Gingerbread Houses

December was a whirlwind, as it always is.  There were parties galore and of course, many things to do to get ready throughout the month.

We managed to get everything done in good time, and I was so happy when the schools were finally out for winter break.

We squeezed in a gingerbread house construction party right before Christmas.  The kids were in heaven.

We had good friends, and a kitchen table strewn with graham crackers and bowls full of candy of all kinds.

I saved almond milk containers for weeks so we could glue the graham crackers straight on the boxes, rather than trying to manage to keep the walls standing on their own. 

And it worked!  The icing was perfect, we ended up with the best gingerbread house party yet.  

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, Day 1!  I was severely disappointed in my search for a menorah on the southside, so I ended up making my own.  I managed to find everything I needed around the house, and was pleased with the result. 

I couldn't muster the enthusiasm for potato latkes, so I went with the cheese latkes instead.  The girls loved them. 

The girls loved lighting the candles, reciting the prayers, and opening their Hanukkah gifts each night. 

Thanksgiving 2012

The weather was lovely on Thanksgiving.  The Rupps spent most of the day with us.  The food was great, the company even better. 

Halloween Costumes 2012

Ahh, the joys of selecting a Halloween costume. 

Baby jaguar was the obsession of the moment for Kitty.  Her kitty costume from last year was easily re-named a baby jaguar costume, and it still fit nicely.  Done and done. 

Kitty even had a baby jaguar jacket that completed her look.  She was brave in the cold.  And it was cold. 

Boo's costume was a little trickier.  How To Train Your Dragon was her favorite movie at the time, and she wanted to be the black dragon (is his name Toothless?).  I'm afraid that was stretching my creative skills a little too far, and Grandma (AKA the Costume Genius) is out of the country.  They do, of course, make How To Train Your Dragon costumes for purchase, for a mere $85.  Not going to happen, my friend. 

Fortunately, a friend offered to loan us their dragon costume, and Boo kindly agreed to be a green dragon rather than a black one.  Crisis averted. 

It was a tad big, but the important thing was that it was very warm and dragon-ish.

Boo has nothing but sympathy for poor, helpless stuffed animals with no Halloween costume, and talked me into making her dog a witch costume.  It took me longer than it needed to, but I managed to cobble together a black skirt and cape from leftover fabric from previous years' costumes.  We completed the look with a cute little witch hat that the amazing Grandma made for newborn Kitty a few years ago. 

We had a marvelous time trick-or-treating with three other families in the neighborhood.  It was quite chilly, but that just meant the kids were willing to pack it in at a reasonable time.  Everyone came in to warm up, and the kids watched How To Train Your Dragon while "sorting" (eating as much as they could get away with) candy.  The adults sat by the fire and chatted while eating the candy taxes.

Another successful Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

 Kitty is always delighted with digging out pumpkin guts and turning a pumpkin into a kitty face.

 This year, Boo was more cheerful about cleaning out the pumpkin, and had a plan for her pumpkin carving. 

 Kitty, with her kitty pumpkin.

 And Boo with her boo! pumpkin.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

 Pumpkin selection is serious business.  We had planned to ride the wagon out to the patch, but the girls were taken with the pumpkins they found on display. 

 

 We did some apple picking  and picture posing while we were at it.  

 

And I came home with the cutest pumpkin in the patch: 

Kitty's first day

Kitty's first day of school came a couple of weeks after Boo started.  She was a little more reserved, but she eased into her school routine well.  Oh, how she loves library and music time!

I love this little face.

First Day of Kindergarten

After a very, very long summer, Boo's first day of kindergarten finally arrived.

She was so very excited.

So excited.

We met her teacher and saw her classroom a few days before the first day of school.  Her teacher was a brand new hire, fresh out of college.  She seemed very good, very confident.

We were ready for school in plenty of time before we had to leave for school.  Plenty of time of pictures with big smiles.

Boo requested that we listen to the soundtrack from Mama Mia as we drove to school.  So we listened to "Slipping Through My Fingers."

School bag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning

Waving goodbye, with an absent minded smile...

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture 

And save it from the funny tricks of time.

Slipping through my fingers...

We walked through the halls of her giant school and found our way to her classroom.  She sat down delightedly at her desk and was on her way.  Never a second look back, she was on her way.

Bee Farm

This summer was very, very hot.  Very hot.

