Princess Ballet Recital

Katie and Ella have been taking a ballet class -- Princess Ballet, to be exact. They had a small, informal recital for the parents. It was very sweet. Their FIRST recital -- so exciting!

Even though Katie was too nervous to perform at the recital, they both took a bow. Katie is on the left with the pink hairbow and Ella has the white skirt and the blue hairbow. Ella having a cookie afterwards.

Katie making a cute face.

Here's a short video of Ella's performance. She is a secret ham, I think, because she did GREAT and wasn't the least bit shy. Moments before going on stage, Katie started crying and "wanted to go HOME, MOMMY!" I had to convince her we had to stay to watch Ella. You'll notice that she is talking constantly throughout the performance... could care less that her sister was out there dancing! So funny!

Happy Easter!

A few photos from Easter morning... Katie SMELLING (?) her chocolate bunny!

Ella grinning over the new puzzle the Easter Bunny left her

And, sidewalk chalk!

Katie expressing her JOY! over the new dress the Easter Bunny left her!

Ella showing off her new mermaid beach towel

And, new PRINCESS nightgowns!

(I know, I know... the Easter Bunny is turning in to Santa Clause!)

Ella (green bow) and Katie (pink bow) in their new Easter dresses

After church we had Ben over for Easter Lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard...

They're OFF!

Later in the day we look out the front window and the girls are drawing on the patio with their sidewalk chalk.

Ella sitting on the window sill enjoying her chocolate bunny...

HAPPY EASTER!

Lake Barcroft Easter Egg Hunt

Here area a few photos from the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.

The girls getting a lolly pop (mom calls it a sucker -- is that old fashioned?) from the Easter Bunny. They both noted that it was really just a person in a costume -- "he has real hands, Mommy".

And the egg hunt begins!

The girls graduated this year to the grassy area (the beach is reserved for only the littlest kids)...

Ella finding a pink one... I wonder if she's deciding on whether to put it in her basket?

Last year, she kept ONLY blue eggs (see photo below for flashback).

Katie with her eye on one...

A disappointed Katie -- she couldn't find as many as she wanted (although from my perspective she found plenty!).

The REAL Easter Bunny -- he had eggs hidden in his overcoat and would toss them at the children's' feet so they would be sure to find them!

Coloring Easter Eggs

An official Easter task is, of course, coloring Easter eggs. Katie and Ella really had fun this year letting the eggs 'sleep' in the dye (or as Ella says, i-eds - see video below) and making "rainbow" eggs. It was fun coloring Easter eggs with them too -- they really are a kick to hang out with these days!

Ella (on the left) and Katie with all their cups of dye

Ella showing me how she makes "rainbow" eggs (putting the same egg in each cup of dye one after the other).

Daddy on "dye patrol"

Smiling for the camera

Happy EASTER!

Trip to Bunnyland

As a special treat this year, I took the girls to Bunnyland. WOW! What an adventure! The girls really had a good time -- there were so many fun things to do...

First stop, the pony rides!

Katie on a cute little white horse



Ella on a spotted one

Then it's time for a hayride through "Bunnyland"

Mom with her girls.

Next stop, FACE PAINTING!

Ella gets a yellow butterfly

Katie gets a pink butterfly

Then, it's off to the bouncy house

Then so see the inside of the Bunny's house

We also had a chance to pet some real bunnies and a chicken. The girls played on a wooden castle and drove a (pretend) tractor. We all went down a HUGE slide on a burlap sack that was SCAR-EE -- Mom screamed louder than either of the little girls! We had a rubber duckie race in an old watering trough, which was a lot of hard work. We ended our adventure with an Easter egg hunt, but the eggs were empty and the girls quickly agreed it wasn't much fun to hunt for candy-less Easter eggs. On the way out, however, they gave the girls a little treat basket with a delicious home-grown apple (the BEST apple I think I've ever eaten!) and a yummy cookie, which more than made up for the empty Easter eggs! All-in-all it was a very good day (but it's definitely Daddy's turn to take them next year)!

Swinging in the Back Yard

Here's a short video of the girls and their friend, Ben, swinging on the swing set in the back yard -- sort of a 'day in the life of a 4-year-old'. I'm always impressed at how well the girls can swing! They are so coordinated (knowing how un-athletic I was as a kid, this is definitely a gene they received from their dad)! And, many thanks to Grandma and Granddad for the swing set! (hmmm... Come to think of it, that's a very good example of the interaction between environment and heredity... sorry. My inner psychologist is coming out!)

Some video highlights: Ben's constant talking completely unaware that no one appears to be listening to him, Ben's pants on backwards, Ben telling Ella "that's weird" and "don't call me poopy diaper", as well as the many oh-my-goodness-they-are-going-to-CRASH moments... Enjoy!

Cherry Blossom Festival

Bill gave me the "day off" and took the girls downtown to the Cherry Blossom Festival parade. It was a bit crowded making it difficult to see the parade, but they had a fun outing with dad.

Katie (in pink) and Ella (in blue) standing in the stroller trying to see the parade.

Snack time

Waiting for the parade

Ella (left) and Katie with one of the Japanese dancers they saw.

The Truth About Saturday Mornings

The "official" photo: It's Saturday morning and me, the wonderful mother that I am, and the girls are watching TV, TOGETHER, like all good mothers do with their children, snuggling and watching some quality children's shows, something on PBS, answering all their cute little questions about all the wonders of the world...

The TRUTH:

mom's texting/checking email while the girls are absorbed in Saturday morning cartoons!

Two Little Kittens

I was downstairs doing something on the computer and as I was working I had this thought, "hmmm, the girls sure are quiet..." The next thing I know, I heard little 'meows' coming from the hallway and two little kitty cats walked in and surprised me! The girls had painted their faces to look like kitty cats -- I was rather impressed at what a good job they did!

"Smile, little kittens!"

Katie (in pink) and Ella (in green)

Kite Festival

In March, we took the girls to downtown DC for the Smithsonian Kite Festival. It was so much fun! There were kites EVERY where -- it was so cool to see all the kites in the air and all the kids and dads and moms and grandmas and grandpas all flying their kites. Even our little $1 Barbie kites from WalMart did just fine -- all we needed was a little wind and up, up and AWAY went Barbie! Katie really enjoyed flying her kite -- Ella was having more fun stomping around in the muck and "juicy" mud, as she called it (you'll see on the video if you're so inclined to watch it) than flying her kite. But, that turned out well for me because she let mommy "borrow" her kite for a while (one of my favorite things to do as a kid).

Katie running to get her kite in the air.And, it's UP!

It's hard to see, but I like this one because it has both girls in action, trying to get their kites in the air.

Ella in the foreground and Katie and Daddy a little further back -- that's the Washington Monument in the background.

Katie flying her kite in front of the Washington Monument.

Ella flying her kite

This is Ella stomping around in the mud -- she loved that she could make the squishy noises with her boots and her feet stayed dry and warm in her snow boots (it was a little cold that day).

Ahhhh, a fun day!

Here's a short (5 min) video of the girls 'in action'...