Family Photos

February 2, 2012

2012-02-02T20:38:00.005-05:00

Kate has been reading for the past month, it is amazing to see her gain fluency over that time. Now she only needs help with the occasional word -- we are so proud of her!

Grace reads The Boxcar Children that her friend Justin lent her.

February 1, 2012

2012-02-02T20:28:00.008-05:00

This afternoon was Grace's first book club meeting -- a group of first graders read Flat Stanley and got together to make a craft, eat Flat Stanley sugar cookies and discuss the book. It was so sweet.

Enjoying the twilight outside the library.

Kissing Suki's cats.

January 31, 2012

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January 30, 2012

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January 29, 2012

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Our wee magician.

Grace is so great with her magic tricks.

My two beauties at home.

My sick beauty at the doctor's office. So far this week, Grace had her head trauma, Kate's been diagnosed with pneumonia and Suki's asthma has spun out of control even with oral and inhaled steroids and her albuterol. Today she was diagnosed with a sinus infection on top of that and has another medication. Poor dear -- I hope she and Kate are feeling better soon.

January 28, 2012

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Grace had a great time at Giselle's birthday party today!

Sickies at home.

January 27, 2012

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Today Grace and I played a game together after school. It was so sweet to have time for just the two of us.

Meanwhile, Suki and Kate were having a time at the pediatrician's office with David. Kate was diagnosed with pneumonia and an ear infection, Suki with a bad asthma episode.

Nebulizers all around!

Waiting for their prescriptions -- an oral steroid for Suki, an antibiotic for Kate. What a week for the pediatrician!

January 26, 2012

2012-01-26T21:29:00.002-05:00

I volunteered in Suki's class today, and got to spend recess time with her and with Kate. Kate was having a blast, she is so strong with her tricycle pedaling and was singing her favorite song from the Lion King (Just Can't Wait To Be King). When their school day was done, I left the girls at school for lunch and an art class and went over to volunteer in Grace's class where they are doing a research project on meteorological phenomenon. It is so nice to be at a point where I can actually leave children where they are so happy and volunteer in a sister's classroom.

Things did take a striking turn for the worse after we got home. Within an hour Kate went from cheerful to nauseous to worse. She and Suki both have tough sounding coughs at this point and then right before bed Kate spike a 102 degree fever. Hopefully they kick whatever it is overnight. And in other exciting news, a student in Grace's class was sent home today with lice. Cross everything that such a thing never comes to call here.

January 25, 2012

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Silly girls after school.

Grace at her bass lesson -- as you can see, her bruise is something else.

January 24, 2012

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January 23, 2012

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So much fun opening a package from Granny today. Grace is doing better, but the bruising is very deep and her cheek is so swollen -- she looks so different to me.

January 22, 2012

2012-01-22T20:10:00.005-05:00

This is how I came downstairs this morning to find these girls. So sweet.

We made dominoes today and played a fun game.

Poor Grace tumbled over a pillow and fell into a dresser this morning. A large, deep bruise formed immediately, we gave her ibuprofen, tylenol and put ice on it. Her pediatrician wanted to see her because she was worried about an orbital bone fracture. After an x-ray, she was cleared. Now we're just keeping her on pain medication and keeping an eye out for neurological symptoms.

Then she and David went out for a little treat.

January 21, 2012

2012-01-22T15:13:00.033-05:00

Out in the snow right after breakfast -- I was shocked that Kate did not want to join her sisters but she never did.

Dirty Pengy's eyes are starting to come apart a bit, so Kate wanted to make these flower glasses for him.

Making stars together.

Wee artists.

Very funny moment with David.

Some very strange shoes for David.

Naturally, they wanted him to run in thee shoes. That did not happen.

January 20, 2012

2012-01-22T14:59:00.007-05:00

How much longer can these two share a cart?

Playing in the snow.

I made this little skirt for Suki in about five minutes, but you'd never know it from the enjoyment she got out of it today.

After school snack.

First grade movie night.

January 19, 2012

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January 18, 2012

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Dancing and singing along to their show -- such silly girls.

January 17, 2012

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January 16, 2012

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January 15, 2012

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January 14, 2012

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January 13, 2012

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Kate beside the turkey tracks she discovered in the side yard.

January 12, 2012

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January 11, 2012

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January 10, 2012

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January 9, 2012

2012-01-09T21:36:00.007-05:00

Our poor car was carted off today after a transmission failure.

Crafting assistance.

For additional excitement, our tree removal guys arrived and took down more branches that were dangerously drooping after the October storms.

For those of you not on Facebook, I wanted to point out this sweet exchange:

Sung by Kate (after I asked her to share a plate of apples with Suki):

I'm a little girl, short and stout
Here is my hand, here are my socks
When I get all happy, see me hug
When I get all mad it's not a sharing plate.

