Jack

The girls and I went out to dinner and shopping for a house warming gift tonight. On our way home I was telling the girls about the house warming party and who would be there.

O asks me, "Will Nonna be there?"

"No, I don't think so." I told her.

"Oh" with a sad sigh. "What about Jack?" she asks.

"Jack? Who's Jack?!" I ask. Couldn't for the life of me think of who Jack was.

CK says, "You know the navigator."

NONNA'S GPS? O wants to know if my mother's GPS (which she refers to as Jack) will be at the party. AND, did my 6 year old daughter just use the word navigator? Wow, 10 points for her.

"No, honey, Jack will not be there." I told her, very sweetly.

"Oh" O says with another sad sigh.

The girls must have really liked that GPS when we went to my uncle's with my mother a few weeks ago. We'll have to go on another drive with Nonna so the girls can hear Jack give directions. They liked confusing him the best.

My Sweet Girls

C and I both have bad colds. Funny how we both started feeling like we were coming down with something on the same day (Thursday night). Anyway, by Friday night, I knew I needed to rest. I told the girls, "Tomorrow is Saturday. I am not going to stamp club because I don't feel well. I going to sleep in. I don't want either of you coming into my room early to wake me up. I want to sleep in, because I'm sick." They replied with a, "Yes, Mommy." I knew they understood. Whether they would comply is something else.

At about 7am on Saturday morning O comes to me and says, "Mommy, I just wanted to check and see how you were feeling." So sweet. She wanted to check on me, but also wanted to make sure I wouldn't be mad. 7am....not bad. O usually wakes up much earlier.

I was able to rest. I wasn't able to get anything done, but rested. The girls played in their room for a long time before I got up. It was so nice. Even sick, I love listening to them play.

Saturday night I told the girls we would have soup. They jumped at the chance to get the soup cans form the pantry in the garage. It was so cute. I asked if they needed help, they said no. I asked if they wanted a stool, they said they would get it. I did need to help with one can, but they were so cute. So sweet to want to help me.

Yesterday, CK tells me, "Mommy, let me know if you need something. I will get it for you."

I'm feeling better today. I'm looking forward to feeling 100% again. I don't have time to be sick. I feel bad for C. He was feeling just as bad, but had to work. Poor thing. I'll let him rest on his weekend.

CK Lost Her First Tooth

FINALLY. CK has been waiting a long time for this tooth to fall out. Yesterday was the big day. I picked her up from school and she came running out of her classroom waiving a zip-lock bag yelling "My tooth fell out!"

Spring Concert for O

  O had her Pre-K Spring concert today. You can't help but laugh, smile and have a warm feeling in your heart when you see 21 five year olds singing together.

The concert was classic TV theme songs; The Monkees, The Addams Family, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, The Partridge Family, The Flinstones, The Brady Bunch, Mickey Mouse Club, Green Acres, and The Carol Burnett Show. They did a great job (for excited 5 year olds).

C filmed the entire concert. I also filmed 4 songs on my point-and-shoot. I put them together in one movie. My first time using iMovie. You'll be seeing more of these. How fun is that program?! Anyway, enjoy O's mini concert.

CK Composes a Song

CK wrote this song for me and played it on my birthday. I love it! What a wonderful gift!

 "Mommy" by CK

Video Clips

Here are two video clips.

1. O singing Happy Birthday

2. CK singing and playing Happy Birthday

Enjoy

A Wonderful Birthday

I have the best husband and daughters. They really made my birthday, on Monday, special. I first received three "Happy Birthday" wishes in the morning. Starting at 1:30am when C came home from work. Then each when the girls woke up.

I had a breakfast date with my husband after dropping off the girls at school. He had to work Monday day and night, so that was the only time we had. I even got some quiet time in the morning before picking up O at school.

The girls and I had a simple dinner and then they sang "Happy Birthday" to me and CK played it on the piano. CK even started writing me a song and played it for me. (see three videos below in next entry)

Everything was going very well, until O broke out in hives (for the 7th time in a week). She got one on her upper lip, which made her look like she got a huge fat lip. It really scared me and I was a little stressed with C at work. It didn't seem to bother her, but I called the doctor anyway. 

