Sydney's Bigi Yari

Sydney celebrated her upcoming 5th birthday in style at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum. When Joshua and I were in Suriname, they called birthdays that ended in 5s and 0s "bigi yaris" and we decided that is how frequently we can embrace the hoopla surrounding kids' birthday parties. Here are some photos from the event! We are grateful to friends and family who were able to make the trip and to friends and family who were there in spirit!

Easter

We have a lot of catching up to do in terms of posting pics from winter-related activities on the blog but I thought some Easter photos would be nice to see...

Joshua's Birthday

Things have been a little nuts for us here (more on that in future posts). To help celebrate Joshua's birthday I asked the girls (separately) what they love about him, what they love doing with him, and what makes him special. After that, I turned their responses into a poem. The content is theirs even if the rhymes are mine and Sydney came up with the first line all by herself. Enjoy!

What does Daddy’s birthday need? Just a silly poem

There are so many fun things Daddy does with us at home!

We play games like “Dinosaur Bingo” and “Hide and Seek,”

He also traces our hands capturing each valley and peak

“Which hand is it in?” and “I spy” are favorite games of ours

And when we need some down time we read books about astronauts and stars

In short, our Dad is no slouch -

And when we get wild and crazy he warns us not to break the couch

We venture to fun places like Minnewaska and playgrounds,

On a sunny day the rail trail is most likely where we’ll be found!

At the supermarket we help Daddy and sometimes pick things out,

In the backyard we plant a garden and spread the seeds all about

At special times Daddy takes us to Maddie and Leah’s in Baltimore

And when we’re sick he takes us to the doctor so we can be sick no more!

We love Daddy because he makes funnies, laughs and jokes

He boils eggs for us and even lets us eat them without the yolks

Daddy likes us and he loves us with a smile that can’t be beat-

When we make good choices and use our manners he even gives us special treats!

We love Daddy even though he only has a face (and not a mustache like Owen’s Daddy)

To sum it up, having Daddy as our Daddy makes our hearts so very happy!

Love, Sydney (4) and Evelyn (2)

Year in Pictures 2012

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ML the New Years

We usually get together with some Peace Corps friends for MLK weekend but decided to make it a New Year's event this year. We went to Baltimore and enjoyed the National Aquarium (complete with Sydney and Evelyn's first 4D movie experience), ice skating in the park, and the Children's Museum...plus a kid friendly "New Year's in Ireland" party.

Getting ready for the dolphin presentation

Sydney loved seeing the dolphins jump and spin - she told me later she had no idea they could do that before she saw it!

Joshua thinks the eyes behind Sydney make this photo amusing/spooky.

Maddie, Evelyn, Lucy Claire, Sydney and Leah posing for me through the shark's jaws

Evelyn and Leah loved the "butterfly" tunnel in the toddler room

Sydney enjoyed using her soccer skills in the indoor arena

The indoor soccer floor later turned into an exercise room

Leah's hands on her hips were hilarious during the dance sequences

Sydney testing out the surfing/snowboarding

The kid contingent

Happy 2013!

'Tis the Season

Holiday Adventures

The "before" picture as the girls were set up to splatter paint some holiday gifts.

Sydney getting the splatter party started

We enjoyed a visit with Great Grandma Munz in Port Washington and the girls love the Hello Kitty dolls she gave them

 

All decked out on Christmas Eve

Aaron, Joshua, Rebecca with Zakareya, and Rachel

Notice what a ham Evelyn is in this shot - she found the Mets Santa hat and put it on and entertained her cousin Ryan

Christmas morning with Ryan and uncle Aaron

Sydney in a Polly Flinders dress that was mine when I was a little girl.

A couch full of Patriots fans

A visit with Great Grandma Faucher with everybody looking at different cameras!

The Faucher grand kids sporting their Rudolph impressions

St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucia Day

Advent is in full swing for us with lots of celebrating going on in and around our house. We celebrated St. Nicholas Day by giving the girls a floor drum and by taking a trip to Mohonk Mountain House. Unlike last year, we had beautiful weather and enjoyed a short hike on the property. We celebrated St. Lucia day on the 13th and then had our annual party yesterday. The girls now have crowns!

Sydney and I were decked out to sing and help Evelyn start her day.