Several nights ago, Wes was out of town, so I was doing the bedtime routine by myself. We started off just like normal- brushing teeth, getting in PJs, and reading books. But then I had to go put Pax to bed in his room (Wes usually stays in the room with the twins until they fall asleep). I told them that they could read or play quietly until I came back. I left the lights on and left. About 20 minutes later, I came back and found them bundled under the same blanket, in the reading nook, facing one another, and asleep. It's one of those twin things I guess.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
My Auntie Helene
When I think back over my life, I can easily name several women who each played a significant role in who I have become today. My own mom, my second mom, Renee, my Nana, my Aunt Rita, and my Aunt Virginia are just a few of these influential women. And my mom's father's sister, also known as my Auntie Helene, is definitely in that list. Even though I didn't get to spend a large amount of time with her (she lived in NJ and Chile during my lifetime), the days that we spent together were extremely special.
While cleaning out our basement (which is a seemingly never-ending task), I found a paper that I wrote about my Auntie Helene for my high school english class. When I read it, my mind was flooded with magical memories of my time with her. I decided to post the essay here for a few reasons: (1) because I want to always have it and (2) because I wanted to have an excuse to post some pictures I have of her from our wedding on our blog (our wedding was the last time I saw my Auntie Helene in person). So, here goes.
I wrote this essay on February 15, 1999 for my Junior year high school English class. The assignment was to tell the life story of a person you admire. Enjoy.
In 1966, they moved to Senegal because of Willie's job as a United Nations Ambassador for Children and they lived there for two years. In her marriage to Willie, she met many important diplomats and international people. Willie became very ill in 1968. While Helene took care of him, she sent Caroline to Paris to stay with some of her friends. Several months later, Willie died of cancer. Helene and Caroline then moved to Geneva, Switzerland. In 1970, Helene bought an old farm in the Jura Mountains. She also joined a governmental women's organization. She went back to New York to visit and help her parents in 1975, when she attended my own parents' wedding. While in the states, she met a man named Ernest Shapiro who had three children from a previous marriage. He proposed to Helene in 1976. Helene sold her farm and moved to New Jersey.
My Great Aunt Helene is one of the most interesting individuals I have ever met. I love listening to her talk about her life experiences with such excitement and about her travels around the world. She truly is a class act, is independent, and she stands up for what she believes in. She has taught me to try everything because you don't know if you'll have the opportunity again. She also taught me to be open to others' opinions and to never be close-minded. She has influenced every part of my life in every way possible. I'm very lucky to be related to such a wonderful woman.
While cleaning out our basement (which is a seemingly never-ending task), I found a paper that I wrote about my Auntie Helene for my high school english class. When I read it, my mind was flooded with magical memories of my time with her. I decided to post the essay here for a few reasons: (1) because I want to always have it and (2) because I wanted to have an excuse to post some pictures I have of her from our wedding on our blog (our wedding was the last time I saw my Auntie Helene in person). So, here goes.
I wrote this essay on February 15, 1999 for my Junior year high school English class. The assignment was to tell the life story of a person you admire. Enjoy.
Adoration. That is the word I use to describe my feelings toward my Great Aunt Helene. My mother's father's sister, my great aunt, is one of the most amazing individuals I have ever met. She is open to anything and always speaks her mind. Her adventurous life has brought her many stories to tell. She tells her fascinating stories whenever she has an audience. She cares about everyone around her, especially her family. She has a colorful character that shines through her beautiful personality.
In 1924, Helene Jubien was born in New York City. Helene, her mother, Helen Jubien, and her father, Walter Jubien, Sr., moved to Westchester, New York shortly after Helene was born. Two years later, Walter Louis Jubien (my grandfather) was born. When Helene was 5 or 6, her family moved to a corner apartment on 67th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. They lived there for a few years and then moved to Jackson Heights in Queens, New York. For her education, she went to two Catholic all-girls schools. She attended Dominican Academy elementary school and Cathedral high school. She studied French all through her education in connection with her French heritage. She went to Barnett College for a year and a half before she decided to go to Washington, D.C. and work with her father at the French Mission.
Some of Helene's fondest childhood memories recall an affluent lifestyle, singing Irish songs with her mother, going for long walks with her father all over New York City, and swimming in the Hudson River. She grew up during the Great depression and World War II and survived them both well.
