Happy Chinese New Year!

mega-cutie, Brea

Gi is enjoying eating next to her new favorite person, Julianne.

Mr. Marcello and the Hawkins

Miss O and her mommy

super adorable duo, Alissa and Maya

Poh Poh and Gon Gon

Hurray for the dogs (Gi, Brea and Olivia), roosters (Sammy) and oxes (Julianne)! Last night we had a small get-together with our favorite people---our family and friends. The kids were wonderful. They played and played and played. The adults passed out ly-sees and chocolate gold coins to the little ones. We all enjoyed a meal of Chinese take-out. Poh Poh was on grandmother duty as usual making sure that Gi was fed and the house was in tip-top shape as the evening went along. Gung hay fat choy to all of our friends and family. Thank you for making our CNY so special.

Happy Birthday, Camille!

pint-size super cutie, Camille, blowing out her candles

Gi enjoying one of the singing/dancing activities with maestra Carol Anne

Mommy Christine made these really cool "ice cream" birthday cupcakes. Gi licked half of the frosting off then pronounced that she was "all done."

goofing around with Daddy

Sugar Sand Park has a really beautiful carousel. Of course, we could not leave the party without Munch getting on at least once.

enjoying a breezy swing with Daddy before leaving for home

Well, we attended another fine birthday party yesterday afternoon. This time it was for fellow mei mei, Camille, who turned three. Camille and her mei mei friends danced, sang and played under the expert direction of Miss Carol Anne who Munch happens to take Kindermusik with. We'd like to thank Camille and her mommy and daddy for having us. Happy birthday, Camille! We had a mighty good time.

First Pics of the New Year

Just wanted to share some pics of my Munch for the new year. We spent a pleasant morning at Lion Country Safari today. The weather was beautiful on this January day.

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Olivia was a vision in adorable-ness in her pink tutu and bow! Today Gi and her sisterhood got to help Olivia celebrate her big 2. All the mommies and daddies got to chat as the girls ate, drank and played in Olivia's historic home. Here's to the Year of the Dog (Olivia, Brea and Gi) and the Year of the Rooster (Sammy). Hugs and kisses to the STans for having us. Happy birthday, O! Sorry but no picture of Miss O on her special day...we discovered that our camera battery was juiceless at the party.

Mysterious Black Hole

I think there is a mysterious black hole lurking somewhere in my house. There has to be. How else can I explain the disappearance of half-filled sippy cups that appear in Munch's hand one second and disappears the next? What about her little ankle socks that never emerge as pairs again after a run in the dryer? I have never lost more things then I do now. Is this what mommyhood does to the female brain? A slow disintegration of memory cells until my little darling goes off to college? What was once completely unacceptable now barely registers on my radar. Like discovering mushy cheese deeply imbedded into the seat of my car or not feeling embarrassed after noticing that I've been walking around the library with playdough flatly but firmly stuck to my pants around the tushy area. I now will actually eat food items that Munch takes out of her mouth for one reason or another because I don't want anything to go to waste. It's not pretty, folks, but it's definitely happening. What will go in the way of the black hole next as I travel the road of motherhood? Make-up? Punctuality? Sleeping past 6:00 a.m.? I hate to even think about it. Oh, that image to the left...Sadly (big defeated sigh), I don't look too differently from that woman when I wake up at the crack of dawn every morning at the behest of my Munch.

"No No No No Dakta Mama"

That would be Gi talk for "I don't want to go to the opthalmologist." As early as last night, hubs and I started to prep Munch for her eventual eye exam today. We thought we were clever by casually introducing the topic during supper last night. What a big mistake! Gi immediately soured and started to push her dinner plate away. If there is anything that hubs and I don't want to see is Munch refusing to eat...this is the D household afterall. We eat and encourage eating. We quickly swept the topic under the rug and cajoled Gi into finishing her buttered pasta. So this morning, with hubs at work already, I reintroduced the subject with Munch. Same reaction. I'm a little desparate now. Visions of insane crying and an exasperated doctor crept into my mind. So Gi and I practiced examining each other's eyes with her new doctor kit that she got for Christmas. This and frequent reassurances that eye exams don't hurt seem to relieve some of the anxiety. Fast forward to the actual eye exam. Munch is all nervous smiles for Dr. Friedman. He wins her over with his bright attitude and comical gestures. Turns out my no.1 daughter has a bit of far-sightedness and astigmatism...all nothing to worry about according to the good doctor as this is common in young children and they usually outgrow this. He also noted that the skin by her lower eyelid is very tight causing her lower lashes to possibly brush against her eyeball. Again, nothing to worry about as children often outgrow this also. And so I breathe another sigh of relief...another exam performed with resulting good news. So what's next? Ahhh, the dreaded first dental exam. I got some excellent pointers from my good friend, Wendy. I'll be praying for dental bliss also as I know that a dental exam will be much more invasive then an eye one. It's going to be a crap shoot, my friends.

Holiday Activities

Thanks to our resident shutterbug, Auntie Sara, we were able to pose for many family pictures during our holiday break.

Munch got to meet some new friends when Auntie Sara's college friends visited us after their cruise in Ft. Lauderdale. Gi really enjoyed hanging out with her older male buddies.

I'm cooking up some plantains for one of our holiday meals.

The whole family visited Morikami Park.

We got to meet up with some of the mei meis and their mommies at Veteran's Park.

We visited Wakohadatchee and Green Cay for some nature appreciation.

Here we are hanging out at Poh Poh's house. Auntie Sara presented Gi with her first tiara.

Gi was a good sport and posed endlessly for Auntie Sara.