Happy Birthday, Emma & Chase

The girls really understand this birthday party thing now. When I told them that Emma and Chase, good playmate friends of theirs, were having a birthday party this week, they spent the rest of the day talking about birthday cake and ice cream. The next day, they sung the "happy birthday" song to them 8-different ways (sometimes to Emma & Chase, others to Chase & Emma, a couple just to Emma, etc., etc.). Then, they had to decide which dress to wear and took turns guarding the birthday presents (placed way out of reach on the mantle). How excited they were to jump out of the car, after seeing the balloons on Chase & Emma's house, and bring their presents to the front door. They have also learned to ring the doorbell and proceeded to ring it repeatedly until Mommy could catch up with them and usher them past the sign that said, "Door open, come on in!"
They get it: amid all the chaos of tons of toddlers (some pairs of twins and a set of triplet boys) climbing slides, pushing carts and strollers, going in and out of play houses and whining to parents about scratches, they question when is it time for cake? Is it time yet for ice cream? When the singing starts, they know just where to jump in and belt out their song enthusiastically. Four days later, they are still talking about the party and wondering when it's their turn for a party again. No wonder birthdays seem to come every 4-years when you're a kid!

Nice Day For Ducks

San Francisco is notorious for having cold, yucky weather in the summertime. Granted it wasn't raining, but it still made a nice day for ducks: cool, foggy, and our household had 3-loaves of leftover heels perfect for bringing to Stow Lake. The girls enjoyed watching the ducks and geese vie for their attention (and bread) and learned how to throw the bread crumbs into the water so their feathered friends could eat.

Change Orders

There's the Original Contract (the dinghy) and then the Change Order (the big yacht/speedboat).

Do you think that home improvement dreams can way out of control.... I girlfriend of mine sent me this photo to poke fun at Paul, who insists that without change orders, the construction industry just couldn't make any money.

You never realize how big the Change Order is while living in the dinghy until the two are side-by-side!

Jon's Deployment - A Traveling Soldier

Jon's been sending some photos home of where he's been since he was deployed 6-weeks ago. It seems that getting there really is half the fun!

He had a stop in France, Spain, Greece, Djibouti and Oman before he came to his "home" in Bahrain. There were some nice photos of Greece and it looks as if he spent some time in an Irish pub in Spain (weird). Djibouti looked very 3rd world and poor. The picture I've posted is of him in Omar. There are very few photos he can share online of the base/s, but promises that the curious can see the hard copies when he gets back. I guess with the internet, the photos could get in the wrong hands quite seemlessly.

He's got 7-more weeks left of his deployment and I'm looking forward to hearing more about his trip. Jon was really nice and sent us an email after hearing of Nonno's passing. Thanks, Jon!

Nonno Can Hear Us Singing Now

Along with the whole "twin speak" thing, my girls have created a few of their own rituals. Last winter, I realized that Ava kept singing the same tune with non-sense words. Pretty soon, Bettina caught on and then they both would sing this made up tune with made up words (since their vocabulary was quite small then, it made sense they just created these words). It seemed a lullaby of sorts that, typically, Ava would sing to her "Ee-aw", her favorite donkey-shaped lovie.

It was only natural that I'd want to participate in and recognize their unspoken world, so, soon, I also would start singing the song and learned to articulate their made up words as well as they did. They seemed pleased that I wanted to sing their song too, and allowed me sing with them about things that they valued: beloved Ee-aw and cherished Moo (Bettina's cow-shaped lovie).

Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank),
Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank),
Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank),
Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank).

That ritual morphed into an evening quiet-time song that marked the transition from bath/pajama time to bed time - a time when we would recount all that we'd done and all we'd seen during the day and acknowledge the blessings of having seen or done them:

Ah-la-lo-le swimming,
Ah-la-lo-le Daddy,
Ah-la-lo-le Ee-Aw,
Ah-la-lo-le Moo.

One by one, we'd recount all the loved things/ones and Mommy would pause between each stanza waiting for one of the girls to think of something/one for which to be thankful.

This week, we lost Daddy's daddy, Nonno, to cancer. We'd sung to Nonno in the past, almost nightly, but Tuesday night, I told the kids that this time, Nonno (who's been hard of hearing for a long time) could hear us singing; he was listening to us from heaven and for the first time, he could hear our nightly ritual and was smiling as he heard his name.

The girls did pretty well during the rosary and funeral, which were both, according the Italian Catholic tradition, open casket. During the rosary service, Ava walked over to him, climbed up on the kneeling chair and pointed to Nonno saying, "Nonno's sleeping in the bed." "Does he look cozy?" I asked. "Uh-huh,' she answered. Tina, clearly interested now, came over too. "Night, night, Nonno," she added and instantly started singing the Ah-la song: "Ah-la-lo-le Nonno...." I motioned to Paul who I think caught his breath and teared up as he looked lovingly to his little girls.

Night, night, Nonno. Love and memories last forever; we love you and will keep you in our memories.