Party Favors....

I am done with goody bags...just done.  So this year for their party, I decided it would be nice to give each kid a favor....something made for them.  I hunted around online and found an idea for personal little chalkboards.  I shopped around and went to work.  On and off it took about 2 weeks, but it could have gone faster if I worked on them every night.

The boards I bought (and had cut) only had chalkboard surface on one side, so I painted the other with chalkboard paint.

Then I was able to put some old paint samples to good use.  Using painters tape, taped borders and painted various pastel colors.

And then the name writing....

Bought some chalk, wrapped them in little bundles and the whole thing turned out nicely.  

It was a lot more work than a goody bag, but very fulfilling to make something you really like (even if you don't get to keep it). 

BIrthday Party Day!

It's coming! Thier fifth birthday is just around the corner!  Is it possible?

This weekend was their party.  We just had neighborhood and church friends and family...and that was a lot of kids!  Pump It Up was a great place for an indoor winter birthday party.

Felix relaxing on the birthday throne.

Each of them got a turn having us sing to them on the throne with cool lights and all.

The real day is in two days....it's a whole birthday week!

Meet Buddy!

No.  We did not get a lizard.  This is Buddy, our neighbor's baby lizard.  And here is Liliana in increasing states of distress as Buddy climbs along her.

Love these goofballs!

Thank you Home Depot

Let's face it...the kids are almost 5.  Its almost impossible to get them in the same shopping cart (safely) these days.  Even the cars at Stop and Shop only fit one of them now. I remember the days when I would have one strapped to my chest and the other in the front area of the cart.  Seems like yesterday.

Anyway, I had to take them to Home Depot the other day.  Taking them there is quite difficult since I often have to pay attention and look for what I want, and also at the same time make sure these two do not wander off and get run over by a fork lift.  

Lo and behold!  New carts at Home Depot!  An elevated two person car set up (they each get their own steering wheel!)  that  can even fit two tall five year olds.  Maybe Home Dept got tired of all those kids running around too!

Happy Birthday Timothy!

We headed up to see the cousins on Saturday and to help celebrate Timothy's birthday.  It was a bowling party...and a glow one at that!

Although hard to see, this is Liliana. See her glowing socks?

Timothy and Uncle Felix.

Post snowstorm...

Even though we had just come back from New Hampshire five days before, last weekend I just coudn't pass up all the new snow and so I took the kids to Southington with me.  I signed them up for private lessons by themselves.  Since they are at different abilities, it seemed to make sense.  I was a bit worried about the cold, so I bought them these turtle furs that would help keep their necks and faces warm.  They thought they looked like "ski ninjas".  

After I dropped them off at their lessons, I hit the slopes.  Skiing alone, with no responsibility for others is something I haven't done in quite a while.  How carefree!  The mountain was empty as you can see here.  Where were all the people on this beautiful day? (it wasn't even cold!)

And of course what fun is all this snow if you can't make snow angels?

Study Bugs

The twins have been very cute with words lately.  They are always asking how to spell certain words and they have started to read very simple books with three letter words that make up about five words sentences on each page.  We have a list of sight words that the kids are supposed to know AFTER they leave kindergarten.  Felix just put them up in the kitchen and the other day Liliana said she was going to write them all down and proceeded to place her table and chair in front of the list.

Then they practiced their shapes!  

Some New Years Skiing

We headed up to New Hampshire early Monday morning for some skiing.  We stopped first at Pat's Peak, the last place we skied last season.  It was just as we remembered.  We didn't know how much the kids would remember, but it seemed to come back to them pretty quickly.

We spent the morning on the bunny slope and after lunch went up on the lift to the top of the mountain.    Liliana skied all the way down each time by herself (often singing "Marry Poppins" songs").  Lucas loved riding the lift and was happy to go down the mountain holding one of our hands.

We left the mountain as the sun started to set and then it was off to the pool while Felix picked up dinner (pizza and Chinese)

I always see these scenes on tv where the parents are reading to their kids at night and the kids just fall asleep.  That never happens in our house.  But after a whole day of skiing and an hour and a half in the pool and hot showers, after dinner, they didn't even make it through Dr. Seuss.

The next day it was off to Sunapee, a larger  mountain, but one with a large learning area.  This one is nice because the learning area for the beginners is separate from the area where people are taking lessons.  No one was there!

Felix and Liliana on the chairlift.

It was really cold on New Year's Eve (maybe that is why no one was around!)  So after lunch and just a few hours skiing, we packed it up and headed home.  Never even made it to midnight.  Welcome 2014!  Can't wait to ski some more!

To the Met! And the Tree! And Applebees!

After Christmas, we headed into the city for some fun.  We decided to take the 1:30 train (on a Friday). We were surprised when the train stopped at the tracks and it was packed full.  We weren't able to get on ANY car, and althought there was a bit of room, the passengers were not budging to let us on, and the whole thing felt unsafe, so we backed off.  Seeing the insanity one of the police officers called someone (who I don't know) and we found an unscheduled (EMPTY!) train at South Norwalk an hour later.

Our first stop was at the Met.  We went to see the Degas exhibit...and Liliana loved the ballerinas.

Lots of other cool stuff as well...

This was a garden like room.  It was indoors, with a ponds and fish and sculptures.  Very cool.

Afterwards, we promised the kids we would walk past the tree and head to Applebees for dinner.  The place was PACKED!  But Lucas found the Smurfs!

Finally!  Applebees!

Felix and Liliana at the tree.