Hasson Seder

The First Night of Pasover was spent with 27 Hassons. It was the first Seder where Sylvie really got it and she was thrilled to sing Dayenu and the four questions with all of her cousins!

Sylvie with Uncle Victor all the way from Israel














With Noni and Christie!
















The Little Family

















The Gorgeous Table

Mt. Baker Park

It was a GORGEOUS day on Tuesday and Leo, Sylvie and I went to the park for a long walk. We tried to feed the ducks but not only are there signs everywhere saying "DON'T feed the ducks!", the ducks have learned and have gone elsewhere. So we danced and sang our way through the park!

Dance Moves

Oceanus' Birthday

I didn't get any photos of Oeanus on his birthday because he was surrounded by other's taking photos so I took photos of background action....

Ari P. Doing some Bidness

Leon Meeting Frieda saying "Please!"

The Leos y Mamas

Joey saving Sylvie from being pulled to the ground by the power of Frieda

Evidence

Her right side has been shorn - there was a whole side of chin length hair here. Now she looks like the other side of "sometimes you feel like a nut - sometimes you don't" See the stray near her eye - it was all that length!

Haircut

Um, I went to a meeting tonight and was gone for a few hours. On my way home from the meeting I get a call from my Husband. "I have some bad news" OK, this could be anything obviously, but this had been an especially trying couple of weeks. Last week I got in a mini car accident, went to a meeting on the wrong day (which entails a TON of coordinating sitters and other's schedules and on and on) AND went to the wrong location to a birthday party and totally sliced a fingernail OFF - ew. This week I started a new nanny who speaks NO english. STRESS.

I want to write more about Victoria (Biqui) later because that is some good fodder but here is the kicker (the bad news):

Sylvie CHOPPED HER OWN HAIR

with the scissors that we so stupidly gave her access to. Somehow I feel that it wouldn't have happened on my watch but then again, she has been going around PRETENDING to cut people's hair and we didn't take the scissors away.

Part of me wants to scold her and give her loving consequenses. Part of me wants to cry because her signature "Sylvie" haircut is now RUINED and she looks like Gareth from the BBC Office. Part of me wants to take pictures and laugh.

coming soon...

Daddy St. Patty's

Daddy and Leon
We had green beer at Kris and Gracie's for St. Patty's day and it was a good chance to get some photos of Daddy being Silly. He does a great Wiggles impression! Here are Sylvie and Joey saying "WAKE UP JEFF!"

4 months old

Leon is four months old. He's found that his hand tastes quite nice. His head is very round. He likes to smile, coo at himself in the little mirror on his jiminy and stare at Mommy.

Purim Princess

Sylvie dressed up for the "Purim Parade" at her school. She was a chinois ice princess. The wand was what made her so excited and she abracadabra-ed everyone.



Purim is a holiday when we remember this story:

There was a Persian king named Ahasuearas (a-ha-shoe-wear-ass) whose Queen Vashti wasn't slutty enough for him so he had her killed. He then held a beauty contest to find a new queen and Esther won because she was the fairest in the land. Esther's uncle Mordechai told her never to let the king find out that she was Jewish because everyone knows that Persians don't like the jews. But there was an evil counselors to the king named Haman (hey-men)who wanted to kill all the Jews and he held a lottery (PURIM) to pick a day to send out all the troops to slaughter the Jews. Esther found out and told the King and he had Haman and his followers killed instead. TWISTED!!! sorda of Pretty Woman meets Alladin meets Princess Bride meets Spartacus.

So, the kids dress up as the poor queen Vashti, or the pretty Esther or the evil Haman or the good Uncle Mordechai. We eat little triangle cookies as a symbol of Haman's hat (Hamentashen) and read the whole story from the lengthy Megilla (thus the phrase 'THE WHOLE MEGILLA')

My dad used to give a fabulous performance as Esther at the annual Purim play at my Synagogue growing up. I can still see him with a raggedy ann wig and a clown nose and makeup and a big light blue dress with some stripey socks. Emblazoned in my memory - high on the embarrassment list.

Here is the song we sing:

Oh once there was a wicked, wicked man and Haman was his name Sir
He would have murdered all the Jews though they were not to blame Sir
Oh today, we'll merry merry be
Oh today, we'll merry merry be
Oh today, we'll merry mery be and NOSH SOME HAMENTASHEN
in the face of adversity, we sing about eating!

I swear I'll poke your eye out

Sylvie wanted to hold Leon today, so here is that:

But he had gotten too big, so here she is explaining that :

Here is how he felt about that
Then she tried to make him feel better by doing what

I think she might be doing every time I turn my back:

Here is what Sadie thinks of that: OUCH!

Eddie's Birthday

Eddie's 70th birthday party turned out to be really fun. The food was great, people were involved and doing art, the toasts and roasts were perfect and the company was the best! Thanks to Margaret for allowing us to have a party and thanks to Christie, Randy, Melissa and Albie who worked to make it happen. It was amazing to see guests start out surprised and a little reluctant to get their hands into it only to get excited, creative and hard to pull away from their projects. This really was a great idea for a party. Best of all Eddie got to help blow and design a glass bowl. He really had a great time which was the goal of the evening.

Eddie and his cake

Uncle Chuck's 'budum CHING' roast

Robert and Louise and Eddie

Molly and Aunt Suzie

Eddie Blowing Glass

Ladies watching bead making

Eddie, Marylin and Bob

Melissa blowing glass in heels!

Aye Calypso

When the sun is shining the possiblities are endless. Sailing on one of those days, on my favorite home lake, with friends and kids and a holga - what could be better? Sailing makes me think of John Denver and Jimmy Buffet. Hum this tune while looking at these photos from last spring.

Aye Calypso

the places you've been to,

the things that you've shown us,

the stories you tell

Aye Calypso,

I sing to your spirit,

the men who have served you so long and so well

Hi dee ay-ee ooo

doo-dle ohoo do do

do do do doo-dle

ay yeedoo-dle ay ee

Peps

I just recently developed the last of the real film from my cameras. This is a girls night out photo of Peps friends. Pretty.

Leon is 3 Months

...seems like a long 3 months but I know that this is a huge hump because he is already starting to show signs of a pattern in his daily routine. I have a huge crush on him. He is the man I have been looking for all of my life! Jewish Mother issues aside, I feel very close to him and will try not to give him too many issues ;) We go on errands together and we look in the mirror and smile and we stare into each other's eyes and make funny noises. We sleep together and wake up smiling. He also cries alot and when Joey comes home I can't wait to hand him off for a while so I can do stuff.....like this!?!?

Happiness

and the lion lay down with the lamb...

Whatchu takin bout mommy!

Gummer

Old man in a chair - Love the Bumbo seat!

Love

bainbridge ferry

Sylvie, Molly and Leo's hat on the windy ferry to bainbridge last week.

I am really starting to look like my Father.

We went to visit our friends the Breens who live on the Northwest's version of Wisteria Lane on Bainbridge. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to hold Leo the entire day with nothing else to do but enjoy friends and let him rest in my arms. Jen made great food and, with Kimberly, the three of us sat around most of the day holding our baby boys. The kids had a great time tearing out every toy in the house and Grace changed her outfit every 5 minutes....of course they all ended up nude and in the bath at about 5 (very Breen) Spring Break in Daytona?Stunning Grace The Novices - Van and Leo

Ending in a great dinner at a beautiful table...and somehow the wiggles guitar was pawned off to us . Sylvie LOVES it - OY!