Below is Baby A, a.k.a. Ivan. He's kind of hard to see at first, he's lying on his side looking at the camera. The two circles are his eyes, the top of his head is toward the right.
And Baby B, whose current nom de guerre is Alyosha.
22 May 2010
two brothers
Last time I saw these guys on the ultrasound, they looked like round globs. Now they're starting to look more like babies. Pretty exciting!
Below is Baby A, a.k.a. Ivan. He's kind of hard to see at first, he's lying on his side looking at the camera. The two circles are his eyes, the top of his head is toward the right.
And Baby B, whose current nom de guerre is Alyosha.
Below is Baby A, a.k.a. Ivan. He's kind of hard to see at first, he's lying on his side looking at the camera. The two circles are his eyes, the top of his head is toward the right.
And Baby B, whose current nom de guerre is Alyosha.
16 May 2010
this weekend: the dyer chilluns
We had the honor of hosting Hannah and Jane Dyer for the last couple days. They are great friends to Ellie and Nico, so they lost no time in having all kinds of fun.
For example, while Ami planted tomatoes...
... the kids entertained themselves for quite some time on this mound.
They experimented with every conceivable means of sliding down the hill, usually accompanied by uproarious laughter.
After a long day of sliding down hills, it's tough to beat Tina's Italian Ices (and other frozen desserts). We joined forces with the Riches on this one.
In addition to a bazillion kinds of italian ice, they also offer soft-serve ice cream in about 20 flavors. Delicious! Everyone should do that.
Thanks for coming out, little Dyeries!
For example, while Ami planted tomatoes...
... the kids entertained themselves for quite some time on this mound.
They experimented with every conceivable means of sliding down the hill, usually accompanied by uproarious laughter.
After a long day of sliding down hills, it's tough to beat Tina's Italian Ices (and other frozen desserts). We joined forces with the Riches on this one.
In addition to a bazillion kinds of italian ice, they also offer soft-serve ice cream in about 20 flavors. Delicious! Everyone should do that.
Thanks for coming out, little Dyeries!
14 May 2010
miscellaneous
It's been busy at the Harts lately. Here is a small selection of the more interesting bits.
Ellie had her "friends party" recently, after various circumstances forced a delay.
There were party games...
They painted flowerpots, then planted them with annuals.
Who wants cake (brownies) and ice cream?
note: Nico wanted cake and ice cream too, but refused to participate in such an insulting poll.
They all had a great time. Ellie had the interesting idea of asking her guests to bring books to donate to African schools instead of presents. That's our idealist daughter. Of course, now we have to ship these books to Africa (or at least the company in South Carolina who passes them on).
And then we had Mother's Day. Pretty low-key this time, but oh yes, there were presents.
The inevitable kitchen items...
Gardening hat, picked out semi-democratically by the three of us. (Nico's first choice was vetoed, for reasons you can probably imagine. Alas, no picture).
In other news, we are often visited by a practically tame raccoon. When I shouted at it one night to vacate the premises, it turned and climbed slowly, dutifully as it were, up an adjacent tree -- as if it just happened to want to climb that tree just then, nothing to do with me. And there it sat, with a baleful glare. Harriet the cat stopped by to see what was going on and we all three stared at each other for a little while. I recited a few lines of "Rocky Raccoon," to no effect. There was nothing more we could say to each other, so I gave up after snapping this photo.
And our final news item: For the past week, Ami has been in DC pursuing a legal career (I will leave it to her to explain this, along with the timing, in a subsequent post). The childcare has been charged to a joint venture between myself and our endlessly patient friends Monica and Minna. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with the kids -- it's been awhile. The experience has come complete with Daddy-centric dinners:
Yes, they are fish sticks, and no, I am not ashamed. Much. Ellie was scandalized and after trying a piece of one, opted for cold cereal. Nico and I polished them off with tartar sauce. Ami comes back today, and we are all more than fine with that!
Ellie had her "friends party" recently, after various circumstances forced a delay.
There were party games...
They painted flowerpots, then planted them with annuals.
Who wants cake (brownies) and ice cream?
note: Nico wanted cake and ice cream too, but refused to participate in such an insulting poll.
They all had a great time. Ellie had the interesting idea of asking her guests to bring books to donate to African schools instead of presents. That's our idealist daughter. Of course, now we have to ship these books to Africa (or at least the company in South Carolina who passes them on).
And then we had Mother's Day. Pretty low-key this time, but oh yes, there were presents.
