Palmyra, NY

Greg had a business trip up to Toronto. It's only a couple of hours away from his parents, so we all tagged along to visit the Grandparents.

10 hour car ride

 The gorgeous snowfall made it worth it

 C's first time on skis... with a little help from Daddy and SJ

 Sacred Grove

 And... the reason for the trip.  These girls love their Grandma and Grandpa.

SJ-isms

SJ is so cute, these days.  I'm not sure what it is... maybe that her chubby baby face is giving way to a face with little feminine features.  Maybe that she is talking non-stop and is SO excited about everything she encounters in this world.  I can't get enough of her, lately.  Here are some of my favorite things that she says...

When she hears a loud noise: "That scaows mah eaows" (that scares my ears)
"I want anoder one banket" or "anoder one baby" or "anoder one one"

She loves carrying my old cabbage patch around and taking care of her. 
"Shhhh... mom, my baby's sweeping"
"Baby's wake now!"
(with a very convincing sympathetic face) "Ohhhh, baby sad." 
(holding baby on her lap) "Caywa (how she says her sister's name), wave hi to baby!"

Overheard

Overheard, this morning:
C:  "My tummy hurts because Mommy made me eat 3 cookies and 2 lollipops last night."
Greg:  HAhahahha!  That can't be true!
C:  I tried to tell the truth but it wouldn't come out

(shouted from the other room)
SJ:  "C!  Stop whining!  It hurts my ears!"

Also keeping us busy, today:  Playing dress-up and making Valentines.  SJ has 12 classmates and C 18... this makes for a lot of work!

Haircuts

Our cute girls' new haircuts.

Plus... a funny story about our strong-willed SJ:

The other day we had peanut butter toast for breakfast. SJ usually likes to wash her own hands and face after a meal, but she was super sticky so I grabbed a paper towel and gave her a good wipe down before she spread it around the house. That made her spitting mad. She ran back to the table, took another bite of toast and wiped it all over her face, again, so that SHE could be the one to clean it off.

Nutcracker Fever

The little girls in this house are obsessed with the Nutcracker.  It is now January 27^th… well after Christmas, and they are still asking to watch it every day.   I overhear C in her in her pretend play saying things like “LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER.”  When we play “Nutcracker” at home, everyone picks a character and dresses up… then you copy the dance that character does.  I always choose the Dew Drop Fairy- feminine enough for C to approve, but on stage for a very short time.  C encourages me when it is my turn by saying things like “No, Mom, you are supposed to dance good, like her!”  Not in this life C, not a chance. 

C's 5th Birthday

C wanted a "Tangled" theme for her party.  Tangled is the Disney movie about Rapunzel that came out last year.

Activities:  painting on the walls

beanbag toss to the tower,

 braid pictionary

Food:  the guests built towers of fruit and cheese.  We also had braided challa bread with cream cheese, and -of course- cake and ice cream.

At the end of the party we released balloons to mimic the lanterns that were launched in the movie.  The children each tagged their balloon with their name and an email address to respond to when their balloon was found.  Then they labled a map where they thought their balloon would land.  (having touble posting this video, but it is super cute to watch their countdown.  check back soon, and hopefully i'll have it up)

Christmas 2011

Some photos from our Christmas season:

Christmas Parade:  Clara was a competative candy snatcher

Preschool Christmas Concert:

SJ as the angel:

Our little nativity:

Christmas Eve:  leaving cookies and checking out the chimney to see how Santa will get down

Thanksgiving 2011

A quick recap of our holidays...

C's Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving dinner with the Gardner's and S. Alexandre's

Eating pie is can be dangerous... be sure to wear your helmet.

multitasking:  crafting and skyping

Traditional family talent show: 

Luke at the piano

 Evan, banjo

 Nicolle, a song

Not in the photos:  Greg made "prestigue"- our favorite drink from Mexico- for everyone.  Anna showed us her amazing sketchbook, and Sean wrote a computer program right before our eyes (then spent the rest of the evening showing Luke how to write a program that would list "Luke is awesome" over and over again). 

Riviera Maya, Mexico- 10th anniversary trip

Greg and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in Mexico.  We have been home several days, but I have hesitated to write this post because I have been grieving for my brother.  We got some bad news about his health when we returned home from our trip.  I am posting this in honor of him, and something he said... which was to enjoy every second you have with your loved ones because time and love are by far the most valuable things we have in this life, and both are in short supply. 

This was exactly what this trip was... a celebration of Greg and I's love for each other. 

 . We are so grateful to his parents, who traveled to our home to stay with the girls for 5 days while we were away.

  We got to eat delicious food

swim with dolphins

snorkel

eat dinners in the moonlight

 

visit Chichen Itza (Mayan Ruins) 

and did I mention eat? 

  We feel so lucky to have taken such a fun and relaxing trip.  We enjoyed every moment together.

Halloween Festivities!

This year SJ was a clown and C was Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Trunk or Treat and church Fall Festival

Maurice (Belle's crazy father) and a construction worker.  C called me Bob the Builder all night :)

2 Rapunzels + 2 Belles = lots of trick or treating fun

I think Clara was even more excited to get home and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters (while scarfing her own candy).

Halloween with these two cuties is so so fun!

C learned this song at preschool and taught SJ.  It cracked me up that instead of "brew" she sang "stirring my broom."  She carried a  broom around all week to use as a prop while she acted out the song. 

halloween creations

 Glitter pumpkins centerpiece

Bat goodie bag puppets for Clara's preschool party

Hairy eyeballs in a slimy sauce (aka chicken curry balls with cilantro yogurt sauce).

Mine is the one in the orange dish in the front right corner of this photo... I'm proud to say I took home the award for "tastiest spooky food."