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Easter 2016

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The girls woke up a few minutes earlier than normal today in anticipation of finding what the Easter Bunny had put in their baskets.  He brought each girl their own jump rope, bubbles, coloring activity, and chocolate.  They were very excited!

We decided to go to the 11:00 Church service so we didn’t have to rush.  That gave me time to make pancakes and sausage for breakfast, which is usually a hit with the girls.  Avery loves the pancakes while Emerson and Harper are all about the sausage.

This year Avery and Emerson went to Sunday school during the service and Harper came with us since she was still too young for the Sunday school class.  That was fine by me as she wanted to cuddle with me the whole time and for one hour, she had all my attention and love.  After the service was over, we picked up Avery and Emerson (who had a great time and requested to go back to Sunday school again) and made a quick stop at Giant to pick up the rest of the groceries for the week.  We ate a quick lunch and then it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt in the yard.  We started in the back.  The girls were so excited that they ran out the porch door so quickly that it slammed on Harper and she fell.  She was not a happy camper and Ludmila helped her pick up her first few eggs.

Meanwhile Avery and Emerson were having the time of their lives running around to find eggs.

We eventually made our way to the front yard where the girls found more eggs and we attempted some posed pictures.  Avery and Harper cooperated but Emerson was not in the mood.   We got new mulch two weeks ago and our yard is so beautiful this time of the year with the cherry blossoms, even without the majority of the tulips blossoming as a result of the crazy warm weather we had in December.

We attempted to move picture locations a few times in the hopes that Emerson would partake. 

We had a little luck at times.

 

Cherry Blossoms, Shaved Ice, and 145 Active Minutes!

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Thursday was the second day of the girls Spring Break that we took off.  We had decided to go to D.C. for the day.  We didn’t have specific plans but when the forecast showed temperatures of 75 degrees, sunny skies, and peak cherry blossoms, we knew the Cherry Blossoms, walking and being tourists outside were on our agenda.

We decided to drive and parked in a garage near China Town. We started walking towards the mall and then decided we would walk by the White House.  How crazy is it that in my 36 years of living in Northern Virginia, I have never been to the White House….not even the White House gates!  My first experience was with my girls!

Next stop (after a coffee and bathroom break) was the Tidal Basin.

We started walking towards the Jefferson Memorial but we stopped before we made it there and enjoyed a snack on the picnic blanket.

After a stop for lunch at Corner Bakery, we headed back towards the mall with our first stop at the Sculpture Gardens.

Avery fell at one point and Harper came over to hug her…it was so darn cute.

Next stop was the Carosel.  The five of us were going to go on, but Avery chickened out at the last minute so her and I watched Daddy, Emerson, and Harper. 

Then because we still had two tickets, Emerson got to go for a second time…this time with Mommy.  

Last stop was soft serve ice cream and shaved ice from a street vendor.

We had an awesome day exploring D.C. as a family!  And as an added bonus, I had 145 active minutes and 18,000 steps!

Winning Isn’t Everything but…

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Justin and I took Monday afternoon off.  It was the first day of the girls spring break and we wanted to do something fun as a family.  While it is now officially Spring, it was cold and windy today, so we decided bowling would be the perfect indoor activity for the day.  The last time I was bowling was about 10 years ago and the time before that was five years prior to that.  We were impressed at how easy it was for the girls to bowl….bumpers were on every lane if you wanted them (we did) and they even had these cool ramp things that kids could use to bowl. Ms. Harper loved when it was her turn and often couldn’t wait until she found the swivel chairs behind our lane.

Avery had a great time and intently watched to see how many pins her bowling ball knocked down each time. She also loved to watch the ball come up each time.

Emerson getting a little coaching and encouragement from Daddy!  She was also quite the helper in making sure each person had the right ball before each turn.

Mama wasn’t so bad either.  Yes, the bumpers were there….but I only had a few rounds were my ball would have been a gutter ball.  In fact, my first frame, I had a spare!

We know winning isn’t everything BUT check out that final score!

Manis and Pedis

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I have been promising to take the older girls to the nail salon for several months now.  The real hold up was that my nails were sadly so disgusting that they weren’t even  worthy of a manicure or pedicure. But with spring around the corner, I decided it was time!  The girls picked out their own polish….a shade of purple for Emerson and a shade of pink for Avery. 

