A Thousand Miniature Get-Well Wishes from Lvov

The second week that Phil was away, I caught a cold (compounded by allergies). To keep me company, Lvov sat at my desk next to my bed tinkering away for about an hour and a half. This is what she was making, instead of playing outside or watching a movie or playing with the hamster...(please click on this picture to see the little notes!)

My children are so wonderful, they even make being sick joyful. They are my joy, every minute.

Manga Madness

The kiddos are taking a Manga cartoon class at the youth center this summer, and as we were researching Manga online, we found this funky site that transforms your photos into Manga pictures:

Lvov

Akychame

Lvov's "Sponge Bob" 10th Birthday Party!

Lvov's Birthday Pillow

Lvov's Apology Gift Left Outside of Akychame's Door the Morning After an Argument

Inside the tissue paper baggie is Lvov's prized possession: the smoky quartz rock she bought at Idar-Oberstein, the mining village where we visited the church in the cliff. These girls are always leaving little love notes and gifts for each other, and for us.

Lvov's Relf-Referential Artwork

Please enlarge to see what I mean! Is this clever or what???

Lvov and Mommy's Favorite Memory of Paris

Lvov and I sitting on the edge of a little dock-island in the middle of the Seine, our feet dangling over the river at midnight, a bottle of French wine after a poetry reading...chilly noses and cuddles...Eiffel tower in the distance and drunkards and lovers stumbling about on both sides of the river...Lvov and I hung our feet over the edge and sang like a couple of happy drunks while Akychame and Phil walked around filming and taking pictures. It was amazing to see everything lit up with white light, and to watch the dinner and party boats cruise slowly past us, waving. We were in the heart of our lives, in the heart of the Seine in the heart of Paris.

Lvov says:

Sitting with Mommy on a skinny island by Pont Neuf bridge was my favorite time in Paris because it was with my mommy and we had a perfect view of the Eiffel tower with the white lights going off on it. Last time we were in Paris last year, we looked down from the Eiffel Tower and on the grass below somebody had carved a huge heart into the grass. Probably for their boyfriend or girlfriend to see when they looked down from the tower. Mommy and I were cuddling and we could see and hear little waves in the water and other people were scared of sitting so close to the water, but mommy held me so tightly. It was really nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Optimism in Unlikely Places

Lvov's cup is more than half full...and it's smiling, to boot!

Butterfly Necklace for Lvov's Birthday

Little Miss Rosie Cha-Cha

Lvov's 9th Birthday Party at the German "Schwimmbad" Water Park

Today was so wonderful! Lvov and five of her closest friends celebrated her 9th birthday (we were in Paris on her actual b-day). We threw a "pirates" party; in lieu of the Black Pearl pirate ship or Johnny Depp, we set sail for the local German water park and plundered it for laughs and ice cream.

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