Fun with New Toys

I know what you all are thinking - so many posts in such a short time! I'm feeling blogtastic. It must be a side effect of being out of work and out of class for the holiday break. Or it might be a byproduct of having taken so many cute pictures of Emi lately. At any rate, enjoy the fruits of my blogging. See you soon!

Emily loves tea sets. She's enjoying a new ladybug tea set from Angie and Ryan.

Cici and Granddaddy gave Emi this cool easel for Christmas. Check out our future Picasso!

Abby and Emi had a great time dancing to Dora's Dance Adventure!

Emi loves her Dora Aquadoodle from Mimi and Papa. Apparently, TC likes it, too!

Well, she wasn't playing with it anymore...

Check out this video of Emi dancing with Dora. She had a great time shaking her maracas!

Merry Christmas Part Two

I actually posted this a few days ago but the computer crashed and I lost my work! Serves me right for not saving a draft. At any rate, here we go again - Two nights before the night before Christmas, Donald and I had some family and friends over. We love having company over and really enjoyed seeing the children chase each other around and tear into their presents. They spent most of their time in the new Dora tent (courtesy of Aunt Liz) and chowing down on Ritz crackers (as evidence by the trail of crumbs all over the house - and in my bed!). We are blessed to have family so close all around us and to finally have the space for celebrating together in our home. I've also included a video clip of Christmas morning. A little dark, as videos with our camera tend to be, but still pretty fun. Hope you enjoy the pictures and are having a wonderful holiday season!

A Christmas morning video - Emily was still pretty sleepy, but she went straight for the big wheel. She's been asking about it all day while we've been visiting family and was really excited to come back home and find it still here in the living room!

Emily seems to think that she should build something on top of the present instead of open it.

Why is it that the box is always so much fun?

Abby and her new twin doll from Aunt Liz.

Santa Don treated us to a reading of The Night Before Christmas but Abby was the only one disciplined enough to sit still and listen. The others were hiding in the new tent.

Crashed out with her new pal - lifesize (well, almost) Dora.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas at the White House was lots of fun this year! We've been looking forward to the big day and it has been fun to talk with Emily about what Santa might bring her. It's also been fun creating some new Christmas traditions together. Emily slept late on Christmas morning. We were lucky - Abby was up at 4:30! When we did get up, she was pretty sleepy but still very excited about her big present - a Dora bicycle! She's been talking about one for months now. However, the best gifts of the day seem to be a package of plastic combs from Amy (she recently lost her favorite purple comb and was very upset about it) and a bottle of Dora bubbles from the Dollar Store! Too much excitement pooped her out and she was exhausted by the time we made it to Donald's parents' house. She kept begging to go home. So here we are, all in our pajamas in front of the fire with Emily alternately building with her blocks (new favorite past time) and riding her big wheel around the living room.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve - Don't you love those pajamas? She looks like an elfin convict!

At long last - the Dora bicycle! It's really noisy - lots of fun for everyone.

She really loved the stocking - and the jazzy Dora bedroom slippers. Are you starting to see a theme develop here?

Opening presents with Abby at the Farr House

A new comb! And by the looks of that fuzzy head, she needs one!

Emmy's American Idol Audition

Donald recently went away for a few days to attend a conference in Alabama for science educators. While he was gone, Emily and I tried to send him a few pictures and a video clip each night - just to rub it in that we're having so much fun while he's learning new ways to integrate the Van de Graaf generator into his curriculum. This one was so cute that I had to share it with the rest of you! The clip is a little dark but too sweet not to show off.

Hope your holidays are merry!