Keeping up with Alette and Abria

Valentine's!

2012-02-16T05:31:00.001-08:00

I am not sure why my girls were so excited about Valentine's Day. They don't go to school or watch tv, and we hadn't talked about it alot. Nonetheless, they were busy planning decorations, activities and cards. So we made a special dinner together, they decorated and got dressed up. It was pretty low-key but they were so happy! No one ate a lot of the grilled cheese as we had brownies, ice-cream, whipped cream and strawberries waiting. Everyone stuffed themselves silly and after a brief sugar rush, the girls crashed in bed. Perfect.

Funny Stories, Thanks to Grandma

2012-02-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Andy's mom is wonderful. Two stories to illustrate:

1. Grandma's exercise program:
I go running almost every morning. Last week in the van, Abria asked how far I went, to which I responded '5 miles'. She then said 'Last time I was at Grandma's, we went running too.' I said 'I think you mean, you guys took a walk'. 'No, no', she responded. 'Grandma and I ran and ran and we did 8 miles, not just 5'.

2. Grandma is the believable teacher:
Again in the van, Alette proceeded to tell me about a very large ball that the chinese people had built to prevent their country from being attacked. It was so large in fact, that it could be seen from space. I gently said 'I think you mean wall, not ball'. To which she responded 'No Mommy, that doesn't make any sense, and besides, Grandma told me it was a ball'.

My 6 Year Old

2012-02-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

Although I think she is extraordinary, according to the medical world, she is perfectly average. Alette just had her 6 year well-child visit and checked in at 46 1/2 lbs and 46 3/4 inches (50th and 75th percentiles). Those proportions have stayed the same since she was born. Her doctor encouraged her to try some veggies (no kidding), which she promised to do (yeah right). I was replaced as the source of comfort during the shot as she wanted Abria to hold her hand....The nurse told her to count to 5 and of course, gave her the shot on 2. To which Alette angrily replied, 'hey, you didn't let me get all the way to 5'. I offered to have the nurse give her another shot to make up for it. Alette got her lollipop treat, Abria got one for being encouraging, and hopefully, we don't see the doctor for another year.

January Days

2012-01-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than snuggling in the morning! I had gone out for a morning run-both girls were in our bed at that point, but Alette was sleeping at our feet. When I came back, they were all snuggly and cute. Love it!

I've been able to ride through the winter...and so has Alette! It has been mild enough for us to get out often. Alette is ALMOST ready to take off the training wheels-she is so nervous to take the next step.

I thought January would be a 'stay-at-home' kind of month. However, we have ended up quite busy with gymnastics, basketball, the nature center, churchgroup, playdates. All great stuff but I miss the unhurried nature of being home. One of our favorite 'at-home' activities is taking walks, so when Alette got school done last friday we headed outside. Good thing the girls got umbrellas for Christmas! Abria still got wet as she twirled hers around and around-away from her head of course.

Merry Christmas 2011

2012-01-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone. However, we still have our tree up and today spent the day celebrating with Uncle Zeb, Auntie Laura and Xander (they weren't able to make it up to PA). I think I may take some of the ornaments/decorations down tomorrow. In the meantime, I am procrastinating and posting some of my favorite pictures from over the holidays.

A Date with Abria

2011-12-30T04:41:00.000-08:00

Abria really, really, really wanted her ice-cream to have a cherry on top, only to discover that she really, really, really doesn't like candied cherries.

Don't let the happy face fool you. Abria had the hardest time waiting for the train. It was the longest ten minutes of our day.

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The light show at Macy's!

The perfect end to the day-a nap in mommy's bed!

It is past Christmas and I still need to share details/pictures of that day, but in the meantime....
About a week before the holiday, Abria and I took the speedline into Philadelphia to see the light display at Macy's. I am not sure what she liked better-the train or the lights. We topped off the outing with lunch at her favorite restaurant: The Pop Shoppe in Collingswood. It was such a delight to spend the day together. I may be biased but truly think she is the cutest, funniest, most endearing three year old around.

Cookies!

2011-12-23T04:37:00.000-08:00

If I do not bake another, ice another, or see another cookie for a very long time, I will be very happy! Miss Z. was home early from school yesterday so we spent some time decorating cookies. It was her very first time....so hard to remember that these 'normal' experiences haven't been part of her life. The girls went to town with decorations. Alette took forever to do each one and Z just plopped on a ton of icing/sprinkles on each. Abria whipped through her pile of cookies. True to her personality, she did a small, quick swipe of frosting on each, then declared herself finished. She just cannot be bothered to spend time on anything craft-like. The best part was eating the finished products!

Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-14T13:33:00.001-08:00

In early December we had lunch with Pop-pop, Grandma Terry, and best of all, Santa! It felt a little early in the season-barely December and still very warm out. However, that did not dampen the girls' enthusiasm for the event. They loved making the crafts, decorating cupcakes, and sitting on Santa's knees. Both girls asked for a horse (oh dear!). Good thing Santa didn't make any promises.

Random Photos from the past few weeks

2011-12-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

We had a great time visiting family and being in DC for Thanksgiving weekend. The girls loved staying at Uncle Rob's house-his dog, Scottie, is the one of the highlights of their time there! Post-Thanksgiving we went to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian and had a chance to hang out with Laura, Zeb, their little guy Xander and grandmom! The weather was so beautiful that once the girls were tired of the museum, we hung out on the mall and let them burn off some energy before the ride home.

Just before Thanksgiving Alette, Abria and I visited the Herr's Factory and watched pretzels, tostitos and chips get made. It was a really, really long drive out but the factory was fascinating. The girls LOVED their free bag of potato chips!

Whenever one of my girls offers to help bake, there is always an ulterior motive. Can you guess what it is?

We've had a mild fall so I have tried to be diligent about getting the girls outside as often as possible. Our backyard is a mess of weeds-so the front sidewalk has become a reasonable substitute. Alette was actually annoyed with Abria in this picture. She was trying to color a pasture (color all the bricks green) for her deer and was annoyed that Abria was stepping near her work and would scare the (imaginary) deer away. The girls generally get along great and are best of friends, but sometimes they can argue over the most irrational things.

Horses 101

2011-12-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

Both girls, especially Alette, are infactuated with horses. So when the opportunity came up for a homeschool class on horses, I jumped at the opportunity. The instructor taught them abit about different body parts, then had the kids groom and help saddle the horses. It was a little disconcerting to see Abria calmly brush an animal she could have easily walked under. However, Miller (the horse), truly had the patience of a saint and hardly moved as the kids brushed him, cleaned his hooves and saddled him up. Abria initially wanted to ride the smaller pony, but once Alette rode Miller, she too wanted to ride him.

It is hard to believe that only a year ago, neither girl would ride the ponies at the zoo. Abria jumped right into brushing Miller and was happy to pat the other horses in the stable while waiting for her turn to ride. Alette too was happy to jump in on the action of grooming and even tried picking Miller's hooves.

A very happy rider! It was great to see that the instructor actually showed the girls how to hold the reins, how to guide the horse and how to mount/dismount. So much more exciting than just getting plopped on a pony at a ride!

The sweet horse, Miller.

School Days

2011-11-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

If I am not careful, the girls are going to take over my teaching. Like kids everywhere, they love playing school and Abria has the lingo down pat. This morning she was in her room for a really long time on her own-so I went up to check on her, and found she was sitting in her chair, looking at a book. When I asked her about the book, she responded 'I'm up here reading mommy, but I stuck on this word'.

Trust me, she cannot read.

Spot the Difference

2011-11-04T05:15:00.001-07:00

More pictures of this year's Halloween to follow, but I thought it was fun to compare the picture from 2 years ago with the one from this year. Some things haven't changed!

Happy Halloween....

2011-10-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

It has become an annual tradition in our house to carve pumpkins with Ganiyah and Nadia-a tradition that started way back when I was still working at Camp Peace and Nadia was a camp kid. I think we took a year or two off when we both had newborns, but otherwise, we have been faithful to our traditions. Ironically, our carving skills have not improved and the pumpkins still have a basic triangle eyes/nose/lopsided mouth look.

