Amelia Turns Five!

Amelia turned 5 on the 26th and celebrated with a flower fairy party! We did fairy crafts and a couple of games (musical flowers and pin the horn on the unicorn) and had a fairy lunch. Of course, Mommy had to make a special cake…

Amelia and her friends had a lot of fun and she was most surprised with her special present from Daddy, "Sunny" the hamster.

Now, we're recovering…

ps. Aunt Kate– Check out the birthday dress! (Thank you!)

Honey Buns and Peter Pan

True love: Amelia and Honey Buns

And the winner is…

My cute 2 year-old

On the way home from Grammy's

The offspring of yuppie's: toddler playing games on the iphone!

Well, we are finally not sick! But busy as usual around here. We hamster-sat for the neighbors and Amelia fell head-over-heels. Keith actually had to put two padlocks on the cage because she couldn't put him down. There is such a thing as too much love…

The girls also had a nice overnight with Grammy (a nice break for Mommy and Daddy!) It went so well, they stayed another night and Grammy thoroughly wore them out (see above). It was a good aversion (being around Abby and Grammy) after the HoneyBuns visit!

I've been working at Churchmouse regularly now (Mondays while the girls are in school) and it's been a nice aversion for me (from the mundane)! I'm once again knitting up a storm; doing lots of samples for the store, and feeling more like a "mouse" again. To be a part of the "Mouse" club I decided to knit the Elizabeth Zimmerman fair isle yoke sweater with all the rest of the staff for the display and contest. It's so cool to see all the different color palettes that every one uses. They are all very unique and beautiful. There was a people's choice award (they vote on their fav) and guess who won! Yes, it's true! Somehow, mine got the most votes (well, I know that one of the votes was mom!) The prize was a $50 gift certificate for Churchmouse, but because I'm on staff, we donated it to the helpline house.

Well, we are gearing up for Amelia's 5th birthday next week. I can't believe my baby is going to be 5!! And on that note, Simone is at the PEAK of cuteness!! I just can't get enough of her. I wish I could bottle her little voice! I've posted two video that give a little glimpse of her. She is completely obsessed with princesses and Peter Pan (we took them to see a high school production a few weeks ago). She changes her name daily – rarely answers to "Simone." We have to call her Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Prince Philip, or Cheese (the mouse from the Tinkerbell movie). She has such a great imagination and spends countless hours playing with her little princesses and polly pockets and Barbies.

Too Busy!!

Amelia holds baby Maggy, 7 weeks old.

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. What – a month? or something like that!
Well, it's a testament to how busy we've been. We've had a jillion birthday parties to go to; almost every weekend, it seems! Above, you can get a glimpse of a couple of them. The girls had fun going to Chuck E. Cheese on a Thursday at noon for a fellow preschool classmates birthday. I think Simone was more into Chuck E. than anyone else there! It was pretty cute. Then we went to a "ballerina" birthday. All the girls wore dress up ballerina clothes (or princess, for Simone) and there was a "surprise guest" (a teenager who danced in the Nutcracker) who came and taught the girls a few moves. But it was pretty clear that Simone was stealing the show!

I've been working a lot more at Churchmouse, including teaching a few classes. The girls don't like me being gone so much, and Keith isn't too thrilled being a stay-at-home daddy while trying to get his new photography sites going, so I'm not going to commit to so many days next month. (Plus, I just don't make enough money for all of the hasle!) Oh well, we tried!

Hopefully, I can get to taking more pix of the girls and getting back into blogging!

Happy New Year!

As I went to upload all our Christmas photos, I realized they are all on Keith's computer still. The first week of break, we were pretty much snowed in, with over a foot of snow! The second week, every one got sick (except for me). We couldn't even get together with Grammy and Papa Jack until New Year's Eve! We had a bit of a meager Christmas, since times are tight right now. Of course, the kids don't notice. It's amazing what inexpensive things you can find that impress the kids! Amelia, however, had been begging for an American Girl Doll. She was convinced that Santa was going to bring her one, although I tried to brainwash her otherwise! (the dolls are $100!) But Santa (Grammy) came to the rescue and found a look-a-like for $20! Amelia named her "Charlotte" and is totally in love with her "Un" American Girl Doll and doesn't even know the difference!

New Year's Day, every one was beginning to feel better, so we went to a Klesmer Band (Sasson) concert. The kids LOVED it (and so did we!). We danced for a couple of hours – Keith felt like he was back "with his people!"

My Little Sugar Plum Fairies

Self explanatory!

After a lot of begging and pleading,
I got Keith to take some new portraits of the girls

Simone wearing the stockings. They are stockings, after all!

Tree trimming attire. Isn't this what you wear when you decorate the tree?

Amelia sporting the new, well, I'm not sure what it's called.
My friend got it in Abu Dahbi.

Our house today! REAL SNOW!

Turkeys and Nutcrackers

Thanksgiving at Grammy's

Amelia loves Abby (Grammy's puppy)

Amelia's pix: #1 Chesnuts roasting on a (not) open fire

Amelia pix #2 The new playroom

Amelia pix #3 The new playroom

Amelia's first bus ride

Amelia waits to watch the Nutcracker

Amelia and Ellie after the show

Amelia and Ellie are in awe on the Monorail

Amelia and Mommy on the Westlake Carousel

Walking back to the ferry at sunset

I realized I'd better get these pictures up quick because there's going to be lots more December pictures!

Amelia and I spent the WHOLE day in Seattle on Friday. We went with a big group of our friends and I think it was the biggest adventure Amelia has ever been on! We took the ferry over at 9:30 and took the city bus (Amelia's first bus ride!) to Top Pot Donuts where she picked out the biggest, pinkest, sprinkliest donut they had. After the kids got their sugar fill, we walked to the Seattle Center and over to McCall Hall for the Nutcracker performance. It was the first time Amelia had ever seen "the Fountain" (I feel like such a lame mom!) and she could have sat there all day watching it without ever getting to the Nutcracker! But we did see it, and she loved it. (she's been dancing around the house in costume as "The Sugar Plum Fairy" ever since).

After the show, we paired up with our friends Ellie and her mom, Leigh. We watched the train go around in the Center House, then took the Monorail to Westlake Center. Then, Amelia about had a heart attack when she asked if we could have sushi and I actually said "yes!" (the Westlake food court isn't exactly as pricey as Shima) She scarfed down broiled eel and california rolls and miso soup all the while thanking me profusely. Then, we hit the carousel, and then headed back to the ferry as we took in the amazing sunset over Elliot Bay. We munched on our leftover donuts on the ferry and then I gave her one last choice for the day. Did she want Daddy to pick us up? or did she want to take the bus home? I'm sure you can guess what her answer was. We sat in the back of the bus next to some semi-crazy in the pitch black. She loved it, though, and especially when she got to pull the cord to let us off and that we got to borrow a flashlight to find our way up the driveway.

That night when I put her to bed, she couldn't stop talking about the days events and finally said "Mommy, I'm a-zosted!"