Thanksgiving and Claire's birthday party

here are some photos, belated. i'm busy trying to catch up here!

for Thanksgiving, we had friends and some of Phil's graduate students over for dinner. we had a great time! i had cooked a 23.5 lb turkey, but unfortunately, we forgot to take a photo of our big bird.






the day after Thanksgiving, we had Claire's birthday bash. :) many of Claire's friends came to celebrate and Phil's parents and brother Mike and wife Megan joined us as well. it was a good time. and Claire was just great with all the attention thrown her way! :) here is the birthday girl!


Claire's 2nd Birthday party from slkim on Vimeo.

First real snowfall

last night, we had our first "real" snowfall. most of it melted during the day and by tomorrow, it should be all gone, but it was quite beautiful to go outside today and see the trees all covered in white.

and Claire said "i love you" quite clearly for the first time today! :) it was quite special.

Winter activities

with the arrival of the cold, we enter into all the indoor activities. i have to say, there is quite a lot to do here that's either free or relatively affordable. we like to go to the Rotunda on saturdays. it's free and the kids really enjoy the shows. i still like to take the kids outside alot, but it's good to have options! :) there are plenty of indoor gyms that open up too. i think i'm still getting used to this idea of hunkering down, this idea of mostly indoor play. i'm scrambling now to come up with a list of indoor activities to keep the girls busy on days when we have nowhere to go. you are welcome to throw ideas my way!

i love Ingrid Michaelson!!

when i started getting ready to go to Ingrid Michaelson's concert last week, i couldn't remember the last time i did something like this. it's hard to get up the energy to get out of the house at night after hustling with the kids all day. but the concert was SO worth it! i went with 2 other mums - between the 3 of us, we have 7 kids! :)

here are some photos from our evening out and if you want to listen to some Ingrid Michaelson, you can find her music here.

the concert was in an old venue, the Barrymore theatre. it was quite cool - they have glowing stars in the ceiling, so you can pretend you're out under the starry sky listening to some good music. there were 2 openers for Ingrid Michealson - David Ford and Newton Faulkner. both were really good! i have to say though, David Ford was cuter, but i like Newton Faulkner's music! :)

here's Ingrid Michaelson!


with David Ford :)




with my friends, Emily and Lainie

Happy Birthday, Claire!!

yesterday was Claire's 2nd birthday and we celebrated, as usual, with sweet potato pie (significance of pie: it was the last thing i ate before Claire was born!). she will have her party over thanksgiving weekend when family and friends come, but we wanted to have a small family celebration before then. here are some photos and movies from the celebration:







Happy Birthday, Claire!! from slkim on Vimeo.


Claire opens her birthday gifts from slkim on Vimeo.


Eating sweet potato pie from slkim on Vimeo.

No School Days

whenever we have a no school day, i realize just how hurried we are every morning. today, Skye almost missed the bus, but fortunately, our neighbours can see our sunroom from the bus stop and asks the driver to wait a few minutes as Phil and Skye dash down the street. tomorrow is a no school day and Skye went to bed saying how happy she was she didn't have to wake up early to catch the bus. i feel the same way! i'm looking forward to spending time with both girls. i can spend time with Skye while Claire naps and we can do fun things like going to a bakery close by to have treats once Claire wakes from her nap. :)

Volunteering in Kindergarten

this past Friday, i went to Skye's classroom to volunteer for the first time since she started kindergarten. it was an amazing experience. to see 12 little individuals, complicated individuals, busy at work was really really neat. i got to meet some of Skye's friends who haven't come over to our house for a playdate yet. i got to participate in a portion of Skye's day.

eversince Skye starte kindergarten, i've been feeling the loss of her presence. she loves kindergarten and talks about school all the time. and while i've been happy about her growth, i've been feeling a growing distance between us. i mean, it's inevitable in many ways. as kids get older and get more independent, i will have to make more of an effort to find ways to connect. well, visiting Skye in her classroom was definitely a connecting point. she was SO happy i came and was so happy to have me there to be a part of what has become her life. i hope to continue volunteering and getting a glimpse of Skye's world.

Claire's latest words

the other day, i was driving around. Claire was in the back and i was expecting her to fall asleep any moment because it was close to her nap time. when i was at a stop sign, i glanced back and she gave me a big smile and said very knowingly and very loudly, "I awake!"

Black President

inspite of all my cynicism about politics, i was deeply moved by Barack Obama's speech last night. what an incredible time!! and i was glad to have had the opportunity to participate by casting my vote. growing up in Kenya, i never voted and never had the opportunity to be a part of something so national. Obama's speech made me believe in a different kind of democracy. the current administration, making democracy its reason for the war, has tainted democracy with so much negativism. Obama's speech made me hope that he would change that.

it was amazing to watch last night, in that one speech, Obama rising from a man to a symbol.

all the experts talk about the hard road ahead and wonder if this man can pull the country together. but if we look at the life Obama has lived, he is the man who can do it.

Election jitters

no matter what the polls show, i'm still a little nervous about today's outcome. this election has been quite exciting. i tried to vote early, but couldn't because the wait was so long and it would have been impossible to wait so long with Claire in tow. so i went to vote today and was pleasantly surprised to not wait at all. i went in the middle of the day, so that helped too. but i think most of Madison voted early. i don't remember the last elections being this way. when was the last time Americans were so eager to vote?? it's exciting to say the least. Phil wishes he could attend some of the election parties - the one in Grant Park, Chicago sounds like the place to be! but me, i'll be happy to roll into bed tonight knowing that Obama won!

Skye had to vote at school today too. her school apparently always votes for the school mascot on election day. they had to "join the arrow" to make their vote, just like the big people! :) Skye jumped off the bus, excited that the mascot she voted for won! i hope i feel the same way at the end of today!

Halloween