(She's no teapot but she does get steamed up about sharing food!)

Kate took this sweet shot.

January 8, 2012

2012-01-09T21:21:00.009-05:00

Grace enjoys a game of chess with David.

Suki does too.

Meanwhile, Kate was enjoying herself at a birthday party for some friends.

Sabrina and Kate.

Revealing the contents of her goody bag to her sisters.

Fireside picnic.

Such a sweet night.

January 7, 2012

2012-01-09T21:15:00.005-05:00

All of the room in this house and they all pile onto a single chair.

Following the pteranadon's tracks under the refrigerator.

Plumbing repair.

January 6, 2012

2012-01-06T17:38:00.005-05:00

Out in the teensy bit of snow that fell this morning.

Grocery shopping!

The crowd at the bus stop.

Grace had the -best- day at school! She received another (much coveted) RISE certificate for showing respect and safety, she had such great work that it went up on the class wow board, bought pizza for lunch (thanks to Aileen, who convinced us all to do it), had lunch bunch with three friends and learned that her class is getting a pet (fish). Amazing day.
she got to independently walk up the hill with dogs and friends while I drove her sisters home, she had hot chocolate after school,

January 5, 2012

2012-01-05T20:53:00.005-05:00

Suki was misdiagnosed with a sinus infection earlier this week, now the pediatrician believes that it is mycoplasma pneumonia. We went in today to have the doctor take a quick listen to her lungs and talk about options for next week if things don't improve. Right now the goals are to keep her as comfortable as possible and to keep her breathing from landing her in the ER again -- so far, so good.

Silly sisters in their secret club.

January 4, 2012

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Crafting away.

Looking out at the wild turkeys.

January 3, 2012

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The girls had their first hot chocolates today -- before now they've always shunned it. They are crazy. But today, they loved it!

Fun during homework time.

Game time for the non-homeworkers.

Happy 2012 (again!).

January 2, 2012

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Suki lost her second tooth!

January 1, 2012

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December 31, 2011

2011-12-31T21:46:00.010-05:00

We had an easy, slow, relatively peaceful day at home. It was such a laughter filled, pleasant way to end the year.

The Little Red Puppy (as Red Dog is sometimes known) plays on his Infinity Playground.

Happy new year!

December 30, 2011

2011-12-30T21:43:00.022-05:00

We went to visit Tessie today, to celebrate a little bit of Christmas with her and to share some sweet times.

Kate was delighted to help her open her gift!

Grace explained just how the penguin in her picture perceived the tornado, sun and rain working together to create a rainbow.

Suki stayed particularly close to David on this trip.

Sharing animal crackers and jokes.

Tessie hands out her Christmas gifts.

Pizza lunch!

What a fun day -- we were so glad to share it with her.

Chatting with Tessie before we drove home.

December 29, 2011

2011-12-29T21:29:00.013-05:00

As is ever the case, we had such a great time with Suki's best friend Gracyn and her brothers Aedyn and baby Owen!

Kate was so sweet in trying to bounce Owen on the trampoline.

December 28, 2011

2011-12-28T20:57:00.005-05:00

Our beautiful amaryllis has bloomed!

Working with beads.

Sweet sisters on the couch. Suki's making her Grinchiest smile.

December 27, 2011

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All three girls had fun when Grace's friend Celia came over to play today.

December 26, 2011

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Scenes from a lazy, slow day at home.

December 25, 2011

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These sweet girls arranged themselves this way on the stairs to wait while I turned on the Christmas lights below.

Rushing to where they'd left their stockings. For Santa, apparently, because even Grace was sticking her head up the chimney the night before and calling out, "When?" I have no idea how the idea is more firmly wedged in their minds than the truth we've always told them, or if they were just all three joking us, but after a while we just stopped arguing with them.

Grace loved getting her own Nala.

Kate examines her grass growing giraffe.

Her own spinning toothbrush!

Suki tries to make a heart out of some candy.

Seeing what David found.

Our hard to photograph snowfall.

Our pancake breakfast.

Sorting gifts.

Grace was so excited about this dolphin and whale tube.

Kate is getting to be such a great reader, sounding out the first lines of her new penguin book so competently. So proud of her!

Everyone was very excited for David to open the gifts they made for him -- each girl made a drawing of a dragon for me to wrap.

Grace was so glad to have her own LeapPad.

Suki was convinced I would never buy her these Magic Nuudles!

50 stampers for our stamp loving Kate.

Suki and her new trampoline.

Kate and the bubble gum machine.

David and the calendar we make each year.

A puppet show!

These little cubes are all magnetized, so Suki can make patterns and shapes in a similar way to the way she does at the Museum of Science.

Beautiful Suki.

Trampoline!

Grace's dolphin and whale show.

