Dose of Miss Mei...

Soph was away camping with her nannie & papa this past weekend and Alena was stuck home subjected to partying with mom & dad at some great BBQ's! She also enjoyed her first Happy Meal! : )

She played some baseball with her buddy Aidan and ran around our friend Vinny's bbq like she owned the place!

Hope you all had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!
With love,
Jenni

What a Character!

Wow. Twice in one weekend.
Alena is something else. We were in line at Walmart Friday night waiting to check out. I was putting our groceries up on the belt and Alena was (amazingly) sitting nicely in the front of the cart. A man and his wife were standing next to her as they were next in line. All of a sudden the man laughed. I have to admit it was one of those laughs that is not pretty.
Well, Miss Mei lets loose with one of her snickers and THEN imitates his laugh. I thought I would die right there! The man's wife laughed and I turned beet red!!
This evening, Denise and I decided to take the kids and drive around NY to find a restaurant without an hour long wait.
We really wanted the Cheeseburger in Paradise experience, but ended up at Red Lobster. That's fine, until they sat us diagonally from another table with what appeared to be a three year old boy that may have had too much sugar and not enough discipline.
Alena decided that was to be her job. :) The little darling took his shoes off and was climbing up on the shelf behind their table. Alena was yelling at him "sit" and "down". It was hilarious, yet embarrassing. Later, while he was yelling at his mother, she told him to "shush" and did the motions for him as well. Our kids all got quite a giggle out of that one.....

I hope all of the mommas out there had a fantastic Mother's Day! Denise and I took the kids to Mother's Day breakfast, we visited a nursery with some animals and finished the day at a big playground. I was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home. Alena just doesn't stop moving and can scale a twirly slide in seconds!
While running around, she fell face first in gravel. She stood up without a whimper, made a small attempt to wipe the dirt and debris from her face and took off running again! I grabbed her so that I could make a quick assessment of the teeth and gums (which were fine), so she walked away with a bleeding lip and scrapes. Unbelievable.
Upon returning home, we both took a nap!!! Hahaha!!

Other than that, the girls are doing great. Sophia got a really cute hair cut today. She has her last tennis lesson of this session tomorrow and then she will play with the recreation department over the summer. We are away too much over the next few months to have her in lessons!
Alena is putting two and three words together now and she knows her ABC's. She loves to sit with a pad and pencil and pretend that she's writing them as she recites them. We are trying to work with her on pronunciation quite a bit now.
Love to all,
Jenni

Decision, decisions, decisions...

Met with the on-site coordinator this morning for two hours to pick everything for the new house! My head was spinning. Just when I thought I had picked the right tile, I would change my mind on cabinetry. Then I would get settled on the cabinet and I would get thrown off with the hardwood floors. Let's not talk about the carpeting choices!! I have seen 5oo shades of every color!
Denise came along to entertain Alena and thank God she did. Every time I couldn't make up my mind, I just yelled, "Can you come here?"!!
The siding, shutters and shingles were the easiest part!
I know it can all be replaced, but I know I am going to be looking at these selections for quite some time!!!
So, as I sit here, the carpeting samples sit next to me begging to be chosen!!
Wish me luck. :)
Jenni