We love each other...

That's what Tia says when she gives her sisters hugs.



When she sees Nick and I give each other a hug she says, "You love each other." She's very sweet.




(The timing of this post does reflect participation in Love Thursday a popular weekly event in the Blogosphere.)

chocolate-y goodness

Tia and Katie baked cookies again.

She makes toast!

Last weekend, Natalie made cinnamon toast for her sisters! Here are some photos. Soon, she'll be cooking dinner! (Yippeee!!!!!)

Like any good cat...

Kira-cat loves to sit in a box. This photo is so typical Kira with the yellow snuggled up right under her nose. That's how she always sits with Yellow. (Yellow is her blanket's name.) (Note the wheels on the box. She made it a car.)

Big Sister

Natalie reads to Tia.


This was one of the moments that make you say, "Awww... Sisterly love." One of the moments that keeps you going when they are all screaming.

A great present!

Natalie made me this coffee cup for Christmas. She drew the picture of me (black dress) and her (pink dress). I love it!

mustache

All the girls love it when they drink milk or yogurt-drink and end up with a mustache. Tia had an especially good one here! (Photo taken 12/8/07) (She looks so mature in the picture too.)

Holiday Break

In December, we went to an amusement park one night. They had Christmas lights and it was cold. Here Kira and I cuddle on the train.

Tia's gymnastics

1/11/08

Tia loves gymnastics. When Grandma and Grandpa F. came to visit, they got to see her.

The photos: 1. She doesn't like the stretching so much, but she loves everything else. She's getting really good! 2. She walked almost the whole way across the beam without assistance--it was even with a slight upward slope. 3. Kira eating breakfast in the waiting room. For some reason, Kira loves to come watch and eat breakfast while Tia does gymnastics. (I don't think Grandpa F was quite ready for the picture to be taken.)

Rain!

We got some rain last week. Kira and Tia loved the opportunity to try out their umbrellas.



Photo by Katie

It's been 6 days since the last post...

It feels like I should write a long post to update everything over the last 6 days, but if I keep that mindset, it will never happen. Here's a brief update.

Grandma and Grandpa F came to visit. The girls enjoyed playing games and hanging out with them. Here are some photos... More coming soon.

How did she get to be six????

Natalie is six. The festivities included friends coming over eating and playing on Saturday; goody bags for friends at school; and then ice cream after dinner on 'the day.' Here are some photos. (Natalie likes to wear PJs, and she likes dinos... and she likes dinosaur PJs... can you tell?)

1000 words

Kelly took the picture on the card and then made the card and Nick took the picture of the picture on the card.

More soon about yesterday!

Decision...

It's January 8th. We got our big proposal done and sent in, and life is much better, however, our Christmas tree is still up. At this point, I think it probably just makes sense to leave it up for the year. If I do so, I won't have to spend time 1) taking it down and 2) putting it back up in 11 months. We have plenty of room in the living room for it. The little girls like it, and it works for Nick and me. Just call us EFFICIENT (not lazy)!

When I mentioned my plan of leaving the tree up to a friend, she liked it. She suggested I hang hearts on the tree for Valentine's Day, Shamrocks in March, Baskets in May, etc.

Blankety-Fun

Thank you Grandma K for the blankets!

Did you know blankets could be so much fun? First, it's a way to give your sister a ride and then it's the blanket for a tea party. Excellent.

As a side note, Kira and Tia are becoming really good buddies. Natalie has always played well with Tia. Natalie is old enough to be the one who helps Tia and includes her in the process of whatever they are playing. Kira is now enjoying playing more with Tia as Tia gets better and better at pretending and playing. (They started playing well together around May-June 2007, but now it's really really good. More on that later.)





Thank you Katrina for the Thomas Shirt!

Still more...

I have been SWAMPED at work. We're writing a proposal for a grant (due Tuesday). It's good, but crazy. It's good because it's with my favorite colleagues! I'm thrilled because it includes some research I have wanted to do for about 6 years now! It's crazy because of the holiday break and how quickly we're having to work now. In the meantime....

Remember this and this? ...

Here's one of Kira doing artistic self-expression.

Happy 2008!

We went over to the new house of our friends to celebrate the new year. The kids had a BLAST--they had noise-makers. What could be better?

Our friends, Dana and Justin, who just returned from a year abroad, have 2 children. You can see all five of the kids, ages 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 in a row. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have lined up if noise-makers weren't involved. There's about a year (plus or minus a few months) between each of the kids.

Thanks for a fun night Dana and Justin!