Candles are burning low. . .

On the 1st night of Hanukkah we lit candles and sang songs at home. (Leila knows the blessing by heart now we are impressed)

On the 2nd night of Hanukkah Dmitry came to visit. The kids were excited to have a new face around.

On the 3rd night of Hanukkah, we had dinner with Papa Lou and Grandma Elaine. As Leila likes to say "Your not supposed to say yum, but yum." (this is actually a quote from the movie Julia and Julia.)

On the 4th night of Hanukkah Grandma Gail made us latkah. Charlie can climb to the top of the steps with only a little assist, wow!

On the 5th day of Hanukkah we had some college friends of Josh and Dmitry over for lunch. We had Alex and Angie over to light candles with us in the evening. Leila picked the color candles so they were blue and red the components of her favorite color, purple.

Josh keeps walking around the house singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" because Charlie to getting his this weekend!

On the 6th day of Hanukkah (which coincidentally was also Christmas day this year) we went to the JCC to play. (where else would we go, bowling?). We watched the movie Ice Age which featured L's favorite topic of the month, hot lava! (Mom- L don't get too near the stove it is hot L- d you know what else it hot? Hot lava! It will come out of a volcano if you stand too close, so don't go near a volcano unless it is dead)

On the 7th day of Hanukkah Shevah has off of work. We plan to relax during the day and go to Elaine's family Christmas party in the afternoon.

On the 8th day of Hanukkah we will be seeing Uncle Ben and Aunt Kiera for more latkahs at Grandma Gails. (Thank you for the pjs for C and Hello kitty stuff for L. They were both thrilled with the gifts; well Charlie is thrilled with the wrapping paper but we will take it)

Happy Hanukah!

Charlie is enjoying his first Hanukah so far! Leila also loves basking in attention, and unwrapping presents. She helped teach her class a Hanukah song and even made up a little dance. Here are some pics:

Thanksgiving 2011

See my two teeth!





Turns out CHF likes vanilla ice cream









The leaf collecting trucks were coming down the road so we rushed to push leaves to the curb. While the 2 people in the picture may not have done the most work, they both look cute holding rakes.



Jumping in the leaves!





Just because Halloween is over does not mean you cannot dress like a princess! It has been warm here but Charlie wanted to try on his new cute hat!

My 2 front teeth!

Charlie now has 2 teeth on the bottom front! He already eat everything in sight so this will only help.

We are looking forward to Thanksgivign break next week! More details soon.

Movin Right Along

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Now playing: Erich Kunzel - Muppet Show Themes/Movin' Right Along
via FoxyTunes

Remember, remember the 5th of November

(well close enough).

October has been a busy month. Charlie is now crawling, pulling up to standing and cruising along the furniture a little. He really wants to play with his big sister who is less than thrilled. Leila went to the circus for the first time recently. Some quotes of the month "Charlie is a bread stick," "I've been really smart since I was 2" (not humble this one) and "I'm nutty" (this is a song lyric by Casper Babypants so technically does not count as a L quote but is very fitting.)

We have been on a kick of watching Disney movies. I said one time "bad guys always fall off of high places in Disney movies" and now L won't believe its a Disney movie unless the bad guy falls off something.

Here is L showing off her new haircut, and CHF dressed up to get his picture taken. (have to thank my boss for all the spiffy duds).







We went to a hallloween event at the zoo and then enjoyed a really nice clear crisp night of trick-or-treating. L really enjoys candy this year. Her favorite are gummy things, lollipops and nerds. L was Cinderella and CHF was a ladybug. (look on the blog back a few years and you can see L in this costume). We also carved 2 punkins. The one pictured here was the scary one, we also made one with a smile.

Scarecrows

A fun day at the Scarecrow festival. Leila got her face painted, rode a pony, and climbed on the fire trucks. We went on a boat ride on the canal (a first for both kids); they ran a special 1.5 hour cruise which was just the right amount of time.















Around the house with some balls:

Apples, Apples up on top

Uncle Michael came to visit and we went to the apple farm. Highlight for Leila was picking the higher apples up on shoulders. Highlight for Charlie was looking at a bee hive under glass.

Crawlng!

Charlie started crawling last Thursday! Speedy Gonzolas he is not but he can defenitely go forward and reach things. We are hearing from Leila "Don't Touch That" "He can't have that right" "Thats mine." Fun times. Here is some video evidence.

Happy 4th Birthday Leila!

L had her first professional haircut at the appropriately named Haircuts for Peanuts. She was good about it and even let them put a ribbon in her hair.

End of Summer

I made the mistake of saying in front of Leila that I was sad that summer was ending and now she goes around saying "You know what is sad about my birthday, it is at the end of summer." Other favorite sayings at the moment are "can you even believe it" and "Charlie don't eat that." We are all happy to be celebrating L's 4th birthday this week. More on this next week, but for now some pics from our recent adventures.

L trying out her new bike and Charlie (7 months) smiling.





At the Renaissance fair in Sterling, NY. We went on some rides, took part in a sword fight and a pirate sing a long and Josh had his fill of a turkey leg.







At Seabreeze amusement park. Josh took her on all the spinning rides and I took her on the water rides. She loves rollercoasters (Josh and L are waving in the front on the white bodsled and by the pine tree on beartracks) they were her favorite; but she was scared when we went on the lazy river in an inner tube. go figure.