Fabulous Farmor

Farmor is the Swedish word for Father's mother, a title we share lovingly for Helene who lives in Lexington, Kentucky. While they haven't met face to face just yet, there's plenty of love already as we share a morning coffee and let Stella coo at the screen.

Stella - 3 months old

How the time flies when you have two kids. Just when it seems like you're getting a grasp on things, they turn from newborns into babies and toddlers into kids.

Stella is simply an adorable little creature if I may say so myself. She coos for mommy and daddy. Her eyes light up at the sight of her big sister who relishes in being able to help us with Stella. She stares joyously at her grandmas in the FaceTime video chats. She loves being swayed in the arms of her aunties. Warm showers. house tours (where we tell her all about things as she stares in awe) and being nestled alongside her family day and night. She's spoiled for affection these days and we're so happy how lovely little Stella is progressing.

Sisters

Found her smile

Aunt Mimi

Aunt Julie

Good little conference call attendee

Chats with Farmor

Bocce Court

We have a little mulch spot next to the house that wasn't much to look at and decided why not turn it into a fun spot we can spend some evenings playing one of our favorite games, Bocce, the italian leisure sport. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we had the wood and gravel delivered and with the help of our friends Joe Tocci, Travis Jones, Dave Goreau, we cleared the mulch, leveled the dirt and built a court frame to dump the gravel. Astrid was eager to help as well, scooping little piles of mulch and leaves into a bucket we gave her. The "boys" assembled the frame and nailed it down with rebar with the help of some heavy hitters, Joe and Dave, who hit heavy things for a living (blacksmith and carpenter). After the frame was built, we shoveled gravel for days and rented a compactor to smooth it out. Another layer of deconstructed granite atop the gravel and then a layer of oyster shell flour for the finishing touch. It's an extremely short court by Bocce standards, but it's still a challenge and going to be kiddie friendly for years to come. 

The Before

Astrid hard at work

Frame assembly

Our driveway was a gravel and granite pile for a few days. Astrid loved making little piles in the corners one scoop at a time.

The deconstructed granite after compacting

The final court of play

Jen treated us to a fantastic steak and potatoes lunch for our hard work.

Friendsgiving 2017

What has become a yearly tradition for Julie & Michelle and recently for myself, our "Friendsgiving" is one that includes the friends that feel like family. We have Alaine & Ian with their two wonderful daughters who are Zoe & Athena's age, fabulous Miss Jeffrie who is like a sister to Michelle, David Chris' brother from Los Angeles, two new additions in Travis & Joe who are good friends of mine who spent part of the summer with us in Paros, Greece.

Then there are the usual suspects of Chris & Julie and their three wonderful kids, Michelle, Jen and I with the latest additions to the family, Astrid & Stella. Toss in a couple of dogs, boxes of wine and more food than counter space, it all adds up to a fabulous long weekend of games, laughs and celebrations.

Recreating a Thanksgiving pic 9 years later

Julie barely put Stella down

Astrid rolling with the big kids

Kickball in the nearby park

Lots of big kid sitters in the house

Astrid was willing to do whatever the big kids wanted. Eager to impress

There was the hide in the closet game and some scenester pouting.

Breaking in the new car with so much room for more kids!

David getting a little baby training

Halloween 2017

Quite possibly my favorite holiday of all time. Halloween is a youthful celebration of festivities, costumes, and family. It's a chance to let your inner creativity shine and have tons of fun in the process. I couldn't wait to get Astrid involved and celebrate with the family. While she wanted to wear just about everything in the costume aisle, we settled on a daddy/daughter costume of Monkey & Banana. Astrid has always been our little "monkey" and we found the perfect costume for her.

We helped decorate Julie's house with cobwebs, a friendly door guest =, pumpkins and lots of floating ghouls.

She was giddy with excitement chasing her big cousins around Elk Grove trick or treating at all the houses until she was exhausted from the walking. I would carry her in the stretches between houses, but she was determined to collect her candy herself with the guidance of Athena, Zoe and Jack. The look on her face as she got each piece of candy was magical. Earlier in the week, we participated in a walk with her daycare to the local transportation office that passed candy out between cubicles, the perfect walking distance for little legs. Astrid loved opening her bag and receiving goodies from all the kind strangers.