Julia's Birthday Party!

Our "fairy in training" party included decorating fairy wands and wings.

Julia's fairy friends had a great time.  Sophia is on the right and Anna is at the head of the table.  Sophia is a very girly girl who will only wear dresses (no pants).  Anna will only wear pants, very much not a girly girl.  Anna loved decorating the wings but wouldn't put them on.

Julia's finished wings!

Butterfly cupcakes!

YUM-OH!!

Julia asking Uncle Nathan to read her new Fancy Nancy book.

The grand finale of our fairy party--Julia's special present!

This photo does not truly capture the pure joy on Julia's face when she got on her new bike.  She was grinning from ear to ear when she saw this gift!

Julia's new princess castle tent.

Pinewood Derby

The official derby track!

Look at all the cars lined up ready to race!

James' car, which steadily came in third or fourth in each heat, is the blue car on the right.  It was modeled after the Pontiac Superbird (minus the gigantic spoiler).

Discovery Center

The Discovery Center is always fun!!

The big yellow disc is a source of constant amusement for everyone.  There is a second disc at the other end of the room.  Believe it or not, from this point you can actually hear whispers spoken from the other disc.

Just how does that ball stay in the air?

Look how strong I am, mom!

Julia' Big Girl Hair Cut

Julia's hair has driven me nuts for a long time.  I've trimmed it occasionally and it always seems to grow so strange--so many different lengths, it's crazy!!  I decided that it was time for someone who knows what they are doing to trim it for her.  So we took her to a hair salon.

Julia seemed to know right away what was going to happen, though she's never been to a hair salon in her life!  She climbed right up into the chair and just looked right at home.  When it was time for the hair dresser to get to work, Julia didn't seem bothered at all.  It was almost as if she was ready for it!

Julia loved looking at herself in the full length mirror in front of the chair.

Julia singing

Happy New Year!

Julia received nail polish from Santa.  She insisted on doing it herself!

New Year's Eve dinner.  In our house that means shrimp for dinner.  We always try to do something out of the ordinary at our January eve dinner.  

Tonight, we donned paper bow ties to dress up the occasion a little bit.

I just thought Julia looked kind of cute at the head of the table like this.

Bubble Pop

Matt brought home several sheets of really big bubble wrap and let the kids loose on it this evening.  They had a really great time!

Christmas Dinner

The first appearance of the "kids' table" at our Christmas dinner.

Mmmmm.  What's for dinner?  Roast pork, brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, scalloped potatoes, bread and cranberries.   YUM!

Christmas morning

Waiting not so patiently at the top of the stairs for the green light from dad.

Finally . . .  What did Santa bring?!?!?

Julia's highly coveted "lip stuff."  Now she won't have to steal mommy's anymore!

Jacob trying to figure out how to work his new computer.

Our lovely tree.

Christmas Eve

This was one of the rare years that literally only comes once every five years (maybe less) when my mom actually had Christmas eve OFF!  We decide to do a little fun crafty thing and have lunch.  My mom brought a foam snowflake ornament kit with glitter glue.  The kids all had a good time with it.

Dinner was the traditional crab at grandma and grandpa Coolidge's house.  Always a nice dinner.

The kids got their teeth brushed and jambes on before heading for home.  We have found that we can stay a little longer when we do this step here.  Tonight was extra special, because Uncle Nathan was on TV!  He is a percussionist with the West Point Army band in NY.  The Christmas at West Point special happened to be on tonight.

Julia is trying to put her shoes on over her floppy feet--silly girl!

Reindeer Jacob and Friends

Jacob's preschool class has a Christmas program every year.  This year, they donned reindeer antlers and the girls all had red noses!  They were so cute.  Jacob has been singing "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain" constantly.  Of course, they are not complete without the hand motions to go with them.

Jacob's "girlfriend" is the tall blonde girl in the green dress and red sparkly shoes.  Her name is Kate and they have their wedding all planned out!