End of 2014

NOTE: the girls have new entires in their interview pages

at the right sidebar ========================>>>>>>

In December the girls wanted SHORT haircuts.

It was Maya's idea.

 Jeff helped the girls make Pierogi for Christmas.

The yogis got a new mat for Christmas.

FYI, they love matching outfits.

During Christmas Break the girls experimented with sharing Maya's room.  Pobrecita Wenita has been scared of sleeping downstairs.  While I sympathize with her active imagination, there are not a lot of options for other sleeping arrangements.  We moved Genna's mattress up to Maya's floor.  It lasted less than 2 weeks.  Genna is not a pleasant roommate.  With any luck (or straight up miracle) we will find a new home in 2015.

Family Portraits

Jeff got me Fall Family Portraits for my Birthday.  They were taken in mid-October.  

Happy Halloween!

Maya penned this poem in the car on the way to the pumpkin patch.  She wanted it published:

This pic was taken for a party one week before Halloween when it was 60º.  Actual Halloween was the first snow of the year.

Fall Catch Up

I just back-dated a post of summer pics to the August timeline.  Now I am trying to get caught up through the beginning of the school year.

Here is what Fall has looked like so far:

Love you, Grandma!

I love you a bushel and a peck

A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck

A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap

A barrel and a heap and I'm talkin' in my sleep

About you, about you

'Cause I love you a bushel and a peck

You bet your purdy neck I do

A doodle oodle ooh doo

A doodle oodle oodle ooh doo

Grandma, you will be missed.  

Summer Collage

Summer 2014.  We did stuff.

Highlights:

• Berries
• Babçia
• Beck x2
• Uncle Dan
• Tennis Camp (Maya)
• Gymnastics 
• Lake Michigan

Then we went to Toronto & Lake Huron

• Detroit's Belle Isle
• Ontario Science Center
• CN Tower
• Casa Loma
• Pho
• Royal Ontario Museum
• Pinery Campground

It was great to see so many family members!  Thanks for visiting and coming to the Tie-Dye Party!

Summer: day 1

Summer bucket list item:  Make swimsuits for the girls.  BAM!  Done on the first day of the season.  I'v always wanted to make suits for them, but was leery of lycra.  Instead of getting a proper pattern, I winged this with my tried and true (actually "hit and miss") trace-existing-clothes method.  Some areas need to be revised for bunchiness, particularly the rear.  

Since I am too lazy to convert my serger from overlock to coverstitch, the topstitching is 3-step zig zag.  

Also got 6 quarts of strawberries jammed.

Last day of school

Maya finally finished kindergarten.  What a long school year.  Poor girl was sobbing at bedtime wanting to go back tomorrow.  She listed all the teachers she will miss and even her bus driver!  

This weekend I'll let her fill up her wall calendar with our summer schedule.  Camps, classes, beach days, and lots of family visitors should satisfy her until September.  Oh, sweet girl!

We made Fairy Gardens when she got home.  Maya's has a tea set.

Genna's has a playground and maybe a dead fish.

Everything is falling apart

Part 1: Maya warms up for gymnastic camp by attempting to vault off the glass kitchen table.

Part 2: Genna, action biker, typically aims FOR the rocks and holes.  One got her.

The patient plays doctor.  She has not been in pain after the first day, just annoyed that she has to wear a sling and not go to the playground.

Then this.  Tooth #2

Spring 2014

School pictures, take 2.  Now they pedal school pics in the fall and spring.   

Pink and Pinker.  Easter 2014 

Maya wanted a stuffed chair but was short on funds after her headphones purchase.  So she made her own. 

FUN DAY!  Genna's last day of Preschool Picnic, and a visit from KATIE!

Memorial Day Weekend with Steve, Peggy, & boys at St. Joe. 

Wolfe Lake Fish Hatchery

Genna's angling attire.

Jamaica

We headed to Jamaica for Spring Break to rendezvous with the crew of Exit Strategy.  It was great to see Babçia and Grandpa Boyan and explore the west side of the Island.

See other pics & stories at the Boyan's Blog.

After spending a couple intro days in Montego Bay, we headed west.  First stop was Lucea, a very quiet bay.  The girls' first desire was to find a BEACH.  We walked to the end of town, in the rain, but did not find a beach, much to their dismay.  However, we did get to explore old Fort Charlotte.  However, the girls were not amused until we took refuge from the showers in a snack shack along the way for banana chips, and came away with enough breadfruit for a month and a new fruit to try (Naseberry).  

Snorkeling lessons from Babçia.  Maya was a more eager student.  Genna eventually tried it, but only with her familiar goggles.  She even snorkeled with us in the deep through a nice reef off Booby Cay in Bloody Bay (Negril).

Maya's "RESPECT" selfie.  The kids liked fist bumping with the locals.

Papa goofing off.

We went searching for some famous jumping points in Negril's West End.  This area, at the Pushcart Restaurant, no longer allows public high dives, but let us swim in their beautiful grotto.

We prepped the girls that hair braiding would be an option on the trip.  I didn't actually think either of them would do it.  On our last day, Maya came to shore with that as her mission.  It didn't take long for one of the ladies to find her and lead her off to her shop, before I could even find our wallet and follow behind them!  It took a little over one hour.  Maya sat patiently and picked all yellow and white beads.  As of this post date (Easter), she has had them in for 10 days and is not interested in taking them out.  They may be too fuzzy in a couple more days, but I am surprised that they are holding up this well.

Bloody Bay had some private property issues, and there was no place to park the dinghy on shore.  This made some excursions more trouble than they were worth.  So on the last night, the girls set up an exclusive restaurant in the cockpit for Mama & Papa, while the staff dined below.  Here, Maya is reading us the menu's specials.  Everything was delicious and the service was adorable.

We are so spoiled to have Exit Strategy on call for all our tropical vacation needs!

PHX Spring 2014

Note, I am cheating and back-dating this post.  I did not actually post this in a timely manner!

We took a break from the Polar Vortex and went to Phoenix for the first week of March.  Papa stayed on a few days and us girls spent 7 days.  It was a fun-filled trip of hiking, butterfly garden, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Skip-bo, friends, and family.

Genna made it to the top of NORTH MOUNTAIN!

At the Butterfly Garden.  Our computer crashed a few weeks ago and while much of our data was recovered, I am noticing that there are lots of gaps in the photo files..... like the pics with the butterflies!

Climbing at the WATERFALL HIKE in the White Tank Mountains.

Was Genna posing for senior portraits?  Sheesh!


Also missing from my files are the pics of our rousing games of Skip-bo.

Cookie Season

So, October 23 was the last blog post, eh?  Hmm, missed a few events since then.
Well, while I organize flower girl pics, I need to get this post is, as Girl Scout Cookie season is upon us.

As you might guess, neither of us are going to excel at Maya's sales training.  So we're going at this with a laissez-faire approach.  If you're into GS cookies, let us know.  If not, we wont bother you.  I think orders are open until Feb 3rd, for delivery before March 16th.

Feel free to e-mail me or call to speak to Maya.

Thanks!