Happy 4 1/2 Felix!!!

A little bit late, sorry. Had done this as a draft and forgot to post it. Felix was SUPER happy to be 4 1/2 years old finally! His 1/2 birthday present was a new Spider-Man bike helmet and a Batman shirt with cape.

And here they are, clean and shiny after their bath, in their new towels (Spider-Man and Hello Kitty of course) and wearing my turbi-twists.

Happy 7 1/2 Birthday Ella!

Half a birthday cake for a half birthday!

Sinterklaas-Christmas

Wse did lots of fun things at the holidays; first the big Sinterklaas party with the Dutch School; we welcomed Sinterklaas arriving on a boat at the Long Beach harbor with 5 of his Zwarte Pieten (SUPER!), and Felix danced and sang with gusto at his pre-school holiday show. Of course we had to go for evening walks and see the light displays at our neighbors' houses, and eat candy canes. Ella helped Felix write a letter to Santa, explaining about the "Big Buzz Lightyear" he wanted (he got it, thank goodness!). We played on our new Wii Guitar Hero, even Felix got into the act - lucky for him, the Theme From Spider-Man was one of the selections.

Birthday #3, Part 2

I'm finally -- sort of -- getting used to saying I'm forty; I don't think I'll ever feel forty though (whatever that's supposed to feel like) although sometimes when I have to get up, I feel eleventy, especially this week after turning the clocks forward. So, many apologies for the tardiness of finishing up posting the rest of my birthday photos. I got the BEST present, Julie and Céline coming to visit us for a week.

(photo by Ella)

It was so awesome to see the kids playing and laughing together; even though Felix is closer in age to Céline, really it was Ella & Céline together mostly. Ella has been bugging us for a little sister for ages, so this is the closest she's going to get.

The week went by SO fast! We went to the park, went out to dinner at Crazy Tokyo Sushi, had a birthday party for me, visited the Getty and had a farewell ice cream at McDonalds! Mostly it was all about just being together. Julie's blog has already shown many highlights of their visit so I'll include just a few more (it was hard to choose!).

♥♥♥♥♥ Please come back soon!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Birthday #3, Part 1

The end of October is of course Halloween, which means lots and lots of parties, including my own birthday. The week before the big day, the 4 of us went to a big party at a classmate of Ella's. Felix wore one of his costumes, Thomas the Tank Engine; Ella was Super-Girl; Jim was a cowboy and I was a "green neverland fairy". The kids decorated cookies, painted masks, decorated miniature pumpkins, got lots of temporary tattoos and went on a treasure hunt around the garden, and we all enjoyed a very vegetarian-friendly potluck (including a delicious kamut salad).

I took the day off work the Friday before Halloween to attend Felix's preschool costume parade. This time, he was dressed as a pirate. Here he is with his friends "Dorothy" and "Spider-Man" (1 of 2 at the school that day).

Then off to Ella's costume parade, after which there was a carnival with game booths, baked goods and face painting.

The kids had another chance to wear their costumes on Saturday morning, to Dutch School, and finally on Sunday, the day itself arrived! My friend Jen and her daughter M (same age as Ella) came trick-or-treating with us while Jim had door duty. After one hour around the neighborhood, Felix's little legs got tired, so he and I stayed home to hand out the candy, and Jim went around with the others. Ella and M hauled in quite the collection of candy - this is just what Ella got!

After about a week letting them gorge themselves, I was able to convince them to sort through it all, keep a small box for themselves each and donate the rest to the soldiers and the children overseas via Operation Gratitude which is run from the National Guard depot near our house. Seeing as candy is dearly beloved and coveted by our two, I was very proud of them for making the sacrifice.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011

We had fun making these. Enjoy!
(especially for Emile & Celine)

Hula-hooping Ella

Ella after Dutch school today...