The New Holland Fair

On Friday 10/1/10 we went back to the New Holland Fair.

First we hit the Merry Go Round:

Then Xia had some fun riding the motorcycles:



Then we watched the heckler get dunked in the dunking game. He cracked us up but sure deserved the dunking!

Isa is Eighteen Months Old

On Thursday 9/30/10 I turned 18 months old - yep, that's 1 and 1/2 years old! I am now 33 inches long = 85th% and I weigh 19lbs 6oz = 3rd%.

Use the links below to see how I've grown by clicking on the number of months...

17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, birth.

We Give Great Back Massages

Mommy gets great back massages when we walk on her back. Of course there are risks like knees to the back of the head or choking when we end up around her neck, but it seems to be worth it. Here we are on Thurday 9/30/10 loosening up her tight muscles:

Xia is Learning Ballet and Tap

Hi, Xia here. I started Ballet and Tap lessons in September. Here are some videos of my class taken on Thursday 9/23/10. I'm really enjoying it!

First, some tapping and hopping; I'm wearing black:



Then we reach up and get on our tippie toes:



Now for some ballet; time to "sharpen our pencils" (that means point our toes and swivel them back and forth to "sharpen" them):

But the best part is the free style dancing at the end of class. Even Isa joins in:

More Milk Antics

On Tuesday night 9/21/10 we got silly with milk... once again!

Toad Comes to the Manheim Township Public Library

Hey, it's Xia again. I just LOVE the Frog and Toad books, don't you? Well, lucky for me, on Tuesday 9/21/10 Toad came to our library! Frog couldn't make it, but that's okay.

Here I am at the end of the exciting program. Can you tell form my applause that I REALLY enjoyed it?:



Then I got up close and personal getting ready for some photos:



Can you find me and Isa in the crowd?

Getting there...

Not sure about this...

Okay, this is cool!

Isn't he sweet?

After that, it was time for some computer games:

Isa wanted a turn:

I think she's a little small for the headphones!

Isa decides to do a little coloring before we leave. Hope Toad comes back again and brings Frog with him!!

Thomas comes to Strasburg Railroad

Xia here. We had a blast on Sunday 9/19/10 seeing Thomas the Tank Engine at the Strasburg Railroad!

Here I am WAITING to see him:

Oh my gosh! He's coming:

He's getting closer:

Look Mommy and Isa, he's here!:

Look at all that smoke!



After all of the Thomas excitement, I had fun riding some little rides too! What a great day!

Tickle Me Isa

Nobody laughs better than me when being tickled; hmmm, except maybe Xia. Here I am on Saturday 9/18/10 getting a good tickling from Daddy:

Turning Tissues Into Snow

Isa here. I warn you DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT leave me alone with a tissue. If you do, there will be a lot of snow, because I literally turn tissues into snow. See, here i am on Monday 9/13/10 demonstrating this talent:



And here's a picture taken of me on Saturday 9/18/10 as further proof:

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Isa Loves Her Groovin' Table of Fun

I love to dance to this toy table I have with lights and a phone and frogs that light up and sing. It's awesome! I just love to put my whole body into it. Here are some videos proving just that taken Saturday 9/11/10 and Sunday 9/12/10. Don't you wish that you too could spend your weekends getting down with your funky self?

Oh We Like Milk!

Say that title to the tune of "All We Like Sheep" from Handel's "Messiah". Why? Just because. Here we are on Thursday night 9/9/10 enjoying our milk!

You want some?

Tigger and Cake Pans

Xia here. On Wed 9/8/10, Isa and I were guarding Tigger who was hanging around. Don't even THINK of moving him from the fire place door handle! Can't you see how serious we are about this?

Okay, I can relax now, Mommy says Tigger can hang around as long as he likes:

Later that evening, Isa and I got into the cake pans. Boy, they are a TON of fun and VERY slippery!

Isa on a Sunday

Here I am dressed up on Sunday 9/5/10:

And later that day I enjoyed some more of Daddy's so bad it's good music. Oh yes, that IS the theme to The Greatest American Hero that you hear, but it's not the original version; it's a pitiful cover that sounds like a bad Frank Sinatra:

Xia is Forty Four Months Old

On Sunday 9/5/10 I turned 44 months old. I'm a far cry from this. I definitely know my alphabet and can count to 20. I also 'read' books to people, though it's mostly from memorization. And boy can I hold my own in any conversation. I'll pretty much talk anyone's ear off who is willing to listen!

