Merry Christmas, 2010!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, we sure did! 

It started with a happy discovery, that Santa did in fact visit our house!

This caused great excitement and rejoicing. 

 

The girls received all kinds of wonderful presents. The probable highlight of the day was opening the package from Ms. Jenifer- the complete set of Disney princess dolls! 

In fact, there were many many dolls this year! Perfect for two very girly girls. (I sure do hope the next one is a boy....)

 

Grandpa Dick gave Lela a tent, which both girls are having an absolute blast playing in. 

  

Adam and Amy gave Harvey a neat 3-D writing pad, and he's creating all kinds of secret codes. 

Nana gave the girls adorable outfits - here's Resli modeling her new dress. 

And here she is modeling the super cool hat Aunt Melissa gave her. (Who taught her this modeling  pose? Sheesh!)

Lela got a hat from Aunt Melissa too. 

Aunt Lizzy gave them both cute outfits too, which -again- seem to have resulted in joyous dancing. 

All in all, a fabulous day with family and love and fun. We hope your holiday was a great one, too!

Christmas pageant

This evening was the pageant at church. Resli was an angel. (Let me rephrase, Resli dressed as an angel, but I can't vouch for the fact that she acted like one the whole time...)

Lela was going to be a lamb but recently decided that she didn't want to participate. So she had some time to kill during the final dress rehearsal - yet again, we are grateful for the ipad!

The service started with the Angel Choir, all of whom were already costumed for their subsequent roles in the pageant. Resli is on the top row in the middle.

They sang "O Jesu Sweet" and "The Little Drummer Boy." Here's a video of the latter, although it's hard to hear, I know.

Then the pageant started. Lela scooted out to the middle of the aisle so she could see.

Resli (and the angels) sang "Angels We Have Heard On High" and, for such a difficult song, actually did quite well.

What you can't hear is that in the silence that followed, Lela looked up at me and yelled, "Resli didn't mess up!" Good thing we go to church with a lot of nice, friendly and understanding people who happen to think our daughters are very cute.
Both the angel and the non-lamb are snug in their beds, so we better let Santa get to work.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Video messages from Santa!

The girls were thrilled to receive personalized video messages direct from Santa Claus this morning!

If you want to see them, you can click here for Resli's, or here for Lela's. 

Ho Ho Ho!

(If you want to create your own video, you can do it at Portable North Pole!)

LIGHT UP WINDSOR

As in years past, we drove out to see the lights decorating the house out in Windsor. And as in years past, the girls loved it. 

   

  

    

Practicing for tomorrow's pageant

This morning we had a quick rehearsal of the songs the girls are singing in the pageant tomorrow: Angels We Have Heard On High and Away In A Manger.




Lela went all Rain Man on me and at the time I couldn't figure out why. She just told me now, though, that she was pretending to be a prince, and that because those were "girl songs" she couldn't sing them, since she was a boy.
Sigh.

A quick visit to see Santa

The girls and I headed to the mall this morning to see if we could catch Santa there before he heads back to the North Pole to rest up for tomorrow night. There was a bit of a line, but they entertained themselves with the scenery and the TV, playing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 

  

But when it came time to sit on Santa's lap, Lela wanted NOTHING to do with it! Resli was great, smiling and sweet and convincing Santa that she's just as angelic as can be.

    

I blame myself for Lela's reluctance. Before we left the house I made them both use the bathroom because I said Santa didn't want anyone peeing on his lap. They happily complied, but then when it was time to climb up with Santa, Lela decided she was scared of peeing on him! (She hasn't gone to the bathroom since, so it wasn't out of urgency that she felt that fear, it was just because I put the image in her head.)

And the festivities begin!

Our friends Max and Zach invited the girls over for dinner and playtime last night, to celebrate the fact that everyone is now on vacation.
Lela and Zach got in to playing right away.

And Lela and Daddy had some serious conversations, too.

Resli was a great big sister, taking care of all the younger kids and making sure they weren't getting in to trouble.

Here's a (mostly) group photo of all the kids that were there: Zach (1 and 1/2), Max (6 and 1/2), Nicholas (2), Ellie (almost 1), Resli and Lela, and Chloe (5) on the floor.

Considering all the different ages and stages, the kids did a great job playing together and getting along. And the parents had a lovely chance to catch up and celebrate the end of the semester.

Lela's holiday concert

Friday was the last day of school for both Resli and Lela. At Resli's school the 4th and 5th graders had a sing-along and a play, which I was able to see part of with Resli. Then I had to rush downtown to see Lela's class in their holiday concert.
Lela is quite the earnest singer when it comes to performing.


Even if there was a little time for giggling and showboating.

They sang Away in a Manger

(trust me, that's what they're singing!)
and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.


(A note from the camerawoman: who knew the zoom feature was so annoying? And I had a 2-year-old on my lap who decided, mid-song, that she wanted to go back to her parents!)

Afterwards Lela wanted to learn a bit about how the camera works.


Then we had some snack and rumor has it, after the parents went back to work, Santa made a visit! Rumor also has it that Lela was too scared to talk to him. I seem to remember a picture of myself (with Meliss) sitting on Santa's lap crying, so I guess it runs in the family!

Christmas photo shoot

We got the girls new Christmas dresses over the weekend. Silly me, I thought I could say, "Now, we'll save these for our Christmas parties" and that would be that. No such luck. They had to wear them to church Sunday, and, if it weren't for Resli's school dress code, would insist on wearing them every day. You'll see them in future posts, I'm sure. But for now, here are some of the results of this weekend's photo shoot. Enjoy!

Christmas dancing, 80s style

It wouldn't be Christmas without JibJab's Elf Yourself.

Resli's school picture 2010

We posted Lela's school picture a while ago, and now we finally have Resli's. (In reality, we did have her original picture back weeks ago, but it was not a favorable likeness of her, let's say... So we went for the retake.)
Still not her best look,

but it's a nice grown-up-kindergarten-girl kind of photo.

Oh Christmas Tree

Today we took the plunge and went looking for our most perfect Christmas tree. 

Resli and Lela did the appropriate dance to summon the evergreen goddesses.

And then joyously found the best tree ever.

 Then we had to guard it from all the other lookers while Daddy went to tell the Christmas tree elves which one we wanted. 

When we got home we got ourselves all reindeered out to prepare for decorating.

   

(Pardon the grapes, it was snack time!)

All our decorating paid off, and now we have the prettiest Christmas tree we've ever had.

Welcome, December!

It doesn't always feel like winter here in Florida, but the last couple days have been pretty chilly. Resli even broke out the hat and gloves to walk to school!

So it seemed fitting that Friday evening the North Florida hospital (where both girls were born, and where their pediatrician works) had their light lighting (??) ceremony. [We went to this ceremony three years ago, you might recall. Check here if you want to take a little stroll down memory lane.]
There were beautiful lights everywhere in all kinds of wonderful arrangements.
   
Their favorite part though was this big wooden Frosty.

Resli couldn't get enough of him!

It was crowded and chilly but a good way to welcome the holiday season.