Christmas Eve 2008

It took awhile to go through all the many pictures from the past week, but I'm finally ready to post some images from Christmas, starting with Christmas Eve:

Our holiday always officially kicks off with the 5 o'clock service at Calvary Church. This year, "St. Nicholas" came to visit the children. (The girls decided to sit on the floor, so, unfortunately, I couldn't get them in the picture!)

The church always looks so lovely with all the poinsettias & greenery everywhere. It was a wonderful backdrop for Caroline's Christmas outfit!

After church, we headed over to the Ford's for the Lewis Family Christmas party. It's always a good idea to get the annual cousins' picture out of the way as soon as possible, because you never know how long the little ones will be willing to cooperate. Front row (left to right): Caroline (3), Courtney (7), Ella (3), Emily (12), Ryan (21 months); back row: Jordi (5) and Richard (14). (Not pictured are cousins Kameron, Libby, and Lily - we missed you & your respective parents!)

Jordi was as patient as possible, waiting for the gift opening to begin. I thought she looked pretty sitting, amongst the presents by their Christmas tree!

The reason for Caroline's big grin in this picture is her footwear: Build-a-Bear slippers from cousins Kim, Kameron, & Ron! These teddy bear slippers are so neat - they actually come with changes of clothes. You can see why she's so excited!

"O Christmas Tree..

..O Christmas Tree!" In the spirit of the season, I'd like to share with you this Christmas tree that Jordi painted at school this week. She's quite a wonderful artist!

Winter Wonderland of Lights 2008

Today's pictures are from another one of my favorite annual Christmas traditions: Ashland's Winter Wonderland of Lights. We are lucky to have this wonderful display right in our own neighborhood of Central Park! They turn it on just before Thanksgiving and runs through the New Year.

Until now, we had only seen this year's lights from the car. But the girls & I took advantage of the mild weather on Sunday and took a walk through our park, stopping to get up close & personal with a light display every now and then!

What's a trip to the park without hot chocolate? While waiting for our turn on the trolley, the girls were very excited to each have their own hot cocoas! (except neither one will drink it until it's no longer hot!)

This is my artistic attempt; I always hope it'll turn out better than it does! But beyond that, I'd like to point out Jordi's strange pose... I wonder about her inspiration sometimes!

Finally, it was our turn to board the trolley for a ride around the park. We listened to carols the whole time, and waved & shouted "Merry Christmas!" to the many people we passed. It was fun, and I'm sure we'll be back again before too long!

Breakfast with Santa

For the third year in a row, we attended one of my favorite annual Christmas traditions in Ashland (of which I have several!): Breakfast with Santa, held in the hospital cafe.

Since her success at the Nutcracker, Caroline has suddenly come into her own. As is evident in this picture, she and Santa quickly became good buddies during their time together. She definitely enjoyed her visit with Santa this year!

Jordi, on the other hand, was unwilling to get too chummy with Santa this year. In fact, she would only stand near him long enough to quickly rattle off her Christmas items and get this quick picture!

After breakfast, we stopped by the "Chocolate Church" for their annual Cookie Walk. They sell homemade baked goods by the pound, and after attending it for the second time this year, it's now added to my list of favorite holiday happenings!

Nutcracker Week, Part 2

As promised, here are some more pictures from our first experience with the Nutcracker. There are so many to choose from, but these are just a few of my favorites:

The professionals took cast pictures during the final dress rehearsal. This picture was taken by my friend & fellow ballet mom, Bev. Those are our two little angels - Emily & Jordi - in the front row, second & third from the left!

We all spent a lot of time together backstage, waiting for our little ones to perform their roles. Since Jordi & I are all smiles, I'm guessing that this picture was taken in the morning during the first show!

Caroline was given a big honor by Miss Maria: presenting the flowers to the lead dancers onstage after the show. She really rose to the occasion and performed her duties very well. Here she is, presenting Clara with her bouquet; Caroline was quite impressed with this young lady!

Miss Maria even gave Caroline her very own bouquet of flowers as a reward for her efforts. This was the biggest thrill ever to Caroline! Thank you, Miss Maria!

Whew - home, at last! Despite the late hour, our little ballerina is still all smiles. I think the cup of hot chocolate may have something to do with it!

Nutcracker Week, Part 1

We have just wrapped up our first experience of being part of the Ashland Youth Ballet's annual production of the Nutcracker ballet. Rehearsals started way back in October and culminated last Friday with two shows at the Paramount Theatre.

Our Nutcracker Week started on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with the annual AYB Pancake Breakfast at Applebee's. In this picture, Caroline is posing with this year's very lovely Sugar Plum Fairy, Kayla Robinette. Caroline was quite impressed with her real-life shiny costume & sparkly crown!

Besides enjoying the delicious pancakes, the girls had lots of fun just running around together, smiling for pictures whenever they were asked. You may recognize our little friend, Emily, posing with Jordi & Caroline.


Things got serious on Wednesday with the first of two dress rehearsals at the Paramount. I took this picture on Thursday night; Jordi is the sixth little angel from the left.

Of course, when you're five, there's always time for a little fun with your fellow 5 year old dancers! One payoff to all the time we spent with each other last week was that their little-girl friendships really had a chance to grow. This is Jordi with her one of her new best buddies, Wynter, keeping in character: little mice hiding under a table!

Here's three 5-year-olds: Wynter, Jordi, and Emily waiting backstage for their next role as angels. Don't they look sweet?? Well, they really are, even if they periodically drove us mothers crazy during the total of 12 hours we spent together at the Paramount last week!

Anyway, stay tuned for Part 2 of Nutcracker pictures.. it's showtime!