Thanksgiving already

I attended both Alex and Mali's Thanksgiving feasts yesterday. Alex's class gave a presentation. Alex was the best one up there, well, certainly the most enthusiastic.

Halloween

We finally got the pumpkin carved on Friday night (Mali drew the picture plan) and then enjoyed a little trick-or-treating in the rain on Saturday night. Kids don't care! They had fun anyway!

What's going on

Franco took the day off work today, so I was able to get the curtains hung in the kitchen, work on cards, re-caulk the bathtub, and clean a little. He'll be home on Saturday too so I can spend Halloween re-hanging the shutters on the house that are now beautifully painted a lovely shade of forest green. I had asked him last week if he could take 10 days off so I could catch up a little, but I'll gladly take 1 day. I'm grateful he's so helpful! He was so cute playing outside with Anna on the trampoline and swingset today while I tried to hang curtains.

My mom made beautiful curtains for my kitchen. I finally got them hung and I finished the banquette. Maybe next week I'll get up enough energy to finish sanding the kitchen cabinets and painting them. Then, the kitchen will be livable until I win the lottery.
I'm working on a recital of Broadway music called Broadway for the Ridiculously High Soprano so when I'm not being a construction worker, a nanny, a cook, and a maid, I'm practicing.

The kids are just doing their thing and doing it very well. Mali started rehearsals for The Music Man which plays in December.

I'm also participating in a craft sale in a few weeks. I've been making Christmas, thank you, and birthday cards to sell. Hopefully, I can make just a little extra Christmas money...fingers crossed.

Mali and Alex at Boosterthon Fun Run

Mali ran all 35 laps and kept on going! The Boosterthon team really got everyone going. The kids were so jazzed.Alex ran 33 laps and ran out of time or he could have run more. It was really fun for the kids. Thanks foreveryone who made donations. The kids knew they were working for a purpose.

Twins

Anna and I went to play at McDonald's this morning. We both dressed in our orange and black for Halloween. Everyone commented on how we looked like twins and "oohed" and "ahed" over how precious is Anna.

Mali lost her front tooth (just like Mommy)

Mali lost her front tooth, so now Alex, Mali, and I are all missing our front teeth. I would rather not post a picture of mine, however, since it's rather ugly. Thankfully, Dr. Reyes in Gainesville, FL has volunteered his services to help me, so after Jan. 12, I should be pretty again!

Mali is a Dog

Mali starred in the 2nd grade production of The Ballad of the Bremen Band as the dog. She had lines and did a great job. If you want to see the whole thing, I've got it all on video, but I'm just uploading this much because it's rather long and it's hard to hear.

We just learned that Mali will be appearing in The Music Man in December. She got the small role of Gracie Shinn, the Mayor's daughter. I'm sure she will be fabulous. Between school, karate, plays, and being a social butterfly, Mali stays very, very busy!

Mali earned her orange belt in karate

Mali earned her orange belt in karate. Unfortunately, she was a little off her game at this group testing so she had to retest later in the week, but had no problem then. She even got to break boards! Mali loves karate! She goes 5 days a week and is a member of the competition team, preparing for future competitions. Once a quarter, they have parents' night out, where the kids get to go hang out at the dojo for the night and eat pizza and get hyped up on sugar. They run around screaming for 4 hours and then fall asleep in the car on the way home. It's great!

Just playing around

Anna jumping

Anna Singing Old MacDonald

The Fountains in Duluth

One Saturday morning, I got up and just decided to take the kids to Duluth to play in the fountains. It turned out to be the most beautiful day and they had a blast running through the fountains. Anna made new friends and Mali lazed in the sun listening to my iPod!

CNN and the Botanical Gardens - Day 2

Day 2 took us to the CNN Center for a tour. No videos or pictures allowed but it was neat to see the inner workings where they make the news. Mali was home sick from school but was well enough to go along with us. She even got to make a video of her being a news anchor and reading the news from the teleprompter.

Next, we stopped at the Botanical Gardens, a beautiful oasis in the middle of the busy city.

Olympic Park

Olympic Park was built for the 1996 Olympic Games that were held in Atlanta and is now a beautiful place in the heart of the city to rest and relax.

The Varsity

We had lunch the first day at The Varsity. The Varsity is an institution in Atlanta and any visitor should go have a taste of the greasy hot dogs and hamburgers that have been served since 1928 in the heart of Atlanta and hear the greeting, "What'll ya have?"

The Coca-Cola Museum

Titi Ana and Jesus arrived from Spain on Monday and we immediately began our tour of Atlanta on Tuesday morning. First stop was the Coca-Cola Museum. After the first ten minutes Anna had had enough of this touring business and pretty much cried the whole time except when she was playing with the Coke Polar Bear. We tried all the samples in the tasting room!

Our Family

Just got this off Kristy's blog. How cute!!!

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

Mali earned her solid yellow belt in karate

Summer Fun

Duet with Daddy

Franco has been practicing this duet with Anna. Here is one of their performances!

Anna is walking!

