Ella's Prek graduation in action!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wtscb5k1wq3ci6c/9OGmPx1Hwh?n=76634966#f:trim.eikj9e.MOV

I didnt know Betsy captured Ella's prek graduation "MOMENT" hehe. So stinkin cute. I especially love that you can hear Sofia giggling in the background. :)

Pics of the Girls- Summer 2013

Ill say it again, I LOVE Betsy. She is such a wonderful addition to our family and we just adore her.
I asked if she would take a few pics of the girls for Father's Day and she completely outdid herself. Here are a few of my faves!!

Where there is wind

The other day we had a few microbursts come through and I have never in my life seen Sofia so terrified. She and Ella were at a friends house 2 houses down and when the sky started to get dark, I had a feeling that something was coming. So I went outside to call them in and my yell was compeletely LOST in the wind. Crazy. So the next thing I see is Sofia RUNNING down the sidewalk, screaming and Ella at her heels. Sofia thought it was a tornado and could NOT be consoled. I could understand why! Branches were being RIPPED off trees, things were flying through the air, it was pretty scary... She had to call Artyom to make sure he was ok as well...it was quite the ordeal.

So last night the wind was not as violent and we decided to fly kites at a friends house we were visiting...the kites broke within 5 minutes..less effective.

It didnt stop the fun though and these threee cuties had a BLAST just running around the wide open field..in the wind...

Ella, Sofia and Emily, were BFF's from "hello" and even put on a fashion show for us later on that night. I was with Artyom, Eddie, from Brazil and myself...It was great. I love accents. And since mine was the only boring one out of the bunch, I found myself just listening to the two of them talk. Good times...

When we left Sofia had made a picture of her two new partners in crime and Emily was able to take it to her Mom's house. We have a Brazillian BBQ planned for a few weeks from now where Eddie says we will be in steak heaven. I can't wait!!

I love it when the girls find friends they (and Artyom and I!) like...

 

Papa home from vaca= presents from Baba!!

It was not easy to have Artyom gone for 2 weeks as he visited his family in Russia. We made it through however, and the girls were teased a few times over Skype with small gifts that Baba had in store for them.

Well last night Artyom unveiled the presents that Baba got the girls and the highlight above all else were the Kooklas (Dolls). I gotta admit. Even I was a bit jeaolous over these dolls. They are beautiful and even speak in Russian!

The girls were OVER THE MOON excited and I am thinking Baba deserves some huge kudos for spoiling our little ones. Thank you Baba! We love you and miss you! We don't have names so far for the Russian beauties, but I am sure we will come up with some very soon!

 

 

The A-Line is BACK!

I should have learned my lesson by now that these two girlies of mine could not be more different from one another. Brown hair, blonde hair, brown eyes, blue eyes, outgoing, shy...So when it comes to their hair, I probably have spent WAY more time than really needed debating to myself while Betsy has listened to me about Ella's hair. I have wanted to see how it will look long, but that girl just does not have the hair that Sofia does. Ella just ROCKS short hair. So it was back to Cookie Cutters to chop it! Even I was a little surprised at how long it had gotten and how many inches we took off.

Funny thing was when the hairdresser was cutting it, Ella said with a giggle- "When my Dad see's my hair, he is going to CRY and CRY" hehe. And of course he did no such thing. He told his little girl she was beautiful...I tend to agree with him!

Staycation

I must admit that I have never been on a staycation with the girls, but I think we have found a new tradition! My cousins have told me stories of staycations they went on as kids, and I thought it was a super fun idea if you could find a hotel cheap enough.

Well it was the last few days of our 2 week stint without Artyom and the girls did really well all things considered. Our schedules were turned upside down, and with school ending, Summer beginning and life as a single parent for a few weeks, I thought we deserved something extra special. Our plan to go camping with some friends fell through and the girls were REALLY sad about it.  I figured they needed a break. I found a super cheap deal on a hotel a few hours before hand and decided that it was a sign! hehe. So off we went. We only had 2 requirements: A pool (this was a MUST) and that there was free breakfast (who wants to worry about breakfast on staycation?!).

We scored on both for under $50!

So what did we do? Funny you ask! As I was about to show you! Warning: there are ALOT of pics...Enjoy!

So in a nutshell we spent the majority of our time here:

 

We got to the hotel and the girls "approved" it. They figured we would have fun..and we SO did.

We spent some time at the pool and then went to get dinner. We got a little silly waiting for our pizza...

  One of the perks of having two little cuties for kids? FREE DESSERT! Thanks NY Pizza Patrol. Our Zeppoles were DE-LISH!

Then it was movies on the Kindle Fire (thank goodness we brought it. We had 1 kids channel, and even then, it was mostly Sponge Bob...not acceptable.

And shortly thereafter the girls CRASHED.

The next day we were BACK at the pool for some fun before checkout. From 7:45 on the girls were asking me every 5 minutes (literally) if the pool was open yet. And what is a staycation without meeting new friends?! It took many, many tries, but we finally got Sofia's cannonball action shot as well as one with her new friend Nick whom she met.

NICE FORM MAKA!! And here is Sofia and her little friend Nick

I enjoyed my self as well...As did Ella!

We already have another "staycation" place booked (I found another hot "KSL Deal" in Park City- SQUEE) and have made some rules and regulations for ourselves to not only keep us on budget, but make sure we get what we want.

So do as we did and take a Staycation. Your kids will love it and the memories we made were WELL worth it. 

 



 

Half way

Ella has thouroughly been enjoying the great weather were having as Summer is hitting us and spends most of her time outside on Betsy's trampoline. Well. Today I got a sad little pic with a sad little face that told a sad little story of Ella's attempt of doing a front flip....

Oh sweet Ella...were just not quite there yet...