While Mom is Away

Not much is harder than being away from the girls for an extended period of time, and that's just what I had to do last September for a job assignment. I was essentially "loaned out" to the States of Maryland and Vermont to assist in their emergency response efforts following Hurricane Irene, and I was gone for a solid two weeks. I worked 12-hour shifts without even weekends off, and needless to say, given such a schedule, I had little time to check in with Lucas and the girls. I missed them terribly! Ever the man for a challenge, Lucas was, of course, fine with the girls by himself, and on the occasions when we did talk, he filled me in on all of the fun things they were doing: trips to the zoo, outings at the park, even going to Target for new clothes since the weather had gotten cooler. Knowing how stressful my assignment was and how much I missed being home, Lucas took to sending me e-mails with pictures of what the girls were up to. Just everyday stuff, but they always brought a smile to my face, all the more so since Lucas was obviously going for a laugh of two as you can clearly see below... I'm fairly certain that other pictures had clearly been staged in an attempt to make me cry, however, and they very nearly did! Who doesn't want to be reminded that they're loved?? Those two weeks couldn't end soon enough!

At the zoo in those Target specials

One of the fun e-mails I got

Another e-mail. I made this one my laptop wallpaper :-)

The tear jerker!

Sisters

The weather has changed, and we are in one of the two best months Louisiana has to offer (the other being April), so we are trying to make the most of it with lots of time outside. Yesterday, after picking the girls up from school, I threw the French doors to our backyard wide open, served snacks on the patio and enjoyed one of those afternoons I hope I'll remeber for a very long time watching the girls play together. Of course, being super silly is the name of the game these days, so one of the preferred activities was running through the grass, falling down, and then shouting "oh man!". Whichever girl was not busy falling was busy laughing! They took turns playing this game until they had found just about every corner of the yard to fall on and then moved on to other games, always together and always making me think how lucky they are to have one another. At one point they ran towards each other, almost knocking each other over when they hugged and kissed. Emma said, "Mommy, my sister is very, very nice," and I couldn't help but agree :-) Just like I hope I never forget such heart-warming memories, I hope my girlies never forget how much they love and care for each other!

I didn't take any pictures yesterday, but I just love this picture of the girls. It was taken by my brother (who could start his own photography business!) in June.

Fourth of July

Tomorrow is officially the first day of Fall, so it's the perfect time to finally post about... the Fourth of July... If you have not figured out by now, one of my mottos is clearly "better late than never" and that certainly applies to this blog!
 First however, one reader's note: I realized that when reading this, there is no way of distinguishing between the girls' father, whom they call Papa- pronounced the Italian way- and their grandfather, whom they call Papa- pronounced like Papa Smurf... So although, he is never actually referred to as Papa Bill, when I talk about him, I'll refer to my dad as Papa Bill...

It has become a tradition in recent years to spend the Fourth of July in Dallas with my sister and her family, and this year was no exception. Dallas may have been in a record heat wave, but leave it to Papa Bill to ensure that we could enjoy the outdoors by installing a misting system across the patio. Of course, the margaritas we all enjoyed also did their part to keep us cool! The girls, however, preferred to beat the heat in the pool, showing off their newly-acquired swimming skills and splashing around with cousins Liam, Barrett, William and Jonathan. We didn't make it to see the fireworks this year, but we certainly celebrated in style!

Emma, Caroline and Liam enjoy popsicles at the edge of the pool

Splashy Smiles!

The pool's shallow "tanning deck" was the girls' favorite hangout



Papa encourages an apprehensive Emma to swim into deeper waters



Liam, Barrett, Emma and Caroline enjoy No David with Nanny Nonnie



"The Triplets" take a bath



Emma shows off her Fourth of July apparel with Papa Bill

Bathtime Fun

The girls always seem to have a great time in the bathtub and have  been known to request a bath or two even when one is not required. Santa brought them letters and numbers for the bath last Christmas, and this has become a favorite toy. Bubble bath is a close second. Emma and Caroline always request "hats" when Lucas gives them a bubble bath, which basically means that Lucas puts bubbles on top of their heads and tries to make them stand straight up! Of course, as with everything, bathtime is an opportunity for the girls to show some independence, so we've had lots of "I wash my body myself" and "I can do it" hair shampooings lately. As these pictures show, there is almost never anything mundane about this evening ritual.



Think there's enough stuff in there??



Emma loves "floating" in her bath

Caroline and Emma use "stracini" to get clean

When the bath is over, the girls ask to be swaddled in their towels and look at the "baby" in the mirror



Let's not forget to brush our teeth!



The Things We Do

 Things are very busy in the life of a 2 1/2 year old, and when your best friend lives right at home with you, the party never stops! The following pictures show a few of the things that occupy our time these days as we seek to satisfy our curiosity, entertain (and be entertained), learn, and, hopefully, tire ourselves out by 8:00.

We ride our tricycles, even in dresses- because that's what Southern girls do!

We make a bed out of the (non-working) fireplace

We dance and play giro tondo

We dress up like gangsta rappers

We're so cute as gangsta rappers it's worth two pics!

We play with puzzles and other fun toys

And even when we say we're going to help mama fold the laundry, sometimes, we just need a rest!

Movin' On Up

As of the second week of June, the girls transitioned into a new class at their preschool. They said goodbye to Ms. Geneva and are now in Ms. Michelle's class. While we will miss Ms. Geneva terribly, we are happy to be back in the same room as Oliver (Emma's little man) and Caleb (to whom Caroline blows kisses) and to be in a room where there is more focus on potty training. The transition seemed to be fairly easy on the girls, although they will still tell you that Ms. Geneva is their teacher. I guess if that's the worst of their confusion, we're doing alright!

Ms. Michelle

Swimming Lessons

Caroline turning and reaching for the wall

 The girls took two weeks of swimming lessons in mid-June, and although they are not ready to join the Olympic team, we are very pleased with the progress they made in such a short time. They now know how to put their heads under, kick, turn and swim for the wall, and even jump off the diving board. Their teacher, "Miss" Blake always had positive things to say about their attitude and cooperativeness. We would expect nothing less!

Emma emerging from a swim

Caroline swimming across the width of the pool

Caroline jumping off the diving board

Waiting to jump off the diving board