The girls had a blast together-squealing over the pumpkin 'guts', laughing at each others' creations, and then finally oohing and aahing over the glowing jack-o-lanterns.

If I manage to finish their costumes, and they agree to wear them, I may actually have photos of trick-or-treating soon.

Great Moments

2011-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite moments are unplanned...the times when I 'catch' the girls simply being wonderful together. Both girls have a love for books and stories, and lately they have been pretending to read to each other. In the top photo both girls were browsing through a Tintin book before Alette told Abria to 'stop reading over her shoulder'. Hmmm, wonder where she heard that phrase before? In the other photo, the girls had been looking through their nature books and comparing the different animals. Then I overheard them start to tell each other 'scarey' stories based on the pictures. It was quite funny to hear their imaginations go wild as they tried to outdo each other in the scariness factor.

The Joy of Being 3!

2011-10-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Don't you wish you were 3 again? When it was completely okay to wear a bookmark (handmade by Andy) as a headband, a Canadian lanyard, a dress, and rainboots (unfortunately you cannot see them in the photo)? The models in Vogue have nothing on my girls.

Sesame Place

2011-09-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

This is such a delayed posting~We actually went a couple of weekends ago). Thanks to Grandma for such a great outing! We had planned to go in Sept. to avoid the crazy summer crowds, then the weather turned cool and rainy. What to do, what to do. We hummed and hawed, then finally decided to take our chances and go. It turned out to be a wonderful, dry, albeit chilly for being in the water, day.

Alette was surprisingly brave-her first choice of the day was to ride the roller coaster. She LOVED it! So of course, I had to go on two more times for the other two girls....and then the teacups, and then the swings, and then....I was feeling rather dizzy by the end of the day. Abria loved the roller coaster but freaked out on the moonbounce and ropes. Imagine trying to descend the rope canopy with a freaked out 3 year old clinging to your chest...The girls all had a great time in the water despite the cool weather. Both Grandma and I sacrificed ourselves and took them down the tubes-then opted to supervise their play from a drier location.

What a great way to end the summer!

A Beautiful End of Summer Day

2011-09-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than taking a break in the middle of the day for a splash in the fountain! This is my favorite time of year-the weather is great and it is so nice to get outside without sweating up a storm. The fountain at Whitman Park is still operating, much to our delight. It's hard to pull them away-usually it takes the promise of a pretzel to lure them from the water.

I'm not doing school

2011-09-19T17:49:00.001-07:00

Abria is still adament that she is not going to do school this year....but happily joins us for whatever art project we have going on. Which is basically what school looks like when you are 3.

First Day of First Grade!

2011-09-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Despite Abria's brilliance (I'm her mom and allowed to say such things) she is not starting first grade. In fact, she has emphatically stated that she is not doing school at all this year. Despite her initial protest, she has happily joined us for stories, our homeschool co-op, our science class and even sat through a couple of Alette's geography lessons.

This picture looks like a set-up. After all, since we homeschool, where on earth would we go on our first day of school. We actually had to drive our foster daughter to Pre-K for her first day, then came back to start our school day.

Alette's first day! Our daughter has sprouted-There are times I catch myself looking at her in amazement....how did the past five years go so quickly?

How Much Are Those Nectarines?

2011-09-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

Abria and the girls loved the spraypark, and the weather was perfect for getting wet. Unfortunately I forgot to pack dry clothes so we all went home rather soggy.

The girls were directed to pick the reddest nectarines-a concept completely lost on an excited group of girls. They threw in whatever fruit they could reach...I felt rather bad but discreetly removed some of the worst looking ones.

Neither Miss Z, nor Ganiyah had taken a hayride before-everyone squealed in delight at every bump, turn and twist. The lady driving the tractor was badgered with about a million questions....which she was oh so patient about answering.

So, the nectarines were only 1.69/lb but we also had to pay for the ride to the orchard, then of course, we picked corn. The play area was 1/2 price (with a paid hayride), drinks were $2 each...I felt like I was NYC, not south Jersey. Was it worth it? Absolutely, we all had a great time. I wish I could say that the nectarines taste much better than those in the grocery store, alas, they are merely okay.

A week with Ganiyah

2011-09-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Ganiyah has been a wonderful friend to the girls since the moment she was born and we are always delighted to have her over. Her daycare was closed for the week so we happily included her in our week's activities. The girls had a great time dressing up and performing their dances/songs for me. What Alette and Abria lack in talent, they made up for in creativity and enthusiasm. I've been going through some old pictures and couldn't resist posting this one of Ganiyah and Abria.

Missing NC already....

2011-08-25T17:56:00.001-07:00

I really want to take the girls to the beach one more time before we buckle down to school and busier schedules. However, the outerbanks spoiled us! As glad as I am to live close (relatively) to Ocean City, it is a pale comparison to NC. So I am reliving by browsing and organizing pictures. This is from our last day-by this point the girls were very comfortable in the water and clearly having a blast! Even Xander was delighted to be a part of the group jumping-his initial foray into the water caused him to freeze. Just a few more swim days....

Go to the pool, go to the beach...repeat....

2011-08-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Sand, water, and lots of free time. It is the perfect holiday mix. It is so interesting to see the progress the girls make each year. This year Alette easily leapt into the pool and the ocean and by the week's end was happily ducking her head under the waves. This was also the week that suddenly Alette decided she was ready for a shower....a HUGE leap forward for her. Although she still needs/wants me near, it means that the sand actually got rinsed from her hair every night. Of course, once Abria saw her big sister in the shower, she too wanted to take one. That was much less successful. She stood plastered against the wall, slightly overwhelmed by all the water and as a result, was very happy to return to taking baths. However, Abria easily overcame her hesitation by the beach. She loved running into and out of the waves, over and over and over again. True to her nature, Abria wasn't much into jumping the waves but instead prefered to sit on the sand between the wave action.
Miss Z was also able to make the trip with us. It was a huge deal for her and she was initially terrified of the ocean. However, when she saw the girls frolicking and screaming in delight her desire to join in overwhelmed her fear. She definitely had to be coaxed each day back into the pool and the waves but made huge strides in overcoming her initial fright.

We hit the woods!

2011-08-04T12:48:00.001-07:00

We once again joined some of our church friends for the annual camping trip at Hickory Run State Park in Pa. The girls simply love it and beg to stay longer each year. Truthfully, at the end of the four days I am exhausted and ready for the comforts of home. This was especially true this year as we got POURED on all day Monday and my air mattress deflated every night. Ugh! We survived the rain though, didn't see any bears and I managed to get some sleep. It is so much fun to watch the girls explore, play with friends and generally have a great time.
The girls warm up by the campfire on a chilly morning. I was so impressed by my ability to start a fire...and keep it going!

Alette toasts a breakfast marshmellow. Yes, I let the girls have marshmellows for breakfast on our last morning!

The nearby stream was filled with minnows and frogs. We spotted lots of frogs but were rarely able to catch one.

Happy Birthdays!

2011-07-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

This year we got to celebrate two birthdays in one week! Abria turned three on Monday, and Miss Z turned 4 on Thursday. Our week was filled with celebrations. On Tuesday we took the girls out to 'The Pop Shoppe', their favorite restaurant. It was great to escape the heat and enjoy dinner together. Ironically, 2 of the 3 girls nibbled at their food-too engrossed with chocolate milk and too excited about gifts to have much of an appetite.
We continued the celebration on Wednesday when Andy's family came over. Despite the oppressive heat and humidity we all had a great time watching the girls play and open gifts.
Abria is getting the hang of being 3. For a very long time, when talking about birthdays, she would insist she was turning 5-after all, her sister is 5 and she gets to do so much more than a 2 year old. Alette is now insisting that she is 5 and 1/2.

Ice Cream

2011-07-08T14:13:00.001-07:00

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream! The weather has been sticky, hot and humid. We've escaped to various a/c locales-thank goodness my girls never grow tired of visiting the bookstore or the petstore. However, this Friday we were bound to be stuck indoors waiting for the city inspector (who gave a estimated time range of 10am to 3pm). So we made it an ice-cream day. The girls had ice-cream with their morning waffles, we did some writing about ice-cream, did an ice-cream craft, and of course, made ice-cream. Making ice-cream in a baggie in your kitchen is not recommended. The bags leaked, the girls quickly got tired of all the shaking and eventually I just stuck the concoctions in the freezer and hoped for the best. A couple of hours later, the girls enjoyed some remarkably good tasting ice-cream!

