Assorted Talking Pictures...

From this random collection you will learn that:

1) Top Pot Donuts are sweeeeeet.

2) Skiing is more fun with friends.

3) Even in her advanced age, Mama Mer is still smokin'.

Look Carmen, the Real Emerald City!

Have Dorothy dresses will travel, right? The Mothers Goose decided to give family air travel another shot (yes, we're still scarred from Miami) so we packed up our gingham and headed west of Kansas. The timing was perfect because it allowed us to celebrate two birthdays (Uncle B! Mama Mer!) and brought the cousins together for a much needed visit. The first nights were spent at a downtown hotel that shall remain nameless due to a bedbug incident (it rhymes with Schhmeston)... but after my Silkwood moments, and several thousand Starwood points later, we all settled in and had a grand old time.
We enjoyed celebrating Uncle B's birthday out at his favorite burger joint where Lucia was so excited to see cousin Jackson, she promptly fell asleep at the table... but not before trying her hand at a little Picasso. While Lucia dozed, Carmen took the opportunity to share some girl talk with Veronica.
Of course we were all excited to celebrate the FNPP ritual together along with friends too. And when we weren't playing dress up or having dance parties, we could be found soaking up all the glorious Seattle weather... literally. In the end we had too much fun, ate far too much and left way too soon.

Oh the Two-Dah Day...

So the girl with a thousand names reached a big milestone this past week, thus giving her yet another nickname - Two-Dah. Since her actual birthday fell in the middle of the week, she had lots of chances to perfect her candle blowing technique... which, if you recall, is much improved over last year. With our baby on the verge of losing "the baby" part of childhood, here are some things we're going to miss about the pre-two Trouble:

-Her asking for a "bauble" (aka bottle)
-Giving us the stink eye (perhaps that one will stick)
-"Morrre sybup pwease" (the kid loves pancakes)
-All of the incoherent Oz talk... "Dorsey Gale, wion, 'carecrow, ruby swippers, etc. etc."
-Dancing around in a circle when listening to her "jam!"

And a million other things that we've vowed not to forget, and now I can't remember... . Happy Birthday Trouble, thanks for keeping us on our toes.


Addendum: How could I have forgotten the best Carmenism yet!?! When asked a question such as, "Who wants to go sledding? or Who wants ice cream" Her reply, "I dooooooo."

New Year's Resolution Progress Report...

Ok, so we haven't made that many successful ski trips down an actual slope; HOWEVER, we have enjoyed our winter retreats up to Loon Mountain and all of the fun that goes with it. Like swimming for instance... and endangering the lives of our children. The girls seem to need the break from "the city" as much as Moms do, so this long and snowy winter has been quite enjoyable. Of course, when we're not swimming, sledding or sort of skiing, we can always be found dancing around in costumes. That fact may never change... I hope.

We Sure Picked A Good Year to Take up Skiing...

Take that Old Man Winter! I heard someone say that we've had snow each week since Christmas and that we're in line for another big storm on Wednesday. Well bring it on we say! Of course, looking out at the 10 ft high snow banks in my driveway, I'm not sure where we're going to put another single flake, but that's a problem for another day. In the meantime, all this white stuff has been keeping us rather busy from our backyard to the ski slopes – we are trying hard to take advantage of Mother Nature's abundant wintery gifts. So when we're not falling down the mountain (ok, that's just me on the snowboard) the girls have had ample opportunities to perfect their sledding techniques. Of course in between our outdoor play, we got the chance to celebrate birthdays with cousins and catch up with some dear, old friends. So far, this winter ain't half bad...

Let's Dive Right In...

So this is what our house looked like, the morning after Santa's visit and moments before all holy hell broke loose. Interestingly enough, the girls woke up at their usual 6:30 hour, but we had to stall "the big reveal" for a bit and we were able to keep them upstairs watching Little Bear until Mimi's arrival. Then we coaxed them down the stairs and BOOM, Christmas was officially in full swing (or slide). Despite a run in with the norovirus (luckily just Fran and Mimi), it was a great day to spend with friends, family and as always, FOOD. Of course, I fear our house will never recover from Santa's generosity... but we've been talking about building a two-car garage anyway.

So Long First Decade... Hello New Adventures!

New Year's Resolution #1: Be brave, be bold, try new things. Check. As you can see, Lucia is brimming with excitement headed to her first ski lesson. She did great, although at the end she said her feet hurt (which is understandable). Mama Fran survived her first snowboarding lesson (hello back muscles!) and Mama Mer is hitting the slopes tomorrow. The Mothers Goose is bound and determined to to make our first resolution work, and so far we're off to a great start (and for the record Carmen is a daredevil on the sled). Sorry you'll have to wait for more pictures, but trust me the Christmas ones are worth it. Best wishes to you and yours in the New Year, see you in 2011!