Bedtime stories

Resli takes her big sister responsibilities very seriously. Now that she's getting so good at reading, she enjoys reading Lela her bedtime story.

(This is a book we've had for years, since I was pregnant with Lela, but we haven't read it in ages. So while Resli knew the context and could obviously use the pictures to help, she did read each and every word!)

Would you, could you . . . in a house?

Daddy made an extra special treat for dinner the other night:
GREEN EGGS and HAM!

In spite of their love of the Dr. Seuss book, the girls have not fully embraced its message, as they were a bit put off by the color and reluctant to try them.
(They did not want them here or there. They did not want them anywhere.)
Silly girls.

Together time

In between fighting like devils, Resli and Lela have good moments of loving to be together. Our armchairs are the perfect size for the two of them to cuddle up and read or watch TV together.

And occasionally try to nap together. (The only times they're allowed to use thumb/pacifier are at naptime and bedtime!)

This day did happen to end in a short doze for Lela, which she began with her head on Resli's shoulder. It was about the cutest thing ever. (Until Resli told her she was making her uncomfortable and pushed her head over to the other side. Sigh.)

Hello, everyone!

Greetings, world! 

You don't know me yet, but around the end of June I'll join you in this big big world and introduce myself properly. For now, I wanted to give you a sneak preview. 

This is my profile:

And these are my feet. They do a LOT of kicking these days!

Oh, and just so you know, I'm another girl!

See you in a few months...

Sue's retirement party

Sue, the office manager for the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Department, retired this week. We had a party at our house today to help her celebrate and although many folks were unable to make it, there were well over 70 people here. I made this Smilebox to share with Sue, which I will, but I thought I'd post it here too in case any one is interested (?). The picture are all colleagues and students from my department or the French and Italian sections of the Languages, Literatures & Cultures Department. (We were formerly Romance Languages and Literatures, and were split apart a few years ago.)

Greeting card generated with Smilebox

Recipe for disaster?

INGREDIENTS
2 girls under age 6
1 holiday (=no public school)
handful of things to do in my office
rain until saturated

In a fit of desperation, add:
1 large umbrella

Stand back and watch, enjoying the spectacle while making sure nobody loses an eye.

Girl Scout Cookies!

This year, since Resli is a Daisy Scout, she gets to sell Girl Scout cookies. Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, she's made several sales through us, but today we decided to do a little door-to-door selling in our neighborhood.
Resli got her Daisy vest on and grabbed the order form and, after a little practicing, she was ready for human interaction.

She pretty fearlessly approached houses and rang doorbells, although tended to falter a little on the spiel, especially if someone interrupted the routine (by, say, asking "How are you?").

Thankfully, Lela was there with her pony Peppermint, and she kept Resli in good spirits.

In just a couple blocks, we sold 10 boxes of cookies to six people. (Apparently, many of you venture out into the world on Sunday afternoons...) Not bad for her first cold calls.
By the way, if you're interested in buying some cookies, we're taking orders through January 23rd. Cookies will be delivered later in February, and money ($4/box) is due at that time. We're always willing to help you get your fix of Samoas or Thin Mints!

Modern mall marvels

There's no better way to kill time on a cold, wet Saturday than playing at the mall. Sure, there's the kids' play area, but we also like exploring what kind of wonderful inventions are for sale these days.
Resli was especially intrigued, for example, by the 3D TVs.

And both girls thought the Shake Weight was an excellent opportunity for fun and toning.

Luckily, though, the weather is improving and we can send them outside to play now!

Brrr...!

I know it's been cold and snowy in many other parts of the country, but it's been ridiculously cold here in Florida too. Thank goodness Lela has a warm jacket and these wonderful mittens and hat from cousin Atticus.

Getting the hang of it

Resli got a bike for Christmas last year (2009!) and since then Lela's been riding the big wheels. Between Resli's relative lack of, ehem, grace and coordination, our lack of time, and the scarcity of days in which the weather is pleasant outside (either too hot or too wet or too cold), we haven't been very good at helping them practice riding...
However, over the holiday break we made a point of going out to ride every day. Lo and behold, Resli miraculously figured out the art of peddling and steering, almost at the same time! Lela still scoots along without pedals, and occasionally steers too.

This is really exciting for Resli, and she gets better each time she rides!

I know many of her friends are working on getting rid of their training wheels, but we're just thrilled to see this progress. Lela loves it too, by the way.

Hiding from the doctor

When we go see Dr. Grooms, the girls like to hide under the examination table and pretend they aren't there.

Then they jump out and surprise Dr. Grooms.
Sure, the floor is dirty and full of germs, but it's fun!

Lions and tigers and bears... OH MY!

Today we made plans with Aunt Liz to drive up to Jacksonville to take a trip to the zoo. Unfortunately, we had already made those plans before we knew it was going to be below 30 degrees when we left home - and that it wouldn't get above 40 or so for the whole time we were there! So, we got the girls bundled up in hats, gloves, and all the most winter-y clothes they own.

When we got there we had to practice our roaring to prepare for all the animal encounters we were planning. 

First, we saw the lions. Well, this metal lion at least. (We did see real lions later, although I couldn't get any pictures of them, thanks to the silly protective glass between us and them!) 

What's really funny is that all the statues have these signs next to them:

I'm sure in July that's a valid warning, but it seemed somewhat unnecessary today!

We rode on a little train around part of the zoo, and saw elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, all kinds of cool animals. It was so cold, though, that they were all a little sluggish... 

There was a neat koi pond, and we spent a good deal of time looking at the huge fish. 

The komodo dragon apparently doesn't like the cold weather, so didn't make an appearance, but the girls seemed content with playing on the statue. 

There was a "Wild Animals Carousel" that seems to have been the highlight of the day. It moved pretty fast so Harvey had a hard time getting good pictures, but Lela rode on the zebra, with Liz's help, and Resli rode on the elk with me behind her just in case.

After the ride was over we discovered this great gator with an orange and blue saddle. Too bad we didn't get to ride on him, but we did stop for a CHOMP moment.

The flamingos were very noisy and also quite pretty. Although I was somewhat disheartened to learn that they're fed special food in zoos to help maintain their color. They looked a little artificial to me... 

We were looking forward to seeing some gorillas and apes, but they were too cold to go outside also. So Harvey and the girls had to do the next best thing: imitations.

Lastly, we stopped for a family portrait on our way out. 

The best part is that both Resli and Lela slept on the ride home - a virtually unheard of event anymore. All that sun and cold and wind and excitement must have just worn them out!

SNOW... IN GAINESVILLE!

Believe it or not, today it actually snowed in Gainesville! Not a snow like you folks up north experience, and nothing that would ever accumulate, but flurries and flakes nonetheless.
If you look really close, you can see it in this picture:

We brought the girls outside to enjoy it, even though I'm not sure they understood what it was.

They wanted to build a snowman... We're waiting to see if we get any more. Otherwise, we'll have to build a snowman out of mashed potatoes or something.

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!