Pizza Night

2011-07-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

We've been reading 'Pete's a Pizza' by William Steig, a very funny and sweet book. We turned Alette into a pizza, did a pizza collage, made playdough pizza and then finally, made pizza ourselves. Alette usually wants to help in the kitchen but loses interest after a very short while. This time though she stuck through-mixing up and kneading the dough, then rolling and stretching it out. Of course it helps that pizza is one of her favorite meals :) and despite the whole wheat crust, she enthusiastically ate several pieces (once she had pulled off all the cheese of course).

Summer =Pool Days

2011-06-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed to have wonderful friends with pools. Summer days mean pool days! We've been hanging out at the DiMarcs since Alette was 6 months old-this is the first year Abria is joining us. She is still a solid napper but can give up the occasional afternoon without severe consequences. She has taken to the water like a fish and is determined to hit the deepend soon. When I catch her trying to swim out past my reach she states 'Mommy, you no see me okay?'. Alette in the meantime is also venturing out (something that has taken her a very long time). It helps that the other little girls there are a year or two older and she so desperately loves to be with them. So while they all jump off the diving board, she steps on it, shakes in nervous anticipation, then gets off and slips into the water by the side. I'm trying not to interfere....I'm sure I'll miss her first jump in.

PAWS Farm

2011-06-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

We finally made it out to PAWS Farm-a small farm/nature center in Mt. Laurel. It is one of Alette's favorite spots and she had been bugging me to take her since spring. Unfortunately it is not a great place to be if it is raining or too hot, so we've postponed and postponed....
Despite the threat of showers, the weather turned out terrific and we had a great time petting the animals, playing 'vet' and even got to listen to some stories and make a butterfly craft. All day I had to hear 'Mommy, maybe for my birthday I can get a turtle, ...maybe I can get a snake....maybe I can get a lizard'. The girls don't seem to quite understand that we are at maximum capacity for pets.

Our First "Camping" Trip

2011-06-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure it qualifies as camping if you are in someone's backyard! Our caregroup opted out of a hotel/house retreat and instead we all pitched tents in the Messanger's backyard. The girls had an absolute riot running around with all the other children. They got to toast marshmellows and Abria even toasted a hotdog, although all she ate was the bun. Very little sleep occured....and we were all exhausted and sore the next day (funny how even sleeping on the lawn gets hard after a couple of hours).

Random Pictures

2011-05-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

Abria enjoys her treat at our homeschool co-op. We are now done for the spring semester and while it makes my life easier (no more prepping for classes, packing lunches...), we miss our friends!

Our 'pool' is really too small for the girls...but it is the perfect size for making soup, which is what the girls were doing a couple of weeks ago. First they picked various herbs/weeds, plopped them in the water and stirred like mad. After awhile, they got bored and started watering the lawn, one cup at a time.

The girls knocked out after a long day in NYC at the children's music fest.

For mother's day, Andy treated me to a picnic in the park with the girls. It was a perfect day. I rode for awhile in the afternoon, came home to shower, then was treated to an evening out. We hung out at Cooper River park for awhile. Andy made a great salad, bread, and roasted asparagus for us-mac/cheese for the girls. Thank you for making my life as a mom so wonderful!

Alette's 'I cannot believe you are taking a picture of me' stare.

Family Visit

2011-05-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have my sister Natasha and her hubby Sean join us for a couple of days. My girls worked hard to tire them out!

After the morning at our homeschool co-op, we spent the day in Philly. Naturally, we visited the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's Court and Penn's Landing. The girls acted like seasoned tourists and totally ignored the Liberty Bell-the floor to ceiling glass windows were WAY more exciting!

We love walking over the BenFranklin Bridge, but only seem to do it when we have visitors. At this point, it is quite a chore to push the double stroller with both girls in it up and over the span. Luckily, Alette tends to run back and forth between the various posts-she probably covered more ground than any of us.
Sean and Natasha were only with us for a few days but we got to see them again up in Brooklyn at a children's music festival. We had a fantastic day-great music, great weather, a fun park nearby (with a moonbounce!), free cookies at the festival....

Easter Fun

2011-04-28T11:12:00.001-07:00

A rainy and dreary Saturday meant the Easter egg hunt was held inside-which only made the amount of candy/eggs seem even more overwhelming. Abria was proud of her haul, we actually needed to put the overflow of her basket into bag.

It is becoming an annual tradition to have an egg hunt at Pop-pops and Grandma Terry's house. The weather totally cooperated so we spent most of the afternoon outside enjoying the warm, sunny weather (finally!).

T-Ball

2011-04-19T11:10:00.001-07:00

Oh there are so many funny things about T-Ball....watching the team do drills is kind of like watching someone herd cats....watching Alette diligently pick at sticks/bugs/grass in the outfield....listening to her recite the rules at dinnertime....
We've had a great time with T-Ball this spring-the field has a wonderful playground so Abria is happy to play with the other younger siblings, Alette is happy she knows some of the other kids, PLUS, she gets a freeze-pop after each practise. What more could you want?
Alette is now 'running' on the occasional morning with me-getting practise for running the bases. Her ability to throw or catch the ball unfortunatley mirrors me. I think I'll put her dad in charge of honing those skills!

First Sleepover!

2011-04-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

Alette wanted to wear a headscarf to match Ganiyah (who actually took hers off for the picture).

Ganiyah is like a second sister for Alette and Abria, so she was a perfect friend to spend the night. The girls played like mad until it was time for bed....they actually settled into bed without complaints....only to chatter and chatter and chatter. However, by 8:30 Abria (the chattiest of the three) had fallen asleep and the other two soon followed. I was a little worried about the whole thing-fears of three kids with no sleep, fears of Ganiyah getting homesick in the middle of the night etc. Yet everyone slept soundly and woke up raring to go. Sleep-overs at this age are easy!

Time to do the laundry

2011-04-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

From the moment the girls could crawl, the laundry basket has been an irresistable toy. Today I went into my bedroom and saw Alette snugly curled up (she was supposed to be resting in bed). She said she was a hibernating mouse.

Palmyra Nature Cove

2011-04-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

This nature center is an absolute treasure! We go every Monday morning for a short science lesson-rain or shine it involves a walk outside-which Alette loves! After a couple of minutes Abria always proclaims 'I'm tired of walking!'. In our group, Alette is bounding up ahead with the leader while Abria and I are pulling up the rear.
Today was a terrific day to be out-we spent our morning looking for different colors in nature. For once I remembered my camera!

The Last Time?

2011-03-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

I love when my girls aquire new skills, reach new milestones, and show increasing independence. BUT....boy, do I ever get a huge lump in my throat at every sign of their growing up. This one caught me completely off guard. We were at Wegmans and the girls were trying to squish into the car at the front of the cart-it was a tight squeeze with the winter coats! Alette said 'Mommy, we are just too big now...this is the last time we can be in here together'. Suddenly I was all sad and missing my little 'babies'.
On the other hand, if I do not have to push that ridiculously heavy and awkward cart around a grocery store ever again, I will be delirious.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-17T13:10:00.001-08:00

We spent the morning at a friend's house - playing games, drinking tea and decorating cookies. The girls loved the chance to dress up!

Abria's energy flagged by the end of dinner. Here, she reclines in my arms but still manages to serve herself ice-cream dessert.

A very full and happy 5 year old!
Our valentine's day dinner out used to be a romantic affair for two-now it is a rambunctious dinner at the Pop Shoppe, a local kid-friendly restaurant. What's better than pink pancakes?

Pictures from the (recent) past

2011-02-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

The snow and cold have been dreadful-so anytime it was above freezing we went out. Sometimes it was only as far as the 'pretzel man' at Rutgers, which considering he is parked only two blocks away, can take an astonishingly long time. The girls have to step on every block of snow/ice, run around every tree or pole, pick up random sticks....

