Irish Festival and St. Patrick's Day

For us in the McDonald family this is the month to celebrate being Irish. It all starts off with attending the North Texas Irish Festival. This year it was great and we even got the typical cold rainy Ireland weather to go with it. We enjoyed looking at the booths and tasting some of the local fare, but the music and the step dancing was the best. Sarah was mesmerized by the Irish dancers and after watching their show she danced non-stop for about an hour making up her own steps and what not. So needless to say....she is going to watch her first Irish step dancing class in a couple of weeks and we will see what we will do from there. I think a new activity is on Sarah's horizon. It was all great fun and really has us all looking forward to our Ireland trip this summer!







Now that we are all in the Irish spirit....let's start preparing some fun treats for the kids to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Here are a few of my favorites!

Rainbow Cupcakes (Current March 2010 Family Fun issue)

Green Pepper Shamrocks

Jello Pot of Gold in a Lime Cup

These I made this morning for Sarah's Daisy Troop. Rainbow Fruit Cups. You could also top them off with a little white yogurt and golden raisins (gold at the end of the rainbow!)

I used Strawberries, Oranges, Pineapple, Green Grapes, Blueberries, and Purple Grapes

As we say in the McDonald family....there are only 2 types of people in this world.
Those that are Irish and those that wish they were!

Featured Again

I am so excited that my Miss Spider Sunny Patch party for Lauren has been featured again on another party planning blog! I LOVED doing that party and was very pleased with how it came out! Thanks to Belleza e Luce for posting about it! I appreciate the shout out!

Please click on the icon to visit her wonderful blog!

Rob and Nina's Wedding: Bridesmaids Luncheon

This was not officially the first party of the wedding weekend, but I don't have many photos from the Meet the Families night hosted by Nina's mother at her house. Nina's mom had hosted a gathering the night before where Rob's family could all meet Nina's family. It was a great way for everyone to get to know each other before all the festivities began, so we could just party all the other nights there after!

So back to the Bridesmaids luncheon. This was a very elegant lunch. It was held at the Dallas Museum of Art at their restaurant Seventeen Seventeen. We had a private room which was just gorgeous. The food and service were really great and we enjoyed each others company. We enjoyed hearing all the stories about Rob and Nina first meeting, and some of their dating adventures. It was really special for Nina's grandmother to be there. We all enjoyed hearing about Nina growing up, as well! It was such a treat! You will see the menu below!

Check out this "sweet" dessert!

Charlie is back

Well, it was a long, cold February, but Charlie is back and March looks to be a great month. Charlie arrived home on Monday after his month long trip to the Super Bowl and Olympics. I have never seen my girls (and the dog for that matter) so excited! He came bearing Olympic gifts. Red mittens for us all and cute character hats for the girls. It is so good to have him back home, although technically he flew out this morning to go to a function tonight in Washington D.C. He will be home for a couple of weeks starting next week, so this week is sort of a tease. Here are some pics from his return!




Side Note: He could not find child size red mittens, so that is why they look like oven mitts on my girls! They love them anyway!

Sarah's Super Fun Weekend

What a great weekend this was. It finally looked liked a normal February day in Texas outside. We have had more winter than we know what to do with this year, so 60 degrees and sunshine felt like heaven! Sarah had a big weekend. It was the start of soccer and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Sarah has surprisingly been looking forward to soccer and her coach even commented after practice the other night that "Sarah was Back!" SO I am super excited for this. Last winter she was soccer star and then sort of didn't do much but look cute on the field in the fall, so I am glad she is getting back into it! Her team tied their first game. Sarah did score a goal, but it was called back due to being right on the line. Bummer! So she had fun and enjoyed it. Go Hurricanes!

Pre-game phone call from Daddy in Vancouver

Give me a five- Great job Sarah

Today, was the Alpha Chi Omega Fashion show. It is a yearly tradition for Sarah and her friend Audrey to participate in the show as future legacies! Click here to see them last year! Me and Audrey's mom joke all the time that they plan to room together at the Alpha Chi house when they attend TCU. I think as they get older we may not want to push this thought so much. TCU is on a current path to making it near impossible for anyone to afford to go. But I digress.... Back to the fashion show. The TCU chapter of Iota Lambda puts on a fashion show every year at the Ft. Worth Club to raise money for victims of domestic violence. This year I am proud to announce that they were able to give $3800 to the Alpha Chi Omega Foundation and $34, 304 to the Tarrant County Women's Center. Since the TCU Alpha Chi's started doing this fashion show 18 years ago, they (we) have donated over $300,000 to aid the victims of domestic violence. We are very proud! So not only a proud day for me to see my sweet walking down the runway, but proud to be an Alpha Chi and an alumnae of this chapter that has done so much for such an important cause.

Perfect display of my wonderful photographic skills. I can never get a non-blurry picture. It was even on the sports setting!

Re-think What Matters: "Must-Haves"

My friend Holly over at 504 Main has been doing a blogging series about the Bare Escentuals campaign on Re-think What Matters. Please go to both Holly's blog and the Bare Escentuals website to read more.



Anyway...this week she talked about the topic of "Must-Haves". I have actually been thinking about this a lot the last few weeks. What do I really need vs. What do I just want. So here are some of my lists that I have made up. I encourage you to make a list of your own. Would love to hear what is on your list(s)!

