Celebrating Lia's Gotcha Day

Lia enjoys arts and crafts so we decided to take the girls to the Crayola Factory yesterday.   We were all so excited to see this crazy, unusual yellow building smack in the middle of downtown Easton, PA.  Before we went in the building, we just had to stand by our favorite crayon color!

   What a fun place to visit!  We started at the top floor and worked our way down.  The biggest hit of the day was to make your own wrapper for a crayon...Lia and Rosie got to pick a crayon and then think of unusual names for it.  (Reminds me of the fun Benjamin Moore paint colors that instantly makes you smile)!  Lia named her purple crayon (of course), and then Rosie got a great idea to make a celebratory crayon for Lia, "Lia's Gotcha Day".  It actually has the date on it too!  The girls started to make crayons for each other then!!!

We also went to "Color Magic" and colored in a fairy coloring page.  Keith scanned the fairy onto a computer and then we chose the option of selfie as a background.  The girls loved seeing their own fairy come alive and fly around them!

They also made a coloring page of themselves with a rock and roll background.  It definitely was a magical place for them to be! Somehow we escaped spending a ton of money at the gift shop by buying a few extra special crayons.  The gift shop itself was an experience of creativity too.  Ok, I know I sound like a commercial, but this place was rocking it for our girls!  (Btw, if you are a teacher, you can get in for free...I found this out too late, but I'm glad I can pass this on to you, in case you are a teacher). 

 This morning, Rosie graciously told Lia that it's still her Gotcha Day, giving her permission to celebrate some more.  The bottom line here is that we have thankfulness in our hearts that Lia is our precious daughter!  God bless you Lia!  

Wishing Rosie Many Rosy Tomorrows!

  

We had a family party for Rosie, and she beamed throughout the night.  The best part was to be celebrating with our friends and family.

Rosie blew one candle out at a time, carefully!

Lia definitely had a back up plan.  We have her kid party this weekend, and Rosie's so excited!

We Whisk You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yes, I did put the flour on their faces...

And our runner up photos that didn't make it...but I do love! It sure is funny how they chose to work together on a little piece of dough! Hysterical! 

And this photo cracks me up, you know why...those tools are looking like, eh, a Three Stooges pre-event.  The looks on their faces leave lots of room for interpretation; especially Rosie's face.  

Notice the clips of our rigged up back drop.  We actually had a ladder on one side and a string on the other side, attached to the drapery rod.  

And this Christmas/New Year's post would not be complete without this photo of the girls' "Real Santa" as they tell me.  

Here they are today, thrilled that I'm finally letting them eat candy! The week before Christmas, Rosie and Lia had made these gingerbread houses at school.  Keith volunteered in both classes.  (BTW, he's loving retirement!).

These were Keith's favorite photos for our year in review...

The Catskill Mountain Train, Martha's Vineyard, and a Yankees game...

From our family to yours, Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Happy Birthday Lia!

Lia's favorite TV show is Wild Kratts on PBS Kids, so we just had to have a Wild Kratts party this year!  She was especially excited about her Wild Kratt's tortuga cake that Keith put together.  Lia and I put the toy figurines around the cake.  On the big dining room table, I made a zebra tablecloth. I also made the banner. Rosie helped me shop for presents. I picked up 20 animal print balloons and squeezed them into the Jeep! The girls were so full of joy when I brought them in the house.  Rosie kept asking "How many more minutes?" and Lia was getting anxious! The anticipation was so much fun!!!

 It was pouring rain when the guests came, but we had such a great time. The highlight of the night was when Uncle Tim sang the Wild Kratts theme song; Lia was hysterical to think that her Uncle was so hip! It was so special to have our family and friends share this special day with us.  

Stay tuned for more photos to come!

Happy 6th Gotcha Day Lia!

This was 6 years ago...this was a moment that took our breath away.  I remember going through a revolving door of the hotel to meet Lia, and feeling that my heart was going to explode.  My heart was so overwhelmed.  What a beautiful journey we have been on.

Today, Lia decided that she wanted to celebrate by getting a manicure with Rosie.  The girls were both so excited!

We went out to dinner to one of her favorite restaurants; a Thai restaurant in Rhinebeck.  

Check out those pretty fingernails with flowers on the ring fingers!

Finnish Coils, Brass Rings and Bimini Games

Last week, we took the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard. We usually go every year.  Nothing changes on the island but we always do find new adventures!

On the spur of the moment, we decided to skip lunch at the Black Dog Tavern, and instead grab a sandwich and then spend an afternoon on the Black Dog's Alabama.  It's a tall ship that is used to teach kids about sailing; all hands on!  The girls learned how to hoist a sail and make a Finnish coil.  Of course, I loved seeing everyone work together, and work hard, so that the rewards could be reaped.  (A great lesson on cleaning up the house, haha!)

