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!

Not much activity lately

This post won't have many pictures because we've had a quiet couple of weeks just rock painting, reading, drawing, playing with play-doh & board games and playing in the yard, but we haven't wandered very far from home lately. I started coughing over 3 weeks ago but I thought it was just some little thing that would go away. I ignored it and I really tried to make it go away without seeing a doctor - I even gave up dairy & wheat/white flour because I heard that dairy's not good when you have a cold & wheat flour isn't necessarily good for my blood type...I don't think it's helping with my sickness, but I have lost 8 pounds!

I finally went to see the doctor & she thinks I have some random lung infection so I'm on antibiotics & Prednisone...Prednisone, which my beautiful boxer, Bella, is on for a platelet problem...It makes Bella ravenous - so hungry that she will lick grated Parmesan cheese or any miniscule crumb that falls on the floor until there is not a trace of whatever fell. I was afraid I was going to be down on the floor competing with her to lick all the crumbs up, but I haven't gotten there...yet.

I'm extremely grateful that Ava & Sofia (and of course the Chef) have not caught whatever it is that I have. It's been really hard getting throught this b/c Chef Garry has been working in Boston for 3 weeks & he still has 3 to go. He's rarely home & when he is he's pretty exhausted. But we're all troopers and we are getting through it & I think I'm getting better...My mother has been extremely helpful and has come a couple times to play with the girls and help me out. I am also very grateful to have her help. Thanks, Mom.

But how can I possibly post without at least one picture of Ava & Sofia?! Here's a picnic they had with their elephants.

And just for fun, here's a video of them jumping off the diving board in July with only 2 tubes each! I wish I could bottle up some of this joy & fun to save for a rainy day...

Farm & Swimming. Lots of swimming.

Okay, so it's only been 2 weeks since I've updated & that's actually pretty good for me...BUT...I just noticed that I'm now on Desperate Chefs' Wives (http://www.desperatechefswives.com/) Blogs Worth Reading list!! Woah, the pressure! ;o) Just kidding...it's pretty cool though - thanks dcw! She writes a great blog for pretty much anyone with a chef in their life & it's nice to know you're not alone in the world being with a spouse who works very hard and is rarely home. This relationship often requires celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc., on different days and truth be told it requires sacrifice & compromise. On the other hand, I have someone who, when he's home, can find a few very random items in the pantry and create a masterpiece to eat in the evening!


Anyway, on with Ava & Sofia...We spent a lot of July swimming in Nonni's pool. They are like fish...Fish who still need swim bubbles or rings to swim with, but fish nonetheless!

They even jump off the diving board now...with 3 tubes, but look at them jump!!


Sofia in the first 2 pics, Ava in the 3rd...













We also happened to run into a farmer at the greatest picture framing gallery in CT (The Wall Street Gallery, of course...no bias here...) and he invited us to meet the chickens & horses & tractors & pick up some eggs while we were there.

First Sofia met the chicken...



Then Ava met the horse...really close-up...

Then they both had the opportunity to sit on an antique tractor & hear its engine roar!!


It was a really cool experience for Ava & Sofia. And it was awesome to eat an egg fresh from the chicken's nest!

Storyland Vacation

Chef G took an unprecedented 2 weeks off!!

We spent a lot of time together & even went on an awesome child-oriented family vacation!

The drive was a little over 4 hours, but totally worth it & with coloring books, stories & dvds Ava & Sofia handled the drive quite well.

We went to Storyland which is a little amusement park geared towards kids under 11. It has everything a kid would want: rides, games, food & characters.


The swan boat ride was really fun. It has its own little engine & the kids get to steer...we did a lot of bumping into other swans!



It also had a lot of "flying" rides - the whale is below, but there were also shoes & fish to fly on!



Chef G & Ava & Sofia were put in jail at the end of the day because they had WAY too much fun!




And oh yeah, the piece de resistance...Bamboo Chutes! They have the camera perfectly situated so that they get everyone when the little panda boat first starts down the steep, fast hill (even the panda is scared)!



We also ended up staying overnight at a really beautiful grand old hotel (no a/c! but it was a beautiful night with NH breezes). Here's Sofia in our room singing her graduation song "Proud to be an American."

Swimming & Backyardigans

I just noticed that the Backyardigan & bedtime story pictures aren't working so I'll repost them & here are some swimming pictures from around the 4th of July!

Oh yeah! And here's the zoo picture when we went to see Flutterby. Fun on a caterpillar.