What's in a word- take 4

Let me paint a picture... It was the day before our movers came to pack up our house. I was in my pajamas, and of course, braless, when there was a knock on the door. I assumed it was our neighbor, no big deal, she was used to all that! Well, it was my visiting teachers, who I had completely forgotten about. Our house is more than a wreck as we're trying to separate what we're keeping and what we're storing.... and on and on. Now, if you know me at all you know this really didn't bother me too much- it's just life, right! So, they come in and squeeze a seat on the couch full of junk and clothes. Jamus is screaming to eat, the kids are running like elephants with a horses gallop down the hallway... my poor friend is trying to relay a bit of a spiritual message to me through it all, as I'm perched on a little step stool- the only place with room to sit. And, right in the middle of it all Bradly comes running down the hall yelling, "Mom!" I turn to her with the 'you better be dying' look. She continues with, "Mom! Lorenzo just wiped a boogar on the wall!" All I could think was, just add it to the list!

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Lorenzo and Bradly were examining their freckles. Brads forgot what they were called for a minute and said:

Mom, look at my sparkles.

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Found Bobby Fischer

This is the father, making a guest blog entry. Mel is away for a few days and I thought this was blog worthy. Today, my 5 year old son beat me in chess. Never been so proud since he voted for Barack Obama in his preschool election.

A little background, I have recently gotten reinterested in chess. I've been reading books about it, playing anyone I can pin down, including the computer. Thought I was getting pretty good. Anyways, I thought it a good idea to teach Lorenzo how to play, and he took to it pretty fast. It may sound crazy to teach someone so young, so we taught Bradly too. She also knows how to move all of the pieces and the two of them can play a game together without any real outside help, as displayed in the picture (though Bradly usually gets bored before the game ends). Anyways, today as I was playing the older kid, I was coaching him a little bit when I would threaten some of his pieces, hoping to help him see what to look for. He kept up pretty well, I was only up a pawn or two as we went into the end game. I thought I was about to finish him when I noticed he just about had me. He was about to do something else and I told him to look at it again, he saw the right move almost right away and had me mated in 3 moves. I got checkmated by a 5-year old. No more coaching him, I'm playing for keeps now!

One shell of an Easter... egg

egg hunting, egg dyeing, egg rolling, egg hiding, egg throwing, egg bowling, egg catching, egg cracking, egg eating, egg boiling, egg finding, egg deviling, egg sharing, egg fighting, eggshausting...

Love to all the many friends we have made here, that are gonna miss us terribly! Okay, switch that.

What's in a word- take 3

Bradly: It's a chocolate, banilla, salt, prune juice ice cream. (her pretend cooking)

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Lorenzo: Mom, I know the directions to get to soccer, can I drive?

Mom: Ummm, NO!

Lorenzo: But, I know how to get there in the car.

Be Kind... Rewind

As we wait for the adventures to continue, a look back in time:

Red Square? Well, close enough...

As many of you know we have not yet been able to make it to Russia. But, since grandparents were here to watch kids anyway, Chris and I took a last second trip to New York City instead... While there we thought we'd make some comparisons:

Time Square vs. Red Square,
Central Park vs. Gorky Park,
Gershwin Theatre vs. Bolshoi Theatre

We'll let you know how they compare to the Moscow attractions when we actually get to see them. Until then, it's as close as we can get!