Use the links below to see how I've grown by clicking on the number of months...

43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, birth.

Isa Loves Blueberries

So, you may have thought that only Xia loves blueberries. Well, you though wrong! Just look at me on Wednesday 9/1/10.

Mmmmmm, blueberries:

Here, want one?

Isa is Seventeen Months Old

Hey there! On Monday 8/30/10 I turned seventeen months old. Deal with it!

St. Mary's Block Party

We didn't get many photos this year at St. Mary's Block Party on Sunday 8/29/10 like we did in past years. It's always a great time singing for the neighbors of our church. So here's the one photo from the evening. A great picture of Xia's face painting:

Just another Saturday

Isa here again. I love to help Mommy unpack the groceries. Here I am on Saturday 8/28/10 doing just that. Hmmm, where should I start?:

I think I can get this box...

And what was Xia doing while I did all of the hard work of unpacking? Just playing with her "friends" (what we call stuffed animals around here):

Elizabethtown Fair

Isa here. On Friday 8/27/10 we met up with the Volpes at the Elizabethtown Fair for some fun.

First we went to the petting zoo area. Here's Xia with a baby bunny:

And here I am petting a goat:

Here's a video of Xia and I petting the animals:



The we all had fun playing in the corn bins. Who needs sand boxes?!:

Then we went to the rides. First up, the merry-go-round of course:





Then Xia rode the dragon coaster:



And last but not least, Xia closed the night on a BIG slide!

Is Our Rainbow Cake Better Than Molly's?

Hello, it's Xia here. Mommy likes a video podcast called Rocketboom. On Tuesday 8/24/10, she was watching the episode The Rainbow Cake and decided we all just HAD to make a rainbow cake too! So, on Tuesday night 8/31/10, we got busy making our own version of a rainbow cake...

First we mixed up all of the batter with some beaters (which are the coolest things) and then divided the batter into 6 bowls. Here I am mixing the red food coloring into our first bowl:



Then we mixed up the yellow, this was so much fun...



Finally, the violet (note: Isa was with Mommy in her sling during the whole process as you can see)...



Now the first 3 colors, red, orange and yellow, are in the pan and Isa and I are really enjoying licking the batter off of the spoons!



All of the colors are in the pan, the sink is full of dishes and we put it into the oven - yippee!!



After about 45 minutes our beautiful rainbow cake came out of the oven!



The next morning (because we had to let the cake cool and it was time for bed the night before!), we iced the cake so that it looked like a big, white, fluffy cloud:



That night after dinner we FINALLY got to enjoy our rainbow cake. We cut out a slice, look how pretty!

Hmmmm, looks good enough to eat!

Here I am enjoying our rainbow cake. Don't worry, Isa got her bite too!



So, what do you think? Is ours better than Molly's? Thank you Molly and Rocketboom for giving us such a great idea. We sure had fun making out rainbow cake!

Spaghetti Dinner Benefit

Isa here. On Saturday 8/21/10, we sent to a nice spaghetti dinner to benefit a friend with large health bills.

Here I am with Xia having a great time with all of the balloons after we finished dinner:

The music was a lot of fun. Here I am bouncing with Daddy to it:



Then I had to get down and DANCE:



Xia had to join in:



When we came home, Xia and I had a squabble over the balloons and she ended up hitting me on the head and got a time out. I was so sad. But then she apologized. I sure love my sister:

Vivi's Baby Shower

Xia here. Vivi had her baby shower on Saturday 8/14/10. Just Mommy and I went and had a very nice time.

Here's a picture of the Diaper and More "Cake" - guess we couldn't eat this one:

And here's the cake we actually ate - how cool it that?

Silas came with his Mommy:

I had fun playing with him:

It was a BIG surprise to Vivi when she arrived:

Here she is FINALLY cutting the cake, YIPPEE!

One of the other kids had this great punching balloon and I was thrilled when they gave it to me to play with. How fun:



I was pretty pooped that night and fell asleep on Daddy while we watched a movie on the iPad: