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!