Birthday Party #2

We have had the week never ending birthday! Party #2 was a family party at our house.

Waiting for a piece of cake.

Cupcakes that Annabelle decorated- all. by. herself.

The super Funshine Care Bear cake that I was forced to make.

Birthday Party #1

Annabelle insisted on having her party at a local jumpy place this year. As much as we tried to convince her to have it at home, she was adamant about wanting to invite ALL of her friends, which is well over 30 kids! There was no way we could manage that many kids at our house so we gave in. It was worth it- she had a great time... And we did not have to clean up!

Some of the gang, just before the jumping started.

A very bad photo of Nick and Jack on the slide.

The birthday girl and her Daddy.

Happy Birthday Annabelle!!

FIVE, wow... Hard to believe. Every year I say that and every year I am amazed at how much she has changed. She really has grown up a lot. No longer a baby, nor a toddler, she has become quite the little girl.

Annabelle learned how to tie her shoes today. She has been practicing for the past few days and becoming VERY frustrated because she could not do it. But she kept at it, not giving up until she mastered tying the shoes- There is no stopping her once she sets her mind to something! The other day she she was having trouble pronouncing the word, "message"- she practiced for over an hour until she got it right, then we we arrived at school she told everyone that she could say, "message"! She is a very determined little lady. A bit of a perfectionist, if you will.

Annabelle is very much a social butterfly. She talks to everyone. Recently we were at a play space and she went around and introduced herself to everyone there. She later came over to me and announced that, "she was making friends and that I should make friends too." Before we left there she stood in the middle of the room and exclaimed, "these are all my friends, everybody knows me"... and she was right!

Annabelle is still obsessed with puppies. Whenever we see a dog, whether it be on t.v. , at a park, or just driving by a person walking one on the street, Annabelle gets very excited and usually shouts, "I SAW A PUPPY!!!" She has about 200 stuffed animals... Most are dogs.

Annabelle loves to draw and paint. She is getting pretty good at it too! Sometimes she gets a little frustrated though- the perfectionist in her tends to come out when she draws. The other day she was determined to draw a three dimensional box and I thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown because she could not do it!! But she never gave up and eventually accomplished what she set out to do.

She is also getting a little bit sassy in her old age: She occasionally gives me some lip and she's been saying things like, "oh my gosh" and rolling her eyes!! She can be very dramatic at times. I sometimes feel like she's 15, not 5!

She can also be very sweet too: She is always worried about her brother and says that all of her friends are her favorites, because she doesn't like to leave anyone out.

Annabelle's teacher always says that Annabelle "has got it going on" -She says that Annabelle is as sharp as a tack and that nothing gets by her. I believe her teacher; Annabelle doesn't miss a trick!

I'M NOT TIRED!!!

Yeah, right. She's been asleep on the living room floor for 20 minutes!

Annabelle: On Watching The Presidential Inauguration

Annabelle: Why do we have to watch this? I want to watch Caillou.
Me: You can watch Caillou any time, this is a one shot deal.
Annabelle: Won't this be on Demand?

Annabelle: Look at all those children there! Why did I not get to go there?
Me: There are a lot of people there, but there are also billions of people in the world. Not everyone is able to go.
Annabelle: Well I wanted to go, they all look so happy.
Annabelle: Why are those people so happy?
Me: They are happy to see a new President.
Annabelle: Why?
Me: People are happy about a change.
Annabelle: Why?
Me: Not everyone liked the last president.
Annabelle: Why?
Me: He made some bad decisions.
Annabelle: What did he do that was bad to YOU?
Me: Nothing to me, directly.
Annabelle: Well, he was BAD to ME!!!!
Me: How was he bad to you?
Annabelle: He made me watch boring t.v.

Annabelle Art

I really love this picture Annabelle made at school today. Apparently, it is a picture of me watering some flowers, which is very fitting, seeing as it is FIVE degrees outside and any plant life would be buried under 3 layers of ICE! I especially love the huge smile on my face as I water the flowers under the glowing yellow sun, with my massive pink watering can, which is somehow affixed to the tiny little arm that is jutting out from my gigantic head!

Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling on this cold wintery day!

He Did It!!!!

Yay, Jack... No more binkys!!

So, yesterday afternoon before he went in for a nap, Jack ran into the bathroom and looked in the trash bin for his binkys. When he saw that they weren't there he immediately became concerned and asked where they had gone. I told him that the "binky fairy" had come and removed the binkys because he was too big for them now. He was a little upset, and overtired, and started asking if she could bring them back! I told him that it was too late; the "binky fairy" had already given them to little babies, who needed them much more than big kids. He still seemed a little upset but was willing to give it a try... until he discovered one more binky hidden in his bed! I tried to take it from him but he was so cranky, I caved, and he ended up taking a nap with the bink.

After his nap he handed me that last binky and told me I could give it to the binky fairy..

