Our Anniversary and Farewell Illners

This blog is basically for and about the kids. But Scott and I did celebrate our 6th anniversary last Saturday and were lucky enough to share it with Sonia and Thomas who were here from Germany. They left a day later so it was great to have a "grown up" evening. Miss ya'll! 

Ladies' Day

It's been a long couple of days. Wednesday afternoon I started feeling "not right" and before dinner time I was sick as a dog with a terrible stomach virus. I barely was able to throw them in to bed at 8pm and then pass out. Scott was working late and shortly after midnight I heard a mysterious coughing noise from the girls' bedroom. It was Sydney and now she was sick too. This went on til almost 4:30 in the morning with us cleaning her up over and over-- it was pitiful. Leah was awake through all of this!

By morning we were all delrious though the vomiting had stopped. The girls missed school, and I missed work and a dinner out.
So this morning, well rested and finally nourished again we went to Kindermusik. It is a glorious fall day-- no more than 70 degrees outside. After class we hauled it to Buckhead for a haircut and then lunch over at Johnny Rockets. There were plenty of kids and they got to take home a balloon too. A perfect day for a 2 year old. Now they're out cold while I type this. I'm about to get a few things done for work that I was unable to do yesterday due to recovery.


Leaving Kindermusik

Dress Up-- Wednesday Afternoon

Fun with Foleys

Sydney, Leah & Lyle in their "farm". Otherwise known as the playhouse in the Foley's backyard.

Had a fun afternoon letting them run around then we ordered some pizzas.

Oof, i'm tired. Time for everyone to go to bed! 

A Role Model?

Yesterday my mom asked the girls what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Sydney said: "A Mommy!" How sweet.

Then she follwed it up with "So I can go to work and take a shower!"

Well, I suppose that's better than nothing. I'm definately not a role model in the kitchen. I attempted to roast a chicken for dinner. A relatively simple meal really. Admitedly I was distracted. Lucy and Lyle came to visit and we were watching three toddlers as I discussed the best way to season the chicken.

Finally after about an hour and a half I took my roasted bird out of the oven and tried to carve it. Strangely there was very little meat where the breast should be. It smelled good, the skin was cooked to perfection and the meat I pulled off the wings/legs was fabulous. But where was the rest?

Suddenly it occured to me to flip the bird over. There was the missing meat-- pink, with a yellow skin. Flavorless and possibly deadly and undercooked. I tried putting it back in the oven several times and basting it to get it back up to speed.

Now it was nearly two hours after I started cooking, the kids were melting down and Scott had walked in the door.

We quickly declared it a minor disaster, I popped chicken nuggets in the microwave and then I ran to the Mediterranian place for take-out.

I never claimed to be a domestic goddess! Before we threw it in the trash we did pick off most of the edible meat. It really was delicious. Sigh.

Little Mermaid Update

When I posted about the Little Mermaid last week I neglected to include a link to the site about the DVD re-release (Thanks Mike!)

Click above-- turns out it doesn't come out until next week! It's going to be a must buy for us. Perhaps before we hit the road next week.

L'Shanah Tovah Ya'll

In other words, best wishes for a sweet new year! We celebrated this weekend by attending services with the Kotler-Weiss family at Shearith Israel. The girls were entrhalled with the childcare at the on-site preschool. It was well organized and they had a blast. When services were over we walked up to Doc Chey's for lunch then headed home to rest. Later that evening we joined the Rose's for a wonderful dinner with their friends and family.

After all that fun we simply bummed around Sunday, "just relaxing" as the girls like to say. Thanks to a tip from the Foley's we did discover Los Hermanos in Tucker. Hello-- how have we missed this place?????

TKCG @ the KP Corporate Challenge

A few pics of Team TKCG from tonight's Kaiser Permanente Corporate Challenge.

Congrats to all the runners and walkers.

And of course, those of us who bravely manned the tent :)

See ya'll next year!

 









 

It's OVER!!!!

Back in February the girls saw their first ever movie in a theatre: "Curious George." It was the perfect entree to seeing movies, a short, animated family flick, based on a classic book with virtually nothing scary whatsoever. In fact, the previews were the worst part with the fast, jump-cut edits and blasting sound. We almost didn't make it past the previews but once the lights dimmed and the Jack Johnson soundtrack kicked in, they were mesmerized for the next 85 minutes.

What I didn't anticipate was the ending. As soon as the final scene faded out, I looked over at Sydney who had tears welling in her eyes. She then let out a wail "It's ooooovveeerrrr!" and began to sob uncontrollably. This went on as we left the theatre and she became boneless, as toddlers do to the point where i had to scoop her up and carry her to the car. The post-morteum over dinner was the same. If anyone asked her how the movie was, the tears came back up along with the cry of "it's over!"

I'm not sure what this stems from. Perhaps they think once something is over you can never have it again. And this reaction seems to be limited to movies. The average, 25 minute kids show does not elicit the same reaction.

