A policeman, a duck and a mommy go to Family Fun Night

Luli and Fiona's school hosted a few family fun night Halloween events this week. We went tonight and had a great time. However, getting homework done, dinner fed and out the door by 5:30pm was no easy task! We got there and picked out our pumpkins and started in the pumpkin painting room, which is when Daddy met up with us. We saw many of our preschool friends there, though they were disguised as transformers, firemen, Minny Mouse, Princesses, and Superman. The girls did great jobs painting their pumpkins and Miss Cindy said it right, they looked more like porcelain than pumpkins! Needless to say these didn't dry by the time we were departing, so they'll come home tomorrow.

After pumpkin painting we made bats, and their wings are the shape of our hands! Luli and Fiona both did a great job with this! With two crafts under our belt we headed into the snack room. We found apple cider and lots of sweets! After an energy boost we tried to get on a hayride but it was full...so on to the final craft. This one was to create pumpkins on a fence. The craft corresponds to a song that Luli and Fiona have learned in their classes at the farm. I helped Fiona with her's and I would call it more of a collage than pumpkins on a fence, though I really like it! Luli and Oscar worked on one and it also came out lovely. Attempt number two at the hayride, again no such luck. It was getting late so we chatted with Miss Cindy and Miss Fran for a few moments and then were on our way home for bedtime.

Miss Cindy said tomorrow they're voting for Blue's Clues vs. Elmo, I'll let you know who wins!

Mess Mess Mess

We were in the playroom and Luli said "FIONA! Let's make a mess!" and Fiona responded "YEA!" and they proceeded to pour their toys around the floor and shuffle through them. They were giggling so hard that I couldn't see the harm. That is until they really poured EVERY toy on the floor and were headed for the books, then it was time to clean up!

Pumpkin Time!

This afternoon we carved our pumpkins! After nap the girls got up and had their snack on the deck. It's been a beautiful day with high 60's temps (quite different from the past week). The girls picked out all the pumpkins earlier in the day from the grocery store, two big ones for Mommy and Daddy and small ones for the girls. Once the girls were sufficiently snacked we started the design process. Mommy and Luli teamed up to create a "Happy" pumpkin and Fiona and Daddy teamed to create a "sad" pumpkin. Apparently the sad pumpkin's mommy wouldn't let him be a duck for Halloween!

Luli really wanted to cut but that's a bit advanced so she settled for popping out all the pieces. It seemed a good compromise because she didn't whine for cutting anymore and was totally into the whole process. Also different from years past with Luli and pumpkin cutting, she was really into cleaning out the pumpkin. She still isn't into putting her hands in but she efficiently scooped with a big spoon. Fiona definitely wasn't into putting her hands in the pumpkin but enjoyed holding the spoon next to Daddy as he worked.

Once the pumpkins were carved we did some photo taking and added our pumpkin family to our family portraits. Once the sun set we lit them up and they look pretty cool!

Peanut Brittle

Oscar has been wanting peanut brittle. Apparently he REALLY wanted it because he and the girls made it this weekend. I had planned on making it on Halloween. The girls were really adorable helping out as best they could. Everyone donned their aprons, and the little ones pulled up chairs to the counter and then stove area to help prep and watch Daddy stir. For a first attempt it came out pretty good.

Luli's First Race

On Saturday October 18, Luli ran her very first race!

Oscar had registered to run the Stone Ridge 5k Race for Education and we thought it would be great to register Luli for the 1k Fun Run. She got her very own race packet with tee-shirt and bib number! South Riding Pediatrics also gave a baseball cap, which she insisted on wearing for the race.It was really adorable and she was so excited.