The inevitable kitchen items...
Gardening hat, picked out semi-democratically by the three of us. (Nico's first choice was vetoed, for reasons you can probably imagine. Alas, no picture).
In other news, we are often visited by a practically tame raccoon. When I shouted at it one night to vacate the premises, it turned and climbed slowly, dutifully as it were, up an adjacent tree -- as if it just happened to want to climb that tree just then, nothing to do with me. And there it sat, with a baleful glare. Harriet the cat stopped by to see what was going on and we all three stared at each other for a little while. I recited a few lines of "Rocky Raccoon," to no effect. There was nothing more we could say to each other, so I gave up after snapping this photo.
And our final news item: For the past week, Ami has been in DC pursuing a legal career (I will leave it to her to explain this, along with the timing, in a subsequent post). The childcare has been charged to a joint venture between myself and our endlessly patient friends Monica and Minna. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with the kids -- it's been awhile. The experience has come complete with Daddy-centric dinners:
Yes, they are fish sticks, and no, I am not ashamed. Much. Ellie was scandalized and after trying a piece of one, opted for cold cereal. Nico and I polished them off with tartar sauce. Ami comes back today, and we are all more than fine with that!
05 May 2010
22 April 2010
18 April 2010
Ellie turned 7!!
Yay for Ellie! She is one cool, ebullient, joyful, wonderful little girl. And she is delighted to be 7!
Ellie's school doesn't allow food on birthdays, which I find rather irksome, but we made an afternoon of it in her class anyway. Nico and I got to visit her class where I read Who's Got the Apple by Jan Loof. It was an old favorite from Alex's childhood and has become a favorite of ours as well. After that, Ellie and her classmates made apples out of paper plates and construction paper. All in all, a good visit.
After waiting "forever" for Alex to get home, we had a delightful dinner of Beef Stroganoff and Green Beans (Ellie's choice). For dessert we had brownies and chocolate chip cookies as Ellie does not like cake. She requested the very center brownie; obviously she knows the finer points of brownies.
Finally, Ellie got to open her presents, and let me just say, it was so fun to watch. Ellie is super expressive on an average day, but she outdid herself when opening gifts. You'll just have to see for yourselves...
Happy Birthday Ellie!!! We are so glad you're here!
Ellie's school doesn't allow food on birthdays, which I find rather irksome, but we made an afternoon of it in her class anyway. Nico and I got to visit her class where I read Who's Got the Apple by Jan Loof. It was an old favorite from Alex's childhood and has become a favorite of ours as well. After that, Ellie and her classmates made apples out of paper plates and construction paper. All in all, a good visit.
After waiting "forever" for Alex to get home, we had a delightful dinner of Beef Stroganoff and Green Beans (Ellie's choice). For dessert we had brownies and chocolate chip cookies as Ellie does not like cake. She requested the very center brownie; obviously she knows the finer points of brownies.
Finally, Ellie got to open her presents, and let me just say, it was so fun to watch. Ellie is super expressive on an average day, but she outdid herself when opening gifts. You'll just have to see for yourselves...
Happy Birthday Ellie!!! We are so glad you're here!
Easter
Easter turned out to be tumultuously fun this year, rather than the peaceful fun we had anticipated. Initially we planned on having our great friends, the Dyers out for a day of General Conference, an Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Dinner. All those things still took place, but we were joined our other great friends, the Bates, and their friends the ...??? (Darn! I can't remember their last name.). Anyway, we ended up with a house full of good friends, good food, LOTS of candy, and kids a plenty... all while "attempting" to listen to 4 hours of conference. Needless to say, I'll be checking out the Ensign this month to see what I missed.
Nico eyeing the Peeps and Ellie checking out the spoils of her Easter Bucket.
Keeping at least some of the kids busy (and reasonably quiet) during General Conference.
Ellie found the Big Egg on the hunt.
Nico and Jane on the hunt.
Minna's attempt to get all the kids in one shoot... we lost a few, but you can check out the final product here.
Thanks Dyers and Bates for making this a wonderful Easter!!
Nico eyeing the Peeps and Ellie checking out the spoils of her Easter Bucket.
Keeping at least some of the kids busy (and reasonably quiet) during General Conference.
Ellie found the Big Egg on the hunt.
Nico and Jane on the hunt.
Minna's attempt to get all the kids in one shoot... we lost a few, but you can check out the final product here.Thanks Dyers and Bates for making this a wonderful Easter!!
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