Pops

We never tire of pops. Never.

Wanna see my jump?

Vivian is equal parts cuddle-bear and dare-devil.

We're quite used to Pip tearing all the cushions off our sofa for regular games of "jump around". But I think this was the most enthusiatically Vivian has ever participated. She kept exclaiming to us "Wanna see my jump??!" and would climb up on the ottoman and fall off face-first as if playing the trust ice-breaker with herself.



Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM3WlF1GA34

Game Night

Saturday we invited the Devlin's and Hoffenberg's over for dinner and games. Pip was VERY excited to see these friends again and to have a sleepover! He loves sleepovers! Especially when they involve Liam, Jack, and Ella. We were also very happy to have Alex and Chase Hoffenberg (3 month old twins!) sharing the evening with us, but I can't say Pip or Viv gave them too much attention.

There was lots of running and playing, but after dinner they sat still for a spell to watch Snow White.




Later it was bedtime and Vivie, having her room to herself, conked out immediately. Pip convinced Liam and Ella to bunk with him and they needed only one gruff threat from Joe to settle down and sleep. Very successful!


Plus the adults managed to stay up past 12, which beats even my New Year's time, playing fun games. The only sad moment came at 6:22 am the following morning when Pip woke to find Liam and Ella had disappeared. The travesty! He cried and cried, inconsolable, for a long time. Why did his friends leave him?? Poor Pip! Next time perhaps it will be a real sleepover!

Rockin'

Phil snapped these umso-cute pics of P/V rockin' out after school one day. Vivie is wearing her fashion-forward eyewear from that she got for Christmas from Aislinn (and Tasha) and is completely owning it. Pip also has his glasses on and is showing off his rocker moves. Slide over Sambora!

Busy day

Today was Mom's group at our place. Highlights included Valentine's cookies from Nick. Here's a video of them enjoying the snacks, which also explains why Vivie had a red-forehead all morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMGSvM1J2Iw


Later there were dragon tatoos for the boys. Pip was at first freaked out by his because apparently the dragon was not a nice one and was threatening to eat him, but a small dose of chocolate to Pip's belly assuaged the beast and after that everyone wanted one.



Because of the construction, I moved some spices into a lower cabinet and the littler kids were having fun harmlessly stacking them. I did notice something that smelled of cinnamon, but didn't connect the dots. ... Until Nick came in an announced that Pip was refusing to share his brown flour and that it was "all gone". Uh oh. I turned the corner into the dining room to find one entire spice jar of cinnamon dumped under the table (and some in the carpet) and Pip COVERED in rust-dust. Nice. Pip had to retreat to his room for a time-out after that one. (And no pics because obviously we had our hands full).

Later we had a very nice lunch and I snapped this cute one of Viv and Carolina.


Only Viv and I napped after this excitement. Pip played quietly in his room until Vivie woke and we were all up. He still had tons of energy for this very fun exchange. I MISSED YOU! (Note Vivie gave me a kiss, a mind meld, and an Eskimo kiss!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO1RPjgmato

Sunday

Today we shared a great morning with Aislinn, Tasha, and Rob. I can't say how wonderful it is to see our kids play happily all morning long. Here Aislinn and Vivie shared some smiles over books.




And Tasha lent us some very fun books that we read when we got home. Pip and Viv were so fascinated we had to read through all of them!


Oh, and here's a short snippet of me goading my poor kids into saying they love me. I'm not sure how well this would stand up in court, coercion and all, but I can't help myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b49igKPUVNY

Exhale ...

We can all breathe a little bit easier now. Since getting a hefty foundation scare, the structural engineer came by and said that while it wasn't great, bowing like we have is not uncommon in old homes and would not be worth the investment to fix it. He recommended re-pointing the field stones in the basement and calling it a day. So in came a crew of masons who set to work pulling out all the dried mortar from the back wall (which was frighteningly easy ... much of it came falling out leaving large holes behind). They squeezed in fresh mortar and we are told this will significantly help keep things together.

So the project is back on. And the slider is in! We think it looks fabulous even in this unfinished state. It really makes the deck seem like part of the space now and it is amazing how much more light we get now as compared to the window.

Sharing Prowess

Guess who's the better sharer?? Pip ate his tootsie pop very quickly, much like the Owl, and then successfully hit up Vivie for a few licks of hers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBDie_tSS0Y

Macy's

Today was quite productive. It helped that the kids slept til 8 leaving Phil and I reasonably rested to start the day. We got Phil's passport photo taken and then went to the post office and applied for all our passports (expensive!). Now we can escape to Mexico if our house collapses.

Then it was off to Macy's for their big one day sale. Phil was not exactly sure this was a good idea. But Pip and Vivian found a relatively secluded spot in Men's Shoes and we played there happily while Daddy shopped.

This shoe rack made for a nice tunnel:


This was a fun game of run and return which was safely managed in the space:


Later Pip showed me that he did eat all his cheeseburger (or at least the final required bite) to get a gumball from the huge gumball machine.


Lots os escalaters were also tackled, but not pictured.

Happy Birthday, your foundation sucks.

Our pantry project has begun. I got the bright idea to convert our little coat closet into a full pantry. It's not insulated so it has to be gutted. We're also putting a sliding glass door to the deck where the window is; this will eliminate the need for a egress in the pantry so it can be closed off and used fully.

