Christmas Eve

This year, the week leading up to Christmas seemed extra hectic. But, at 4 pm Christas Eve when I arrived at church to drop Jordi off with the Youth Group so they could prepare for the 5 o'clock service, that all went away. I sat around and sipped my Doubleshot while they rehearsed and let the Christmas Spirit take over!

Jordi did a wonderful job as part of the "Heavenly Host." She took her role as an Angel quite seriously, and was very proud to be allowed to carry a lit candle! That's her cousin, Emily, in the picture, reading her part (it was also her job to blow first & ask questions later regarding that candle!)

I took this picture of Caroline after the service. Doesn't she look festive among the poinsettias?

Later that evening was the traditional Lewis Family Gathering. Here's a picture of Jordi sorting through all the presents under the tree and finally recognizing her name on one of them!

Caroline had fun, too, but was a bit overwhelmed by the whole process. Not to mention that it was getting past her bedtime!

Our annual picture of all the young Lewis Family cousins!

Caroline's First Haircut

Wow! We finally did it! We took Caroline for her very first haircut, just a few days before Christmas. There's a terrific chain of salons called Cookie Cutters that specializes in kid haircuts, so while we were in Lexington last week, we decided it was time for Caroline to take the plunge:

The stylist did a great job, and Caroline looks wonderful! They even provide this nice certificate with a lock of hair to commemorate the occasion. I must admit, thought, that I became unexpectedly overcome with emotion when I saw my youngest daughter change before my eyes into a little girl. (It still chokes me up just remembering it!) Anyway, you can look forward to seeing more of Caroline (and her new grown-up 'do!) in future posts.

Jordi's Ballet Recital

As most of you know, every Monday evening, Jordi has a 45-minute ballet class for 3-year-olds at the June Conn School of Dance. Well, Monday, Dec. 18th, was a big day: Jordi's first recital! They practiced "Rudolph" & "Up on the Rooftop" for weeks, and we all eagerly anticipated their performance. So, the night of the show, all of us parents, siblings, & grandparents filed into the studio to watch our little ballerinas do their thing:

Here's Miss Maria giving Jordi a helping hand as she demonstrates hopping across the floor on one foot (one of the many skills they work on each week).

I'm not sure what song they've just finished here, but I like Jordi's stage presence. To her, it's obviously a "ta-da!" moment!

Finally, as a reward for the girls at the end of their performance, there was a gift exchange. Here's Jordi showing off her gift: My Little Ponies!

Getting Ready for Santa

When we got back from NH on the last day of November, we didn't waste any time transitioning into Christmas mode. Here are a few pictures from the first weekend of December:

Saturday, December 2nd, was the annual "Breakfast with Santa," held in the Parkview Cafe at the hospital. We went last year; if you think back to our 2005 Christmas card, that's where I took that picture of the girls with Mrs. Claus. Well, as you can see by their expressions above, they are still none too thrilled with the big guy, Santa! The same Mrs. Claus was there, but, unfortunately, there were too many other kids in line for us to sidle over and get a picture with her. Oh, well, there's always next year!

The next day, Sunday, the girls & I attended the Ashland Youth Ballet's production of the Nutcracker Suite. They always do a wonderful job, and this year was no exception. Here's Jordi, in-between two of her cousins, Emily Ford & Courtney Lewis, who both had multiple roles this year. Aren't they adorable in their costumes!

Later that evening, we helped Nana & Grandad set up their Christmas tree. Caroline was very helpful in putting the ornaments on the tree, but then she was just as likely to take them back off, too!

And here's Jordi, getting a hand from Daddy, putting the bow on top of the tree. Right from the git-go, she made it clear that she wanted to be the one to put it up there. She was very pleased with herself once her mission was accomplished!

EC Lions 85, UMass Boston 62

The main reason for our trip to Boston was to attend the home opener of the Emerson College men's basketball team. As you may know, Emerson is where Chris got his start coaching college basketball, way back in 1997. It was quite a momentous occasion as it was their first game ever in a gym of their very own! Held in the brand-spankin' new Piano Row Gymnasium, the Lions won easily, beating the Beacons by over 20 points. It was great to see Coach Smith & his family again, not to mention all the Emerson alums in attendance!