At bed time he started asking all sorts of questions about the binky fairy: "what is her name?", "where does she live?", "where is she taking my binkys?", "how does she get into the house?" etc... This dragged on for a while. I thought he was working his way towards asking for a binky, but he never did. He eventually fell asleep- He slept through the night without a problem.

In the morning he woke to find the binky fairy had left him a little present on his window sill. He was very pleased, and also very proud of himself.

We're pretty proud of him too!

Could This Really Be The End?

I woke up this morning to Annabelle excitedly telling me that Jack had thrown all of his binkys in the trash!

When I asked him about it, he said that he doesn't need them anymore! I'm hoping he means it. He knows that he has until his 4Th birthday to make peace with the inevitable separation, which gives him about 2 more months. So we shall see...

In the mean time, I have removed all binkys from the inside trash in case he tries to go fishing around for them.

Mini Guitar Hero

Nick gave me Guitar Hero for my birthday yesterday and Annabelle was so mad about it!- she really wanted to get it for her birthday, next month. I tried to explain to her that this is a good thing; now she can use it a month sooner AND get to choose a different present for her birthday, it's a win win situation.

She didn't buy it though: She went into school yesterday and told everyone she encountered that it was Mommy's birthday and Mommy got Guitar Hero and that is what she wanted for her birthday and she is mad because Mommy stole her present... And she did this all in one long breathe, with arms crossed, and foot tapping.

I think all was forgiven later in the day, when she actually got to use it.

She was so funny, she insisted that she had to wear the strap so that she could be a real rock star!

Annabelle is not the best at Guitar Hero (yet), but she was able to follow the tutorial and has been practicing the songs. I'm sure within a few days she will surpass both Nick, and myself... As she does with most Wii games.

Wet AND Crazy

Happy New Year!!

I'm so behind on posting on this blog.

I haven't felt like updating the blog at all this year - I think I'm spending too much time on Facebook. Maybe that should be my New year's resolution- less Facebook, more blogging!

So, not much has happened yet this year... We had a very mellow New Year's eve- Nick and I hung out at home and watched the ball drop, the Monkeys were in bed by 7:30pm. It was a pretty typical year. Maybe some day we'll spice things up and let the Monkeys stay up late with us... maybe.

The kids are finally back at school after having had over 2 weeks off for Christmas/New Years, plus a couple of snow days. I thought it would be a loooong vacation for me, being home with them all day, but it really wasn't that bad. We were so busy most of the time that the kids started asking to stay home so that they could play with their new toys! When they were home they were very good- I think I only had to beat them twice :)

Annabelle has started back at her Tuesday morning acting class, which she loves, and has also started taking ice skating lessons on Sundays. She is ecstatic about the ice skating... She had been asking to go every weekend since I took her that one time last winter. She received ice skates for Christmas so now, at least with the lessons, she is guaranteed to go every weekend, which she is thrilled about.

I've been feeling a little guilty about Annabelle having two weekly activities to Jack's zero, so I think I may try and sign Jack up for swimming again. He really loves the water, in fact, just yesterday he tried to swim in a giant puddle outside of school, it was 25 degrees out, so I think he would appreciate an indoor pool at this point.

Other than that, not much going on... Jack has been playing nonstop with his Geotrax trains and Annabelle has become quite proficient with watercolors!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas eve was spent at my parents' house having Chinese take out and opening a few pressies. As usual, it was completely chaotic and the kids got more presents than they knew what to do with!

It was questionable whether or not Santa would visit our house this year as we have had a couple of misbehaved children recently. Somehow, in the two weeks before Christmas, they managed to pull it together- Santa did come, and, much to our surprise, the only coal left in the stockings was that of the candy variety!! The kids were actually very well behaved in the days leading up to Christmas... all must have been forgiven.

Later on in the day we had my parents, sister Kristen and Dan over for dinner. Nick cooked a feast and we all had a lovely day!

Some (not so great) pictures from Christmas Day:

The Tree Christmas cookies

The cookies that Annabelle decorated! The mince pies
opening presents
sledding with some friends trying out the new scooter
Geotrax planeKaraoke performances!!
Will 2009 be the year Nick hides those tv wires?

...And The Fun That Followed The Storm!

And Then There Was The Storm

Calm Before The Storm

It is 8:30 am, we are expecting a big snow storm this afternoon and school has been canceled. It is not snowing yet. The kids are very excited about the impending snow, very excited. They have dressed themselves in all of their snow gear (over their pajamas); coats, hats, mittens, scarves, snow pants, boots. They are currently in the back yard... Waiting for the snow.

The Polar Express

The kids and I took a ride to the North Pole on the Polar Express this evening!

One of the local commuter rail stations decorated a train and had a special Polar Express themed train ride. It was very cute... On the way up to the North Pole each train car had a person reading the book, The Polar Express, and, just as in the film, there was a train conductor who went around and punched everyone's tickets, and little elves who served up hot chocolate and cookies.

