Birthday Imagination

'Dan Dan No Hand The One Eyed Wonder Horse' is turning 100 today!
Happy Birthday to the most eccentric addition to our house.

In other delightfully imaginary news:

Harvark (C's invisible friend aardvark) and his mother went with us to Charlotte but missed the return flight and had to rent a car. They arrived safely home this morning.

My REALLY Nice Valentines Day

Our little family had a great Valentines Day. We made valentines, and fancy dinner (Beef Wellington in puff pastry with a side of stuffed zucchini) and then we had a candlelit 'fancy' dinner. You know it's fancy because we ate in the dark and we used fancy words like 'Darling' and 'Crudite'.
At school the next day Claire told her teacher all about our fancy dinner and the fancy talking and the candles. They thought that was fabulous. So they prompted Claire to share her fabulous story with Dr. McDonald (the principal).
At the end of the story Dr. McDonald asked Claire what her Daddy got Mommy for Valentines Day. Claire got a coy look on her face and laughed out 'Yoou Knoow!' Ms. Kamen winked at me at the end of telling me the story and said 'I'm glad you had a really nice Valentines'.
Of course Claire meant flowers which is what Claire thinks you HAVE to get someone you love/like for Valentines Day.

And what lovely flowers I got- I did have a really nice Valentines Day.

Valentines

These come with a little kaleidoscope (like the kind in the party favor section at the party store)

Jimmy thinks they are creepy - with more contemplation we decided that a lot of Valentine messages border on creepy.
I think they are cute :)

*C wrote her name on them all and glued the eyes on and picked out what color kaleidoscope each child in her class should get.*

Fabric and Paper and Pizza- Oh My!

Today Mother Nature was featuring winter, giving us one of the coldest days we've had for a while... but still not cold enough to allow our plans of sled riding to come to pass. :( So we spent the day crafting... We started with a trip to Staples to print Claire's Valentines (more on those later maybe) but they couldn't print the 6 pages today so we'll have to come back tomorrow and pick them up and finish them Monday.
Then we went home and broke out the sewing machine to complete this little project:

T-shirt Dolls

A delightful way to use up your used up Tshirts. Simply cut out a doll shape (letting C draw hers first made it even more fun). Sew around the edges. Turn it and color with fabric markers (crayola makes some that are washable till they are heat set). Then cut up the rest of the shirt you didn't use and stuff it inside the doll to fill her out.

N's on the Left- C's on the Right
TA-DA!

After that project wrapped up we cleaned the table and moved on to paper craft - VALENTINES! Claire practiced her penmanship and Nick refined his fine motor skills while we enjoyed making some lovely valentines that will ship out tomorrow for destinations all over the country, and possibly some international ones if we can find the addresses we need.

Then we made green pizza to round out the 'Most Perfect Day EVER!' ~C :)

Tomorrow is just as full of fun and we aren't even there yet. What's on your to do list this weekend?

Nick and Daddy's Big Day Out

Claire and I went shopping last week leaving the boys at home alone.

Once we left they got restless so they got dressed and went out... and got on a bus

and rode till they couldn't ride anymore because of a parade for Chinese New Year

Then they got on a train-

and another train-

and another train

and rode to Grandma's house in Brooklyn

Where they called us to come and get them.

Self Timer

Thank goodness for the self-timer features on my camera. Otherwise I'd only have pictures like this:

oh wait, that last one is my mom. It's pretty much the same because when you have kids you are at the mercy of your husband to take pictures of you and your children; and this is what you get.

p.s. My dad and my husband are wonderful guys who I love very much.
p.s.s. You're welcome mom for posting this awesome picture of you on the internet ;)

Nick's Newest Milestone

"I do it again mommy!"

Can we count 'finally goes down the curly slide all by himself' as a milestone?

Truth

Today we went to a family get together. I took 5 gifts, I received no gifts. I felt great!

Where is Everyone Else?

Today we unwrapped our "First Christmas" book that GB and Pappi sent us last year.. Claire and Nick spent the first three pages saying things like "We know Pappi" and "I love you too!". At the end Claire told me she loves her Pappi 100. (That's high praise, she loves me 20 and Jim anywhere between 8 and 15.)

We have been reading all about that First Christmas, Claire is really enjoying it and asking some really good questions that make me think....

Today while we read about the wise men she counted them in the book... One, Two, Three. 'How come there's only 3?' Because there were 3 kings who came to see Jesus, remember they followed the star from very far away. 'But where was everyone else?'

Knowing what we know now, it is amazing to her that not everyone followed that star to meet Baby Jesus.

This weekend we'll be going to see all the bright lights of Christmas but my little girl reminds me to always remember the first bright light of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Battle

This is what happen when I clean my kitchen. I find the makings of swords... and who can resist that?

Triumph!

Our Big Day

Today we are playing hookey from school (but we don't have a table) and taking the day off of work. We plan to see the Big Jolly man and the Big tree and eat a Big lunch. So we started the day off with Big breakfast!

Then we went to Macy's Like the one of 34th street to see Santa. Who is very popular (like 2 hr wait popular)! Here we are waiting... and waiting... and leaving the line to go potty and waiting and waiting...

