Snow Day Art

Snow Day Art
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Another snow day! Sadie was pretty disappointed to miss school because today was to be her class's 100th Day of School celebration (she brought in 100 chocolate chips to add to special 100th day snack mix her class was going to make). They will celebrate on Monday, so she is willing to wait until then. Helena was sad to miss the chance to play at Tot Lot, the open gym for preschoolers where she likes to go on Fridays.

But, when I took out the jars of paint, suddenly everyone was happy to be home! Painting was followed by a bubble bath, for obvious reasons.

Cousins

DSC_0001
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie and Helena always love seeing their cousins Anabel and Sophie and had a great time with them at Wes' christening this past weekend. Wes looks like he's enjoying all the attention from the girls!

Thanks Girls!

On a recent snowday, Sadie and Helena were complaining they were bored. But they were both very excited about the activity I proposed: Would they like to wash the windows?









They did a great job with paper towels and windex and are eager to help with this again!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to our wonderful family and friends. Lots of love to you all!

Sadie and Helena were surprised and delighted to be able to go outside without coats for a few minutes. It briefly reached the upper 40s around midday.

Snow, again!

Snow fun!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We had another snow day yesterday. This wasn't such a huge storm, but now the accumulated snow is really piling up. The girls do enjoy climbing on the big piles.

Happy birthdays to Uncle James (belated) and Uncle Andy (coming up in just a few days). We love you!

Snow, again!

Snow fun!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We had another snow day yesterday. This wasn't such a huge storm, but now the accumulated snow is really piling up. The girls do enjoy climbing on the big piles.

Happy birthdays to Uncle James (belated) and Uncle Andy (coming up in just a few days). We love you!

Sisterly Admiration

They love each so much...

A hopeful question from Helena: "When I'm a big girl, my name will be Sadie?"

A drawing by Sadie:

She Lost Her First Tooth!

Sadie was thrilled to lose her first tooth over the weekend.

She really did not want the tooth fairy to take the tooth away (she wants to show it to her classmates), so she drew a picture of a tooth, labeled it "take this" and put it under her pillow along with the tooth. Luckily, the tooth fairy understood. In the morning, the tooth was still there, the drawing was gone, and the tooth fairy had left a golden Sacagawea dollar coin.

Ice Skating!

Skating
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We went ice skating today on Occom Pond. Both girls really enjoyed skating and sledding on the golf course afterwards. Sadie liked her new skates (hand-me-downs from Sophie) and Helena did great in a pair of rented hockey skates.

On Sundays, members of the Dartmouth women's ice hockey team are at the pond to give free, informal lessons. The girls really enjoyed this!

(We also brought along our new Flip video camera. This video is HD, so you may need give it some time if you want to watch it.)

Quotable Helena

"I love OJ. And I also love orange juice."

Our New Room

Snuggles
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We recently made our guest room into a playroom/den. We don't have too many overnight guests, so it made sense to replace the bed with a sofa-bed, bring in a big bookshelf and organize the girls' toys and crafts in there. The girls love playing in their playroom and snuggling together to watch movies.

Great idea, Grandpa!

Snowday "Homeschool"

Snowday Homeschool
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We are snowed in today, so I broke out some workbooks. We don't really have anything age-appropriate for Helena but she enjoyed an old dot-to-dot book that was Sadie and Sadie was super cute helping her out.

We're getting a lot of snow!

Mommy and Helena

A picture of Mommy by Helena:


A picture of Helena by Sadie:

Trip to New York City!

We followed Christmas with a visit to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Andy in New York City.

Sadie, Grandpa, Daddy and Mommy got to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was fabulous. We all loved it.

Sadie, Helena, Grandma, Daddy and Mommy went on the Roosevelt Island tramway.



This was super fun.

And, we all (except for Uncle Andy) went to the Big Apple Circus.






Grandpa got us amazing seats and Jenny managed to get us a backstage tour!

What a fun time!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!



2010 had a lot of happiness: Dan graduated, Jenny and Andy got married, Sadie and Helena continued to grow and thrive and we were very happy to welcome a nephew, the adorable "Baby Wes". We had some sad losses too, including Dan's grandfather Grampy, but in general, it was a good year. We are looking forward to lots of good things in 2011 and wish all of you a year filled with health and happiness.

Holiday Recap

Whew. We had a whirlwind December with lots of holiday fun.

We celebrated Hanukkah just the four of us and with Grandma and Grandpa:




We choose and cut a Christmas tree:


We decorated the tree:


The girls decorated gingerbread houses at King Arthur Flour and at home:




They met Santa at Lebanon City Hall:


Daddy read "The Night Before Christmas":


Santa came to our house:






Santa came to Nana's house and Baby Wes was there too:




We had such happy holidays! Hope you all enjoyed your holidays as well!

Happy Birthday, Sadie!

Sadie turned six on December 2. Yes, this post is late, but better late than never. Here are some highlights from her many birthday celebrations!

Cake at Nana and BobBob's house:


Birthday morning at home:


Birthday cupcakes with Helena:


Party at the Aquatic Center with friends:




At Sadie's school, each child celebrates a Special Day in honor of their birthday. As the birthday child holds a globe, they circle a lit candle to symbolize the earth moving around the sun. As they walk, the teacher reads a story about each year of their life. Here is the story we wrote for Sadie:

Sadie’s Special Day: 6 Years Old

When Sadie was zero, she was a very sweet baby. She learned to smile and wave. Her first word was “dog”. When Sadie was a baby, she made friends. Her first two friends were Katie and Isaac.

When Sadie was one, she walked all around and started to run. She liked to eat all kinds of foods. She liked to be outside and play with other children.

When Sadie was two, she liked to look at board books and do puzzles. She learned how to jump and she loved to play in the snow.

When Sadie was three, she became a big sister. Helena was born. Sadie liked helping take care of her sister. She also started to draw wonderful pictures.

When Sadie was four, she learned how to swim and she started going to Montessori Discovery School. She liked art, reading, stories and being outdoors.

When Sadie was five, she became a great swimmer and reader. She was very curious about science and nature. She played soccer and rode her bike. She drew pictures and played with dolls. She liked playing with her friends and with her sister.

Today is Sadie’s sixth birthday. She is six years old. We love you, Sadie!

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Happy
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Happy birthday Aunt Jenny! We wish you a wonderful day and a year full of all good things. We love you so much and can't wait to see you in a few weeks!
Love and kisses,
Sadie and Helena

Sadie makes Cranberry Sauce

This year, we are spending Thanksgiving in Concord with Nana and Bob Bob, instead of in New York with Grandma and Grandpa. One of the things we usually do with Grandma is make cranberry sauce. So, Sadie and I made it ourselves last night and we will bring it to Concord with us.

Cranberries, sugar and water:


Starting to get saucy:


Happy chef Sadie:


2 full and 1 partially full jar of yummy cranberry sauce: