Pigeons Have Landed in the Kennedy Center

Two of my favorite things.....The Kennedy Center and Mo Willems!  The Kennedy Center has a great family theater that has several performances throughout the year.  It is reasonably priced and it is cheaper than the Barksdale Theater in Richmond.  This was Campbell's first time here and she loved it.  We watched Knuffle Bunny and it was fabulous!  I would highly recommend it.  The theater is cozy, the performances are only an hour, and there is no intermission....perfect for a three year old!


Leading up to our trip to Washington, D.C., we read and reread many of the Mo Willem books.  We of course had to get out our fancy dresses for this occasion.  These were my Ross dresses that I spent about $10 each on.  You gotta love a good deal!

         

                                     

We went with our friends, Jack, Gavin, and JT.  I think the girls secretly loved all their bachelors.  

I spotted Addisan posing like this before going back into the show.  She is as girly as they come!

The kids loved looking at all the things in the city going on.  We saw kayakers, planes, trucks, etc.  I love the feeling of being in a big city and watching all the things going on.  

  

I was THRILLED beyond words to hear that Mo Willems was going to be there to autograph books after the performance.  So, of course, we had to join the never ending line.....but it was all worth it!  He was as nice as could be.  Addisan and Campbell have been listening to the musical CD every night since returning from our trip.

Of course, no trip would be complete without food!  We stopped at Joe's in Vienna before returning home to Richmond.  I love trying to hit the places to eat back in Northern Virginia that we do not have back home.  

Meeting Mo Willems with my girls makes me smile!

Starting Off The New Year

I have a brilliant friend who has a "Russian New Year" for her friends.  Just like the Jimmy Buffet song, it is 5:00 somewhere....it is already midnight somewhere too....Russia!  We have a countdown to noon for the kids.  We have food and laughs...it is a good time had by all!

My friend gets fancy glasses and sparkling apple cider for all the kids.  They think they are so grown up with these glasses.

The three girls just being themselves...silly!

Addisan learned how to flip over the bar New Year's.  For the average kid, this is no big deal.  For my little girl with two left feet, this is a huge accomplishment.

That evening, we went out to dinner to one of my favorite places, Cafe Canturra with one of our favorite friends, Parker. Parker was kind enough to bring over a cardboard princess castle for the girls to make and color.  They loved it!

Starting the New Year with friends makes me smile!

A Special Christmas

This blog entry is long overdue!  You would think after all the Christmas madness was over, life would be a little less hectic.  That never seems to be the case, huh?!

Christmas Eve and all was quiet after the kids went to bed.  

The stockings were hung on the banister with care.....

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with the hope that the Easter Bunny would soon be there???? That is right, those are our Easter baskets.  The Millers from Charlottesville needed stockings and we did not have enough....so it is a good thing Santa and the Easter Bunny are in cohoots with each other.

Elenor was caught eating cookies on her way back to the North Pole with Santa.  

Santa had arrived!  In the past, we would open a few gifts and let the girls play a little bit and then open some more.  Now that Campbell is like a bulldozer opening gifts, Addisan has picked up on it too.  Opening gifts that morning was no longer a marathon, but rather a nice steady race.


After uploading these long over due pictures, I realized how badly this room needed to be painted.  My winter project is to finally finish this room.  We still refer to the room as "Carmella's Room" because the only thing that was in there for the longest time was our guinea pig!  I am not a formal person, so what better way to use a formal living room than for your pets.

I love seeing the girls' faces fill with excitement and joy.  

Again, it would not be a Christmas morning in the Taylor household without breathing treatments.  I had to remind myself that it could be worse, we could be at Chippenham again!  

Uncle Chuck and Auntie Kris hangin' with Campbell while Addisan was finishing her meds.

Santa left a princess tunnel for the girls.  It is amazing how something so simple gives them so much joy!

Some moments caught throughout the morning.  Campbell insisted on wearing her fairy dress over her pjs all morning long.  She is a trip!

The girls received bikes from us this year.  We got Addisan a "big girl" bike and Campbell a balance bike.  I have heard such great things about these balance bikes making the transition to a big bike a lot easier.  We will find out this spring if that is true.  

Santa brought the girls Doodle Pads.  Basically these are travel kits with a chalk board on one side and paper on the other.  This was one of their favorite gifts of the morning. It just goes to show, bigger is not always better.

After the Miller Christmas morning was over, we went to the Taylors for round two.  It was nice to see everyone....good food and good memories made!

The day after Christmas, my good friend, Molly, had a mom free date with Addisan.  Addisan LOVES the Nutcracker and went to see the Richmond production of it with her.  

Christmas memories make me smile.

Christmas Eve 2011

So Christmas season begins December 1st in the Taylor household with the arrival of Elenor, our elf.  Before Elf on the Shelf became so commercialized, our neighbors introduced Elenor to us.  She is related to the Putney's elves.  Tommy had read somewhere that you should have one elf for each child....that way when they grow up and have children of their own, their elf can go with them.  I think traditions are part of childhood...those are the memories that tend to be closest to our hearts.

Another Christmas tradition is to open up one gift the night before Christmas.  Each year, the girls receive a new pair of matching pjs and a new book to read that night.  This year, it was extra special because my niece and nephew spent the night with us and they read the books to the girls.  I love having family over night....and so do the girls!

I bought an Apple computer this past summer for my graduate class.  With iPhoto, there are so many options you can do to modify and enhance your pictures.  The one above is just one that I changed to black and white as well as the warmth of it.  

Campbell sporting her new pjs after her bath.

The past 4 out of 5 Christmases, we have spent with Addisan on the nebulizer and ending up either at Chippenham or her pediatrician the 24th, 25th, or 26th of December.  This year was no exception.  I think her body just goes and goes on adrenalin until we have a break....and then everything catches up with her.  Our biggest problem with Addisan is that she does not complain when she is sick...I think partially because she has always had issues with her health and does not have a solid healthy baseline to compare it to.

This was one of our favorite gifts that we received from my parents.  Addisan has been asking a lot of questions about God lately....like how does he stand on the clouds without falling through?!  She is starting to learn more about this at school this year.  The JK program at her school did the pageant at the Christmas Eve service and she got the role of Mary.  It was just darling!

Boo and Campbell playing with her birthday gift from the Charlottesville Millers.

Another tradition are oysters on Christmas Eve.....YUM!  I love the fact that Tommy does not eat them and I can consume his share!

Homemade lasagna courtesy of Pop-Pop.  

The Charlottesville Millers.  How in the world did Boo get so tall?

One of the most special moments was seeing Addisan open the door to Santa.  Her excitement just poured through every ounce of her body.  She is a very reserved child by nature and to see her let her guard down and believe in something so magical was priceless.  This is one of the moments I will always carry with me as a mother close to my heart....her belief in something bigger than herself.  

You gotta love girl time!

Cookies for Santa.

Boo and his four legged friends before bed time.  We are fortunate to have such easy going dogs!  Max, their golden retriever, was a HAPPE dog that they adopted from our rescue group.  

Going to bed with out of town family in your home makes me smile!