Chornopeckyj Christmas Tree

 

Behold, (2/3 of the) Chornopeckyj Yalynka (Christmas Tree). We didn't attach the bottom section so that we could get it off of the floor and away from tugging twins' hands... :-)

 

Zoe happily clutches a blue star ornament.

 

Zoe is entranced by a gold star ornament.

 

Izzie grabs hold of a Santa Claus ornament.

 

Izzie decides where to hang a Maggie Simpson ornament.

Blizzard of Aught Nine II

I realized that I had promised some general pictures of the snowy landscape in addition to pictures of the twins, so here they are. By the way, I had already called the snowstorm back in January 2009 the "Blizzard of Aught Nine," but after the eighteen inches or so of snow that we got during this past December's storm, the appellation no longer seems as appropriate. :-)

 

Some decent-sized icicles formed on the main portion of our roof.

 

 

The snow cover on our cars was a pretty good visual depiction of how much snow we got.

 

I liked the contrast of the snow piled up on our electric meter.

 

Snow was piled high on the steps to our back deck.

 

 

Snow was precariously piled atop this thorny branch. (I manually converted the second image to b&w.)

 

The snow on the table on our back deck was the best measure of how much snow we got, somewhere over 18 inches, I believe. It figures that I hadn't yet covered the table for the season... :-(

End-of-Year-One Update!

 

Zoe cuddles with Mama.

 

 

Mmmm... pizza crust. :-)

 

A wide-angle lens results in a somewhat vertiginous effect.

 

The twins like to "read," if "read" means randomly flipping through picture books, devouring select pages, and throwing the rest down the basement stairs.

 

Zoe samples coffee. Thankfully, I don't think she took to it too much...

 

Weeee!!!

 

Weeee!!!

 

Uh oh.

 

 

 

The twins love the teddy bears they got for Christmas.

Paparazzi

The twins do not take kindly to paparazzi.

 

 

 

 

The Hunt

 

Now that the lumbering beast has been felled by the pack, the hunger-crazed predators set upon their prey in earnest.

 

The ferocious predators briefly cease their frenzied gorging to warn off potential scavengers.

 

The hunger-addled predators devour all of their prey, leaving scant remnants behind for hopeful scavengers.

Twins' First Birthday!

The twins celebrated their first birthday on December 15th, 2009. Both sets of grandparents came down for the party. :-)

Babusia and Dido fed the twins some pizza. Mmm... pizza. :-)

Zoe offers Didyo condiments.

 

Ulana baked some awesome panda cupcakes for the occasion.

 

Ooh, cupcakes! Zoe really enjoyed them, but you'll note Izzie's increasing distress in the next photos...

 

Candles!

 

Zoe happily munches while Izzie gets upset.

 

Izzie just can't keep her distress to herself, though.

 

 

Nom nom nom...

 

Driko gave Izzie a ride to cheer her up.

 

Izzie takes a piece of Driko's finger off as she samples the cupcake frosting.

 

Izzie eventually came around and enjoyed her cupcake.

 

Babusia says good-bye to Zoe.

 

Babi and Babusia say good-bye.