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30 APRIL 2007What a week we just completed. Daddy was away, so the girls and I managed to squeeze fun activities into each day. Despite coughing, sneezing, and snotty noses from both girls all week, we still made sure to keep busy. I have a list rather than trying to write it all out in sentences. Monday: We spent the morning at the big, local park. Lots of action with bunches of other kids kept the girls very happy. Unfortunately, I discovered that I have the wrong stroller to walk to and from the park. Walking up ginormous hills (3 to be exact) with that thing feels like pushing a grocery cart full of 6 months worth of groceries. I've decided to invest in a double jogger. Tuesday: While Annie was at school Mimi and I went to the YMCA. With my quick thinking I jumped in the shower and got dressed just in time to pick Annie up from school. Us girls then went to the mall to buy me some capris and to get the girls some sandals. At night we went out to dinner with Miss Trang at CPK. Yum! Wednesday: We ventured over to a coffee shop to watch Mr. Don sing familiar tunes with which we could all sing along. The event was planned by a mommies' group someone told me about. I overcame my shyness to introduce myself and the girls to several of the mommies from the group. That night I got a babysitter for the girls and went out the dinner at P.F. Chang's with most of the other endo wives. Deliciosa! (Sorry, Dora the Explorer snuck into brain.) Thursday: Annie had school. Mimi and I decided to sit this one out and try to get some work done at home. I had lots of web design work to catch up on and housework that was getting neglected. When Mimi woke up from her nap she had a "feber", so we decided that it best to take it easy for the rest of the day. The girls did manage to harass my Visiting Teacher during her time here that night. Friday: Due to Mimi's fever the night before we cancelled a playdate planned for the morning with a friend from the neighborhood. Of course, Mimi was back to her old self by mid-morning, but it was best to play it safe. Annie had her first "kindernastics" class which she thoroughly enjoyed. She got to practice stretching, somersaults, jumping on the trampoline, and meet new friends. Mimi was very disappointed to not be able to participate. Afterward, the girls and I headed over to Gina and Jakey's house for an evening of pizza and general rowdiness. Saturday: Miss Trang, Mr. Matt's parents, the girls, and I had a heck of a time at Maryland Day. Each year the University of Maryland puts on quite the event involving tons of crafty and educational activities for kids, booths with lots of freebies, farm animals to peek at, good eats, and so much more. Annie was very proud of her shark's tooth that she "found". Mimi and Annie made bracelets that change color when exposed to UV-rays. However, one is floating up to the heavens while attached to a balloon, and the other is dispered under Annie's bed, in her sheets, and basically all over her bedroom floor. Feel free to have a look-see at the pictures from the day on the memories page under "Maryland Day 2007". Below is just a sneak peek. The guys finally returned home. We treated them (Mike and Mr. Matt) to a dinner out at Ledo.
Sunday: Back to church after missing several weeks due to either illness or conferences. The girls were thrilled to finally get to go again. Afterward we had planned to go to the National Arboretum with George, Gina, Dave, and Jakey, but it was closing up for the night when we got there. Mike and I were awfully embarrassed. Right before dinner Mimi surprised us and our dear friends with projectile vomiting at the supper table. Our guests quickly excused themselves and took a raincheck. Can you blame them? Mimi gave us a few more installments of revealing her stomach contents. There you have it--our week listed day-by-day. As you can see, we barely had a moment's rest. Most, if not all, of you may not be interested in knowing what we did each day, but it was just easier this way. How was your week?
22 APRIL 2007I hold my head down in shame posting this 12 days since my last entry. The problem that I think may be keeping me from posting more often is that I have pictures and such scattered among the desktop computer, external harddrive, and my laptop. I try to keep everything the same between the desktop and external harddrive, but the work gets behind. I know, it's a poor excuse, but I'm sticking with it.
As promised, I will now talk about the girls’
doings during the past few weeks. Oh, and before I forget, I added
a few more pictures to the
girls' April 2007 album. Feel free to inspect. So, last week
Annie kept talking about her friend, Olivia, from school. Here’s
a conversation we had about Olivia:
10 APRIL 2007WARNING: Picture overload! Much has happened in the last couple of weeks, and lots of pictures got taken during that time.
I promise to give an update about the girls in the next couple of days. Mimi has been making great strides with her social skills, meaning she's not so shy anymore. In fact, she seemed to show quite a skill for entertaining this past weekend. Tune in for that and more, later.
