Wedding

Last weekend we went to the wedding of Mika's goddaughter, Eleni. Emily and Phoebe wore skirts!

They handed out rice...

...and almond sweets.

Witch

With Carnival under way, we have to find some costumes for the girls. This is proving somewhat problematic, however, since Phoebe refuses to set foot in a fancy-dress shop.

The reason for this reluctance is that just round the corner from us is a costume shop with a witch outside. A witch that she is absolutely petrified of. A witch that she first saw last year and left her a quivering wreck. A witch that is there again this year and is even more terrifying (having lost a hand). She refuses to let us walk past it. If we even go near it, I have to carry her while she clings on to me for dear life, burying her face in my shoulder. When we drive past it she closes her eyes to avoid seeing it.

So this year's costume may have to be a cast-off (and if I'm not very much mistaken, she already has her eye on a Ninja costume that Emily wore a few years back...)

Hats

It snowed for 24 hours and the girls had no school for three whole days!

The perfect opportunity to go out in their cool new hats knitted by Vibeka!

Fun in the snow

The girls are very disappoionted that there is no school because of heavy snowfall in Athens over the weekend...

First photo by Paul, last two by Emily.

Snowman

"Dad, do we have any carrots?"

"I don't think so, darling. Why?"

"Phoebe and I are making a snowman and we want one for his nose. Do you think a tomato would work?"

I must confess that I laughed so much at this question that I caused myself actual physical pain. After I had recovered I managed to convince the intrepid snowman builders that "Project Tomato" might prove somewhat squishy. Eventually a small orange was used. Which kept falling out. He also has arms made of drinking straws (if you look hard enough).

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Nevi and I take Sunday very seriously as a day of rest, which means in practical terms that the girls are not allowed under any circumstances to wake us up.

They are very well aware of this and as a rule sit obediently in front of the TV, leaving us to surface in our own time. So unused am I to being woken by either of the children on a Sunday that my first thought on catching a bleary-eyed glimpse of the little red-hatted figure on the left was that a garden gnome had somehow broken into the house and was robbing us.

In fact, as it soon transpired, it had snowed during the night and the girls wanted to go out onto the balcony and play. Well, fair enough. It only happens about once every three years and it usually only lasts about a day, so they might as well make the most of it...

It's a map!

With perfect directions showing how to get from the kindergarten to our house (via, in order, as you can clearly see, a cafe, a supermarket, the butcher's, the car repair shop, the bakery and a tree).

This is so that her various boyfriends can visit her whenever they want...