Brunch with the Cotes

We had the chance to meet the mom (Kathryn) and daughter (Simone) of the family who hosted Fer for Summer Miracles 2008 in Vermont. Fer loved being with them that summer, and they had so many fond memories. As well, they both couldn't believe how much Fer had grown, and how much English the girls were speaking! Simone had just returned from studying abroad in China, and generously brought gifts for both the girls.

It's off to work for Grandma!

Fer and Wendy are wonderfully nurturing of their dolls and stuffed animals. The recent iCarly purple bears are their current favorites. They have named them Sophia (Fer's bear) and Daphne (Wendy's) and are basically pretending the bears are their babies -- they play at feeding them, putting them to bed, reading to them, and so on. This morning, we woke to the announcements that the Yonkers schools were closed today with the snowstorm and the NYC public schools were open. So Chris worked from home with the girls and I went to KIPP for the regular day. The girls got into their casual clothes and then carefully wrapped up their bears in sweaters for the ride to KIPP -- Chris kindly drove me as snow driving is not currently in my skill set. :) As we got in the elevator to go downstairs, Fer tenderly kissed Sophia and then let her know that, "Now we're taking Grandma to work!"

I had to laugh, but I don't think I'm quite ready to be Grandma -- I just adjusted to Mami!

Christmas Continues -- MORE presents!!

Though we were so sad not to see Chris's family at Festivus, Wendy and Fer were of course thrilled to receive their Christmas presents during the last week by mail. Grandpa Jack and Grandma Deb added to their American Girl costume collection and also gave them Barnes and Noble gift cards which they were so excited to use. We took them to the bookstore this past weekend so they could pick out what they would like. Wendy got three more horse books that are part of a series she has begun to read, and Fer decided to get three books in a series about fairies, one book for herself, and one each for her friends from school Emily and Hillary. She was so excited to write and draw a card for each of them and put bows on the books as presents -- I had to wonder if she had ever had the means before now to give friends gifts in that way. I would imagine not, actually, and it says a lot about her that she thought of the idea herself and then put so much effort into it.

And tonight we opened the presents from Virginia! The Gosas initiated an iCarly doll and accessory collection complete, amazingly enough, with purple bears that match their American Girl pajamas! The girls immediately brought the bears to dinner wtih them and Wendy told me that she had to "teach" the bears about the apartment. I heard her giving the grand tour, "This is your bedroom and this room is where your mom and dad sleep. Here is the kitchen and bathroom and living room . . ." They did the same thing in Tivoli with their American Girl dolls at Christmas. They truly do enter into the world of play with their dolls and stuffed animals.

Thank you so much to all for your generosity -- the girls just love all the gifts and are so grateful and happy.

Holiday Train Show -- Happy 2011!

We rang in the New Year with our now traditional (two years in a row counts as a tradition, right?) trip to the New York Botanical Garden to see the Holiday Train Show. The Cannings drove in from New Jersey to see the show with us. It really is amazing what can be done with twigs and bark. Somehow the pictures don't do the experience justice.

New Year's Eve 2010

We took the girls to the movies (Yogi Bear) and out to dinner at Santa Fe for New Year's Eve. However, we did NOT learn from our Christmas Eve experience and once again planned too late a night. As we realized when fielding another major meltdown at 8:30 p.m., our girls really do need to go to bed at their usual hour every night, holiday or no. Point taken, lesson learned, and we certainly have one of our New Year's resolutions all set now!