Teenage years brought many happy times for Helene and her brother as they danced when "Swing was King" and sang that "Jazz Thing" in New York clubs and ballrooms. Helene remembers being a screaming young girl for "Old Blue Eyes," Frank Sinatra, as he and many other stars of the time got their start in the Big Apple.
Helene had three fiances, but she only married her fourth, Willie Meyer. At age 20, she met Willie, who was 31, at a party. She didn't like him at first, but at 22, they were married. Her father attended the wedding, but her mother could not because she was still in the army. Three months later, Willie told Helene that he had to go to Berlin, Germany to work for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She told him that same day that she was pregnant. Helene's father didn't want the baby to be born in Germany, so Helene went to live with her mother-in-law, whom she had never met, in Zurick, Switzerland, while Willie worked in Berlin. She hated being away from Willie, so she went to Berlin and had their first child in an American hospital there.
Her first of six children was born in 1947 in Berlin, Germany. They named him Christopher. They lived in Berlin for six years. In that time period, they had two more children. Eighteen months after Christopher, Helen and Willie had Adrienne. Eighteen months after Adrienne, Stephanie was born. Helene's mother came to visit when Stephanie was born. In 1951, they moved to Paris. In 1952, Helene had twin boys, Andrew and George. Her last child, Caroline, was born in 1960 in an American hospital in Paris.
Christopher studied to be an actor. He went to the American College in Paris for two years and then he went to a mime school for two more years. Adrienne and Stephanie both graduated from French Lycee. They later went on to college at Colorado State University. George went to prep school in Colorado and then another prep school in Geneva. He attended college in California. Caroline went to India and attended a private school there.
My Auntie Helene and Uncle Ernie |
Helene and Ernie have been together in New Jersey ever since. Helene's children now have had families of their own and they live at different ends of the world. Her children live in Austrailia, Chile, France, Vermont, and the twins live in California. She visits her children whenever she can. If she isn't seeing them, she's talking to them on the phone. She has six children, three step-children, thirteen grandchildren with one on the way, one step-grandchild, two nephews, one niece, and three great nieces.
Today, Helene loves to cook and eat gourmet food, listen and dance to great jazz, go to the theater, and she takes great delight in sunrises and sunsets at home and abroad with her love, my Uncle Ernie. She just turned 75 years old and I'd say that she's pretty cool.
My Auntie Helene and Uncle Ernie |
~~~~~~~~~
I wrote this essay after a long phone conversation with my Auntie Helene. Since 1999, she and Ernie sold their home in NJ and moved to Chile to live with Helene's daughter. Sadly, my Uncle Ernie passed away in 2011 and my Auntie Helene passed away in 2012 while living in Chile. I will always remember their deep love for one another, their excitement over seemingly insignificant things, and their unique personalities that kept everyone interested in what they had to say. Even though they never met our children, they definitely knew about them through our phone conversations and from reading this blog. I miss them both.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Afternoon Ice Cream
So I might have kept a couple free frozen yogurt coupons from the film festival in December (sue me). Oh well. I don't think the kids mind that their mother is a thief.
Monday, January 20, 2014
"Dada Go Bye-Bye"
This was Paxton's first real sentence. He said it to me the other day when Wes left the car (and us) to go into a store. He just looked at me, pointed at Wes, and said, "Dada go bye-bye!"
Sunday, January 19, 2014
First Dance Class
Last Monday was Vivian's first dance class. She wore a black long sleeve leotard, a black sheer skirt, purple tights, and her hair in a bun. I think the bun was my favorite part.
That's Awfully...
Miss Vivian Grace says some funny things. Like her brother, she enjoys picking up phrases and words that she hears adults say. Gavin does this much more frequently than Vivian, but when she adopts a new word or phrase into her daily communication, it's usually hilarious.
Friday, January 17, 2014
His Top Words
At just about 20 months of age (on Jan 21st), Paxton has a vocabulary of a couple dozen or so words. But, he definitely has a few that he seems to say NON STOP. Besides the expected DADA and MAMA, Paxton's top words include YEAH, NO, GONE, ME (!!!), BYE-BYE, GO, BABY, BUG, BOOBIE, DOG-DOG, and CAR.
