January

Wow. I can scarcely believe January is over already.

It was a full month, from day 1, but alot of fun.

Here are some of my favorite pics from of the start of 2010:

Saying "goodbye" to the Christmas tree New Year's Day, is always bittersweet. But it's nice to get back that hunk of the living room that gets swallowed up in tannenbaum. I still have many decorations out tho. I like the nativities so well that it's hard to put them away... Aaand, I'm a bit lazy. 

Making chocolate cupcakes with two toddlers underfoot was surprisingly rather easy compared to just one. Double sweetness watching them lick the batter. Asher is a pretty easy going fellow and we really enjoyed having him around for the day. I was almost convinced I could manage 2 everyday. Almost...

This shot is sentimental for me, as it is reminiscint of one of my baby pictures of me enjoying my favorite treat @ the time: oreos and milk. It's really fun to dip those chocolatey sandwhiches and count to 10 and then enjoy their crumbly goodness. And, it makes a good counting lesson too. Some days we even make it to twenty. Now to start recognizing what those numbers and letters look like...

We got to spend the day with another boy friend in the middle of the month. He and Yosi got along stellarly and the day just flew by. A fun treat! Owen is definitely a good pal, and as dear to Y as a brother.

Yosi had a hair styling lesson and fixed my hair for "a party". Then we pretended to go to the library  and check out books. She drove us there in the "car"- the trampoline. It was so much fun, that it was almost disappointing when Daddy came home and announced that we were going to the library for real. But disappointment quickly became anticipation when she learned we'd stop @ her favorite shop- Broadway Joe's- on the way home. We are deeply saddened by the news that they will be forced out of business. I'm afraid this will be harder news to break to Yosi than when Gandalf, the cat, died.

A geography lesson with Daddy includes puzzle time (mostly Daddy's work- as the ones in this book are a bit too complex for her).  Yoselin's favorite puzzle is the one of the African continent which includes a picture of a scorpian whose stinging ways she finds fascinating.

Last, but not least- my birthday surprise! David had been giddy since November when he started planning this, but I was privy NO info at all- except that he had a "surprise" in store. Even the day of I was only given necessary details, like what to pack in the morning and when to get home from work. We left soon after noon, stopping for lunch @ El Camino Real, where I awkwardly used my manners in Spanish with the waiter. Then we hit the road. After about 3hrs travel we came to an exit off 75N marked Chicago/Detroit, which had me quite curious, as we know friends who live in both areas. Instead, we ended up in Ann Arbor, and I wracked my brain in attempts to think of someone we might know @ Univ. of MI. We parked in a parking garage downtown, and I was lead, still oblivious, to the Panera Bread on the corner, where I was happily astonished to find dear friends, Mike and Sam (from Chicago), and Katie (fr.Goshen). We were joined a few minutes later by Joel and Susan (from Detroit suburbs). I was then advised we would be attending the Ark Folk Festival, a huge concert with 8 bands, headlined by Iron & Wine, a delightful acoustic smorgasbord.

After the concert, we all spent the night @ Joel and Susan's, enjoying conversation late into the night, a long breakfast in the morning and a competitive round of Trivial Pursuit until mid-afternoon, when we were obliged to head our seperate ways.

A unexpected but marvelous beginning to my 28th year as a human.