Albert Family Blog

All a-Twitter

2012-01-16T17:54:00.009-05:00

Although my blogging has fallen off dramatically this past year, that doesn't mean we don't have lots to say about Sabrina and Stevie. At this point we are more likely to post a ridiculous occurance or silly comment on Twitter or Facebook just because it's so quick and easy.

If you are on Twitter, I am @Token0978 and Kev is @kevalbert if you'd like to follow us. For those of you who are not on Twitter, here are some highlights about the kids from the last six months.

June 2011

J: Me: Sabrina, Get out of daddy's closet. Sabrina: I'm the PANTS! #kidsarestrange

J: Sabrina: What's this song? Kev: Enter Sandman. Do you like it? S: Um, no. Can we listen to the Popcorn Song instead? #madedadsad

K: Sabrina: "[Your hair] is getting long, like girls' hair." Might be time for a haircut. #thetruthhurts

K: Walked into the living room & Sabrina is in my recliner. Sat on her. "Daddy please don't sit on me. I'm trying to relax" #harassingkidsisfun

July 2011

J: There are NOT enough kids’ shows about fireman robots. Someone should get on that. #typicalboy

J: I could yell FIRE and it would still take 20 minutes to get everyone out of the house. #mydadwasright

K: Even being only tangentially involved, I hate potty training. The racing around, visiting potties in public places. The misses. Such a pain

K: Dinner across the street and yet, we're 15 minutes late. Of course, we are.

K: To quote Sabrina: "STOP! Stop talking to me all day!" Apparently I am bothering her. #missionreciprocated

K: Stevie, pretending to be a dog, was fetching things for Sabrina. I had him get my slippers from upstairs. Feel bad or exploit some more?

K: Things Stevie's fetched so far: several toys, 2 remotes, my slippers, Sabrina's water cup, my blackberry. Things licked: me

K: At the end of birthday party number #2, Stevie asked why weren't going to a 3rd birthday party and was not happy with our answer.

K: My favorite Stevie-ism right now is his goto response to a question: "Because I don't know."

K: My least favorite Sabrina-ism is, "You ruined my life." It seems like she's going to be lucky if I let her live to adulthood.

K: Playground Axiom: With 2 kids swinging & needing pushes, there is a 100% chance that they will choose the 2 swings farthest from each other

August 2011

K: Overheard in our house this AM: "I want to wear sandals because it's a little bit summer" & "You have a sad dirty face. Like a monster"

K: From the girl's room (being forced to nap prior to going the beach): "This is the longest nap ever!!"

K: So Jess kills more phones than cancer. Actually, I don't know how many cancers she's killed but I doubt it's more than 3 phones

[Author's Note: I killed my new iPhone when I dove into the water to rescue Sabrina. Pretty sure it was worth it]

K: Once my daughter misheared @hunterpence3's name as "Underpants." Now both my wife & daughter call him that & giggle. Only one of them is 4

[A/N: *giggle*]

K: From Sabrina last night during a particularly difficult bedtime routine: "Everyone is nice except for you and Mommy" #successfulparenting

K: We're watching the Dora's Explorer Girls movie. Upon seeing a flashback of young Dora, Sabrina declared "Look! That's the real Dora"

K: Stevie, building a puzzle: "Little help please." Me: "Coming" Stevie: "No. I was asking Brina" #blowtotheego

K: The answer to the question "Do you want to smell my hands?" will ALWAYS be no.

[A/N: Part of potty training. Stevie loves that different soaps have different smells and doesn't understand why we aren't as excited as he is]

J: While I appreciate that their independence will serve them well in adulthood, I'd REALLY appreciate some obedience now. #childrenforsale

J: Annoying my kids first thing in the morning is not just my right, it's my responsibility. #simplejoys

J: What does O-U-T spell? Sabrina: stop it. Me: No it spells "out". What does O-U-T spell? S: Mom, STOP IT!!! #mykidcantspell

J: Yep, I just made up a song about underpants. Why, what have you done today? #momsareweird

J: I hate getting a song stuck in my head that's in a language I don't know. I can't even pretend to sing along! #stupidDora

J: According to the girl, BEST DAY EVER!!! #solomonsisland

J: Sabrina started a story with "back in the olden times" when referring to my life before her #egoblow

J: If everyone is unhappy, I must be doing my job right. #catch-22

J: Me: How'd I get such wonderful kids!? Sabrina: We were babies, then we grew up! #touche

K: Kev to Stevie: "Come on, don't be a punk." Sabrina: "Yeah! Don't be a pumpkin."

J: New house motto: Don't be a pumpkin!

J: The kids are "hiding were you'll never find us"... how long before they realize that I'm not looking?

J: In the event of a power outage, someone should invent a generator powered by a child-sized hamster wheel. #Irene #twobirdswithonestone

J: Learning that my husband is not the kind of parent to throw a game against his children. #soreloser?

J: When a kiss doesn't cure a boo-boo, threat of amputation will. #parenting

September 2011

K: Art project. No fighting. Pleases & thank yous. Not sure why Jess finds these hard. Maybe she's not doing it right

J: @kevalbert the first hour is easy. Talk to me if you ever get to hour ten #biteme

J: Mutual fear of the vacuum makes housecleaning a bonding experience for kids #parenting #stopfighting

K: According to Jess, you don't clean your sister. Stevie disagrees.

K: My Dad: Is that going to destroy the furniture (referring to a toy)? Me: The boy? Yes he is, stick by stick. #choosetheformofthedestructor

K: To quote Sabrina: "You've caused enough trouble... GUITAR" #kidsarestrange

K: Sabrina describing school today: "Show and Tell was awesome. It's like the Best Thing Ever!" #minime

October 2011

J: "There's a tie. That means Daddy's here" Sabrina as we waited to pick Kev up from the metro. #daddyslittlegirl

K: Took the kids to see the Lion King. Sabrina loved the singing but wanted Simba's dad to come back. Stevie liked it but thought it was scary

K: Sabrina: "I liked it when Simba's dad came back in the clouds." #lionking

K: Sabrina cried when Mustapha died. She was very cute. Took my and Jess' hands.

K: Stevie made 3 towers. The Daddy, the Sabrina & the Stevie. Mommy "didn't have enough blocks"

[A/N: Good summation of my mental state]

K: It's hard to be mad at Sabrina when she came out of her room after being tucked in to come down stairs & yell "Go Phillies!" one more time

K: To quote Jess, "Do not use hugging as a weapon" #kidsarestrange

J: There was a huge boom. By way of tattling, the girl came to me, stretched out her arm and silently pointed towards the boy. #parenting #narc

J: I picked out my wedding dress in less time than it takes my son to pick out a lollipop. #parenting

K: The kids made it 52 minutes through the service. I count that as a win. #batmitzvah

J: It seems that 3 cars equals 4 dinosaurs in kid math. Either that or Stevie just made a great deal.

J: Kev to Sabrina: You're very cute. Sabrina: And I'm smart! Kev: And modest.

J: New house motto: I cannot give you what I do not have. #repeatingmyself #parenting

J: Addendum to new house motto: No! I will not go to the store. #repeatingmyself #parenting

J: There is not enough rum in the world to ease parenting tonight. #GOTOBED!

J: A child's favorite spot to stop is the one right inside the door or right at the top of the stairs. #dropoff #parenting

J: Little boys must be allergic to underwear considering the daily fight its become. #thisibelieve

J: Stevie: why are we not good? Me: I. Don't. Know.

J: I hate glitter. That is all.

J: Camouflage boots? Check. Buzz Lightyear wings? Check. Complete lack of pants or underwear? Check. #kidsarestrange

J: From the girl: "Candyland is the BEST Land EVER!" Suck it Iceland.

J: All family vehicles should be required to include the sound-proof barrier that limos have #parenting #myearsarebleeding

J: Mis-matched socks are the new black. #parenthood

November 2011

J: The boy to his daddy: "You are MY iPhone!" #catsinthecradle

K: If cause of death is "bludgeoning due to singing at a high volume 6in from ur head," you'll get off its your kid, right? Asking for a friend

K: AM duty. Kids wanted sandwiches for breakfast. I give Sabrina hers & she tells me that Jess makes the best sandwiches #thetruthhurts

K: Taking the kids to Open Gym to let them expend some energy. Which is like diffusing a bomb with a bigger bomb. Total annihilation.

K: Sabrina: "Want to hear a song I made up? I sing it loudly!" How am I supposed to respond to that without inflicting emotional scars?

J: Dear Nursery Teachers--Thanks for teaching my kids that a paper bag full of bird seed is really reindeer food.

J: Dear Self--Next time one of your children exclaims "OOPS, I made a hole in the bag!" don't finish what you are doing, get up and see what's going on.

J: Dear Carpet--I'm sorry.

J: One parent's sarcasm is another parent's positive reinforcement. #doingmybest

J: Playing dead is a valid method of parenting at 5 a.m.

J: When your child is entertaining herself by incessantly counting from 1 to 100, DO NOT ask her about no. 101! #nopeace

J: The boy asked me if I could call Santa on his iPhone. I told him I didn't have the number but I'd e-mail. He seemed satisfied. #modernxmas

December 2011

J: Almost abandoned both kids at Ikea. I really could've just walked away and out the door. Still don't know if I made the right choice. And it's only the first day of winter break.

J: "Mom, why are there so many One Way signs on Earth?" as we drive through D.C. #goodquestion

K: It's probably hypocritical being a Jew but I've been threatening Santa skipping our house if the kids don't listen, eat, go to bed, etc

[A/N: He used this threat more than I did!]

K: Jake and the Neverland Pirates are celebrating "Winter Treasure Day." Finally someone calls it what it is

K: You know what's pretty annoying, "Daddy, Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, DADDY!!" "Yes" "Mice are faster than bunnies" "Um, Ok"

K: The kids slept in until 7:30AM. It's a Christmas miracle!

K: Sabrina's singing:Rudolph the red-nosed Stevie. Had a very shiny Stevie.&if you ever saw it..#replaceawordofasongwithStevie ThanksJess

K: Playing Candyland w/ Sabrina. Got the ice cream so I got to jump way ahead. Sabrina: You're really good at this game

January 2012

K: Both kids slept in until 8:10AM. It's a New Year's miracle.

J: BACK TO SCHOOL DAY!!!!! #longestbreakever

K: is glad that turned out to be chocolate on my leg. Now to figure out why there was a pop tart on the floor #kidsarestrange

K: When it takes two college educated adults to assemble a kid's toy, I think you need to adjust the 6+ designation #engineeringdegreerequired

K: My son was typing on a pocket calculator. I asked him what he was doing. He shushed me and said, "I'm working" #catsinthecradle

J: The boy was running through the house yelling "I FOUND JESUS". Turns out they were playing hide-and-seek with the Little People Nativity set

K: My son did a super selfish act disguised as a sweet gesture. I was sitting on the couch being cold. He is under a small thin blanket.

K: At the same time, my daughter is playing under a big comfy quilt. She finishes with it & my wife is about to cover me with it.

K: Instead my son announces that he is giving me his blanket &begins to tuck me in. Once done, he immediately asks his mom for the quilt because he's cold.

K: I totally got screwed out of the big quilt! What a little stinker!

J: Using a puppet to explain to the kids exactly how much they were annoying me actually undermined the point I was trying to make. #gofigure

K: Stevie has been referring to today as "Martian Luther King Day". It makes me laugh every time.

Is there a Doctor in the House?

2011-12-15T10:09:00.000-05:00

I love our pediatrician, Dr. Cliff. For many reasons, but this week it's because his staff never has a problem scheduling double appointments for the kids.

Yes, folks, it's annual check-up time again--for a 5 year old and a 3 year old! I am routinely shocked by how old they are.

Sabrina's Vitals

Height: 43" (60th percentile)
Weight: 45lbs. (79th percentile)

Stephen's Vitals

Height: 39" (73rd percentile)
Weight: 36lbs. (94th percentile)

Dr. Cliff was pleased with their growth, health, and development. He said they were both doing amazingly and that we are doing a good job with them. As a parent there's a lot of time spent fighting/disciplining/worrying/analyzing and very little day-to-day positive outside feedback. I know he only sees the kids for a few minutes a couple of times a year and that he probably says that to most everyone, but it's still really nice to hear.

Dr. Cliff's office runs very efficiently, but we still had a bit of wait time in the exam room. The building was a little chilly, so the PA gave the kids paper robes to wear. Funnest! Things! EVER!

First, the kids pretended they were wearing fancy gowns to a ball.

Then, after the shoulders got ripped apart, the robes transformed into grass skirts and the kids hula danced around the room.

Finally, the robes were pulled from around the waist to around the neck and the kids became super-heroes! (Sabrina declined to pose for the picture b/c she thought I might be making fun of them at this point---I could barely breathe for laughing so hard!)

Needless to say, the robes were in tatters and had been thrown away by the time Dr. Cliff came into the room.

The only other item of note was that Sabrina had an ear infection and we were prescribed penicillin (as we had been every other time).

A full week later, Sabrina woke up covered in red dots. For some reason, her body decided it did not like penicillin and is now allergic. Not the end of the world, but she was pretty pathetic for a few days until the spots went away.

It could've been worse, of course. It could've been a peanut allergy which, since the kids eat pb&j for lunch almost every day, would've meant starvation!

Fruit Wonders

2011-12-13T17:31:00.004-05:00

On Friday, we went with Sabrina and Stevie's nursery school to see a puppet show with Bob Brown (he's worked for Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street) at the Discovery Theater. It was a blast. Lots of puppets doing silly things and taking pratfalls...perfect for the audience.

Today, Sabrina decided to try her hand at puppeteering. She invited me to a special private show which she dubbed "FRUIT WONDERS!"

Pillow cushions were the curtains and plastic fruit were the actors. Sabrina (and Stevie) were the puppet masters. The stories seem to center around the fruits doing various acrobatics, but it didn't really matter.

Now is the time in Fruit Wonders when we dance!

Stevie: "I'm dancing backwards!"

Don't be fooled, this was only 15 minutes of a loooooonnngg afternoon. But it's these kind of 15 minutes that make it so worth it.

The First Friends Birthday Party

2011-12-05T07:51:00.003-05:00

So I tried. I really did.

This year was the first year we ~~were forced to~~ let Sabrina have a special "friends" birthday party (after her school cupcakes, Thanksgiving Albert birthday, and Thanksgiving II Sebald birthday). I tried to have the easiest, mellowest, low-key birthday party ever. Turns out that when kids are involved, low-key just doesn't exist.

In planning with Sabrina, we decided on a PAJAMA PARTY with pizza, popcorn, cake and a movie. Easy. We invited five kids from three families: Ben, Maddie, Miriam and Cassie (who we went to Solomon's with last summer) and Sabrina's One True Love, Finian. Not a huge crowd.

It started off orderly.

This party had been rescheduled because Sabrina was sick on the original date, so we made concessions to get it in before the new year. Anna, Kev and I managed on our own as the other three dads and two moms had to (legitimately?) work.

After pizza it was MOVIE TIME. A screening of Disney's Robin Hood and popcorn.

Aren't they darling?

It didn't last.

The group got restless a short way into the movie. The kids formed into ever-changing packs that raced between the bedrooms upstairs and the toys in the basement. Miriam stayed in the living room, trying to watch the movie through all of the madness. No one was being bad, but the craziness definitely ramped up.

It was only a two hour party, so cake time came thankfully quickly.

Sabrina had a great time, the kids all left uninjured and popcorn crumbs were easily vacuumed -- I rate it a success!

In fact, I'm already looking ahead to next year...and researching places outside our home to host the crazy festivities.

A Whole Hand Old

2011-11-28T18:31:00.001-05:00

Whooosh!! Did you feel that? Time just skipped ahead by almost two months! Who knew that time travel was a neglected blog??

Somehow it's the end of November and Sabrina is five years old. FIVE YEARS! It's such a milestone age and seems to me to signal the end of her fledgling years and on to her life as an independent person in her own right. I know that she's not leaving for college tomorrow and that she's exactly the same as she was yesterday, but I still can't help feeling a bit melancholy.

