Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Museum trip

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian opened in 2004. We have been meaning to go, but it just hasn't happened...until today!!

We had a good time looking at all the exhibits and learning more about their culture. My favorite was all the bead work.
They were trying out some kid-friendly interactive stations. The girls got to listen to some American Indian music and beat out the rhythm on a drum. They thought that was the coolest part.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

Evidence shows that Santa has been to our house...

The girls wanted to show off what they got.

When we were done opening presents, we looked outside and it was snowing. Not enough to really cover, and it warmed up so it was all gone before it even stopped. But I did get a picture of it. I am not sure if that qualifies as a 'White Christmas' or not. I will have to ask my brother-in-law, as he is the expert on that...
We invited a new friend from church, Janice, over for Christmas dinner with us. Wish we could have been with family, but it was still a great day.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Fashion Barbie

Rebekah got 2 Barbie dolls from preschool. She was so excited! That was all she wants for Christmas. One of them was a Fairy princess with wings that changed into a skirt. The other one was a fashion doll with pet poodle. The only problem I had was that the fashion doll's dress didn't actually cover her bum. So I made the dress longer with some leftover scraps from Halloween costumes. Rebekah LOVES it.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Bowling

The girls just love going bowling. It just makes them happy. So we do it.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Snowball fight


Emma set up two piles of snowballs, one for her and one for Rebekah. Then they just went at it. They had a blast.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas surprise

Last night, the girls and Clay were wrapping presents for me (everything else is already wrapped). Rebekah came downstairs holding a present, and in her sing-songy voice said:

"I have a present for mommy.
And it's a secret.
I'm not going to tell you what it is....

...But it's a game!! "

I started laughing and told her not to tell me anymore because I want to be surprised.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Wreaths Across America

The girls and I went to participate in Wreaths Across America to remember those who have served our country. The Girl Scouts got to carry the wreaths into the cemetery. There were 7 wreaths (one for each branch of the military including POW/MIA) laid at the Balls Bluff Cemetery. One of the things that was mentions was that there are 94,000 servicemen whose last known location was on the field of battle. Such a moving experience. I hope we can help out next year.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

DAR Open House

We went into DC to the Christmas Open House at the Daughters of the American Revolution headquarters. It was beautifully decorated. They had performers and tours going on.

The best part of the whole thing was Santa Claus. There was no line at all. Rebekah ran right up and gave him a big hug. He made great small talk with the girls: "Seems like only yesterday you were in 1st grade." "Didn't you ask me for your 2 front teeth last year? Looks like you got them." So, now the secret is out, for the BEST and MOST ACCESSIBLE Santa, go to the DAR open house.
Oh, and I won the drawing! I got a DAR mug.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Decorating the tree