Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  The Anstine family was kind enough to host us yet again.  We may be changing our last name because we certainly feel as if we are part of their family.  I recognize how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends who surround us with love not only on the holdiays but during our daily lives as well. 

Here is a picture of us after dinner.  I look at it and realize all the wonderful blessings our family has been given over the years.  Four years ago, we ate Thanksgiving dinner with Lila and Savannah at home while Adeline was still in the NICU.  The following weekend, Adeline was faced with a true fight for life.  We weren't sure if we would ever bring her home at that point.  I am overwhelmed when I think about it.  Especially, when I have a picture such as this four years later. 

Lila's Pow Wow

While Lila has visited Adeline's classroom a number of times, Adeline had never visited Lila's until now.  Lila's teacher was nice enough to allow Adeline to come to Lila's Pow Wow because I was the volunteer parent for the day.  It was a lot of fun watching the two hang out together in a typical classroom environment.  I have to say that Adeline fit right in.  She tried to sing and dance with the others and was very good at following all of the directions.  I guess this is what it feels like to have your twins go to the same school.

Glasses and Thanksgiving Party.

Adeline is finally wearing her glasses.  She must see better with them on because she never takes them off.  She is on a loaner pair of lenses because they had to special order the ones we wanted with an anti-reflective coating.  Many of the pictures below will show why it is important to have.

Adeline's Thanksgiving party was on Tuesday.  Daddy stayed home while Lila and I attended.  Or that was at least what we planned.  I was a few minutes late to the party so the students were all sitting around in a circle when I arrived.  When I walked through the door, one of the teachers told Adeline to turn around and see who was here.  Adeline jumped up with a huge smile that immediately turned to tears.  She only saw disappointing Mommy when she really wanted to see Daddy.  Boy was she mad!  I told her Miss Lois was going to sit her in time out if she didn't settle down and she responded with, "But I want Daddy here!"  It broke my heart to see her disappointment so I got on the phone and Daddy hopped in the car.  Working from home really helps at times like these. 

Later, I was told by Adeline's teachers that she was expecting Daddy.  I was also informed that when the teachers say that the students are going to take something home and show mommy, Adeline always corrects them and says she is going to show her Daddy.  Looks like I am a second class citizen in my Belle's eyes.  It doesn't hurt my feelings because I know that the best gift I can give my girls is a strong relationship with their Daddy.  I would say that all three are well on their way but Miss Belle has sealed the deal.

Moving on to the party. . . Lila and Adeline had a great time together.  The teachers are always good at including Lila and since two of them service her for OT and SLT services, Lila feels at ease.  The girls sang and danced.  What was most remarkable was that when the class was singing a song, Miss Lois stopped singing and let the kids finish the last line of the song.  Well no one continued except Adeline.  She powered up her big girl voice and charmed everyone in the room as she finished the song solo style.  I was pleased that she projected herself in front of many parents she didn't know.  She is NOT my shy child.

Here are some pictures from day that show my little Native American sporting her new specs.

To Cross or Not to Cross

While in the car today, Adeline said, "Look, there is the red hand.  It means don't cross the street.  Look Mommy!"

I don't know when I taught her this but I remember telling her about it couple of times in the past.  However, we are rarely crossing streets with a crossing signal.  I was pretty impressed that she knew what it meant when it was said in passing long ago.

On a more comical note, Miss Adeline just had to wear her rainbow scarf to to Lens Crafters today.  While getting her glasses adjusted, she told the person helping her that she was wearing a scarf like Snoopy.

"Snoopy's scarf is red and very noisy.  I helps him fly his doghouse.  That is so silly  He flies his doghouse like an airplane.  He makes it go up high.  (insert fake laugh here)."

She then went on and told the same story three more times with just a few different twists on the tale.  I can't tell you the last time she watched a Charlie Brown movie.  This girl maybe quiet but she is taking in the world around her. 

We Did It!

Alex and I crossed the finish line yesterday - something I never dreamed I could do.  It was an experience of a lifetime!  The crowds were supportive; always cheering and giving us the extra push.  Running with 27,000 other runners is an experience in and of itself.  I can't stress how big of a role adrenaline plays when you are running with thousands and thousands of people.  When we neared the finish line, the fans read our names off of our bibs and cheered us on individually. 