Here is the project underway:


Up until here all was honky-dorry. I came home Thursday night expecting the slider to be in place and everything to be fabulous.

Instead ... I spent yesterday "celebrating" what might have been the worst birthday on record since early pubesence when I vaguely recall at least one birthday spent full of self-pity, hating life in my bedroom. Yesterday was a small step up from that -- as I was wallowing in self-pity in my kitchen. Our fabulous pantry project had barely begun when it was abruptly halted (only after a gaping hole was cut into our kitchen for the intended sliding glass door and the pantry room was completely gutted, all doors removed) due to the fact that our foundation has apparently bowed out 3 inches. Our contractor refuses to continue work until a structural engineer can review it. This will happen Monday and we will learn whether the whole back of the house must be torn down, a new foundation poured, and the house rebuilt, or whether our children will live to go to college with our savings instead. Meanwhile, I spent all yesterday evening on hands and knees cleaning every possible crevice of my entire downstairs of an 1/8 inch covering of horsehair plaster dust.

By the way, Phil should have the right to comment here (although technically he could log in and do it himself). But his official comment to this posting is "whatever, you're like the leadership team that over-reacts to insufficient data" -- referring to folks at his work and illustrating that he truly is a cautious realist and can not be prodded into emotional reactions no matter the circumstances.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Grammie Balas gave Vivian Snow White for Christmas. What a hit!!! Vivian thinks Snow White is the bees knees and all those adorable birds, bunnies, deer, and the cute turtle that help her out are crowd faves. The dwarves can not be outdone and always inspire several rounds of "Hi Ho" throughout the house.

Here all of Mom's group takes part after watching it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgSVRyWFodA

Pip and Viv also especially like to sing this as they go to and from school in the car. Of course, it is edited to "Hi Ho, Hi Ho! It's off to school we go!"

Soft Pretzels

Grandma came with a little booklet on how to make soft pretzels. I created a hybrid recipe with one from Alton Brown online and here was the result.



Very yummy! Pip and Vivie liked them for breakfast as well as for handy snacks.

A few days later Pip and Pip made a second batch. Check out Pip's kneading skills!

Sledding, Take 2

After learning the dangers of sledding on fluffy snow the hard way, we wore full gear next time.


This time we had Daddy, Grandma, and Vivie along when we went to Mt. Hood. Unfortunately Vivie was NOT interested what-so-ever in sledding. She told me before we left that she didn't want to go -- and she meant it. Despite adequate warning, we forced her into her snow suit as well and ripped her away from Snow White (she was not at all inspired by her favorite Princess's name). As soon as we got out of the car she began wailing. In her defense, the winds were beyond blustery at the top of the moutain and it was very cold.

Pip and Daddy gave it a full effort. Here they are walking to a smaller side hill down the path:


And here they are going down. Weee!


At this point Vivian's cries were of complete comtempt, anger, pain, and misery. I set off back to the car to warm her off and assure her that I did indeed love her. Sadly, Pip, Dad, and Grandma were not far behind. It was apparently too cold and windy for them as well. Oh well, maybe next time.

Smaug

This is Smaug. He's a very cool Dragon Aunt Jenny gave Pip. Most of the time he nice, but he does have a nasty streak if you rub him the wrong way. It's fun to see Pip try out the pupper features himself.


But he doesn't mind when someone else takes the reins and helps Smaug tell him a story as well.

"Finger" painting

Pip and Vivian got some cool painting supplies from Santa and since Grandma was here to lend a hand we bravely decided to get them out. The good news: they LOVE to paint. The bad news: Vivian LOVES to paint herself, Pip thinks it's all about MORE paint.

Here Vivian shows her technique:


You may still see white on the paper now, but trust me -- when Pip was done there was not a hint of paper still visible.


Grandma smiles ... now but she had to do clean up after I whisked them away for a double bath ... one rinse cycle followed by another real thing.


Yikes.

Prepared and Pigtails

More snow!!!

Pip and I, after shoveling out both cars, the sidewalk, and the driveway, decided to hop in the car and go sledding at Mt. Hood. What fun!!! Huge hills abound!! Except that not all the snow was sledded on yet and the fluffy stuff flew up into Pip's face twice. An inch coating of snow all over your face is not pleasant.

I showed Pip some serious snow gear when we got home and he said maybe he'd go again.



Vivian is not so sure about this snow stuff since our walk yesterday. She decided to stay home with Grandma and her doll and Elmo. Grandma discovered pigtails!! So cute!

We hiked in a State Park on New Year's Day

Not hungover, having went to bed at 10pm -- sober -- we decided we should inflict some sort of pain on ourselves for New Year's Day.

Massachusetts has a series of hikes across its parks called "First Day Hikes". We bundled up, clamored into the car and drove a couple miles to Breakheart. It was a two mile loop that would have been paved if not for the snow.

It looked very grim for the first mile. Vivie insisted on being carried (NO WAGON) and I was getting tired. Crying at the halfway mark, our fellow campers attempted to get rid of us by suggesting maybe we could go back the way we came instead of completing the hike with them. :(

Luckily, or not, depending on how you look at it, Mommy is stubborn and would not be deterred. I plopped Vivie in the wagon and offered some snacks. That did the trick! She and Pip shared several fruit leathers and animal crackers all the way home.




Back at the parking lot Pip spied a huge snow mountain. He and Daddy had fun scaling it and creating boulder avalanches.


The view from atop: