Ode to Adam (Happy Father's Day!)

My kids have the best daddy. He is great at being goofy and silly. He is great at teaching new things. He is musical, funny, smart, creative, artistic, loving, caring, kind, hard-working, generous, hopeful, an excellent cook, strong, handy, and a wonderful example. I'm so glad he's the one my girls get for a father. 

Being silly

Coach daddy

some heavy-lifting

Norwalk with Noma

Norfolk, VA Botanical Gardens

The Maiden Voyage

Capturing seaside exploration

Family effort - chickens got a new home

And here's a shout out to my own dad. He is an amazing guy as well. He taught us to work, to appreciate John Denver, to finish our plates, to be Aggie fans, to root for the underdog, to love the mountains, to follow politics, an so much more.  

Herm teaching my kids to play tennis

squished picture  of my dad and Noma making a cake

Spring Time - the Wonder Years

You'll have to get past the squished photos. I still don't know what's going on there.

Cute things out of the mouth of Noma: 

Fink = think

Surella = Cinderella

Somesting = something

Hippups = hiccups

Pummus = hummus

What'd you sayed? = What did you say?

Cute things out of the mouth of Ru:

Rusually = usually

Seat cart = Car seat

I'm gonna sword you = I'm gonna stab you (I recognize that she shouldn't be stabbing at all, and we talked about that in the moment. I can assure you, it was said with innocence - and cuteness and without malice).

Cute things about Viv:

She loves talking to grown ups and feeling accepted by them (thanks to those who have made her feel grown up). She is caught between wanting to be a grown up and wanting to be a little kid. She loves playing with and looking after little kids.

She is in the process of making little capes for her younger cousins all be herself. She sews them with felt, ribbon, and Velcro. So cute! I'm thinking about starting an Etsy account for her. Can I do that for a kid? I'm not familiar with Etsy. 

 

This was April Fool's Day. I toilet papered their bedroom, glued a quarter to the sidewalk outside, and make "cupcakes" (corn bread with mashed potato frosting). I've never done pranks on my kids before, but this year was fun!

Tracing/coloring bodies - classic kid fun

She talks about painting her face. She cried at bath time.

Such concentration. She was occupied for such a long time.

Making Indian fry bread with daddy. We cheated and used ground wheat and olive oil. I still thought they were delicious!

She likes to put both legs into one side of the pants and be a mermaid.

She wears "princesses" (dresses) almost every day - even just to do dishes (a favorite past time).

Ru playing soccer. She is a good player, but it may not be her thing. She doesn't love it.

Viv loves climbing on and up everything. She is hanging on Adam's pull-up bar.

 

 

 

 

 

Adam coached Viv's soccer team this year. Viv prefers to hang back and play defense. Soccer may not be her thing, either. *Sigh*... ah well. We think they prefer gymnastics and swimming, etc, which is great.

 

Easter

Easter is still magical for my kids. They LOVE this season, even if the ground is still dirt.

bursting with the anticipation of hunting for eggs... mostly sugar

Noma making the traditional Easter nests (chow mein noodles covered in melted butterscotch chips, coconut, and jellybeans). SOOOOO unhealthy, but equally yummy.

We found quail eggs to dye this year. It was so fun! They are so little and beautiful. We did it with our good friends, the Zullo family (can't believe I didn't get a photo of them!).

The girls always love to help decorate the house for each holiday. School crafts come in handy for that. Thanks, Ru!

Impromptu Trip to DC

Shortly after our move to Norwalk, we learned that a huge snowstorm was headed our way. School was already canceled. We were thinking about our emergency preparedness status. It was not good. Our food storage had been destroyed, so we needed to do a lot of shopping in the event that we were stuck in our houses for days without power. We had a fireplace to keep warm, but no firewood. Hmmm, Adam had never been back to Washington DC since he was born there, and this was a perfect time to go. A little cold, perhaps, but not as cold as it would be if we stayed home. So, at about 9pm, we packed up our confused and excited children into the car and headed south for a five hour drive. We are so glad we did it. We had a wonderful time!

 

This was one of Viv's favorite pieces of art.

Some of the photos got smooshed, and I'm not sure why. Adam...???

The girls LOVED this giant dollhouse and the American History Museum

2am upon our arrival.

Tower of Lincoln books across from Ford's Theater.

One of Ru's favorite paintings

In front of the Whitehouse

There was still a lot of snow when when we returned, but no damage or power outages. The girls and I built this awesome half igloo. It was completely melted by the next day. Completely. Good bye to my visions of neighborhood children coming over for snowball fights and fort building. Maybe next year.