Beautiful

Tiny Dancer

When I used to dream about having kids, a few scenes would pop into my mind...sitting on the sidelines of a soccer game; the first day of kindergarten; family dinners. And surprisingly, despite my very strong anti-girly-girlness, I imagined having a little girl who would spin around the room in ballet class. Millie has fulfilled that dream and more.

I signed her up for some low-key dancing at our gym (the YMCA), and we went shopping together to gather the gear. The shoes were purchased first and have been worn every single day since (she even napped in them a few times). We counted out on our fingers how many days were left until ballet class, and many people were confused when she held up her pinkie and said "This is ballet day." In a happy coincidence, her first class happened on Monday while Christopher was off work, so he got to watch it all. And I am happy to report that she loved it just as much as I hoped she would.

Another Day in Paradise

What an awesome weekend. First of all, I didn't put it all together that Christopher has MLK day off of work, so it was like a little gift when he reminded me of this on Friday. My next little gift was his idea for our Saturday morning: Breakfast at our favorite little dive on the coast followed by a trip to dog beach with Casey. If I ever get interviewed by People magazine and they ask me what my dream morning is, this would be it: breakfast at Pipes and a trip to Del Mar Dog Beach with my family.

New Year's Eve

We did it up big time here in SoCal. Yeah...fancy dinner at Chik-fil-A followed by lights-out on the couch by 10:00 pm. WooHoo. Party it up, Greers!

Seriously, though, we really did have a great day together. We were coming off a very full week with all of my family in town, so we took the morning nice and slow. In the afternoon, we got the kids up a bit early from naps and headed out to Sea World for a final family outing before our passes expired and we move away. The park was still decked out for Christmas and we were able to show Christopher all our favorite rides and shows. He has never been able to come with us, so it was especially fun for us all to be together, including Aunt Jules.

Si's first Sea World ride. Kids have to be able to walk in order to get on the rides. He loved it!

We happened upon a song and dance number by Bert, Ernie, Elmo and Zoe.

The kids were MESMERIZED. Millie held up her card/photo of Big Bird like it was a lighter at a concert.

This was a bit of a mistake: Enormous ropes course with Simon in my arms. Quite the endurance test for me.

What a fun day!

Christmas Catch Up!

Deep breath.

Tree is on the curb. Needles are vacuumed. Decorations are stashed in the garage. We are coming down off of a full month of Christmassing, culminating in an awesome week-long visit from my parents, brothers and sister. Our holiday in photos:

The warm-up: Yammy and the kids make cookies.

Si gets into it.

The standard outfit for the week: The indescribable dress that 'Santa' brought her when he visited our small-group Christmas party (umm...thanks, Chrissy); Hawaiian dress; Supergirl wristband; Iowa State Cyclones socks; "Sparkle Shoes". Missing from this photo: wings. It's really something to behold.

Christmas Eve

After leaving milk & cookies, Mils checks to see if Santa is going to make it down the chimney alright.

Christmas Morning: helping Uncle Monkey with his new book.

A croissant break.

Tea Party for four.

Post-Christmas bliss: loving all their new toys, including the easel and fancy dancing skirt.

Sweet girl.

Our San Diego tradition: Christmas Brunch at the Hotel Del Coronado. Behind us is an ice-skating rink...on the beach!

A walk on the beach after brunch.

Sometimes I talk about Si's 'death roll' escape trick he uses to get out of my grasp. Here it is in action.

Saturday morning at the farmer's market: Mils with her Uncles.

My love.