There was just (barely) enough snow to try out our new sleds today. Our backyard is sloped just enough that the beginning sledders in our house find it fun.
Finally!
Katie finally lost her top front tooth. It had been loose for quite some time but really started some major movement right before Christmas. And then nothing. At one point we thought Santa and the Tooth Fairy might be bumping into one another on Christmas Eve, but the tooth held on despite all the wiggling and twisting we made encouraged Katie to do.
By Friday we had had enough. The tooth was black from being dead but still didn't want to let go. I finally reached in and gave it a good yank...Katie's eyes got as big as saucers and she was about to complain until she saw her tooth in my hand. Then the smiles and giggles started.
Anna and I took the kids bowling the other day. It was VJ's first time and he really seemed to enjoy it. He made it clear right from the start that he could roll the bowl HIMSELF and did not need any help from us.
The final scores. Please take special note of the AWESOME 10th frame that I had:
More pics on our Kodak Gallery Homepage.It's Christmas Eve and the kids are now "nestled all snug in their beds." They were super cute as we made the final preparations for Santa's visit just before bed time.
We had been checking Google Earth all day to track Santa's current whereabouts. Katie got a mini-geography lesson as she learned where Japan and the Philippines are (although as an outgrowth of this lesson, she has now decided that she is scared of volcanoes). One cool thing, we saw Santa when he was visiting Christmas Island!
At Bedtime, Santa was in Moldova. Moldova, as I know you already know, is just a country or two to the East of Hungary.
The stockings were hung by the chimney on the dining room hutch with care.
Lastly, we got the milk and cookies ready for Santa before heading off to bed.
Anna read the kids "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" as their bedtime story. I always thought it was cool that "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" was first published in my hometown paper.
On Saturday we all made some Christmas cookies for Santa (and us). The kids helped Anna roll the dough and cut out the shapes. After baking Anna & I helped the kids put on the icing before they finished them by decorating them with M&M's and sprinkles.
Last Thursday we went and stayed over night in Vienna to visit the Christmas Markets. Much like the smaller one in Budapest, they each had booths with people selling various goods, candles, Nativity sets, hand crafted toys, etc. Everyone had a great time.
OK, that's actually a big lie. The kids had a great time during the 40 minutes they spent in the hotel pool. Other than that they pretty much bitched and moaned about walking anywhere and about how freaking cold it was.
Me: "VJ are you having a good time?"
VJ: "It is way too fucking cold. I am freezing my ass off. I want to go back to the HOTEL!"
OK, he didn't say any of that except for the last sentence, but that's just because his vocabulary is not developed enough yet. I'm sure he was thinking it.
OK, so they kinda liked the carousel too. If you look at any of the other pictures on our Kodak Gallery and VJ looks blurry, it's because he was shivering!
This is what VJ thought about the Christmas Market at Schonbrunn Palace on Friday morning.
More pictures on our Kodak Gallery Homepage.
Tonight we celebrated my 35th Birthday. Anna made my Birthday cake all from scratch and it was delicious!
VJ's school held it's Christmas party this past Friday. The kids had a great time. They sang songs and did dances. For one dance they had to find a new partner after every verse (kind of like musical chairs) and they had a lot of fun scrambling around, changing partners, knocking each other over, etc.
More Pictures on our Kodak Gallery Homepage.
Anna & I went to Katie's school yesterday for the Winter Concert. The 1st and 2nd grades took their turns singing up on stage and finished with all seven classes (four 1st Grades & three 2nd Grades) singing the final two songs.
It was a really nice concert and the kids did a great job.
Very exciting time at the grocery store today. When I opened the carton of eggs to check them (gotta make sure that they're not broken before you buy them) I was astonished to find a White Egg. Why is this exciting? Well because it's the first white egg I have seen in Budapest...ever. I kid you not. Just wanted to let you know, since I know you share my excitement about this not at all.
In other food related news, I also finally found a can of tomato paste. I can't remember exactly what I wanted the tomato paste for, but that's not important right now.
Frank the Elf stopped by to wish you a Merry Christmas.
He also asks that you click here to watch him dance.
Message to everyone at my Dad's work: You're welcome.
The ExxonMobil Social Club sponsored a "Meet Santa" event last night. Not only was Santa there, but they also had other activities like face painting, cookie decorating, make an ornament, etc. The kids had a really good time.
VJ was a little nervous so Big Sister Katie held his hand.
What do we do after we decorate the cookies? Eat them, of course.
Sorry for not posting since we got back...I was busy doing vacation laundry and had just about completed it when I realized that the kids had been wearing clothes all week (different ones every day!) and I had a new pile to do. I think when Anna goes on her next business trip we will experiment with how many changes of clothes do the children really need in a week (my goal = 2). God, how I hate laundry.
Anyways...we had a great visit to Troy for Thanksgiving.
My Mom, hard at work cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily she has a good Daughter-in-Law to help her since her 2 sons and husband are less than useless.
The family was out in full force to enjoy a terrific meal together. Notice how Anna & I seated our kids at the far end of the table from us. Pure genius.
My brother bolted from the house right after dinner so as to be first in line at CompUsa for their Black Friday sale. He waited from 6pm until 5am the next morning to buy a laptop that he, Anna & I gave to my Dad our parents for Christmas. Not only was it freezing cold, but the 2 girls who were 2nd in line were annoying as hell. I couldn't stand them and that was only after the 15 minutes I held his place while he ran inside to warm up (during the 9pm - Midnight sale).
My parents are lucky that he was the one who waited in line since I would have bought the less impressive laptop at the 9pm sale and gone home to bed.
I got to visit and catch up with my long lost cousin Michael and his wife Kimmie (and their 3 sons - you may remember voting for Quinton). Michael insists that he wasn't lost, he knew that he was in Raleigh, NC this whole time, but whatever. The last time I saw him was back in 1996 at my wedding. Our visits back to Troy have not coincided for the last 11 years. Usually we miss each other by 1 week.
Frankie's girlfriend Lisa brought over the puppies her dogs just had for the kids to play with and for Anna and I to feel guilty that our kids don't have a dog yet. Our lease doesn't allow pets, or as VJ puts it "The security guards say 'no dogs'."
Here's the whole gang at Hilltop bowl. I look stupid since Anna told me to "hunch down" so we could see the tall people behind me.
And finally, here's a picture of what I look like when I'm drunk but trying to concentrate on playing a board game.
Private message to Annette (everyone else close your eyes):
Remember how I kicked your ass 20 - 6 playing that game (whatever it was). Fun times.OK everyone else, you can open your eyes now.
