Marielle as Clara

This was the last week of the session for dance class and the girls got to individually perform their little "Clara" dance. They all did a great job! I had planned on taking her to see the ballet perform the Nutcracker but couldn't find a time that worked for us this year. Maybe next year! Practicing her arabesque...she's getting much better!

Hello, Mr. Nutcracker!

Waiting for her turn to do the Spotlight Dance at the end.

An action shot during "Sleigh Bells"!

I'll warn you now...the videos are not that exciting...but I had to post it for the grandparents' sakes!

Friends with cameras

I have discovered that friends with cameras are the best kind to have! My friend Emily received an early Christmas present and was playing with it at my house the other day. She sent me these wonderful pictures so while I spend a year uploading video from Marielle's final dance class, I thought I would upload these for you to enjoy. I don't often post pictures of myself, so every time there is one I don't hate, I have to post it. Plus this way my kids have photographic evidence that their mom did more than stay behind the camera! Thank you, Emily!

Disclaimer: That is not a real Oreo he is chewing on. :-)

Great catchlights, Em!

Marielle's Special Day

I'll apologize now that this post is about Marielle but contains pictures of only Beckett. :-) I still find it impossible to juggle him and the camera (plus the assorted gear today required with the first snowfall) so we have just the mental memory of her special day. Hey, the story is better than nothing, right? The pictures are a little glimpse into Beckett's afternoon while his sister sleeps. That's when he's my captive subject and he gets to explore what he wants to!
The preschool celebrates the summer birthdays on the child's half birthday. Today, Marielle turns three and a half, which I find impossible! We have an unusually busy day today, so I'm thankful that for the moment they are both napping and I can breathe a little. I'm not sleeping well (not because of either child, just my own insomnia) so if I can't actually nap at least I can rest. Marielle requested that I spend the day with her at school instead of just coming for snack time, so I was happy to see how her day goes. They start with circle time, where they talk about the theme of the day (today was green), the month, day and date, the weather, etc. Since it was her special day, she was again the superstar of the day and was the one chosen to put up the date card and turn the wheel to show the weather. Today was cold and snowy for the first time! They practiced their songs for the Christmas party next week, complete with some props. I will make sure I somehow get photos next week!

After circle time they went to the craft room. Today they made wreaths by painting paper plates green. Such brave teachers, these two, letting 12 three-year-olds loose with paint! :-) After they finished their painting they could look at a book until recess. Then they went to the gym and went wild!

I love the calendar they provide every month so we know what each day's theme is, and for today's snack I was able to play along. I made cookies with green sprinkles and bought green juice boxes! During snack time they have a special cardboard cake for the special child and Marielle was able to blow out her three and a half candles. Yes, seriously, they put a half candle on the cake! She had a hat and got a card from her teachers.

After snack time they split the group into two smaller groups and they have free play. In one room, they finished their wreaths with leaves and holly berries or played and in the other room they could play with play dough, the sand table, and stamp bags for the Christmas party. I asked Marielle if she wanted me to leave and get in line with the cars and she said "yes! so I can run to you!"

After school we picked Daddy up at the Honda dealership where his car is being worked on and planned on going to lunch. Beckett fell asleep as we were leaving the school, and I didn't have time to pack his lunch anyway, so I stayed in the car with him while Dave and Marielle ate lunch at 96th Street Steakburger. It was torturous sitting in the car smelling the burgers until I realized I could go through the drive through and eat in the car! So I did. :-)

Now we're home, and Beckett has had his lunch and played and is sleeping but you can see he had a busy playtime too. He's very mobile now and his favorite thing is to crawl over to the patio window, stretch up as far as he can and look outside. The moment this morning when he first saw the snow was so great. One of my favorite thing about having kids is seeing things for the first time again through their eyes. It's really a gift.

So after naps, we're off to dance class for the final class of this session. Then we eat dinner with our dance friends and come home to do baths and bedtime! Then this mama has to go shopping for crafts for the Christmas party and the daddy has to work more. It's a very busy time of year, but this "special day" is particularly busy! Surely it will cure my insomnia tonight!