Sabrina's conquering her second year of nursery school as one of the "big kids" and is eagerly anticipating kindergarten next year. She's still a beginning reader, but it's finally 'clicking' and she is delighted with each new thing she reads. She can write her name and the alphabet and is confidently writing new words as soon as she learns how to spell them. Why can't we all keep this sponge-like ability to absorb knowledge in adulthood? I'd love to learn so much more about so much more, but my brain is old and stuck.

Sabrina still creates elaborate, imaginary worlds for her toys, still LOVES princesses, glitter, rainbows, PINK, unicorns and any other girly-girl stereotype you can think of (*sigh*), and still believes she's going to marry Finn someday. Now, though, she also wants to be a doctor when she grows up, doesn't cry every time she gets dirty, and loves starting conversations with random strangers (again, *sigh*).

My mother's wisdom has always been to raise kids you genuinely like as people. In that measure we have been incredibly successful. Sabrina is fun, funny, imaginative and kind. She's smart and perceptive and asks way too many questions without simply taking "because I said so" as an answer. She's idolized by her brother, adored by her father and--best of all for me--a person I truly like as well as love.

Almost a Grown-Up

2011-10-04T07:22:00.001-04:00

Stevie has been telling anyone who'll listen that he's "almost a grown-up". While I don't consider three years to be old enough to leave home to find his way in the world, he's definitely not a baby any more.

It's interesting to compare his development against Sabrina's at this age. It's also really amazing how two kids from the same parents, raised in the same household can be so independently individual.

From birth Stevie's considered himself Sabrina's equal in every way and we think it's pushed him to 'keep up' with her. He also has her as a model/teacher and had a ready-made group of friends to interact with. As a result, he speaks pretty clearly (no 'monkey' gibberish), is more comfortable working collaboratively with other kids, and draws more complex, intricate 'doodles'.

Stevie remains much more physical--he's absolutely impossible if he doesn't get enough running/jumping/climbing time. He loves being part of a group (and is big enough to be a junior member of the pack of 4-5 year-old boys at the playground). And, of course, he embraces his 'annoying younger brother' role with gusto.

In celebration we had a small family birthday party. Lots of kids in the neighborhood have started to have friends parties, but when asked who he wanted to invite, Stevie could only think of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I've now established the family rule the 'friends' parties start at age five (we cannot delay Sabrina any longer).

Stevie wanted a Buzz Lightyear/space theme. We bought some stuff and spent an afternoon making our own decorations to supplement. I even broke out the glitter--yup it was THAT much of a special occasion.

Sabrina spent all her time on this one

Of course we could have just gotten a bunch of balloons and both kids would've been just as happy.

It was wonderful to have everyone (Kev's parents + the Sebald clan) but my nephew Robert made it a blast. He's running around now, no longer a baby but a junior partner in the chaos. Sabrina and Stevie had a blast with him.

Stevie teaches his cousin Robert how to inhale cake

We are so proud of Stevie and how much he's grown and changed this year. He's really such an amazing kid and we are very lucky to have him.

Apple Dumplin's

2011-10-01T14:40:00.001-04:00

Friday was a "teacher work day" at the Weekday Nursery so the kids were off school. My friend Anna suggested a field trip to go apple picking. We've never been before, so we set off on a new adventure.

We visited Lerriland Farm. It's about an hour away if you don't miss your turn, an hour twenty if you do. Thank goodness for my iPhone map!

tart cooking apples...maybe someday I'll make an apple pie, but not today

It was a gorgeous day and the mutsu apple orchards were full. They kids were okay with the picking, but really enjoyed the eating best.

For the record, I tried to pay for the apples we ate, but the clerk told me that they consider that part of their operating costs.

The farm's wheelbarrows provided more fun.

We also checked out the market where I bought way too much (must remember not to shop when I'm hungry). The "boo barn" and haystack maze were okay, but not really worth spending the extra money for admission.

It was a fun adventure for a sunny fall day and we all had a nice nap when we got home. Sabrina even remembered our adventure driving song from Solomons!

All about MeMe

2011-09-28T18:13:00.002-04:00

This is a meme from Facebook that I saw on Pintrest and decided to try.

Copy this note, ask your kid the questions and write them down exactly how they respond.

I asked Sabrina and Stevie these questions tonight after dinner and in retrospect I would've waited and asked them separately... we have a lot of duplicate answers coming from Stevie. For the record they are almost 3 and almost 5.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
Sabrina: "Good-bye"
Stevie: "I don't know"

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Stevie: "KISSES!"
Sabrina: "and hugs"

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Sabrina: "I don't know"
Stevie: "Nah-nah-pooh-poop" (a taunt I am constantly fighting them over)

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
Sabrina: "Doing silly faces"
Stevie: "Yeah, doing silly faces"

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Sabrina: "She weared a dress I tried on" (I think this happened at my parents' house)
Stevie: "A shirt you was wearing" (*shrug*)

6. How old is Mommy?
Sabrina: "I don't know the number"
Stevie: "I don't know the number either"

7. How tall is Mommy?
Sabrina: "Taller than me"
Stevie: "I don't know"

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Sabrina: "Do art projects"
Stevie: "You do art projects"

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Sabrina: "Sometimes you work"
Stevie: "You work to find us"

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Sabrina: "New York City. How 'bout that? If you went to New York City you'd be famous for New York City"
Stevie: "Yeah, New York City"

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Stevie: "Us"
Sabrina: "Tucking us in for bed"

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Stevie: "Us" (I told him he just used that answer, but he was adamant)
Sabrina: "Sticking stickers"

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Stevie: "Work"
Sabrina: "You work"

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Sabrina: "American cheese"
Stevie: "Watermelon"

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Sabrina: "hugging me"
Stevie: ".." (No answer, he just walked across the room, snuggled in my lap, then gave me a big hug and a kiss before jetting off again.)

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Sabrina: "Elmo if you were on Sesame Street"
Stevie: "Elmo on Street"

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Sabrina: "Art projects"
Stevie: "Puzzles"

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
Sabrina: "We're both girls"
Stevie: "Daddy and I are both boys" (I repeat the question) "Sabrina"

19. How are you and Mommy different?
Sabrina: "You have glasses and we don't"
Stevie: "I don't know"

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Sabrina: "Because you hug me and kiss me and that makes you love me"
Stevie: "You give me lots of hugs"

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
Sabrina: "Playground"
Stevie: "New York City"

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-09-15T14:12:00.005-04:00

I don't know who was more excited about the start of school--me or the kids! Even though he's just shy of three, Sabrina's nursery school accepted Stevie into the program this year. Both Sabrina and Stephen will be going to Weekday Nursery, M-F from 8:15 to 12:15!!

Both kids were wearing their backpacks and bouncing off the walls in anticipation--for two hours (sigh).

Sabrina has pointed out her school every time we've driven past it all summer long. Considering that it's on the street we take to get out of the neighborhood it's been a LOT. She was happy to go back and see her teachers and class and friends and to show her little brother around.

Sabrina's "boyfriend" Finn is in class this year too!

Although he still calls it "Brina's school", Stevie has felt at home there since last year (I can still hear the echoes of his screams as I ripped him out of there every morning at drop off). He jumped right in to the toys. In fact, Kev and I had to hunt down both kids down to get good-bye kisses before leaving... they barely acknowledged me.

The first week and a half have been great. No accidents (knock on wood), no tears, no problems. Every day Stevie asks special if he can go back to school tomorrow. We have of course exploited that into a useful threat to get both kids to eat their dinners or go to bed.

We've gotten some fun stuff home already:

And as for me... I was a little worried about my role once the kids were in school. I did have a part-time job lined up at GW that would've fit perfectly, but it fell through last minute because of funding problems. I'm still struggling with the idea of working full-time. The school can accommodate the kids up until 6 p.m., so it's a possibility in the future but would mean a really long day for them.

Right now, both of my web clients are really busy, so I've been putting in a very respectable number of hours with a steady stream on the horizon. I'm hoping to take on more one-off jobs to compliment my current workload. I've also started tackling that list of cleaning/organizing projects that I've been putting off for oh, about five years now. AND I still get to play with the kids all afternoon. Life's pretty good right now.

There's only been one oddity of the new school schedule. Sabrina (and then Stevie)now insist that Kev wake them up in the mornings. I think it's a camaraderie thing since the three of them are getting ready for "work" together. Kev rather enjoys the extra time with the kids in the mornings, but neither of us like the screams of "DAAAAAAADDDDYYYYY! I'M AWAAAAAAAAAAKE! COME WAKE ME UUUUUP!" at 6 a.m.

It's a good thing they're cute.

Grandma Thursday!

2011-08-25T22:49:00.000-04:00

My mom took today off of work to come and play. Sabrina and Stevie have been so much easier to take out lately, that we decided to brave a trip into D.C. to the Natural History Museum.

Sabrina and Stephen pose with the elephant in the rotunda

It was a good time to go. District schools started on Monday (as well as PG County and a bunch of others), it was too early in the year for school field trips and too late in the year for most tourists. We enjoyed a lot of space when we first arrived (shortly after opening) and the place was crowded when we left at lunch time, but not the crush of bodies that can clog the place.

We tried to hit as much as we could in the hour and a half we were there. Elephant in rotunda, giant squid, sea creatures, mammals, gems, dinosaurs, fossils, bugs. In the future we could probably choose just one area to spend the day in...the most stressful part of the trip was trying to herd the kids from one exhibit to the next.

(We were all too busy ogling to take pictures of the dinos and mammals and gems...)

The one thing we did not do was pay for the butterfly exhibit. It's expensive and people haven't been that impressed by it (AND I found out later that it's free on Tuesdays!). Of course this was the one thing Sabrina latched onto (huge butterfly signs in the rotunda). We walked by the outside of the butterfly house and looked in through a tiny window before moving on to the gems. She declared it was her FAVORITE part of the day.

Stevie's little legs were about to fall off by the end, but both kids were absolute troopers. When we were finished we met Kev for lunch! It was pouring rain, so Kev ran to bring the car around to us. Sabrina and Stevie's second favorite part of the day? popping out from under the awning and getting soaked. Of course.

My mom stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon. She and the kids had a raucous-sy good time in the basement and I was able to sort the kids' old clothes (an impossible task when they are trying to "help").

This was a lot of fun and, even though the kids start school soon, I'm not opposed to taking them out for the day for another Grandma Thursday--I think the Air and Space Museum is next on our list!

Solomon's Island (Drive Mommy, Drive!)

2011-08-17T18:00:00.004-04:00

My friends Danielle and Anna and I ditched our husbands to their work and took all our kids (we each have two) to the Naval Rec Center at Solomon's Island.

They each have military connections and I was able to go as a civilian guest. The three-bedroom cottage was no-frills, but it was roomy and had a full kitchen, dining room, living room, porch and grill. We all brought groceries and other home comforts/necessities and settled in from Sunday to Wednesday. It was perfect!

Although the drive's supposed to take about an hour and a half, going against traffic (and maybe bending a few speeding laws) got us there in about an hour ten. I got the proper paper to get through the gate and had a stern-looking early 20's MP call me ma'am. I could feel the difference as soon as I drove on. I was on a base again. I grew up on military bases and it kind of felt like coming home. It's hard to describe... things like painting over old fixtures instead of removing them, the lettering on the signs, letting the kids run in and out of the house without worrying... just everything.

Our "cottage"

After dinner we all went for a walk along the beach. The children soon interpreted this as swimming in their clothes. It was all fun and games until Sabrina scooted herself a little too far out and couldn't get her feet under her. I hurried into the water and got her safely closer to shore...completely forgetting that my iPhone was in my pocket. It was dead and I was grateful that Kev had insisted we get the protection plan...but that still left me without for the next three days. Eek.

The weather was a bit iffy and would vacillate between sunny and hot and thunderstorms. Monday morning we hung out at the playground as the clouds threatened, but then were able to venture to the beach in the afternoon...until nearby lightning caused the beach to be closed. Yeah, you try telling six children that they have to leave after only an hour... at least everyone was getting kicked off so we were able to push them along with the crowd.

We didn't have a hose, so everyone got dumped into the tub!

Arts and crafts, dvds and floor puzzles (and extended wild games of whatever) kept the kids active and happy even though we were inside.

By Tuesday morning, all the children were starting to fray a bit from too much togetherness, so I took Sabrina and Stevie off on an "adventure". It really was an adventure because, without my phone, I didn't have any idea of where we were going. We bought a map at a gas station and headed south over the Solomon's bridge (they were excited to go over and I was too until I realized that I was the one driving. It was cool, but VERY high up).

We followed the signs to St. Mary's City, a living history town ala Williamsburg. Unfortunately it was closed Mondays and Tuesdays so we wandered about looking at the old buildings and counting benches and signs.

"Watch, Mommy! My shadow can fly! *flap*flap*flap*"

My brother-in-law works at the Naval base down there, but without a cell phone I couldn't call to see if he could meet us for lunch. Frustrating. Instead we stopped at the Naval Air Museum just outside the gate. It was...stupid. There was what looked to be a lot of interesting stuff, but it was so poorly layed out and labeled that it was hard to tell. I'm sure enthusiasts would love it and there were some neat models but ultimately we had the most fun in the gift shop.

We regrouped with everyone in the afternoon for a trip to the Calvert Maritime Museum. AMAZING. They have put so much work into making it interesting for casual and experienced visitors and have an incredible children's section with lots of hands-on activities. Oh, and there's otters and fossils and a light-house. They literally had to kick us out of there when it closed.

We almost didn't get them IN the museum, they were having so much fun playing with the mermaid/pirate boards!

After packing up Wednesday morning, the kids and I again set off on an adventure and used the Force (and lots of well placed signs) to find the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. It wasn't open when we got there, so we wandered around the out buildings. They also had an amazing children's section with dress-up, fossils and bones, colonial toys, coloring and puzzles. Sabrina and Stevie were so intent on their play I actually got to chat with the curator for a good 20 minutes!

We had a tremendous time, but after four days we were all glad to be home. Other than a few minor hiccups, both kids were just fantastic. I love that they are finally at an age where we can go out and have adventures together and have fun. Each age is the best age yet. We even made up a special adventure song:

We're going on an adventure,
We're going out we three,
We're going on an adventure,
Just you and you and me.

We're going on an adventure,
We're going for a ride,
We're going on an adventure,
To see the countryside.

Chorus

Drive Mommy, drive,
Drive Mommy, drive,
Drive Mommy, drive,
Drive Mommy, drive.

Southern Maryland is a bit out of the way, but I was really impressed with how easy it was to travel to and how many fun activities there were for kids. Definitely worth a day or weekend trip in the future when Kev can join us.

Jumpy

2011-06-25T07:46:00.001-04:00

He's a kangaroo, of course.

Alberts West II: Things to do in Denver when you're under 5

2011-06-22T18:36:00.002-04:00

The rest of our time in Colorado was spent with family.

We saw lots of people at the morning-after breakfast, had lunch with my mom and dad, sisters and brother's in-law at a great retro place (best kids plate ever! PB&J served on a metal lunch tray with different sections for fries, veggies and dip, fruit and milk), and escaped the kids for a grown-up cousins dinner. I wish we could do this more often. It's just the best thing in the world to be related to people you genuinely LIKE.

We also had several fun adventures with the kids. Despite being the middle of June, it was cold and even snowy up in the mountains. And while they were putting up with a LOT, a two hour drive up to Leadville (my grandfather's childhood home) would not have worked...gives us something to do next time when they're older.

Instead we found an awesome playground in Boulder. It had an enormous piece shaped like a rocket. To get to the top, kids had to climb up four levels. I never would have guessed it, but Sabrina conquered it! She was much shakier getting down, but still did it all by herself. Stevie was fascinated, but listened to our advice (or his gut) and stayed out of the upper levels.

Hellooooo up there!

Atop Mt. Stevie

We also visited the Children's Museum of Denver. Definitely worth it if you're ever in the area!! The downstairs "forest" area was perfect for babies through pre-schoolers. Upstairs the activities ran for slightly older kids, but still with more than enough to keep Sabrina and Stevie running around like crazy! Dress-up, puppet theater, toy trains, mini supermarket, bubble room, nature room...oh, and there was a full-sized fire engine. Dude.

Right next to the fire engine. I wonder how many false alarms they've had?

Stevie spent nearly ten minutes intently working on this gauge

We entertained Kev and my parents with a FABULOUS, if nonsensical, puppet show

Dancy-dancy-dance!

We had to trick Stevie to get him to leave the hat. One of his favorite areas

Down the rabbit hole

Our little squirrels (these costumes were in high demand, other kids were getting stuck with earthworm costumes)

If I wasn't worried they'd just buy cheese sticks and cookies, I'd let them do the shopping (incidently also why I don't let Kev do the shopping)

Dry ice and soapy water

Pop the bubble, get a cloud!

Grandma Sebald may have finally gotten a scientist in the family!

Sabrina's *inside* a giant bubble

We were really sad to say good-bye to Colorado. We could've easily stayed a few more days, but we are looking forward to our next chance to visit. Now that we know the kids can handle it, it hopefully won't be too far away.

Alberts West!

2011-06-21T20:21:00.004-04:00

My cousin Kelly got married in Colorado in June. After Kev and I traveled to her sister Tracy's wedding in Cancun last August sans children, we decided to make this a family vacation. Yep, flying with two kids.

Stevie's never been on a plane and Sabrina's only flight was when she was 18 months old and we flew to visit Uncle Brett and Aunt Lisa in California. Although the visit was fun, the travel was excruciating.

Happily, this was a completely different experience. The kids are old enough to understand what was going on and to get excited about the flight. We booked a hotel suite in Boulder near the wedding and center of town. We over-prepared with small toys/coloring/games but kept our schedule as free-form as possible (you know, except for the wedding). With only one epic melt-down from each kid (luckily at separate times) the trip was easy and enjoyable.

The Flights

We were able to fly with the very last of Kev's points. No longer Special Super Premiere Elite Platinum status, he now has to mingle with the rest of us unwashed masses... makes him sad every time. We had two flights each way with a set of three seats then one right across the aisle. Kev and I each took center seat "kid duty" for one leg, then had a bit of a break. The flights were short enough that we were moving again right as the kids started getting restless.

Memorable quote of the flight

Stevie, 30 minutes into the first flight: "Daddy, I want to go home. I want to go down-stairs"

Friday

We arrived in Denver mid-afternoon, drove to Boulder, checked in, ate, then threw the kids into bed. We've established that getting a suite is a MUST. Kev and I watched Source Code on PPV. Not worth it.

Saturday

In the morning we went Boulder's farmer's market--it absolutely dwarfed what we're used to in Cheverly. There was organic everything, of course, and two types of trash: "Recycle" and "Compost" (we also passed by a rather large medical marijuana distributor on the way). Everything looked and smelled amazing... even the hippies.

There was a guy making the most elaborate balloon animals/creations. H used multiple balloons, scissors, markers and all of his movements were lightning fast. It was impressive. Sabrina asked for a flower and Stevie wanted a bear.

While we were waiting for the sandwich place to open for lunch, we found this fun fountain. The kids were delighted.

I left two (mostly) dry kids with Kev when I went to a stand to get some area brochures. I came back to find:

We ended up attracting quite a crowd and sucked a number of other kids into the merriment (probably to their parents' dismay). It was only the promise of food that finally lured the kids away.

The Wedding

The ceremony took place in an amphitheater up the mountain overlooking Boulder. Gorgeous does not begin to describe it. I am a city girl and an East Coast girl and I can totally understand why people fall in love with Colorado (except the snow...).

We could literally see our hotel from up there (and everything else). Sabrina and Stevie were excited to wear fancy clothes and felt very grown-up that they were invited to a real wedding ("Just like the PRINCESS!" ~Sabrina). It was beautiful.

The Reception

Ryan (the groom) has a big family with a lot of kids and they did a great job of planning a family-friendly party. There was a playground right outside the reception area. Stevie was delighted to find a FIRE TRUCK to play on (we're very into Fireman Sam this week). My Aunt Jackie also surprised us with a box of fun toys and activities perfect to entertain for the party and the next few days of the visit.

Stevie met the girl of his dreams. She was hunting bugs. She let him help her out by smooshing them with a stick after she identified them. True love.

As Tracy and Edgar are to salsa, Kelly and Ryan are to swing. So cool.

Yes, those are the shoes they wore for their wedding!

Sabrina dragged Kev out to the dance floor to give it a try.

Later, all of the children created an elaborate game of hide under all of the tables.

The cake was a BIG hit. Sugar high, then crash.

All four of us had the best time with our Colorado relatives and having my mom and dad, sisters, brothers-in-law, and nephew there made it a very special family occasion. We are very very lucky.

Editorial note.

2011-06-19T20:16:00.005-04:00

Um, hi there. We're not dead.

Quick editorial note, then onto the posts. I officially started my own business this summer and have been doing web development for a number of clients. Still very part-time, but I am loving it. Anyway, even with the kids at the sitter more often I've always got a loooong to-do list and the blog just kinda fell to the bottom. Sorry about that!

I'm typing this on August 1st, but am going to back-date the entries to their occurrences.

We've got lots to catch up on, though, so let's get started!

Fun and Games

2011-06-18T07:53:00.000-04:00

A miscellaneous collection of Sabrina and Stevie at play (or just being strange) from the past few months.

Steve the Builder. He slept with this tool belt on for a week!

"Mommy! Look, I tucked myself in!"

Stevie makes his own bed. The empty "bed" with the lamb doll is for me because I told him I was tired.

It's a toss-up as to who wore who out.

PIGTAILS!

Little savages at the park.

The princess and the fireman

Sabrina is near tears during a sad/scary part of the Care Bears movie

Stevie sat still to get his face painted!

Sabrina did too!!!

Trouble with a CAPITAL "T"

Making royal crowns

Some moments just make it all worth it

"Mommy! Look, I'm a turtle!"

"The baby llama used to say 'maaaah' but now she's grown up into a big-kid llama so she says 'hi, Sabrina, I love you'. Now we can watch tv together."

"Mommy! Look, I made a snowman!"

There is no such thing as a quiet nap on the couch in our house.

The Graduates

2011-06-15T07:04:00.001-04:00

Sadly, Sabrina and Stevie's school years have come to an end. I was never a proponant of year-round school until I became a parent...

Each of the nursery schools ended with a special ceremony.

Sabrina's class gave a recital at the church with maybe a dozen new songs (and accompanying hand-movements) learned since the Christmas concert. My parents came along and Kevin moved heavan and earth and was able to get out of work early to be there too (Sabrina was SUPER excited to have Daddy there)!

The amount of new information children can absorb is always impressive, but it was Sabrina's attitude that was most astonishing. At the winter concert she looked like a deer in headlights. She knew all the songs, but seemed content to listen to the others. This time she was a star--bright and engaged and having so much FUN. It was a kick to watch.

Back at the house, Stevie teaches Grandpa Sebald how to use an iPhone!

Stevie's graduation celebration was an outing to Watkin's park on what ended up being an unbearably hot day. We started with an hour on the playground before a special visit to the nature center where the children got to see lots of local animals (mostly of the reptilian variety). Sabrina was totally into it and even touched the snake. Stevie's initial interest waned and by the time they were handing out the certificates to the kids, he was trying to escape back to the playground. For her part, Sabrina thought this was just another celebration for her (since she had been in this class the year before) and happily collected Stevie's certificate for him. She then did the official presentation to Stevie.

Step in Time

2011-05-18T23:01:00.004-04:00

Every five years, Cheverly Day is celebrated with a parade. Pretty much every community group (and a random collection of other local groups) put together floats, routines, or songs and march along the main Avenue. As one friend noted, where else can you see pre-schoolers singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", trained dogs doing tricks, and a gay marching band playing Lady Gaga? Welcome to Cheverly!

Sabrina and Stevie's nursery schools were the pre-school singers. Of course if young children are marching in a parade, that means their parents get to march with them. It started as a rainy day, but everyone had lots of fun. The classes had made "noise makers" (as if 2-5 year olds really need help in that arena) and Pete the pony was there to march with us.

After the parade, we met up with our friend Sharon (and her dog Eddie), bought some food from a vendor (and played with Eddie), ate outside (and played with Eddie), and eventually dragged our weary kids home for a nap.

Presenting the noise makers!

That night Sabrina got a special treat - her very first fireworks display! She'd been super good and had napped hard, so Kev took her along to watch the Cheverly Day fireworks with Sharon and Scott. To say she was thrilled would be a huge understatement!!

We were a little worried about the aftermath of the fireworks, particularly the excited babbling at breakfast the next morning in front of a brother who did NOT get to go. In the surprisingly logical manner kids have sometimes, Stevie decided that he was too little this year and that maybe next year he would be big enough. Avoided a fight and gave me something to use to pressure him to eat his vegetables for a while!

Because Trucks Need Love Too

2011-05-11T14:33:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year when the kids' nursery schools hold their biggest fundraiser-- TRUCK TOUCH! Why is it so great, you ask? I submit the following into evidence:

Must get to Truck Touch.Right.Now!

They don't have to be trucks to be awesome.

Greatest toy ever (we had to pry her off).

Stevie had a bit more trouble with the mechanics, but was thrilled with his ride.

Because at this age, school buses are fun.

Safety first!

Stevie was in HEAVEN!!

Who doesn't want to live in a digger truck?

Sabrina was convinced that she was really driving.

The refrigerator truck remains a fan favorite year after year.

My dad and Stevie had a lot of fun exploring together.

The police car was a bust (cranky officer who would let the kids touch anything), but the firetruck more than made up for it.

The Pepco truck was FULL of wires. Dangerous AND fun.

This was hands-down the most popular truck there.

Taking a break in the shad with my mom.

Dress like a fireman, paint on flames, hose off. So simple yet genius! Both kids loved it.

Pure JOY!

The weather was perfect and there were crowds all day. We visited nearly every vehicle in the lot, played games (with prizes!) and ate lunch on the grass before getting balloons and dragging ourselves home for a long nap.

The fundraiser brought in a profit of around $5,000, which is HUGE for such a small school. It's really one of the coolest days of the year and I'd highly recommended it for anyone with toddler to elementary age children in the area.

Fairy Tale Wedding

2011-05-01T13:18:00.001-04:00

Shhh. Don't tell anyone, but someone in our house was really excited about the royal wedding. Yep, it was me! And I figured Sabrina would probably get a kick out of it too.

Not willing to get up any earlier than I have to, I recorded the wedding and invited some friends over after school for a tea party. I made cucumber sandwiches, got beads, rings, crowns and gloves for the kids (gotta love Target's dollar bins!), and my British friend Anna brought fairy cakes and her kettle to make us all a proper cup of tea. The thrift store supplied little tea cups and a princess tea pot for apple juice. Kev dubbed it "British Friday".

There was ultimately very little watching of the wedding itself, but no one really cared (least of all me). It was a 'magical' afternoon none-the-less.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

2011-04-30T20:51:00.001-04:00

It's the best day of the year: Egg dying and lots and lots and lots of potato pancakes. What used to be a Good Friday tradition has moved to Saturday in recent years to accommodate schedules but that makes it no less awesome.

This year Stevie was old enough to participate in the egg dying. He was hysterical and loved the whole thing. Sabrina took to it like an old pro and was more interested in ultimately eating the hard boiled eggs than decorating them (that's my girl!)

Robert will be in the thick of things next year, but for now he was willing to hang and look cool.

I love seeing everyone in my family, but Easter Sunday at my grandmother's house is one of my favorites. There's so much less pressure than with Christmas and we get to be outside and running around. The egg hunt was a raucously good time.

Stevie's strategy was methodically walking the back-yard in a grid.

Sabrina's strategy was a bit more unfocused (note the torso and legs going two different ways)!

Rowan, Stevie, Sabrina & Jamie (next year to include Robert and maybe Emelia!)

We were finally able to meet my cousin Lauren's daughter Emelia (she was born early, so we kept our pre-school germs away). She is darling! And our nephew, Robert, is always a delight to play with.

It's not a major gift-giving holiday, but everyone gives small presents to the kids. The most ~~obnoxious~~ loved toys of the day were the plastic recorders. On the plus side, there were two, so the arguing was quickly resolved. On the negative side, there were two and the noise was deafening (I "disappeared" them within two days).

aaaaannnnddd...fight!

Happy Easter!

A Night Different from All Other Nights

2011-04-22T07:08:00.005-04:00

Kev's extended family gathers together twice a year: at Thanksgiving and at Passover. It is always a grand occasion with lots of people and food and tables and chairs and noise and love. It's a great family to be a part of.

This year was different from Passovers past because Aunt Bobbie handed the hostess mantle to her daughter-in-law Hilary. Practically speaking, this moved the celebration from right near Philly to right near New York. But other than the change of venue, everything stayed remarkably the same--same books, same Afikoman cover, same fun.

One new addition: the ten plagues in finger-puppet form!

You cannot beat Matzoh ball soup at Passover!

Love of ~~music~~ noise or love of other kid's toys? Stevie tried out every instrument in the playroom.

Sabrina searches low for the Afikoman as Melanie cheers her on.

Passover started on a Monday night this year. Kev's work is exploding (in a good way--it's always positive when a start-up has lots of business), but he was able to get Monday and Tuesday off. We didn't relish the idea of a five-hour car ride each way, so we broke up the trip with a stop at Kev's parents house on Sunday. Kev's parents, however, were in CT visiting Ross, Betsy, Lila and Henry. This caused a bit of confusion for the Stevie who kept trying to find his grandparents in the empty house.

Monday we drove up to Short Hills, NJ and checked into a hotel before the Seder. We got a suite (sweet!) and let the kids spend some time exploring (read: jumping on the beds and opening EVERY drawer in the two rooms) so that it would lose its novelty. This was their first real stay in a hotel and they were beyond excited.

They were terrific during the Seder and dinner and handled being up late really well. They crashed almost immediately when we got back to the room and mostly slept through the night. Kev and I got to relax and watch TV in the sitting area before we went to bed. Success!

On Tuesday we drove back to Kev's parents' house with a quick stop to see great-grandma Nela. It's been a while since the kids have been to see her. Nela doesn't remember who they are, but she recognizes them from the pictures in her room. The kids love seeing themselves in all of the pictures in her room and had a great time playing and exploring her room/the halls/the lobby/the dining area. It was a good visit.

After a nap (for Kev and me) and dinner for all, we were on our way back home. Happy Passover everyone!

All Aboard!

2011-04-13T13:50:00.001-04:00

I love historic Ellicott City. It's a small town revitalized by tons of antique shops and quirky stores and restaurants. A great place to just putter around for a Sunday afternoon ... if you don't have kids. Needless to say, I hadn't been there since before Sabrina was born.

This past weekend was so beautiful we decided to snag my parents for a short family visit to Ellicott City. Last year's field trip to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore was such a hit we decided to try out the smaller off-shoot they run in Ellicott City (in America's first train station).

This museum was much smaller...not quite as awe-inspiring as the giant roundhouse in Baltimore, but pretty cool none-the-less.

It was a contest to see who was more excited and pointed out more things, Stevie or my dad

The kids fell in love with the miniature train-scape of the train routes (not pictured b/c it was dark in the room and my pictures didn't turn out). One of the docents told me that the very BEST time to bring kids is between November and January when the (kid-boring) waiting rooms and station master's office are all filled with elaborate train displays.

I could have been a train director!

They also LOVED climbing all over the caboose!!

And they did! They climb all over everything at home too.

We saw the sign around ring 15...

The kids were doing so well when we left the museum that we decided to do some window shopping and have cookies & coffee.

"Look! The Mad Hatter!!" Sabrina was delighted.

Where there are princesses, there is Sabrina

Yum! (not pictured, my GIGANTIC mocha cappuccino)

Can We Build It?

2011-03-29T15:11:00.005-04:00

YES WE CAN!

Last weekend was SO beautiful, we were looking forward to Kev's parents coming in to visit. We were planning to join the crowds for an afternoon of looking at the cherry blossoms, but the weather turned cool and rainy. We agreed an indoor activity was needed.

The National Building Museum has been highly recommended by other moms in the neighborhood and has long been on our list of places to visit. They have a special "Building Zone" area just for kids 2-6. It has a little house, blocks, books, dolls and dress-up. It wasn't a huge space, but it kept the kids (and Pop-pop) entertained for more than thirty minutes. Perfect.

Why am I building this by myself?

This doorbell does NOT work!

The museum also had a Lego exhibit. The sculptures on display were impressive...

My dad took us to see Fallingwater when I was in high school. It may have been an architectural accomplishment, but it was a damp, cramped, lousy house. I decided then and there that I would never hire a brilliant but self-absorbed architect. You can be assured that I have kept that promise to myself.

The exhibit also had a massive "construction" area where we spent most of our time. I can't remember the last time I sat and played with little Legos. It was fun, but nothing I made was close to structurally sound...probably why I'm not the engineer in the family!

The weather was pretty mild by the time we left the museum, but at that point we were headed to dinner. The kids behaved beautifully all day. They were happy and engaged, ate their dinners (mostly) and avoided meltdowns. It's definitely getting easier to take them out and about as they are getting older. I find it hard not to miss parts of the baby/toddler stages, but the freedom of older kids is awesome.

It was a great day and in the end we even managed to glimpse some of the cherry blossoms as we left the city.

First Day of Spring

2011-03-21T17:18:00.005-04:00

I didn't realize how much time we had come to spend outside until about half-way through the winter. The kids were grouchy, combative and disobedient and I was just frustrated. Then we had one randomly mild day when most of the neighborhood was out at the playground. It was a huge sigh of relief for all of us and I realized that fresh air was what we'd been missing.

After that, we'd bundle up and try and spend more time outside, but little fingers turn blue quickly. Now the weather is getting warmer and being outside will once again be the rule instead of the exception--

IT'S SPRING!!

We've been out at the playground and at the arboretum. The camera's back out and here are recent outside pictures.

That's What She Said

2011-03-03T07:16:00.005-05:00

Backseat Driver

"Mommy!! That was a stop sign and you didn't STOP!"

"I saw it. I stopped."

"No you didn't. No. You slowed down but you didn't stop."

"Okay, fine, you're right." I come to a complete stop at the next stop sign.

"Oh thank you, Mommy. Thank you for trying again. Good job!"

Open & Shut

We play a game where Sabrina stands in a doorway with her arms out and pretends to be a door. Stevie and I have to knock or ring an imaginary doorbell to have her open. I'm trying to learn Spanish along with the kids so we also shout open & closed in Spanish (thank you Sesame Street!) because although the kids can easily remember new words, their mother needs the repetition...

*knock knock*

"Abierto, por favor."

She opens.

"Gracias" I say as I walk through.

"De Nada," She says as she shuts.

"Cerrado!" I yell.

*knock knock*

"Abierto, por favor."

"You need a key, Mommy. A circle key."

"Oh, I don't know how to say 'circle' in Spanish."

"Circulo," Sabrina informs me.

"Oh, that sounds right. 'Circulo.' Do you know 'triangle'?"

"Triangulo."

"Wow, I didn't know that. What's 'square'?"

"You know."

"No I don't. What's 'square'?"

"Mommy, STOP it."

I don't know if she walked away because she didn't know the answer or because she thought I was playing dumb to mock her.

I looked it up later. Square in Spanish is "quadrado". Pretty sure she knew that.

Just Like You

"Mommy, when I grow up I'm going to have dark hair and earrings and glasses. Then I'll be grown-up just like you."

Big-Boy Bed

2011-02-15T16:39:00.003-05:00

Stevie's big-boy bed was delivered and assembled on Friday. We officially have the happiest kid in the world!

Stevie's room is pretty small, so the bed takes up 50% of the floor area, but since it's a bed, dresser, and desk in one it makes good use of the space.

Stephen helped pick out his sports-themed bedding (as usual, very stereotypically boy). He and Kev got home from playgroup just as the furniture guys were packing up.

"Men built my bed. Three men. Three men built my big-boy bed."
~Stevie

Stevie could not WAIT to get up on his new bed...

Or play on the steps, or explore the space between the bed and the wall, or see how far he could get under his bed from his desk.

The only thing that seemed to bother him was that all of the drawers were empty. He scampered out of the room, located two toy planes (they've been missing for months--I don't know where he found them) and put them in a drawer. After closing the drawer he let out a satisfied little sigh, "There!"

Sabrina was also thrilled when she got home from school. She loves this bed and now finds any reason she can to be in Stevie's room. The two were happily playing together on the first day, so Kev and I walked to another room. Shortly after we heard Sabrina explain to Stevie: "Stevie, we can trade. This is MY bed now. You can have my other bed. We're trading!" I kinda sorta think that Sabrina was trying to be nice-ish. Stevie freaked out. We hurried back in and have spent the rest of the weekend reassuring Stevie that Sabrina cannot commandeer his bed. I don't think he quite believes us (power of the older sister I guess).

Stevie lights up every time you ask him about his bed but is sure to correct you if you only refer to it as a bed.

"No, not 'bed.' BIG-BOY bed!"
~Stevie

For my part, I shed a few tears as we brought the crib out for bulk pick-up. It's served us well over the past four years and permanently bears the scars of Sabrina's brand-new teeth and the cracks and dings of Stevie-the-Destroyer. It's the end of the era of babies in our house and that's made me melancholy in a way I wasn't expecting. Luckily our siblings and friends continue to have babies for us to play with.

Each age is the best age yet and Stevie is really awesome right now. He's talking/asking a million questions and making up his own jokes (he has as strange a sense of humor as his sister) and doing art projects and running with the gang of boys at the playground and going to school... Stephen is an amazing kid, but he'll always be my baby.

Ramblings

2011-02-03T14:20:00.006-05:00

I have two sick kids today (Sabrina's on the mend and Stevie's on the decline). I hate seeing them miserable, but it is peaceful when they don't have enough energy to fight. Movie time it is!

Some random happenings and thoughts I've been saving up. I'm sure I'll remember more later (starting to feel under the weather myself--awesome.)

------

Albert Family Lexicon

"Up me!" -- Stevie wants to be picked up
binocu-ears -- Sabrina's pronunciation of "binoculars"
teddy bank -- No matter what shape it is, Stevie insists that piggy bank couldn't possibly be right
baby-back ride -- This one's Sabrina's. Seems to make sense to me.
night desk -- Sabrina's term for her nightstand. Again, kinda makes sense.
Rock-a-Baby -- Stevie's name for the song Rockabye Baby

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Big Boy Bed Update

Stevie's bed is ordered and will (weather permitting) be delivered & assembled next Friday! This is what we went with: http://www.bergfurniture.com/22_915.asp. Stevie's room is pretty small and we also had to contend with having to leave an air vent unblocked. This bed crams together everything expect a cappuccino maker (which is fine because our son does NOT need extra energy).

We visited a furniture store that had this an a bunch of the other models in stock. Stevie zipped on up the stairs and was doing his best to unmake the bed so he could take a nap. We didn't expect him to be timid, but it was reassuring to see his ease.

When we got home, Stevie raced up the stairs to his bedroom. There was quiet for a few seconds then he came running back into the hall repeating "Where's bed? Where's my bed? Where's big boy bed?" He had been confident that it would be ready and waiting for him when we got back. Now he's content knowing that there are people working 'round the clock to build a special bed just for him. It's exciting.

...and yes, we realize there is a good possibility that this will be used as a jungle gym...Stevie can turn anything into a jungle gym, though, so...

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Sabrina's Carnival

Sabrina often lives in her head where her toys have elaborately constructed lives and motivations. She's getting old enough to explain her creations. She spent a good 20 minutes creating this carnival scene:

The orange stand "makes" oranges. The ice cream cone makes ice cream. The snack cup then sells oranges and ice cream. Only oranges and ice cream.
A bear-shaped trampoline that's VERY bouncy.
A buzzy-bee flying ride where people get on the buzzy-bee and it flies them all around.
Hot chocolate seller.
Leo conducts the entire carnival. That means everyone.
The Ferris wheel. Every carnival has to have a Ferris wheel.
...um, that's a giant bunny. See mommy? You can see it's a giant bunny, right?

There was much, much more. If I asked right now, she would remember and tell me every detail (her recall is scary sometimes) but I can't sit through the 30 minute non-stop explanation again. :)

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Gender Roles

Stevie continues to be fascinated with everything stereotypically boy. Trucks, space, bugs, pirates, dinosaurs...he even started demanding Spiderman after seeing a random picture. Of course he'll still fight Sabrina over who gets the purple plate for dinner...

For her part, Sabrina is ever the GIRL. She hates loud noises and monsters, has no interest in any of Stevie's "likes" listed above, and instantly loves anything princess, fairy, pink, or glitter. She often plays a damsel in distress, alternatively running from Stevie the "monster" or begging Stevie the "prince" to save her. I keep telling her that she has to learn to save herself.

Yup... these are our kids.

Escape Artist

2011-01-19T19:28:00.008-05:00

Stevie escaped from his crib today. Honestly, I'm a little surprised it hasn't happened before this.

I was (attempting) to settle Sabrina in her room for rest time, when I hear a loud knocking from the hallway. Yep, it was Stevie. SO PROUD of himself. I put him back in. Five minutes later: knocking again. Yikes. Funny thing is, Sabrina never once contemplated the possibility of escaping. She's probably still be happily sleeping in the crib if we hadn't needed it for Stevie.

Kev's parents gifted Stevie with bedroom furniture for his second birthday..all we had to do was pick out what we wanted. Maybe there are some things that I shouldn't procrastinate on (sigh). The order will go in first thing tomorrow!

BBOC (Big Boy on Campus)

2011-01-07T10:22:00.003-05:00

Last week, Stevie took his first steps into the world of formal education...he started pre-school. He's going to the same four-hour program that Sabrina went to last year, only he's starting at one day a week.

He and I went in Tuesday for a trial run where Stevie participated in open play. I sat in the corner for about 10 minutes, then kissed him good-bye, then sat in the nap room for the rest of the hour (just in case he freaked out). No problems at all, though he was a bit overwhelmed by the time we left.

Last year, Kev brought Sabrina to her first day at school while I stayed behind with Stevie. It was special for them, but I've regretted not going. On Thursday, the whole family was there to accompany Stephen to his first full day. (Sabrina had been sick the day before, so was still home from school and I wasn't feeling well, so Kev stayed home to help me out.)

Stevie was SO excited. Sabrina's school now starts at 8:15, so he was climbing the walls waiting for his 10 a.m. start. I had his packed book bag on the kitchen counter. He found it and put it on a full hour before we had to leave. He resisted ALL suggestion that he could take it off. "It's MY backpack. STEVIE'S backpack!"

Sabrina was excited guiding Stevie (though he knows the way as well as she). Sabrina was also excited to see her old stomping ground and "boyfriend" Finn, though she turned super-shy when the teachers tried to talk with her.

Once inside the classroom, Stevie was cautious but not scared. He wandered around the room taking everything in. He'd play with a toy for a minute, then move on. This is in stark contrast to his normal behavior when we drop Sabrina off (i.e. diving in to some activity and hoping that the teachers and I don't notice that he's not supposed to be staying). He's a lot more confident when his big sister's around.

There were no tears when we left (well I blinked a few back) and no calls over the four hours. At the end of the day, Mrs. Harder reported that Stevie was quiet but engaged, followed directions, and was eager to learn. It was a lot to take in and Stevie not only rested during nap time, he was still dead asleep when Kev picked him up!

Stevie CANNOT WAIT until next week!

Riding the Rails with Grandmom and Pop-Pop

2011-01-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

Kev's parents came New Years day for weekend visit. After the craziness of the holidays, it was nice to keep things low-key.

Our one adventure on Saturday was taking the Metro into Chinatown to go to dinner at the District Chop House. The kids, of course, LOVED the train.

The adults LOVED the food (it's been a long time since we've been there). Sabrina and Stephen were really good. We were obviously seated in the "family section" but that eased the pressure on everyone (specifically because the people seated behind us were having MAJOR trouble with their kid). Other than being picky eaters, our kids behaved themselves very well. It was a good night.

Sunday afternoon we went up to Columbia mall. Kev and I got some kid-free time. Grandmom and Pop-pop were named MVP of the day after taking Sabrina and Stevie on multiple carousel rides. It was a good weekend.

'Tis the Season

2010-12-26T18:15:00.001-05:00

This holiday season has been so much fun. Sabrina's ability to understand the meaning of both Hanukkah and Christmas has added so much to our celebrations. And because Sabrina is on board with the celebrations, Stevie is in too.

Kev's also along for the ride. He always puts up our outside lights and does a fantastic job of it. Best Jewish Christmas-light putter-upper in the state!

The kids were big admirers of daddy's work

Sabrina's "non-denominational" pre-school put on a spectacular Christmas concert. The kids sang more than a dozen songs, played instrumental accompaniments, and all stayed where they were supposed to be. It was quite a feat! In a complete departure from her normal personality, Sabrina seemed quiet and demure through most of the performance.

Sadly, the concert was held the night of Kev's company's holiday party which he was required to attend. My parents, though, were able to make it, which allowed me to take pictures and helped me keep tabs on both kids before and after. Stevie was amazed to see his sister up on stage. He spent most of the time in my mom's arms, waving to Sabrina. Sabrina was delighted when she spotted us and even gave a couple of waves in return!

As a special surprise, Santa Clause made an appearance during the after-party.

Christmas Eve was spent first at my parents' house, then at my grandmothers'. It was a lot of fun and the kids handled the craziness + extra sugar pretty well. The last few weeks have been hard as the excitement of Christmas has mounted. I always swore I wouldn't be one of those parents who threatened their kids with Santa not coming...that was silly of me!

Christmas morning was an absolute rush. Sabrina and Stevie were thrilled that Santa had actually come. It made us smile. My parents came over for breakfast and weren't at all offended when we all headed for naps shortly after the meal and play-time.

It was an exhausting month, but a joyous one. Merry Christmas, every one!

Fantastic Four

2010-12-10T20:23:00.001-05:00

It's crazy that we have a four year old, that we've been parents for four years, that I've been home from work that long. But really, this birthday was all about Sabrina.

For the last three years, Sabrina's birthdays have felt like victories for Kev and me. We made it! We'd all survived! This year felt different. Her growth and accomplishments are her own in a different and awesome way.

Sabrina's flourishing in school. Still goofy around the edges--which can be good and bad depending of the situation--but her teachers find her bright and happy. She talks nearly non-stop (she's never met a run-on sentence that she didn't like, especially at bed-time).

Sabrina is ~~obsessed~~ enchanted with princesses, fairies, and most recently, Strawberry Shortcake. Her thoughts and games are so much more sophisticated this year. Instead of just parroting something she's seen, she incorporates pieces of lots of different inputs with a good helping of her own imagination. If only we could bottle a pre-schooler's creativity!

Of course, Sabrina has her difficult periods (hours/days/weeks?) filled with whining, selfishness, and manipulation (again, mostly at bed-time). She is ever increasingly exerting her independence and testing the boundaries. From what I hear, this is just a preview of the teenage years to come. Heaven help us.

She and Stevie are the best of friends and enemies (depending on the second). She takes good care of him and goes out of her way to involve him in the games she invents. They each love laughing for no other reason than the the other one is laughing. It's hysterical.

We are truly lucky. Sabrina is happy and healthy and amazing. We are so lucky to have her as our daughter.

Happy Birthday, Sabrina!! We love you more than anything.

This year's school pictures

Gimel Me Some More Latkes

2010-12-08T20:21:00.002-05:00

Hanukkah this year has been special because the kids are old enough to understand the story and participate in the celebration. We got a few new books and read them frequently between Thanksgiving and the start of Hanukkah.

Each night, Sabrina would eagerly watch the windows and announce when the sun had set. Both kids would sprint to the dining room to pick out their candles for the night. I then played my own game of trying to recite the prayers before either kids lunged for the flames. (I'm happy to say that I won and the house is still standing.)

The latkes were of mixed success. After much hype, Sabrina refused them completely and Stevie ate only a few bites, but Kev and I happily filled our bellies.

Kev and I each played dreidels with them...once. I made the mistake of using M&Ms for the pot. Much looting/eating occurred. Kev's attempt was derailed by a (Stevie-invented) side game of poke-the-dreidel when it was spinning. *shrug* They had lots of fun and we all enjoyed the M&Ms. It's very special to enjoy holidays through the eyes of our children.

Happy Hanukkah!

Thankful

2010-11-30T17:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As is our tradition, Thanksgiving was full of family and celebration (read: busy but happy). With Kev's hectic work schedule, we weren't able to travel up to his folks in Richboro until Thursday morning, but hit little traffic to make up for it. Kev's whole family (plus my mom and dad) pack into the house then tuck into the turkey...lots and lots of turkey. Sadly, Ross and Betsy and Lila and Henry weren't able to come this year, but Uncle Brett and Aunt Lisa more than kept the kids entertained! (also, sadly, I took few pictures because we were all having fun)

With Sabrina's birthday only a few days away, Randi out-did herself again with an elaborate Cinderella cake complete with single glass slipper. Sabrina: "Oh it's SO BEAUTIFUL. I LOVE my birthday cake!!"

I think she was a bit concerned with the cutting of the cake, but she gobbled it up just fine.

Randi, Sabrina, Aunt Bobbie (and Cinderella)

As another special treat for the weekend, Kev's cousin Lindsay was in from her studies at Cambridge (England).

Stevie was a total flirt all weekend. He almost had Aunt Lisa convinced to take him back to CA. (P.S. He's still available.)

On Sunday we gathered at my parent's house for a tri-Thanksgiving/Ellen's birthday/Sabrina's birthday celebration. Ellen and Brad's son, Robert, has passed the six month mark and is starting to become interesting to the kids. They thought he was awesome and even tried to teach him how to roll over!

Don't worry, they're not quite ready for sainthood:

Happy Birthday Girls!!

10 Things About Sabrina

2010-11-18T08:31:00.004-05:00

Not a lot going on lately and no new pictures. The kids have both been sick (welcome to cold and flu season!) and we've battled days of high fever and a head cold that won't go away. At least they're healthy (enough) to be back at school/sitter. Last week was a LONG week at home with them.

Although I've mentioned it here and there, Sabrina's school is still on my blog backlog list. Last year she went to Mother's Day out which was four hours ever Tuesday and Thursday. This year she's going to Cheverly Weekday Nursery which is four hours every morning. It's in the same building and overseen by the same board so has the same basic structure and philosophy. The program emphasizes learning through play and LOTS of art projects.

She LOVES getting up and going to school every morning. I'm savoring the enthusiasm for as long as it lasts. Many of her friends from last year are in her class and she's quickly become friends with everyone else. Seriously, how did I end up with such a social kid??

There was a parent-teacher night a few weeks ago which was mainly a slide-show walk through of a day at nursery school. At the end we were given a couple of their recent assignments to take home, including this one:

Stevie's her best friend and she likes the ponies... I mean she likes to play with ponies. Definitely something for the scrapbook.* I'm pretty sure that her ambition to be a "girl" is meant to be a "big girl".

*and by "scrapbook" I mean "blog"

Trick or Treat

2010-11-01T19:39:00.002-04:00

This is our first year of really celebrating Halloween with the kids. Sure we've dressed them up before, but this year we took them trick or treating for the first time. The procurement of free candy makes it an entirely different experience!

Halloween officially started for us on Friday morning at Sabrina's nursery school party. The children were all allowed to wear their costumes. Sabrina was chomping at the bit to get dressed up as...a princess. Are you surprised? Nope, didn't think so. She had a gorgeous Sleeping Beauty costume complete with crown, scepter, and light-up shoes (thanks Uncle Brett & Aunt Lisa)! I couldn't bring Sabrina into school all dressed up without letting Stevie dress up too. He was a "Pirate Steeeeveeeee!" as he exclaimed to anyone who listened (and lots of people who didn't).

The princess and the pirate -- so cute!

When asked what he was for Halloween, Stevie patted his chest with both hands and replied "Stevie Pirate"

The Halloween program at school consisted mostly of a "parade" of the kids around the classroom. Stevie has always considered himself part of the class (as evidenced by the tantrum that ensues each morning as we leave from dropping off Sabrina) and joined right in.

Sabrina took good care of her brother

After the parade and some general chaos the head teacher played three notes on the piano. All of the children stopped what they were doing and sat quietly on the rug at her feet--it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Seriously, it was a thing of beauty. After a minute more of play, even Stevie joined in. Ah peer pressure at its very best!

The class then sang a collection of Halloween songs before the parents changed them back into regular clothes and left them for the rest of their school day.

The newest object of Sabrina's affection: Declan

Sabrina's class at Cheverly Weekday Nursery

On Sunday night, we met up with some friends and their young children and visited the houses on their street.

Stevie, Cassia, Sabrina, Miriam and Isabella

The kids were delighted by the whole process--the knocking/ringing (they didn't quite get that once was enough), the yelling of "TRICK OR TREAT", the receiving of candy, and the final yelling of "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" as they scampered to the next house.

At the beginning, Stevie and his short legs were always a few lengths behind the others, but towards the end, when the girls were more interested in talking than candy, he raced ahead like a mad-man. He's got a lurching run that, according to one mom, fit well with a "drunken pirate" look. :)

It was a great time and fun for us all. The only drawback has been that the kids are having a hard time grasping that Halloween is only one night a year. *shrug* I guess it's something to look forward to!

Happy Halloween!!

Greatest Husband EVER!

2010-10-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

Kev here.

For Jess' birthday I was trying to come up with a gift that was both low cost and truly something she would appreciate. Then it hit me... what's the one thing Jess doesn't have: time to herself. Therefore, I decided to give her a weekend off for her birthday. Unfortunately, with my crazy work schedule, the timing didn't work out to do it in September. This past weekend it became Jess' birthday celebrated. I packed up the kids and went up to my parents house for the weekend. As an added bonus, my brother Ross and Lila were there visiting.

When we got up there on Saturday, the kids had fun playing under my mom's table.

We also went to the playground. All the kids had fun climbing, sliding and even playing on the swinging poles.

Sabrina seems to really enjoy the pole. Too soon to worry?

Sabrina watched a bunch of older kids go down the roller slide head first. After a few missfires, she got the hang of it. She had a blast doing it.

Stevie also took after some older kids scaling the netting. The funny part was that he'd spend 10 minutes climbing up then quickly run down the stairs and do it again. He also replicated his Sesame Place maneuver where he swings himself onto the slide. It's still frightening to watch.

To cap the weekend, my mom bought the kids Pillow Pets! Sabrina chose a lady bug and Stevie chose a penguin. If you haven't seen the commercials, it's a fuzzy pillow with a head that can be folded and velcroed into place to make it a "pet". Whoever created/marketed these things knew what they were doing. The kids still sleep on them every night.

Happy Belated Birthday, Jess!

D'OH-ZER

2010-10-20T17:00:00.004-04:00

What's cooler than a digger truck, dump truck, and bulldozer? All three right in front of your house!

For the back story... Our next door neighbor has had problems with their water and have been fighting between their contractor and the water company as to whose fault/problem it is. Luckily this hasn't affected us at all. The water company showed up this morning blocking the upper half of our street and jackhammered away for what seemed like forever. It had been (relatively) quiet for a while when I left the house at 11:55. I was on my way to pick up Stevie from the baby-sitter (12:00) and Sabrina from school (12:15).

When I came through the front door I found our street filled with trucks and a fire engine was now at the top of the hill! Also it smelled like gas and there were multiple gas company trucks parked on the lower part of the street...including right in front of our driveway.

I asked the first guy I saw about what happened. Apparently the water company got a little carried away and hit a gas line. Awesome. I then asked him about getting my car out. He looked a little shocked and started mumbling about how to move and maneuver about five vehicles to get me some space. I realized two things: it was going to take forever and the baby-sitter and school, though in opposite directions, were both within a 5-10 minute walk. I took off down the hill (the guy looked relieved) and I just managed to get Stevie and back-track to get Sabrina right on time (carrying Stevie to save time...this kid is heavy!).

We were boxed in for the entire afternoon, but the kids had lots of fun watching all the commotion.

Children Under Glass

2010-10-09T10:26:00.001-04:00

Invented by Stevie and adopted by Sabrina this new game is a must-play every time we go into the house!

Baby No More

2010-10-03T20:10:00.004-04:00

Stephen turned two years old yesterday. Unbelievable. The baby is gone; he's a legitimate little kid.

Stevie physically tackles anything in his path. He climbs and maneuvers things even Sabrina won't attempt--most times successfully. He's broken through more of our child-proofing than I'd care to admit. It annoys me, but there's also a certain pride. He's talking in three to five word sentences and has an extensive vocabulary.

It's really neat watching a younger sibling grow and develop. He has always had Sabrina to guide and instruct him (usually a positive) and he's needed to push himself ahead to communicate and keep up with her. Stevie does not realize that he and Sabrina aren't the same age. As far as he's concerned, they are complete equals. This really only causes problems when Stevie's not allowed to stay at Sabrina's school after drop-off (read: I have to pull him out of there screaming).

He continues to be very "boy"--he prefers rough and tumble playing, trucks and dinosaurs and robots--but he also plays with Sabrina's princesses and watches Dora as happily as Diego. His absolute favorite thing lately has been wearing his "green Eagle shirt Daddy!" Kev is so proud.

We had a little party today to celebrate with both sets of grandparents, Ellen, Brad and Robert, and Sarah and Drew.

Today was a game day and both father and son were sporting team colors.

Kev's parents gave this singing Elmo toy to Sabrina for her 2nd birthday. It is SO annoying, but beloved by the younger set. Stevie barely let it go.

My beautiful nephew, Robert. It's not his fault his mom made him a Raven's fan.

Ellen teaches her son the important aspects of watching football

We finished off the day with another Skype session with Uncle Brett and Aunt Lisa. The kids were over-tired and over-sugared and were completely off-the-wall. I'm not sure what Brett's excuse was :)

I am so proud of Stephen. I love him so much and love watching him grow and learn. And no matter how old he gets, he'll always be my baby. Happy Birthday, Stevie!

Boredom is the Mother of All Craft Projects

2010-09-22T07:37:00.005-04:00

August was a long month. Sabrina had no school, no summer program. Myra, the baby-sitter the kids went to every Wed. afternoon, left on a two-week trip to Guatemala that stretched into five weeks due to a lost passport and green card. Kev started his new job which always comes with crazy(er) hours.

Like I said, it was a long month.

Happily, both Sabrina and Stevie were awesome to hang out with. Neither was in any kind of rebellious or disagreeable phase (besides being normal kids). We spent lots of time at the park, the arboretum, and at friends' houses. But towards the end of the month we were all getting restless. Arts & Crafts to the rescue!

At story time during a community market we got unfinished mini bird houses along with pretty color fold-outs of local birds. We picked up some extra stuff at a teacher supply store. This kept us busy for about 45 minutes one day:

>
Stevie did a surprising percentage of the work on his. He especially loved the paining!

Sabrina did hers all by herself.

Another day we played with a paper doll kit (also from the supply store). I made the mommy and daddy (though Stephen helped decorate the daddy), but other than helping cut out clothing, the kids made their dolls on their own. Stevie's did have hair and a full shirt before a tragic accident (Stevie).

Father, Mother, Sister, Brother

We also played with Play-Doh, where I learned that it is impossible to keep the colors from getting mixed together, and had lots of coloring time.

Sabrina and Stevie are at such fun ages right now. I love being able to DO things with them. There are lots of things I miss about them being babies, but this is the best phase yet.

Dinosaur Days

2010-09-20T17:00:00.002-04:00

Continuing on my backlog...

In July, Sabrina went to summer school. It was a one-month program at the same place she went to nursery school. It had the same teachers, same general schedule, and many of the same kids. After only a few weeks off, Sabrina was excited to be back at school. I was excited too.

Towards the end of the month, the teachers arranged a field trip to the Laurel Dinosaur Park that's run by the county. Kids learning about fossils & dinosaurs, digging in dirt, and then having a picnic lunch--it sounded like a LOT of fun. Sadly, the park didn't get the memo.

The Dinosaur Park in all its glory

Although the teachers specified that it was a group of 2-4 year olds when they booked the session (that we paid for), our paleontologist guide for the day, Peter Krantz, seemed totally unprepared. He spent most of his opening remarks listing all the things we couldn't do (most emphatically re: the taking parking lot gravel as a souvenir!?).

These rocks were about the only things they could touch!

Ben, Finn and Sabrina surveying their kingdom

It was hot, the opening speech was loooong and way over the kids' heads, and everyone was totally unengaged. When the kids were getting restless and edgy, he scolded us to "parent" our children better (seriously?!). Mr. Krantz finally let us into the fenced off dig area where we were supposed to carefully shuffle around looking at dirt. We could not touch anything, let alone dig. Sabrina was trying to be good, but Stevie was ALL OVER THE PLACE. When our "guide" bailed on us to show a local politico around we left too. Life's too short.

Later, I talked to parents who stayed the entire time. It didn't get any better. The teachers were SO disappointed for the kids and ranged between annoyed and irate at Mr. Krantz. It looked like such a good idea on paper, it's a shame that it ended the way it did.

When we got home, Stevie and Sabrina and I decided to have our own picnic in our own living room. The day salvaged very nicely.

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

2010-09-17T07:06:00.001-04:00

My camera lens broke (luckily still under warranty). Then our other little camera's battery died. Then I got my lens back from Canon, but could find the wire to upload the photos to the computer... Anyway, it's been a bad technology month and I'm way behind in posting. I also have a glut of old (but cute) stuff that we want to share.

First, here's a video of Stevie showing off for his daddy a couple of months ago. For the record, this IS how Stevie dances.

Viva Cancun!

2010-09-08T15:28:00.000-04:00

We've traveled for weddings before, but I've never been to a "destination wedding". My cousin Tracy's husband, Edgar (and obviously his family) are Mexican, and the bride and groom have lived in Cancun for several years, so I don't know if it's a destination wedding for them, but it certainly was for us. Kev's parents agreed to watch Sabrina and Stephen from Saturday through Monday and we were lucky enough to be able to attend!

We celebrated our arrival in Cancun:

We caught a glimpse of Tracy getting photographed before we all left for the church. Absolutely lovely.

We also liked her paparazzi-like entourage:

Little did we know...

There are a number of differences between a Mexican wedding (even a Catholic one) and what we're used to here in the states.

First, Cancun time is approximate at best. We kept asking what the schedule/plan was, where we needed to be and when. We got laughed at when we did. Things happen when they happen, no need to stress. Being someone fueled by stress, this drove Kev nuts (to my amusement). A few margaritas were generally the cure.

Second, the Mass was entirely in Spanish (duh). I am learning new words along with the kids, but Dora the Explorer has yet to have a wedding episode, so I was pretty lost. Now if we had been required to save a manatee (ayuda me!) by swimming up-up-up (sube, sube, sube!) I would've been fine. Strangely, though, I was able to pick out words clearly during the looooonnnnggg sermon. I say strangely because when people speak in Mexico, they speak FAST. We later asked Tracy what he was saying. She laughed and told us that the content of the sermon was about love and togetherness, the usual, but he spoke excruciatingly slowly so that our side of the family could understand. Yep, the priest was using the universal language of Slow & Loud!