They had some neat things to look at while we waited... lots of trains (which were a bigger hit with Nick than Santa was). and even a huge polar express that the line weaved through :)

Finally we got to see the Big guy! He was super impressive, and totally worth the wait. Nick decided he'd view from a distance but Claire jumped right up there and gave him her letter and told him what she wanted for Christmas. (Thomas trains and a basket for her bike)

After Macy's we took a train!!! (wish I had pictures of film of the kids) to Rockefeller Center to see the Big Tree and the ice skating rink. Claire thought they had us on size but our decorations on our tree at home were much better.

Then we walked over to lunch and then another train back to the car.
All in all a great day and one to remember.
Special thanks goes to Grandpa Bill whose idea it was to see the Big Guy and the Big Tree and who played hooky from work to go with us :)

ps. Please don't tell Santa that we played hooky to go see him, I think that might earn us a spot on the naughty list. ;)

O Christmas Tree...

This year the kids decorated most of the tree, I did the garland and lights (things that needed to wrap around the tree) and they did about 95% of the ornament placement. I think they did a great job. :)

Allergies

N has a reaction to this basil plant. :)



He wins the cutest kid in my house award today.

A Cornicopia of Thanks

This week I am cleaning 'like a crazy lady' (that's how C described it) in preperation for Christmas' arrival this weekend. So I started with my camera card- and that reminded me that I never fully finished up Thanksgiving. I was at my Gram's for the holiday and I'll blame her lack of Internet for eating my other.... however many more things I needed to complete my list of 100 things I'm thankful for. I was simply thankful for every moment we had to spend with family this holiday season. It had been too long and I almost forgot just how fun they can be.
I am thankful for my Gram and Pap and that they are able to play around with my kids. (C and N are so lucky)
Pretty much I'm thankful for the whole crazy bunch of family we saw this year.

And even the ones we didn't see

We banked a lot of hugs to get us through to the next time we see them and stayed just long enough to remind us how truly crazy they are. In the end it was good to go and it was good to come home (to our sick daddy on the couch).

Now who's ready for Christmas!

I'm Grateful For

21 yeast
22 I'm thankful that my mom cooked with me when I was little and that I can cook with my kids while they are little.
23 wet wipes with scrubbies
24 Dinosaurs (to give me 25 min ALL to myself)
25 my maid (oh wait, I'd be thankful if I had a maid) I am thankful to be healthy enough to take care of things around my house (but anyone is welcome to stop by and fold this laundry)
26 Candy (and it's bizarre effects on Claire last night) I needed that giggle
27 Thermometers that don't take a long time (poor Nick)
28 Water with Ice

Nodan mamomamo

Nodan mamomamo- Thank you (in Hindi)
This afternoon I was blessed to walk to school with one of the mother's from Claire's class. She has triplets Claire's age and twins in first grade. That alone blows my mind. She is Indian, and admitted to me that she 'doesn't cook American food'. I wonder if she'd teach me to cook some Indian food? She's such a calming and quiet personality. I like her. I am adding her to the list of people I want to get to know better this year. (Nov. to Nov.)
In other news, Nick is sick. Claire got glowing reviews at parent teacher conference and my husband returns home. :)
And now some new things I am thankful for.

14 Ibuprofen
15 blankets
16 sippy cups
17 husbands - in particular mine but I'm also thankful for the wonderful husbands that my sisters found. (whoa, who typed that!)
18 Socks
19 crayons and coloring books so good for stress relief
20 pillows!

Merci

10 footsie pajamas -
and the fact that I have called them footie pajamas forever and when I typed that into my phone it auto corrected it to footsie pajamas. I just love that my phone knows what footsie pajamas are :) (and yes it corrected it as a phrase and not just the single word)

11 Warm showers on cloudy days.
There is just something about steam that makes everything just melt away... worries, frustrations, anger and of course dirt.

12 Sister in laws
and not being alone on my anniversary while my hubby works hard so he can take me out somewhere REALLY nice :)

13 (bonus!) Hugs
It never ceases to amaze me how a hug can change my mood in a second. And it seems like the smaller the arms the happier it makes me. :)

Ďakujem

7 Great kids who let me enjoy a lovely breakfast all by myself and who slept like they knew about daylight savings. :)

8 Sunshine! and beautiful fall leaves to enjoy.
It's a bit cold but not too cold to be out and about. (Glad I'm not running the marathon although I wish I was seeing the start today)

9 I'm thankful for my husband.
He's been away for what feels like the entire weekend and even though I'm still up (coffee at 4pm) and he's asleep it's nice just to have him close.

Gracias

4 Forgiveness and hugs; I know that's two but they are best when they come together.

5 Getting stuff free for being cute.

6 phones so I could chat with friends and family who are far away. (I miss you guys)

Thankful

This year I have had a lot to be thankful for.
I have a house that has heat and electricity and running water, I have a husband who comes home to his family at night, I have two healthy and intelligent children who have good manners (for the most part). I have a wonderful relationship with my parents and siblings who I wouldn't trade for anything.
This year I will participate in the '100 Things I'm Thankful for Event'. Started by my mother and perpetuated by my sisters.
I think I'll have 3 things each day.. one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening before bed, just to keep my thankful the whole day not just one rushed weekend evening when I realize I have not been thankful for an entire week. (But who knows.. I work well last minuet and when guilt or pressure are applied... )
Here goes:

1 Missing the UPS guy yesterday so I know there is a package coming today (it's like Christmas)

2 Having people to giggle with over the stupid things.

3 The ability to wink and the fact that it's the little things that impress my kids... I know it won't be like that forever.