 Avery sat to my left and seemed to thoroughly enjoy each stage of the pedicure.
 
Emerson sat to my right and was very stoic the entire time but when I asked her to look at me for pictures, she would smile real big. 
 
The kids pedicure was shorter than mine so I decided to let them get manicures too.  
 
They were very quiet, relaxed, and enjoyed the mani/pedi experience.  And it was crazy to me that I was already at this stage of life with Avery and Emerson.  
 
Daddy and Harper met us at the salon and then we went across the street to Church Street Pizza for dinner and then to Cafe Amori for dessert and coffee.  Turns out it was open mic night so we ended up staying for about an hour enjoying the music.  It was an evening of a lot of smiles and a lot of laughs.
 

D.J.

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While lot of things bring me joy, there are only a few things in life that leave me with an unwavering smile from ear to ear….watching The Notebook and Full House re-runs are among them.  I grew up a Full House fanatic.  I looked forward to TGIF every week especially those few years I had a T.V in my bedroom. I loved everything about the show but mostly D.J. Tanner.  I wanted to be Candace Cameron.  I had BOP and Teen Beat Posters plastered of her in my room.  I loved D.J. and Candace so much that I went out and bought the same comforter and sheets that D.J had on the show and each night they tucked me in for four years.  Even when I did get new bedding years later, that comforter stayed close by in the closet as an extra blanket. The quality of the blanket was superb and sometime in my early 20’s that comforter took on the name D.J. when Justin and I brought her to our condo.  D.J. has been a staple in our home ever since.  At first she was with us in the condo, then she made her way to my parent’s basement for a few years when we hung out there at night, and most recently D.J has remained in our room the last two year as the blanket to cuddle up on the couch.  Even our girls refer to the blanket as D.J.  D.J has led to many friendly fights over the years as there is no other blanket that comes close to being as awesome as she is….D.J is simply awesome!

So imagine my excitement when I heard that the cast of Full House was reuniting.  I’m not sure I actually thought I would watch it, but the other night as Justin and I were cozied up on the couch under D.J and deciding what to watch, Justin pulled up NetFlix and Fuller House.  He was kind of joking at first, but joking or not, the ear to ear constant smile appeared out of nowhere and was plastered on my face; Justin knew what was on that night’s agenda.

The same week we started watching Fuller House, our girls were sick.  They had all had colds with fevers last week and while we thought they were improving over the weekend, their weakened immune symptoms led to Emerson catching pneumonia and Harper an ear infection.  Emerson’s head was really bothering her and she was having a lot of trouble sleeping at night.  This resulted in some long naps during the day which  left her wide awake at night.  Two nights ago her head had really been bothering her again, so we were planning on having her sleep in our room.  Since she was wide awake and the T.V. did take her mind off her head hurting, we let her watch an episode of Fuller House with us.  Last night we told her she had to sleep in her room as she seemed to be improving some.  About an hour after we had put her down to bed, she came in our room with the biggest smirk ever saying her head hurt.  She was LYING and it was so obvious!  We had a long conversation with her in which we were trying to get the truth out of her;she finally admitted that the real reason she came in was because she wanted to watch the grown up show with Mommy and Daddy.  Since she was so ridiculously cute and told us the truth and she wasn’t tired, we obliged.

Who would have thought that that little ten year old girl who loved Full House and wanted to be Candace Cameron would be sitting with her own five year old daughter twenty-five years later watching Fuller House with my little girl cozied up to D.J both of us grinning ear to ear! 

Chocolate Ganache

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The weather today – absolutely amazing!  Seriously, here we are on February 28 with georgeous sunny skies and a tempeture of 65 degrees.  AMAZING!!!  We again decided to forgo the gym so as to get out of the house earlier.  Plus, I LOVE any family activity that also doubles as a workout.  We decided to head to Vienna for a picnic via our backyard.  Seriously, how cool is that.  I love that just beyond our backyard are woods that are so amazing and beautiful.  I love to just give it a panoramic gaze and take it all in!        

