Happy Birthday Granddaddy!

Over the weekend we celebrated Granddaddy's (upcoming) birthday.

Resli and Lela offered a "Sleeping Beauty Ballet" performance for his viewing pleasure.

Resli (aka Aurora) asked him to play along, too.

He got to be Prince Phillip and awaken her from her slumber.

The girls celebrated with graceful bows.

And, of course, hugs and big smiles.

  

After which there was (dinner and) cake.

Resli helped Granddaddy make his wish.

Here's hoping it comes true!

Movie night!

The other night, before the Presidents' Day holiday, we arranged for a special treat for the girls: A MOVIE NIGHT! I made a little bed on the floor of the living room and Harvey made some popcorn, and the Toy Story DVD appeared in the player.

Lela got a little scared toward the end, but Resli thoroughly enjoyed herself. They're already planning for the next movie night, which is weeks and weeks (and weeks?) away.

Dinner date

We had a very special dinner date tonight - we went out with Ms. Jenifer and Mr. Vlad. 

We hadn't seen Ms. Jenifer in a while, it was great to catch up! Thanks for hanging out with us!

Spring has sprung

Today was an absolutely beautiful day - sunny and warm and spring-like. We celebrated by going to have a picnic in the park. 

 

The girls were in rare lovable form. There was time for friendly kisses, 

hugging by the fish pond,

dancing by the river.

and monkeying around.

And of course, there was time for our (almost annual?) slide-shot:

We hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are, too!

Toothless grin

Resli's other top tooth finally came out this morning during breakfast!

(Unfortunately, it was swallowed with some cheerios. But we have assured her that the Tooth Fairy works on good faith.)

Happy (almost) Birthday, Resli!

This week, Resli will turn six (!!!!!). 

We had her family party on the weekend, so that even our special out of town guests (Liz, Brian and Nana) would be able to attend. After the entertainment, we moved on to presents before dinner. Resli did an excellent job reading all her cards herself, and then opened her wonderful gifts.

 

There were a combination of items, from books to clothes to toys to dictionaries. All in all a wonderful birthday treat for her. Here she is showing off the Wizard of Oz snow-globe from Grandpa - a huge hit! - and modeling the new outfit from Harvey and me. 

 

One of the biggest hits in the book department was a set of the next four books that we need in the Magic Treehouse series - such a hit that it resulted in dancing and singing.

Then of course, the real highlight was cake.

The girls waited patiently for it to make its appearance... 

Resli had said she wanted a "flower" cake, so I did my best to please her:

It was a fabulous party and Resli couldn't have been happier. She's looking forward to a Girl Scouts party Monday evening and some kind of singing and popsicle thing at school on Tuesday, the big day itself.

I can't believe she's already six years old!

The Resli and Lela Review

Taking advantage of the party we were having, Resli and Lela decided they wanted to put on a performance for our guests. So we created the first Resli and Lela Review, complete with programs and everything.

They sang some duets, and also each got some solos.

There were knock knock jokes too, thrown in in between the numbers.

The crowd loved it. I have a feeling the Review will be back...

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!