My baby is 5.

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

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

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!

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.

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?

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!

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

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!

It's Pumpkin Time!

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

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

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

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

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

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.