Not-so-Christmas Christmas Lights

The girls were really excited by the Christmas lights and decorations this year. So, I asked around for some good light displays and a neighborhood mom told me about a botanical garden in Maryland. We bundled up tight and took the girls to see the lights -- It was COLD that night (19 degrees, I think!), but worth it. There were the most beautiful light displays! Not very Christmas-y really -- the theme was "The Four Seasons" -- but beautiful none-the-less. The girls LOVED it! They had so much fun running around the garden paths and marveling at all the beautiful lights.

This photo doesn't do the garden justice, but it does give you a sense of the amount of lights they had... it was amazing. Everything was lit up! They even had a rainbow with thunder clouds and lightening, complete with sound effects. Most of the lights were at the girls' height, making them all the more magical. It was as if they were walking through a twinkling garden.

Katie (in pink) and Ella (in purple/blue) being silly with Daddy.

In the gazebo.

Checking out the blue butterfly... Ella said it was "blue-tiful!"

Mom and girls checking out the unbelievable train display! We had fun trying to find all the hidden objects (a grizzly bear even!) in the display.

Ella smelling the blue hydrangeas.

Katie smelling the pink hydrangeas.

Running through the caterpillar.

Working

The girls told me this story: "You know what Mrs. Silva (their preschool teacher) says? Every morning at school she says, 'It's time to get to WORK!' Then she says, 'What's your work?' And, we all say, TO PLAY!"

Here, Katie is doing some 'sewing' and Ella is doing a little work on the 'computer'...

Gwagy Lumps by Ella

Ella calls her blanket 'gwagy' and this series of photos she calls "Gwagy Lumps" Where's Ella...????

THERE she is!!

Daddy's Girls

When Bill gets home from work, for the girls, it's as if the sun just came up (actually, when I think about it, I kinda feel the same way!). Katie and Ella were snuggling up in Daddy's lap at the dinner table and I just had to capture the moment.

Katie on the left; Ella on the right

Katie left... leaving Ella some one-on-one snuggle time.

Here's Katie! With Puppy and Blankie, of course!

The Sugar Plum Princess and Fairy Godmother

The girls were playing dress up, so I grabbed the camera. Katie is the Sugar Plum Princess (we had just gone to The Nutcracker the previous week) and Ella is the Fairy Godmother. How do we know? The cape. Fairy Godmother's ALWAYS wear capes.

You'll notice Katie doing her ballet position (I think that's pretty close to 5th?).

Katie on pointe (she wants Santa to bring her REAL ballet shoes for Christmas!).

Ella striking a pose.

Katie again.

A very serious ballerina.

What's under the tree?

Aunt Margie was the first to send the girls a Christmas present this year. They were SO MAD at me for not letting them open the presents and telling them they had to wait until Christmas. They almost opened them, but I threatened calling Santa! Instead, they decided to have a little tea party... the bows from the presents made perfect hair bows!

Ella on the left in the striped pj's; Katie, as usual, in pink.
Katie serving some tea.

Ella giving me that 'look'.

Here Comes Santa Clause!

We took the girls to the mall last week to see Santa. This was their 'treat' after getting 4 (Yes, FOUR!) shots at their 4-yr-old doctor's visit. Wow, am I glad that's over! No more shots for a while (I hope!).

They were so excited to see Santa! They went right to him, jumped up on his lap, and sat and talked to him -- we went to the "bad" mall, which meant there was no line and they could spend as much time as they wanted with him -- it was AWESOME!

Ella and Katie with Santa Clause

Merry Christmas!

Calculated Sharing

As we were driving along in the car today, I hear Ella say to Katie, "Katie, do you want some of my pretzels? I'll share with you..."

I thought, "Wow, what a great kid! Sharing with her sister without me MAKING her -- amazing!"

A few minutes later when the pretzels are all gone, I hear Ella say, "Katie, I shared a pretzel with you... now, can I have some of your Goldfish crackers.

Giving Thanks and a Visit from Grandma and Granddad

This Thanksgiving we had dinner with some very dear friends, Mr. Paul, Miss Margo and their kids, Hunter, Royce, and Ben. We had such a lovely dinner and it was so nice to see Paul, who was home on his mid-tour deployment leave. Katie and Ella I think have a crush on Hunter -- "He's the BEST-EST big boy, Mom!" -- and Royce is a blast to play with because he rough houses with them, and, of course, Ben is their best boy bud.

Quick after dinner photo op.

Grandma and Granddad came for a visit too. The girls took them to Daddy's work, the Pentagon.

Here, they're giving the DoD Morning Briefing.

Just RUUUUNNNNNNNNING around the Pentagon! Grandma fixes the girls hair. Katie with a braid on top.

And, Ella with dog ears. (It's sort of looks like Katie is picking her nose, but I really don't think she was... hmmmm?)

"Woof, Woof!" pant, pant ... Ella pretending to be a 'puppy' with her 'dog ears'.

Two Little Chefs

The girls and I have been taking a cooking class. Our friends, Ben and Miss Margo, were in class with us too. We had so much fun! Here are a few shots from our last day of class. We made smoothies, grilled cheese sandwiches, and Smores -- YUM!

Katie is cutting up her banana and Ella is working on a strawberry. We were making smoothies... yummm!

This is Katie's look for, "Can I eat this?"

Ben working on his strawberry.

Time to make the smoothies!

And, grilled cheese -- double yum!

Ben joining in.

Ella enjoying her Smores (note the little speck of marshmallow on her cheek).

My Little Dirt Devils

Now that Wally's gone, we don't have our handy-dandy-crumb-picker-upper (Truly, I didn't realize what a help he was in that department!). So, I bought the girls their very own Dirt Devils and they are now helping me keep the floor clean. Such GREAT helpers they are -- well, sort of -- the other day, I found Ella just sitting there in the middle of the kitchen floor spinning hers like a top. Baby steps, I remind myself... baby steps.

Ella getting the crumbs from under her booster seat.

Katie working at the top of the stairs.

Falling for Fall

It's Fall in Lake Barcroft... how can you tell? The LEAVES! Dad made a huge leaf pile for the girls to jump in. Oh, did they have FUN!

Katie making a run for it! Ella just enjoying herself in her bed of leaves...

Ella in mid-jump!

A Tea Party With Belle

The girls were invited to a friend's birthday party and guess who was the surprise guest? Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Here are a few photos from Caitlyn's party.

The party began with dress-up time. Ella is in the blue Mermaid dress and Katie is in the pink princess dress. Then all the girls gathered around for story time.

Belle came to finish the story of how she met and fell in love with the Beast.
Next, it was tea time. Ella was worried at first. She whispered to me, "Momma, I don't like tea!" But, we soon found out it was REALLY apple juice. The girls were okay with having some "tea" then and the brownies were delicious!