Sena is (almost) 5!

Sena will only turn 5 in late December , but we celebrated today as she'll be traveling in Mexico for 7 weeks (!). Unfortunately, the birthday girl was a little sick (hopefully nothing contagious), but we still had a good time.

Aiyana started off with a lot of energy! Here she is with Julia.




The horse costume came back out.


The birthday girl battled a slight fever to join in a little bit.


One of the highlights was a digital camera. Something tells me she'll be taking lots of picture in Mexico.


Clara, the cute farmer's daughter.


Sena taking a picture of grandpa.


Doing the human body puzzle, with Giovanna.




Good friends party with you even if you're not feeling great.


Aiyana:

Preparing Salad

Here's Julia doing her favourite thing: helping mama cook. Here they are preparing a spinach salad (with eggs and feta).



We took it to Ed's parents' for Thanksgiving, and had a great time. Besides spending time with that side of the family, we also learned many interesting things about Ed. For instance, did you know that when he was 2, he used to hold his breath until he passed out? Apparently his lips would turn blue! Who would have thought that about Eddie! In any event, thanks very much Joyce & Barry for your hospitality! :)

(A little editorial note from Roxi: in case some of you need a translation to understand what she's saying, here's a summary: first she asked what's that noise (it was the dishwasher), then she started talking silly and called her mama a monster (if she wasn't so cute, I'd be upset), then she talked about how she likes eggs (she calls them eggies), then she reminded me to put the egg peels in the bowl, not next to the bowl, and finally she started quoting one of her favorite books, about two little kids named Sam and Stella. I think that's about it, but I might have missed some.)

Do You Wanna Dance?

Pies!

We like eating pies. We don't like making the crusts... Who would have expected that a kid's book would have a good recipe for making a pie and a good crust? We borrowed a book from the library for Julia: How to Make an Apple Pie (and See the World). At the end is a apple pie recipe that inspired Roxi. The result is two beautiful pies: one apple (with walnuts), and the other a pumpkin pie.

Now that I'm done writing this, I'm going to go try one.... or two.

Playing at the Park

The weather was better than the forecast today, so we took a little walk to Bicentennial Pond (a nice hike that crosses a playground).

The pond.


Some Canada geese were circling, looking for a place to land:






We walked on, to the playground!


Sometimes Julia likes these things, other times not so much. Today she couldn't get enough of it.
Climbing up:


Sliding down:


"Hi up there!"


Running from the end of the slide to the stairs, yelling "Again! Again! Again! Again!"


Riding the little airplane:

Playing at the library

These pictures were taken by my friend Rachel at the Mansfield Library.

I love this picture of Julia goofing around:


I thought the kids looked so cute all lined up on the bench: Milo (what a cutie), Karlie, Aiyana, Sena, and Julia. We usually get together every Friday at the library for "Storytime", then if the weather is nice, we go out to the playground, it's a lot of fun.

Slow Weekend

Yesterday, at the UConn Farm.


Today, swingin' outside Mansfield Library.


From a walk around the library today.


From our back yard (similar - yet different - to one I posted two years ago...).

Mama does the cooking here

I overheard Julia talking to herself the other day. She said "Mama does the cooking here. She cooks yogurt. And she cooks onions, but then your eyes hurt." I thought that was kind of funny...

If you're wondering what she's talking about, well, Julia has been helping me make really yummy yogurt lately (we eat a LOT of plain yogurt, and we figured it was time we started to make it ourselves...). And she helps me chop veggies for dinner each night, including onions. She loves helping me cook.

Tia Fufu

Tia Fufu stayed at our house for a week a few weeks ago, which was a lot of fun. She got to spend some quality one-on-one time with Julia, which we don't usually get a chance to do during our busy weekend trips in Montreal. Tia Fufu taught Julia all about tree rings, and she even taught her some useful stuff, like "M is for mama", and "F is for Fufu" (Julia still remembers it as she plays with the magnetic letters on our fridge).

Anyway, this morning, Julia said "Is Tia Fufu coming home?". I told her that Tia Fufu is at her home, which is far, far away. Then she replied "But she can drive here". So there you have it, Fufu. You don't want to disappoint your sweet little niece, right? Seriously, though, it was a lot of fun having you over here, and Julia really enjoyed your visit (we all did, of course).