Just Dance!

We had a great time hosting Kiki and Uncle Brian this weekend. I got a glimpse of the girls as teenagers when we went to see Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players. It was held in a high school auditorium, so it was a small venue and they spent a lot of time jumping up and down, "dancing", and just as much time walking around chatting. They reminded me of myself, going to concerts with friends trying to get to the front of the stage and then spending as much time walking around people-watching.

Sofia was extremly excited about Kiki's visit and about Keira sleeping in her room. Unfortunately Keira actually wanted to sleep and after a few minutes, Keira fled to Brian's room. Saturday morning we went to the Children's museum and that afternoon Rob, Emma and the girls came over to play "Just Dance" on Wii. The girls had a great time dancing!



Sunday we enjoyed a big breakfast at the "Big Egg" and hit the Rainforest at the Zoo. We ran into Edie and her family, arriving just as we were, so it was a fun coincidence.

Thanks for coming to visit Kiki and hope you come back soon!

PJ Confusion

Sofia wore PJs to school today for "Teddy Bear Picnic day", but apparently there was a date confusion and it was supposed to be next week. Guess she'll model new PJs next week!



Welcome little Elise!
Sofia began practicing for her future babysitting gigs by holding Baby Elise, only three days old.


Big sister Nora supervises.

Makeover!

Last weekend was an unintentional makeover of Sofia and her room. I had intended to create a cute, reading nook in her room for her birthday, but Joe jumped the gun. I bought a little pink armchair and a new bookcase and Joe seemed excited to put it together so we went ahead and did it this weekend.



Did you notice? Sofia also got a haircut this weekend.


Before


After

Before that Sofia and I went to see "The Hungry Caterpillar" at Playhouse Square. Sofia loved it and had fun creating a caterpillar with Edie who was also there with her mommy.




Other fun stuff...we went to Chuck E. Cheese, which was worse than the DMV, but the girls had fun.





And finally we joined 2008 and bought a Wii!

Happy Birthday Joey!

Joe was a little under the weather this past week so we didn’t venture out to do much this weekend, but nonetheless it was busy and fun.

Joe stayed home with the girls on Saturday morning while I went to a meeting about the “transformation” of the Cleveland public school. We have been working with other parents in our neighborhood to establish a new charter school. Things have been moving very quickly and so many elements are falling into place that this new school seems very promising. We are incorporating and have a working website www.nearwestschool.org .

In the afternoon I took the girls to a friend’s daughter’s birthday party. They live a couple of blocks away, but given that many people do not shovel I chose not to take the stroller, but rather walk. It took me at least half an hour to bundle up the girls in their snowsuits, bulky coats, scarfs, gloves, hats and boots. Sofia broke down in tears claiming people would laugh at her for wearing her snowsuit. When did this self-consciousness happen? She couldn’t explain who would laugh or why, but luckily she agreed after I told her she could take it off when we got there. I then carried Fiona in the front carrier position, because I didn’t want to wake Joe and have him help me put her on my back. I couldn’t see over her, so had to strain to look around her and hope I didn’t step on a patch of ice. All that for a 10 minute walk (would have been five, but Sofia could barely walk in her spaceman get-up). I should have left my coat at home since I worked up a bit of a sweat. Both girls seemed to have a fun time playing with new toys and dressing up with the other kids. The way home was easier since I was carrying Fiona on my back and when my friend’s husband offered to take Sofia home (in his car), she jumped on it.

On Sunday our friends Rob and Emma came over with their girls. The girls ran around, played dress up, chased each other and then helped us bake a cake for Joe. We bought a Learning Tower as the girls’ “big” Christmas gift to give them a safe and sturdy platform to stand when they wanted to help cook or “wash” dishes. Apparently it can hold four.


Edie stirs while Sofia and Fiona supervise. Cora peeks on.

That evening we had a pre-birthday cake and had Joey blow out the candles.


Wishing Joey a happy 35th birthday!

Catching Up!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!

Oh, where to begin? I’ve been quite remiss in updating our blog and we have so many cute photos of the girls to add. What follows is a quick visual recap of the last few months of 2009:

Orlando
We accompanied daddy on a work trip in early November to Orlando. It wasn’t as warm as we hoped and in fact Cleveland was warmer when we left, but it was a nice trip to the local library, park, downtown Disney and dinner with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Neal.


Fiona just wouldn’t pose for her picture!


It got warmer and the girls enjoyed the sun.


Aunt Dawn has her hands full.

Thanksgiving
We were very happy to host the Hernandez family to join us for Thanksgiving dinner this year. We had five kids under five, but they were all well-behaved and played well together (for the most part!). We ate, drank and hung out. We also managed a double-date night of bar-hopping on W. 25th St, and on their final day we went to Public Square for Winterfest. Thanks Ale and Serge for braving the five and half hour drive! Hope you’ll consider it next year!


Serge reads to the kids.


The kids enjoyed crawling around the fire engine during Winterfest.

Random Fall Photos

Vinnie complaining as usual


Merlin looking dignified in his old age.


The girls playing in the leaves


The girls and Nora playing on the bear at the Natural History Museum

Christmas

Posing for the annual Christmas card photo

As usual we went home to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with our families, but the weekend before we left the girls opened their gifts.






Sofia models some of the dress up clothes she received for xmas


Fiona takes part in dressing up

Fernanda gave the girls their gifts too, including a Dora backpack for Fiona.

The girls pose with Fer and her sister Gaby

We spent Christmas Eve with both the Boyd’s and Polanco’s. We had a great time and really valued spending time with family. Granny and Grandpa Boyd, and Cousin Weston, even drove in from Texas.


Uncle Brian, Sofia, Brendan and Keira


Fiona, Sofia, Cecily, their cousin Christella, and Vincent


Baptism
I was honored to be asked by my bestest friends Ale and Sergio to be godmother to their youngest son, Khalil. Khalil did really well despite the cold water and interruption of his nap time.



Other Events
We took the Metra commuter train to have lunch at the Toot Toots diner where lunch arrives via rail. The girls thought the train ride was very fun and lunch was even better.


Keira and Sofia gossiped over lunch.


Fiona and Brendan shared their fruit cup

Joe and I were lucky enough to spend New Year’s Eve sans children. We stayed downtown and relaxed after a hearty lunch at Giordano’s. We then met up with Rosy and Pat for dinner. Although our original plans fell through and we didn’t actually start eating until after midnight because the restaurant was overbooked, we had a great time and were able to sleep in.



January 1, 2010
Happy birthday Nana! We met up with Joe’s parents and his brother and family to have a wonderful brunch in honor of Joe’s mom’s birthday. Afterwards we relaxed at their house.


The kids finally got to watch Dora


Celebrating all the January birthdays (Nola, Keira and Joe)


New Year’s Resolutions

1) I will update the blog more regularly.

Ok, there’s more, but if I write it down someone might hold me to it.

Looking forward to even more travel, visits and family outings in this New Year!