Marielle's new favorite past-time . . . .

DANCING!

These days we dance in the morning, afternoon and evening. Marielle is one energetic girl, and dancing both lifts all our spirits while simultaneously getting some of that crazy energy out. I highly recommend it. :-) We dance to anything from Belle and Sebastian and James Brown to Kids' music (Music Together and Lori Birkner).

Marielle's arabesque

Jumping...

And the grand finale......

A pirouette!

Some pictures to catch up....

I havent posted in awhile, and you might be wondering what we've been up to. The answer is...not much! Just living life with two little girls. Here are some snapshots of everyday life.

can you tell who loooves taking a bath?

The girls' first dress-up party together

Genevieve all decked out with her lovely faux-fur orange hat and purse...yikes!


Pretty dress-up hats.

Daddy reading to his girls before bed

Adventures in picture-taking...Foiled!

Sitting still for the camera is not Marielle's forte. The following is my attempt at capturing the girls' delightfulness and photogeny for a Christmas photo...Hopefully I succeeded at least in the former, but certainly not in the latter....See for yourself.

"Okay, girls, lets get on the couch for a sisterly picture!"" Hmmm...Bad idea"

"Okay, Marielle, let's just start with you. Can you give me a smile?.....Okay, that's pretty good. How about another one?

"Hmm, that may be a little much. Could you tone it down a little?"

"Marielle, darling, please sit still. . . . . Okay, youre getting a little too excited now. Let's try something different"

"There, that's better. Is that a good book/prop?"

"Can you say cheese?"

"Wow! That's quite some 'cheese' there girlie."

"I guess the alternative is putting a book on your head"...Sigh.

Someday I'll get a good picture of her, I'm sure of it! And when I do, you'll be the first to know.

Genevieve's adventures on the slide

Genevieve doing her new-walker waddle...

Though Genevieve has been walking for over a month now, she is just now getting steady (and confident) enough to walk outside. So, a week or so back, I finally brought her out to play on the outside deck with Marielle. Now, Marielle, as you may know, takes her play-time on the slide and on Blaze (the rocking horse) very seriously. I was glad she graciously allowed Genevieve to play alongside her on these most sacred of grounds. And she had a great time!

She (cautiously) went down the slide a few times. And she heartily enjoyed my rendition of the William Tell Overture while atop Blaze. And best of all, she could walk on deck! No more being carried all the time, lady! Both she and my arms were thankful.

Snow-day!

Genevieve's first walk in the snow!

Preparing a snow-ball

Wishing her mommy would hurry up and take her back inside.....

Saying a big "CHEEESE!"

Today was our first (and probably only) snow of the year! It was such a sure thing that we told Marielle yesterday evening that when she woke up in the morning there would be snow. We also read books throughout the day involving all things snow; which of course led to her rehearsing all the exciting things we would do in the snow the next day..."put on my snowsuit, put on my boots, make snow angels, throw snowballs...".... the list goes on. As you might have guessed, Marielle woke up at the crack of dawn ready to play. As soon as it was light outside, she and Philip embarked.

Later in the day, Marielle and Genevieve and I went out again and had an even more fun time. I pushed them around on our make-shift sled (a large tupperware container lid), and we threw snowballs for Buck to catch. Even after a gloriously long time, Marielle still had to be convinced that it was time to come inside. All I have to say is that she has more endurance for the cold than me!

Tricycle riding

For many months now, Marielle has enjoyed sitting on her tricycle and pretending to move. But today I realized that her legs were (finally) long enough to push the pedals! So, while Genevieve was napping, we made a trek out to the cul-de-sac to practice riding. As I was pushing Marielle down the hill of our driveway, Marielle in her usual very expressive and outlandish ways said, "Whoah, Mom! This is very CWAZY , and a wittle bit SCA-WY!" (Dont worry, she was having the time of her life.)

Ahh, its amazing how much a little lisping can make a mommy laugh.

a COLD winter's day

It is below freezing here as it has been all weekend, and Marielle is insistent on playing outside. After a bit of cajoling on my part to get her to wear a winter coat, instead of her "cape", she hustles out the door, to be greeted promptly by Buck, our big yellow dog. Meanwhile, Im helping Genevieve finish up her lunch inside, but watching from our big windows in the sunroom into the (fenced-in)backyard. When Marielle vanishes from my sight, I go out to check on her. I find her with her back toward me standing right up next to the fence. Though unable to hear her, I can tell that she is talking to herself, with her hands covering her eyes. Suddenly, she turns around and bolts across the yard, until she finds Buck at his frozen water bowl. After a few minutes of trying to help obtain some water, she returns to her post and begins this canine hide-and-seek game all over again. If only Buck knew how much this girl loves him. If only Marielle knew that playing with a dog all day long wasnt what all her friends were doing. Oh well, at least they are happy together.