The Nutcracker: Girls' Night Out! :)

In the vein of celebrating family-style before the holidays are upon us, I thought this year we'd come up with a new tradition.  I thought it might be nice for Ava and I to have an annual girls' night out, where we would attend the Nutcracker (or something else similarly girly) during the Christmas season.  I know she loves ballet and all things that sparkle.  Considering Liam's age and that he's a boy, I didn't think he would appreciate it as much as Ava.  The Nutcracker was playing at the Fox Theater, downtown.  I knew it would be magical for her to see such a show there.  It's such a gorgeous theater! 

So we put on our party dresses, Daddy took a picture of us together and we headed out.  I've never seen the Nutcracker live, so I was looking forward to it! 

Before we headed out to the Fox Theater

We bought the "souvenir" program and found our seats.  One of the ladies ushering mentioned we should probably grab a booster seat for her, before there weren't any available.  That was a good call.  We lucked out, as well, as the two seats directly in front of Ava were empty for the entire show.  We put our coats down and went to find a snack for Ava.  They had a little popcorn, drink and sweet treat deal in a tray for kids, so we opted for that. 

Before the show started, they had an organist up front playing an old-time organ.  Right before the show started, his platform slowly sunk into the floor. 

The show was so great!  There was a first half, intermission and a second half.  Knowing Ava wore herself out at gymnastics earlier in the day, I was curious if she would fall asleep by the end of the show.  She got pretty snuggly and laid her head down on my arm toward the end, but never did fall asleep.  During intermission, we walked up to the front of the theater, so I could show her where the orchestra pit was located.  I also wanted to point out the stars twinkling in the "sky" of the theater.  She loved it.

 

The beginning of the show

The dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

The snow fairies

The "sky" in Fox Theater

I think my favorite part of the ballet was the oriental "Indian" dancer.  She was very athletic and held the most amazing, graceful poses for what seemed like forever!  When I asked Ava what her favorite part was, she answered "All of it!"  There you go. :-) I think it will be fun to do something like this as a tradition every holiday, to take time out with my sweet girl and have fun.

She fell asleep in the car, on the way home.  Visions of sugarplums danced in her head, I'm sure.  ;-)

Peace, love and sugarplum fairies,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Gymnastics Lately

Here are some recent pictures of Ava and Liam during their gymnastics class. 

Liam has really come a long way with his balance!  He will now climb to the top of the wall when it's time to tell the coach goodbye.  The kids are supposed to climb to the top, hit the smiley face and when the coach says "Goodbye gymnast!", the kids are supposed to answer "Goodbye, Coach!" before they get down. 

Liam can also now bring his feet all the way up to the bar, while hanging on the bar.  He does a good job on the balance beam, as well, and seems to effortlessly get across to the other side without falling (most times).  He can even get across on his tip-toes, with his arms out like an airplane. 

Ava is doing really well.  She is on the uneven bars now and gets on top of the bar by hanging on it, pointing her toes to the ceiling and then flipping her feet backward so that she ends up with her lower torso resting on the bar.  She is really trying hard at handstands.  The girls in her class have found the "powder" used to keep hands from slipping on the uneven bars.  The coach isn't over the moon happy about them playing in the powder, but usually lets them get powder on their hands once during class. Here are some pictures of Ava (she is in the light pink leotard).

They seem to really enjoy class.  They like to stay active and will request to go play outside or go somewhere to play if we've been cooped up too long.  I'm praying that their need for activity will last throughout Ava and Liam's life!

Peace, love and skin-the-cats,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Mystery Reader: "Ava's Dad"

I signed-up to be the mystery reader for Ava's class in December.  The class uses a Web site called Volunteerspot, which organizes the opportunities for volunteering in the classroom, and relays when the spots are filled. 

I asked Doug if he wanted to be the msytery reader for Ava's classroom, instead of me, since I've previously volunteered.  I thought Ava would enjoy having Doug read to her classroom.  So, I went to Barnes and Noble, did some research and bought a few books that I thought Doug might like to read.  He chose "The Gingerbread Boy Loose In The School," which I thought was pretty fitting, considering the season. 

Doug showed up, only to find out that another child's mom AND dad were there to read.  Huh?  The couple seemed a little miffed that someone else was there to read.  Mrs. Mckenzie, Ava's teacher, set the record straight and said "Well, I do have the Careys down to read."  Phew!  Mrs. Mckenzie let both dads read, but she let Doug go first.  Ava was beaming.  Unfortunately we don't have a picture to share! Doug said he tried to be very animated and held the book toward the kids while he read it.  When the next dad got up to read, he said he didn't know how he was going to follow that and also read the pages before he flipped the book around, to show the kids the pictures.  Regardless, at least two kids had a special day that day, with their dad there to read to the class.  :-) 

It turned out there was an issue with http://www.volunteerspot.com/.  Good to know!  

Peace, love and Gingerbread Men Loose in the School,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Thanksgiving: Carey-Style

This year we headed to the Careys' after a brunch with Dad and Dolly earlier in the day.  Tim and Tracy thought they might be able to make it for Thanksgiving dinner, but since Tim was on-call, they weren't able to head that far away from their house.  We were able to have dinner with them the night before Thanksgiving, which was nice.

As usual, Mrs. Carey ordered the ever-so-intricate and beautifully detailed cookies from Shannon Winsted.  Gorgeous!  Her cookies never cease to amaze me!  This holiday, she made pilgrim hats, cornucopias and turkeys.  The turkey cookies had our names on them!  I included Ava and Liam's cookies so you could see.

After dinner, we had fun watching the kiddos on the Wii.  We never knew Doug was so talented at Elvis's "Viva Las Vegas."  He and Ava are quite a duo on that song! 

Peace, love and winner-winner-TURKEY-dinner?
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Lawson Thanksgiving

This year we were able to have dinner with the Lawson side the day after Thanksgiving.  They pulled out all of the "fixin's."  It was too fun to watch sweet Cali.  She is so adorable! 

It was nice to have time after dinner to relax and just visit with everyone, too.

We stayed with Mom this year, so living room forts made their appearance.

During the holiday week, we had breakfast at Mom's, complete with homemade waffles and bacon.  After breakfast, we got into gingerbread-house-decorating mode.  Daymian and Jordan opted for the gingerbread village, Liam opted for the gingerbread train and Ava and I built a gingerbread house.  Question:  Why is it that the icing provided in the package is either (A) like concrete or (B) the bag of icing pops at the seams, creating a huge mess?  There is room for improvement in the icing bag category, that's for sure!  Liam supervised again this year, while Doug put the finishing touches on Liam's train.  ;-)

It was fun to hang out with Grandma Pam, Sherry and the boys.  During the Christmas season, Mom always displays the gingerbread houses, train and villages in her china cabinet. 

Breakfast and gingerbread house-decorating

Peace, love and candy-constructing,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam