Thursday, February 23, 2012

Welcome to the real world

So.

Sofia, Eleni's godmother (nouna) and Kostas' cousin, invited the girls to the annual Godparents luncheon at their church this weekend. The place was packed, the food was great, and the girls had a blast.




The "under the sea" theme afforded for various hijinx, including:


palm tree waltzing




pirate dinghy riding


and seashore-themed airbrushed tattoo-ing.



(Eleni, Mileah, Gia, Zoe)

There was also a fun raffle, which I thought provided the perfect opportunity to ease my girls into an understanding of the concept of "the odds" and losing gracefully. Every family received a bunch of tickets and had the opportunity to put them into buckets that corresponded with several prizes. After lunch, they began to announce the winners, which is when I carefully explained to Zoe and Eleni that we were almost definitely not going to win anything, but that it was important to be happy (or at least clap and look happy) for those who did. This is an especially difficult lesson to teach to children raised in a time when, in preschool, everyone who participates gets a blue ribbon.



Needless to say, they were not pleased with this concept.



Then, not a minute later, one of our numbers was called and Zoe won a Kindle Fire. Yes, I said a Kindle Fire



Immediately after that, a second one of our numbers was called out and Eleni won a pink big girl bike with silver streamers on the handles. Yup. A bicycle.



Seriously.



Seriously?





Zoe and her Nouna Sofia, laughing at Mommy for thinking they wouldn't win.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Bab's little Valentines

For Valentine's Day, we went to a dance at Smith Park and everyone danced with Baba!



Monday, February 6, 2012

Traveling in style

Not everyone has two personal porters.

That's just how I roll.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Junius Wentworth Peake, 1932 - 2012

Do not follow where the path may lead.

Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jay-Jay, I am so glad you had the chance to meet Eleni and Zoe, and that they had the chance to meet you and to say goodbye.

As they grow, we will tell them stories of your spirit, kindness, humor, and strength of character -- and you will be loved and remembered.




Junius Peake, Early Advocate of Electronic Securities Trading, Dies at 80, by Laurence Arnold, Bloomberg

Electronic Pioneer Gadfly Dies, by Gregory Bresiger, Traders Magazine


Jay Peake, UNC professor and "Wall Street visionary," dies at 80, by Kristen Leigh Painter, The Denver Post

Junius 'Jay' Peake, 80; innovator, expert in financial markets, by Jay Levin, The Record



In Memory Of Junius 'Jay' Peake - A Career On "The Street": From Heretic To Sage, Mondo Visione.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Shake your groove thang

Zoe & Eleni shake their groove things while playing Dance Kids 2 on Kinect (thanks, Nana!)



and a bonus track of Eleni solo:

Monday, January 23, 2012

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year, Katy Perry

Happy New Year 2012! Dance on!