Rockin' in the rain with Barack

Today we went to a rally for Barack Obama. It was cold and rainy but we got to miss school for this momentous occasion. Hope he goes on to win the election! Go Barack!!!!

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King

Ava wrote a poem for the 2009 Martin Luther King Day Celebration. It won first place in the state of Delaware for her age group (3rd-4th grade). We went to the Chase Center in Wilmington to receive her award and meet the keynote speaker Chris Gardner, author of The Pursuit of Happiness. It was a very proud day in the Awitan household!

'twas the night before Christmas...

...and all thru the house, a creature was stirring and it was BIGGER than a mouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After some long weeks of Christmas prep, Brian and I sat down for some Christmas Eve wrapping when all of a sudden there was a scurrying in the fireplace. Now I don't know about you, but I have never seen a flying squirrel before and I had no idea what I was looking at until I googled "rodent with big eyes and flat fuzzy tail"! Let's just say after three hours of trying to outsmart the thing, he ended up on top of the armoire. The info I found on flying squirrels said that they can sail up to 160ft. I don't know about that but Brian can attest to the fact that they can jump from the top of the armoire to the opposite side of the living room in a single bound. He and Rosey managed to get it back into the fireplace and seal it off but I will tell you that we opened gifts with that ninja the next morning and it wasn't until 24 hours after he made his grand entrance through our chimney that we managed to trap him in a jar and reacquaint him with the great outdoors. A truly funny story after the fact but it made for a very long and tiring Christmas Eve.

The official footage...

Thank you Grandmom and Pop!!!!

All we want to do is write songs and make music. Now, thanks to Grandmom and Pop, we can. We have the best grandparents in the WHOLE world. We miss you! Merry Christmas and thank you both so much for the awesome gift!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween Cruz style

Our family away from family - the Cruz's - invited us to Mum Mum and Pop Pop's hood to Trick or Treat. We live on the one lane, two-way, back country death road and thought it would be much safer to hang with them. The result? Lots of candy, lots of cute girls and lots of FUN!!!

Happy 90th Birthday GGMom!

Our amazing Great Grandmother just celebrated her 90th birthday. Holy moly! She traded jokes and thoroughly enjoyed some wine, eclairs and birthday cake. She is truly cool. We hope we are that cool if we are lucky enough to celebrate our 90th birthdays with our family. We had a great time. What a lovely lady!

Fall has officially arrived!

One of the loveliest things about being back on the East Coast is being able to experience a full changing of the leaves - not the abbreviated versions that we got in Texas or California. We have spent many hours raking and playing in the crackly goodness that is Fall in Delaware

Sister love

Need we say more??

NO BOYS ALLOWED...

...except for Daddy, Riston and Matthew of course. Spending a warm Autumn afternoon in a fort, playing horses and eating ice cream sandwiches is pretty close to Heaven don't cha think?!?!

We LOVE our Polish (well 1/4 Polish) friends!

We were invited to the Polish Festival this year by our friends Ava and Mia. Thank goodness they didn't check our credentials at the door! Filipino, German, Swedish, French, Welsh - yes, Polish - no. But even we non-Polish people had a great time. See for yourself!

Creative Outlet

Don't tell our "designer" friends - but we did a little creating of our own. Mom bought blank letters to put our names on our doors and we let the creativity flow. What a fun way to personalize our rooms!

Thank you Pop Pop Codfish!

Decided to do a little camping in Ava's room and thank goodness for the book lights from Pop Pop Codfish! How else could we have possibly gotten in our nightly reading?!?!?

...and the video

Oh baby!

After many years of asking Marlena whether or not she would like to participate in any extracurricular activities, she finally came to me last week and told me decisively that she wanted to take gymnastics. I am not a huge fan of this sport (although I love to watch) but she was quite enthusiastic so we told her she could try it. As you can see by the pics and video, there is no turning back now. She LOVED it!

What to do in Texas in the Springtime

See a rodeo, go to an art fair, let a baby calf suck on your arm, go to the beach, learn to use a backhoe, pet Aunt Linzee's new foal. Whatever you do, get outside because this is one of the few times of the year when the weather is perfect!

Keller ISD Art Exhibit 2008

Ava was chosen to represent her 2nd grade class in the District Art Show. Her entry was a mixed media lizard. Since the show, her interest in sketching has grown resulting in a couple of really nice drawings...a skunk that Pop spent 45 minutes chasing from the hangar and a goose she saw in a book at school.

As promised...other party pics

A celebration at the local pottery store with Naine and my best friend Natalie; a party with my family, culminating in awards for Marlena and me for Chicken Limbo and Pin the Tail on the Donkey, respectively; and a cupcake party at school made my second official birthday the best ever! AJA

Ava's 8th Birthday!

One of three birthday celebrations for me this year! For the first time, I was able to celebrate my birthday with my cousins. That, coupled with the fact that I had a REAL birthday this year (I officially turned 2 on Leap Day), made this a very special birthday indeed. Stay tuned for pics of my other parties.