While the girls and I were sitting waiting to see if O's lip would go down CK said the sweetest thing to me, "Mommy, I'm sorry it's your birthday and Daddy has to work, and O is sick." That just made my day. My girls are just the sweetest, most carrying children.

O was fine and I was much better after C came home early (11pm) to be with me on my birthday. What a wonderful surprise. I told him I didn't care about my birthday, I just was worried about O. She was better by the next day.

The girls took these pictures. 

My Little Teacher

This morning dropping off CK at school, I stopped to ask her teacher (Mrs. C) about the upcoming field trip. CK then asked me to give a note to daddy. Mrs. C tells me she hopes O doesn't mind CK collecting papers for her. I wasn't sure what she was referring.

After dinner tonight, I understood. CK was getting papers out of her backpack. She seems to collect them in there for a month. CK pulls out two packets she has made of papers she says are "to quiz O."

You should see these packets. They are extra 1st Grade worksheets CK has done in class. She has stapled them together, writing across the top, "O's Work Book." The other packet says, "O's Practice Book." This one has a cover sheet CK made. It has addition problems with a square at the bottom with instructions, "Draw a heart." Just like her math worksheets. CK even made a "finished" bin for O to put all her finished worksheets in. SO CUTE.

As I am writing this entry CK is having O do her worksheets. O doesn't seem to mind. She is excited to be doing the work her big sister has collected for her. O is going to be at the top of her Kindergarten class in the fall, if CK has anything to do with it.

They Keep Me Thinking

A day or so ago, O came to me and said, "Mommy, I want to make a book, but I can't snap it."

Snap it? It took me a second, but then I realized what she meant—staple it. Snap works. So, I helped her “snap” her book and she was off.

A Family Day of Art and Fun

It's Spring Break, beautiful weather, Daddy has weekdays off, so we planned a family day in the City visiting museums. We ended our perfect day with a wonderful dinner with Aunt D and J in the Castro.

We first went to the Legion of Honor and saw some fantastic art. Medieval, Renaissance, & Mannerist Art, French & Italian Baroque & Rococo Art, 17th to 19th Century Decorative Arts, Sculpture (many of Rodin's most famous works are in the Legion's collection) British Art, 17th Century Dutch & Flemish Paintings, Ancient Art, and more. The Legion also has two special exhibitions right now; Highlights from the Israel Antiquities Authority: The Dead Sea Scrolls & 5,000 years of Treasures, and Annie Leibovits—A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005. That is what got us to the Legion of Honor to begin with. I haven't been to a photography exhibit in years and could not pass it up.

The girls were fantastic. CK walked around with daddy and he filled her brain with all sorts of information about the art she was seeing. He said she understood it all. He was pretty impressed with her. Needless to say, CK loved the museum. Her favorite was the Dead Sea Scrolls and Treasures, specifically the Table, Byzantine Period, late 6th-7th century C.E., Caesarean Maritima, Gold and glass mosaic. O was good too. She declared “I want to go home” after being in the museum for about 15 minutes and every once in a while reminded me, but overall she was very good. It was lunch time after all. O's favorite was the “horse” statue (Joan of Arc) in front of the museum. (By the way, O took the picture of CK and with daddy—not bad.)

After the Legion of Honor we went to the Presidio. We found a very expensive, so-so place to each lunch (La Terrasse). Expensive was not our intention, but we were very hungry and the place was there.

After lunch we went to the Presidio Officer's Club Exhibition Hall. They had some things on display, such as old officer's uniforms and items found on site. It was fun to see the old building. They also had a modern art exhibit, Transforming Art, the art of Chris Hardman. It was very different. The girls loved the 3D room. They put the 3D glasses on and had so much fun with the art. They didn't want to leave. After seeing the rest of the exhibit they wanted to go back to the 3D room.