Anna started walking and is so cute! We were all hanging around the house and working this day so we're not fixed up, but she was walking really well and was in a good mood so we decided to take a video.

Baby Sings Beethoven

Anna spontaneously began singing Beethoven the other night. She must have heard it on her Baby Einstein-Baby Beethoven video. We've been trying to get it on video ever since. Now, if you ask her "What does Beethoven say?", she'll say "da da da da" right in tune! It's the cutest thing!

Easter 2009

We spent Spring Break at Grammy's house. We went to a fun Easter activity and had pictures made with the Easter Bunny. Also, swam a lot in Grammy's pool. Fun times! Had an Easter egg hunt in Grammy's backyard. The eggs had money in them so after the hunt, I took the kids to the store and they got to pick a toy.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this stuff on the website. I have been in a frenzy of home improvement since I got home from Florida. I guess the sea air did me some good, but I have worn myself out and am resting today. I will upload pictures of all the work if I ever actually complete project!

March birthdays

Brother Foye, our amazing home teacher, came to visit us last week and brought a brownie cake to celebrate Anna and Mali's birthdays. They certainly enjoyed the attention and moreover, the chocolate!

Alex playing baseball

Alex started playing baseball. He's so cute in his uniform. He's still learning the rules, but we had a fun day at the park playing as a family. It was freezing cold! But the kids didn't let that get to them. They wanted to keep playing all day. We had his first game yesterday. He got to hit the ball and run around the bases. He had a hard time waiting his turn. In the outfield, I grabbed a ball and glove for him and we threw the ball while he waited to get to bat again. Luckily, this is Challenger baseball and they can pretty much do anything they want. Nobody keeps score. It's just for fun!

Mali gets her yellow belt

Mali got her next belt the other day, yellow with a white stripe. She's doing so well! She's going to be a blackbelt someday!

The Sound of Music

Mali was so precious as Gretl in The Sound of Music. She misses it so much and is very sad not to see her friends all the time.

Anna turning somersaults

Just caught Anna in this absolutely precious video. She's doing her favorite thing, somersaults. She's getting so big and I'm sure she'll be walking any day now. She says Daddy and Mama and today she said thank you. What a cutie!

Mali's birthday party

On Mali's 7th birthday, Saturday, March 14, 2009, we threw a huge birthday bash. We invited everyone she knows to participate and had 30 kids at the party. As they arrived, they went to the playroom and colored a picture of Gertrude McFuzz and got their faces painted. Then, we went upstairs for cake and ice cream. We continued with a performance of Seussome Twosome: Gertrude McFuzz and Green Eggs and Ham. The kids loved it! Then, Mali got to open her presents. It was wild but lots of fun!

Cowboy Day at Alex's School

It was cowboy day at Alex's school. He was so excited to get dressed up, he woke up at 6:30 this morning and got dressed. Hope he's having fun!

Anna dancing with Grammy

Grammy started dancing with Anna and singing and Anna was singing along. So cute!

Lummi Sticks

Mali's class did a presentation of what they have been learning in their P.E. class. Anna wanted to get in on the action too.

Anna on the move

Anna is crawling all over the place, getting into cabinets, and trying to walk. What a cutie!

Anna's 1st birthday party

Anna turned 1 on Sunday, March 1. We invited the Tanner's (good friends from Church) to join us for the celebration. I made the traditional carousel cake. We talked about 1st birthdays and ate cake and enjoyed each other's company. It was a pretty fun day.

A Trip to North Georgia

Andrea took Callie and Mali up to North Georgia to explore the waterfalls. How fun!

Anna playing peek-a-boo

Anna is so precious! She is completely enamored with playing peek-a-boo. She crawls into the kitchen, grabs the towels down from the oven, and puts them over her face and says, "Peek Boo!"

Callie and Mali decided to do a snow ritual last night even though the weather forcast calls for 70 degree weather.

The Sound of Music

Mali starred in her first production of The Sound of Music Saturday night. She is so precious!

I'm also in the show as the Mother Abbess. My niece Callie is one of the nuns.

I finally broke down yesterday and bought a "stupid friendly" camcorder that uploads directly to You Tube so I could get videos of the kids onto this blog.
Last Friday was Alex's birthday and we had his birthday party on Saturday. Franco and Mali played the "bad guys" who stole the cake. Alex and his "Spiderman" friends chased them, tied them up, and found the cake. That was his favorite part. They also shot spiderwebs (silly string) and scaled walls (climbed a ladder). Alex got Dr. Seuss books from his friends.
Mali got into the gifted (Target) program at school and goes every Friday. She's so stinkin' smart. The other day she wanted me to write some math problems for her. I couldn't stump her! An example of a question was: Mali earns 5 cents for each chore she does. She wants to buy a candy bar for 89 cents. How many chores does she have to complete to earn enough money to buy a candy bar? Yeah, she did it in her head.

Anna is in a good routine right now. She sleeps, she eats, she's cute. She's doing everything a good baby should do.

Franco is just trying to keep his job. We're very concerned of course that he could be let go any day. It's scary times!
I put all my doings on my other blog. http://www.amberbrookesoprano.blogspot.com/