Merry Christmas 2010

It's the end of 2010 and Christmas is upon us!

We took the girls to get their portraits taken and it was an amusing experience. For the most part, when one was smiling, the other was looking sideways or gaping at the funny animals and vice versa!

But we were grateful that the photographer was able to capture a few charming shots,

...as well as a few that showcased their fun-loving personalities.

And I should add that these are just "teaser photos" since they are all selections from the CD (we got to keep all the images!) that we did NOT choose to have made into prints! But we wouldn't want Christmas to come too early! ;-)

Elizabeth's Ballet Debut

Well, we are officially THOSE parents! You know...the ones who enroll their wee ones in dance classes that Peter always insisted culminate in a display of ridiculousness that all the mommies find irresistibly adorable!

Guilty as charged. I thought it was precious!

Here she is practicing in a final run-through before the recital began!

And here she is with her teacher, Miss Monica, after the recital!

E has been taking ballet class for all of 5 weeks! Some of the other girls have been enrolled in this class for 13 weeks. Personally, I don't think it made much difference ;-) but you can judge for yourselves!

Enjoy!

"I'll Be the Horse If You'll Play With Me!"

That's the name of a children's book by Martha Alexander. And it was one of my sister and my favorite books when we were kids.

And I have to say... it's kind of fun to look at these pictures and really understand--on a deeper and more appreciative level-- why this was such an appropriate title for the sequel to Nobody Asked Me If I Wanted a Baby Sister!

Goofin' Around

I decided to give myself a little tutorial in the use of iMovie! A simple project, really...I just wanted to be able to put a short video to the music of my choice. Turned out it only took me about 20 minutes of trial and error to figure out what I was doing wrong. And here is my first attempt.

The music is a short piece called "I'll Be Waiting" from the score of the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie, You've Got Mail--but I think it fits the mood here! :-)

Enjoy!

If You Lived Here...

then this could have been YOUR Saturday Adventure, too!

We're sure glad it was ours! :-) Could not have asked for a more beautiful day yesterday... or better weather in which to explore the treasures of our nation's capital! Did I mention we LOVE it here???

Happy Birthday to E!

Our Little Monkey turned FOUR today!

And she had a "mod monkey party" to celebrate the occasion!

Move over, Suri...this A-list Birthday Soiree was such a Can't-Miss-Event, the guests came from as far away as LA---and San Diego!--and Seattle! to celebrate with us!

E got some fun gifts from a whole bunch of people who love her and, of course, it made for an exciting, festive, and exhausting day!

Here's a video of her getting ready to take a spin on her scooter from Grandma & Grandpa! After a few attempts around the driveway for practice, she was definitely getting the hang of it. And she continued to wear the helmet long after she had moved on to a rousing game of "hide the ball" (And, btw, did I mention this particular game involved E "hiding" a giant pink 8-inch bouncy ball in the monkey grass...in the same spot...in plain sight...every. single. time? Just sayin'...) ;)

Giggly Girls

So, Pop-Pop will probably tell me how mortified the girls will be that this is now "out there" for all eternity for future boyfriends to see. But it's just too cute not to post! ;-)

So, with little shame (and half-hearted apologies to my daughters' future modesty), I present to you: Bathtime Giggles!

Fun Fall Day!

Did I mention it's FALL at our house?!?!

Well...the constantly-changing leaves on the trees surrounding us are a daily reminder!

And, while the colorful autumn leaves are surely beautiful, we finally came to the realization that we could be buried alive by them if we did not invest in a leaf blower--and FAST!

This is the second weekend in a row that we have put the blower to excellent use!

And, obviously, the girls LOVE it!

Happy Fall, Y'all!