dear santa...." letters, mini shooting range (for all you hunting families), trains, snow and more! they have coffee, hot cocoa and roasted nuts for us grown ups while we watch the little ones run around! now at this specific location they have 2 santas, one is very short and looks like the real deal and the other is very tall, young and thin and maybe might want to wait till he's about 50, has been married a while and has had a chance to fatten up a little and then maybe we'll believe he's santa. so being that they did a santa shift change, it made sister bear think about sitting on this guy's lap. we asked her gently, "do want to go and visit santa? mama will come with you?" she was not the least bit interested. not even minutes later, short santa went speeding by on his scooter. we mentioned that his sleigh was getting ready for the big day and santa was riding around visiting kids on his scooter. still no interest out of sister bear. but she did play in the fake snow and sat down to color a bit.

well, just the other day when we were back at the bass pro shop, doing our papa bear christmas shopping, i thought maybe some time has gone by and we can think about stopping by santa's workshop again. tall, skinny santa was in, she wasn't going to give him the time of day... until, we sat down to color. out of nowhere came santa and he was very slick about sitting down at the table across from sister bear and began coloring. i nudged sissy and said (in my quiet low slow speaking voice), "oh my goodness, do you know who is coloring across the table?" she said nothing, i think she was stunned. again, i said to her, "look, santa is coloring, can you believe it?" she kinda gave a smile. but this girl can keep her composure and not show a sign of interest if she needs to. i started feeling bad for santa, so i smiled at him and then he asked sister bear, "have you been a good girl this year?" she looked up and said, "yes!" oh my, we made a connection! not really she just kept coloring and that was enough of that. she had better things to do than to color with santa. so he got up and left, this one's playing hard to get.....

later in the day, because we were there ALL day... we came back to visit santa and low and behold, the little santa was in the big chair, so i thought lets go for it. these photos are free, what do i have to lose, but to get a silly old photo of sister bear and santa. i had him hold brother bear first and that went smoothly.. sister bear wanted nothing to do with santa, so i stood next to him with brother bear in my arms and said, "come on, just stand next to mama, you don't even have to touch santa. this poor santa must have thought, "what did i do?" so we snapped the photo and the look on both sister bear and santa's face is priceless........ i'll add it here, give me a day or so. it's worth it to come back for it.

afterwards, we went back and did some more coloring and wrote our letters to santa (i am hoping his secretary reads them and thinks of sister bear as an adorable 3 year old and not the santa snob that she really is.) we'll leave him cookies nonetheless. she had no problem delivering the letters to his mailbox as you'll notice the photo at the top!

so much for trying. i'm not giving up, we still have to wear our christmas best and go take the real santa photo. we'll see how that turns out. wish me luck!

my playlist! my music......

my love song.

whenever i want to take myself away to a lovely place, i sing this song or hear it in my heart.....



Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re goin’, i’m goin’ your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end,
waitin’ ’round the bend
My huckleberry friend,
moon river, and me

(moon river, wider than a mile)
(i’m crossin’ you in style some day)
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re goin’, i’m goin’ your way
Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after that same rainbow’s end,
waitin’ ’round the bend
My huckleberry friend,
moon river, and me

i'm around, so happpiest holidays...

didn't want you to think i vacated the premises!
here's a short and sweet one for you.....

-it's the holidays! -that should be enough on it's own.
-i just moved from florida to texas. we're still in boxes.
-i'm a busy stay at home mother of 2 little ones. -did i mention we're trying to potty train sister bear?
-married to a very loving, helpful but busy "work from home" husband.

be back soon.
happy holidays!
love to you all.........

Now this is a weather report i've been waiting for!

Right Now for
Pearland, TX (77581)


Weather for your life


Light Snow
34°F
Feels Like
27°F
Updated Dec 10 08:45 p.m. CT


UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From NNW at 8 mph
Humidity: 87%
Pressure: 30.17 in.
Dew Point: 30°F
Visibility: 2.5 miles

It's not raining, it's SNOWING!

snow is falling from the sky and landing right on my rooftop. a magical moment!

cars are covered with snow.....

our neighbors across the street.....

our house, look snow on our roof!

sister bear's red wagon has been touched by the snow angels...

our sweet little lamb is freezing cold tonight.

our backyard tree is catching snowflakes!

sissy's wagon shows the snow the best! -of course.

see the snowflakes falling?

snow on the ground. wow! this just amazes me!

i loved watching the snowflakes fall....

the neighborhood kids were all out and playing in the snow. it was fun to listen to them giggling and playing. i knew i liked texas! this may be the only day this year that it snows, but for me, it satisfies my every need to finally feel the winter weather that i have missed while living in florida the past few years.

aw, i am a happy girl.

reflections are a great surprise!

i took this photo of brother bear sitting on nana's lap and in the reflection of the window was sister bear playing outside in her new backyard with papa bear. i could not believe how lovely this shot came out by pure accident. i knew in that moment, this was the new photo for my blog's front door! -this is also why i love to photograph so much, the surprises are bountiful.

we are home and settling nicely into our new treehouse. can you tell?

2 of my favorite videos.....

this should hold you over until i can get things together to blog...... over the last 2 months of our travelin' move, i just rewatched these 2 videos and could not help but want you to enjoy them again. sister bear is just as precious, curious, adventurous, full of personality, friendly and funny as ever. take a look for yourself. these 2 videos are from our visit to nonni's in ny:



Swiper the fox swipes Charlotte's Web!



Wook at me!

there's no place like home.

i am not going to post a new blog until i can comfortably sit, think clearly and have a cup of coffee or glass of wine near. i guess it depends on what time of the day i find that comfy place to sit quietly.

i will say this......

i am HAPPY to be home, i love texas and look forward to living here more and more each day. ok, off to resume the good life.

i promise to be back soon and with many great ideas to write about. a new photo will grace my front page of the treehouse, we'll call this the front door. (where you currently see sister bear petting a big fake horse!) enjoy it for a few more days. we've got something new coming your way.......