Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas 2009

Wishing you peace, love, joy and inspiration in 2010!

Christmas Card Photos - The Outtakes

It's that time of year again...Christmas photo outtakes.

Getting your Christmas Craft on

I may have one or two little crafters in the making.

The girls joined in the crafting fun at our annual December Book Group cookie-exchange-&-decoration-decorating party.

Their attitudes about the whole thing differed slightly.

"Crafting is serious business. You're interrupting greatness."

"Crafting is a hoot & a half! Let's see how much glue we can use for each rhinestone. Whoopee!"

Something to remember: Just because craft paint dissolves in water today doesn't mean it will come out of that striped shirt in the wash tomorrow.

I have a mental block on the issue of time when it comes to laundry. It is unfortunate.

The little delights of bedtime

Scene: Bedtime, lights out, turtle star light on, mommy in crib lying next to Eleni (the bars at the foot of the crib have been removed since the girls are now 3). Mommy has just finished singing "The fishy song" to Eleni (see previous post).

Eleni: Mommy, will you snuggle me for a few minutes.

Mommy: Sure

*Mommy wraps arm around Eleni*

Eleni: MOMMY, DON'T TOUCH ME!

Mommy: Um, how am I supposed to snuggle you if I can't touch you.

*pause*

Eleni: Well, you can touch my head, you can touch my head.

*Mommy begins gently stroking Eleni's hair*

Eleni: MOMMY, STOP TOUCHING ME!

Mommy: Um, you said I could touch your head.

*pause*

Eleni: You can touch it like this. *demonstrates* But no petting. Don't pet me.

Mommy: Like this? *puts hand gently on head*

Eleni: Yes

Mommy: *muttering* Good grief.

Eleni: MOMMY, STOP TALKING!

Eleni took her first foray into digital photography yesterday.

To my great surprise, I found the results to be mesmerizing...









Zoe & Mommy





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Zoe's mittens








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Mommy






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Trees

Happy Halloween 2009

Z is for Zoe and Zebra.
E is for Elephant and Eleni.

The Marousis House is officially Flu-Free!

For the first time in 11 days, no one in our house has a fever. What joy! What bliss!

It even looks like we will go Trick-or-Treating.

Huzzah!

You know you have the swine flu when...

...you fall asleep in the process of getting out of bed.

Eleni called out that she was on her way to come get a tissue...when she didn't show, I went looking for her. Here's what I found:

Pumpkins with Eleni

Zoe wasn't feeling well, so mommy and Eleni went to the pumpkin farm to meet our godchild, Angelika, and her family -- and left Baba and Zoe at home.

The girls are definitely out of their comfort zone when they're apart, and Eleni barely spoke above a whisper during the hour-long ride there. I got to practice for being an old lady by saying "What? What? Speak up you young whippersnapper!" every three seconds.

She was terribly shy with our friends when we arrived at the pumpkin farm as well.

But she came out of her shell a bit once we got to the pumpkins.

Picking out a pumpkin for Zoe.

Happy Birthday, Bopbop!!!

Eleni & Zoe send birthday wishes to their one and only Bopbop.

Greece 2009: The cousins

Eleni's and Zoe's cousins, Eleni Maria (7) and Dimitris (9), were brimming with excitement for the girls' arrival in Greece.

I was a little worried that the novelty of a couple of 3-year-olds would wear off quickly.

I am pleased to report that I was very, very wrong.

The four of them were inseparable the entire time we were there. Having no cousins myself, it was absolutely delicious to see them all together.

Plus, what stronger incentive to speak Greek than to talk to your cool older cousins?

Greece 2009 -- Jumping in the Deep End

After three years of going no further than an hour's drive with the girls, we thought a great way to introduce them to the concept of vacation would be to take them to Greece for 2.5 weeks.

I believe this is the same philosophy as teaching someone to swim by tossing her in the deep end.

*splash*

There are no direct flights from Chicago to Greece so the trip included four plane rides, and -- miracle of miracle -- there was only one incidence of ear pain (Zoe) on one leg and only for 10 minutes or so. There was, however, a rather dramatic nosebleed upon our arrival back in Chicago, that also led to the discovery that Eleni is not so fond of tight spaces. Or maybe just airplane rest rooms.

In between the two sets of flights was 2.5 weeks of time with Kostas' family and friends -- in Athens, Lirkia (the village where he grew up), and Tolo (resort area a couple hours from Lirkia).

With nonstop family, food and attention -- especially from their cousins Eleni Maria (7) and Dimitris (9), the girls were in 7th heaven.

Among the hundreds of photos I took on the trip, we managed to get one with all four of us, taken in the mountains near Lirkia.

Will post more photos and stories from the trip over the next few days.

Overheard on the kiddie monitor this evening...

...a conversation between Kostas and Zoe.

It was about 15 minutes after lights out and Zoe had just called loudly for "Baba!!!"

Kostas: What's wrong, Zoe?

Zoe: I want milk

Kostas: No milk.

Zoe: *whining* I want it. I waaaant it!

You have water, sweetie. No milk at night; you already brushed your teeth. You can have milk in the morning.

