Christmas

Ella is off school for three weeks and on the first day of her vacation, Jim (who is off this week too) took her to the library and they got a whole bunch of Level 1 Reading books. She has been reading one book a day and doing a few pages of her workbook, so she will keep up with (and is actually improving) her reading. She has been writing sentences too, mostly without asking how you spell the words. Here is one that she wrote yesterday on her favorite toy, her white board (click on all pictures to enlarge):



On the second day of her vacation, Jim took her to the Getty (at her own request).



On Christmas Eve, we went down to Candy Cane Lane and Candle Light Lane in Woodland Hills. Couldn't get any pictures as it was raining but we also take walks and bike rides around the neighborhood. This one is in our own front yard:
and this one is a neighbor's -

FINALLY! Christmas Day. Here is Felix with his new "bakketball" hoop which he LOVES

and here is Ella with the thing she has been asking and asking and asking for, and even had called Santa up on her princess mobile phone to ask him for it... a scooter!

and here are the two monkeys in their new bathrobes.

The three of us having some cuddle time -


Finally, at the end of the day, Thing 1 and Thing 2 got into their new PJ's and jumped all over Dada

Fall Fun

FINALLY! I hear you say. Well our camera is broken so while we have been unsuccessfully trying to get it fixed and deciding on getting a new one, here are some lesser-quality shots from a disposable camera. First, Halloween. Ella and Felix were pirates this year except Felix didn't want to wear his costume (unusual for him, since he loves to wear Ella's, mine and Dada's clothes normally). Ella wore her pirate costume at school and then she wore her yellow princess dress later on when we went trick or treating.

Next we have Ella modeling a Halloween Cat Hat she made and Felix with his pirate hat



It was a SUPER hot November. We often go for a bike ride on Sunday mornings to the farmer's market where the kids love to go on the bouncy castle


And the kids playing in the sandbox on another sunny morning

More Birthday Stuff

Ella & Felix had their 5-year and 2-year well-child visits with Dr Liddy today. They are both in the 40%ile for height in their age groups (3 ft 6 1/4 inches/107cm and 34 1/2"/87.7cm). Ella is 20th %ile for weight (35 lbs 14 oz/about 16 kg), Felix 30th (26 lbs 10 oz/about 12 kg) , but he has had croup this week, and weighed 6 oz more at the doctor's visit a couple of days ago. Luckily he is feeling a bit better today, his breathing is much clearer and no more fever.

Making Felix's birthday cupcakes:



A happy 2-yr-old



Dessert at CPK for the birthday dinner...




Playing along with the video song "Put Your Toes To Your Nose"

Here's a little video of Felix's birthday cupcake ceremony at home - of course 2 seconds after I stopped filming he did actually blow out his own candle. Oh well...
[UPLOAD PENDING - NOT HAVING MUCH SUCCESS RIGHT NOW]
And lastly, our annual visit to the pumpkin patch (Felix was a bit scared)

Ella took these two pictures

Happy Birthday Felix!

Felix is TWO years old today!!! We love our little monkey so much and are very excited for him to be a big boy toddler. Since we already had a joint birthday party last weekend, we will be celebrating at home this weekend. He will be sharing cupcakes at Carousel Kids preschool today. 

He is such a talker, and is putting words together into little sentences (Ella fall down, Dada make coffee). He is in underpants all the time except for when sleeping, loves to color & paste (and cut with scissors when Ella has left hers lying around!) and loves playing with his big sister, jumping on the bed, or outside on the swing or in his new sandbox. Also he sings along with his favorite songs, "CAR!", "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Dreams".

Cupcakes!




And here's Felix playing in the new sandbox he got for his birthday!

Happy Birthday Ella!

Our little Ella is 5 years old today! We are so very proud of her and happy for her. She is so excited that it's her birthday today and is bringing pink and white Hello Kitty cupcakes to share with her class today. Here are a couple of photos taken in the past week or so. Ella showing off her Encino Elementary Explorers temporary tattoo and her new haircut.