Over the christmas break we took the girls bowling. Alette was adamant that she did not want to go...too bad. However, we all had a great time. They set up bumpers and even a slide for the ball so there was really no way the girls could avoid hitting a pin. I've blocked out the memory of our scores, but Abria and I did tie...for last place.

5 Year Stats-She's above average!

2011-02-02T12:54:00.000-08:00

It is hard to imagine that 5 years have gone by since Alette was a newborn baby. We trecked to the doctor every month or so, she was constantly weighed, measured, poked, prodded...Now, a month after she turned five, I finally remembered to make an appointment.
Since birth Alette has been at the 50th percentile for height-despite having 6ft tall mom and a slightly taller dad. Most of the time, her weight was in the same percentile-in other words, a perfectly average daughter. No longer. Suddenly she has shot up to the 90th percentile in height and 75th for weight. I figured a crazy growth spurt was going on as she went from size 4 to size 6 in about 4 months. I nearly fell off my chair laughing when Dr. McHugh said she must be a good eater. Yes, she has a hearty appetite (when she chooses) but is still sorely lacking in variety. In the meantime, thank God for good health for my little girl!

More Snow!

2011-01-31T07:22:00.001-08:00

It just will not let up this year! We are all getting a little tired of cancellations, icy sidewalks and bitter wind. I'm anxiously awaiting the groundhog's prediction tomorrow...

The Party!

2011-01-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

After last year's fiasco, I was deadset against planning another party. However, Alette had her heart set on having all her friends over, so....
enjoy the pictures!

The kids gather for musical chairs. The game quickly morphed into a weird 'run around the circle, through the circle, and even if the music stops, keep running'. Alette wouldn't move from her chair....obviously figuring that she wouldn't lose her seat if she stayed stationary. However, we weren't eliminating kids, just pulling numbers from a bag so her strategy didn't help much.

If I don't make/ice another cupcake for a very long time, I will be very, very happy.

Andy tried to set up a relay race-not realizing that young kids are really terrible about waiting their turn if someone else is running. So instead the kids had a ton of fun burning up energy but running up and down the long hallway.

Cookie decorating! One of my goals was to send the kids home on a total sugar-high, a feat readily accomplished by allowing little kids to decorate as many cookies as they wish.

Welcome Paddington!

2011-01-10T11:33:00.001-08:00

On a snowy Saturday we trekked out for a belated birthday gift to Alette - her very own pet. She's a very cute, young pig named Paddington. What a shock to discover that Alette actually had a name chosen, and it wasn't Cinderella. For now Paddington is residing in a cage in the kitchen but will soon take up residence in the girls' room.

Christmas Week

2011-01-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lack of chronological order with the pictures. I clearly remain computer challenged.
Christmas Day was spent up in Princeton-Pippi showed remarkable restraint and did not want any stockings opened until Alette and Abria arrived. Once we got there, the two of them dove into their treasure trove of stocking gifts (Abria was more distracted and slowly opened hers throughout the day). Then all restraint was put aside as the girls eagerly encouraged everyone to hurry and be done with stockings so they could move onto the larger gifts under the tree.

The post-dinner video. It seems to have become a tradition for the girls to chill out and enjoy a video while the adults relax over dinner.

Snow! Boxing Day was spent safely huddled in our house while a storm blew through the region. Since we had no plans, we loved it! The next day Andy took the girls out to play in the backyard. I like snow...to look at. They built some sort of snow sculpture-which I think Abria tried to knock over with her stick...or maybe she thought it was a snowman that needed arms.

Between Christmas and a birthday, Alette gets a lot of new gifts in a very short time. One of my favorites (which she likes but doesn't appreciate as much as me) is the new hat my mom knitted.

Christmas at Pop-pop and Grandma Terry's included spending time with Xander and Auntie Lisa!

The girls both got Cinderella barbies and horses-Abria, being two, promptly took all the clothes off her barbie. Alette, being five, gets super annoyed with naked barbies. Thank goodness they now each have their own. It's a little hard to see but Abria's wearing her new Belle pjs (courtesy of Auntie Lisa)-the minute she got them, she HAD to wear them and even wore them to our Christmas Eve church service. Yes, it would have been lovely for her to wear her Christmas dress like all the other little girls but in the end I didn't care-she was happy. I think if she had her way, she would have worn them all day on Christmas too...

The traditional Christmas morning pictures.

PreChristmas Activity

2011-01-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

I realize this blog is out of order, but I wanted to include some pictures from our week before Christmas.

The girls invented a new tradition: wear the advent wreath on your head. While decorating the tree, the girls discovered the advent wreath I made last year...and no big surprise, it makes a perfect hat. After a few games of 'plop it on my sister's head' and then 'throw it like a frisbee' the wreath became a mangled mess. Good thing we do not have any family heirlooms.

Cookie decorating! Alette, Aiden and Ben all worked hard at decorating their houses and cookies. Abria just ate a ton of candy and sprinkles. Ellie (Aiden and Ben's little sister) just threw candy and sprinkles. I lost track after awhile of how many cookies my girls ate versus how many they decorated, I found frosting/candy/sprinkles in every nook and cranny of the first floor, but....we had a great time and are looking forward to doing this again!

Our New Cousin!

2011-01-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas brings so many wonderful things-including the chance to spend time with a new baby! Xander, along with his parents, spent the day with us on the 24th at Grandma Terry and Pop-pop's house. Abria was thrilled to be able to hold baby Xander-although the novelty quickly wore off once she realized it involved sitting very still. Nonetheless, the girls were so excited to have their new cousin with them through the holidays.

My baby is 5.

2010-12-22T18:09:00.001-08:00

Okay, I realize Alette is not a 'baby' but I'm sentimental and getting all misty eyed at the thought of her growing up. Five seems like a milestone-maybe because it implies 'school-age' and a clear distinction from the toddler years. This morning Alette stated 'I don't really feel too much different, I've only been 5 since I've been awake so I need to get used to it.'
Today was all about Alette. She got a new crown at breakfast (as every princess should), did not have to do school and but instead got to go to the Please Touch Museum with Andy. After a short rest, Grandma and Grandma Terry (and Pop-pop later) came over for dinner and festivities. Alette made it easy for me this year-she wanted Kraft dinner and an ice-cream cake.

Yummy ice-cream cake. The day before her birthday Alette was quite upset that I hadn't made her a reindeer shaped ice-cream cake. I'm not sure where she got that idea from. I was on the verge of getting annoyed with her ingratitude but Andy saved the day by stating that I had made a cake in the shape of a reindeer egg, which is round of course.

Modelling some of her princess finery.

Basically the night consisted of Alette and Abria convincing the grandmas to read story after story, then play-act, play-act, and ...play-act. On the morning after her birthday Alette was cuddled up in our bed and asked to come downstairs with me when I got ready to go running. (she claimed she was hungry). So we went downstairs, I made her toast-which she kind of looked at, then stated that really she was just bored in bed and wanted to do her new puzzle.
Today her and Abria have played princess for most of the day-there was a short break in the action when friends came over to decorate cookies. Then the boys took over and tried to use the tiaras as missiles. Ahhh, the world of boys...I cannot even imagine.

Our Gingerbread House

2010-12-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

First thing in the morning (ie. 7am), Alette is hard at work decorating.

The beginning stage.

I feel victorious! This year the walls remained standing, the roof did not cave in, and the candies did not slide off. The secret? some crazy icing recipe I found on the internet that hardens to a cement-like consistency after a few minutes. I love it! The girls had a blast eating candies and even putting a few on the house. We originally had the house displayed on the coffee table, which proved to be too much of a temptation for Abria as she was constantly trying to lick the candies.

First Snow

2010-12-18T10:09:00.001-08:00

I want to sing 'Dashing Through the Snow' when I see this picture, except it is such an embarrassingly small amount of snow. However, combine a dusting of snow with freezing cold temperatures all week and it amounts to a BIG deal here in South Jersey. We were supposed to go carolling on Thursday night but half way to our destination called it off because of the crazy traffic. Unfortunately the girls had been cooped inside all week (combination of the flu and weather) so it was a huge disappointment and lead to lots of tears. They were slightly appeased by the promise of a neighborhood walk and hot chocolate when we got home. The snow is mostly gone-so little that it just kind of blew away. Nonetheless, the girls had a great time this morning running up and down our sidewalk. I'm such a grinch-if this is all we see for snow this year, I will be very happy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas Lunch with Santa (and Pop-pop and Grandma Terry).

Alette initially did not want to sit on Santa's lap, but changed her mind once she saw all the other children getting candy canes (her favorite treat). Once she was up there, she kept talking and talking and talking....

My favorite part of the tree is the angel Alette made last year.

The tree has sat unadorned for about a week...we finally got around to putting up the decorations last Saturday. True to form, all the decorations are concentrated in a 3 foot square at the front of the tree. I thought about redistributing them after the girls were in bed but truthfully, I just don't care enough about how it looks.

One positive note to an otherwise crummy day.

2010-12-01T12:39:00.001-08:00

Mondays are always hard. Mondays after a holiday are even more difficult. Alette had a difficult time getting back into the swing of homeschool and I am afraid I wasn't too patient either. We had temper tantrums, time-outs, and generally sour moods all around. However, since it was nice out, I was determined to go for a walk with the girls. The letter this week is 'D', so we walked to Dunkin' Donuts and got a donut. I think it was a first for both of them. By the time we got home both girls were covered in icing from ear to ear. Maybe it was the fresh air, more likely it was the sugar, but we were all feeling better once we got home.

How soon til she joins me on my Saturday ride?

2010-11-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

Alette's 'new' bike is finally repaired and ready for the open road. We had beautiful weather this Saturday, perfect for heading out and practising. Alette rode around a bit before deciding that she would rather practise her running. She is certainly not a dare devil and was a little intimidated by the effort required to learn this new skill. Nonetheless, she is excited about her new bike (especially since it is pink) and keeps asking to go out and practise again.

Party Time!

2010-11-08T17:52:00.001-08:00

The girls loved having a campfire at the Bass's house! Alette actually roasted and ate marshmallows (as opposed to her typical style of eating them straight from the bag). Despite many small children, combined with sticks, marshmallows and fire, the night was incident free. As Alette put it 'there were so many good things, I can't think which was my favorite...can we do it again?'

Dinner is served!

Once the pumpkins were carved, the girls wanted them lit during breakfast every morning. I'm wondering if that is why they rotted so quickly.

I love the innocence and delight of childhood. Alette was so eager for Halloween-she continually talked about her costume and even practised trick or treating. I was so worried she would be let down by the actual experience of the day. Trick or treating is not big in our neighbourhood and few people opened their doors to us. However, all she could talk about was the lady down the street who gave her THREE candies and the man across the street who gave her TWO HANDFULS! Seriously, she couldn't care less about the unanswered doors but was astonished at anyone who gave her more than one piece. To top it off, we got together at a friend's house to decorate pumpkins, eat, and hunt for candy. Combined with a harvest party at playgroup earlier in the week, Alette accumulated a serious stash of sweets.

Halloween Costumes

2010-11-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

I got off so easy this year! Alette decided early on to be a rabbit, and actually stuck with her decision. I pulled out the pink sweatshirt, pants, gloves and ears from Easter, made a fluffy tail and drew on whiskers. perfect. Abria was all set to be a lobster (she has the cutest lobster hat from grandma) but one look at her older sister as a rabbit and she too was determined to dress as a bunny. So, I pulled out another pink sweatshirt, pants, gloves, ears, drew whiskers....
The girls will never get prizes for originality this year but the whole deal cost a $1 (for the gloves at Target) and I didn't spend more than five minutes pulling it all together.

Boo!

2010-11-02T15:27:00.001-07:00

It's Pumpkin Time!

2010-10-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

We took another drive out to Conte Farms-this time to get pumpkins. We came home with apples, pumpkins, squash, and a dozen apple cider doughnuts (which Alette loved and oddly, Abria didn't care for). When I have a moment I'll post the pics from our afternoon of pumpkin carving.

Random Events

2010-10-21T19:32:00.001-07:00

October got off to a great start! Alette, Abria, and I drove up to Princeton to celebrate their cousin Pippi's 5th birthday. The girls happily shrieked, giggled, and ran around for the entire evening. Dinner was topped with a crazy, flaming candle. Dessert was cupcakes, floats and candy. Abria got to wear a princess dress and high heels all evening. In all, a perfect friday night.

Last Sunday Andy brought the girls up to Tinicum Park to join me at the end of one of my cycling events. We hung out for awhile at the park, walked over a very small bridge across the Delaware River, then found a huge playground for the girls to burn off some more energy. I was absolutely beat at the end of the day. At one point, Alette asked me to play tag-which I wouldn't because I was too tired. Her quote 'Mommy, all you did this morning was ride your bike and have fun'. Yes, I had fun riding my bike....50 miles of hard, climbing fun.

Alette and I joined in the fun at Rutger's Homecoming weekend. She happily petted the goats, llama, and rabbits but wouldn't ride the pony...or really even get close to it. Then she choose the largest pumpkin possible to decorate. We only had to walk 2 blocks home but it felt like a mile. For our next pumpkin adventure the rule will be 'if you can carry it, you can have it'.

I love it when Alette 'teaches' Abria. I was in the kitchen and could hear her singing our 'author' song with her-then proceeding to 'read' the book. Alette loves Mo Willems, and of course, anything Alette loves, Abria loves too. Even though Abria is so different in many ways, she is just like Alette in her love of books. The other night Andy and I could hear her on the monitor saying 'read, read, read...the end' while she looked at her books.

Apple Picking

2010-10-12T19:10:00.001-07:00

It was a sunny, warm day-perfect for getting outside! Both girls loved the wagon ride out to the orchard. Alette was a little concerned that the driver was going too fast-Abria just kept yelling 'faster'!

Ever since I mentioned apple picking, Abria had been talking about it. I was so worried that she would be too little to reach any of the branches. However, with a little stretching she was able to pull quite a number of apples off the trees. She did lose interest rather quickly and opted instead to run around and eat her apple.

Once we got home Alette was adamant about washing and 'organizing' the apples. She rinsed and dried them, then trimmed the stems with her scissors (I'm not sure why this step was so important). Then they were all stacked in the fruit bowl to be saved for the winter. I think I've been reading too many stories about hibernation! I explained that we didn't need to actually store them for the winter, in fact, they would soon rot if we didn't eat or use them up. In the next few days we'll be busy baking....

Our Budding Artists

2010-09-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

There is no point to owning paintbrushes or to trying to keep clean. Alette was busy stamping patterns for school and of course, Abria wanted to join the fun. Then all chaos broke loose. Abria worked for a bit, then decided to taste the paint. That put a pretty quick end to our projects. Unfortunatley these pictures do not do full justice to Abria's 1980s hairdo.

Cultus Lake

2010-09-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

It felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves-typically these docks are filled with kids/adults. So nice to be able to enjoy the quiet (except of course, for the girls yelling and screaming)!

The morning rain created lots of fun puddles to splash through on our walk.

Abria LOVES these hangy-down things (not sure what they are called). At some playgrounds she can get to them independently, which scares me to death as she will just swing herself out into space. Alette will now try them, so long as I am nearby. Sometimes it is good to have a dare devil for a younger sister.

The day started out rainy and dreary and I was afraid we would not be able to make our planned trip to the lake. However, by mid-afternoon the skies cleared so we headed out for some later afternoon fun. The girls loved digging, throwing rocks in the water, playing at the playground and searching for the perfect walking stick. We were all pretty muddy, wet, and tired at the end.

More Holiday Stuff

2010-09-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hanging out at Mill Lake Park. The girls loved watching the ducks diving for food. Everytime a duck dove, Abria shouted 'bum'-because that of course, is all we could see on the duck.

Abria giving grandpa a 'hairwash'.

Uncle Sean is part of the children's band 'Alphabet Soup'. At our family picnic, he broke out the guitar and entertained everyone. Alette knows the songs by heart but was a little taken aback by Sean playing them live. Abria is just into a 'silly face' stage.

Abria gets a free ride at the zoo.