Although he probably says NO and ME the most, we think BOOBIE is his favorite.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Sippy Cups for Everyone!
Paxton is a toddler who understands everything, can't communicate (with words) very much, and insists on being equal with his siblings. Everything must be equal.
Gavin and Vivian get a snack, Pax needs a snack. Gavin and Vivian are using a yellow fork, Paxton needs a yellow fork (a blue one will not suffice). Gavin and Vivian get a present from someone, you better believe it that Pax needs a present, too.
This brings me to the point of this post: sippy cups. As of late, all of the children in our house are using sippy cups. While Paxton is fully capable of drinking out of a normal cup, we don't like to let him walk around the house or sit in the living room with one. And even when we let him have a big boy cup at dinner, it ends up being poured on the table (purposefully) about 70% of the time. Thus, Paxton needs a sippy cup. This means that in order to avoid a complete meltdown from Paxton, Gavin and Vivian need sippy cups as well. So we're back to the land of sippy cups. The twins don't seem to mind. For now.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
18 Month Stats
Yes, I realize that Paxton is almost 20 months old (on Jan 21), but I just took him to his 18-month check up this past week. Anywho, he's in the 85th percentile for both height (34 1/2 inches) and weight (27lbs 13oz) and the 95th percentile for head circumference (19 3/4 inches). And, he currently has EIGHT teeth coming in at the same time. Yowza.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Christmas Morning 2013
This is what our living room looked like right before the kids came downstairs to open presents.
When they came downstairs, we let them explore the presents before encouraging them to eat a little food at their new table and chairs set before we started with the stockings. Vivian was ready for a snack while the boys were fascinated by Vivian's new baby doll crib setup.
Shockingly, one of the biggest hits of the entire day came out of their stockings. We got them each a little toy flip phones- a pink Little Mermaid phone, a blue Monsters Inc. phone, and a red Cars phone. All three kids (but especially Paxton) loved their phones and used them all day long.
Paxton even talked on his phone while opening presents, periodically stopping to yell something at someone and then slamming it closed yelling, "BYE!"
Before we really started opening presents under the tree, we did get a couple of group shots- one of the five of us and one of Wes' mom and the kids.
Then it was time to rip open all of the gifts! Vivian's main gifts from us included a new HUGE baby doll, some new glitter shoes, a diaper bag with cloth diapers, cloth wipes, and some clothes for the new gigantic baby. Gavin got a Buckey ship (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), a remote control car, and and a Dusty airplane (from the Planes movie). And Pax got a little tractor trailer, a ton of play food for their play kitchen, and a hit-the-pag-down-with-a-wood-hammer thingy.
When they came downstairs, we let them explore the presents before encouraging them to eat a little food at their new table and chairs set before we started with the stockings. Vivian was ready for a snack while the boys were fascinated by Vivian's new baby doll crib setup.
Shockingly, one of the biggest hits of the entire day came out of their stockings. We got them each a little toy flip phones- a pink Little Mermaid phone, a blue Monsters Inc. phone, and a red Cars phone. All three kids (but especially Paxton) loved their phones and used them all day long.
Paxton even talked on his phone while opening presents, periodically stopping to yell something at someone and then slamming it closed yelling, "BYE!"
Before we really started opening presents under the tree, we did get a couple of group shots- one of the five of us and one of Wes' mom and the kids.
Then it was time to rip open all of the gifts! Vivian's main gifts from us included a new HUGE baby doll, some new glitter shoes, a diaper bag with cloth diapers, cloth wipes, and some clothes for the new gigantic baby. Gavin got a Buckey ship (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), a remote control car, and and a Dusty airplane (from the Planes movie). And Pax got a little tractor trailer, a ton of play food for their play kitchen, and a hit-the-pag-down-with-a-wood-hammer thingy.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Christmas Eve 2013
Our Christmas Eve was spent cutting out, baking, and decorating cookies, putting food outside for Santa's Reindeers, and getting ready for the next morning.
About mid-day, we got the dough ready to be rolled out for cut-out cookie-making! We cut them out, baked them, and decorated.
About mid-day, we got the dough ready to be rolled out for cut-out cookie-making! We cut them out, baked them, and decorated.
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