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The
weather is finally making a turn for the better on a regular basis.
Crap! I probably shouldn't say that because now we'll get a foot
of snow tomorrow. Maybe just saying that will keep the weather nice.
The floral and fauna are pretty much in full-bloom here. Our backyard
is an oasis at the moment. We absolutely love being able to peek
out our windows and see so much color and purity. The girls are
driving me mad, however, with all their flower-picking. Today Mimi
was proudly trotting around with freshly picked tulip. I tried to
convince them to pick only dandelions, but they want nothing to
do with them. Figures! The leaves are slowly making their appearance
on the trees. I’m glad because the tree in front of our front,
bedroom window leaves me feeling vulnerable to neighbor’s
eyes without its leaves. Mike and I are debating when we should
reinstall the air conditioner units around the house. I think we
can get by for another week or two. Check out some of the flowers
blooming right now on 
We
managed to get downtown to see the cherry blossoms in their prime
at the end of March. Mike was dead set against going because of
the possible crowds, but I guilted him into it. I mean, you can't
live hear and not go to see the cherry blossoms at least once, right?
Apparently, the actual peek blooming days were going to be a couple
of days later, but it rained and blew all the flowers off. So we
lucked out to see them on such an awesome day. The girls were ecstatic
about riding the metro once again. We only went to one monument,
Jeffereson's, because that wasn't what we were there for. The only
bad part about the day was that just about every other Washingtonian
had the same idea as us. Oh well, we still enjoyed ourselves. Anyhoo,
pictures can be viewed on 
Annie
is almost obsessed with being a mermaid. She has taken to putting
one sock on both her feet and a foam letter casing around her ankles
in order to look as much like a mermaid as possible. Mike’s
mom thought this was hilarious, so now she’s going to make
the girls each a mermaid outfit. I’m sure Annie will be very
delighted to finally have an official mermaid costume. Annie has
picked up some behavior that is cute but also distressing. If she’s
not getting her way about something, then she’ll say to me,
“You’re not my best friend!” and/or “You
can’t come to my birthday party!” At first I would discipline
her by telling her not to say such things. The other day I played
it from a different angle. I said in response to her, “Fine.
You’re not my best friend either, and you can’t come
to my birthday party. Come on, Mimi, you’re my best friend!”
Oh my goodness, this was the end of the world to Annie. She completely
lost it and was saying, “I am your best friend,” over
and over. After about a minute, I knelt down and ask her if she
likes it if someone says those things to her. Of course, she didn’t.
I then told her then it’s not nice to say those things to
people because it hurts their feelings. She hasn’t said those
to me since. Annie has been practicing riding her Dora bicycle and
is becoming quite good at it. Many times she will give up trying
to start pedaling from a stopped position and will ask someone to
help her. No longer do I assist and instead insist that she needs
to keep practicing by herself. Annie is now starting to learn how
to spell and write different words such as Mimi, Mom, Dad, stop,
and Lily. She shows much interest in learning what certain words
say on signs or on junk mail. I try to always take that moment to
say the word and spell it out with her. I’m quite pleased
with her enthusiasm to learn to read. Don’t tell Annie yet,
but come Friday Annie starts “Kindernastics”. It’s
a beginning gymnastics class being offered to kids ages 3-5 years
at the YMCA. I’m so excited for her!
Mimi
can express herself quite these days. She is able to tell us things
and be understood most of the time. I’m continually surprised
by words that pop out of her mouth. Much to my dismay, however,
one of her favorites phrases is “It’s too hard!”
This is her usual response when I ask her to do a task such as helping
me to pick up toys around the house or even to take off her shoes.
I’m not giving up on her so easily though. We’re starting
to introduce potty-training to Mimi. Yet she’s not showing
much curiosity in that department. Instead she’s gone as far
as to go lie on Annie’s bed (the diaper changing station)
and scream for me to come change her diaper. Little stinker!! Mimi
is quite the pal for Annie. Annie has even proclaimed, “Mimi
is my best friend!” I can actually trust them alone while
I take a shower in the afternoon. What a freeing feeling! Mimi really
does show a love for animals. There are a couple of cats that hang
out on our street and come to visit us daily and even list the girls
pet them. (Not to worry, they do have collar with rabies tags.)