Finally, audience participation in the form of photography is a compulsion. Although they had three official photographers and a videographer, the pews cleared as everyone (except us) flooded to the altar to take pictures of every critical moment of the ceremony. Apparently this is just how things are done--I think Edgar's family thought we were odd for meekly staying in our seats.

This guy invented his own form of duel photography!

The reception was amazing (choice of tequila shot or margarita as we walked in the door) and the food was delicious. Did I mention that Tracy and Edgar met while salsa dancing? What a first dance!

And of course the father-daughter dance is always poignant.

Kev and I were drooping after such a long day, so we retired before midnight. After we left the party really got started. It was non-stop salsa dancing until 4 a.m.! I wish I still had that kind of stamina (& knew how to salsa)!

Kev and I had all day Sunday to do whatever we wanted. We started off by sleeping in (for us) then breakfast with my parents.

The view from our balcony:

Then we went to the beach to bask in the sun. I generally misted the spray sunblock on; Kev was more diligent. We went out about noon and found that it was warm and sunny with a great breeze to cool things down. Perfect.

We also discovered our cabana had waiter service! Even better.

All we had to do was stick this flag in the sand and the waiter would come by. The problem? One of us had to get up to move the flag!

I don't always drink beer, but when I do (and I'm in Mexico), I prefer Dos Equis.

According to the waiter, my drink was "vacation sized".

We were out by the beach ALL afternoon. We ended the day with a visit to the pool (READ: swin-up pool bar). I should've realized what trouble I was in when my skin stung as I was getting into the pool. Kev was a bit red, but otherwise fine. I was well-done. I slept off the sun (and margaritas) but rallied and caught up with Kev, Tracy&Edgar and Kelly&Ryan for a "cousins only" night.

I was in a world of hurt during our journey back. The backs of my legs took the brunt of it--the back of the knees has got to be one of the more painful places to be burned. Taught me a valuable lesson: don't just use sunscreen, use gooey sunscreen and apply it liberally. :(

It's really great when you realize how much you like the people your related to. It just sucks that we're not all closer. Happily, we'll all be getting together in Colorado next summer for Kelly&Ryan's wedding! We're planning to bring the kids and hopefully have more than a whirlwind stay.

Until then, VIVA CANCUN!

A Labor (Day Weekend) of Love, Grandparent-Style

2010-09-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

Grandmom Albert here.

Kevin and Jess had a family wedding to attend in Mexico and brought Sabrina and Stevie to Richboro for a “sleepover”. On Saturday we started the day at the playground with my sister Bobbie helping on kid–watch patrol and continued with a lunch out with my friend Alice. Alice is a grandmother of 4 boys and knew how to become instantly popular—she brought Tootsie Rolls for a treat! That evening, Dave and I took the kids to the mall for some “Back to School” clothes and sneakers (Sabrina’s light up when she walks!) and, of course, a few rides on the carousel.

On Sunday we went to Sesame Place where we all rode on The Flying Fish ride (though Sabrina giggled and said, “How silly! Fish can’t fly!”)

We revisited Big Bird’s Nest, the carousel and Stevie’s favorite, the PLAYGROUND. After watching the bigger children do so, he decided that it was even more fun to go down the spiral slide if he built up momentum first by swinging from the top bar and then dropping down to the slide. Did anyone tell him he’s not even two yet?

Before dinner, we tried out a new playground near our house. Dinner that night was followed by a trip to Goodnoe’s (a local ice cream shop) for ice cream, apparently a first time excursion.

On Monday, the kids were excited when the pancakes they’d ordered at the restaurant arrived looking like Mickey Mouse. Later, we all went to visit Great-Grandmom Nela. Sabrina and Stevie were delighted to play on the playground at Abramson, where Nela lives.

After dinner, we took yet another trip to the playground (do you sense a theme here?), but when it was finally time to go, Stevie could be heard sobbing “PLAYGROUND!” because obviously we had not been to nearly enough playgrounds this weekend.

Kevin and Jess returned and the house is quiet, too quiet, again. We can’t wait for another chance to visit the PLAYGROUND!!

Summer Love

2010-09-01T14:51:00.006-04:00

Kids at playgroup tend to fall into groups based on age and familiarity. In Sabrina's bracket there's Ben, Keegan, Vincent and Finian ("Finn"). They all went to the Mother's Day Out program together last year and they all like running circles around the playground as fast as they possibly can.

There are times though when the group splits into smaller cliques. Sabrina doesn't really like playing with the boys unless it's a running game. She has no interest in pretending to be a dinosaur or hitting other kids with sticks. Totally fine.

Sabrina has her own little clique. From the time we get to playgroup, she starts watching the new arrivals, waiting for one child in particular. When Finn arrives, the world stops. She stops whatever she's doing and races to him. He gets to the park and immediately races towards Sabrina. It's like a cheesy romance movie. They then spend at least the first 15 minutes together, often holding hands and occasionally stopping to hug. Finn tells the other boys that he is playing with Sabrina first. They stay together until the running starts, then Finn plays dinosaurs (or robots or peeing against a tree) with the other boys while Sabrina goes to play on the slide.

This happens every time they are both at playgroup. It is unreal.

The object of Sabrina's affection

This is blurry, but it's of Sabrina and Finn hugging.

Exploring the arboretum together.

When asked "Who are your friends?" Sabrina always answered "Daddy". No one else. One friend was all she needed. Now she has two friends--Daddy and Finn. I don't know if this amuses me or makes me feel a bit sad for Kev. Both really.

We ran into Finn and his parents at the pool this summer. I was worried that the fervor of Sabrina's attentions may have been unwanted. Turns out, Finn talks about her as much as she talks about him! Ah, young love.

Over the River and Through the Woods

2010-08-31T16:29:00.001-04:00

The kids and I drove out to visit my grandmother for lunch on Friday. She lives about an hour away and I've been woefully negligent in making the trek--especially since Sabrina and Stevie were so excited when I told them where we were going.

One aspect of my grandmother's house (and my parents') is that the kitchen opens to the dining room and the hall. This creates a pre-school sized race track where the kids will literally run in circles until they collapse. I really wish our house had this feature.

After the caucus race, Stevie found a stuffed animal that's bigger than he is! This prompted Sabrina to gather the rest of the stuffed animals my grandmother has around and for both kids to stage a human vs. plushie wrestling match for our entertainment.

The kids won.

We went to a nearby diner and had breakfast for lunch. Sabrina and Stephen ate their weight in eggs and behaved nearly perfectly. Everyone had a very nice time, though there's always a level of stress for me when I'm out in the world with both of them. Once Sabrina starts school (5 mornings a week!) I think Stevie and I will make this a more regularly scheduled event.

Children of Technology

2010-08-29T20:12:00.000-04:00

We realize that it's ridiculous that one of the first words both kids learned was "blackberry" ... and that Sabrina can tell the difference between Kev's blackberry and iPhone ... now we've added another dimension to their early adopter status--Skyping.

Skype is a free service that lets you video chat over the computer. We got a web camera back when we were expecting Kev to be traveling to India frequently, but never really did anything with it after the initial set up. Last week, though, Lisa got a new computer that is also equipped with a web cam, so we set up a chat and ~~dragged~~ asked the kids to come to the computer. Hilarity ensued.

Keep in mind that we did this at the end of the day and after a birthday party with lots of sugar and a bouncy house. Stevie hammed it up for a while, gave Kev a good head butt (captured in pictures 1 & 2 below), and wandered off. Sabrina LOVED it. She could NOT stop laughing. Her latest thing is making silly faces and she demonstrated her new talent? with gusto.

Lisa grabbed these screen shots (thanks!). It was so much fun--I'm smiling just thinking about it. After the call ended and I took Stevie up to bed, Sabrina asked Kev if she could play with "Uncle Brett and Aunt Lisa inside the computer". We can't wait to do it again!

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Place? Part II

2010-08-21T19:31:00.000-04:00

I don't know who was more excited about our return to the park on Sunday, Pop-pop or Sabrina.

Sabrina had seen the carousel as we were leaving the day before. The kids were nearing melt-down point (I was already there) and we were not going on another ride. Kev (my brilliant husband) told Sabrina that Pop-pop loved carousels as much as she did and she had to wait until tomorrow so she and Pop-pop could ride together. It worked! It got Sabrina happily out of the park. Of course it was the very first thing we did on Sunday.

After the ride we just made it in time to see Elmo's World LIVE with Elmo, his pet goldfish Dorothy, and Mr. Noodle. Elmo ran right by us and Stevie nearly chased him down to the stage.

~~Big Bird's Nest~~ Thunderdome had to be seen to be believed so we paid it another visit.

Then Stevie had a run through the Monster Maze which is really a sand pit filled with hanging heavy bags and a million careening children. It was about as safe as it sounds and just as much fun (Sabrina declined the privilege).

Then came the time that Grandma and Pop-pop earned their MVP awards for the day. Despite our best efforts, Sabrina did NOT want to hug or be photographed with any more characters. Stevie could barely be contained. So while Kev and I stood with Stevie in the photo line, Pop-pop stood in the line for Ernie's Bed Bounce and Grandmom walked Sabrina back and forth. Everyone ended up happy, but we couldn't have done it with only two adults.

At this point in the trip the camera battery died. It was time to head out anyway. The kids gave us no fuss in leaving and Sabrina has been planning her return trip ever since. It was a great and exhausting weekend. We all had so much fun.

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Place? Part I

2010-08-20T20:14:00.000-04:00

It's way up 95 in Langhorne, PA...right near Kev's parents. Grandmom and Pop-pop have been excited to take their grandchildren to Sesame Place since before Sabrina was born. After the weather interfered earlier this summer, we finally made it last weekend. It was crazy.

Kev's mom bought two day passes, so she, Kev, Sabrina, Stevie and I grabbed our suits and headed over on Saturday when Kev's dad had to work. The kids were too small or too timid for many of the wet attractions (Do I need to say that it was PACKED with a million and a half kids, strollers and parents? Well, it was.), but the Teeny Weeny Tidal Pool (under Ernie's watchful eyes) was just right.

We then played in Twiddle Bug land where the kids loved sliding down the silly sand bucket slide...

...and loved climbing up the balloon slide where instead of a ladder, kids climbed up a stack of rubber balls covered by a cargo net. Yes, plural: KIDS. Uncharacteristically, Sabrina bravely (and carefully) negotiated the net to make it to the top. Characteristically, Stevie barreled ahead with no thought to his size or personal safety and charged the top. Both of them were so proud of themselves. So were we.

When Sabrina and I were off looking for the little girls' room, Stevie got to meet--and I'm quoting--"COOOOOKIEEEEEE!!!!"

Cookie Monster totally engulfed Stevie. Our boy loved every second of it!

Both kids got to meet Bert and Ernie (so did I!). It must have been so hot inside those suits, but the characters were so welcoming and spent so much time with all the children it made it really special. Sabrina was a bit wary, but Stephen charged right in!

The next series of pictures are from Big Bird's Nest (aka Thunderdome). It's a sunken mat area where smaller children can play safely. Well, that was the intention, at least... Keep your eyes on the girl in the blue suit.

Don't be a grouch! We get to come back tomorrow with Pop-pop for MORE FUN!

Saturday was the easiest bed-time ever. Tired kids + promise of a return to Sesame Place = instant sleep. :)

Speak!

2010-08-12T14:20:00.003-04:00

Stevie's language is developing rapidly. I love this stage. It's so much fun to watch the gears turning and ideas clicking and the sheer delight on a little face when they realize that they can communicate exactly what they want. Of course it makes it harder to ignore/deny a request when it's made so clearly, but that's its own battle...

Stevie knows a lot of words now, but he has a set of phrases he likes using for almost any situation.

"Go."

As a question: "Bree go?" "Daddy go?" = "Where did Sabrina go?" "Where did Daddy go?"
As a request: "swing go." "highchair go." = "I want to swing" "I want to get in my highchair (to eat)"

"Get it!"

When he wants to be with a specific person: (said to Kev) "Mommy. Get it!" = "I want to go find mommy!"

"Happened?"

Always a question, usually used for asking why?: (holding out a broken toy) "Happened?" = "Why is my toy broken?" / "Why aren't you fixing my toy?" He will repeat this until you give him an answer he will accept. At times it's like the world's most frustrating game of "should've said".

Cracks me up.

Somebody's Eyes are Watching

2010-08-04T10:31:00.001-04:00

Kev here.

A few nights a week, I get home from work after Jess has put the kids to bed. I should say, put the kids in their rooms because often Sabrina gets tucked in, Jess leaves and then Sabrina plays in her room for 60 to 90 minutes. She used to require a retuck every night around 9pm but Jess put a stop to that months ago. With the family room right below her room, we hear Sabrina thumping around a lot. With it being the summer and the sun not going down until later, its even harder to convince Sabrina that she needs to actually go to bed when we tuck her in.

A little while back, Sabrina realized that she can see the street and more importantly, the driveway from her window. So now when I come home after the kids are in bed but before Sabrina actually goes to bed, I see her standing at the window watching me come in the house.

We then hear a chorus of "Mommy, is Daddy home? Can I come down and play with Daddy? I want to play with Daddy!" Its hard to resist. I usually let her hang out with me while I change clothes (she likes to jump on our bed) and then retuck her in.

At some point we should stop encouraging this, right?

Ramblings

2010-07-27T09:31:00.000-04:00

Nothing major to report, but lots of little absurdities. Enjoy.

Blackberry in the Toilet

Kev here.

When Sabrina is in a snit, she is very difficult and fights even the most basic of tasks. The other night she was in one of her moods and refused to go to the potty before bed. We went back and forth for a while. I refused to let her win. I finally got her to stay put by agreeing to let her hold my blackberry. It should be noted that the kids see me on my devices a lot and want to play with them. I rarely let them and so when I do, it’s a special treat. She was very excited by this.

I will spare you the details but when she finished my blackberry was resting on the potty seat. All in one motion, Sabrina hopped down and began to take the potty seat off and put it on the floor, as she does every night. The result – my blackberry fell into the toilet. The only saving grace is that it was a flushed toilet but still not good. My blackberry was submerged. I fished it out and let it dry but the damage was done. It's been a few days and now it powers on, I can type with most of the keys and receive calls. Some times it won’t come out of sleep or shuts down for no reason. It’s pretty irritating but at least I won that battle.

Train Conductor

Jess here...

Stevie has figured out how to link the train tracks and can almost manage the bridge construction. Needless to say, these have been a favorite toy lately.

Which Came First?

While we were playing in the basement, Sabrina brought me an egg.

"Thank you," I said. "Is this from a chicken?"

"Um, YES."

"Because--did you know?--lots of different animals lay eggs."

blank stare

I point to the penguin toy. "Like penguins. Penguins lay eggs too."

giggling

"NO, mommy, NO! Chickens lay on eggs. Penguins lay on ICE!"

Random Acts of Kindness

As I was cutting up a cucumber to have with dinner, Stevie asked for a piece. I gave him one. He asked for another. I gave it to him thinking that he had eaten the first. I then see him speed walking away from me towards the living room--still holding both pieces. I follow to give him a bad time about hording cucumbers when I see him race up to Sabrina to give her one of the pieces. Aww.

Scars and Stitches

Stevie's got his first scraped knees on July 4th. Now that we've hit that milestone, he seems to get new bloody scrapes every day. He will literally walk into a wall or brain himself on the table bounce back as if nothing had happened. This morning he took such a huge swig of milk that he fell off the chair. Kev and I looked around the table to see him lying on the floor, still drinking from his sippy.

Boys are trouble.

Can't Win

Thing 1 will be playing happily with a toy that Thing 2 decides that s/he desperately wants. I spend several minutes convincing Thing 2 to play with some other really awesome toy. Of course, by the end of my spiel Thing 1 and Thing 2 BOTH want to play with the alternate toy and the original item is forgotten over squabbling for the new one.