Nahnah and Pahpah were even in town to watch the big event. They were returning home from vacation and stayed with us for the weekend. The morning of the race Nahnah could hear Luli in her bed, wake up and say, "Fiona today I'm going to run a race!" How adorable! It was a beautiful day and It was pretty cold in the morning and the sun wasn't shining on our course yet, so it felt even colder. While we waited to line up Luli and Fiona sat in the stroller with coats and blankets. Prior to lining up Luli and Oscar stretched their limbs, to avoid any injury from this grueling 1k race! Time came to line up and Luli and I took off our coats and hopped in line. The race started and we were off, she did so great! We ran the entire way and had a lot of fun holding hands, but sometimes letting go to run like a real runner (this is fists clenched, bent at the elbow, and slightly held out from the body - think John McCain in debates). It was an out and back course and on the return the wind was in our faces and Luli kept repeating "I'm so cold Mommy." But her smiled never faded. When we crossed the finish line we held up our arms Rocky style and screamed in victory. Then she received a very cherished prize, the gold medal. The gold medal has been shown off to anyone around, slept with and brought to school. It was very exciting! Nahnah took great pictures of Luli and I running I just have to get them from her.

Oh and Oscar ran a great race too!

Luli Sings...

Do you remember the song "This Old Man?" Well this is how Luli is currently singing it and it CRACKS ME UP!
Miss old man
Miss old man
He played nine
He played knick knack on my tongue
With a knick knack patty pack give a dog a phone
Miss old man went rolling home

Hiking in Sky Meadows

It has certainly been unseasonably hot these past few days! We took advantage and went on a hike, it turned out to be a beautiful fun day for all of us. We set out for Sky Meadows State Park on Sunday and did a hike that we did last November with the girls. This year the girls did considerably more hiking. Luli did super, she hiked at least 80% of the hike, and Fiona did pretty well for her age. When the hike was too steep (up or down) Oscar and I carried the girls. Luli chose to go with me in the Ergo (and remarkably she and I were very comfortable) and Fiona in the Sherpani. Fiona took a nice nap on the downward hike but that was it for the sleep that would be had - more on that later!

We enjoyed a lovely picnic on the hillside. It was beautiful to watch the leaves float down from the trees and be surrounded by the beautiful golden hues of Autumn. We did a family photo, which I think came out great and could possibly be our holiday card this year...ironically, it's the same place we took last year's picture! Just a beautiful surrounding.

At the end of the hike we were rewarded with several treats. A local winery had a free wine tasting, very yummy! And they gave away some winery coupons...which we plan to use very soon. A second lovely treat was homemade ice cream! Luli chose chocolate, Fiona chose orange cream, I chose pumpkin and Oscar had fresh peach. All of it was so yummy! I loved the pumpkin and Fiona's peach was pretty awesome. While we enjoyed all of our edible treats we laid on our picnic blanket and listened to some fiddle and guitar music. Luli unfortunately missed when the played the Bumble Bee song! Oscar also took the girls into the hay and barrel play area, it started to get rowdy in there so their playtime wasn't super long. While they were playing I indulged in something I NEVER get to do...RELAXATION! I laid down on our picnic blanket which was under this beautiful tree with yellow leaves, I watched the yellow leaves with the amazing blue sky behind and listened to the music. It was an amazing feeling to just lay there and enjoy the beauty.

The girls really had lovely attitudes the entire day which made it an even more enjoyable experience. Like I said earlier there was no napping and while Luli dealt pretty well with that, Fiona did not. Her socks were really annoying her in the car and she went into a lovely tantrum about it. Oscar and I had had enough so he took the remaining sock off, figuring removal of annoying object will stop the situation (or at least tame it). Clearly this was the wrong move, because it has the opposite effect. Fiona went into the possessed by the devil tantrum which then led to the inevitable vomit...lovely! The girls got home, ate dinner and went to bed 2 hrs early (but slept until 7:15am!). Oscar and I enjoyed a quiet dinner and went to bed early also!

This picture is pretty much how cooperative the girls were at taking a nice picture together. The rest of the pictures came out really beautiful, so I will get around to adding them into an album and linking them up on the side...all these things to do!

Halloween Preview

Ok, I couldn't resist putting this up now!

