The Holiday Folk Fair

As a child, I remember visiting the annual Holiday Folk Fair with my family. Now that we are back home I want to make this a tradition with my girls. Mark and I figured either it would be a blast or a living nightmare. We wouldn't know until we got there.
After naps, we dressed up the girls in their traditional Chinese attire that Mark so lovingly picked out on his trip to China, threw some applesauce, and a few other necessary items in a bag and headed out the door.

From the moment we stepped into the exhibit hall the girls had a blast. They danced to traditional folk music from numerous countries. Ellie bounced to the music. They watched traditional dancers from Russia, Ireland, and Serbia. Abbey and Cari were in awe while watching the dancers in their colorful costumes. They all liked the Russian dancers best. It was a rare moment, besides dinner, that anyone wanted to sit in the stroller because they were all too busy dancing or bouncing.

Despite wanting some Hummus, we settled for a combo platter from the Egyptian booth, and some fried dumplings from the Chinese booth. The girls ate Very well. None of us are true fans of stuffed grape leaves except Ellie, who talked as she ate them. When it was time for desert, I was thinking black forest torte from the German booth, or tiramisu from the Italian table. Abbey had other plans. She wanted good old fashioned strawberry ice cream.

There were no meltdowns. Just a lot of laughter and squeals of excitement. From the kids and the parents. To seal the deal, all the girls were in bed by 8 and slept through the night. Well, except Ellie, but that can only be expected from Princess I Can't keep My Nuk In My Mouth. We will definitely be back next year.

The First Snowfall Of the Season

It was quite a sight when I made my way up the driveway to Abbey's school this morning. Thanks to the snowfall overnight, the grounds surrounding Abbey's classroom were covered in a thick layer of snow. It was breathtaking. I felt as though I was in the middle of the North Woods with the added benefit of a 5 minute drive to get there versus a 3+ hour drive to the actual North Woods of Wisconsin. I have come to the realization that although we are not living in the country, we are pretty close to it.

When I picked up Abbey at the end of class, she was outside sledding. This is one of the many perks of her attending preschool at a camp. She really loves her school, and so do I.

Madam Butterfly

Baby Bell was playing dress up with her sisters the other day. Although she went along with the whole thing, she just wasn't "feeling the love."

In The Spirit Of Thanksgiving

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving, Abbey was given a homework assignment to create a turkey, and let us know what she is thankful for. She cut. She glued. She glued more. Then she glued some more. Lots of glue used on this project. She even put the red wattle on her turkey (Under its nose.) And finally, we talked about giving thanks.

These are the things my Abbey is thankful for:

1. Her Family
2. Hugs & Kisses
3. Pink Sparkles
4. Flowers
5. Teeth
6. Glue
7. Her Sisters
8. The Alphabet
9. M&M's

Another First Day of School For Abbey

I thought I would keep Abbey out of school until January in order to get used to her new house. It was obvious that this was not a good idea, so I spent the first 10 days in our new house checking out preschools in the area.

While none of them were bad, I am certain I picked out the right one. When we pulled up to the school I just had a good feeling. It is actually a kid's camp in the summer, so the preschool is set in one of recreation cabins. It is surrounded by woods, and hiking trails. We actually saw a deer grazing while driving in. It was quite a site. Now I know that I can not judge a book by its cover, but I liked what I saw inside too. We got to stay for free play, and floor time. The children seemed very well behaved. Floor time focused on reading skills, and some dancing to music too. Miss Tricia really seemed to lead her students in a positive direction. The observation that helped me seal the deal was that one little boy seemed very nervous about being there, and he was sitting in Miss Linda's lap.

On Monday, Abbey started her new school. She was scared the night before. I could only hope for the best and expect the worst. Well, she surprised me. No Tears, just pure positive energy about getting there. Her ratty old security blanket called NANA DEE DEE came to school with us. And how sweet was it when a little girl named Lauren gravitated to Abbey. Showed Abbey her security blanket, and the two were off. Abbey didn't look back. Upon picking her up, I heard all about the birds she saw on her nature walk. How her and Lauren played in the house area, and that finger painting was fun too. The teachers told me that she did wonderfully and even participated in floor time by talking about the letter "T." I'm so glad I found this place.

Cari liked school too. I let her out of the stroller and she was off to explore. She liked the trucks. The glue sticks were fun to play with too. I guess it's time for a mommy and me class for Cari.


