The Top is on the Bottom

Ava & Mia are signing off...

2011-01-13T09:57:00.002-05:00

for now. Stay tuned for their own blogs. Mommy is busy with her own new blog.:)

Bye!!

Do you know me?

2010-02-21T16:14:00.002-05:00

Meet & greet with John Mayer in Philly. The only time in Mia's life that she was speechless. She's been a fan since Kindergarten.

Mia's 9th Birthday

2010-02-13T16:50:00.000-05:00

French theme, cake decorating, dancing and fun with a few friends.

Rainy Day in N.Y.

2010-01-18T10:10:00.002-05:00

Even with the rain, we had a great day. We hit the MoMA, the Japan Society for the final day of the Seriwaza exhibit , and our favorite spots.

Girls on the Run 5k

2009-11-14T13:27:00.002-05:00

Mia's 1st 5k & Ava's 3rd.

Storybook Character Parade

2009-10-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

The 5th graders had to pick an idiom and 3rd graders were characters from "How to be a Pirate".

Monster Mania

2009-10-28T13:38:00.000-04:00

This is Ava's last year of Monster Mania. Her monster, the Monster Under the Bed won 1st place for Most Creative and Mia's Sally Smog Monster won 3rd for scariest.

Love Note

2009-10-21T09:20:00.003-04:00

Last word...bagels. Mia spells like her Dad.

Terrariums with Tovah

2009-10-17T09:21:00.001-04:00

Terrarium Workshop with Tovah Martin at Terrain. She was really sweet. Check out her new book, The New Terrarium. It's beautiful.

We even met Jill Biden, who happened to be shopping. She invited us to visit her office in D.C.

Play with your food...

2009-10-07T14:07:00.003-04:00

and then there was one.

Walk for the Animals

2009-10-03T11:08:00.002-04:00

Ashland Nature Center Overnight Field Trip

2009-09-30T11:13:00.001-04:00

Studied ecosystems, had night walks without flashlights and had a great time hanging out with friends. Now Ava wants a microscope and a water testing kit for Christmas.

Girls on the run....

2009-09-15T22:28:00.003-04:00

......training for the 5K.

Apple Pickin' with Friends

2009-09-12T10:01:00.001-04:00

Mushroom Festival

2009-09-12T09:59:00.003-04:00

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-05T09:56:00.003-04:00

Simon Pearce

2009-08-21T09:55:00.000-04:00

We ♥ CT & NY

2009-08-14T09:49:00.000-04:00

This Friday...

2009-08-07T17:54:00.001-04:00

...surfing for Animal Crossing cheat codes.

Last Friday....

2009-07-31T17:52:00.003-04:00

...Rehoboth Beach with PopPop Frank

Rehoboth

2009-07-28T09:37:00.000-04:00

HIghlights from Ava's 10th

2009-07-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

Happy 10th Birthday Ava!

2009-07-05T13:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-20T12:57:00.007-04:00

We celebrated a day early. Our Daddy is hard to buy for, but we found his favorite cologne, giant bamboo rhizomes, ligonberries, and other little goodies.

Field Day

2009-06-02T13:06:00.001-04:00

Up the Creek

2009-05-25T17:51:00.003-04:00

notice the "dog-fish" next to the boat.

Memorial Day Fun

2009-05-25T12:06:00.001-04:00

Mia drops in...

2009-05-15T19:16:00.003-04:00

starts out a lil' shaky...

Ava rides...

2009-05-15T19:03:00.000-04:00

Market Day

2009-05-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

Mia's Big Day

2009-05-02T17:40:00.000-04:00

Mia made her First Holy Communion today.

Pysanky

2009-04-11T17:49:00.000-04:00

Adobe Indian project...

2009-03-25T06:44:00.004-04:00

For Social Studies, Ava had to choose a South Western American Indian tribe to write a report of their lifestyle and make a diorama of their home. She chose the Adobe Indians. The project was fun for the whole family.

誕生日おめでとうMia!

2009-03-08T21:27:00.007-04:00

For Mia's 8th birthday party, she & Ava performed a Japanese Tea Ceremony. The guests wore vintage kimono, enjoyed matcha green tea & wagashi.

Amo il mia della pizza!

