Another birthday message...

Happy Birthdays Grandma & (not really a baby anymore) Jack!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Gregg!!!!

Take One:


Take Two:


Take Three:

Okay...so I've learned a couple things filming these videos...First, Ava & Sofia really like to sing in front of the camera & then see what they look like! Second, and perhaps most important, it's really important not to be a perfectionist when you've got two crazy & fun 5 year olds...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE GREGG!!

Halloween, leaves & a snake...yes, a snake.

Let's see . . . lots of pictures to post for you all. First, I will show you what Ava & Sofia were for Halloween. In an attempt to save money this year, we pulled out their old costumes - the elephants, Uniqua & Pablo from the Backyardigans & puppy dogs...They both wanted to be puppy dogs & no one wanted to be the elephants b/c they had fat bellies!


(Bella was a wizard. This is the costume I made back in 2000 when I had a lot of time on my hands . . . She only wore it for about 5 minutes - long enough for the picture. She's elderly & shouldn't have to put up with costumes anymore - even though she is really cute.)

So, as you can see, the puppy costume is a tiny bit small. I did all I could to try to convince both of them not to be the puppy. Ava finally agreed not to be a puppy dog, but Sofia would not budge!! She insisted the costume was fine & fit perfectly!!

So here's a picture of how they looked from behind.
Perfect fit? At least they were both happy!

P.S. Weird house we went to. The sign tells the trick or treaters to go to the house in the back after they get candy "her"












They got a lot of candy & wanted to eat it all that night, but we put aside a few pieces for them to eat over the next few days & Chef G took the rest to work (okay, okay, not all of the rest - we put aside some for us, too) & luckily the girls haven't asked for more!

We did some raking last weekend, too, but that was a fruitless endeavor. It was a lot of fun for the girls . . .

. . . and it looked all nice & clean after we were done.

BUT - the big but came the next morning & we looked outside & saw the yard carpeted in leaves again!

We do love our old trees but boy do we have to rake a lot when autumn comes.

One other thing we did this October - We went to a local corn maze & got pretty lost! And the girls & I got to go on a hayride. The boys stayed back b/c it was too costly for all of us to get jostled around in a wagon!

Oh - and of course we all went to vote on November 4th. Sofia & Ava are celebrating our right to vote with white chocolate dinosaur pops.

Whoa! I almost forgot the best thing we found on our walk the other day -- NOT!! Thank heavens that Chef Daddy was with us because I would have freaked the frick out if I were alone with the girls & we saw this.

I did my best to restrain myself when they said they wanted to touch it. Then when they said they wanted to hold it I almost lost it. I did hold it together long enough to take this picture. They loved the picture & brought it to school to show their teacher & all their friends. I'm glad I have brave daughters!!

Of pumpkins . . . and squirrels.

Ava & Sofia had so much fun scooping the guts out of their pumpkins this past weekend.


I grabbed the camera & got some pictures of them scooping. After they scooped they drew pictures of how they wanted their pumpkin faces carved.

Then it was my turn & I carved out the faces they had drawn...Well, in a perfect world I carved out the faces they had drawn. In our world I tried really hard to follow their lines & the pumpkins came out looking like jack o'lanterns so the girls were happy.

By then it was snack time so we brought the pumpkins inside so Daddy could see them that night when he got home. I totally forgot to take pictures. I lived to regret that memory lapse because a few days later I had to put them outside on the deck.

I had no idea what bold & pesky *#%! squirrels we have. He knocked Ava's right off the railing & went to town. He wouldn't even leave it when I was less than 3 feet away from him!! I had to make that ridiculous "scat" noise to get him to run away! And then he went into his tree & stared me down as I cleaned it up.

Ava & Sofia thought it was hilarious so luckily we didn't have any tears. They decided that the squirrel who ate Ava's pumpkin was just like those mean squirrels in Miss Suzy who kicked the nice squirrel named Miss Suzy out of her beautiful treehouse & trashed her place. For those of you who have never read Miss Suzy, she ends up befriending some brave toy soldiers & they all go back & kick those mean squirrels out of Miss Suzy's house & she lives happily ever after back in her beautiful treehouse. The end.

Speaking of outfits . . .

Ava & Sofia's latest & greatest . . .

Hair today . . . gone tomorrow!

Hair today . . .

Gone tomorrow!!

I didn't think they could get cuter, but they did! And, the bonus is that there was not one scream this morning when I brushed their hair!! We love the new haircuts!! (Ava in yellow, Sofia in blue)

P.S. They still love their Lenny & Joe's shirts but since it's cold they have to wear long sleeve shirts under them. Ava wanted to take it a step further, though. She still wants to wear shorts & thinks it will be okay b/c she can put pants under her shorts just like long sleeves under a short sleeve shirt. I really am quite lenient when it comes to choosing clothes - BUT - there are lines even I cannot let them cross!!!!