This camp has a special place in my heart. My dad and mom used to attend family weekend here as a young married couple without children. It is a peaceful feeling to think of my dad, a young, healthy man, enjoying life. His spirit lives on. I miss you Daddy.

Jie Jie and Mei Mei

I sat the girls at the table this morning. Abbey had a pen and paper, Cari and Ellie had some cheerios to keep them occupied while I whipped up some grub. They all seemed a bit too quiet. I turned around, and wouldn't you know it.. Ellie sitting quietly eating her cheerios, and the Jie Jie and the Mei Mei were sitting on the kitchen table. I am diligent about buckling Cari in her seat, but she can unbuckle herself with ease. We are definitely entering toddler territory with Cari, and the creative juices are multplied thanks to Abbey.


I never get sick of the moments when I catch Jie Jie and Mei Mei holding hands.

Note: For those of those of you who are not aware, Jie Jie and Mei Mei are the terms for big sister and little sister in Mandarin As you can see, Sometimes Cari is the little sister and sometimes the big sister.

Girly Girl In Training

Mirror mirror on the wall (floor) whose the fairest of them all? We have been staying home a lot lately, so there has been a lot of time to play dress up. Abbey is teaching Cari about all things sparkly. I think she has a knack for the Princess thing. I love the Elmo slippers. They were her own personal touch.

Sisters

Sisters eating silently. (Mom and dad like silence, but we like sisters holding hands more)

An Accident Waiting To Happen?!

The first week in the new house was rough for Cari. She was velcro baby, and would not leave my side. I am happy to say she is becoming more and more comfortable each day. When asked what she thinks of the new house her response is "the sea foam green paint in the hallway has got to go, but I love the steps."


Side note: Yes, that paint color in our hall way and laundry room is sea foam green. And it is U-G-L-Y. I can not imagine anyone going to Home Depo, looking through paint swatches, and choosing that color unless they were color blind, or a four year old girl. Needless to say, Mark is looking into scaffolding, so that we can paint over this sea foam green nightmare before Christmas. We were thinking a warm earth tone would look nicer than an Easter egg pastel. Besides the painting project, we will be putting STURDY baby gates at the top, and bottom of those stairs.

What Is She Doing?

This is my creative little four year old. Give her some window markers and she can make quite the scene on my patio door. And what is she holding? Take a few random items strewed across the house, put them together, and it's Abbey's sparkly sippy cup.

A Picture Says A Thousand Words

"OUCH ABBEY!! YOU'RE CHOKING ME!!" In light of her head lock on Cari, Abbey really loves her sisters.

We Made It

We made it into our new house. The move did not go smoothly. There is a saying that once you are over thirty years of age, you need to hire movers to move you instead of asking friends and family to move you. Looking back to last week, I got to agree with this. One thing I am sure of, is that unless Mark gets a MAJOR job promotion with a MAJOR relocation package, stock options, etc, I will not be moving again until Mark and I move into a retirement condominium in Tampa Florida.

I am working on just getting settled, and trying to have some fun along the way. We found a pizza joint in the area. Not fancy, but it sure was tasty. The girls and I located the local library and a Starbucks close by. Cari is officially walking more than crawling just in time to live in a two story house. And Ellie is finally interested in crawling. She is trying so hard. Poor Abbey is out of sorts, and misses her friends. I am hoping to have her in school by late next week to start her own routine. Despite life's challenges, it feels good to be back.

Mountain Lions, Four Wheelers, An Aquarium, and Bears... Oh My!!!

The hours between 5-7 pm are considered the witching hour in our house. It if fine in the summer because after dinner we take the girls for a walk or just let them play outside in order to wind down. With winter fast approaching, we have to come up with some alternative activities for the witching hours.

The other night we took the girls to the huge sporting goods store called Cabellas just a few minutes from our house. I am no hunter, but this place was like a museum, including stuffed deer, moose, polar bears, and many other real stuffed animals on display. They also had a huge aquarium filled with native Wisconsin fish. How funny it was to see ourselves and many other families looking around as though we were at a field museum. Carina thought the aquarium was pretty awesome, and she kissed the stuffed bear she took the pic with. Abbey wasn't complaining either. For those of you who are not familiar with the attitudes of pre-schoolers, if they are not complaining then it is a good sign they are having a fun time. As for Ellie, she just squealed with delight, and bounced up and down. Not a bad little evening. we'll be back.

While we were there, Daddy found a little something to put on his Hanukkah/Christmas list. Maybe next year Babe!!!