The girls had a great time cheering for the Lions. All their game experience paid off; they both yelled & cheered like crazy!

Jordi was even interviewed by an Emerson student after the game. She wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do, but she's still smiling!

A Visit to the Children's Museum in Boston

Instead of doing a lot of sightseeing on our one full day in the city, we decided to let the girls enjoy themselves at the Children's Museum. It's very hands-on, so obviously they loved it, and Chris & I strolled down memory lane as we walked through our old neighborhoods as we walked back & forth from the hotel.

Caroline's favorite exhibit! Just look at the expression on her face! She would have gotten wet up to her shoulders if we let her. (But the folks at this museum are so clever that there's a clothes drier in the family bathroom!)

We spent most of our time in the toddler area. This car was a favorite of both girls. I'm not sure which feature was more popular: the working steering wheel or the 3-button radio that played actual music!

How could I not take a picture of Jordi & Big Papi? (Caroline was too short to peek through.. she'll have to wait 'til next time!

Gloucester, MA

We stayed at Grandma's house until the Monday after Thanksgiving. We all were sad to go, especially the girls! Between Grandma's putterings, the two dogs, the neighbor's chickens, playing on the stone walls... every day was a thrill of a lifetime for them! I guess that means we'll just have to visit more often.


After leaving Hampstead, NH, we were on our way to Boston for a couple days. Along the way, we stopped in Gloucester, MA, the town where we were married. It was a nice day (for winter along the Atlantic Ocean!), so we got out and let the girls explore a bit on the beach.

Here's Chris, tossing rocks into the water, to the delight of Jordi & Caroline. The girls thought this was a great game; to them, even selecting which rock to throw was fun!

If you told me four years ago that we'd be back on this beach someday with two beautiful girls of our own, I couldn't have imagined it!

Jordi's smile plus the nice composition make this one of my favorite pictures from our trip!

Cool Whip Cones

How do Grandmas get so clever?

As I've mentioned on this blog before, Jordi only likes "hot" ice cream. Now, I have no idea what that means, nor have I tried to figure it out. But for Grandma, she could not rest until she solved this puzzle. Her solution: Cool Whip in an ice cream cone! It was pure genius!

Jordi was very skeptical at first (she's been burned before when we've talked her into trying a bit of the real stuff!), but she quickly took to this "hot" ice cream cone that Grandma fixed for her. She liked it so much, she ate the whole thing! Go figure!

Not surprisingly, we did not have to convince Caroline that this was a yummy treat. The amount of Cool Whip on her face directly corresponds to the amount of enjoyment she had eating it!

Making Christmas Cookies with Grandma

One of my favorite family traditions from the holidays when I young was making Christmas cookies. Every year, Mum used the same recipe and the same cookie press. I loved all the different shapes you could make by using different plates in the press, and then I loved to carefully decorate each one. So, it was a special treat for me to watch Jordi & Caroline experience this same tradition during our visit to Grandma Henri's house. They both seemed to have as much fun as I remember having!

Henri was very good about making sure each girl felt involved at her own level. Here they are, all mixing the cookie dough. Everyone has a part!

Now, on to the pressing. Jordi wanted to unscrew the press (because it was easier to turn that way, of course!), and Grandma had to keep reminding her to turn it the hard way!

First batch, ready for the oven!

We're getting ready to press out some more cookies on our empty cookie sheet in this picture. By now, we're midway through our second batch of the day, and what's noteworthy in this picture is Caroline's face. If you look closely, you'll see evidence that probably just as much decoration made into her mouth as onto the cookies! That's another thing that's so great about baking with Grandma: unlike Mommy, she doesn't mind how many times you sample the goods!

A Birthday Party in NH

What would make a vacation to Grandma's house even better? Going to a party! Jennifer's oldest daughter, Mary, turned 3 while we were visiting, and Jennifer was nice enough to invite Jordi & Caroline to the party. Since the Cunninghams are some of our dearest family friends and I've known Jennifer since she was born (did I mention that I was her very first babysitter??!), of course we accepted right away!

Here's Mary, the birthday girl, blowing out her candle while mom, Jennifer, holds the cake.