Ella's favorite food: tortilla with butter

Ella's favorite color: pink and greenish-blue

Ella's favorite princess: Sleeping Beauty

And Felix wishing Ella a happy birthday!

I'm a little late in posting this, but I'm just now catching up with some recent pictures. Back in July my aunt Dolline from Arkansas passed away. I regret I hadn't made it out there to see her in about ten years, but kept up with the occasional phone call and Christmas card. Three weeks later, she was going to make the trip to Southern California to attend a family birthday party, and I would've seen her then. However, I did get to see my uncle Alvin and two of their daughters, Jeanette and Jeanine. It was great to see them and catch up.

Here I am with my cousin Jeanette:


And my uncle Alvin, with Ella and Felix:


Ella with Jeanine:


One of the funniest things was meeting one of my distant cousins, Eugene, who was there with his brother and two sisters. Eugene knew my mom and my uncle Marshall in high school, and he hadn't seen me since I was a few weeks old.

Here is Eugene and I:


Unfortunately, I don't have a very close family and often none of us talk to each other for years, since many people are scattered all over the place. When this kind of event happens, it becomes pretty memorable.

Ella's First Day

Ella today started her first day of kindergarten at Encino Elementary. Everything seemed to go well, and told us that the highlight was the teacher reading a book called "The Kissing Hand". She also came home with a piece of artwork of her hand-print in red paint, with a red heart and a red sparkle on it, and a picture that she drew, of her family.

Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Ferreira, yesterday during the orientation the school gives for new kindergarteners.




Here's a picture I snapped of her at the front of her new classroom, right before I left her for the day. Our little girl is getting so big!



(Sorry for the slightly blurry quality of these pictures. We snapped them in a rush.)

Summer Fun

Try telling me this kid doesn't have a sense of humor and panache... we were getting ready for bed and he toddles out the bedroom, closes the door behind him, then a minute later, bursts in the door like this:



Not to be outdone, his big sister can wear Dada's gardening hat and look just as charming.



Here is a picture of Felix proudly showing off his Baby Sign for MORE:


Felix drawing (yes, we live close to the airport and dinner time is when the little planes come out to play).



And of course last but not least, we celebrated Dada's birthday with balloons, song, cake and ice cream last week.



Happy Birthday, Dada, we LOVE you!

Happy Fourth of July!

Ella made these Uncle Sam hats at school and Felix liked wearing his.

It's been quite hot here lately; today it's supposed to be 93 degrees (34 C) and pretty dry. Felix has discovered the joys of ice cream cones in this weather. Nicki bought these tiny little kids cones that are perfect for his small hands, though you have to scoop ice cream in it with a melon baller.

Op Vakantie

Felix got his first plane trip as all of us went to the Netherlands the first two weeks of June. A few highlights. First Felix got ready for the trip by enjoying some chocolate, since that's what the Dutch are known for.



We stayed with Nicki's father in Den Haag (the Hague), and the first day we were there we went to visit a farm where you can feed baby goats from a bottle. As we drove out there, through the lush green polders and past the windmills, Ella commented, there are a lot of farms in Holland!






Felix took the opportunity to kiss the goats.



We also visited with Ella and Felix's new cousin Céline and with their old cousin Emile, who is already two years old. What a big man he is.





We took a trip to Delft, which is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, and the birthplace of a certain Nicole Ellen Ferguson. The main church in the middle of the city is where all of the Dutch royals are buried, including William of Orange, considered the founder of Holland. The kids decided to show their respect by running around and jumping on the graves.



I also found a pizzeria there I didn't know I owned.



Back at his Opa's house, Felix added to his experience of his first plane ride by getting his first ride on a ladder.



And Ella jumped with her cousin Annick on a trampoline in Belgium.



All in all, Ella and Felix had a great time visiting their cousins Emile and Céline, and couldn't leave them as they said goodbye and went away in their car.



Thank you Opa, Dunie, Funky, Céline and Emile!