Once we arrived at the North Pole we had a special visit from Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty, and also a winter fairy who gave the kids magical fairy dust! They even each got a magical bell to take home!

On the way back from the North Pole there was a man playing guitar and singing Christmas tunes for/with all the kiddies.

The kids had a great time... They are already asking to go again next year!!

Conversation Between Two Monkeys

Annabelle: Jack, when are you going to get rid of that binky?

Jack: When I'm four.

Annabelle: If you get rid of your binky you can get a prize!! Don't you WANT to get a prize, NOW?

Jack: I do, but, I can't get rid of binky yet... It's part of the family.

Gingerbread House

The end result- 3:35pm

Annabelle discovers a gumdrop

Super happy-she's usually not allowed to chew gum

The house begins to crumble
The real end result- 3:37 pm

The Santa Picture

Teddy's first Santa picture!

December 9, 2008

Little Artist

Annabelle loves to draw. She is getting pretty good at it too! Lately she has been wanting to sit at my drawing table in the basement. She is so funny when she does this, so serious and professional... Very unlike her every day personality!

No Baby!

We were at the playground yesterday and poor Jack was being followed around by three toddlers. They were very cute, and just wanted to be with Jack, but for some reason Jack is very anti-"baby" at the moment so this was really annoying him.

He was very good about it at first though; he kept moving away from them, going from play structure to play structure, but he just couldn't shake the babies. Finally he had had enough. He stood up, turned to the toddlers, and with his little finger waving in the air, shouted, "argh, not the babies again!... you babies need to play over there!" When they didn't budge he started in on the Moms!!! He was like, "HEY, you Mommy's, you take those babies away, OK!" "YOU TWO MOMMY'S, those babies need to play OVER THERE!"

*Sounds obnoxious but he was actually being very cute... And also quite amusing!!!

First Dentist Visit

The little mishap with Annabelle's tooth prompted a visit to the Dentist. It was the first time for both of them! (I have been meaning to take them for ages)

All in all, the visit went very well- definitely not as traumatic as they had imagined!

Jack picks his nose, then offers the Dentist a bogey.

Surprisingly, the Dentist didn't take him up on the offer.

They took some X-rays of Annabelle's teeth. The Dentist thought that her permanent teeth looked OK after the fall, but that we need to keep an eye on the loose tooth... It should tighten up within a couple of weeks, but if it starts to get discolored it could indicate nerve damage, in which case they would need to remove the tooth. So we wait. So far she seems fine.

Damaged Goods

Last night, just as we were heading upstairs for bed, Annabelle wiped out on the hardwood floor and landed flat on her face, knocking her front tooth loose! At first, we thought the tooth might have actually fallen out, but once the bleeding stopped we could see that it had just been loosened and were able to push it back into place. It is still pretty wobbly; it's any body's guess whether or not it will fall out, but we are hoping that it sticks around for another couple of years!

Friendship Feast 2008

Once again, the preschool had it's annual "friendship feast", which is sort of a mock Thanksgiving with entertainment. Each class got up on stage and did a performance - Jack's class sang a "turkey dinner" song, Annabelle's class sang a very similar "turkey dinner" song... both to the tune of Frere Jaqua! Funny, that.

During the performance Jack looked a little nervous, a touch of stage fright if you will, but he did a great job just the same. He sang a bit, but mostly he just stood there and looked cute.

Annabelle, as usual, was in her element... The girl is a born performer. She knew every word to her "turkey dinner" song (and Jack's), and sang with gusto. She just loves being up on that stage!

After the songfest was the feast: Turkey, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, rolls, apple juice, cookies, and brownies... Lots of food for little people.

Before they sat down to eat Annabelle warned me that NO ONE better try to put stuffing on her plate. I was curious to see what would happen if they did, but having to divide myself between her table and Jack's, I missed out on the actual doling out of the food. I didn't notice any stuffing on her plate though. Jack, on the other hand, didn't say a word about what he was willing to accept on his plate. Instead he just discarded the items he didn't like, putting them onto his classmate's plate when he wasn't looking!

In the end the kids had a great time. We got to keep the lovely flower centerpiece that Jack made, and also a cutom laminated placemat with his hand prints on it. Annabelle MacGyver-ed a turkey centerpiece out of a pumpkin, pipecleaner, and some feathers, which we also got to take home. Although, Turkey Pumpkin has since lost it's head...

Girls Have Cooties

When I picked Jack up from school yesterday he ran out of his classroom with a huge smile on his face and gave me a giant hug. Two seconds later, he handed me one [of the two] cars he had brought to school with him that morning, then asked me to smell it... And then he came out with, "I don't want this one- it smells like Molly."

Further prying revealed that his classmate, Molly, had handled the car at some point during the day, and now it was, "in need of a wash."