We weren't sure what to do next. The girls played on the lawn around the old cannons while we figured out what to do. Then C got an idea. “I have a surprise” he told us. The girls were curious, but daddy wasn't saying anything. As we walked back to the car O says, “Oh, I needed that.” They always feel better when they get to run around a little.

So, we headed off to our surprise. We were still in the Presidio and had a great view of the Palace of Fine Arts. The landscaping was beautiful. It's been fixed up and renovated by Lucas. Yep, we were at Letterman Digial Arts Center. The new headquarters for Lucasfilm and ILM. It's just beautiful. All the old brick hospital buildings.

We had coffee (hot chocolate and chocolate milk for the girls) at Starbucks. Where else of course. I'm sure Lucas got it put in just for his employees. Everyone is walking around with art/poster tubes. We were so curious to know what was inside all of them. C thought there was a public area—museum or store—but we didn't see anything. C asked one of the many employees walking around. There isn't such a place, but we could see the Yoda statue. Off we went to find Yoda. There was more inside the lobby of Lucasfilm headquarters but we weren't sure if we should go in or not. We stood outside for a few minutes and I thought for sure C would say we need to leave, but he went in! The girls and I followed, and boy am I glad we did. It was so cool to see all the Star Wars memorabilia. I got pictures, of course. Here are just a few.

After hanging around Letterman Digital Arts Center we headed toward The Castro to meet up with D and her boyfriend (J) for dinner. We went to Home for dinner. Great place. Good food. We had a nice walk to and from dinner. After dinner we had dessert back at J's and he taught us how to play the Wii. What a fun game. CK was really good at bowling. We'll have to take her for real. C got a little carried away trying to help O play tennis. He was tossing her around. She didn't seem to mind. We had a great visit.

What a fantastic day. We came home thinking about all the wonderful things we saw and learned. The day ended perfectly with our visit with D and J. Thanks for dinner, btw! We need to go to The City more often. So much to see!

Celebrating Easter

Easter Sunday was a busy day for us. We went to mass, then my God-Father's house to visit and then Nonna and Papa's for our annual Easter Egg hunt and Easter dinner. It was wonderful to have Grammy join us this year. Unfortunately, C had to work and missed Easter dinner. I saved him lots of leftovers. He was very excited Monday morning.

We also celebrated E's birthday. It was on Good Friday. A very special birthday for her. She will never have her birthday this close to Easter again. It reminded me of when I was little. We always celebrated my birthday on Easter Sunday. I miss that.

Easter was a perfect day. Not only was it a beautiful sunny day, but we had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and celebrating Easter. 

Coloring Easter Eggs

It has been our tradition, for about 3 years now, to color Easter Eggs with our friend M and her son, CM. It just wouldn't be the same without them. The kids seem to be getting better with their egg coloring and less messy. Although, CM really likes to stir that egg in the colored water. I think we have more fun each year.

Here are a few images from our egg coloring event.

New 'Do for O Too

Once O saw CK's new haircut she said "Now you're cuter than me." Can't have that! So Aunt J sat O down on the stool to cut her hair as well (which was the plan).

O put her hand to her chin and proceeded to tell Aunt J she wanted her hair cut "this short." No, "to my cheek." O figured if her hair was shorter than her sister's she would be cuter again. No competition here.

We love O's new haircut as well. Short hair will be so much easier for both girls! We're ready for Spring and Summer.

New 'Do for CK

About three years ago CK came to me and said she wanted to donate her hair to a sick child. She had seen something on TV. I was amazed she had such compassion at 3 years old.

Today was the day. Aunt J was in town and cut off an 11 inch pony tale. We have it in a zip lock bag and padded envelope ready to mail to Locks of Love. I am so proud of CK and we love her new haircut.

Tour of California

Wednesday we got to see our first professional bicycle race. The girls had fun once the cyclists rode by. They got their yellow pom-poms and inflatable noise makers.

All the big names were there—Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, et al. C was actually hoping to see the Versus broadcasters (Phil Ligget, Paul Sherwin, & Bob Roll), but no such luck.