And besides cake, what could be better at a birthday party than pizza? Here's Caroline enjoying hers while sitting on Grandma's lap.

As only kids can do, Jordi & Mary made friends right away. As you can see here, they had a great time playing together. I think Mary liked being able to show Jordi how all her toys worked, and Jordi loved not only having so many new toys (to her) around, but also someone her age to play with. We all had a wonderful time!

More Fun in NH

Boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do! We had so much fun at Grandma Henri's house that I'll have to do lots of posting over the next few days in order to share all our great pictures with you. I'll start with the day after Thanksgiving...

Here's Jordi, still in her pj's, having a splendid time pouring blue sand out of a salt shaker into some dishes at Grandma Henri's kitchen table. Who knew this would be such an engaging activity for a 3 year old? (Apparently, Grandma Henri, since this was her idea!)
Don't they look cozy? Here's Caroline enjoying a quiet moment with her Aunt Renee. Renee returned to CO later this day, so it was especially nice that they got to spend this time together!
Aunt Donna had to work, so before we went to the airport, we stopped at her Starbucks store for a late afternoon pick-me-up. It's a very cute, very busy store in Nashua, NH.
While I enjoyed my first eggnog latte of the season (yum!), here's Caroline getting every last drop out of her vanilla milk. De-lish!

Thanksgiving in NH

As you may already know from Renee's blog, the Pullem family drove all the way to NH to spend Thanksgiving with the Eastman side of the family. It was a really special occasion because not only was it Caroline's first visit to Grandma's house (Jordi went a couple times when she was a baby), but Aunt Renee made it all the way from CO, too! (If I remember right, the last time that all four Eastman women were together was in 2002 when we got married!)
So, here's a picture from Thanksgiving dinner of the girls, Aunt Renee & Aunt Donna. (That meal was so delicious that just looking at this picture again is making me hungry!)
Caroline thought the cranberry sauce (from a can, no less!) was so delicious that she had to have another helping later on that evening. And doesn't she look so happy about it?! Seriously, she liked it so much that during dinner, once she finished what was on her own plate, she took it upon herself to reach over and eat the cranberry sauce off Jordi's plate, too! Go figure!
..and what would Thanksgiving be without a proper tea party after dinner? Jordi recruited the youngest of heart amongst the crowd (that would be Renee and Jennifer) to join her for a spot of tea. If you look closely, you'll notice that Renee's even dressed properly, wearing a necklace of Jordi's dress-up "pearls"! I just love family gatherings!

Girls in Glasses

Ever wonder what the girls would look like if they had glasses? Well, here they are in my glasses:

Pretty cute, huh?
(Yes, this is how we amuse ourselves at the dinner table sometimes !)

Lights, Camera, Action... WIGGLES!

Last month, we took the girls to see the Wiggles when they came to perform a show in Huntington, WV. We got to attend this special event courtesy of Nana & Grandad, and both girls (and, actually, Chris & I, too!) absolutely loved it!


This first picture is from the start of the show, when the Wiggles arrived onstage in (of course!) the Big Red Car:

From Wiggles Show

Caroline was happy to enjoy the view from my lap & clap along with the tunes:

From Wiggles Show

Jordi, on the other hand, had to break out & dance in the aisle! Chris took this picture later in the show, once she got the hang of how best to enjoy herself in this new environment:

From Wiggles Show

Chris also took some nice close up shots; this one is from the finale, a boisterous medley of Wiggles' songs! (In case you aren't as familiar as I am with their work, this is Anthony & Murray in the midst of performing one of their catchiest tunes, "Cold Spaghetti"!)

From Wiggles Show

Look at Caroline go! This picture was actually taken after the show, while we were outside Starbucks in Pullman Square. There was a live rock 'n' roll band playing (quite loudly, I might add!), and something about the song they were playing (Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones) must have connected with her, because she really danced harder than I thought possible at her age! Who knew?!

From Wiggles Show

Now, in case you want to see all the photos from our Wiggly adventure, you can view this entire photo album online by clicking above on the highlighted words "Wiggles Show." Google now hosts web albums, and I'm testing this new feature to see if it makes things easier for blog posting & picture sharing. For those of you who can't get enough pictures of Jordi & Caroline (you know who you are!), let me know if you like it!