Our adventure took four hours door to door and included a nice walk through the woods to get to the bike path, a 2.5 mile trip on the bike path each way, playing on the Caboose, a picnic on the Vienna Green, a quick visit from Grandpa and Grandpa while we were picnicking, and a few minutes more of playtime at the Caboose under Grandma and Grandpa’s supervision so that Mommy could check out the chocolate shop on Church Street.  Chocolate ganache…..umm…YES!!!   I ate it right there in the store and was enjoying it so much that Justin asked me if I had wet my panties. There was a little whining on the way home, some from mommy wanting more chocolate ganache, but mostly from Harper who crashed the moment we got home. 
                                                     

Jumping in Puddles

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After realizing we didn’t have that busy of a weekend compared to some weekends, we decided to do something on our “spring/summer” list for today.  We woke up this morning and since I had a bad cold and Justin’s ankle had swelled up again after our walk yesterday, we decided to forgo the gym today so that we could get out of the house earlier in the day.  The forecast was calling for a mild day, but a rainy day.  Much of our list includes outdoor activities, and not feeling the indoor activities, we decided to do Old Town Alexandria anyway.  Quickly that turned into watching the planes take off out of National.  I packed some picnic food and for the first time ever the portable potty as with the rain, I didn’t have too many expectations and I decided it was better to be safe than sorry just incase we needed it.  (Turns out the girls used it for a total of five times…and thankfully just numero uno!)
 
Anyway, we headed to Gravelly Park, although I didn’t know that was the name until the area until we got in the car  and I put the address in my phone to navigate. We probably saw at least 10 – 15 planes take off in the time we were there.  Emerson had a great time and thought it was really cool to see the planes. 
I think she had even more fun trying to catch the seagulls with Justin.  
Avery and Harper on the other hand were terrified of the loud sounds of the plane and kept saying they wanted to go home.  While they both cried non-stop, Avery was okay to keep walking covering her ears (still crying) as long as we headed away from the planes.  Harper wouldn’t let me put her down and literally cried for probably 20 minutes straight…. real tears and snot galore.
 
We headed back to the car where we had our picnic inside the car and the girls took turns using the potty! As we were having our picnic, the girls got a kick out of watching the seagulls swarm around our car from some of the passerby’s that were feeding them. And Avery and Harper seemed to be a little more comfortable with hearing the planes from inside the car. 
 
After the picnic, we headed to Old Town.  The drizzle quickly turned into steady rain and the girls had fun using their umbrellas.  They looked super adorable and as always, a lot of heads turned with people thinking how cute they were.
The rain “forced” us to seek cover in an ice cream store where we had some yummy but expensive ice cream.  We then strolled slightly further to the waterfront in the rain and again took cover in the Torpedo Factory.
 
Despite the rain, it was a fun adventure with the kids and as much as I love warm sunny days, jumping in puddles make for some pretty awesome memories too.

Audrey Lee Friedman

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My grandma Audrey passed away Thursday.  A few days shy of her 89th birthday, one could arguably say that death should not come as a surprise, but to some extent it was a surprise…I knew my time with her was limited and each time we saw her, I made sure to get a picture as I wanted to capture each visit as if it may be the last.  And while I knew she was in failing health, she was healthy for being in poor health if that makes any sense at all.  Even as Russell said, she seemed to always bounce back.  While I certainly hadn’t contemplated it in great detail, I really just thought I would have a chance to say my “final” goodbyes to her. We had been planning on visiting her this weekend to celebrate her birthday.  When I spoke to her on Saturday evening, I could tell she was in a lot of pain as she told me every bone in her body hurt when I asked and she cut our conversation short as she was having difficulty talking. By Monday night, she was in the hospital.  Tuesday was when I found out she was in the hospital and from my dad’s voice, I could tell that this time was different than all the other times she had been in the hospital.  She normally didn’t like us to visit her in the hospital as I don’t think she wanted us to “waste” a visit when she wouldn’t enjoy it.  But I knew we were still going to go up this weekend, as I had a feeling that this weekend was going to be out last time seeing her.  As it turns out it was….I did see her for one last time….in her casket…certaintly not what I had been anticipating even a few days earlier.  Thursday morning I got the call from my parents that she wasn’t going to make it through the night.  Within an hour, I received another call that she had passed on.  It’s just weird…she was around for so long, for 36 years of my life, that it just seemed as though she would always be around. 

