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Thursday, December 29, 2011

China Town

Yesterday we walked the streets of China Town in Philly. Pretty cool to be in an American city but to feel like you are in a completely different country. We stopped in a grocery store and found some interesting things...

that Tia was not too excited about.
We also stopped in a Chinese Bakery and bought all sorts of things we've never heard of or seen before. Some of it was delicious...some not so much.
And this is us having lunch at an auténtico Chinese restaurant.


Hayley and Tia were both very "excited about having the opportunity to use chopsticks."
That is a direct quote from Tia.

But after Dad and I decided that we didn't want to spend all day and all night at the restaurant, we made them start using their forks instead.


Intestines was on the menu, but I chose roasted duck. J ordered chicken.




We had a great time as a family....even if it was 40 degrees below zero.


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

May the odds be ever in your favor


I know, right?
But this post isn't about my thoughts on The Hunger Games.
It's about my husband, and me not being able to get his behind off the couch beCAUSE of The Hunger Games.
See for yourself.

(These were all taken in 1/2 hour-45 minute increments)
He would barely get off the couch for dinner.
I even had an entire one-sided conversation with him before he looked at me and said, Oh, were you talking to me?
At 9:49 pm he finished.


Halle-friggin-lujah, I have my husband back.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Eve.

From my own family, we have carried on the tradition of drawing names, and making something homemade to exchange with the chosen person on Christmas eve. It's a wonderful idea...but often-times we wait until the afternoon of Christmas Eve to start putting our items together. They are rarely top quality...but are always made with love.
As I was helping Tia make her gift for Hayley, the top of the paint bottle popped off, and this happened.



A generous amount also landed on the white carpet, the white wall, picture frames, and both of our couches.

Also, on Christmas Eve, we act out the nativity. Unfortunately it's never a spiritual event. But it's ALWAYS entertaining.
Here is the cute boy who is getting ready to play the baby Jesus.
It's nice to have a real baby boy for this part instead of a doll.

Here comes Mary, Joseph, and the donkey.
Pay no attention to the baby...he's not supposed to be in the picture until the next scene.
Here is Mary, and the perfect baby Jesus. Hahaha. In the manger, of course.
The angel, proclaiming the great news to the shepherds. (J is SO funny)
One of the wisemen.

The other wiseman.

Sit DOWN baby Jesus. You're ruining the whole show.

Here are our homemade gifts.
]This one was from me to J. It's dutch for 'I Love You.'
This was from Hayley to Tia. A beautiful friendship bracelet.

This is from J to me. Hahaha. I'm laughing because he started this like 2 hours before our exchange and was in the room for like an hour making it. He cut up my sweatpants for it...and had to come in the room real quick and ask to trace my hand.
He is the cutest. The funniest. And obviously the most creative. ;)


This was Tia's gift to Hayley.
Obviously, I'm the one that did the painting. AND actually the one that made Tia's friendship bracelet. So really I almost did everything. I'm thinking we may bag this tradition in the future.


And here are my girls' notes to Santa before they went to bed.

Yes that is money you see next to the note. They (and I) are not above bribery.

Man, I love these kids.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

My husband

beats me.


Just kidding, it's pink-eye.
Estoy muy atractivo. No?

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Another 4 bite the dust

We live in a building with 5 other apartments. In the past month, 4 of those 5 have become vacant.
Don't take it personally, I keep telling myself. People in apartments come and go all the time...it's not US.

Yeah right. That justification maybe works when one (MAYbe two) of your neigbors move out, but 4? No doubt about it....this is personal.

What IS it about us that would chase these people away? It couldn't possibly be the fact that we rise at 6:30 every morning, even on weekends to begin our day, or that most of these days begin with a crying baby, or a loud knock on our bedroom door.

Nothing to do with the fact that our 'fogless' mirror, unattaches itself from our shower about 3 times a week at random times making a colossal bang on our shower floor every time.
It couldn't be that my girls have absolutely zero trace of volume control and that even when they're right next to you they yell as if they are trying to reach someone in bloody Africa.
My kids' preferred form of recreation is jumping from furniture onto floor, so what?
And when Dad comes home from work (which is a loud event in itself) and starts wrestling with the girls, it ALWAYS leads to someone getting hurt, followed by loud, unrestrained crying.
Which then gets Mom yelling.
"Could you cry a little quieter please!!?"
I ran out of sympathy looooooong ago.

Recently at school Hayley and Tia have been learning about going to a trusted adult for help when they need it, and also about the private places on their bodies. We have reinforced this talk several times so they know what is appropriate and what is not. They know it. They understand it, and it has backfired on us more than once.
Both J and I at different times have stepped into the bathroom to get something while Tia was getting ready for her bath, or getting on the toilet and both times she yelled loud enough for the entire building to hear "DON'T LOOK AT MY PRIVATE PARTS!!!!!!"

Shhhhhhhh! Jeeeeeeeeez.
What these people must think of us.
Now we are getting a whole new batch of neighbors moving into the building. They will all get to know us very soon I'm sure. I will continue to not make eye contact with any one. And in a few months they will be gone too.
















Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Jeeeez.

It's been almost 4 months since I've even looked at this blog. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed with everything I have to catch up on... So if it's ok, I think I'll just skip all of that (nonsense), and leap into the present.
I mean...if you all don't mind.

(Speaking of presents...I spotted J holding my Christmas gift while he was walking around Wal-mart trying to find a price scanner the other day. He saw me see him, and he froze in his tracks. He knew he couldn't hide it , it being a 24 x 36" rotary cutting mat and all, so he just stood there and laughed. Guess this will be one of those that I open with my fake surprised face. :)

We are all doing well and keeping busy. I've been playing Christmas music on my pandora station since the middle of November, and feel like I've been out shopping every single day for weeks. It's what Ty and I do to pass the hours.
Ty's weight has slowed down a bit and has plateau'd at around 19-20 lbs. He breaks my back..my neck and my arms when I hold him. He grabs anything he can reach and shoves it right into his mouth without a single thought. He has 2 adorable teeth and is so playful you can't help but smile and squeal whenever you look at him. So charming, that little boy.

Tia is doing so well in Kindergarten. At parent teacher conferences her teacher told me she was very advanced. She showed me her kid writing journal which had an entire page of sentences all jumbled together without any spaces at all. It was so cute. She also has become quite the artist and has plastered our fridge with her art work. I can't even open the refrigerator door without papers and magnets falling all over my feet.

Hayley's teacher called Hayley "One cool kid" when I met with her for PT conferences. She was impressed by the way she is so easy going and creative. "She's always one of the first picked for group activities, because the other kids know she's easy to get along with and does great work"
A nice thing for a parent to hear. She is on a Lego Team with 3 other boys, and actually has a competition later on this month. She loves it. I never even knew they had such a team.
But I guess there's a team for everything these days.

Jordan is doing really well. He continues to impress me daily with his wisdom, his patience and selflessness. I feel so lucky that he is mine.

We are heading to Washington DC this weekend to see the lights at the temple. Next time I'll post some pictures. We all know that's why people look at blogs anyway. :)