Lately they've seen some commercials for the DVD re-release of "The Little Mermaid." The mere sight of her gets them worked up in to a frenzy. So I decided to whip out my 15 year old VHS tape and do a little screening. As I expected they loved all the adorable things about the movie, and were scared s**itless by Ursula the sea witch.

They were ear to ear grins when King Triton turns Aeriel back in to a human ("like me!!") and she marries Prince Eric. But as the final chorus was sung, I saw Sydney's lower lip stick out a bit and before you knew it they were both crying their eyes out! The same reaction... "it's over!"

I guess we'll let it ride. I suppose it means they really enjoy it and just hate to see it go away.

I know they loved the movie though because late last night when Scott went to kiss them goodnight I heard Leah say softly "Daddy-- I saw the Little Mermaid!" and went right back to sleep.

Potty Time, Again

Sydney woke up dry today and did her bit on the potty again. Leah, did her cheerleader routine: “YAY SISSY!”

The whole process takes like 10 minutes for her to relax enough to go, but when finished Sydney proclaims “I PROUD!”

More fun this weekend

Friday night we went to Shearith Israel for their monthly "Tot Shabbat" services. Really it was kindermusik with a Rabbi, at least in this non-Jewish girl's opinion. Of course the girls had a blast and enjoyed the lesson afterwards about Rosh Hashanah by sorta kinda learning the words for apple, honey, etc.










Saturday night was the Zoo's member night and it was total chaos. We met up with Ellis, Ginny and Alison, and the Foleys AND the Illners at Zocolo Taqueria. Thank goodness all the patrons were zoo goers with small children because we had created quite the circus. The event itself was out of control busy but nothing phases the kids. We did get to see the gorilla feeding, including the adorable twin baby gorillas. All the animals were quite active that time of night.
Our little birds in the nest

Busy Days

We've been keeping pretty busy lately.... the girls have really enjoyed having Sonia and Emmie around.

Last Wednesday there was a Tucker Mom's Club playgroup at Lucy's House. The weather was just barely rainy but the ladies used this as an opportunity to don their entire rain ensemble, including jackets, boots and umbrellas.

Sonia and the ladies chill out to the perennial favorite: "The Sound of Music" 

MOOOO!

Today Scott, Leah, Emmie, Sonia and Thomas went to Cagle's Dairy for a tour. Poor Sydney has a yucky cold and I stayed home with her. Of course after her medicine kicked in she said "I'm better now- let's go!" Too late. Here are a few pics that Scott took. They rode a hay ride, saw the baby cows get fed a bottle, watched a pig race and Leah rode a pony!

This is Leah's pony named "Hot Dog."

This Little Piggy....

So perhaps we've been shopping a bit too much lately. But the sales for kids fall clothes are fabulous---I can't resist.

Tonight the message was loud and clear though as Leah grabbed my foot and said:

"This little piggy went to TARGET. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy also went to Target!"

I Must Announce

That this morning, Ms. Sydney Elizabeth Shankman did a pee pee on the potty. HALLELUHIAH!!! Perhaps this isn't appropriate blog content but I must share.

She woke up dry and I took her to the bathroom. She didn’t protest. She sat down and immediately said “I’m done!” and I said, let’s just sit here a minute. When it happened she was SO HAPPY saying “I did it, I did it!!!” and she asked to wear a pull up to school. Leah brought her a pair of underwear and said “you can do it sissy! You a big kid now!”

No idea if this was a one time deal but it's better than her usual protests saying she "can't" and she's "not a big kid yet" and that she "likes diapers."

Dance Class!

For three months every day has involved the question of "today we go to ballet class?" To which I've had to say "no--- in September!"

  

Finally-- we started yesterday. At the bottom of this post are are two very brief videos of them walking in to the dance studio and also right after they put on their tap shoes. The parents had to sit in the lobby so we didn't really get to watch. There was a minor incident, Leah and another girl named Sydney (funny) ran in to eachother and Leah has a bit of a shiner under her eye. Nice souvenier.

  


I could hear the music and all the fun they were having even though we weren't able to watch. The teacher said after 3 or 4 weeks we won't have to stay. Although they're always going ot need help putting on their tap shoes so I sense we'll be around. It's a good time to catch up on reading I suppose.

Happy Birthday Pop Pop

The girls celebrated PopPop's birthday Friday at the Georgia Aquarium. Neither my mom or dad had been there before and it was great experience to go on a weekday-- totally different than previous visits on crazy Saturday mornings. We were able to walk right up to every exhibit and there were never more than a few people at each area. We spent over four hours exploring and we were all exhausted by the time we headed out. It seems each visit the girls get a little bit more out of it. This time they walked indepenently (no strollers!) and just took it all in. Lots of potty breaks and snacks kep them going.

Saturday we got to catch up with Sonia and Emmie who are here for a visit from Germany. I feel really lucky that the girls are able to see them again. Sonia and I did some serious retail therapy yesterday along with much overdue manis and pedis. We've got a lot planned with them over the next few weeks including a visit to Cagle's Dairy next weekend.