On a very, very hot day in July, we trekked out to Hunter's Honey Farm with some friends.  The warehouses were not air conditioned, but the tour necessitated that we spend some time checking out the stuff there.  But the tour guide was interesting, the girls loved checking out the bee stuff.  No one fainted or melted away and we made it back to the air conditioned gift shop to taste at least 12 different varieties of honey.  

Did you know that honey has healing properties?  Smear that good stuff on your scrapes and sores, it's better than neosporin.

 And at the end of the tour, the girls got to fill their very own honey bears.  They stepped right up and flipped the switch, and despite my anxiety, filled their honey bears perfectly.  No sticky, expensive honey overflowing everywhere. 

Very happy day, despite the heat.  But then, it's always a happy day when we get to eat a lot of honey and hang out with Daphne.

July

Happy Fourth of July!

And Happy Birthday to J!

Kitty's 3rd Birthday

In the days leading up to her third birthday, Kitty was very specific about two things: the birthday party should be a dog party, and she wanted a chocolate chip cake.

The chocolate chip cake part was a very important request that needed to be repeated to me no less than five times per day, every day, to be sure I processed it appropriately.

We were all set for a few little friends to come over a couple of days before her birthday for the dog party when the dreaded fever struck.  We cancelled the party, but kept our fingers crossed that she would feel better by the time her birthday rolled around on Sunday. 

Sunday morning rolled around and she was still pretty miserable.  We coaxed her into opening her Trader Joe's fruity o's before she was ready to go back to bed.

The cousins came over for dinner that evening and we went ahead with the puppy party.  The kids loved their puppy ears, and Kitty was hanging in there.

Of course, there was puppy chow, aka chocolate/peanut butter/powdered sugar covered chex.

And then it was time for cake.  I made a single layer brownie-like cake full of Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips.  I frosted it with whipped cream frosting and then covered the frosting in mini chocolate chips.  Kitty loved it.  A chocolate chip cake dream come true.

The Melting Pot

Congratulations to Jason, who graduated from his MD/PhD program last month!  After the graduation, we met at the Melting Pot for dinner.  With some trepidation, as we had our kids in tow.  A dinner at The Melting Pot includes a salad and three courses of fondue and is at least a 3 hour affair.  But the Rupp kids and a few friends were there as well, so we hoped they would keep each other entertained.

We had a great time.  Great company and good food!

The first course was awesome.  Bread with three types of cheese dip.  Skewers in the hands of a two year old, three year old and five year old in close proximity to each other added a new dimension of excitement, but no one came away with a permanent injury.

Course #2 was significantly less entertaining for the smaller crowd.  I took them outside to run off some energy and kill time. 

With the help of smart phones and multiple trips to the bathroom (the waitress was very proficient at keeping us stocked with lemonade), we made it through course 2 and the long wait to the promised chocolate course. 

Which was, of course, the best part of the night.  We ate til we could eat no more.  Kitty discovered that there was a grandma in the room (Jason's mom), and Kitty didn't leave her side the rest of the evening. 

Kitty's last day of school

For Kitty's last day of school, the class put on a little program for parents and had a special snack time.  Three years ago, I missed Boo's program when she was in the 2's class because I was in the hospital trying to not have Kitty 10 weeks too soon. I was glad to be there this time around.

Here she is, not participating in the program.  :)  My mom says Boo didn't participate in hers either.

She was, however, very into the prayer before snack.

She had such an excellent experience this year and wonderful teachers.  We will miss them and are already looking forward to next year.

Something is missing...

Tuesday, March 27th.

Boo was eating apple slices for snack at preschool, and out came her first loose tooth.  I think she didn't know what it was, so she brushed it off the table.  It had clicked by the time I came to pick her up (her gymnastics teacher noticed right away that it was missing), so we went back to the classroom to try and find it.  I was pretty sure it was gone, but one of the teachers helped us and we found it right away.  The office secretary heard us talking about it and ran out with a little tooth treasure box for Boo to keep her tooth in.

Boo wanted to keep her tooth, so she wrote a sweet note to the tooth fairy asking if she could please keep her tooth and left it under her pillow with the tooth.  The tooth fairy is nice like that, so Boo had cash and a tooth in the morning.

At the end of May, she lost her second tooth.  Eating, again.  This time it was just a sandwich.  Lucky for everyone she felt it come out and I only had to pull it off her tongue.  No swallowed tooth.

No adult teeth coming in yet, but both top teeth are loose and some side ones as well.