Besties

 Saturday we got together with our two best friend couples from college, The Manni's & The Hudzina's. All together there were 9 kids and 6 adults. (The Manni's just had their 4th and the Hudzina's have 3 boys.)
The kids had the best time running around the house and playing. After pizza and smoothies, the adults had their turn for a nice Thai dinner. The Manni's were celebrating 11 years of marriage that weekend.

The Hudzina boys got a candy machine from their uncle on Christmas morning. The kids each got a quarter if they ate a good dinner.

Jack (8 this month) & Alex above.













Jude Manni (4)

1st Missing Tooth

My little girl lost her 1st tooth on Monday; exactly 2 months before her 6th birthday.

It came out at school on the basketball court. She wasn't playing basketball, just playing.

Weirdo's and Face Paint

Don't ever waste your time commuting into the city on New Year's Day just to watch the Mummer's Parade.
Do come into the city to have fun at the Kimmel Center's free events on New Year's Day!

The parade is super weird. We walked past some of it and it's a lot of really drunk (mostly men) in Halloween costumes. Somehow you are allowed to openly drink alcohol in the city that day. We saw most people with an open bottle or can of something. Keep in mind this was about 10am. I think a beer is best for a hangover - right?
So one dude spotted Alex on Dave's shoulders as we were walking past and stopped parading to wave at us. Then he gave Alex & Lilia beads. I felt just as creeped out as you do reading this. Thankfully the kids have no clue!

 Ah yes, face painting. We stood in line for about 15 minutes. Lilia went first and got this beautiful butterfly flying to a flower.
Alex wanted Spiderman. Well I guess he was really tired that morning because he just couldn't go through with it. What you see in the picture is as far as the women could get done. Oh well - next time?
The Kimmel Center was pretty cool. Everything was free! Face painting, balloon creatures, origami, a photo booth and music. Our friends, Drew & Kim McCorkell joined us with their 18 mo old son Athen. We all had a really great time!

Fun in the Snow

Dave was away at Radiate (a conference with CRU for college students). The day he left is the day we got a decent amount of snow. The kids and I were packed up and staying with Dave's parents for 2 days.
Lilia was so eager to play in the snow, who can blame her? I love this picture on the left. Al has rolled up two huge balls of snow to build a snowman while Lilia just plays.

 I love the snow like a "fat kid loves cake." (Remember that song? I was reminded of it recently.) Anywho...I am like a kid when it comes to the snow. I love to play, build and create. I made a cool snow fort that only I played in and enjoyed. What's wrong with that?
Lilia wasn't that interested even after I showed her how cool it was to spy on cars and people passing by. Alex didn't even venture outside. Read the "Snow & Children" blog entry to understand why.
I got to be outside. I got to create. Therefore I had fun!

The snowman turned into a snow bunny, not the sexy kind, the animal kind.

Snow & Children

I have 2 very similar, yet very different children.
Lilia LOVES the snow and playing outside. She happily bundles up and makes snow angels.
Alex very much dislikes all of the layers. I have to convince him to put them on. Once he's bundled up here's what happens; he steps outside in the snow for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then comes back in and quickly strips down to a shirt and pants - no socks.
This picture on the right captures them so perfectly. Alex watches Lilia playing in the snow from in the house, content to just watch in the warmth of the indoors.
The picture above captures Lilia so well. If you click on the picture it will show up larger, but she has a huge smile on her face. She basks in the innocence, beauty and joy of fresh white flakes falling around her.

Morris Arboretum

  Are you impulsive?
If so you'd fit right in with our family. Dave is impulsive, I'm impulsive and my mom is as well.
Impulsivity is how we landed at Morris Arboretum the day after Christmas on a bitterly cold day, just before the snow & sleet fell.
A friend of ours gave us 4 free tickets & Dave gets in free with his Penn ID card. We grabbed our cameras and remotely warm clothing and ventured off. My dad was dying to see the model trains they set up every year. It's pretty amazing. If you like trains or have kids that do; check it out...next year.

Lilia's Quote of 2012

Happy New Year!!!
Yesterday morning I told Lilia how that day was the last day of 2012 and that tomorrow is the start of a new year, 2013.
She replied, "That's good. I'm getting sick of 2012."