This happens more than I'd like to admit.

I am NOT kidding

Sabrina and Stephen were playing in the basement. Stevie started throwing toy food around.

Sabrina says, "Stevie, stop throwing food. If you do it again I will put you in time out. I am NOT KIDDING."

It worked. Stevie stopped throwing the food.

Am I in YOUR Way?

Kev and I were sitting on the couch talking this weekend when Stevie walked up and started nestling into my side. Then wedging. The PUSHING trying to make space between me and the arm of the couch.

"Excuse me!" I said sternly. "Am I in your way?"

He looked up at me, very seriously, and said "YES!" in an exaggerated sort of whisper. I was sitting in the spot that he normally takes when the kids watch cartoons. Grown-up or not, I was not allowed to invade HIS territory.

Einsteins

Stevie is obsessed with the cartoon Little Einsteins. He asks for it first thing after he wakes up in the morning or from nap. It's the only show he will request and often the only one he will not throw a fit over. He will repeat "Einsteins" and "Rocket" over and over again until he gets what he wants.

Sabrina often refuses to watch it. I'm pretty sure it's out of spite.

I've Been Workin' on the Railroad

2010-07-13T19:34:00.004-04:00

One of the cool things about watching Sabrina and Stevie get older and mature is being able to do so much more with them and know that they're understanding it. It's opened up a whole new range of field trips that are incredibly rewarding for us all.

My dad's dad (and his dad's dad) worked nearly their entire careers for the B&O Railroad so, needless to say, my dad grew up loving trains. I have childhood memories of visiting the B&O train museums in Baltimore and Ellicott City and marveling at the size of the real trains and the model trains. We were all excited to finally show Sabrina and Stephen.

We decided to go for the bigger museum in Baltimore which has been renovated since I last saw it. The roundhouse houses dozens of historic engines, coaches, and carriages and the train yard includes a model train set-up, a wooden kid-sized train, and some real trains we could wander through.

Once again, the kids lived up to their gender stereotypes. Sabrina had a good time. Stephen had an AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC time. He looked so little next to these gigantic machines and he kept running everywhere, pointing at everything and yelling "TRAIN!" to anyone in earshot. It was hysterical.

The hardest thing about the trip was keeping the kids from climbing into/onto the historic pieces.

Case in point.

Stevie took my dad on a full circle run of the roundhouse.

Stevie! Wait for us!!

The price of pure joy? 25 cents.

Both the indoor and outdoor model train displays were HUGE fan favorites.

Boats and trains in one place?! I didn't think Stevie could get any happier.

Did I mention the play train had a bell? It must be because my ears are still ringing.

Sabrina Rose you better watch your speed...

After presenting their tickets (at Sabrina's request), Grandma and Grandpa get to take a ride.

My dad suggested we come back again at Christmas time to see everything decked out for the holidays. I can't wait to see how much more they'll get out of it then.

Red, White and Cool

2010-07-06T09:01:00.001-04:00

A special thanks to my Uncle Frank and Aunt Gina who host the whole family every Fourth of July for food, conversation, and a swim in their pool! It was excellent (as always) and as a special treat, Kev's parents were able to join us for the fun.

This year the weather was sunny with temps in the upper 90s. The water was WONDERFUL and this year both kids took to it like fish. It was, well, "delightful" sounds cheesy...but that's exactly what it was: delightful!

Sabrina and Stevie cooling their feet with my grandmother in the spray hose (Kev's comment to my uncle: "Hey, did you know your hose has a leak?")

Robert Stephen goes for his first swim! (8 weeks old already, can you believe it?!)

Happy Birthday America!

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

2010-07-01T09:42:00.001-04:00

Because being healthy was too good to last...

Stevie has hand, foot and mouth disease. It's a virus that can cause sores on (you guessed it!) the hands, feet, and mouth. It's apparently pretty common in kids under 10, especially in the summer. Only 50% of those exposed get sick, but it is contagious. Once you've been exposed or sick, you are immune (which is why it's uncommon in adults--we've already been exposed at some point in our lives). There's no medicine and nothing to be done except wait it out.

The Good: Stevie just has the sores in his mouth.

The Bad: Mouth sores make Stevie cranky--mouth sores also make it very uncomfortable for Stevie to eat and drink--not eating makes Stevie hungry--being hungry makes Stevie cranky--being hungry also makes Stevie wake up multiple times over-night--waking up multiple times over-night makes Stevie tired--being tired makes Stevie cranky....you get the picture.

The Ugly: I'm functioning on newborn levels of no sleep and frustration. Not happy for anyone.

For the record, we asked Dr. Ross if there's something more seriously wrong with Stevie considering that over the past year this blog has been more of a medical journal than anything. He said that everything that Stevie's had is very common and it's just bad luck that it's all hit us...hopefully that means we've got some better luck coming to us. :)

Splish Splash

2010-06-29T10:14:00.000-04:00

We finally broke out the pool for the season! Why, oh why, did we wait so long?!?

Why would you do that to me, Daddy?

Kev gets soaked too!

Strangling?

Nope, kissing.

Even the freezing cold sprinkler was fun!

What a Good Boy, What a Smart Boy, What a Strong Boy

2010-06-22T20:00:00.004-04:00

We've been waiting for this! Stevie's talking :)

We saw Sabrina go through this phase and we've been excited to see it with Stevie. He's always been good at communicating his wants/needs through gestures and noises, but a few months ago he figured out that certain sounds got certain reactions. That's neat (and occasionally frustrating as I hear "juice, juice, juice" chanted non-stop). In the last week or two, though, it's clicked that these are words and he can collect and use them all!

We can have actual conversations with our son now...not about how to achieve world peace or anything, but knowing that he needs a clean "diaper" and wants a "snack" or is sad because he "spilled" his milk (which is an acceptable thing for a kid to cry over) makes life so much easier.

Every day he surprises me by using more and more words that he's just picked up (as opposed to the ones we specifically teach him). He's also got a few phrases, like "Happy Day" "here you go!" "that's mine!" and "give it back!" (ah, siblings) but I don't know if he realizes that it's a sequence of words instead of just one long word.

Stevie's also reached a personal physical milestone. He loves playing on the big kid equipment on the playground, but there's a ladder from the platform up to the slides. Sabrina only learned to climb it last Fall and Stevie's been trying to follow her up all year. It seems he was just saving it to show off to his daddy. When Kev joined us at the playground last week, Stevie finally conquered the ladder! He was so excited (so were we)! Stevie then spent the rest of the morning climbing and sliding, climbing and sliding, smiling widely the whole time. It was just so cool to see.

It's amazing how much pride I feel when I watch my kids accomplish something on their own. Parenthood can be pretty awesome sometimes.

Waterworld

2010-06-14T19:32:00.001-04:00

Everyone was healthy by the end of the week, so we decided to take another swing at the whole family going to Richboro. Sabrina had been talking about Lila all week. I acted offended one day and asked if she'd rather live with Lila or with Mommy... She didn't even pause before throwing me under the bus.

Kev's mom and dad also had a fun plan for the weekend. They bought tickets for everyone to go to Sesame Place! It's only about 20 minutes away from where they live. I've never been so I looked up the web site. It seems like nothing short of nirvana for pre-schoolers. We knew that Sabrina and Lila would go crazy. Stevie's slightly on the young end, but about a quarter of his current words are Sesame Street characters, so we were confident that he'd have a good time too.

Unfortunately, the weather Gods were not working in our favor. Just as we were ready to walk out the door, it started sprinkling. As we were debating whether or not to go anyway, the skies opened up.

The grown-ups were more disappointed that the kids. For their part, they probably had just as much fun "watching" the rain from the front porch as they would've at the amusement park (they definitely got just as wet!!). The pictures really tell the story here.

Sabrina, Lila, and Stevie were all drenched and happy and exhausted by the time we finally urged them back inside. We found out that the tickets are good through the end of the season and are actually 2-day passes, so we'll plan another trip soon. That made everyone feel a bit better.

While the girls watched TV in the family room before dinner, Stevie went on a solo expedition in search of a "CAT" (like his sister, one of his favorite words). He found an unsuspecting Bonkers in the living room. Again, I'm going to let the pictures tell the story:

doink!

"CAT!!"

We stayed as late as we could on Sunday before driving back home. Traffic was a mess and we were all beat when we finally got to the house. We were bee-lining to get the kids to bed so that we could sleep when Kev noticed a strange sound coming from the kitchen. We quickly discovered that the tube which brings water to our ice maker had sprung a leak. There was 2" of water on our kitchen floor and the laundry room (which is right below) had streams of water soaking through the ceiling. Everything was a mess.

It was late, but I called my dad anyway. He helped us figure out how to stop the flow of water (and a few days later came by to replace the busted hose--thank you!) and Kev and I worked together to get everything cleaned up. I guess I can chalk it up to a good team-building exercise, but it is definitely not on my short list of things to again. Ugh.

The Tunnels and the Birthday Party

2010-06-07T15:12:00.003-04:00

Still Kev...

After a quick breakfast in and a longer second breakfast out, Sabrina and Lila set up camp in their "tunnel" under the dining room table. It seems everyone likes a good tunnel.

Sabrina bumped her head on the bottom of the table. Lila was quick with a comforting hug.

The girls had fun playing with my dad and with Brett and Lisa, who came in for the party.

All it's missing is an evil villain twirling his thin mustache.

Lila invited Aunt Lisa into the very exclusive train tent club (not even Pop-pop is allowed in!)

There was also some pool time. The kids had fun pouring the water and splashing around. We tried to get them to keep the water in the pool without much success, especially when that became the game.

Then it was on to watch the Phillies game on my dad's birthday present, a new 46in LCD TV.

Go Phillies!

By the afternoon, Sabrina and Lily had made up.

In preparation for our drive home, I got Sabrina changed into her pajamas before dessert. Birthday cake is one of Sabrina's favorite foods.

Even with all of the excitement, Sabrina was drooping. She told me that she was ready to go to sleep in her special bed. She was NOT happy when I told her that we were going home. She was having such a good time with Lila that she didn't want to leave. I told her we had to go back to see mommy and Stevie and, much to Jess's disappointment upon hearing this story, Sabrina decided that she'd rather live with Lila.

I finally pulled a screaming kid out of the house...she was asleep before we got off my parents' street.

If Stevie is healthy, we'll probably be back up next weekend. Brett and Lisa won't be here, but Jess and Stevie want to see everyone and Sabrina needs (her word) more play-time with Lila.

Co-NOT-Sleeping or Lily-Gate

2010-06-06T22:10:00.000-04:00

Kev here.

Even though Sabrina hadn't napped in the afternoon, let her stay up past her normal bedtime (8:45pm vs. her usual ~7:30pm) with hopes that if she was completely worn out, she would sleep more solidly through the night. I thought it essential because we were sharing the same room. What's that they say about best laid plans...?

At about 4am: Some quiet shuffling from Sabrina's side of the room. Then, (loud) "So who wants to practice their dancing?" (louder) "I love to dance!" and then (LOUDEST) "Doot-to-doot, doot-to-doot, doot-to-doot-to-doooooo!" I popped my head up and saw that Sabrina was standing on her bed and dancing her toy princesses across the dresser. I swear I could have killed her... I told her to go back to sleep or at least play quieter. She seemed surprised to see me. She got back under the covers.

At 6am: Lots of shuffling...

At 7am: More and more shuffling, a thump then the pitter-patter of little feet... (long a pause)... I kept my eyes closed and stayed perfectly still until-- "Good morning Daddy! It's morning time!" A smiling Sabrina was standing less than a foot from my face. I pulled her into the bed, hoping I could convince her to sleep in a little longer.

The next 15 minutes: Sabrina covered herself, popped her head up, looked at me, laid back down, popped up, re-covered herself, decided she wasn't covered enough, fixed the blankets...and repeat.

At 7:15am: On the 10,000th cycle of this, I realized that Sabrina was not going to settle and it was in fact time to start our day. (How do parents of co-sleepers do it? Do your kids settle in? Is it just that Sabrina is bad a this or did we just pass the point of her actually sleeping?)

To make our way down the stairs, I lifted Sabrina over the baby gate at the top (there to keep the dogs upstairs). Lily walked up, pushed past me and rested her head on the top of the gate. She let out a loud breath/snort through her nose right as she came eye-to-eye with Sabrina. Sabrina just LOST it. I pushed past the dog and climbed over the gate to try and comfort her, but by then it was too late. Sabrina had woken up the rest of the house. It was now "morning time!" for everyone.

(Little) Man Down

2010-06-05T23:19:00.000-04:00

Kev here.

On Friday, Stevie was diagnosed with croup. It's not too serious, there's no medication for it, and it generally clears up within a few days, but quarantine of the sick kid is recommended. Unfortunately, that didn't jive with our weekend plans.

We were all set to go up to Richboro for my dad's 65th birthday party on Sunday and with Betsy (7 months pregnant) and Lila being there we had to decide--skip the party or leave the little man behind (and one parent since Child Protective Services are real sticklers on the whole child abandonment thing). After much discussion, we decided to split the force. Sabrina and I forged ahead while Jess and Stevie remained behind.

Sabrina and I survived the three-hour drive to my parents' house without incident and also without a nap :(. Sabrina was almost asleep before we got to Baltimore, but perked up immediately when we went into the Baltimore Harbor tunnel. She loves tunnels. For the rest of the drive, all hope of her napping was lost.

Upon arrival, we went right back out the door to the same petting zoo we visited in April. Sabrina and Lila again LOVED it. We did note that Lila has a much better grasp on maintaining control over her food around the animals. We credited that to her upbringing amongst 2 St Bernard's and 3 cats.

Deck Warming

2010-05-29T20:36:00.002-04:00

Sarah and Drew invited the family over to look at their brand-spanking-new deck and enjoy lots of food and drink. The deck is a beautiful addition to their beautiful house.

It was also the first bigger family outing for our new nephew, Robert. Everyone got into playing pass-the-baby. Robert was a champ, but in the end it's always back to mommy. Wow, my sister is a mommy! Parenthood suits Ellen and Brad well.

Our mom and Drew's mom take their turns.

Stevie wasn't particularly interested in the baby, but Sabrina spent some time with him.

My mom brought goodie bags for the kids filled with stickers and bubbles and balls and they had a great time running around and playing and generally entertaining everyone.

Thanks for a great afternoon, Sarah & Drew!

Um, Drew? I think we've done a pretty good job warming the deck...not need to set it on fire! :)

Welcome Home

2010-05-28T09:52:00.000-04:00

Sabrina and Stephen handle Kev's travel remarkably well. They understand that when Daddy is gone for work that he always comes back. However, we've discovered that the length of time he is away is directly proportional to the level of obsession the kids have with him when he returns.

After being in India from Saturday through Thursday, the kids are barely giving him room to breath!

The Table of Sand and Water

2010-05-23T22:49:00.003-04:00

Kev left for India yesterday afternoon. He'll be back by Thursday, which means that this trip will be much more brutal for him than for us (LOOOONG flight there + three straight days of meetings + another LOOOONG flight home), but the kids and I all needed a distraction after he drove away.

My parents got the kids a sand and water table for Easter and we've been delayed in setting it up because of both weather and schedule. It was the perfect time to bring it out.

Of course Sabrina quickly discovered what happens when you mix sand and water: MUD!! It's a mixed blessing to have smart and imaginative kids. (Stevie has also figured out how to open the folding door into our back room--something his sister never even contemplated.)

We completely missed Cheverly Day festivities this year. We were just enjoying being together in the morning and I didn't have the energy to take the kids by myself in the afternoon. I did get to see some of the fireworks, though. Sadly, it was a cloudy, rainy evening and there wasn't much to see. Happily, the kids didn't make a sound.

My parents came over to dinner this evening, which gave us all something to look forward to. After trying to convince Sabrina that playing with a ball was only fun with TWO people, she invented her own version in which she threw the ball and ran (while laughing manically) to pick it up. Yes, my daughter played "fetch" with herself.

