Olympics 2016

Musical Beds

8:30pm - Violet and Ivy are in their respective beds.
9:00pm - Violet leaves her bed and demands water, bathroom, insert any activity that will allow her to stall.
1:00am - Ivy screams.
1:15am - Ivy is still screaming.
1:16am - Ivy joins me and Gene in bed and sleeps with a big grin on her face.
1:45am - Gene returns Ivy to her crib.
5:15am - Ivy screams.
5:16am - Ivy is back in our bed
6:15am - Violet sneaks into our room and tries to crawl into our bed. She succeeds.
6:16am - I have no choice but to go to Violet's bed.
7:00am - Everyone is awake and Gene is crowned as the winner of musical beds since he's the only one in his own bed.  His prize is the first diaper change of the day. Yay for Gene!

Gingerbread House Decorating (Dylan's Candy Bar)

Sometimes pictures really do tell the best story. One would think that getting an unlimited amount of candy to eat and decorate with would be any kid's dream, but not my kid.  Violet's favorite part of that day was riding the subway.  As we began our descend into the subway station, she exclaimed, "Wow, it smells good in here!"  She was giddy with excitement as we waited at the platform and kept repeating, "Mommy, I think I hear something.  It's the train!" Once it finally arrived she chose a window seat and kept pointing out how we are going through yet another tunnel.  I didn't want to break it to her that the whole ride was just one giant tunnel. At every stop she asked, "Is this our stop?"  That wasn't annoying at all. We finally arrived at the magical two-story candy store and she was completely unimpressed.  Not at the bright colors, or the candy or even at the Santa who kept trying to make small talk about her Holiday wish list.  She decorated for about 15 minutes, ate a few pounds of Twizzlers and picked out a toy for Ivy before heading home.  When given the option of train or cab for her return trip, my child once again showed wisdom beyond her years and chose to cab it.

Thanksgiving 2013 - Four Klaymans and a Roslovich

Ivy doesn't like the Paparazzi so she excluded herself from the photo.  Actually, we did manage to snap one with Ivy - see below.

Play Fighting

Poconos with Audrey

Unfortunately I was sick as a dog that weekend and in bed with the flu but the girls hiked to a nearby waterfall and enjoyed a beautiful day in the Poconos.

 

Disney on Ice: Let's Celebrate!

How cute are these punims? Especially in the second picture.
The show was pretty boring (at least for me and Gene) and the food was ridiculously priced ($60 for 2 hot dogs, fries and chicken nuggets) but Violet seemed to have fun.  Mostly she was excited about taking the subway and leaving Ivy at home so she can have her parents all to herself.

Me: Violet, what are you most excited about: the train or seeing Mickey?
Violet: The Train!
Me: Really?  You would rather ride the dirty, infested subway than see Mickey and Minnie glide gracefully across the ice?
Violet: Yeah!  I love trains!
Me: It's a bummer we left your sister at home, right?
Violet: Nope
Me: You don't miss your sister?
Violet: Nope
Me:  But don't you wish she was here?
Violet: Nope
Me:  Maybe you're misunderstanding me.  You're happy we left your sister at home and only took you?
Violet: Yep

Ivy's First Day at Little Seeds

My little Ivy Kat is all grown up!  November 1st was her first day at "school" and even though I only left her for an hour, the tears wouldn't stop flowing. When I came to pick her up, she hugged me tight and wouldn't let go for nearly 30 minutes. We She sobbed the whole way home.  

Trick or Treat?

Obviously my kids had the best costumes but I have to give it to the woman who dressed up as Kale (see below) and had a headband that read "organic".  She even gave the kids an option of candy or kale.  Only in Brooklyn!

Pumpkin Season is Upon Us

Fall is my favorite time of year and it might have something to do with my unhealthy obsession with pumpkins.  Yes, I LOVE pumpkin EVERYTHING.  Whether that's coffee, pie, soup, carving them, painting them or even making a spider out of them (stay tuned for that picture), I love it all.   What better way to indulge in my obsession than to make chocolate chip pumpkin muffins with Audrey and Violet.  While the muffins were in the oven, the girls painted pumpkins and patiently awaited dinner.  What did they eat for Pumpkinmania 2013?  Naturally, sushi!

She Works Hard for the Money

When There's a Will There's a Way

As the girls grow older they begin to really value some of the perks that come with sharing a room. One of them being the late night chit chat.  Granted that only one of them talks, they still manage to find a common language.  In this case, their favorite activity is trying to break the window shades when they are supposed to be fast asleep.  If each of them stands up on their bed, they can grab one side of the shades and bang them against the window... and this is exactly what they do.  After a few nights of this mischief, Gene and I finally got annoyed and decided to open the shades thinking that all our problems will be solved.  We realized we were quickly outsmarted when we heard the clicking of the beaded cord as the shades were being pulled back down. This was followed by a whisper, "Ivy, you can go ahead an play with it now". When Ivy didn't immediately obey the command, we once again heard, "Ivy, baby, go ahead...take the shade".  Within minutes the banging resumed and Gene and I sat there in bewilderment wondering how 2 tiny little people managed to make us feel outnumbered.

Jumping for Joy

Weekly Round-Up

Father of the Year

Ivy's First Steps

Ivy's First Birthday Party

Peru

Party in my tummy

Yo Gabba Gabba isn't the only one who can come up with catchy tunes.  Last night Violet started singing the following song (to the tune above):

♪♪  There is a poopy in my tummy. Not yummy, not yummy.  ♪♪

Babi is busted!

(driving to school)

Violet:  Daddy, go fast, go fast.
Gene:  Violet, I can't go fast, there is a red light.
Violet: Well, Babi goes super fast when the light is red.
Gene:  She doesn't stop at red lights?
Violet: No, she goes really, really, really fast.
Gene: That's good to know.
Violet: Yeah, that babi is a trouble maker.

*Babi = Grandma

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Damn, I look goooood - not a day over 11 months.

Haircut, hugs and heat