2009-03-07T16:26:00.006-05:00

For Mia's 8th birthday, we went to her favorite Japanese Buffet, Minado. On the way, she spotted this little pizzeria.

Perpetual + boring...

2009-03-06T16:55:00.000-05:00

Ava's weekly assignment of 3 vocabulary words has become a mockery of her Daddy. Let's just say we can't drive past Home Depot without a moan or groan.

Frozen....

2009-01-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Star Performer

2009-01-16T11:50:00.006-05:00

Ava was "star of the week" in her class this week. She played Wipe Out and Brand New Cadillac for her peers today. Her friends that are boys, NOT boyfriends, their jaws were on the floor. This girl has guts!

She kept the volume low at first, but once she turned it up one boy yelled, YEAH! Then she really got into it.

I ♥ Rollerskating

2008-12-29T15:38:00.000-05:00

Mia likes to assist on the drums while Ava plays the guitar

2008-12-04T13:26:00.004-05:00

Girls on the Run 5K

2008-11-22T14:03:00.006-05:00

Ava ran her first 5K, the Turkey Trot. She placed 6th in her age group! Mia swindled her picture into the newspaper, again! A big thank you to our good friend, Diana for running with Ava.

Now look.....

2008-11-17T16:50:00.003-05:00

Fourth grade field trip to the city of brotherly love.

Ava....really?

2008-10-12T23:16:00.011-04:00

After 9 years of never having the name, Ava on personalized anything...they had a faux Delaware license plate with her name at the Big K. Mia was not impressed, since they did not have a plate for her. Did we buy the plate.....NO! You can ask my daddy why.

Crash Course

2008-10-12T21:00:00.000-04:00

When Ava expressed an interest about being an altar server at church, she never thought she'd be asked to be a stand in this past Sunday. On the job training. This girl has confidence!

Spirit Walk

2008-10-03T23:13:00.000-04:00

Do you have spirit?

2008-10-01T22:48:00.008-04:00

Today is Color Your Hair Day at school. Stripes were NOT an option.

We are inspired

2008-09-27T22:42:00.000-04:00

Mommy has been crafting for her after school craft class so we decided to drag out the acrylic & canvas.

Project Caterpillar

2008-09-27T22:31:00.001-04:00

Oh, haven't you ever seen a caterpillar with feathers? Mia is studying caterpillars & butterflies in 2nd grade. She had to make a model of a caterpillar. She chose an unidentifiable white caterpillar. We'll post the results once he comes home from school.

Miso Soup

2008-09-27T22:16:00.004-04:00

My new hobby, making miso soup. Mommy made sure the miso was vegetarian for Mia & I. Chopping the tofu with the santoku is cool. I put a formal request into House Industries that I need a new cutting board.

Up the Creek

2008-09-20T22:10:00.003-04:00

Dinner & the creek with the Awitan family. Can you see Olivia's fat puggy rear swimming?

Flipping out....

2008-09-17T15:47:00.006-04:00

We went to the Polish Festival with family & friends. This was the best "ride" of the night. Although, Ava & Ava thought the zipper was "awesome"!

2008-09-17T11:03:00.000-04:00

Apple picking.....

2008-09-13T23:54:00.000-04:00

We spent Sunday afternoon apple, raspberry, blackberry, and grape picking at a local orchard. Fruit, goats, pigs and cider doughnuts...what else could you ask for?

Back to School

2008-08-25T11:41:00.006-04:00

4th & 2nd graders. Time sure does fly when you are having fun.
Summer went too fast this year! Here's to a great first day!

By the way, we ~~like~~ L-O-V-E these shoes!

The gangs all here...

2008-08-11T10:58:00.003-04:00

Our friends have made the big move from Texas to Delaware! We had a few days to spend with them and can't wait to see them in school, our school!! Thanks to the Roats for the cute pic!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T22:31:00.002-04:00

to the best Daddy in the world. We love you and your Mickey Mouse drums.

Rehoboth Beach

2008-06-14T21:42:00.002-04:00

Rehoboth was fun. We had a great week "floating" on our boogie boards, riding the rides at Fun Land, making new friends and eating lots of JUNK!

Last Day of School

2008-06-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

Good-bye 1st & 3rd grade....hello, 2nd & 4th!

How fast they grow....