The finished Finnish coil will have 3 layers of coiled circles when these sailors are done...

Yes, that is Rosie in "the dog house"!  It has a bed inside.  Rosie loved being in there.

The sister ship, Shenandoah caught up to us and sailed right along side.  The crew members were so excited, since this rarely happens. 

Keith happened to be wearing his black dog shirt from 2014, and one of the crew had on the same color shirt...watch out Keith, that might mean that you have to stay on the Alabama for the summer...

We went to Flying Horses and Rosie got the brass ring 2 times!  Rosie was so surprised!

Swinging on the Black Dog dock...

Hanging out on Harborview's porch overlooking the Edgartown Lighthouse...

and having fun with mommy on Menemsha's beach.  

One evening, we also were lucky enough to catch some "Back Door Donuts" and then ate them in their bakery.

    The biggest hit was the bimini ring board at our favorite restaurant, Among the Flowers. (That's the board to the right of Lia's head.  It has a hook on it, and the tree branch has a string with a ring attached. You've got the idea now!).   The girls got really good at it and spent a lot of time playing with it.  We had a "3 try" rule that somehow went very smoothly.  The girls are very close, and are best friends, so they have gotten very good at sharing.  

    The busride to Aquinnah is unbelievable, with gorgeous views and much anticipation.  Since we stay in Edgartown, it's a long trip from one end of the island to the other.  Every bus driver that we've ever had usually speeds out there for some reason.  The windy, hilly road at the end of the ride is so memorable, and we hold on to not fall off the seats.  As always, we took the annual corny lighthouse family shot and then went to the beach.  Out of all the beaches on the island, I love visiting "Gayhead" the best.  The beach is so beautiful, and I'm constantly in awe of the clay cliffs.  It ranks up there with fireflies and rainbows...totally magical.

On the last day, it poured as we were leaving. (Last year, the same thing happened. I actually was scared to go on the ferry!)  It almost felt like a good reason that we should just stay one more day...

Christmas Time is Here!

We started the season with a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express.  As the train pulled out of the station, the conductor punched words in their tickets!  The girls were in total disbelief throughout the trip. It was such a magical time.  

The girls just are so excited to see Santa!  He does look rather tired, doesn't he? Or done in with all the kids that sat on his lap...

I love how Santa is looking so cautiously at Rosie; I think he's onto her game...

Lia and Rosie often hold hands.   They are very close and have such a good time with each other.

It's been like having twins.

 If they were asked, these 2 would love to volunteer and help Santa on Christmas Eve night...they've lately been so helpful around the house!  

Uncle Tim bought the girls their dresses.  We are going to spend Christmas Eve at his house with my family. The drive is only an hour away but it's going to be the longest hour of traveling for them!  He always celebrates in grand style.   They are so looking forward to it.  It will be a very exciting evening!  

Merry Christmas!

                   

Little Pumpkins

So much has gone on in the past couple of  months. Keith and I decided that we wanted to move  since we wanted to be closer to our jobs and church.  So throughout the summer, we decluttered and updated the house.  Our house looked so amazing that after a week of having it listed, we got offers!  We found a few houses that we were watching, but suddenly sold.

At the same time, school started, and Lia and Rosie went to a new neighborhood school (last year Lia was in Kindergarten at my school, but we were paying tuition there); a quaint country school with wonderful teachers.  Lia is now in first grade and Rosie is in Kindergarten.  They love riding on the bus together and their classrooms are diagonally across from each other.  The school is so small that they see each other at lunch and recess. How awesome is that?  Keith shifted his hours so that the girls are not in a before or afterschool program.  It's been so nice to have them grounded with just us.
For all these reasons and even other reasons that came up, we decided that it wasn't the right time to move.   We are keeping an open mind about still moving in the future, but yet we are ok with staying.  We are content and have peace about it all.

I love how Rosie started to assimulate my crazy organizing, decorating and decluttering.  I can't take credit for all of the work I did this summer.  I used the KonMari Method from the book"the life-changing magic of tidying up" by marie kondo.  It sure has been a life changing book for me as well as Rosie!

This is a neighborhood farm that I've always treasured.  How cute is this Pumpkin House for our little pumpkins?!

...and a local Fall Festival nearby, which included a hayride of course.  Rosie as a scarecrow just cracks me up!  A bird just sitting on her arm????  I've never seen her so still!!!!!!

These are some of the things that I just love in our neighborhood.  

Happy Fall everyone! 

This is also the month of Lia turning 6.  Needless to say, the toothfairy has been coming to our house a lot lately.  And our pumpkin is as happy as can be...

