Happy holidays 2011!

 Chris, Mira, Amelia, and I want to wish you all very happy holidays this year!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Our first real day of "winter" came today. It's been snowing steadily since early afternoon. Not much in accumulation, but we enjoyed a toasty day in the house. Then Chris and the girls ventured out into the cold wet day. I watched from the warmth of the kitchen.

 Mira starting a very small snow fight. Not much snow to work with though!

 My wonderful family!

Mira, Amelia and I also made truffles and peppermint bark today. I hosted a truffle-making class at our house a couple weeks ago and put the lessons to good use today. They are a bit more difficult than I remembered, so I'm not sure I'll make the molded ones again anytime soon. But they turned out for the most part! The peppermint bark was so easy! I'll definitely do that again. They will be great to give out as Xmas gifts.

Amelia filling the chocolate mold:

 Mira adding creme de menthe filling to the truffle:

 Amelia adding raspberry filling to the white chocolate truffle:

The holidays are coming! If we do a little at a time each weekend, we'll be ready for all the Christmas events we are going to. No stress this year, right?

Amelia swims!

Amelia has been taking swimming lessons every week since February. We are proud to say she has improved steadily every week and can now swim across the pool by herself! It's such a great accomplishment for her since she couldn't swim at all just 9 months ago. We really believe weekly yearlong lessons are the way to go. Plus, she loves it so much! It's fun to see her learning new strokes and how proud she is when the lesson is over.

Working with the barbell to learn rhythmic breathing:

 Starting across the pool:

 Almost there!

 Our proud little fish!

Mira took lessons for about 16 months straight and loves to swim too! She's such an independent swimmer that we suspended her lessons for a few months, but she will start up again in January. We are going to see if the local swim club will be a good fit for her in the fall. She's excited to try it and start doing swim meets!

Mira's first play

Mira joined a community education drama class this fall. The class was called "Fairytale Frenzy" and they did a play that incorporated their favorite fairy tales. Mira made fast friends with Kiera, and they were both cast in the Beauty and the Beast portion of the play.

Mira had 2 lines on her own, and three other lines to say with others. It was so fun to see her on the stage. She had her lines on paper with her and covered her entire face when she was reading them each time! We'll have to mention to keep her lines a bit lower so we can see her when she talks.

Waiting for the play to start:

 Mira's big "scene":

 The entire cast:

Wondering if she'll want to join another drama class next session. She left from the play for a playdate with Kiera, so I haven't had the chance to ask her how she felt about performing. I have a feeling she'll want to try another one.