I was fortunate to have my good friend Byron at the start line with me.  Considering it took 28 minutes to reach the start, it was significant support.  I guess that is what we get when we sign up to start in the last corral.  Alex started significantly ahead of us so I never saw him until he finished.

The only down side to the run is that my knees gave out and were screaming in pain
by mile nine.  I was very frustrated and disappointed because I didn't get the run the race I could.  My finish time was 2:37 which is much slower than it could have been because I had to speed walk A LOT between miles 10 and 13.

After finishing, I had a medal placed around my neck.  It was pretty neat.  Byron was waiting for me at the finish line which was so sweet.  We fueled ourselves with all of the food and drinks that were being handed out and then positioned ourselves to watch for Alex to cross the finish line.  After a 30 minute wait, we saw him.  I was so worried about his knee because of what I experienced.  He did it!!! 26.2 miles in 4:02.  Pretty impressive for an old man - 40 years old in just a few days.

Double click on the picture below and look for the guy in the white shirt and white glasses. That's my husband crossing the line.

DC here come!! March 26 is our next race. I can't wait to run MY race. Let's hope I can get my knee issue fixed before then.

WE GOT THIS!

Or so we hope.  Alex and I will be pounding the pavement tomorrow during our first marathon.  Well, I am just doing the half.  We have been pretty nervous but as we are packing our bags, our confidence is building.  Wish us luck!  Am I really going to run 13.1 miles???

And to my dear friend who is running a different kind of marathon; the kind that involves FIVE kids for a night. . . thanks for taking on my kiddo so we can do this. xoxo

Turkey Snack Take II

Adeline has to bring in a snack for a second time tomorrow.  I found this little concoction online and thought it looked easy.  Well, it wasn't exactly easy as many cookies broke in the process. The hardest part was finding candy corns.  Once those were tracked down, the turkeys came together pretty quickly.  I did need some additional frosting to pipe under the Whopper and the standing Oreo.  Cute nonetheless. 

I think these would make super cute place card holders for a kid's Thanksgiving table.

The Little Red House 2010

The little red house is something our girls talk about all year. Last year was our first family - I mean just us - vacation and we had a great time. We rented a little red house in the Poconos and the girls have been asking to go back ever since left. We finally made it back.

The girls are drawn to the house for four reasons.

First, is the bunk beds. They spend hours playing on them and swinging from them. It is a twin over full which accomadates all three girls. Lila and Savannah trade off on the top bunk and, boy, do they just love it up there. Adeline would prefer Lila up top and Savannah down low with her. We kind of found that funny this year as the two them went back and forth during their sleep.

First Adeline had Savannah squished up against the wall. And, well, what else is one to do when you are pinned up against a wall. Why yes. . . use your sister as a pillow!

The second reason to come to the little red house is because the Crayola Factory comes along with it. We spent an entire day there this year. The girls loved it even though I think Crayola could do a much better job considering they are the largest producer of art supplies for children. What is neat about the Factory is that there is a Canal museum affiliated with it (don't ask me how or why) and the girls get to spend lots of time working their boats down a large canal by operating various locks. They couldn't get enough. They also enjoyed the building center of the museum. Lila made an impressive tall house and Savannah made a puppet theater. Pretty creative. The other pictures are of the girls working their way through the Crayola stations, namely the Model Magic.

The third reason to come to the red house is because a huge indoor water park is less than five miles away. I didn't take the camera this year as I knew I had to take the lead while there because Daddy was suffering from a 103 fever. Not ideal but the girls didn't seem to notice that Mommy doesn't really like indoor pools.

Finally, the last reason we all go the red house is because we get to hang. This year, when not playing on the bunk beds, the girls played with a new Play Doh kit I brought along. The girls spent hours making breakfast food.

The best part of the trip is that we all spend hours in our PJ's, watch way too much TV and, best of all. . . hang out together.

Thanksgiving Treats

It is Adeline's turn to bring a snack in to school this week.  I figured since it only happens twice a year, I could go all out.  My friend, Melissa, recently made this turkey snack for her daughter's school which helped me decide to do the same.