Anyway, yesterday was the celebration of her life and I here is the eulogy that I shared.  I am so proud of what I wrote…

Audrey Lee Friedman, January 31, 1927 – January 28, 2016

Life…I’ve been contemplating it a lot lately.  Everyone knows the saying “Life is short”.  We hear it all the time, but it is so true.  Just earlier this week, I began a project of organizing old photographs of Grandmas.  The process is slow as I find myself just staring at these black and white photos of a young simply glamorous Audrey whose smile is beaming right back at me.  As I go through the pictures, I am discovering all stages of her life, from her as a young kid, to that as a young adult, then of a happily married newlywed, then a radiant young mom, then a more established mom of two growing teenage boys, then a few years later a doting grandma and in more recent years a very proud great grandma.  There is something that is just so powerful staring at these pictures of my grandmothers late youth and early adulthood. Perhaps it was the carefree spirit from that smile and the way she held that cigarette…but looking at that picture I see a beautiful woman with her whole life ahead of her.

As I look through these pictures, it is evident that she had a good life, a great life.  Audrey and Mac were so proud of the family they created.  While I would often joke with my dad, that it was crazy that he grew up in a one bedroom apartment where the access to his bedroom that he shared with his brother Russell was through Audrey and Mac’s bedroom, the truth is Audrey and Mac provided for their family.  And provided for them in a way that allowed them to spend summers at the bungalow and send both my dad and my uncle off to College at The University of Maryland.  My dad and Russell created great lives for themselves because of the foundation that my grandparents made for them.  The last few years my grandma would often tear up at family gatherings or birthday celebrations and although they were happy tears, I could never understand why.  I get it now…while they were indeed happy tears, she was reflecting on her life….while it was great and wonderful, all those decades happened in a blink of an eye.  That beautiful young woman who I see in the pictures is the same woman who had been in her heart all these years.  A true reminder that “Life is short”

I will certainly miss you as I know we all will, but now you can be with Papa.  You’ll also be reunited with your parents.  Your mom, Fritzi, my great grandma, who I was fortunate to know and you had a very special relationship…you two beauties who looked more like sisters than mother and daughter are together again. I will miss talking to you on the phone.  And I know you will miss hearing the girl’s (your great granddaughter’s) voices –knowing what they were up to brought you so much joy.  When I told you I was pregnant, one of the first things you told me was that you wanted to be called “Gigi”.  Obviously, you had been looking forward to that moment because clearly you had already given this some thought.

The girls loved their Gigi and would often talk about her….they loved going to visit her and staying in the “hotelo” as they would call it.  Gigi adored the girls and was always buying them gifts, something that I thought wasn’t necessary, but a memory that my girls will always have of their Gigi. Gigi loved talking to them and loved it even more when she got to see them in person.  She would talk to them and her face would just light up as she was so intrigued in hearing what they had to say.

 I was your first born grandkid, a fact that neither you nor Papa made it hard to forget.  You were such a proud grandparent. Growing up, you would come visit….in the early years it was when we were living in the Rotunda and the story of how you were able to pick me out of the hospital nursery because of my full head of dark hair (a trait I inherited from my dad, your son Jeffrey) never got old.  Nor did the story of you and Papa visiting me at the Rotunda and me running down the hallway to greet you. As a young kid, once my own memories started to form, I remembered the visits.  You and Papa would visit several times a year at least, always to and from your winters spent in Florida, and we would go to visit you and Papa.  Until I was 10, we would visit you in the apartment that my dad and Russell grew up in and to this day I am still amazed that the four of you lived in such tight quarters. But again from looking at pictures recently and seeing how many people you managed to fit around your kitchen table, this was simply your norm.  I remember the bridges and the tunnels on the car rides to and from our Brooklyn visits. When I was 10, our New York visits turned into Concordia visits.  You and Papa were so proud of your home and for the next 25 years (hard to believe it was that long), Concordia was your home, the place where you made many new friendships over the years, kept in touch with many old friends over the phone, and took great care of Papa in his last ten years. In between our visits, we spoke weekly on the phone and every conversation ended with the both of us saying “I love you.” I too just like my girls have nothing but happy memories of you being a part of my childhood….and yes, just like my girls…I too associate gifts and food with each of our visits. But more than gifts and food, you constantly told me how proud you were of the beautiful young woman that I had become and the family that Justin and I had created. 