Making Gifts for Friends

My dear friend Monsio just added adorable twins to her family. Luli, Fiona and I went to visit Monsio, Tony, Toni Sahai, Michael, Laila and Lathan yesterday and shower them with love and gifts. I took the opportunity to learn more about my sewing machine and branch out with a few more projects. For the twins I made matching boy/girl bibs and burp cloth/lovey's. I used chenille for the burpy/lovey and let Monsio decide whether or not she'll use for burping or for something the twins can attach to. I used the Bend the Rules pattern for the bib, my first time adding snaps! But I designed the burpy/lovey myself. I'm pretty happy with how each came out.

For Toni Sahai I made her a smock/apron that she can wear while helping her Mommy make yummy Liberian food (so good!). I again made this from the Bend the Rules book, the same as the ones I made for my girls. I like the way this one came out better, mainly because of the pockets. This fabric really reminded me of Toni Sahai also, it's bright and cheery just like her.

With my limited knowledge of boys and boy stuff I was a wee bit stumped on what to make for Michael, so I decided on making the turtle from Bend the Rules. It was my first time making a stuffed animal and frankly it was tough! I had to cut up the body once and re-do it. It almost sent me to the loony bin! In the end I was pretty happy with the outcome and I learned a lot from that project.

To sweeten the deal and bring something for the very busy momma! I made her, her favorite cake...the pumpkin cake (it is one of my best). I didn't photo it but frankly tis the season for this cake and it'll get made again and again! I also made a yummy breakfast apple bread using the apples from our apple picking trip. We had a lovely visit with lots of baby holding and swing set playing! I can't wait to see those babies (and big kids of course) again soon! But wouldn't you know I forgot my camera that day! GRRR!

Busy Saturday

This Saturday was a very busy day for us, but LOTS of fun! In the morning we went apple picking at Hartland Orchards with our friends. The weather was absolutely perfect for apple picking.The girls loved running through the trees, climbing the trees and picking apples. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in the orchard and then Luli and Hannah were climbing the trees. They both got rather daring and tried to climb as high as they could. It was really adorable to watch them! Fiona really wanted to climb too and we helped her into a few branches.

After we picked enough we ventured to the hayride. I didn't expect to actually ride it because when Luli rode on a hayride at camp this summer she apparently freaked out the entire time. This time both girls loved it. When the hayride was over we filled up our apple bag with a few Fuji apples (we couldn't find those trees). The orchard was also making their cider right then so we watched the process, and then saw they were also starting the process of making apple butter...YUM!

We bought some cider and regrettably did not buy any apple butter.

We got home for naptime, and then immediately Oscar and I started work on the apple cake we were bringing to dinner at our friends Jeanine and Keshav's house. The cake was a lot of work but it was well worth it, not only did it look great, it tasted great too! We played on the playground with Abhi and wore all the kids out so they ate dinner pretty well. Poor Abhi didn't have an afternoon nap so he was very sleepy. Our girls did well staying up until 9:30pm, they were pj'd and toothbrushed before we left and fell asleep before we were out of the neighborhood.

It was a busy day, but so much fun!

Tiny Tots

Fiona and I have started taking Tiny Tots at the farm, just like I did with Luli back when she was just two years old. It's a great class for 2-3 yr olds and their moms (or dads or caretakers). Fiona's really enjoying it and especially fond of having her own "school" time. Our first class made me think that Fiona needed some work in getting more assertive. She didn't want to take out a puppet without me by her side, or go up to Miss Blair without me holding her hand. Our second and subsequent classes she's done much better.

We start the class doing fine motor activities, these pics from this week's class are painting shaving cream on a laminated picture (which Fiona was very focused on) and playing with a magnet and a tin of magnetic objects. Another activity was sorting objects but we didn't get to that table because Fiona was really loving her painting.

After fine motor skills we do circle time with the "Hello" song, and some other songs that correlate to the theme of the week (this week was squirrels). Then off to craft time! This week we painted a squirrel with watercolors, and attached a furry tail. Fiona again LOVED the painting. After craft we go for gross motor skill activities, this week we played with tents and tunnels and picked up "acorns" or balls. We finish off with a snack and the goodbye song. On the way out all the kids get a sticker on their hand.

