Birthday Party #3

This is Chloe's school birthday party. Her birthday was on a Friday, so I already had the day off and Sam and Jackson and I took Chloe to her class to visit and have a party. All the food served to the entire class has to be Kosher, so we brought a cake mix in and some candy sprinkles and Chloe's teachers made the cupcakes for us in the Kosher kitchen. They weren't the nicest looking cupcakes, but the kids didn't seem to mind. We also brough party hats and a book that I made for Chloe's class, called "Chloe's new bed." It's about Chloe getting her big girl (twin) bed. The boys were excited to be a part of her birthday party.

Chloe in front; Flora, Jonaton & Guy

(teacher) Irene, Guy, Chloe, my arm, Jonaton and Flora

Birthday Party #2

This was our small, family party. It was held on Chloe's birthday, 2 days after the boys' birthday. The kids all helped to make the cake; Sammy was especially interested in decorating. We drew on two "5's" and one "2" for their new ages. But a cake cannot be complete without lots of spinkles and many plastic clowns. Each birthday child got a turn with the cake and candles; somehow the photo of Jackson with the candles didn't turn out so well.















Chloe's turn















Sam's cool new 5 year old look




The boys got a computer that plugs into the tv for their birthday. They love to play their computer. Even Chloe likes the computer; she doesn't seem to understand that she's missing out on not actually playing the computer, just watching is fun enough- for now. Quickly after they began playing, each boy had a favorite game. Jackson likes 1-2-3 Click, a game where you chase around these bubbles and try to pop them. Sam likes Scout's House, a game where you walk around this dog's house (it looks like a person's house) and uncover all these fun things. His huge laugh above is probably when he got the dog's hair brush and you put it near the dogs head and he gets these funny hairdos.
Kari

Birthday Party #1

The first of many birthday parties for Sam, Jackson and Chloe. This one is at Grandma and Grandpa's house in WI.


Chloe in front, Anna, Jackson, Sam & Elizabeth on Grandma and Grandpa's stairs. Jeff likes to collect all the kids on the stairs from group photos.


Sam dons his birthday hat. Jackson peers in on the clown cupcakes. "Which one should I pick?" he thinks. Then he shouts, "I'll pick THE BLUE ONE!" "Which one do you want Sammy? The blue one or the pink one, PICK SAMMY!"


Grandma bought Molly and Chloe matching princess dresses.


Chloe got crocs shoes for her birthday from Anna and Elizabeth. Chloe calls them "Molly's Shoes". She absolutely loves her "Molly's Shoes". She wears them every day and puts them on all by herself. I'm not sure why she calls them Molly's Shoes, since I think Molly was the only cousin who actually wasn't wearing crocs during our vacation.


singing happy birthday, not sure what Sam is doing with his hand

4th of July

The fourth of Jully in Wauwatosa is all-American. Every child gets a new outfit for the occassion. I can't believe we got this family photo of all the cousins! Here's who's here: (in back) Elizabeth, Kate, Anna, Elli, Caley, (in front) Sam, Jackson, Chloe, Molly


These photos are of the cousins doing "Sam's head tilt". This way, then that way. Sammy, put your head up!

Photos from the parade- hands down the best part of the day. There were dogs to pet and lots of candy to collect. At the end of the parade, Jackson was crying, because the bigger kids were faster than he and they grabbed all of the candy before he could get to it. What a hardship! Later that night, we went to the fireworks and sat about 80 feet from where they were lighting the fireworks off the ground. What an amazing view. And loud too.

Fun with cousins

Sam, Elli, Elizabeth, Jackson, Anna, Caley and Kate. We're at the new museum on Milwaukee's waterfront-it's a Science/technology/aquarium kind of museum- a great museum. It was windy that day; looks like it bothered Jackson.
Sam, Kate and Elli on the climbing thing at Sue's birthday party in the park

Molly says hello to Chloe at Sue's birthday party. Chloe hasn't seen Molly since she was 18 months old- a full 6 months ago. Molly was so cute, getting in Chloe's face to talk with her.

Sam and Elli in the plastic bubble at the park. These two were wonderful playmates- it was so cute.

Kate loves getting her photo taken. Here she is, posing, on the center with Elli and Anna on the girls' side and Sam and Jackson on the boys' side.
July in Milwaukee- it can't be beat. Well, except for the heat and humidity. But we had a fabulous time visiting our family. The boys and Chloe were so excited to see their cousins.

Columbia City

This post is written for our friends and family who haven't had the privilege of visiting our home. We live in the Columbia City neighborhood; it used to be a separate city 100 years ago- this year is actually the centennial. We live only about six blocks from the neighborhood center, shown in these photos. We have lots of parks to play at and lake front to splash in and throw rocks. Coffee shops abound for our espresso and cookie needs. A small library allows us to pop in quickly for the latest shark or dinosaur book. A cool toy store sells retro toys that look like they're from the 1950's. There's also a hair salon in the toy store that serves kids and adults. I'm getting my hair cut there for the first time next weekend. The best pizza in town in made in Columbia City too; they also serve gelatto- yummy! The movie theatre has a day when you can bring your noisy baby to the movie- I haven't done that yet. The first Friday of each month, all the restaurants and bars have live music; you pay one cover and get to see all shows. Lots to do! If you haven't been to visit us, come on out!

Kari

Almost time for vacation!

We've been counting down the days until we depart for vacation to Wisconsin. At first it was 5 months, then 4 then 3, then 2 months, until we decided to count in weeks. But the boys were confused, all of a sudden the numbers were increasing- 7 weeks seemed like more than 2 months! Then we're down to 2 weeks, and now 10 days seems like more than 2 weeks. Sam is getting excited to pack the suitcases. We were talking about what we'd bring to WI. According to Sam, we need to bring lots of toys and a swim suit. I'm surprised that he didn't say we needed to bring his Curious George video.

Jackson looks at the calendar every day and helps to mark an x on each passing day. He says that he can play with his toys on the airplane, but not until the captain says it's ok to take out your toys.

Kari