What are my Top 5 "Must-Haves"?
1.) Health: Not just my own, but the health of my kids, my husband, and our family. If you have your health, you have everything. I have heard this statement with the word "love" inserted instead of health, and I do agree with that, too. But if you are physically not healthy, you are limited in ability to do all things.
2.) Love: I am not just referring to the love that my husband and I share, but the love that we have from our families and friends. If I didn't feel love or have the opportunity to give love in return, I don't think I could survive.
3.) Family: I could not live without family. My kids and my husband are my world. They are my reason for getting up in the morning and for wanting to do all things. In addition to that, the rest of our immediate-extended family is included in that. I think often about how it might be fun to move back to CA or just move to a new city in general for a new adventure, but family is what keeps me here. I love being close to everyone. I love holidays with 15-20 people at my dinner table, I love weekly dinners with my in-laws, I love vacations where the whole crew travels in mass and descends upon some unsuspecting country....I love it all. I would be sad to be away.
4.) Friends: Now in this case, I am not talking about being Miss Social Butterfly...because that I am not. I have always considered myself somewhat of a wallflower. I prefer to have a few really good genuine friends, than have a ton of fair-weather friends. I know my FB account will say otherwise, but hey, that is the beauty of FB. I need to have friends that I can count on in times of need. Even if the need is to escape from my kids and partake in a little wine and good conversation.
5.) The Basics: Food, water, electricity, a roof over our heads, a car to get around, Nick Jr. and milk in the refrigerator.

I am happy to say I currently have all of the above, so my life is great and I really could never ask for anything more.

Fun Lists

"Must Have's" for my Kids
1.) Waffles, Easy-Mac, fruit, yogurt, and milk
2.) Nick-Jr. (Specifically Olivia and Dora)
3.) Something to do (Toys or activities)
4.) Lauren-Lullabies at night
5.) Sarah- Bedtime Stories

"Must-Have's" for the day
1.) Happy/Healthy kids
2.) access to my computer or iphone
3.) to check off items on my to-do list (it is a running list)
4.) The TV and DVR to decompress to at night
5.) 2 children that sleep through the night

"Must Have's" to make my life complete
1.) To see my girls grow up and become successful and happy. To help them plan their weddings would be an added extra bonus!
2.) To travel to Australia/New Zealand, Greece, Sweden, any and all tropical islands. To go back to Italy at any opportunity.
3.) A beach house
4.) For my husband and I to grow old together
5.) To have success in raising girls that are polite, considerate, thoughtful of others, tolerant, and that have an appreciation for the world and all living creatures in it.

Rob and Nina's Wedding: The Beginning

So it has been exactly 4 months since Charlie's brother, Rob, married Nina and I gained a new sister-in-law. I have been wanting to blog about this from the day after the gorgeous wedding and fantastic wedding weekend....but many things got in the way.

1. It was so gorgeous and so perfect and there were so many parties involved in the wedding weekend, I sort of didn't know where to begin. I got intimidated by the project ahead.

2. We were heading into the holidays and I was pre-occcupied by the next couple of months. I survived it!

3. I was waiting to get the professional pictures from the photographer, which I still don't have. No fault of the photographer, I just can't decide on which ones to buy and have been dragging my heels! So we will just make do with the photos I took and the few I have otherwise. Once I get the professional ones, I will just post again and we can all re-live this wondrous occasion at that moment!

So that about sums it up. Since I am going ahead without all the photos, and the holidays are over, I figured the best thing would be to take this topic and turn it into several separate blog posts!

So without further delay....I bring you the engagement. I do know the story of how he ended up pulling it off and surprising her, but I will spare you all the details at this time. I will tell you he asked her the day after Thanksgiving at the Dallas Arboretum in 2008, and she said yes. Let's flash forward to 2009 and check out their super cute engagement photos. Very Dallas chic...in my opinion. They had a wonderful photographer....Thisbe Grace. These are all her photos.

Meet Rob and Nina.....




My next post about their wedding will be about the Bridesmaid's Luncheon....stay tuned! Yes, I was asked to be a bridesmaid and I was thrilled to accept. You might remember the shower I hosted for her......CLICK HERE.

La mia Italia: Carnival

It is that magical time of year in Venice! I was so lucky enough to get to go 4 years ago when Charlie had finished working at the Torino Olympics. We took an additional week or so vacation all across Northern Italy, and Venice was the main stop. We had a great time. Although it was FREEZING cold, I sort of think it made it that much more romantic. Venice has a mysteriousness (if that is a word) about it. There is something about all the canals, back alleys, beautiful costumes, beautiful architecture, and the history of it all that makes Venice so special.

It is even more special during Carnival. Every where you turn you see the gorgeous ornate costumes. People scurrying off to parties and galas. All the restaurants and coffee shops are packed with people enjoying life and trying to stay warm. It is truly a magical place and one of the best experiences of my life. I get tears in my eyes every time we take that taxi up the Grand Canal. I have been there now 3 times. Each was very special. First time was on my honeymoon in July of 1999. The second was carnival in February 2006, and the more recent was a day trip with my dad in June of 2007. All of them have been great experiences, but Carnival was captivating! Here are some of my photos: Enjoy!

I will write another post on where to stay in Venice soon! We have stayed at 2 magnificent places!