Hanging out with Auntie Natasha, waiting for the lions to be fed.

Granville Island

2010-09-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Abria practises her 'funny face' for the ferry operator.

This market is a gem-tucked right under the Granville bridge in the heart of Vancouver. We spent Saturday afternoon smelling flowers, staring at fish and crabs, chasing seagulls and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. The girls' highlight was the ferry-a small bumpy ride through the harbour. After a quick dinner at McDonalds, we were all exhausted. Alette fell asleep on the way home, mom and I dozed, and like usual, Abria got her second wind and chattered/laughed the entire ride home.

Water Park

2010-09-10T08:16:00.001-07:00

Abria uses her sunsmarts and hides under the umbrella.

One of the joys of visiting my parents is Mill Lake Park-a wonderful park about ten minutes from their house. It has a couple of playgrounds, a water park, a lake, ducks....Natasha and Sean joined us for an afternoon of fun. The weather was great, the water was FREEZING, which of course did not stop my girls from getting wet.

A Trip Across the World (or at least the country)

2010-09-06T19:32:00.001-07:00

We geared up for what has become an annual pilgrimmage to the west coast. Despite not having signed my passport, and showing my expired driver's lisense, we made it through check-in, security, and onto the plane. Thank goodness for pre-boarding, thank goodness for separate seats, thank goodness we had the entire row, thank goodness for lots of snacks and new toys to play with, and most of all, thank goodness our plane landed 30 minutes early. The girls were troopers but we were all going a little stir crazy after awhile.
Enjoy the pictures from our first day-I'll post more soon.

Look Ma...No Kids!

2010-08-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

All smiles after a morning spent canoeing.

Mores smiles, but if you get a chance, ask us for the true story of our cycling adventure.

The whales came amazingly close to our boat (thank goodness it was a large boat!). We saw numerous whales and their calves swimming and diving around us.

Andy and I spent a great weekend in Cape Cod to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Typically this blog is all about the girls-but here are some photos of us-sans kids. I won't deny that I missed them and worried about them, but that was easily overcome. It was pure joy to jump out of the van, use the bathroom, get a coffee-all in about the same time it takes me and the girls just to get out of the van.

Smith Playhouse

2010-08-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

The girls (and Andy!) had a great time on the HUGE wooden slide. They shrieked in delight the entire way down, then yelled MORE! AGAIN!

The playground is huge so we split up-guess who I hung out with? Abria had great fun climbing over all the equipment, swinging, and just generally running around. After awhile she kept saying 'go,go'-I thought she wanted to go to another area of the playground. However, as we neared a bench she ran up to hit and yelled 'mommy, rest!' Good idea! We sat and chilled abit before moving on. She has done this a couple of times at home and it amazes me that she knows when she needs downtime.

This place is such a treasure!

Swimming

2010-08-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is truly impressive footage. At the beginning of the summer, Alette would not let go of me even in the shallow end. Seriously, I had bruises on my arms each time we went swimming. Then at some point I looked at the pool and there she was, happily playing around in the deep end, no parent needed. Am I proud? absolutely! Did I get a lump in my throat at the sight of my baby girl's independence? absolutely! Luckily Andy was there to reassure me that this is what we want for our kids.

The Beach

2010-08-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, it is hot and humid in NC. So, in order to get out and run, I had to start very, very early, but it is difficult to complain about witnessing such a spectacular sunrise.

The girls spent the majority of their beach time digging. Until Andy arrived, most of the creations were shapeless blobs surrounded by small moats. Then, he upped the level of expertise and the creations grew both in size and complexity. Abria however failed to grasp the concept of building and preferred to sit/lie in the sea puddles.
Poor Alette had to abandon several projects as Abria would come up roll over the piles of sand...at least she wasn't eating sand this year.

Mid-week we experienced a HUGE thunder and lightening storm. The dogs went crazy, Abria covered her ears and jumped with every crack of lightening, and the rest of us watched the rain pummel the windows.

Abria and Alette took a short break from the beach to show off their ballet moves.

There is nothing better than a bowl of ice-cream after a hard day of play.

Both girls were a little intimidated by the ocean when we first arrived-the waves are so much larger than those in NJ. However, by the time the storms hit and the waves got really large, both girls were pretty comfortable in the water and loved being taken out to the 'deep end' with their daddy.

It was a week of sand, water, playing, then more sand, water and playing. This was our second year joining the Joshua clan for their beach vacation (in obx) and it was every bit as fun as last year. A little busier maybe since Abria is now mobile and has her own opinions about everything. On the other hand, she no longer eats sand, Alette is a much better swimmer, and both girls had tons of people to entertain and play with. As a parent, it is such a delight to witness the joy one's children can bring to others (sounds terribly conceited but is not intended to be). I guess I am just grateful for times like this past week when my girls are surrounded by love and happiness just emanates from them.

Cooling Off

2010-08-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

The beach house this year was terrific-a private walk to the beach (which could be seen from the kitchen) and a pool. We hit the pool everyday. For the first few days it felt like warm bath water as it had been so hot. Then we had a huge thunder/lightening/rain storm which filled the pool with about 5 inches of fresh, very cold, water. Nonetheless, we were again in the pool the next morning. The girls happily splashed around while I froze. Auntie Lisa spotted a rather large crab at the pool's bottom-which seemed like a good excuse to get out and warm up.

We Hit the Woods!

2010-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

We found all sorts of interesting water life, including tadpoles in various stages of change. It was the first time I had seen frogs with tails! Later we came back with bread to feed all the fish. A couple people in our campsite loop saw snakes, and even a dead rattler. Alette really wanted to go for a snake hunt but I managed to distract her with the promise of a treat (the once in a lifetime opportunity to eat a bag of oreos).

The girls enjoy an early morning snack around the campfire. It was wonderful to be somewhere chilly enough to enjoy a morning fire!

No, Alette does not have seriously rotten teeth. She has been begging for oreos ever since she had them as a snack at nursery school. So her big treat during camping was a bag of mini-oreos-and she was even willing to share one with me.

Abria enjoys some reading in the afternoon sun.

On our way home we stopped by Boulder Field, an absolutely amazing sight! It is acres and acres of huge boulders in the middle of the forest. It'll be fun to visit in a year or two when the girls are a little more capable of scrambling up and down the huge rocks (and are wearing something other than flipflops and crocs).
Alette was so excited to go camping that she broke down in tears when I missed the exit-I actually almost started crying too, but only because the next exit was nearly 9 miles away.
Andy helped set up and spent the first night with us. A big help since the girls were anxious to get going in the morning-they wanted to hike, play on the playground, see the fish, run in the meadow and on and on. Andy helped them burn off some energy while I got to relax back at the campsite :).
Some highlights include swimming in the lake, seeing tadpoles, wild turkeys, and deer, building campfires, and (for the girls) not bathing for three days. Yes, they were stinky...there is only so much lake water can help.

Birthday: Part 3

2010-07-30T12:33:00.001-07:00

I realized too late that this should have been the first post about Abria's birthday. On her actual birthday (about 10 days ago now) she got to open her gifts from my parents and from Alette. Gift shopping with a four year old proved quite the challenge. I deliberately stayed away from ToysRUs and went instead to Lakeshore Learning (a teacher supply store near us). Alette happily chose two wind-up animals but as we were leaving, fell in love with a fishing game (18 magnetic fish that float and can be caught with a magnetic rod). Since I did promise to buy one more toy for Abria, and since it was a toy that could be clearly shared, I caved and bought it. Alette promised, promised, promised that she would remember it was Abria's toy (lol). Truthfully, the two girls have been great at sharing and playing together with it. In the end I am so thankful we got the fishing game as Abria seems rather frightened by the wind-up animals (they kind of do this weird jumping thing). Maybe I'll tuck them away to put in stockings later :)
Thank you to everyone for helping to make Abria's birthday celebration so wonderful!

Birthday: Part 2

2010-07-29T06:46:00.001-07:00

The happy birthday girl gives a big smile.

Abria quickly got into the spirit of opening gifts-Alette would pass her a gift, Abria would open it, then look at Alette and say 'Alette, more!'. Like most toddlers, she was as fascinated by the paper and the process of unwrapping as she was by the gift inside.

