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Mother’s Day 2012

On Sunday we celebrated Mother’s Day as a family. We started out the morning with breakfast in bed. Dad and the girls produced a smilie face breakfast plate for Christine. At 10A, we met Agnes at Din Tai Fung in Lincoln Square for Dim Sum. Afterwards the girls played arcade games to earn tickets.

In the afternoon, we attended a Seattle Storm pre-season game. On the way to the game, we passed a runner doing pull-ups using a bus stop overhang. We discussed whether or not any family members could do that. Allison exclaimed: “I could pull up my pants!” that many times. We all chuckled.

On the way to the game, Allison said, “Look, Raffi on the sign”. Christine and I said, “huh?”. Allison exclaimed again: “Over there, Raffi on the sign”. Finally, we connected the dots. Allison was talking about graffiti. The family had a good laugh.

Our season tickets seasons are new this year. We moved to center court, three rows back. The people around us are nice and we can see both sides of the court. The girls also love the “bottomless” popcorn though we’ve limited it to one bucket per half.

Allison’s Family Birthday Party

We celebrated Allison’s seventh birthday a couple of days earlier with the extended family. Allison’s original request was to just have the grandparents. She woke up Sunday morning wanting the Olbrights to attend as well. Luckily the Olbrights were free in the afternoon so we could all celebrate together. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We spent most of the afternoon outside enjoying the sun and playing in the backyard. Allison learned to catch baseballs with uncle Jason and cousin Tyler. Rosebud entertained everyone by chasing us around the backyard and vice versa. It turned out to be too windy to light and blow out the candles outdoors so we piled into the house to sing happy birthday to Allison and blow out the candles. Then we moved back outside to enjoy cake and ice cream. After opening presents, Allison decided to give a violin recital. She played several pieces from her past lessons to everyone’s enjoyment.

To conclude the evening, we got out the fire pit. Our marshmallows had expired long ago so we promised to roast marshmallows another time.

Easter Egg Hunts

Easter Egg Hunts

The kids had a great time this weekend, hunting eggs three times. First, they went to Trilogy, then at our house and then at Grandaunt Pat’s house. I consolidated their stashes this morning. And, boy, do they have a LOT of candy!

Perhaps the most memorable moment occurred during the Trilogy egg hunt. Allison was with my mom, while I helped Katherine uncover eggs on the other side of the clubhouse. Unfortunately many of the older kids had scooped up the younger kids’ eggs on the way to the other side of the clubhouse. So, Katherine found 23 eggs – Allison got none. Thanks to some of Grandma’s friends, Allison received a few prized eggs after the hunt. Katherine also let Allison pick several eggs from her bag. You can see Allison checking out her half dozen eggs; she kept opening and closing the eggs looking for more candy and treats.

The next morning the kids raced around the house looking for another round of eggs. Allison looked for one color eggs; Katherine two-toned eggs. Bisco also managed to get some treats after Katherine put her basket down on the floor and left it. During the minute that she was gone, he snarfed around 10-12 chocolate eggs and kisses. Luckily, it wasn’t enough chocolate to make him ill (since he’s a whopping 75 pounds), but Katherine was pretty upset at him. We managed to find replacement candy, and all was well. ๐Ÿ™‚

Katherine was particularly psyched to find one egg with two quarters in it. She exclaimed, “The Easter bunny gave me money to save for college. You won’t have to pay for my college!” Ha!

In the pictures you’ll see the kids riding the Gator at Aunt Pat’s house, Katherine at a Build-A-Bear party, kids with Lolly the clown, dying eggs with Grandma Bush and celebrating Grandma Chang’s birthday last weekend.

Take a Load Off!

Allison’s favorite movie these days is Madagascar. She will say out of the blue, “What a bunch of pansies!!” or “Pansies!!” (Yes, we’ve told her it’s not very nice, but that seems to encourage her!)

Last Friday we had Steve’s parents over for dinner. Katherine raced to answer the door, with Allison right behind her. What did Allison say? Quoting Marty she said, “Come on in – Take a Load Off!”

 

What a Week!

What a Week!

Christmas was chock full of family meals and get togethers this year! We kicked off our week with Christmas Eve dinner with our immediate family and grandparents. My mom, the Bushes and Great-grandpa Vasvary visited for a potluck dinner featuring ham, potato buds, beans, salad, rolls and cheesecake. Katherine was so wound up and managed to convince the Bushes that she should open just one present Christmas Eve. This morphed into two gifts…a Bodyworks book and gift card. Anyway, we managed to get her to bed after reading the “Night before Christmas.” She gave me one last instruction before going to sleep, “Mama, be sure and tell Santa not to put a candy cane in Allison’s stocking. She’s still a baby!”

The next morning the crew arrived at 8:30AM (what dedication!) to see the girls open their presents. Katherine was agog at the stockings which were stuffed the night before and at the plate of oatmeal cookies which were nearly gone. We first tackled the stockings and the gifts wrapped by Santa (aka Steve who insisted on wrapping half the stocking gifts at 1:00AM the night before!).

Then…on to the gift opening!! One of my goals this Christmas was to keep the number of gifts under control. We sort of accomplished this, as Steve and I gave the kids only a small handful of gifts. Between all the family members, the girls managed to receive clothes, instructional DVDs and music CDs and toys. Katherine was super happy to get her candy cane and Carl book. One disappointment came when she took a Hallmark Lambey out of her stocking, “This isn’t Lambey…”

We then ate brunch which included a strata, more ham (see a theme?), fruit and a Christmas bread. Katherine fell asleep several hours later with Bisco, both sprawled on the couch for two hours. To cap off the excitement, we headed off to the Fialas for dinner and play with the cousins. This Christmas was eventful in that Katherine really interacted with her cousins for the first time. We attribute this to her Montessori learning environment. Or, it could be her natural development as a three year old.

That week we also hosted a brunch with the broader set of great-grandparents and Fialas. Brunch included….ham again, yogurt/granola, quiche, yummy breads, fruit, bagels, etc. A subset of folks played bridge before dispersing.

Eating More Solids

Allison has continued to expand her eating repertoire to include peas and brown rice (oh yumm!) and cereal finally. Patty’s key learning today: warm the food! We’re really trying to feed her at least 2-3 times a day. She’s grown as a result to 14 lbs and 9 oz – a 1.5 lb increase since her 6 month appt – and 36.25 inches. She still lags many of her peers at 5-10% weight and 25-50% height. She’s going to be a skinny kid!!