Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Opa!

The Greeks are a bunch of party animals!

noshing on a bit of gyro

Tatziki face! Yum!


This past weekend was our church's annual Greek Fest. On Saturday I helped out by dishing out chicken and potatoes to many a hungry patron, really giving one up to God while standing on my feet in the heat for 4 hours! Sunday we made it a family day by dining and dancing at the festival. The food was awesome, as usual, and Sophia was absolutely riveted by the dancers! Maybe someday I'll be a proud mama watching her up on that stage! She wasn't interested in the food (isn't much interested in food at all lately, as it seems) but we did get her to eat by enticing her with 'dip'. This kid loves to dip. Once we showed her how to dip the gyro into the tatziki she was all about it! She started out by just sucking the dip off the pita and then diving full on into big-girl sized bites of Mommy's sandwich! I was happy to share if that meant she was eating! We had a good time and only got chastised a little bit by Father Nick for not showing up regularly! Ha!

Almost Famous


Strawberry Short Stuff says no autographs, please.

Monday, June 15, 2009

School is in Session!

Serious Swim Face*
*This picture is not from tonight, but any chance to add a cute picture and I'm on it! ;)

Today Sophia and Charlie started baby swim school....yay! It sounds like they had a super fun time and Charlie reported back that she quickly turned into the teacher's pet. They practiced floating on their back, gliding, kicking their legs, and blowing bubbles, among other things. Charlie said she did well on just about everything except the bubble blowing...she apparently would stick her face in the water and then lick it up. Maybe she's paying too much attention to Walter lately?!



The lessons go all this week and next and hopefully the rain will hold out each evening for them! I hope to sneak to at least one lesson and capture some photos as I would hate for this monumental occasion to go undocumented! I'm happy that they're getting some excellent daddy/daughter bonding, a perfect lead-in to Father's Day I think!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Caution! Redecorating in Progress!!!

So, apparently 2 years is too much time in between cleaning out your closets. Who knew?! Since we've been back from California, I have been in major nesting mode cleaning out closets, basements, rooms, and more and it's out of control!! Yet I feel as if I haven't made much progress. I have a HUGE pile of stuff to give away and it's only getting bigger. In a way, it's nice to have the purge, but I am also boggled by the fact that we still have so much stuff that goes unused and even unseen!



We have completely revamped our ideas of where to put Sophia, Baby and various other bits of furniture. We thought we had it all planned out, but once we started really getting to the nitty gritty, we decided we didn't like our plans. So, as it is now, we've decided to keep Sophia in her current room and move the nursery. This did not sound like an ideal plan at first, because, well, why move all that furniture when we have to get new anyway...but I'll get to that! We have also decided to move our computer downstairs into a common area. Not ideal, but we both think it is the best option for us right now. We wanted to get a lap top and wireless connection, but after last week including a brand new roof and gutters (do shingles really cost that much! :0 ) and the prospect of having to get me a new car, we decided that a new computer was out of the question for now. Plus, Charlie is really trying to be diligent about getting some more of those e-bills set up to cut down on our paper intake...way to go green, honey! So that will cut down on our desk clutter which is nice since it will now be out in the open...yikes!



We have also been struggling with the decision of a new crib or a new bed for Sophia and we've decided on a bed. Our consensus seems to be that she will be okay, and everyone will just have to bite the bullet! However, due to the roof, etc. we aren't thrilled with the idea of a brand new bedroom set at this point so we are seriously considering the idea of using a full size bed instead of a twin bed to transition her to because we already have one of those hanging out in our basement fully equipped with a brand new mattress and box spring! Since her current room is bigger, it makes more sense to move that bed in there than to try and squish all kinds of stuff into the small room. Besides, the baby won't really need a bunch of space, but the closet in that room is just awful and not in the best shape to store diapers, etc. that I was accustomed to storing in Sophia's closet. Plus, I kind of wanted to give Sophia new wall decorations and such, not sure what we'll do about that. I may move the pictures b/c they go with the crib set, but I hate to have those pesky holes to fill! Anyway, I digress, my point here is this...If I was nervous about a twin bed I'm equally, if not more, nervous about a full size. Feel free to weigh-in on this matter, as I'm still adjusting to the idea.



As far as Spud, Spud will be happy with whatever it gets! ;) We had a doctor's appointment this week and all is well! Things seem to be going swimmingly in there and I have one more 4-week visit, which includes the dreaded glucose test, and then we move to every 2 weeks...wow, this is really crunch time! As you know, we are scheduled to deliver on September 25, but we now have the surgery time as well: 7:30 am (translation: mommy reports at 5:30), which I suppose is fine since I'll have to kiss my sleep goodbye anyway! We have yet to make exact arrangements for Sophia that week but we've already had volunteers! Hopefully it will work out so that Charlie can stay at the hospital with Baby and me, to get in that quality bonding time, while Sophia gets spoiled by grandmothers and aunties and uncles!


Once my house is less disaster and more put-together (which I really hope is soon!) I will post pictures of our "new" rooms!

Park Pics

Splash, splash!



Hug Sandwich!


enjoying the view




Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Life As Usual

Daddy had a great idea to hit Ben and Jerry's after dinner one night!

ice cream is deeeee-licious!

Bama came along for some ice cream too!


Charlie and I tried a new flavor, Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road, it was quite delicious and we both gave it two thumbs up. So if you come across it, try it! Sophia prefers her chocolate completely unadulterated. She doesn't like anything in it or on it.


Sophia and Isaac coloring with jumbo chalk
So, I know it sounds lame, but we recently had a 6th grade reunion and it was totally fun! A bunch of people got reconnected on FaceBook (I know, I know) and put together a two-day gathering in honor of our 20 year graduation from elementary school! Friday night was a bar night and Saturday we met at the school playground with our kids to play and chat. Sophia and Isaac are already buddies so they hit it off just fine! Sadly, I was a bad picture taker and this is the only one I got, but it was fun to see every one's kids and reconnect. We even had people fly in from California, Oregon and Illinois to be with us!




Garage Sale Find...


So I scored this awesome trike for $5 from a sale down the street and Sophia loves it! She calls it her motorcycle. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it, but I think she will soon. She pedaled it once for a couple of feet, but since then we've only gotten about one real pedal out of her each time. It would be awesome if she would get the hang of it and then we could move onto bikes! Am I ahead of myself here?! ;)
I've been trying to be a bargain garage sale shopper lately and have found a few things: trike, basketball hoop for Sophia, Cozy Coupe, and a bead roller coaster (ya know those things they put in doctor office waiting rooms!). I'm still looking for a double stroller and possibly a kids' picnic table but it's kind of fun to bargain hunt. There is a big difference however, in what people think their stuff should go for and what I think! Isn't that always the case!


The mouse shoes reappear!
She really loves these shoes and is requesting them often this week! It's the little things that make us happy.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Our Little Song Bird

Here Sophia sings two of her favorites: Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle. Obviously I'm biased, but I think it's so cute when she sings and even tries the hand motions! Twinkle, twinkle is a little harder to understand but you can figure it out as long as you know the words! She turns the lights off on herself when she's through!