Zoe: *whining louder* But I need it. I neeeeeeeed it. I want miiiiillllk.

Kostas: Well, I want a Porsche. (His usual comeback).

- pause -

Zoe: *considering* What kind of Porsche? A big Porsche?

Kostas: Exactly a big Porsche.

Eleni: *chiming in* A big ORANGE Porsche.

Zoe: A big orange Porsche.

Kostas: OK, goodnight.

Zoe: Blankie Sandwich!

*silence while Kostas presumably gives Zoe a blankie sandwich, aka putting "Blankie" on one side of her face and "Chocolate Blankie" on the other and rubbing gently.

Kostas: *quietly* Kali Nichte. I love you.

*silence as the door closes quietly*

SCAB

It's mid-morning and I am still coming to terms with being a scab, having forcefully crossed a picket line of two door-barring, kiss-witholding toddlers to go to work this morning.

Universal Dance skirts

In my humble opinion, all toddlers should own one of these pettiskirts, which are not only great fun to wear, but also cover all the major dance styles:

Ballroom Dance

Cha-Cha

Modern Interpretive Dance

Square Dancing

Topless Dancing

Can-Can

And, of course, Greek.

Zoo Train

At the Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo, a favorite fair-weather destination for the sushis, there's a little "train" ride for kids.

Now, this "train" is not on a track. It's also for kids only, so I haven't had the Zoo Train experience myself, but it looks remarkably similar to the experience of driving around a small parking lot.

In a circle.

Three or four times.

wheeeee.

That said, I am clearly missing an essential element of this experience, because getting the girls off this thing involved a world-class tantrum on the part of Eleni, culminating in physical extrication by mommy, and followed by a half hour hard-core pout on the part of Zoe.

Here's Zoe in non-violent train extraction protest mode, not participating in family fun and photo shoots.

I know at some point the whole pouting thing will become annoying, but at age almost-three, it's still pretty darned cute.

Hands Up!

I was going for "Let's hear it for a day at the zoo with Thia Mars!", but what I got was more "Come out with your hands up!"

Seriously, nothing beats a day at the zoo with Thia Mars.

Incidentally, the mouth on the "Metropolitan Hippo" on Elen's shirt opens to reveal the pink inside of the mouth and tongue. Seriously cute. Thanks Nana!

The Look

Trust me when I say that you do NOT want to be on the receiving end of this look.

Especially when it's X2.

Swiffer in the Buff

Sometimes, the urge to swiffer can be so strong that one doesn't even have time to get dressed.

Green Thumbs for Little City Girls

Eleni & Zoe started out being a little suspicious about getting dirt all over their hands, but it didn't take long until they were wrist deep in the "garden."

If it were up to them, the "garden" would be watered five times a day.

Tricycles may be self-propelled vehicles...

...but try telling that to my kids.

The best part is Zoe directing Eleni where she wants to go.

"Follow my finger!"

Might as well have been Disneyland

Chuck E Cheese.

Who knew that the key to happiness lied at the door to Chuck E Cheese.

My mom wouldn't even let me near the place when I was a kid...too icky.

But when we got rained out of the playground over the July 4th weekend, I remembered having seen the store front in a local strip mall and convinced that very same mom to grab the wet grandkids and head on over.

What fun.

Yes, they have the worst pizza on earth (and don't even get me started on the "salad bar"). And yes, I probably went an entire family pack of handiwipes. But oh boy did the girls have FUN.

Probably because mom stopped saying "no."

And get this -- every ride, ever game costs 1 token, and one token costs, get this, 25 CENTS! I was queen of the spoilalicious moms. for 10 bucks I got about 800 tokens (OK, more like 45 with the otken bonus, but still...), which meant I was doling them out freely. I've never spent money with such abandon.

SURE you can try gambling game that you'll never win!

Of COURSE you can ride the 3-hourse carousel for the 15th time in the row.

Yes ma'am! Have at it!

Despite all my effort to be a spendthrift, we still left with a handful of tokens, which I tucked into the change drawer in wicked anticipation of "What in tarnation is THIS!" the next time Kostas is looking for a quarter.

Happy Baptism, Alexandra!

Family Portrait

This one tickles me.

If only we had a couple poofy white dogs, I would have a 3' by 5' portrait made to hang over the library fireplace in the country estate.

That mom

When did it happen?

When did I become THAT MOM?

That mother of twins who dresses her little girls in coordinated matching outfits and takes photographs of them outside MidWest cultural institutions with a year's supply of sugar and artificial flavor on a stick?

Want to know a secret?

It's ridiculously fun being that mom.

And as an added bonus, giant lollypops take a whole lot longer to eat than the little ones you can get your mouth around.

NOTE: Yes, I know the shoes don't match. The girls wanted to wear them and I'm a little bit shoe-style-impaired.

Zoe's New Trick

This is Zoe's new trick.

Woe unto you should you fail to acknowledge this feat of toddler derring do with great hoots and hollers of delight.

Trust me. Woe unto you.

Summer at Last

Finally, outdoors with the girls and no snowsuits...it's about time!