First Hike of the Season

Sunday was really a beautiful day, so we ventured out to Sky Meadows park for one of our favorite hikes. The girls were really excited to get outside and run, and we were excited to do something not related to acquiring the new house (more to come on that). Sky Meadows is an amazing place, just really beautiful and picturesque. Luli was an excellent hiker this time, hiking almost the whole way, and that is pretty steep. She would run ahead and most of the time was at a more jog pace up the hill than a walk pace. Oscar basically ran down the hike with her! It was really adorable. Fiona did better than her last hike but still needed to get up on my back earlier than Luli. Hiking with 30 extra pounds on my back was fun, and a good work out for the legs. Thank goodness I've been doing weighted squats lately! We had a nice picnic, lots of picture taking, and a really fun time as a family. Oh and can I tell you how much I love these sunglasses on the girls!? Everyone on the hike loved them too, I think they're hilarious and very functional. If anyone needs a larger frame it's kids!



There were some really amazing pictures, so check out the album on the top left.

The girls in New York and Jenn alone at home!

This past weekend I experienced some things I haven't experienced in over four years, namely being alone! Oscar took the weekend to visit his parents with the girls and I stayed home for a job fair, some school work, cleaning and packing. I easily could have sat in front of the TV, well the old Jenn could have, now I get antsy sitting around and need something productive to do. While the girls and husband were off I wrote a paper (and several drafts of it), did a final project (which isn't due until the end of April), did some research for another project, cleaned my kitchen with bleach (because I can't use bleach when the kids are around) and generally got the house ready to be seen by Realtors and potential renters. I listened to a little music during the day but for the most part just enjoyed the sweet sweet sounds of quiet. The funny thing is that Saturday night I woke up several times thinking I heard one of the girls cry out, maybe they were in NY and I'm just that in tune with my kids (ha! or maybe).

Oh I guess you'd want to know what the girls and husband did. Oscar left right after gymnastics and arrived in NY in the afternoon. Fiona spiked a fever upon arrival and was a bit cranky for the rest of the evening. The next morning found them all feeling a bit better and ready to get their walk on in the garden. The girls love walking through Abuelita's giant garden, putting out corn for the deer, trying to spot some wildlife, and looking for other nature trinkets. Of course there was also the eating to partake in, Abuelita is always cooking when we're there and she makes some of the tastiest comforting food. I was definitely jealous! They returned late Sunday night with another feverish Fiona, who's still congested but mending.

If you know anyone interested in renting my house email me and I'll send you the listing. As you can imagine I'm not putting my address out there for the world to see.

Dinner with J, K, and Abhi

Last weekend we were invited for dinner at Jeanine, Keshav, and Abhi's new house. It's a beautiful home and we were so happy to share the evening with them. Abhi had a great time running around in circles with the girls. When he couldn't see them running, he thought they'd stopped and he'd get a little upset. Then he'd quickly see them coming and start running and laughing again. The girls had so much fun playing and staying up late. They keep asking when we can do it again. Enjoy the video of all the running.

Packing Helpers

The girls are very excited to help pack...or is it play in the boxes? hmmm

Cutting

The girls are fascinated with many different crafting things right now...painting (with brushes), collages, drawing, making books, and more. But the love for them right now is cutting! If they could cut things all day long they would. I learned a few weeks ago that Fiona needs an eye kept on her while cutting, she apparently gets bored with paper and moves on to other objects. In one morning I found her trying to cut her pant leg, her hair, and the slipcover of the couch. Needless to say my house has tiny bits of paper everywhere!

Annie's Birthday Party

Well Annie's party was 2 weeks ago, but I'm getting around to the post now! It was a spectacular birthday party, and Luli had so much fun. The party was at the Conservatory Ballet. All the girls got to dress up in princess dresses, and Annie wore a special birthday girl princess dress. And the boys dressed as knights in capes. There was an adorable room painted like an enchanted forest with tables that had tablecloths and cloth napkins for all the kids. The birthday girl had her own special chair and table! The kids had a fun ballet class followed by pizza and cake in the enchanted forest room, then back for more dancing. Luli had a great time learning some ballet moves, acting like a princess and playing with all her school friends.