After an evening trip to the store with all three girls, I wasn't really excited about making the turkey.  I powered up though and dug in.  All three girls helped skewer the grapes, cheese and carrots.  It was fine for the first five minutes but then they had scissors in their hands (don't ask me why), were pulling all of the skewers out of the bag and dropping or eating more food than they were putting on the turkey.  I grinned and bared it the best I could.  Savannah and I sped through the remaining skewers which allowed me to end the activity early.  None of this took away from Adeline's excitement when bringing it into school this morning.  She was pretty cute because the first words out of her mouth were, "Gobble, gobble."

 Beware, if you choose to make this snack, make sure you have all of the ingredients in order to avoid a late night trip to the store with all your children.  Also, make sure you have room in your refrigerator.  I had to cram the milk into the produce drawer.

I backed the fruit and cheese snack with something sweet. I stole this idea out of Family Fun. It is a cookie that is decorated like a pumpkin pie. It looks much more authentic in person than in the picture below.

The Pretend Beach

All was quiet today until two little girls came running into the office naked and with swimsuits in hand. "Help us get these on before people see us without our clothes!" Of course I did and then sat back to watch them spend the day at their pretend beach. They swam, splashed and had a great time. Have I mentioned how these two play together non-stop? It never ceases to amaze me!

NYC Baby!!

Savannah and I had the absolute pleasure of spending the entire day in NYC!!  We took a chartered bus through her school which made the trip as easy as pie.  My friend Barrie and her girls and mom were able to join us which made the day that much more special.  It was was pure bliss; a day that will never be forgotten.

Upon entering the city, the kids got very excited by the views of the skyline.  It was fun for them to see the buildings from a distance and then stand below them and look up an hour later.  Pretty cool for a seven year old.

We had tickets to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular and boy was it that. Savannah picked up on every last detail of show: the patterns of colors, the groupings of Rockettes, the tricks of the trade, and much more. Her favorite part was the classic Toy Soldier dance which has been performed since the 1930's. The show had live animals for the nativity and during our backstage tour, we were informed that the animals live in Radio City Music Hall and are taken for daily walks during early morning rush hour (just in case you almost hit a camel the next time you visit NYC). Radio City Music Hall was beautiful and grand. It is the largest venue of its kind and we were lucky to have great seats. To top it off, during our backstage tour, Savannah got to meet a Rockette. It was pretty exciting.

Here we are with Radio City in the background.




After the show and tour, we were able to take in the sights. We got to see the tree at Rockafeller Center; albeit with scaffolding surrounding it. The ice skating was in full swing too. The girls enjoyed a visit to the Lego store right across the street from the tree. I think it might have impressed them more than the tree itself.


We enjoyed a one of a kind dinner at Ellen's diner. The waitstaff have to audition for the job as they are singing, I mean singing like stars, the entire time. It was nice to hear them throw down some tunes from my youth because I could appreciate how close they sounded to the true artist. The girls found it amusing that they often stood on the tables to belt out their tunes.

If you look closely, in the background you will see the waiter standing on the table while singing.

We ended our day in the heart of Time Square. It was packed and lit up more than ever!! Savannah was in awe of all of the billboards and people. I thought the crowds might make her nervous considering she couldn't see above the people. She hung like a super star though. Toys R Us has store right at the tip of the Square and we made our way there. We walked in to see a Ferris Wheel in full operation, right in the middle of store. Savannah couldn't believe that the store had actual rides. It had much more and we made our way through most of it. I think it is the largest toy store in the world.  As we were walking out Geoffrey, the Giraffe, was posing for pictures and Savannah and I both knew that we needed one for Miss Adeline.

Here we are in the middle of Time Square. . .

There is nothing like NYC and even better, there is nothing like NYC at night. Oh, did I mention it was 60 degrees? Yes, perfect weather led to a perfect day. The lights were spectacular as we headed back to our bus. The best part of all, was sharing this experience with my sweet girl and good friends. I wouldn't have changed anything about the entire day. Okay, that isn't true. I bought a Nikon Coolpix instead of taking my SLR. Well, kind of like there isn't anything that compares to New York, there isn't anything that compares to a SLR. My pictures weren't great but, other than that, our day was perfect!