It turned out to be a beautiful day. This was the third stage and the cyclists had been riding since early that morning. They started in Modesto, in the rain, and ended in Downtown San Jose.

We hope to make this annual event.

CK's Piano Recital

CK has been taking piano lessons for a year (as of October 2007). Over the summer her teacher added voice as well.

A few weeks before Christmas CK had her very first piano recital. She did a great job and we are extremely proud of her!

Here are two videos from her recital. One is of her playing Good King Wenceslas and the other is of her singing The Bare Necessities.

Enjoy!

Go New York!

As Daddy went off to work today, the girls were playing in their room and I was playing with my new computer. 6pm rolled around and I thought I'd better make dinner. We hadn't been watching the Super Bowl at all, so I thought I'd better turn it on so I would at least know who won. The girls didn't want to watch the game at first, but I told them everyone else in the country was watching it we should watch a little of it. CK asked if it was a tradition. YEP, I told her.

The girls got totally into the game. I explained how to read the score and the time left in the quarter. I also explained how they score. Yes...I do know a little about football. I don't know the two teams and didn't have a preference on who won. CK was cheering for New York and O soon followed her lead. NY was ahead, after all, when we started watching the game.

Soon after we started watching the game, New England got a touch down and were now ahead. CK got nervous, but was soon excited again when NY got a touch down and was once again ahead. I told CK anything could happen, but NY was probably going to win since there were only 20 seconds (or something) left in the game.

The girls were both excited when NY won the Super Bowl. They wanted to call Nonna and Papa to make sure they saw it. "Did Papa see the Super Bowl?" O asked Nonna. She seemed satisfied when Nonna said yes. We, of course, called Daddy to tell him who won. He was surprised, then had to rush off back to work.

Our Super Bowl tradition has now started. I will have to plan a party for next year. The girls will love it.

Attention Shoppers, The Store is Now Closed

The girls and I went out to dinner tonight. C is working and they had a dinner fundraiser at Baja Fresh. Something fun. After dinner we went into Staples. I didn't realize they were just about to close. We weren't in the store for more than 2 or 3 minutes and they made an announcement over the speaker "Attention shoppers. Staples is now closed...."

CK gets a panicked look on her face and says "Mommy, we have to go. The store is closed!!!!" I tell her okay, okay, let me just
look at this thing here. "No we have to go." I tell her "We're not going to get locked in the store. It's okay. I want to look at this printer here." "Okay" she says, "you're just getting those three things? Let's go!" My rule follower you know (just like mommy and daddy).

O didn't seem worried in the least. Especially once I said we would not get locked in. As a matter of fact O said "This is the best day ever!" I asked why. She says "Because we're getting locked in the store." "NO" I said, "we are not getting locked in." CK was fine as soon as we left the store.

Family Visit in Tahoe

Last night Papa's cousin and his family came for dinner. What a fun evening. Papa and his cousin didn't stop talking and visiting the entire time. The girls made a new friend and even got the teenage boys to play their new fishing game with them.

Don't forget you can click on an image to enlarge it. Click the back arrow to get back to the blog. Enjoy!

A Perfect Winter Day in Tahoe

O woke up this morning telling me "Mamma, can we go to our other home?" I started to tell her what our plans were for the next few days. Today, I told her, we're going to walk down to the lake. "Did you bring our swim suits?" she asked. I tried to explain she was not going to want to play in the water, but I don't think she believed me.

We (Nonna, CK, O and me) did walk down to the lake this morning. My idea of the perfect winter day in Tahoe. The sun is shining on the crisp white snow making it sparkle like glitter. The sky is a light blue with cotten ball clouds. It's just heaven.

We stopped at the park on the way down to the lake. The girls possed with the bear carving. As soon as we got down to the lake guess where O went first? Yep! The water. I thought she would fall in for sure. She kept falling face first into the snow. I told her if you fall in the lake, I'm going to take your picture first, then I'll save you.

What a beautiful day. Maybe we'll have to go back down to the lake tomorrow.