2008-06-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

Field Day

2008-05-29T20:59:00.004-04:00

This year's Field Day was a family affair. I was the "chair" for the event. Andy was in charge of the Tug of War. Ava won 1st place in the Third Grade 100 yard dash and Mia won 2nd place in the Second Grade 100 yard dash. And Pop Pop Bob was Mia's class chaperone.

My Modern Mom

2008-05-07T17:11:00.000-04:00

In Mia's class, each student made a Power Point presentation for their mom's for Mother's Day.

Colonial Life

2008-04-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

Ava had a field trip to Greenbank Mill. She learned how to make lavender soap, how to card wool, and she helped make sugar cookies.

The United States of America

2008-04-06T22:36:00.004-04:00

Mia has been studying maps at school. At dinner last night, she was eating her quesadilla and noticed that the shape was quite familiar. Only Mia would observe such a thing.

Easter Eggs

2008-03-25T15:38:00.004-04:00

This year we tried a traditional method and a modern method. We tried pysanky which was fun. The beeswax had a nice smell. And we tried engraving the eggs after we dyed them. Both methods were similar in results.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-20T09:01:00.005-04:00

We had the girls design our Easter cards this year.

Engraving Easter Eggs

2008-03-17T22:49:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Mia!

2008-02-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Mia had a great time at her 7th birthday party. She had lots of friends and family there to skate with.

Spasibo balshoye!

2008-01-26T14:22:00.001-05:00

Thank you to the Awitan Family who sent Ava & Mia two beautiful matryoshka dolls from the Czech Republic.

Old School, New School

2008-01-19T21:20:00.000-05:00

The girls set up a school for their American Girl dolls. Ava L-O-V-E-S to play school, Mia can tolerate it for a little while.

Funny, we stumbled upon a few of these chairs while on a prospective school tour a few years ago. Andy talked the art teacher into letting us have the baby Bertoia chairs before they ditched them during a remodel.

House Industries Kids Logo

2008-01-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

We've been bugging our Dad to make kids House Industries tees. He agreed, then made us do the work. No salary, just free tees and health care.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T16:42:00.000-05:00

Our good friends Caleb & Matthew helped us celebrate New Year's Eve. We had a yummy dinner of quesadillas, tamales, rice, Jarritos sodas, Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes & cheesecake brownies. Guess we had a little too much "kid wine".

This time last year.....

2007-12-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

we had long hair, cooled in LA, saw the Road Agent at the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth exhibit at the Peterson Museum (Daddy couldn't read the NO PHOTOS PLEASE sign)...oh yeah, Daddy did a gig there during the AIGA Holiday party but no one was listening to them.

Cookies for Santa

2007-12-21T16:04:00.000-05:00

We made cookies for Santa. This year he drank all of his milk.

Penguins hijack Snowman Project....

2007-12-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

Ava had a holiday project at school to make a snowman winterscape in a globe. I showed Ava how to make a penguin and her class went wild and "over looked" the main character, the Snowman and bugged she & I to make more penguins. I made a few more for friends and showed several kids how to make them. Although, Ava was NOT happy that her classmates wanted to copy our design. As I was showing another classmate how to form the body, I returned to Ava's desk to see a sign that stated:

Penguins are OUT OF STOCK!

Once we arrived at home, Mia wanted to make her own penguins. This started the penguin posse. (which Mia displayed on the picture frame in the hallway to our MBR) And a contest broke out to make the smallest penguin. Mia won, but only because she has the smallest fingers.

Mia's Gingerbread Chalet

2007-12-17T15:28:00.000-05:00

Breakfast with Santa

2007-12-10T11:31:00.000-05:00

We had breakfast with Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph yesterday after Mass. We know this Santa wasn't the REAL Santa. He was just one of his helpers. Check out Rudolph's strides.

Snow Day

2007-12-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

It didn't snow enough to cancel school, but we did have fun sledding!

