More Hanukkah lights

The fifth night...

The sixth night...

The seventh night....

The last night!

Home "Fun" and Friends

At school, every week we have home "fun". I guess no one wants to call it homework or we won't be interested. I actually love doing my homework. It is time with Mommy or Daddy because often it has instructions that I can't read (yet). Sometimes, it is an art project of sorts. These are worksheets which is probably what we do half the time. I learn my numbers and letters and have fun along the way with a little coloring. Mama says my coloring has improved so much. I used to be more of a scribbler. The other day at my friend's house (M and m), I colored a large page M gave me out of her coloring book and it came out so beautiful (not bragging, Mama said).

I still love dressing up. Mama remembers when Zoe always had a princess dress on and I was not at all interested. Either she had an impact on me, or the inner dress up kid just hadn't come out yet. I am not ALWAYS a princess. Sometimes, I am a chef!

More visiting with Pepa (October 2011)

I used some markers to draw some makeup on my face. For some reason, Jordan likes to make this face when Pepa holds him.

Pepa stayed with us from my birthday until the second week in October. We had some fun times. Grandma and Grandpa also visited for my birthday and we had a VERY full house. I hope they all come back soon. Mama said that next year Thanksgiving is at our house. It will be so much fun with everyone here in my home.

The Box and the Park (by Mama)

We had a wonderful weekend. Both this morning and yesterday morning, we had yummy challah french toast. We bought the challah (or "calah" as Gigi pronounces it) at the Friday Farmer's Market. Gigi's was made into a Mickey mold...even Jordan had some and loved it!


This morning, the french toast was made AFTER decorating the box we painted yesterday....yes, we started decorating at 5:38 am (would have been 5:30 if I didn't need coffee). This box is very special....it arrived a little less than 6 months ago from a local family Mama knows from a special place on the internet. They sent the box for Gigi to decorate, together with a gift for Jordan, after Eliza died. We haven't had the right time to spend together to decorate it, but it was a perfect project for this weekend. We laid low. Yesterday, we painted the box...

while Jordan looked on and played with Camille.

....and today, at a VERY early hour, Gigi remembered less than 20 seconds after waking up that the box was waiting for her to decorate. This was the perfect weekend for us to decorate the box...we had the time and Gigi was asking about her sister, so Eliza was definitely on Gigi's mind. Yesterday, she asked if I could put Eliza back in my tummy and today, before going to sleep, for the first time in months, she asked where Eliza was....she said she misses her....so do I. Maybe she can sense my recent sadness about Eliza. Of course, the sadness hasn't stopped but the mask was on pretty tight and only recently, did the sadness surface more than it had since right after Eliza died.

Abby suggested that if we wanted Gigi could use this as a memory box for Eliza. I don't want to suggest what she should use it for....I am waiting to see what she puts in it.

After the creative juices were flowing, it was time to get some energy out. We headed back to the new park and with great luck, the M and m family were available and joined us. It was quite wet after an overnight rain, but we still had so much fun.

Have you ever seen a more joyful family?

The park even has a way for Mom and Dad to get a workout

Melese was so sweet holding Jordan's hand. They are going to be good buddies. Though 18 months seems like a big difference in age, it is the same difference between Gigi and Zoe who play beautifully together.

And, the best part of the park for Gigi? Shamu is there!

Super Saturday with Mama

Mama took me to breakfast this morning and we had the 2-2-2 (two eggs, two bacon, two pancakes) at Joni's. I had a pancake and one bacon....but, then I stole Mama's bacon....so Mama had one pancake and two eggs. I spread strawberry jam all over....yum! Now, I like pancakes more than my usual blueberry bagel.

Daddy surprised us before he had to go to work.

I traced Daddy's hand over and over.

Then, before we went and visited Daddy in the office in the afternoon, we all took a bath (well, Mama took a shower). Here is Jordan before bath.

After we visited Daddy at work, we went to Zoe's house to play (and sleep!) and have dinner.

And, then we cuddled a little before going to sleep.

Yard Sale Weekend

Yesterday, we went to a few yard sales....Daddy bought me this tent for $1.50. Mama was not happy...."why do we need another tent?....we are just collecting more stuff, etc." But, Daddy convinced Mama that it was a great idea for the beach. It packs up nice and small in a carrier and baby brother and baby sister can be in it shaded from the sun this summer. Michael (Zoe's Dad) said that he would even rent it for their camping trip. At $5 per night, maybe we will actually make a profit!

We also got the below Bumbo look alike for baby brother or baby sister, but Lucy was over last night and took it for a test drive....$4!

And, then this morning, I bought a $7 scooter (Spiderman) at the first yard sale we went to. We only went to one more and there was a Princess Scooter for $5....so we bought it in case I have a friend over who wants to scoot with me. I did a lot of scooting all over the Honda dealership.....this is me on the way to the used car lot. Yes, we are proud owners of a 2007 Honda Odyssey (Mama says "shhh, don't tell Gigi, it comes with a built-in entertainment system).

I also bought a Sleeping Beauty princess dress this morning for $1!! Here I am with Zoe last night.