Christmas joy

I know this picture is a little blurry, but aren't we all about this time of year? I still love this picture -- Gracie and Clara Ann feeding treats to Maggie and Josie after a matinee of the Nutcracker with the Columbia City Ballet. It is such a great show, and a Christmas tradition for us for the past four years or so. This was the first time for Clara Ann, but Gracie's third. Clara Ann did pretty good considering she is four and hasn't learned how to whisper real good. The show was a little more interesting for them, I think, because we know two of the dancers, and pointed them out to the girls early on. So throughout the show, it was "Where's Katie? Where's Alexis?"

We got some great pictures of the girls after the show, too, but that's kind of a secret right now...

We had such an amazing weekend last weekend too. We went to the Christmas DREAM magic show at Workshop Theatre (featuring the magic of Brandon Wagster). He is so talented, and a joy to watch perform.

Saturday we went to the lights at the zoo with a group of friends, then everyone came back to the house for dinner. It was such a great group of people to be around, and it was nice to have the house filled with laughter and joy.

Sunday was the Volunteer Holiday Party at Workshop Theatre, and as an added bonus our old friend Melanie was passing through town on her way home from Disney. She stopped and we got to spend about 45 minutes catching up and squeezing on her little baby and meeting her husband and other kids. There's just something about reconnecting with someone you haven't seen in eight years, and picking up like you haven't missed a beat.

All this happiness over the weekend has left me with a bit of a happiness high that has carried through for the week. Gifts are in the mail, almost everything is bought, except for a few little things for Jeni so she has surprises under the tree (which isn't an easy thing to do). Jeni's family should roll in tomorrow (just a little more cleaning to be ready). It's going to be a merry Christmas indeed.

High School Musical: The Musical

We went to Workshop Theatre on Sunday to see High School Musical: On Stage, the stage production of the Disney show (really, I think it should have been High School Musical: The Musical, but probably because I like Spaceballs, the Movie). It was actually very fun, but the first act was better than the second.

Lisa and Brian brought Gracie to the show, too, which was a lot of fun. Gracie was very good during the show, less fidgety than many of the other children at the show, and there were a lot of kids there. It was so fun seeing her (and pretty much all the little kids) all dressed up to come to the theatre.

Really, though, the highlight of the show for me was afterward when all the children were waiting in the lobby for the actors to come out and get their autographs. And what a thrill for these local actors, too, to get a true celebrity experience.

I had my camera but forgot it was there. I wish I'd gotten a picture of Gracie because she looked very cute, and her freckles across her nose are out from being at the beach...

Gracie and her uncle Deano

Happy Birthday Dean
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Here is the picture of Gracie and Dean from his birthday, as promised many moons ago. Gracie was such a big helper at Dean's birthday. She helped Dean blow out his candles; she was the official icing taster (someone had to do it); she helped with the presents. What more can you ask for in a big helper!!!

We loved have Gracie and Clara Ann at our house. They are so stinkin' cute I just want to squeeze them all over and kiss their little faces all day long.

Just click on the picture to head over to our Flickr to see more super cute pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes.

Mark it with a "G" for Gracie and me!

This is the individual birthday cake Jeni baked for Gracie. Lisa, Brian, Gracie and Clara Ann were going to visit on Saturday, but we were pressure washing the fence all day Saturday and Lisa and Brian ended up heading to the beach instead. Watch for an upcoming link because Jeni's been working on plans for a kitchen/recipe blog and plans to make this her first recipe with many other great recipes and tips to follow.

Gracie's goodie bags

After a few days of hard work, Jeni has finished the goodie bags for Gracie's birthday party. Gracie's third birthday is tomorrow, but the party is the 31st. Now Jeni just needs to fill the bags. There are two different pinks (with slight differences in the detailing) and a blue for the boys.

All three, the darker pink on the left, the lighter pink on the right...

Here is the lighter pink closer up so you can see the picture of Gracie and the detailing in the center box.

This is the back side of the goodie bag, showing the Hello Kitty ribbon.

The blue bag is a little more boy-ish for the boys, but still has Hello Kitty and cutie Gracie!