If You Are Looking for Tutta la Storia . . .

You can now find me posting over at Under A Shady Tree.

Stop in and say hi!

The End

After nearly two years, I am going to stop blogging here.

I have decided that there is a time and a place for everything,
and that right now I need to be in the moment and
that means away from the computer.

I am going to focus on the stuff that gives me great happiness,
which is rolling in the grass with my kids,
reading that book that has been on my nightstand for six months,
getting back to journaling on paper,
and compiling the kind of scrapbooks that
can be physically handed down to my kids.

It has been a fun and rewarding experience,
and a great pleasure to meet so many people with an affection for
children, crafting, photography, baking or birdwatching!

Here are a few of my favorite blogs, a short list of some
women who I call my dearest bloggy friends.
Stop in and say hello! You may come to find that
you look forward to their posts as much as I do.

Stephanie
Mrs. M.
Kim
Teresa
Sharon
Jayne


To all of my regular readers,
thanks for stopping by and becoming a part of the fabric of my life.

If you'd like to say goodbye, please do so here, and if
you'd like to keep in regular contact,
you can e-mail me here, at tuttalastoria at gmail dot com.

XOXO

-Allison

Hmmm . . . .

I'm just not feeling it -- blogging regularly. I don't think it gives me the joy that it used to. Maybe I need a summer break.

On the plus side, I am spending more time reading actual books.

This blog was always meant as an online scrapbook. Maybe its time to go back to hands-on scrapbooking.

I'm going to give it a break and see how I feel.

XOXO

Allison

A Stunning Cardinal

Just LOOK at this photo that Chris took!
(You have to click on it to enlarge it.)

I am just speechless.
In this case, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words!

An Overnight to Providence

On Thursday we headed to Providence, Rhode Island for an overnight trip. Our plan was to go to the Roger Williams Zoo on Friday if the weather was good.

We stayed at a Hilton in downtown and the kids got to play in the pool. Isn't Ella's bikini adorable?


We had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then settled down early for the night. When you put your kids in bed by 8pm and you are in one room, that means the whole family goes to bed at the same time!

The next day we headed to the zoo--we were lucky, the weather held out and was sunny for our entire visit.


I am such a kid about going to the zoo--I really love it and am probably more excited than my kids are.


Some of the highlights of the visit were that we got to see the elephants being bathed--they laid down and had their backs scrubbed and really seemed to enjoy it!

There was also an indoor butterfly exhibit that was just amazing.


The butterflies were literally all around us--they would fly right past Ella's little nose. It was a great exhibit for her to see.


We had a great time and will definitely go back. And thanks to a short break in the weather, we were able to have a lovely, rain-free visit! (The minute we left the parking lot, the downpour began).


Of course, before we left Rhode Island, we stopped for a Del's Lemonade and clam fritters. It was a great mini-vacation!

Sweet Baby Ella

Just sharing a few sweet photos I took of Baby Sister yesterday.
She's so cute she makes my heart ache.

Tasty Tuesday - Vintage Skillet French Toast

My bloggy friend Jen over at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam (gotta love the name of her blog) has been running a regular Tasty Tuesday theme for a while now. I keep meaning to join in, but always seem to be posting bits about my own cooking adventures on Fridays or Mondays--not Tuesdays. SO, I saved one up for today, and am officially joining in on the Tasty Tuesday fun!

My Dad has been holding a vintage Sunbeam electric skillet for me that I got to bring home after our visit over Father's Day Weekend. He always has said that you can't have better pancakes, grilled cheese or French Toast than this skillet can make. This one is actually my Mom's. He found another one in an antique store box for a $1.00--so this one is now mine. ALL MINE.


As you can see it has been lovingly assisting with meal preparations for years. For this installment of Tasty Tuesday I am going to highlight a simple and cheap dinner idea--Vintage Skillet French Toast. (We tend to have breakfast a lot for dinner in our house). This is by no means a complicated meal, nor an expensive one! (Jen promotes frugality on her blog, so I know she'll like this one!)

I used a loaf of IGA white bread that was on sale for $1.29, and a dozen eggs that were on sale for 99 cents. I already had butter from my weekly local dairy home delivery. (Okay, so the generous amount of local maple syrup that I pour all over mine is not cheap. Let's not even go there. But the good stuff is worth it!)

Start by whisking 3 eggs and a couple of cups of milk and some cinnamon and a pinch of salt together. (I made 8 slices). Get the skillet heating (mine was on 380 degrees). Toss in a generous slab of butter and you are on your way!


Since the IGA bread was pretty thin, I just want to pace it in the egg mixture briefly, turning once to coat. For a heartier, homemade bread you would definitely want to soak it. Lay the slices in the skillet and listen to the yummy bubbling!


Flip when they have reached the desired doneness. I was being overly cautious since I was going to be giving a slice to Ella.


Move to a warm plate, add butter and local maple syrup and dig in!


Seriously folks, my Dad is so right--my French Toast never cooks this evenly in a regular fry pan, nor does it get the great crunchy edges that it has here. Can you see those crunchy edges? Can you smell the French Toast goodness??


I think James liked them!


Ella did too!


Mmmmmm . . . . just . a . moment . I . am . chewing . my . last . golden . buttery . bite . . .


YUM!!!!!

A Great Day for a Birthday Party

So, when the morning of James' party rolled around, I was concerned that we would get our 26th straight day of rain. Considering that the evening before we had a torrential thunderstorm, 20 minutes of golf-ball sized hail and lost power right in the middle of my food preparations (homemade potato salad, coleslaw and the dinosaur cake) it wouldn't have been crazy to expect rain.

But--we were lucky and the sun came out in full force to shine down on James' special day.

We picked up a ton of balloons right before the party and James was very excited to hold a bunch of them--I think he thought he was going to float off into the sky!


Here is my beautiful Ella with my handsome hubby.


Our big gift to James this year? A bouncy house! Check out his tongue--HYSTERICAL!


Here is his little friend Colin--he was such a sweetie and the boys played ALL AFTERNOON. Look at James' feet on the right of the pic above--another funny one! Gotta love that sport shot setting on my camera!


We set up a pack and play in the shade next to the bouncy house so that Ella could see all of the fun--I think she really wanted to play with the big kids!


James had such a blast in the bouncy house--I love his huge smile in this photo.


Colin was funny--he would dive into the bouncy house, jump around, and them come hurling out of it and down the slide, and then run to Baby Ella and kiss her, or touch her face or hold her hands. It was a little game they were playing!


The bean bag toss is always a hit! An old friend of Chris' came down with his son for the party. I hadn't seen them in YEARS and it was so fun to reconnect!



A dinosaur must have visited during the party when no one was looking, because these huge tracks led all the way down the sidewalk right up to the door!


We let a couple of balloons go for the kids (crossing our fingers that no birds would be harmed) and I snapped this shot of my sister-in-law and her son Matthew. Adorable!


Here are my friends Tara (on the left) and Stacey (on the right). I met Tara in 1994 when we were both working in regional theatre and she has been a steadfast friend ever since. She flew out to Vegas to help me back with the kiddos! And Stacey and I worked together when I got my first "corporate" job ten years ago. I missed them terribly when I moved to Vegas--and when we moved back it was like the five years had never happened and we fell right into our old ways again. It has been such a pleasure to know them--authentic, honest, sweet and funny--I love them both dearly.


Cake? Did somebody say cake? Yes, I made this dinosaur cake. You can get the instructional video here. For a good laugh, you should watch it--the cake decorator ices it in about 30 seconds. IT TOOK ME AN HOUR. Seriously. Next time I will leave the cake making to the experts, like my friend Katie, who made James' first birthday cake!

What a great day. Thanks to our friends and the weather--James' party was PERFECT.