Sutch Fun!

2010-05-15T21:58:00.000-04:00

One of the sad things about being a grown-up is that great friends sometimes move away. I can't be too bitter about that considering Kev and I left the area too for a time, but it's still a bummer. HOWEVER--

One of the amazing things about being a grown-up is that even though you don't live close by your friends and can go long spans without talking, when you get back together it's like no time has passed.

Our college friends Brendan and Kelly came down from CT this past week and we had a great time catching up. We were all the same, we just happened to have four children running around our ankles.

Kelly had to go into the office on Friday (the reason for the trip) so Brendan brought Andrew (almost three) and Jack (22 months) over to play...add in Sabrina and Stevie and they were their own happy pack in no time.

It was an enormously pleasant surprise at how well the four kids got along. Not that we were expecting problems, but it was a long afternoon for little kids who were meeting for the first time (in their memory) and with only a few very minor clouds, everyone behaved beautifully. We played in the backyard; when it got too hot, we destroyed the basement; when kids started getting antsy, we had some movie time; when Kelly and Kev arrived, we had dinner and dessert and kept the kids up way past bedtime. Sabrina went to sleep asking when she could play with Andrew again. A successful day.

Andrew and Jack

Brendan plays a "monster" who hides under a blanket, then jumps out growling.

The kids keep the game going by themselves!

On Saturday, we met the Sutch Family and Lara and Nate for a tour around the National Zoo.

Poor Stevie, so tired....

Not even food could rouse him...he slept through lunch!

Lara knew that the running in circles game is a FAVORITE!

A giant pizza play zone by the farm (I never even knew the zoo had a farm area)

Alpacas!

It was exhausting, but still lots of fun (though I do have to say that my favorite part was eating lunch in the shade and actually being able to exchange a few words with the adults).

Ultimately, we might not have changed, but the kids definitely remind us of how much time has passed. It's good to have friends you know you'll have no matter what changes come...though it still sucks that they live so far away.

Finally!

2010-05-12T17:14:00.002-04:00

I think that maybe, just maybe, we may be on the mend...

Mystery Bag

2010-05-10T17:07:00.006-04:00

Sabrina came home from school last Thursday with a mysterious brown paper lunch bag that was decorated with the words "Happy Mother's Day!" I actually waited until Sunday to open it (after Kev checked that there was nothing perishable in it).

The class had planted bean seeds months ago in cups they decorated themselves and had been watching the plants sprout and grow before gifting them to their moms. Sabrina was so proud of her plant and was very excited to give it to me.

As if that wasn't enough, this was also in the bag:

"Sometimes you get discouraged because I am so small,
and always leave my fingerprints on furniture and walls.
But every day I'm growing, and soon I'll be so tall,
that all those little fingerprints will be difficult to recall.
So here's my little hand prints that you can put away,
to remember just how small I was on this 2010 Mother's Day.

I LOVE YOU,
Sabrina"

I cried. Of course I cried.

Being a stay-at-home mom is hard--more so than I had ever imagined--and some days are nothing short of brutal (we've been battling revolving flu/pink eye/head colds for the last month), but feel so blessed to have Sabrina and Stephen in my life. I am just in awe of everything they are and are becoming and I really can't believe that I had anything to do with it. They're really great kids and I'm just trying to hold on to every moment I can...even the crazy ones!

Vehicular Awesomeness

2010-05-07T08:48:00.003-04:00

We have quite a few neighborhood events in Cheverly throughout the year, but none is more eagerly anticipated by the toddler set than TRUCK TOUCH!

It's exactly what it sounds like. The parking lot of the church is filled with every kind of vehicle imaginable and kids are allowed to sit in the driver's seat, push all the buttons, and generally run amok. There's also food and games--all part of a fundraiser for the nursery school.

Last year, Stephen merely observed from his spot in the backpack and Sabrina's reactions were mixed. This year, Stevie is fully obsessed with all vehicles and things that make noise and Sabrina loves school buses (it's a start), and my mom and dad were able to join in the fun...we were all excited!

Who's driving the bus? Stevie's driving the bus!

Stevie figures out how to turn on the radio in the motor home.

And behind him, Sabrina started to dance! They make a good team.

The police car was a fan favorite. The officer LOVED that Stevie was wearing an Eagles shirt and she let him hang out and play with the siren. We had to pry him out of the car.

The magic of the refrigerator truck still stands.

The pièce de résistance: the digger truck!

HOORAY for TRUCK TOUCH!

I want a hamburger. No, cheeseburger. I want a hot dog. I want a milkshake. I want chips...You'll get nothing, and like it!

2010-05-06T22:47:00.002-04:00

Kev here.

From the "Hearing Your Words Come Out of Your Children" file... An amusing exchange on a friend's blog reminded me of a funny thing we heard Sabrina say the other day.

Jess and I like to give Sabrina a choices and let her pick things. When she is interested, she seems to appreciate this too. On occasion, when she refuses, I tell her, "If you don't choose, then you'll get nothing..." Well the other day, Sabrina was offering Stevie something which he in turn refused and we heard Sabrina say to him, "Then you'll get nothin'." Both Jess and I lost it. It was absolutely hilarious coming from a 3 year old.

Jess here.

The next day Sabrina yelled: "MOMMY! Mommy, you HAVE to CALM DOWN. I need you to FOCUS!" ..no idea where she's heard that before :)

Sabrina Ballerina and Captain Adorable

2010-05-01T09:20:00.000-04:00

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! (and Aunt Sarah!!) As you can see, the new jammies are a HIT!

Full House

2010-04-26T19:27:00.007-04:00

Kev's brother Brett is in New York this week for work, so he flew in a few days early and came down to Richboro to see the family. Kev's other brother, Ross, recently sold his house in anticipation of moving for a new job in Connecticut. He and Betsy are in the process of moving themselves, their daughter Lila, their St. Bernards, their three cats and a portion of their stuff to Richboro to live with Kev's parents until his contract ends this summer and they are able to move to their new place in CT.

With everyone in town, we decided that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see everyone, so we drove up to Richboro for the weekend as well. Kev's parents, to their credit, did not run away screaming from the chaos.

Actually, Kev's mom did abandon us for one of the afternoons. She attended a high school reunion event in Philadelphia. She'd told us for at least a month before that this was on her calendar...in fact it was the only immovable thing on her calendar, so if we wanted to plan a visit it had to be any other weekend. Sorry!

Our kids were excited to see their cousin Lila and all the new cool toys that she had brought with her. Lila seemed pleased with Sabrina and Stevie until they started playing with her kitchen stuff. We all were pleased until Stevie decided to use various percussion instruments to the play the piano!

The cats hadn't moved over from Ross and Betsy's old house yet, but the dogs proved more than enough entertainment. Our kids are big, but they're nothing compared to these furry giants. The dogs still astound me with how tolerant they are of rambunctious children! Stephen stepped on Romeo no less than 5 times and Romeo barely lifted his head.

Stephen loved loved LOVED the dogs and kept scrunching up his face and shouting "DOGGIE" as loud as he possibly could. (A/N: someday I'll have a child that comes with a volume control.)

Kev's mom discovered that a local garden store holds periodic free petting zoos. It's brilliant--you are forced to walk a circuitous route through all of the merchandise to get out and come back from the zoo area. Unfortunately for them, we did not buy anything.

It was just the right size and full but not too crowded. Sabrina, Lila, and Stephen all had a blast visiting with the animals, feeding them, and petting them "nice and gently" (which was repeated approx. a million times during our visit).

Oddly enough, the petting zoo had a special "non-petting" section. Guess where Stevie spent a good chunk of his time...

Although the animals were neat, nothing can take the place of trucks in Stevie's heart. There was a small fleet moving dirt and mulch near the petting zoo section. Stevie was mesmerized. Both Kev and Uncle Brett wore their arms out as they held him back from rushing the trucks.

The kids left happy and the animals were left un-maimed, so the adults were happy too.

We all had breakfast together on Sunday morning before Kev's mom left for her reunion. After more play time and a nap (Stevie and I slept, Sabrina boycotted, Kev took the bullet and stayed up with her, bless him) we journeyed to J.C. Penny... more specifically the play space in front of Penny's. It's a free little area for kids to burn off energy after they've burned out their parents.

It didn't look particularly impressive to me, but I am not its target audience. Sabrina and Lila took a few minutes to settle in, but Stevie took off immediately. There was climbing and sliding and climbing and sliding and running to be undertaken in a seemingly endless loop. The girls soon caught up with him.

Finally dinner and a little more play time before Brett headed for the train and we headed for home.

The boys calculated that it was the first time in twelve years that they had all spent the night in the house at the same time!

Not a Baby Anymore

2010-04-22T08:04:00.001-04:00

Stevie is a year and a half old. Unbelievable.

Stevie's 18 month check-up went well. I still love Dr. Cliff (the new pediatrician) and Dr. Cliff said that Stevie is perfect. Here are his vitals (Stephen's not Dr. Cliff's):

Height: 34" (75th percentile)
Weight: 27lb. 8oz. (50th percentile)

Stephen's always seemed older than his actual age to me. Some of that is because he's trying to keep up with his older sister. He's not going to sit still while she's off having fun without him. Some of that is because he's so very "boy" and is physically fearless (God help me).

But at the same time, he's my baby. I have a hard time remembering that we thought Sabrina was so old and mature by this age. He's completely past baby stage now and is barreling right through toddler. It's fantastic to witness, but makes me sad too.

Stevie has quite a collection of words now. They probably still sound like gibberish to outside ears, but we can generally figure out what he's trying to say. Children are awfully patient when it comes to repeating something over and over and over again until their parents figure out what they want.

Unfortunately, Stevie's developed a bit of a rage problem when he finally communicates what he wants but the answer is "No". It's hard being little and having no real control over your environment. His stormy moods are short-lived, but it does make me miss the 6-17 month stage where he was happy pretty much all the time.

Even though he can say "yes" and "no", Stevie does an exaggerated head shake that he perfected ages ago. I finally caught a clip--it's amusing every time.

Stevie's favorite thing remains Sabrina...generally harassing Sabrina, but really anything to get her attention. He is obsessed with Kev and with trucks, loves making as big of a mess as humanly possible, and objects to not being allowed to stay at nursery school when we drop Sabrina off.

Overall, he's just fun to have around. Happy 1/2 birthday kiddo!

A Trip In Name Only

2010-04-17T20:34:00.003-04:00

Kev here.

As many of you know, I travel a far amount for work. Most of my trips lately have been to New York or Chicago. Every once in a while I get to go to somewhere cool. Usually, these trips sound better on paper than they really are.

My latest such trip was to Puerto Rico. Everyone I told about this trip seemed jealous. I tried to downplay this since this was a business trip after all.

Here is my view of the ocean:

Here is my view of the bay where they dock the cruise ships:

Here is my view of the pool shower/rinse off thing:

We were also across the street from the Convention Center.

These are literally all of my photos. These were taken from my hotel window or as I walked by. I did get one really nice dinner at BLT in the Ritz Carlton and I did win a little bit at the blackjack table in the casino one night. Otherwise, I was in back-to-back-to-back-to-back meetings. Oh, and I did get two 2+ hour layovers in Atlanta. Ah Puerto Rico... good times.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

2010-04-16T10:44:00.000-04:00

On a gorgeous spring day about a week and a half ago, my friend Anna suggested we bring the kids to the Aquatic Gardens to run around. Normally we all go to the Arboretum, but we thought it would be fun to try someplace new. I was surprised that it was only about 10 minutes away...I don't instinctively look towards driving into D.C. for stuff to do.

Of course the Ben and Sabrina and Stevie took off running the second we got there.

The gardens cover a huge space made up of large ponds separated by paths along higher ground and surrounded by trees. It's a bit brown and desolate, but should be much prettier a little later in the season. There's a water lily festival in June or July that we'll probably try to see.

Surprisingly, simple nature has a lot to entertain kids. We saw a beaver lodge...

Found cool stumps to climb on...

Ran like crazy along the looooong board walks...

Saw lots of geese (they're nesting right now, so we kept a wide berth)...

And even got up close and personal with a beaver (stuffed, in the nature center)!

It's a great space to let the kids run and explore and get totally exhausted. The only problem I had was that my kids hit their absolute end point when we were at the FAR end of the gardens. Ben's baby sister Maddie was in a stroller, so he hopped on and got a ride from his mom back to the parking lot. I had to carry Stevie and half-drag a drooping Sabrina. My arms felt like they were going to fall off by the time we finally made it back to the car!

All in all, though, a good adventure for the day.

The Big Hopper

2010-04-06T08:25:00.001-04:00

Easter fell the same week as Passover this year, so it was a bit of a crazy time--crazy, but fun.

On Saturday, we went to the Cheverly Easter Egg Hunt at the community center. The first 30 minutes was a meet and greet with the Easter Bunny himself. I thought the kids would be a bit freaked out by the giant "bunny" (it's not the cutest costume), but they were absolutely in LOVE! They hung around the guy's feet and then followed him around the gym like he was a rock star.

Kev and I had to divide forces because the kids are in different age groups for the egg hunt. Sabrina definitely got her exercise as she zoomed to bring her eggs to Kev for safe-keeping. Stevie got the concept of collecting the eggs pretty quickly and had a fine time.

One of the eggs that Sabrina collected was extra-large and had her age group written on it. Kev thought it might have been a marker of some type and almost made her put it back. Good thing he didn't -- it meant that she won first prize for her age group!! Her special prize...a GIGANTIC rabbit that she has appropriately named Hopper.

The older kids did not seemed thrilled by their rabbits

Saturday night we went to my parents' house for egg dying and our traditional Good Friday dinner of potato pancakes and eggs (it's easier for everyone to get together on Sat.). My mom out did herself and always and the kids had lots of fun making a mess and stuffing themselves silly.

On Sunday morning Sabrina and I went to Mass while Kev stayed home with Stevie. She was unbelievably good. She loved seeing all the beautiful dresses the other girls were wearing. She LOVED the music: "Mommy! Mommy! It's the butterfly song!!" (from Little Einsteins) "They're playing my song!" Even when the two boys in front of us were acting up Sabrina just read her book. To top it off she requested that we go again! I absolutely couldn't have been prouder of her.

Off to church

Sunday afternoon was with the extended family at my grandmother's house. As expected Sabrina and Stevie had a frenetically good time with my cousin's boys. We also had perfect weather for an egg hunt in the yard.

I love this picture. It so captures our children.

It's been an exciting (and exhausting) week. We all had fun, but I think it's good that we don't have anything big planned for a bit. :)

Skip Like Young Sheep

2010-03-31T10:36:00.002-04:00

Kev's Aunt Bobbie hosted the Passover Seder again this year and we were there with bells on... Well, okay, no bells, but in nice spring clothes. The kids looked adorable (if I do say so myself).

Sabrina'd had a love/hate relationship with her dress, but once she saw her cousin Lila in a pretty dress, she fell in love with her dress all over again. The two girls stood and admired each other's dresses and complimented each other...it was hysterical.

Of course Stevie couldn't let himself get left out. He gave both girls high-fives.

Kev, Sabrina, Stevie and I were all wearing various shades of blue, but Uncle Joe, Uncle Jerry, and Matt took it to another level entirely.

Sabrina was excited for her grape juice, but we switched her to apple juice before any damage could be done.

The Seder started around the time the kids normally go to bed. We'd been plying them with food ahead of time, but there were lots of stories to keep them quiet during the readings.

Sabrina and Lila got in some more playtime together while the adults were all eating.

By the time we left at 9:00 p.m. all the kids were well into kookie mode.

Kev had to go into work on Tuesday, so we drove straight home to Maryland after the meal. We were all exhausted and the kids fell asleep in the car almost immediately. We were worried that they wouldn't transfer to their beds without a fuss, but were pleasantly surprised when the process went smoothly.

It was a shame we couldn't stay over one more night, but it was nice to have three days with Kev's folks. We definitely made the most of them!