Fiona was especially happy because this week the weather was nice enough to play outside for the 15 minutes we had in between our class ending and Luli's class ending. I think it's another successful experience with Tiny Tots...hopefully meaning another successful transition to preschool in the Fall!

Hot Off the Sewing Machine

I just finished these smocks for the girls, literally just finished. I made them from the Bend the Rules book again. They took me 3 days to make, but would have been less if I didn't need to order the manual for my machine half way through. Now I have the manual and I can get all my questions answered. The smocks were my first time working with bias tape, I found it intimidating before I started but it was rather easy to do and adds a nice finish to the smock. Luli wanted to help, her dialog went like this "Mommy I wish I could help you, but I really can't. I'm just a little girl and I can't do sewing on the machine." HA! She set up her own pretend sewing area (my sewing area is in the playroom so I can be with them). She set her play ironing board as her table, and her play chop sticks as her scissors. Very creative! Anyway, I'm really please with how they came out, again I'm a novice so there are a few errors, but overall I'm happy. The book says the girls can wear them as a dress and frankly I think a cute pair of leggings and a long sleeve shirt would look rather cute with it. I have this other floral fabric that I'm tempted to make some with...maybe for a friend. After all how many smocks do you need!?

The Santiagos Visit Virginia

This week we've had the good fortune to have some house guests. On Saturday Tia Helen arrived from Austria to stay with us through Thursday and work on her job hunt. Abuelo was returning home from Myrtle Beach and also made a stop here on Saturday to visit his kids and play with the grandkids. Luli had her friend Pearson's birthday party to attend Saturday afternoon but was very excited to see Tia Helen and Abuelo when she returned. Luli and Fiona wanted to play all the time and were very sad when bedtime came so fast. Sunday Tia Helen, Abuelo, Oscar and the girls went for a walk and played at the park. On the way home they got caught in a rainstorm but came home to lunch and towels. Abuelo returned home Sunday afternoon and Tia Helen has been here with us enjoying some quality time with the girls and her brother and getting some work done in DC. It's been a lovely visit and we look forward to the next time we see everyone!

Fall Festival ~ Great Country Farms

A couple weekends ago we went out to Great Country Farms to attend their Fall Festivities and enjoy their cider tasting. The farm is huge and has a lot for the kids to do. The girls had a blast, enjoying everything from playgrounds, a big corn box (like a sandbox only kernels of corn), huge barrel slides, animals, and cider. I really liked Great Country Farms, but I was a little disappointed in their attempts to squeeze money from you at every turn. You have to pay $8 for entrance (per person) and this doesn't include everything inside the farm. I understand charging for food so I won't complain about that (though the prices were crazy) but they charge for "mining equipment" to sift for gems in the trough, they charge to ride the cow train $2 a person!, and on it went. I just felt that these little things should have been included in the entrance fee. Regardless, the girls had a great time. They loved the play houses, I took some pics so my father can see what I have in mind for him to make :) and they had these really cool horse swings made from one tire. My favorite, and Luli's were the barrel slides growing in length and height as we progressed through the farm. Luli tried each, and definitely we all enjoyed the last and largest the most. We took lots of pictures so I'll put them in a separate album and post in the left column, check back for that. I also learned more about CSA (community supported agriculture) I found a really great farm that does a year round program and I'm recruiting neighbors to join it so we can get a drop in our neighborhood! So hopefully we'll be doing that soon!

Fiona 2 year check up and Update

As we know Fiona is now TWO! Which is her answer to: How old are you? TWO, What's your name? TWO, How are you? TWO. She went for her well baby check with Dr. Ben, and of course cried hysterical the entire time. DELIGHTFUL! She was hard to get a height read on, so she may have grown 4 inches in 6 mths (doubt it). Fiona is 50th percentile in height and 30th percentile in weight. She's a healthy little lady and really there wasn't much to discuss at the appointment. Besides Dr. Ben's love for her haircut! ha!

Fiona is talking up a storm and has an incredible personality. She continues to have a devilish streak with the smiling face to boot. She's definitely in need of some more discipline, but it does appear that second child gets away with a bit more. We're working on that. She also seems to have had a break through with her potty training. She was doing really great while visiting my parents, when we returned home the change definitely showed in her potty training. It took a long time to get back on track but this week she's had a break through and is doing quite well.