Summertime!

Here's a few memorable photos of the girls enjoying summer.

Enjoying our homemade mango pops...

 Our staycation includes a private beach...

 Accomplishments are sometimes really huge...

Lia and Rosie at the mall..Lia almost knocked down a Sunglass Hut!  

(The last time we saw these cutie motorized animals was in Shanghai, 2 years ago, before adopting Rosie.  Keith and Lia took a ride on a simular one).

Endings and New Beginnings; a continuation

Today Rosie graduated from Pre-K.  Rosie has been looking forward to Graduation for a few weeks now, and has been telling us that a lightening bug is also called a firefly.  Well, we found out why she kept telling us; this was part of her graduation ceremony.   They all told us some "Did you know..." information about bugs.  It was very informative!!!!  

This frame was a gift to us.  You can almost envision her as a high school graduate.  

(BTW, when Lia saw the frame later on, she was totally mesmerized by the jewels and the photo of Rosie.  "Wow, jewels!", and then she put it in her backpack!  Rosie took it all in stride).  

The Pre-K'ers also sang songs for us, got a diploma and then we were off to eat cake.

Rosie got herself situated awfully quickly for the cake and was more than content to eat it by herself, with her balloon by her side...

but then Daddy joined her.  

Tomorrow (June 23) is Lia's last day of school.  It's so bittersweet to know that Lia will be in First Grade.  Here's Lia at the end of the year Class Picnic.  She was so proud of contributing her dad's famous cake pops!  

Lia's favorite teacher in all the world, enjoying a cake pop!

June 23; Lia's bus driver was so wonderful to Lia, all year long.

                                               

July 13; Here's Rosie's new beginnings of starting a Summer  Bridge Program.  She is just ooozing self confidence!  She was so excited to get on the bus today (July 13th).  I love her hand on her hip.  She cracks us all up!!!  She might be little, but she is fierce!  Lia and I were then racing off to VBS at our church.

August 6; Today was Rosie's last day of Summer Bridge.  She is looking like she is ready to take on the world!  Same pose, 4 weeks later.  

She has so enjoyed the program.  Every day, we would wait with such excitement to get picked up by the bus.  Rosie is going to miss her teachers and friends, and her bus driver, April (she first thought that her name was Nancy; every bus driver was Nancy, according to Rosie)...

She was so disappointed to not go home on the bus today but thrilled to have me visit for a last day celebration.

Although I'm going to really, really miss the excitement of waiting at the bus stop (and seeing how they dress, what they bring with them, and how they interact), 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer; more time to enjoy vacations, homemade ice pops, playgrounds, swimming in the pool, and close friends...

There's a time to post, and a time not to post...

It's been so busy here! Lia and Rosie have been growing up so fast, and we are truly trying to enjoy every second of it.

Mother's Day was super special.  I was invited to Rosie's school for a Mother's Day tea. Two weeks before the tea, it started..."You are coming to my tea!" she said with a lot of pride and enthusiasm.   She has the most energetic little hop that alternates with one foot in front and one in back, and lingers for about 2 minutes.  It's become a classic Rosie move.

The photo says it all.  Rosie and I have bonded.  Not to say that Rosie hasn't bonded with Keith...they are super close!  She often runs into his arms with her crazy energy! And, ay-yi-yi, Lia and Rosie are inseperable.  They both sometimes cry in the morning, just thinking of being seperated...

We went to the Vanderbilt Mansion for a Mother's Day picnic with our good friend Carol.  Carol was cracking up about all the photos I took.  But it was such a dream like day to me.  I'm not really a photo person, really.  (Come on guys, when we have a birthday party, I don't even pick my iPhone up for one photo, and then wish I did later.  I have to steal a photo to post).  

Snacking out with Carol is always a lot of fun!!!! (No, those are not shot glasses!)

Lia is always up to a game of hide and seek with me!

This photo just shows you a day in the life of the girls. The thought of Rosie usually lightens everyones heart.  If things are quiet in your life, just swing on over to see her in action.  She's not quiet, and loves to move, even if it means pulling Lia!  

Lia has one more month of Kindergarten at my school.  She has gotten so attached to her friends and teacher, and has a favorite series of books that she is trying to desperately read.  At home, she sometimes finds a corner in a room, loads it with pillows and a doll, and then sits quietly, practicing her reading.  Yesterday, Rosie was curious, and Lia decided that it would be quite alright to read her book to Rosie.  I watched around the corner for a long moment, and then quietly ran to get my iPhone.  I missed taking the photo completely.  Rosie was onto something else, and so was Lia!

Sometimes it's best to just enjoy the moment, and smile.