Feeding the Sharks!

Jake and I had a rousing day at the Richmond science museum the other day. We fed sharks, learned about newton's 3 laws of motion, made walls of bubbles, experimented with pulleys, built arches with huge blocks, saw an iMax on insects (Jake's first movie theater experience, conducted mostly with his hands over his ears, but with general enthusiasm, possibly due to the huge vat of popcorn on his lap), split white light into colors, and looked at a lot of bat sculptures. It was a great day!

The Day After Xmas...

Grandma engages both kids in a rousing game of Quirkle:

Hop on Pop!

And a quick trip downtown for a walk among the snowpiles:

Xmas - A Few Photos

The rhapture of Christmas morning did not disappoint. Here was the set-up before the kids awoke...

First gift opened was a great one - WALL-E!


Eva was cool too!

Abby discovering her new kitchen. We each got a lot of "microwaved" tea yesterday.

And just hanging out:
Abby with her little pink robot:


I love this one...
Jake, looking very grown up in his new robe, with Eva:

More photos to come!

The Day Before Xmas...

We had a full day of play and activities with Grandma Lynne inside the house. We made paper chains for the tree, made chocolate chip cookies, and had long naps. Here's Jake playing on the computer and talking with Grandma about mistletoe, among other things:

Snowman

Escape to the Diner

We finally made it out of the house yesterday, to lunch at a local diner. The main roads were fine. The lake loop was iffy.

More Snow Pix

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Happy Jake

Singing at his school holiday celebration!

Happy Last Night of Hannukah

Abby is 23 Months Old!

Here are a few last images of Abby before Mommy caved and went in to clip her bangs:



She is so VERY almost 2. Her new favorite word? "NO!" Performed usually in a very annoying whining tone. She's also taken to stealing objects from Jake and running as fast as she can to throw them in my lap. We had a serious conversation about not stealing, or "swiping" things today, with lots of references to Dora's Swiper, whose xmas special I think I know by heart now. She knows it's not the right thing to do and after a few minutes looks at me with face falling from shame and wants a hug on my lap. But she still does it again shortly after. Hmmpf... Little imp with big spirit.

She's SO loving Hannukah too - the candles, the coin booklets I give them every night, and the single gift. I love that for Hannukah the simplest small gift gets full attention for one whole night. It's nice to see them both swoon over some playdough or a coloring book!

A Dilemma

I hesitated to put this up because I don't want to offend anyone, but this is a photo of what our across the street neighbor's holiday lights look like from every room in our house. Do they know it spells "ASS?" Even more important, do we tell them?? Would love your opinions!

Happy First Night of Hannukah!

Abby loved her chocolate Hannukah gelt. Kept putting it in and out of a plastic container. Jake played with his new dreidels and loved his new Wall-E book. Mike and I concentrated on keeping our food down, since we're both still recovering from this week's illness!!

I got a little teary and nostalgic after Jake asked me where I got my menorah and I explained that it was a gift from my late, Jewish, father. Thanks to Dad (and Mom!), for leaving me with great memories of such a warm and lovely family tradition. I loved watching my kids' faces glow in the candlelight - they were both enraptured. It was, in all, a lovely first night.

A Girl and her Tree

And a Classic...

Jake made this at school, and is very proud of it.

For the MOMA?

Jake's latest art installation has a distinctively modern flair...

We've Been Practicing so Hard!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Girl in Holiday Dress

Abby's First Photo

Abby discovered happily that she could take pictures with my phone. The first photo is my demonstration of how to take a picture of her foot. The second is her photo - a good shot of her pretty pants! She was very proud of herself.

Fun at the Playground

I love this picture - Jake took it!

He took this one, too. Also good!

My happy boy!
We took about 10 shots trying to show his hair standing up from the slide static...

And before we left - a fabulous sunset!

Wall-E

this time, made in cereal. Jake really loves him!

The Xmas Ball Dance

Wondering what you can do with those pesky extra Christmas ornaments, especially the ones made of plastic instead of glass? Well, Abby has the answer for you:

It's Jib Jab Time!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Finally, a Santa Visit

It's taken only 5 years, but this year, Jake was finally ready to venture onto Santa's lap. He asked to go today and was so thrilled with the resulting picture - he insisted we buy a frame for it right afterward (and he was beside himself when I said Daddy could scan it so he could have it on his computer as well!). He told Santa about one item he wanted, and then informed him that he'd send him a list for the rest. This is an organized boy.

I also love his confident smile here and his thoughtful questions to us after. Mike had told him that it was likely not the real Santa, but one of his "helpers." Jake asked me if I thought it was the real one or a helper and I said I didn't know. "I think he was the real one, Mommy," he replied quite seriously. Later he told Mike he thought he might get another video email from Santa (like last year) and if he did, he'd compare their faces to see if they were the same. I fear Santa's pristine reputation might not last through another year of this kind of scrutiny!

One for the record books! Abby was not with us today but the last time we saw Santa she shook her head vigorously at the idea of going to say hi to him. Most of the kids we saw, were, in fact, crying. Tough job. Santa even remarked how nice it was to have a happy and willing kid on his knee!

Abby is 22 Months Old!

I think I missed Abby's 22 month post. All this galavanting around out of town and all.

The big news - her longtime babysitter is now en route to CA, somewhere on Route 66 by now, probably. The new team starts in about 10 days. Keep fingers crossed!

Abby is oblivious. Jake's ok too. I was the blubbery mess on the last night. Oh well.

In the meantime, here's Miss Abby in one of her favorite spots. She is in love with her new pull-ups. Diego is the favorite, followed closely by Dora. She asks and goes to the potty pretty nonchalantly once or twice a day. I kind of wish the pull-ups weren't quite so cute, but there you go. She does love taking them off and throwing them in the trash before bath every night. A nice dose of independence for my 1 going on 2, but honestly looks like she's already 3, little girl!

Ok, DC is Cool!

Has it really been 10 years since I've been here? Hard to imagine. And nearly 20 since I lived here after college, unbelievable!

Anyway, It is an absolutely glorious night so after arriving at my hotel I set off on a stroll to see some lit up monuments. And then found my hotel serving delicious french dishes that remind me of Alsace on a lovely outdoor patio overlooking a park this evening. It's 9:20 on a Sunday night and I am in heaven. Bon appetit!