Anna Lake makes a clean sweep of the awards for Best Supporting Actress in...
a Suspense
a Drama
a Comedy
and a Romance. 
...this little piggy stayed home...
...this little piggy ate roast beef...
...and this little piggy had none.
This little piggy (bank) is Art Project #2 from Lily's Saturday morning art class. Week 1 was spent making it out of clay (with considerable help from Noah, I suspect). Week 2 was devoted to painting the pig. Lily's favorite part of the entire experience was all the oohing and aahing she got from a group of 6 and 7 year olds when she picked the finished pig up a few nights ago.
With a long weekend in which to have fun with the girls, we decided to head up to Manhattan to play with some old DC friends and LOTS of Fox/Israel family.
New York was in full Valentine's celebration mode, which made for even more fun activities. In the span of 48 hours, we:
And then we got home and crashed. I LOVE NY, but after one long weekend there I appreciate the relative calm and quiet of the Nation's Capitol even more.
Not a big fan of smiling for the camera anymore...
When our taxi hit a wall of traffic near Lowell's apartment, we abandoned it and hit the subway. Anna was far too tired to notice the change of scenery.
Lowell, Komal and the girls at Good, which was, well, good. Lily was, um, not quite so "good" at our too-late dinner.
Gayle and Sy with all the Israel girls, plus Noah
Cousins Laura, the bride, and Julia, the bride-to-be
While I've never been a big fan of this holiday -- even after I had a guaranteed date with whom to celebrate it for life -- I do like the idea of taking one day each year (at least!) to celebrate love. Of all kinds.
In December '07 we traveled to Sedona, Arizona with my mother and brother for a little post-Christmas R&R. It was incredible. I keep meaning to post photos. Will get around to that one of these days....heck, I'm a year late so a few more days/weeks won't matter much.
After arriving late at night, we decided to meet in the hotel restaurant for breakfast the following morning. Noah, Lily and I (with Anna in my tummy) were the first to arrive in the restaurant. As the host was taking us to our table, he turned to Lily and asked her what Santa had brought her for Christmas. A bit confused, she's blurted out, "I don't celebrate Christmas....and some boys marry boys." I can't exactly connect those dots -- not sure how they're related -- but I was one proud mommy when I realized how honest, open and accepting my daughter is growing up to be. Even at the young age of three!! You should have seen the look on this poor and unsuspecting guy's face. Wish I had a picture of THAT.
With Lily's comments in mind, I'll leave you on this "day of love" with the following video. Minus any commentary. I think it speaks -- rather eloquently -- for itself.
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
I almost -- OK did -- laugh out loud when I saw this "mommy porn" online earlier today. I was doing some online research for a client. Honestly!
While lingerie and lace may turn men on, this site presents the mommy perspective with fun photos and humor. Seriously, funny or not, they've got me (and most mommies I know) pegged!
According to the website: Prepare to enter a fantasy world. A world where clothes get folded justso, men insist on changing diapers, delicious dinners await,and flatulence is just not that funny. Just a tad bit different.
Men -- forget the wine and candles*, just clean up the house and put the kids to bed!
* "Just because" flowers are, of course, ALWAYS welcome!!
I have a confession to make. Dear Internet friends and family -- I have been cheating on you. I admit it, and I am sorry.
I originally started this blog as a way of easily distributing the weekly newsletters we were getting from Lily's school. Clearly, it grew from there, taking off like a wildfire and, well, satisfying many of my "Dear Diary" needs. I have always been terrible at journaling, and the baby books for both girls sit idle and empty, collecting dust on their respective bookshelves. But blogging, now that was something that I could get behind. I enjoy it. And although somewhat (well, totally) one-sided, at least I know that you are up to date with all the latest and greatest happenings in our lives! While I would LOVE to know as much about all of your lives, this blog was pretty fulfilling.
Until I met a cousin of "Blogspot" in the world of social networking...Facebook.
And now I'm doomed.
Facebook is SO addictive. It's quick. It's fun. I can post photos, videos, quotes in 5 minutes or less, rather than sit down for a 20+ minute blogging session. And it's not one-sided. While not everyone is there, MOST of you are. So now I know that at 9:57 p.m. you're "wondering which will be less painful -- dishes or laundry" or at 6:23 a.m. you're "begging the coffee pot to brew faster. FASTER!"
So for all those who have wondered how I have the enough room in my week to be a full-time working mother of two who blogs, I regret to inform you that the addition of FB to that equation has thrown it all out of whack. And, thus, I haven't blogged for a week now.
My apologies!
But if Bill Paxton can handle three wives on HBO's hit series Big Love, then I can certainly handle blogging and FB.
So I will leave you with my confession, my apologies, and my pledge to do better. Oh, and a video of Anna, who is 10 months old today, and has recently turned in to a whistling fool.
My parents used to tell me that I started to whistle at 9 months of age, but my dad use to also regale me with tales of walking 5 miles to school -- uphill (both ways) -- in the snow, carrying his trombone, which weighed more than he did. He might have also been wearing a tuxedo during these daily treks. So I don't always believe what my parents say. But given the fact that my 10 month old now whistles ALL. THE. TIME...well, perhaps I'll start listening to my parents again.
I have gotten a number of compliments on this year's holiday card; thank you! As much as I would love to say that everyone cooperated and it was a piece of cake, it was...um...well...an interesting experience.
Capturing two children smiling at the same time seems to completely elude me. Heck, getting them in the same frame at the same time is a challenge! Thanks to my Nikon D40X SLR camera -- best Mother's Day present EVER -- at least I don't have that awful shutter delay to contend with anymore.
So I did quite a bit of online browsing to find a holiday card that would allow me to use a few different photos -- one "highlighting" each of the girls and (yes, I was holding my breath), ideally, one of both of the girls. As always, Tiny Prints had just what I was looking for.
The final product --
Leaf in ear...
plus an overly enthusiastic kiss...
lead to tears...
and more tears...
which only ceased AFTER she started to eat leaves (notice the look of disdain on Lily's face -- don't blame her!).
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