 Here we are on January 31, celebrating your life.  There are 365 days in the year and yet today is your birthday.  Is it a coincidence?  I don’t think so.  This celebration of life has truly come full circle.  And while life is short indeed, let this be a reminder that we shall live life to its fullest each and every day….Audrey wouldn’t want us to dwell for too long…just as Audrey used to say in each card she signed and each message she left, “many more happy and healthy”!

Snowzilla 2016

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We made it all the way through December without winter like weather.  It was amazing actually…we had MANY days in December that were over 60 degrees…a few even close to 70!  We were beginning to think that we would have no snow at all this year.  We were wrong though! Early in the week, the forecasts was indicating that snow, and a lot of it was on it’s way. And by a lot, I mean 1- 2 feet in the D.C area. As the week went on, the forecast was actually stating it was going to be a blizzard with the heavy winds. The forecasters were so focused on the weekends blizzard, that Wednesday night’s snow of one to two inches sort of fell under the radar but wrecked havoc on the cities rush hour.  Trips that should have taken 20 to 30 minutes took folks four to five hours!  Justin even went out in it to Target in Reston in preparation for the blizzard and said that the roads were bad and he was sliding in our neighborhood.   Everyone heeded the warnings and grocery stores were insane and shelves quite empty already by Wednesday night.

Thursday morning there was still snow on the ground and schools were cancelled.  The girls and Ludmila went outside for a few minutes.  This was Ludmila’s first time in snow!  Pretty puny in comparison for what was to come!

Thursday afternoon I went to Whole Foods to get the last of what we needed for the next few days.  Granted, it wasn’t like we would starve with what we had; however, knowing that we were going to be stranded for at least a few days, I would much rather be stranded eating delicious foods than crap. 

The snow started about 1:00 Friday.  By 6:00 p.m, there was already a decent amount on the ground as we walked to the Fosters for dinner and drinks with the neighbors and walking was already proving difficult.  In fact, Justin fell as he was holding Avery just before we got to the Fosters house and really hurt his ankle. Despite his being in extreme pain all night, we had a fun time and by the time we left to come home after 10:00, there was probably already a good eight inches on the ground.

 Saturday morning we woke up to snow, lots of it….and it snowed all day until close to 10:00 p.m! The day was actually fun and we didn’t get the least bit stir crazy.  The whole house slept in until 9:00 a.m. and while the girls did watch two shows before breakfast and watched one show before bed, there was no T.V watching or IPAD playing during the day.  We spent a lot of family time centered around delicious meals and spent some time outside shoveling and playing.  At first all the girls were kind of hesitant to go out, especially since the snow was still coming down hard and in their faces.  However, they ended up having fun playing while Justin and I were shoveling the driveway.  Avery eventually went in because she was too cold, but Emerson and Harper just kept on playing.  They were having a great time despite their cheeks being ridiculously red and their hands and feet and hair frozen.  

Harper in fact was having so much fun that she decided to take her buggy for a spin!
 
Here is what Justin spent much of the weekend doing, despite badly injuring his ankle.  He said that after he was out there, it got to the point that he couldn’t feel his foot.  When he came in though, it was a different story.  When inside he tried to elevate it some as he sat on the couch in front of the fire (yes, we, okay Justin), built our first fire at this home…but it was me who insisted Justin buy the firewood.  So, once again a team effort!
Ludmila joined us for a little while! This was her first time experiencing snow (other than Wednesday night)….and what a first time it was! 
 
Sunday morning we woke up to the storm’s aftermath…beautiful sunny skies with snow glistening!  Sunday was spent doing much of the same as Saturday…eating more delicious food, baking chocolate chip cookies, shoveling, playing in the snow and sledding down the pipestem with the neighbors. Harper was tired and ended up taking two naps in her “cave” while we were outside playing….thus why there are no pictures of her on Sunday.
And more shoveling…..hahaha….Justin’s face says it all!
 
Even the adults were sledding….it was SO much fun and fun to be a kid again!  
Ludmila even joined in on the sledding shenanigans!  
 
School was cancelled already for Monday and Tuesday and I wouldn’t be surprised if they have no school the entire week. Our streets still haven’t been plowed and their is literally no way past the driveway.  The girls went outside today with Ludmila after lunch.  Harper ended  up coming in a few minutes later as she had to go peepee and was tired and wanted to sleep in her cave.  After I put her down, I went to take a few more pictures of Ludmila and Avery and Emerson having fun in the snow. 
 
By the way, can I just talk about Harper for a second.  Excuse my language, but she is so fucking cute AND she knows it.  The things she says, the things she does, her facial expressions, her voices….ALL of it….it’s like she can drive me nuts sometimes but it is absolutely impossible not to laugh, think she is so cute, or literally eat her up because she is so freaking cute and hilarious and awesome all at once.  Seriously, I don’t know how a kid can be so darn cute but somehow she manages quite well.  Oh and by the way, besides the massive dump she took in her cave (as she now takes her naps in her window cutout behind her chair (a.k.a. her cave) and in her panties (yes, I decided to take a chance), she is potty trained!  Really, in all seriousness, she is doing awesome.  She is still wearing pull ups and nights and for naps (most the time) but they are generally pretty dry when she wakes up.   She is so darn proud of herself…..which also is so ridiculously cute!
P.S. Total snowfall was about 28 inches!
 

Potty Training AGAIN!!

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I’ve been anticipating, dreading, and looking forward to this weekend for quite some time.  With Avery and Emerson, they both wanted to try the potty for months and months prior to me being ready and at first I let them try it, but I quickly realized that sitting on it somehow turned into just a place to read or hang out.  With Harper I knew that the weekend long potty training method was the one that would work for us so while I occasionally let Harper sit on the potty at her request, I didn’t really bother to waste any effort or time potty training before the weekend long event began.  And while Harper may have wanted it to start several months ago, committing a whole weekend in itself is hard enough as it is for two working parents so selfishly (but also for Harper’s benefit) we waited until January when I had a three day weekend and we were able to clear our entire weekend schedule. 

The official kick off to the weekend began Friday night when we all headed to Giant to pick up our M&M’s, salty treats, and juice. We went to the Giant in Vienna so that Harper could have the “Customer in Training” cart that Avery and Emerson used for the same event two years prior.  Unfortunately, they no longer had the carts so the girls opted to carry baskets before they got to heavy.  
While the girls all regularly go to the grocery store without having to use the bathroom, for whatever reason Avery and Emerson both had to use the bathroom while we were in Giant…by the third bathroom request when we were checking out, I thought I too was going to lose my “shit”…no pun intended…lol.Anyway, so morning started off slow but good.  Harper doesn’t normally drink juice so she actually doesn’t like it that much and she was very slow to drink the liquids, which certainly felt like the process was watching paint dry.  We started official kick off at 9:00 and Harper was pretty quick to pick up on the process of staying “dry and clean” and teaching her baby to stay “dry and clean”. By 10:30 no accidents, but no pee either!  Finally a little before 11:00 Harper had her first accident but she knew right away and it wasn’t that bad.  We quickly sat on the potty; however, there wasn’t much more to come out.  Twenty minutes later Harper went pee pee and poo poo in the potty, and she was very upset and scared about it.  I told her she did awesome and she certainly didn’t refuse the M&M rewards. The rest of the day was good, but just slow…Harper took a two in a half hour nap in which she was wearing a pull up and while she had no accidents yesterday evening, she only had one pee pee after her nap. 

Sunday was very similar to Saturday.  Harper had one accident but similar to Saturday she knew right away and it wasn’t that bad.  She went pee pee in the potty a total of three times during the day, no poops, and no accidents after the first one in the morning. 
 
We can’t complain….all in all it was a very successful weekend with Harper staying “dry and clean”. It just felt very different from the weekend of potty training the girls a few years ago.  Justin said to me it felt like they were constantly peeing….so I thought about it did some quick math.  Avery and Emerson were drinking juice excessively their potty training weekend so realistically they were probably peeing twice as much as Harper is.  There were also two of them and one of Harper. So Harper’s four pees a day feels like nothing compared to the 16 daily pees we were cleaning up with Avery and Emerson two years ago. 
 
Anyway, it was an excellent start with a lot of help from everyone! Great job Harpee!