I also enjoyed getting to know the other kids in Marielle's class a little better. Two stood out to me today. One little boy was wearing a button down shirt, blazer and tie. I commented on it to one teacher and she said he wears it every day! I think that's hilarious. The other one who stood out was a little girl. Both times they had some free time at the table, she would look at the child across from her and say "tell me about your questions and I will answer them. tell me about your dreams." I think she'll be a psychologist when she grows up! Kids are so funny, I just had a smile on my face the whole time I was there!

Cupcake Camper

So on our fourth night of our advent calender, the surprise was a visit to the Cupcake Camper! It is a vintage Airstream trailer that the owner converted into a gourmet cupcake bakery that is parked at a nearby shopping center. We've driven by it a few times and Marielle has been really excited about going, so she nearly fell off her chair with excitement after dinner when we said that's where we were headed. We got our cupcakes, but since it was actually snowing (!!!) we decided to take them home to eat them. A quick snap with my phone, it's the cutest thing ever. I've always had a thing for Airstreams. The owner was the one working tonight, so it was kind of cool to talk to him. He's very nice young guy that you would never expect to see baking and selling cupcakes! Our treasures! The Signature (pink for Marielle), Chocolate Thunder (for me) and I forgot the name of their winter special flavor but it was vanilla/vanilla for Dave.

I kind of like the perspective of this shot...no, she did not manage to eat all of that cupcake. :-)

DIY Advent calendar

I found this idea on another blog at least two years ago and have had it filed away in my mind. Last year we found a cute My Little Pony advent calender that Marielle really enjoyed opening every night. This year, I hunted and hunted and couldn't find any premade ones that weren't just candy! So I made my own. I bought treat bags and numbered them and filled them with little surprises. The dollar spot at Target came in really handy for this project! I'm really excited to get started with it tomorrow, and have it be one of our family traditions. You still have time...consider adding it to your Christmas traditions!

A book for Beckett

Beckett is getting a special Christmas gift this year! I hardly ever go to brick-and-mortar book stores anymore, but thank goodness several of my friends do, because a couple of them let me know about this new book! It will be fun to have a book with his name as the main character. I know you can have books made specially for any child, but those are usually generic stories where they just insert the child's name. This will be a little more special. Now maybe I should write one for Marielle!

And the crowd goes wild!

Look who learned to clap! Within the last few days he has declared that he does NOT want to be fed like a baby, that he is a big boy who can feed himself. Hence the mess, he had just finished eating and was super happy about it. I have to get creative to find uses for all the purees I still have in the freezer for him! Right after this, Marielle was having a popsicle for dessert and I gave him one to chew on to soothe his teeth. He managed to puncture the plastic though, and Dave took it away from him because we're not exactly ready to give an 8-month-old a popsicle. Beckett really showed daddy how he felt about that, he was furious! He cried and pounded on his tray and meant business! We should have recorded that, too. It was kind of cute. ;-)

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

On Wednesday, Marielle's preschool invited us to attend her Thanksgiving Feast. Lots of preparation went into their day, they spent weeks learning songs and rhymes and making costumes. We even had homework! First we had to send in white t-shirts, which they dyed brown and sent home with fringe cut on the hem. We were to string beads on the shirts and have her wear it to school on Wednesday. They also made their necklaces and headbands! They were so adorable and it was so fun to finally see Marielle in her element at school, sort of like being a fly on the wall. The three-year-old and four-year-old classes both did little presentations and they were great! They sang and chanted their little hearts out. I did bestow my eldest with her Native American name...please meet Girl Who Cries at Night. hee hee

We were super happy that Daddy took a vacation day so he could be with us!

Beckett had fun too. ;-)

Poor Beckett

I feel so bad for him, but not bad enough that I didn't take pictures before lecturing her about never, ever putting things around his neck!