Black Friday

2007-11-22T23:53:00.000-05:00

We spent Black Friday at our friend's Gus & Leo's house. We ate tomato pie, Pirate Booty and cookies. It was a crazy day. Those boys know how to have fun!! We wish we had brothers!! Mommy & Beth went shopping. They're silly they missed all the fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T23:38:00.000-05:00

We had a fun Thanksgiving. We started the day with Mass at Saint Catherine's with Mom Mom Terri & Pop Pop Bob. Made a quick stop to say hi to Mom Mom Candy & Pop Pop Bob. Then we drove north to have dinner (at 1 o'clock..can that be dinner?) at PopPop Angel's In-Laws (Sargio & Joan's house). By the way, their house is called, "The Chicken Coop". While we were there, we chased chickens and played a little guitar with Uncle Adam. We ate a traditional Thanksgiving meal...well Mommy & Daddy did. We ate Annie's Mac & Cheese and homemade rolls.

Then off to PopPop Frank's. Where we ate a traditional Thanksgiving dessert...ice cream. It was nice to visit with all of our family. The last pic is of our Uncle Fran & Angie.

Colonial Days...part 2

2007-11-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

Mia's class spent the next few days completing their study of the Colonial Days. They hand wove placemats (paper), made bonnets & hats (paper), made Stone Soup, made corn bread batter, made real lemonade, wrote & drew with quill pens, made real butter and then had a feast. At the feast, each child wrote & read about something they were thankful for. Some children said their family, their parents, their teacher, God and pets. Mia was thankful for Olivia & Olive.

Colonial Days...

2007-11-21T15:55:00.000-05:00

In Mia's class, she is studying what it would be like to be a child in the Colonial days. She had a field trip to the Hagley Museum. The activities were in the restored foreman's home and the Brandywine Manufacturer's Sunday School (school was once a week!) on the Worker's Hill. The children were able to do laundry, bake cookies, dress up in period clothing, and learn short lessons typical in a nineteenth-century school. If you ask Mia, the best part was eating the cookies fresh out of the wood stove!!

Froggy went a courtin'......

2007-11-14T14:53:00.000-05:00

The world famous, Brian Awitan gave the girls a private concert last Friday. Went something like this.......

Halloween 2007 or 1957?

2007-11-03T09:27:00.000-04:00

Ava & Mia were bobby soxers. The couldn't have poodle skirts, Olivia & Olive would have been insulted!

Storybook Character Day Parade

2007-11-01T18:19:00.000-04:00

For religious reasons, our school cannot celebrate Halloween, so we have Storybook Character Day. Each class picks characters from one story to portray by dressing up. They have a parade and then a party in the classroom. Ava's class chose How I Became a Pirate. Mia's class chose Ira Sleeps Ov er.

Roat Family's Annual Fall Party

2007-10-24T11:57:00.001-04:00

We went to the Roat Family's Annual Fall Party this past weekend. This year's theme was a Native American theme complete with a tee pee with a fire pit in it, tribal face painting, and drums. Lots of food & fun!

Awitan x Cruz

2007-10-14T23:12:00.000-04:00

Ava and Marlena of the "What's Cookin' " blog, have finally met face to face with Ava & Mia of "The Top is on the Bottom" blog!

In six hours the girls managed to play Webkinz, play baseball with the Daddies, feed the koi fish, climb rocks at the creek, play with the craziest dogs Olive & Olivia, play Hullabaloo, dress-up, do a little yoga, watch a bit of a Barbie movie, eat quesadillas & cupcakes, and roast marshmallows for S'mores! Once bedtime arrived, Ava & Mia were alseep in a matter of minutes! I hope Ava & Marlena had as much fun as we did!!

Hometown Celebrities

2007-10-08T13:09:00.000-04:00

We all went to the Delaware Humane Association's fundraiser "Walk for the Animals" on Sunday. Mia and Olive got their pic in the News Journal. Ava wore her Herbivore Clothing Co. shirt to show that she is nice to ALL animals...they serve hot dogs after the walk?????

We're Back!

2007-09-29T21:03:00.000-04:00

We've just returned from our Southern California & New Mexico tour with our good friends the Roat Family - Rich, Sharon, Sebastian & Anna. Dad & Rich had a little business to attend to and both families decided to tag-along. We met Marilyn & John Neuhart, swam in the Pacific Ocean in Manhattan Beach, then bumped into Mo Willems at the Kidspace Museum, drove Volvo's at Legoland, ate an awesome, inpromptu Italian meal at this guy's pad (the cute one with the v-neck) and hit EVERY Japanese book & dollar store in southern California!

