First Time on the Swing!

What's happening here....

She's moving away from me....
I love the swing!
Old Pros - Gracie May and Sylvie

First Bath Together

Point your Fingers and Do the Twist

Thank you Auntie Christie for convincing us to brave Friday night traffic to Tacoma to see the WIGGLES LIVE! It was the highlight of our spring. I was so impressed with the show: I thought that the Tacoma dome would be cavernous but they made it totally intimate. I actually cried a little when the wiggles came out because I couldn't believe how close they were to us and how real they were - like George, Paul, John and Ringo. EVERY song they sing was one of our favorites and Sylvie and I were jumping up and down and singing the entire 2 hour concert.

Here's the best part: At the end of the show we rushed the stage and almost touched Captain Feathersword, then we had to swim upstream to get back to our seats so we were eventually one of the last families out of the dome. Before we left I approached one of the dome workers and asked if the Wiggles would be signing autographs. They were my new bestfriends, afterall! HE said he didn't know. Then I spotted a wiggles-vest-wearing Aussie who gave me the official "Um, No Maam (you American crazy mom!) they are not" DARN! We sang the whole way home though and I will never miss another Wiggles Show.

Just so you know, we totally listen to appropriate amounts of real music with Sylvie including The Beatles, Bob Marley and Fiddler on the Roof Soundtrack just to name a few of our favorites. So there.

WAKE UP JEFF!!!

Dorothy, Henry, Capt. Feathersword and Wags

Can't wait to get into the show!

Egg Hunt

Sylvie 'just happens' to have a beautiful red dress with bunnies on it given to her by her née-Lutheran-converted-to-Reform-Judaism Grandmother. Hm. It goes perfectly with the little basket and a little egg hunt at the Murphy's for Easter Dinner of Ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls (during passover) and asparagus! Joey had his very own HUGE steak - THANKS!

Montesano

We visted The Tyndells at their beautiful property in Montesano. They have the good life out there and served up smoked prime rib from the smoker and a 20lb. Turkey. Sylvie got her first Easter basket - she was thrilled! Joey was totally looking forward to riding the ATV and can't hide the smile on his face. We also threw rocks down at the river. We can't wait to go back in the summer!

Our Cousin Macy

Passover Haiku

Leon tastes the bitter herbs of slavery.

Someday, "take the garbage out!"

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!