I tried to make lion cupcakes-with mixed success. It took forever and they just looked mediocre. Alette decorated a couple of cupcakes in a more freeform style. It took her about half as long, and they tasted just as yummy. If I find a picture of them, I'll post it. Abria however, lacked discretion and happily tore into her lion cupcake...and has been equally happy eating the leftover cupcakes decorated by Alette.

Does this tutu make my butt look big? Abria has to be about the cutest ballerina ever.

Extreme heat forced us to move the party to grandma's house. Our daughters seem to bring on the extremes: on Alette's birthday we had a record snowfall which cancelled church and pretty much stopped everything, on Abria's birthday it hit over 100degrees...with humidity.
Abria had a blast-surrounded by family and friends, what's not to love?! She got some fantastic gifts-and both Alette and Ganiyah were gracious about letting her open her own toys. After a special dinner of...what else? noodles, yogurt and bread. Abria happily tore into her birthday cupcake.

Birthday Celebration: Part 1

2010-07-29T01:30:00.000-07:00

Abria's birthday was taken up by church and a caregroup swim party. I had intended on doing the whole 'cupcake and candle' thing with her in the evening but she was so pooped out from missing a nap and swimming all afternoon that she went straight to bed at 6pm and skipped dinner entirely. However, Alette was adament that Abria needed a special cupcake to celebrate (interpretated as 'Alette wanted to eat cupcakes'). So we made and decorated cupcakes for Monday night instead. As you can see, both girls loved the treat.

Trying to beat the heat

2010-07-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

It was way too hot to cook last week (actually it is too hot to cook everyday) so we took the girls out to The Pop Shoppe in Collingswood. It is a fantastic, kid-friendly restaurant that actually has great food, including numerous vegetarian and vegan options. For the girls, all that matters is that they get their pancakes and dessert. It is a little ridiculous the amount of sugar they ingested. It could explain why when we came home, both girls were giddy and running around like crazy while brushing their teeth.

Pools are the best way to beat the heat. We've been inviting ourselves over to anyone within a reasonable driving distance to take advantage of free swimming. Abria is so typically 2 years old. She both loves/hates the water. One minute she is desperately screaming to get out, the next she is screeching in delight as she bobs and splashes around.
btw-birthday post is coming soon.

Swim Adventures

2010-07-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, the picture does not look like it belongs to the caption. However, this is the wonderful result of a busy week filled with lots of swimming. We came home from swimming today and I made Alette lie on her bed while I sat in her room to eat lunch. She grumbled, whined and complained she wasn't 'even a bit tired'...and then fell asleep. Good thing too as she had been up since 4am (Andy found her playing in her room when he went to use the washroom). When I got up a little later she had the light on again.
Alette's last 'in bed' nap (she still falls asleep in the car occasionally) was on her 4th birthday. Today I am relishing the peace and quiet that only comes with 2 sleeping kids.

Beach Day

2010-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

The only way I can get the girls quickly packed up and back to the van is with the bribe of ice-cream. Our van and the carseats need a serious cleaning. Alette zonked out on the ride home. Abria hit a sugar high and talked/sang/laughed the entire time.

It looks cool and cloudy in the pictures. I wish! Even at the beach it was nearly 100degrees. Needless to say, the water felt terrific!

Going to the beach is so much fun now that Abria has basically stopped eating sand and started playing in the water. In fact both girls absolutely love the waves and it is hard to drag them away at the end of the day. Alette is extremely timid in the pool and struggles to overcome her fear of getting her face wet. Oddly enough, in the ocean she jumps right in, splashing, running about and getting soaked. I think if I didn't put strict parameters on her, she quickly go in over her head. It is actually a little nerve-wracking. Abria loves to 'jump' the waves-which entails my lifting her up at each oncoming wave. It is the perfect game for the first five minutes....and then the reality of continually picking up a 30lb toddler sinks in. It is no wonder I am so sore on the day after our beach adventures.

Hanging out with Abria

2010-06-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Making a run for it.

Forget using hands. The snackpack works so much better if one simply pours the food directly into one's mouth.

While Alette enjoyed time in the pool, Abria got some extra mommy-time. Her favorite activity was climbing the steps to the 2nd floor balconey, closely followed by rearranging the deck furniture.

Hitting the pool!

2010-06-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

This week marks Alette's swimming debut....
We signed up for a week of lessons, only to discover that no other kids are in the class so Alette is getting a week of private pool lessons. I cannot praise her teacher enough. She is a familiar face (she attends our church), has a gentle spirit, and is a ton of fun. Alette had a blast. Somehow, Catherine convinced her to blow bubbles in the water, hum a song into the water, 'float' on her back and of course, kick, kick, kick. Seriously, Alette progressed more in 45 minutes than she did the entire last summer. I have no grand illusions that she will actually be swimming at the end of all this, but if she is more comfortable in the pool, I will be thrilled.

Go USA!

2010-06-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Alette (thanks largely to Andy) has been introduced to World Cup Soccer. In typical 4 year old fashion, she had a million questions. Here are just a few:
Who are those guys? (the US soccer team)
Why are they wearing sweatshirts? (they need to stay warm before the game)
What are they singing? (the national anthem-clearly I need to teach her some civics)
Why don't we know them? (it's a big country)
Who are the good guys? (team USA)
Why isn't it raining there? (South Africa is far away)
How far? (really far)
Why don't we ever go there? (b/c it costs like a million dollars)
Who is the little guy? (the ref)
and on and on....

Butterfly Release

2010-06-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

The butterflies await release.

Alette was a little concerned that they would not want to leave, so kept poking her arm into their home hoping to shoo them out.

A quick rest on our hydrangea before leaving.

I was really, really excited about doing this butterfly raising project with Alette. Actually, I was tempted to do it even if she didn't care a bit about butterflies. The caterpillars all successfully became chrysallis...and then a week later we had six beautiful butterflies emerge. Even though we missed the actual emerging butterflies, it was exciting to watch them uncrumple their wings and beat them dry. We kept them for a couple of days (which drove the cats a bit crazy), them released them in our yard.

Best Buds

2010-06-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

We just do not see enough of Ganiyah! Today, she spent the afternoon with us-took ballet with Alette and then spent time at the park together. The three girls get along so well.

PAWS Nature Farm

2010-06-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

I was a little leary about taking the girls to the nature center. It has been hot, humid and Abria's got a little sunburn on her face. However, we slathered on the sunscreen, put on cool clothes, and had a wonderful time! The trip was organized by our playgroup leader so the girls had plenty of friends to hang out with. We got to pet a chinchilla, turtle, lizard and snake. Alette was a little hesitant about petting the chinchilla but Abria would have happily scooped up all the animals onto her lap. We then had a chance to wander about and visit the farm animals. Both girls loved the ducks and chickens the best-I had the hardest time wresting them away from the chicken coop. The goats (my absolute favorite) didn't hold their interest for long at all. Thankfully lots of shade, air-conditioned play areas, and thus a great day out.

Roar!

2010-06-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

Alette is in the middle of a dinosaur craze. We've been reading books, drawing pictures, and play-acting dinosaurs. Imagine her delight when our playgroup visited a new playground and discovered it had a dinosaur climby-thingee (sorry for the technical language). This new playground was a delight! Lots of slides, climbing equipment, swings, and a sandbox filled with toys (clearly we were not in Camden as sadly, all the toys would have been stolen).
Abria's becoming increasingly independent. She is now able to open the fridge door, the basement door, and is working hard to figure out the oven door. We always seem to be one step behind in baby-proofing the house. She has also discovered that the drawer below the oven, and the cupboard below the microwave contain all sorts of interesting pots, pans, baking sheets, and utensils. To her delight, all the afore mentioned objects make really, really loud noises when banged on the floor or on a cupboard. One thing I do appreciate is her newly acquired ability to get her own drink of water from the bathroom sink. With only a minimal amount of spillage, she is able to turn on the water, fill a cup, and take a drink. I am actually looking forward to potty-training....