September events

So the month of September has really been dominated by school - which Ava & Sofia absolutely love. They also enjoy riding the bus, which we haven't missed once - yippee! - although there have been a few scares :o) They have gym & music & library and are also learning to read. They even enjoy the homework they get twice a week! Sadly, the joy of homework hasn't rubbed off on Xavier...

One of their days off from school we finally got to go sailing. We rented a Rhodes 19, which I have always lovingly referred to as a bathtub. It's a slow boat, but it was more comfortable for the girls.

Sofia & Ava loved sailing & I am so happy & am hoping to get them into lessons next summer.

Xavier also loves to sail & had an awesome time.

Yesterday they had another day off so we headed up to a zoo where you can ride on their elephant, Dondi. Apparently, Dondi was adopted by the handler in 1975 when she was a baby & he and his wife have raised her since then. She does a bunch of tricks & is definitely well loved.

The zoo also had a petting zoo where pygmy goats ran around a pen. Garry tried to buy some food so the girls could feed the goats...BUT...take a look at that bigger black goat just to Garry's left...

That goat actually ended up butting Garry out of the way - hard - and stuck his mouth up in the machine & stole all the food.

Sofia & Ava are pretty flexible so they were happy just petting the other goats.

Of course we also were able to go to City Park to ride bikes, we played outside a lot, they played friends A LOT and we had a really nice month.

Brief interlude

I wanted to take a quick moment to highlight our Boxer, Bella. She is ten and a half years old and

has the most beautiful spirit I've ever seen in a dog.

She has been battling some kind of immune disorder where her immune system won't allow her body to make platelets. She went for another blood check today & she is finally back up to 240,000 platelets! This is absolutely awesome since at one point she was down to 30,000. She is such a great dog & doesn't have one nasty bone in her body. She is a rescued dog & maybe that is one reason that she is such an amazing dog.

While her gas can send you running from the room gasping for fresh air, our lives wouldn't have been the same without her. We love you Bella!

Speedy update

Okay, here's my speedy update...


Ava & Sofia started Kindergarten....Big step for all of us!



We didn't think they'd need their backpacks the first day so I didn't send them in. Of course they came home with plastic bags full of papers I had to fill out. They also came home with a sad story about having to watch all their new friends eat snacks because their mommies sent in a snack & I didn't...I put myself on the bad mommy list for that day. At least we didn't miss the bus...


















Luckily they had each other or I don't think they would have gotten on the bus!!



























Doesn't the bus look too big for them?!





















The next day they wore their "Handy Manny" backpacks & went equipped with snacks & bottles of water.












One morning before school while I was working on the budget & thought they were playing nicely they created this beautiful masterpiece in the living room...




















I helped them clean that up & asked them very kindly to remember the rules about putting away one game before they take out another game! And anyway, how can I be too angry when they are so darned cute!

















One day after school we went to a nearby park that they love so much because they can climb big rocks & I caught Ava telling Sofia a secret. I'm so grateful that I got it on camera.





































Labor Day weekend we got to go to Nonni's & Aunt Sandy & Uncle Andy's beach & they absolutely loved playing in the water.



And poor Ava...This picture just makes us laugh so much that I had to include it in my speedy update. This was in August after a long day of swimming in Nonni's pool. You can see Sofia off to the left on her way to try to fix Ava's hair. There was no fixing Ava's hair...

From this . . . to 5 years old in a split second!

August 2003 . . .

August 2008 . . .

I swear all I did was blink! I remember when Xavier was 5 (no digital camera back then...how did we ever survive?). Now he's 15 & going to get his learner's permit in February. What the heck happened? You can't slow time down.

Anyway, we had a really great birthday for the girls and Chef G switched his day off so that he could celebrate with us.

First, they sat together & opened a few presents . . . and let me just mention that those are their favorite pjs and they just happen to be size 2T. They are skinny minis...

Here are Sofia & Ava wearing those same pjs when they really were 2 years old:

Next, we had a delicious Portuguese Sweet Bread French Toast with Strawberries & Whipped Cream breakfast

Then we went to a County Fair which was a lot of fun for the girls. They went all by themselves up a huge slide with their own burlap sacks

They played a lot of fun games and won some really cheap...err, I mean really cool stuff.

Then we got stuck in a ridiculous downpour! It was hot & humid and all of a sudden the skies just opened up! The girls jumped up on my lap & we waited it out for a little while on a little covered porch. We then realized it wasn't moving as quickly as we were hoping so Chivalrous Chef Garry ran to the car so he could come back & pick us up.

And finally, we went out for a fun dinner at a family friendly chain restaurant. Sofia enjoyed feeding Ava a worm from her dirt dessert!