For the present I hit up the sewing machine and made Annie a skirt with matching hair ties. The skirt material is nursery rhyme themed, with humpty dumpty, little boy blue, etc. on it. I fell in love with this material when I saw my friend Kathy had made her daughter's the same skirt from it, and then my craft store actually had the same material! I'm pretty happy with how the skirt came out, and the hair ties came out nice for my first time making them! I hope Annie enjoys them.

Summer of 69 Thrift Store Refashion Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Another great giveaway at Grosgrain! I'm still hoping I get the first dress, but this one is pretty fab also! You should totally check out how she refashioned this find!
Summer of 69 Thrift Store Refashion Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

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New Decade, New Dress?

There is this great blog that I follow periodically and found through my friend Molly, who blogs her craftiness here. This woman who runs this blog is amazing, sewing the most beautiful dresses for her daughter and others as giveaways. The only rule is you have to post a link to her blog, so here it is http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/03/paper-crane-frock-giveaway.html I'm thinking this beautiful dress would be so much fun for my 30th birthday surprise trip, where ever Oscar's taking me, I'm sure this will work!

Beautiful Day at the Farm

Fiona and I had our own little field trip today. Yesterday we were early picking up Luli and because it was nice out we decided to take a stroll around the farm, even though it was really muddy and Fiona insisted on her maryjane's that morning. There are a ton a baby animals on the farm and Fiona was loving it. She was far more excited about the animals than Luli ever was. It was hard to tear her away yesterday so I promised we'd come back today with our galoshes and have more fun with the animals. And fun we had! It was so much fun to tour the farm and see her reaction to all the babies. She would say "awww baby, Hi BABY!" and "awww Mama, Hi Mama." She did get mad that the animals wouldn't say hi back and I tried to explain that they spoke a different language and just may not understand her. Her favorite was definitely the Big Mama Pig and all her babies. She told me the wolf (lobo in Spanish) couldn't blow down the pigs barn, and she seemed pretty happy about that. Then she told the pigs the story of the "Three Little Pigs." Her version goes something like this-- "pig little pig" "not hair my chinny chin chin." We toured all the animals and did return to the pigs just to see them once more, and say good bye. Time for the obligatory tractor picture! Finally off to the playground where we found a few people we knew :)

Feet

One of the craziest things about being a mother, is the sudden realizations that your babies are growing up and the tears that brings. It can be seeing your child sleeping at night and how big they suddenly look in their bed, noticing their pants aren't fitting the same way, feeling their weight when you carry them, or a sudden glance at them that just floods you with emotion about this incredible being you've created. I had yet another moment like this yesterday, from Luli's feet! Feet, of all things! She had fallen asleep in her chair during nap time and when I woke her she was having a tough time coming through. But her little bare feet were right there on the floor, her toes stretching and curling as she tried to wake up. I was struck by how big they've gotten over the past four years. They used to be so tiny and compared to her newborn feet they're huge. And yet still so small, she's grown so much and has so much more to grow. I was just struck with the feeling of how blessed I am to have these two amazing little girls in my life. And thinking what they will be like when their feet are as big as mine. I was thinking about all the places these little feet have taken her already, carrying her body and helping her learn. One day these little feet will carry her away, living on her own to her own life, and I won't be waking her from nap and cuddling her to help her feel better. It makes me sad to see them grow, but I'm also so amazed by them. They are really wonderful girls, their manners are blossoming and their personalities are much larger than their little bodies would make you think. So I brush off the sadness, cuddle my babies (because frankly they will be my babies until they are 100 years old, no matter what Luli says right now) and enjoy the moments of today.

Real Snow Storm!

For Virginia's standards, we had a real snow storm last night, waking up to close to 5 inches! The girls were super excited and couldn't wait to get outside and play in it. Oscar stayed home for the morning and cleaned the driveway and steps for us. Once the girls had breakfast we were ready to get our snow clothes on and get outside. Unfortunately the wind was a bit of a deterrent from staying out too long. We started a snowman but couldn't take the wind much longer. We did enjoy a little sled ride, well the girls enjoyed a ride and I pulled (man are they getting heavy!).

When we got back inside we warmed up with snack time and Chocolate caliente con queso (Spanish hot chocolate with cheese). There is a saying in Spanish that chocolate without cheese is like love without kisses, I've come to agree and the girls certainly agree! So here is a picture of their hot chocolate faces.