In New Mexico, we stayed at the beautiful Los Poblanos Inn, with Penny & Armin Rembe, Matt Rembe and his lovely family. Our first night there, Daddy & Rich had a business meeting and it was off to bed. The next morning after breakfast, Penny took all the kids to gather eggs (where Mia met a feisty rooster), pick apples & pears, tour the organic vegetable and lavender farm, and then sent us off for homemade tortillas at Duran's Pharmacy in Old Town, Albuquerque. At the Inn, we swam, played with Stanley the dog, followed the peacocks and had a great time. On the way to Santa Fe, we stopped at the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque to see the Alexander Girard mural and then toured the Girard Wing at the Museum of International Folk Art. Our NM tour ended with a stay in a cool Adobe house with bunk beds and dinner at a sassy restaurant, Cowgirl in Santa Fe. Thanks Daddy......oh yeah Mommy went too!

Flashback.......

2007-09-17T16:19:00.001-04:00

Trip to Pittsburgh, to buy a few chairs..OF COURSE. We stopped at the Warhol Museum first.

Thirty eight chairs??

2007-09-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

Mia's math homework tonight was to make a tally of certain objects in our house. She'll have to explain that the 38 chairs are NOT a counting error. It's that her Daddy has a completist/obsessive chair collecting disorder. Just so that her teacher doesn't think we live in an auditorium, I didn't let her take inventory of the outdoor wire chair annex or the b-list shell chairs reserved for outdoor parties.

Shofuso Fall Festival

2007-09-09T22:13:00.000-04:00

Today we went to the Japanese House in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. They had a traditional Japanese festival celebrating the changing seasons. We had a lesson in Sumie – Japanese calligraphy, a race using chopsticks to pick up adzuki beans, painted a paper folding fan, tried Japanese sweets and we even were able to wear a traditional kimono while we were taking in the sights. Daddy took way too many pictures but Mommy says we'll love to see them when we are adults.

What did you learn today?

2007-09-05T20:58:00.000-04:00

Mia learned to tie her shoes today....from a classmate! We've been trying to teach her for the last year. When I asked her why she can learn to do something from a friend and not her parents, Ava chimed in and replied, "Because they speak to us on a KIDS LEVEL, Mommy." Thanks for clearing that up Ava! (background sound effects courtesy of these guys)

Back to School

2007-08-27T23:11:00.000-04:00

Today was Ava's first day of third grade and Mia's first day of first grade.

Prepping for Back to School

2007-08-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

Ava & Mia were busy customizing their school supplies today. They insisted on using some of the stickers that Sheppard Fairey sent to them and the stickers their friend at Paul Frank sent with some cool Back to School supplies. Thanks Sheppard & Ryan, you guys are the best!!

Our Far Away Friends....

2007-08-21T23:00:00.001-04:00

Ava and Marlena sent us the best pictures ever! They even sent a "thank you" for our "What to Do in Delaware" book. You'll have to check out their new blog....What's Cookin'

Hot Rocks

2007-08-13T23:58:00.001-04:00

Tonight we had a special guest from our favorite clothing company over for dinner. We made "place card" rocks for each guest. Mommy made really spicy food and a "salad that does not suck"...as one guest exclaimed. ( for the record...we are not allowed to say "suck".)

They named a street after us!!

2007-08-12T23:53:00.000-04:00

Mom Mom Terri won the right to name our school circle at the Silent Auction. Thanks Mom Mom!

Things to Do in Delaware

2007-08-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

Ava and Mia made a book for friends who live in Texas but are going to visit very soon. The book has pictures of their favorite places in Delaware. We hope Ava & Marlena like the book and will have fun here. (yes, her name is Ava TOO!)

Roller Skating Party

2007-08-05T23:17:00.000-04:00

Ava had her friends and her Daddy's entire office at her Roller Skating Party. We rented out the rink, brought our own "mixed tape" for the DJ (who skipped Rick Springfield...how could she!) and had a blast reliving our past.

Ava

Andy & I

Ken

Morgan

Andy, Brian and Ben

Faux Food

2007-07-30T19:43:00.001-04:00

Today's craft was making food for our American Girl dolls (with a little help from Mommy) out of Sculpey. We made ice cream sandwiches, pancakes, candy, ice cream, soft pretzel, watermelon, pretzel sticks, carrots, doughnuts, cupcakes, apples, a veggie dog, and PIZZA!