Daddy's Birthday!

We celebrated Rob's birthday today. I think the whole event was more fun for Anna Claire and Mariah than for Rob. Anna Claire has a new book with loads of pictures of cakes. She picked out the cake that she thought Daddy would like -- a basketball cake, because Daddy used to play basketball. It also kind of fit in with the gift the girls gave Daddy -- a new, real-sized soccerball. (Yes, this is a little self-serving because it's so that Daddy can kick the ball around outside with the girls.)

Here's the cake. We burned out on chocolate after just a couple pieces so we had to give most of it away.

Anna Claire proudly displaying her masterpiece. If you look carefully, you'll see she just stuck her fist into it.
Happy Birthday to you. . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Earlier this week I had to go to the hospital for 24 hours for a little surgery. That was rough on the kids. So this week we've done lots of fun activities to make up for it. On Wednesday, we made Valentine's Day cards for Daddy and the grandparents. Next, we had a special Valentine's Day picnic (outside on our balcony). Anna Claire set out all the plates and food and poured water, while Mommy made sandwiches. The girls love doing these picnics. Anna Claire sets out everything nicely and Mariah happily messes it all up.

Valentine's Day (and evening) itself became a family occasion this year, mostly because I neglected to get a babysitter and Rob has been working crazy hours. The girls and I made chocolate heart cookies and when Daddy came home, we frosted them with pink and chocolate icing and loaded them with M&M's. The M&M's ended up mostly in Mariah's mouth, however.

Mmmmm, this chocolate stuff is almost as good as the green beans I just devoured!
Yum. . .chocolate to my heart's content.

Afterwards, we had a family Valentine's dance. That was the best part! As you can see, Anna Claire got a new dancing outfit. Mariah got to share some costume jewelry, but she mostly chewed it up. (She was a big chocolatey mess so we had to strip her down.)

Past Blast

My friend Tzili came to visit this weekend. She's a friend from my joint-degree program and is an amazing advocate for women's and children's rights. She came to Geneva to present a paper to one of the UN committees and then spent the weekend with us. She dragged me out of my children-crowded world back into the world of law and advocacy for a couple days. Here we are in front of the oft-visited Chateau Chillon.