Summer Fun

2010-05-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

The girls enjoy time with Grandma, who was quite a sport and later ran through the sprinkler with her clothes on. The girls were cooling off their feet in a bowl of water. (Yes we do have a larger inflatable pool)

Alette performs a drum solo.

Abria cools herself off by pouring water onto her tummy. Alette started pouring water over her head, which Abria of course copied. She looked completely shocked each time the water ran over her face. Unfortunately I didn't get any shots as my camera was inside.

The classic pose.

I'm not sure if summer is here or not-we've had hot, hot, hot days, followed by very cool and rainy weather. However, unless it is pouring, we are outside. Today it was a very cool and breezy 65 degrees but we still stuck our feet into the fountain at the park. Okay, what really happened is that I stuck my toes in, Alette stomped and splashed like a crazy kid, and Abria watched and shrieked in delight. She insisted on taking off her shoes but could not be convinced to get her feet wet (smart kid).
The sprinkler has been put to good use by Alette. There is very little chance of our yard drying out this year. It's been so much easier to be outside compared to last summer. Abria isn't just stuck plopped on a blanket on the grass (which she always tried to eat last year). Although she loves to copy Alette, she is not willing to follow her through the sprinkler. Maybe when it gets really hot and humid she'll discover it is worth the effort.

Our Budding Divas

2010-05-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

I'm at a complete loss of words to explain this performance. It was so hard not to bust out laughing while I was taping.

2010-05-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how well the audio will work but the girls are dancing to some of Alette's favorite princess music. The sirens make it sound like the dance studio is in Camden, but in truth, I didn't realize that Abria had brought in her toy police car.

Gardening

2010-04-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Abria carefully waters the grass.

My life outside is so much easier now that Alette can turn the hose on and off to fill her own bucket. I was waiting for her to turn the hose on her sister...luckily she stayed occupied in watering the plants.

This is my favorite time of the year-sunny, warm, no humidity, no mosquitos-perfect for being outside with the girls.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2010-04-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

For better and for worse, Abria loves to copy her sister.

They just look like ordinary shoes but....

2010-04-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

clearly they are more valuable than gold itself. Abria is fast approaching the 'terrible twos' (not that Alette was terrible during her twos) but she is becoming more and more stubborn and more and more aware of what she wants and does not want. What she wants is to wear her shoes-all day everywhere. In the tub? Not a good idea but after a couple of minutes, all she does is cry 'shoes, shoes', followed by 'out, out'. In bed? Again, not a good idea but do you really want to hear 'shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes' while she should be napping? So, I'm a softie and let her wear them during naptime. Her shoe selection is very particular: she loves this pair of crocs and her pink sandals...and anything belonging to Alette. On Sunday morning I tried to make her wear a different pair of sandals(they were oh so cute with her dress) but after 20minutes of crying I finally caved and let her wear her crocs. Even her other pair of crocs do not make the grade...I'll try and slip them on, only to be shrieked at with a 'no,no,no,no....'.
This wouldn't be so bad, except Alette is steadfast about EVERYONE following the rules about no shoes in the house. Considering she is relatively shy, she is surprisingly forward about telling guests to take off their shoes. So far Alette has been gracious towards her sister and given her a bit of leeway.

True Love

2010-04-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

The other night, Alette's prayers went something like this: "Thank you God for Java because after 4 years I finally have my own cat". I'm not sure that Auntie Laura will agree that Java is now Alette's, but it is hard to argue with the bond between them.

Easter

2010-04-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Our dyed eggs were nothing fancy: hard boiled eggs and food dye. They have now sat on our table for the past three days, I even found one on my night stand Sunday morning. I had planned on keeping them in the fridge but as Alette pointed out, no one could see them in there. If they stay out much longer we may have a serious science experiment on our hands.

Our morning started out with an egg hunt in our backyard. After church we went over to Pop-pop's and Grandma Terry's for lunch and more Easter treats. The girl's were lucky to have Andy's mom join us too-there are never too many loving grandparents around for them! The warm weather was perfect for bubbles and (another!) Easter egg hunt.

Andy and I have restrained ourselves (somewhat) and not eaten too much of the girls' candy. Good thing that Alette doesn't have a clear sense of different quantities yet.

The Egg Grab

2010-04-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

It was pretty hard to consider this event an egg hunt as the eggs were strewn all over the church's lawn. Nonetheless, Alette was totally excited to jump in and grab as many eggs as possible. The guy cut the ribbon, the kids rushed forward and in about 2 minutes it was all over. Abria was a bit bewildered-she had to join us in the 4-6yr old category-and I think having all those loud, excited children around was a bit much. However, one little boy was kind enough to place a number of eggs in her basket.

Our Primadonna

2010-03-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, this photo has nothing to do with Alette's ballet class. We just happened to find some plastic 'eyes' left over from Halloween and the results were pretty funny.

Alette has joined a small group of church friends for ballet class. She has been so excited about this! When I told her she could join this spring, she responded 'I already know how to do ballet'-to which I said 'yes, but now you can do it with all your friends'. The girls stretched, twirled, jumped, ran, and basically had a lot of fun. The best part was when the teacher put on 'princess' music for the girls listen to as they went through the motions of getting dressed for a ball. Alette was in seventh heaven.

Please Touch Museum

2010-03-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

On the bus to New York City.

Alette loads up on one of her favorite foods: bread.

The joy of the Please Touch museum-everything can be climbed on!

We had a wonderful day at the Please Touch Museum in Philly. The girls played and played and played-wearing out both mom and I.

Day 4 and 5

2010-03-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

No pictures for either of these two days as Alette simply wore her ladybug dress on both days. It's in the wash now, so there may be a one day reprieve in its use.

Life According to Abria

2010-03-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

If a door is open, it must be closed. If a door is closed, it must be opened. If my sister has it, I must have it. If it is on the ground, it must go in my mouth. If it is a cat, I must chase it. If it is on a shelf, I must get it down. If my shoes are off, they must go on. If my shoes are on, they must come off. If I am upstairs, I must go downstairs. If I am downstairs, I must go upstairs.
Thank goodness for naps :)

Outfits: Days 2 and 3

2010-03-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Alette's choices have not been as outrageous as I imagined. Of course, all she has wanted to wear are dresses (a perfectly reasonable and expected choice). However, it is clear that Alette is also tired of winter as her dress choices have all been spring or summer dresses. Today's outfit-a sundress, long sleeve t-shirt and tights is a little weird but by the time we get out for a walk it'll actually be warm enough to take off the tights. We are so happy for spring!

Our Fashionista

2010-03-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

As a teacher I recognize the need for choice, within reason. So every morning I give Alette the choice between 2 or 3 outfits. However, during 'rest' time, Alette often creates the most interesting outfits as she rummages through her closet and drawers. So I started to wonder what she would choose to wear if there were no restrictions....
Day 1: The original outfit was a white/pink sundress which had to be thrown in the wash after lunch. This sundress is one of her favorites and I wasn't suprised when she picked it out.
My plan is to give her free rein for the week - the only stipulation is that she has to have long sleeves and tights/socks.

Grrrrr......

2010-03-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering why a picture of our lock is posted on the girls' blog. Well, that lock (and the door it is part of) has been a thorn in my side since it was ordered. On the original installment date (back in October)the door arrived broken. It was re-ordered but when the men came to install it, they discovered it opened in the wrong direction. So...it was re-ordered again. At the third installment, the wrong lock was put in. Finally, the correct locks were installed. Then a week later we discovered that the door did not close properly and could be pulled open even while locked. So the installers came again. All good right? After all it is only 6 months after the original order!
However, after grocery shopping and a trip to the library, we arrive home only to discover I cannot open the door. It is unlocked but jammed. Frantically, I called Andy (to come and help) and Lowes (to rant and rave at them). Andy cannot open the door, although he provided a welcome relief and the voice of reason/calm for the girls. Finally, over two hours later, the locksmith is able to get us in. Abria is happily napping, Alette is watching 'Beauty and the Beast' (yes, I am using tv as an escape/diversion) and I've got my coffee.
Thank goodness Andy works nearby. Thank goodness it wasn't colder out. Andy has volunteered to go to Lowes to straighten the whole mess out-good call since he is much more diplomatic than I am in these circumstances.