Welcome to Polina and Michelle

Sam and I put together a homemade Welcome sign for Polina and Michelle today. Sam is great with his letters and wrote them all by himself and then decided to design them with different themes: stickers, tongue depressors, buttons, pipe cleaners and paint. It was a nice activity. It is 8 PM and we (Mike and I, the boys are fast asleep) are still awaiting their arrival, their plane has been delayed by over 2 hours! Can't wait to see them!

Tyler the EMT

Here is Tyler enjoying the lights and sirens in an ambulance at the Childrens Museum. He quickly was able to navigate all of the buttons inside, we think he has promise for a future career as an EMT, or at least an ambulance driver.

Cold Day in December

Well, we had to bust out our winter gear today, it was a cold one. I took the boys for a 'pajama' run this AM (they were wearing their PJs) and layered them up under 4 blankets. Let's just say we were the only crazies out this AM, but the boys love looking at all of the holiday decorations and I thought this AM would be the prime time for viewing. The sun had not come up yet at 7 when we headed out, so it was even better. When they returned, we played some ball in the yard (after changing out of their pajamas).

Warm Day in December

Last weekend was unseasonably warm here in San Antonio. Not to make all of you cold weather folks jealous, but it was about 60 and sunny. We enjoyed playing basketball and soccer with our neighbors, playing on the playground and Sam even got a chance to walk a very docile pug, named Otto.

Chanukah Cookies and the Menorah

The boys love sweets (definitely my children)! We enjoyed some Chanukah cookies that our neighbor, Christina, so nicely bought for us. Then we enjoyed some candle lighting. By the eigth night, Sam was truly a pro at candle lighting and blessing singing. Hopefully next year, Tyler will be lighting his candles on his own as well.

Hassids on the River

We went to the Chanukah on the River festival during the week of Chanukah. It was great to have the entire family there. Followers of the blog will remember that last year, Polina was in town and Mike was in Iraq for the celebration. Let's just say this Chanukah was really wonderful. Tyler and Sam both enjoyed doing the horah on the Riverwalk, although I was a bit nervous that they were getting a bit too close to the edge at times. But luckily, everyone stayed dry.

Gingerbread Cookies

Sam, Mike and Tyler spent a Christmas Eve morning at the New Braunfels Childrens Museum. And when they asked for volunteers to decorate the gingerbread cookies, you can bet all three were the first ones there! It was hard to keep them focused on the task with all the goodies in front of them, but they left with their cookies still intact (and they have yet to remember to ask for them now at home...).

Does the Dinosaur Bite?

Jon and Alysha gave Sam a great Chanukah present. Here is Sam both intrigued and very afraid of his new dinosaur. Sam has slowly warmed up to him and Tyler laughs every time the dinosaur tries to clench on his outstretched hand. Thanks for the gift, Jon and Alysha!

Chanukah Show

Here is Sam and his Green Bird classmates singing and dancing to "Eight Days of Chanukah". As you can see, Sam is really having a blast.

Butterfly: Dead or Alive

Here Tyler finds a butterfly, clearly on its last legs, and Tyler astutely states: "Butterfly, all done". Then Mike comes by and says (in Russian), "Is the butterfly living?" Well, not long after, Tyler grabs the noodle and proceeds to try to kill the butterfly! That's my boy, ugh!

Sam and Tyler at the Chanukah show

Sam was a big helper at the show, always watching out for his little brother and making sure that he did not escape onto the bimah (which he did once or twice). Tyler loves to dance.

Chanukah Program

Sam's preschool put on a lovely Chanukah program. Sam's class sang and danced to "Eight Days of Chanukah". It is amazing to see Sam really come into his own during these events, this is his 3rd year and I can distinctly remember Sam crying in my arms during his first Chanukah show when he had just turned 2.

Everyone on the Slide

Everyone really had a blast at the park: gorgeous day, fun crowd, pinatas, great slides and lots of laughs.

More Pictures from Thanksgiving

Here is another storytime with Gema, this time Tyler joined in, for a moment. I included a nice picture of Joc and Steve enjoying a quiet moment at the park. Here you can see Sam and I and then Sam alone in deep thought watching a pinata come apart at a nearby birthday party. I think he was really thinking about how he could score some candy...and he did.

Fun at the Zoo

After feeding the ducks, we visited the zoo and spent time seeing the flamingos, bears, leopards and hippos. The boys had a ball posing on the lions and on the dragon (although Tyler had trouble staying on the dragon...not sure if Sam pushing him was the cause or not...). The first shot is Sam and Gema spending some quality storytime together before she departed back to Boston. Come again, Gema and Grandpa!

Feeding the Ducks

On Friday, Joc, Steve, Ben, Mike and I and the boys went down to Breckenridge Park and fed the ducks. Many of these were not your ordinary ducks, as you can see from these pictures. We all agreed that Texas ducks are vastly different from the Mallards that we are most used to...only in Texas.