Her biggest thing right now is Nemo, and by biggest I mean both in size and her love of. My brother, Uncle Eyes, bought Luli a large Nemo for her first birthday. Its been played with here and there since, but at my parents I let the girls watch Finding Nemo. Ever since, Fiona has not let Nemo go. He literally goes everywhere. I won't let her bring him in the car or the stroller because he's too large, but she drags him everywhere. Luli is a great helper, carrying him up and down the stairs all day. So that's why the pics of her here are all of her with Nemo, just to show the attachment! He even potty's with her!

First day of school and Luli update...

Luli started back to school on September 9th. We took her first day of school picture with Daddy and of course Fiona wanted in also, she had to be dressed up nice too...hence princess dress and wings. Luli is attending three days a week this year and loving it. She is far more outgoing this year and comes home with new songs and stories every day. Oscar said when he drops her in the morning she goes right in and starts playing, last year she would wait until she was told what to do. Her teacher told Oscar she's very well behaved in class, she listens and does what she's told and she helps out all the time.

At home her imagination is constantly going. It's hilarious to listen in on the dialog she develops between her dolls. Doll of choice right now is Polly Pocket. She has 3 Polly Pockets, one speaks only Spanish, one speaks only English and the other speaks both. The one who speaks both speaks for the others and can be quite bossy.

Her ability to draw has made another leap in developmental ability, she now draws eyes with pupils, mouths with teeth, and a nose (rather than a dot). I am going to take a picture of one of her drawings and hopefully it'll come out good so I can show you all.

She was really interested in my cousin's wedding and since has been really obsessed with who she can marry. We've finally gotten to understand that you can't marry people in your family, and not people who are already married. Her preferred age for marriage is 46, which has dropped from 69. Some days she'll hold up an outfit and say, Mommy is this good for the bachelorette party...which I'm sure is from the two outfits I tried on for my mom and asked about! I swear she doesn't forget a thing! Which is another thing, I think Luli may have a photographic memory, I'll have to talk to the ped about it next time we go.

Susie's Bachellorette Party and Wedding

My cousin Susie and I grew up together, we're the same age and attended k-12 together. On September 6th she got married and we were lucky to join in the celebrations. Thursday prior to the wedding was the bachelorette party. Clearly I am not out late these days of my life, but we were out till 3:30am! It was a lot of fun and seeing some old faces was a good time also. We started out having a dinner party at one of the bridesmaid's houses, we also went k-12 together. Then a limo picked us all up and we headed to Saratoga for some bar hopping. The track finished the week prior so the bar scene was a wee bit empty, but we had a great time anyway. I also took the opportunity to add to my sewing creations and made a cute corduroy clutch to match my outfit for the evening. I made it on my mom's machine which is all computerized, I made her put the pedal on it, but I'm definitely partial to my 1976 machine! I forgot my lil' camera for the party but I did take a pic of my purse...It matches because I wore chocolate pants and a turquoise top. I made a few errors in it, but overall I'm happy with it. I made it from the Bend the Rules book again. The only thing I'd really change is to make it longer/wider, but it fit my wallet and cell phone fine.

Oh right...back to the wedding, Susie and Brendan got married at Echo Lake Lodge, which was really beautiful. Unfortunately it rained so we didn't get to enjoy the grounds as much as we'd like but the ceremony and reception were a lot of fun. I caught up with all my cousins (well almost all, there are a lot). I hadn't seen my cousin Megan in a long time and it was great to play wingman with her. Susie and Brendan are a very loving couple. It was beautiful to watch Brendan's face during the ceremony, he couldn't stop looking at Susie and he obviously adores her. She deserves so much happiness, I wish them all the best!

The day after the wedding my cousin Matt (Susie's brother), his wife Julie and their baby Mattie came over to visit and play with the girls. Mattie is 18 mths old and this was the first time we'd met her, so we had to take the opportunity to get these gals together. They were very cute.