Happy New Year

I posted a video of pictures taken Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, our trip to Michigan, and New Years Day. I've been keeping busy with work, hence my blogging time is limited. The girls are great. Michaela is speaking quite well. She sings constantly - her current favs are the ABC song (sing it like "this" - rolling your hands in front of you); Away in a Manger; and Jesus Loves Me. She loves her big sis and tries to do everything she does. She has taken to calling me Mammia - not quite sure why. She occasionally calls Pete "daddia," as well. Of course she's a total daddy's girl. Last night we were upstairs and she asked me for water. I told her if she wanted water she needed go downstairs to get it. (We had just gone upstairs, and I asked her before we went up if she wanted water. She said no, so I wasn't being mean. :) ) I hear her yell from the top of the steps something to the effect of "daddy, I need water." Now that is not going downstairs to get it. She came back in the room, and I asked her if she went to get her water. She said, "Pete's getting it for me." I said, "what?" She repeated, "Pete's getting it for me." Sure enough, about a minute later daddy came running up the stairs with her water. How can you resist the blonde curls and big blue eyes? The other day she told me that she wanted to be called Alexei (one of her middle names). Not Michaela. Alexei. Fortunately that was short lived, and she's back to Michaela...or Kiki. Ava is Ava. She's very busy. No more naps. :( poor mommy. She loves to pretend and play with Little People, her dollhouse, and the little princesses Grandma Nancy/Grandpa Russ got her for Christmas. We'll try to update more often!

Christmas 2009

Yeah, so I have time to keep changing my blog background, but not to type a decent post. I'll get there... :) Michaela turns 2 on Tuesday. She is having a "doo-doo party." Doo-doo = dog. Michaela loves dogs. Michaela is allergic to dogs. Poor kid. She is into saying "no," and this evening, she inexplicably started calling me "momia" and Pete "dadia" (as in mom-ee-uh). Ava thinks she looks like a boy because she got a short haircut. It was not my intention to have it cut that short. It happened. At least she's only 4. A lesson to learn early - hair always grows back. (well, unless you are Ava's daddy)

It's all work...

Working is a good thing, I guess. It puts money in the bank and keeps us a little saner and less worried. It also makes me so busy that I have little time for blog maintenance. I've cut back on my blog reading, too. What seemed fun at first is now just a little annoying. Who do these bloggers think they are, telling me what products I should buy...ha ha . The paid ads are a little annoying, too. Some of the products reviewed were given for free - my opinion is if you couldn't afford it yourself to begin with, then you shouldn't be reviewing it and telling others to buy it. I've culled my list of "blogs I read," and left only the ones I really like. Most are by my friends who are going through way more trying times than I am. Please check out Grace for the Journey and pray for my friend Adrienne and her family. Maybe this weekend I'll get an hour to update on the girls....Michaela is a word wizard now. The best is probably calling Ava a beast when Ava is being...well, Ava. Let's just say that the "sharing" lessons have not kicked in. Michaela is a great sharer, Ava...not so much. I do love watching them wrestle, though. Who needs boys! Here are some pictures from Ava's 4th birthday (butterfly party @ jill-jill's house...jill's birthday, too) and halloween.

Yes, there will be updates....

To my throngs of readers...I will update soon. I've been really busy with work, which is a good thing. Means more money for buying things like food, heat, gas....

Dog feeder

Michaela has been disciplined countless times for playing in the dog food, eating the dog food, carrying the dog food around the house. She's been doing this for months. At first she would sit in the bathroom and watch Kammie eat - trying a few nibbles for herself. Then she started opening the cabinet to get to the dog food to fill the dish (removing the "lock" had had on the door to get into it - so much for childproofing....). She has progressed to carrying the dog food to another room in the house - presumably to hid from me - and holding it while Kammie eats. Sometimes she holds the food in her hand...sometimes she just holds the dish. I finally gave up on the whole disciplining thing. I mean really, who does it hurt? My initial concern was the dog biting her or something, but it seems Kammie really likes it. She's also allergic to dogs. Poor kid. She gets hives if she gets licked. But, she's really cute, loves animals, and insists that it's her job to feed the dog. One less thing I need to do, I guess.

Tom's - fall fun

Last Thursday the cousins spent some quality fall time at Tom's farm. They had a ball running through hay-stacks, playing in corn, and seeing the animals. The apple cider donuts were pretty good, too. Pictured: Ava, Michaela, Zachary, Brooklyn, Anthony, Jack, and Cami (A&M's babysitter's granddaughter; A,Z&B's babysitter's daughter.)