December 24, 2011

2011-12-26T11:52:00.035-05:00

A morning cookie with Sarah.

Cracking an egg.

Grinch breakfast.

Popping corn for garlands.

Stringing away.

Monkey paper dolls.

We hung our garlands outside for the birds and squirrels.

Decorating her dolls.

Kate takes a chance to make her own garland.

Christmas Eve dinner.

Some silly Feats of Strength, where they show how they can pick up their sisters.

December 23, 2011

2011-12-24T23:06:00.000-05:00

Sweet girls waiting for me to finish assembling our neighbor gifts.

Delivering gifts after we got Grace after her half day of school.

Sarah brought this perfect wine for our Sparkle Night.

Excited to head out for Sparkle Night viewing of holiday lights.

Back to admire the Sparkle Night fire.

Picnicking.

Opening gifts from Sarah (and one from Aunt Tina!).

Cuddling and reading.

Grace reads to us from her story written on the notepads from Aunt Tina!

A sweet end to the day. Sparkle Night really is a great idea, full of lights and camaraderie and togetherness.

December 22, 2011

2011-12-24T22:40:00.002-05:00

Today was our big baking day, and these girls were more than happy to help.

Pouring in cocoa.

Kate is our champion egg cracker.

Later, Grace came home with a superstar sticker for good work at school, a noise maker from the class new year's party, and a gift from her teacher.

She loved this book!

She also presented Suki with this gift certificate she made -- it was so kind and thoughtful.

A thank you hug.

Cutting out sugar cookies.

At the end of our day.

December 21, 2011

2011-12-24T22:28:00.002-05:00

Ready for Grace's bass lesson.

Back to the best decorated house in our old town.

Home to watch some Grinch.

December 20, 2011

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After mailing our holiday cards.

A little grocery shopping.

Bass practice.

December 19, 2011

2011-12-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

One potato, two potato, three potato...

Loving the PlayDoh Fun Factory.

Homework time!

Suki -loves- doing math homework when Grace does hers. She and Kate are learning a surprising amount about analog clocks from Hello Kitty (no kidding).

December 18, 2011

2011-12-21T14:39:00.000-05:00


Early morning hug.

Deflating the air mattress.

Off to visit Grandpa's chickens.

Collecting eggs.

And now: off to see the cows!

Hand sandwiches.

Peering out at the cows.

Wee Bucket Head.

Excited to open presents!

Smiling at David.

Farewell to cows.

In our quest for a white Christmas, or something like it, we stopped at the Yankee Candle Company's flagship store on the way home. We got to choose a new ornament and dance in the snowfall (every four minutes!) and see the wacky robot singers.

December 17, 2011

2011-12-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

Waiting for our cousins in the Concourse at Albany.

Juggling!

Lunch with Lorelei and Lucas, Bambi and Vincent.

Exploring the State Museum.

Pretending to ride the subway.

Riding the beautiful merry go round.

Calynn and Liam joined us.

While waiting for another turn on the carousel.

Grace always love to join a band.

Vincent helps Lorelei, Kate, Lucas and Calynn with some crafts.

Suki and Lorelei rest in the long house and examine the map.

We take Grandma out for her birthday dinner at this restaurant every year.

This year we were surprised to have Aileen, Chris, Kobey and Kenny join us at the restaurant! It's always good to see cousins.

Grace and Aileen got along famously.

Opening gifts at Grandma's house -- what a hit these mittens were!

December 16, 2011

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Fun with Suki's friend Anthony on the playground.

So happy with her stickers from Sarah.

Grace continues her work on her mosaic.

December 15, 2011

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Grace and Sarah work on her mosaic. Grace loves doing the work, all but taking the stickers off the sheet. To be fair, they -do- kind of stick in the quick of your nail.

December 14, 2011

2011-12-14T15:36:00.011-05:00

Gingerbread house day!

December 13, 2011

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Her favorite part of the grocery store. Then she commissioned floral close ups.

After visiting the gerbils at the library.

Snacking with Grace's friend Emily.

Some crafting after Grace and Emily played.

December 12, 2011

2011-12-13T21:30:00.012-05:00

The beautiful present Suki made for us at school.

Dominoes!

Two weeks ago, Grace earned her first petal (Kindness and Caring). This week she earned the second one, for Honesty and Trustworthiness. So proud of her. Her leaders also gave her some crafty gifts.

She got a candy cane and also received a patch for donating food for the food drive.

December 11, 2011

2011-12-13T21:27:00.002-05:00

Such silly sisters.

December 10, 2011

2011-12-13T20:57:00.028-05:00

Off to the Childrens Museum!

Grace up so high.

Looking up at the turtles.

Bubble painting!

Kate runs with Arthur.

Learning to jump rope.

Jumbo Candy Land!

A little treat on the way out.