The second Mimi spots the kitties, she runs over to shower them
with cuddles. Annie lost interest after just a couple of visits
from the cats. Lucy gets regular pats or tackles from Mimi much
to Lucy’s apprehension. Last night while at Uncle Tiger and
Miss Leah’s house Mimi would not leave poor Fozzie and Slider
and alone. Even with Slider’s warning snaps and growls, Mimi
kept at it. Mimi still enjoys numerous cuddles from Mommy throughout
the day. Of course, I’m always happy to oblige.
Mike
has been quite stressed with school these past weeks. A big project
he’s been working on is finally due tomorrow. What a relief
(for everyone)! This week is the annual AAE (American Association
of Endodontics) Conference in Philadelphia, PA. Mike will be gone
all week. I’m a bit a disappointed with the venue because
last the conference took place in Hawaii. All the wives attended
as well. Now that Mike will have to attend yearly from here on out,
then there’s bound to be a conference at another tropical
locale. When that happens, I’m so going. In Mike’s absence
this week, the girls and I have lots planned. Tomorrow we’re
meeting up with a neighborhood friend to hang out a local park.
One day we’re going to get together with Miss Jamie and Avery
for a day of fun. The girls and I also have plans on Wednesday to
go to a sing-along concert at a nearby café with a group
of local mommies and kids. Then Friday another we’re going
to over to another friend’s house here in the neighborhood
to play. I’m hoping that Trang takes me up on my offer to
go out for dinner one night (maybe sans kids) while the guys are
still away. 
Tiger
and Mike decided it was time for another crawfish boil since the
last one was back in 2004. They've been brewing up plans the past
few weeks, and we finally held the event on Saturday, April 7, 2007.
The original strategy was to set up everything outside, and let
people make all the mess they wanted out there. However, the weather
had other plans. The night before brought an inch of snow, and the
high temperature for the day was 40 degrees. Mike was more than
willing to keep the event outside, but my guess was our friends
from Louisiana, California, Germany and here would not be as eager
about the thought. So we opted to put vinyl tablecloths and newspapers
on the dining table and have at it. Surprisingly, it was not as
messy as I dreaded. There were quite a few kids to keep the girls
busy, and everyone else really seemed to enjoy themselves. I might
be apt to say that this should be an annual event...we'll see! Have
a look at pictures of the event on 
Mister
Matt introduced the concept of a visit from the Eater Bunny to Annie
the night before Easter. Of course, this meant Annie talked about
that event non-stop for the rest of the night. She was very ecstatic
the next morning to see that the Easter Bunny had, in fact, visited
and left a special something just for her. It only took her about
10 seconds after waking up to discover it. Since Target came up
with the cute idea to have vintage buckets with an Easter theme,
the Easter bunny decided that the girls should have Easter buckets
delivered to them instead of baskets. The girls didn't seem to notice
the difference. Mimi immediately noticed the Dora candy dispenser
inside her bucket. "DORA!" We let them look through their
new goodies for approximately 5 minutes and even gave them a couple
of treats to eat. Promplty after that time, all treats and plastic
grass was removed. I know, we're terrible people for taking away
candy from children. Later that day, they made up for lost time
without candy (see below). The girls and I decorated a few eggs.
This was their first egg decorating experience. Annie thoroughly
enjoyed herself while Mimi got bored halfway through her first egg.
Painting herself was more interesting. Check out 
The
Cheslers were kind enough to host an Easter dinner for us transplants
without family close by. An egg hunt and decorating contest were
planned. There were lots of kids present to partake in all the festivities.
The girls were thrilled to have so many kids to frolic with...Annie
was especially excited about Avery's arrival. 99 eggs were hidden,
and the kids couldn't wait to get out to search for them. 3 of the
eggs were "golden" and, if found, would result in special
prizes. A few tears were shed when all the golden eggs were discovered,
but all the kids ended up with some of sort of prize in the end.
Oh, the drama of childhood. An egg decorating activity also kept
the kids busy. What fun! Lamb and honey-baked ham were the main
courses served with garlic mashed potatoes, asparugus, and a delicious
salad. The evening was topped off with a birthday cake for Trang.
Mike and I were the bakers/decorators. It was a big hit! The girls
were absolutely exhausted when we got home and actually slept in
a bit the next morning. No arguments from me. Of course, there are
pictures from the night on