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!