Anna is 5 and a half!

Our little girl is getting so big... and she has a loose tooth to prove it! Anna is a happy girl who loves reading, telling stories, being helpful, playing with babies, dancing, ice skating, climbing trees, and making up math problems for her mom to solve.

Anna continues to thrive at Sacred Heart and her teachers call her a "teacher in training." She has a great group of friends there. She continues to improve in her after-school tennis lessons and Saturday morning dance lessons.

She loves to dance! Here is a video of her at our neighborhood's annual Family Valentine's Day dance:


She learned to ski this past week! Here is a video of her taking a short run down a small hill. She's initially going up the "magic carpet" and then you can see her go down the hill in the background at about 20 seconds:


She's getting better and better at ice skating! She's had a few opportunities this winter and was very proud of herself for going around the rink by herself during our trip to Lake Tahoe. (Colin maintains she's walking on the ice, not ice skating. He's got a point, but she was very proud of herself! She glides more when holding someone's hand.)


Click below to see our latest pictures:

Anna at 5.5

Late post on Christmas

Woops! Despite making a Christmas album a few months ago, I forgot to post it! First, we celebrated an early mini Christmas at home. Colin's big gift was a big boy bike - he loves it. Anna's request for a knitting set was honored and she also got a Razor scooter.

Then, off on an airplane we took off....
We had a wonderful trip to the East Coast, starting with the Maryland contingent through Christmas Eve and heading up to Philadelphia for Christmas Day through New Years Eve. The kids were properly spoiled with good food and toys. The theme for this year was Legos, Legos, Legos! Colin's becoming a huge fan of the Lego Jr. series - he got the Batcave set as well as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set. He also really enjoys anything to do with the movie Planes (not that he's seen it....) and loved his Planes Duplo Set as well as his Dwight. D. Flysenhauer aircraft carrier. Anna got her share of legos as well, including a big treehouse as well as a Lego Friends beachouse that she picked out with the some of the birthday/Christmas money she had been saving. She also upgraded to a new bike helmet that she can change the design on using special white board pens. In addition to toys, we went on two special outings. We drove down to DC and went to two different Smithsonian museums: the National Air and Space Museum and the American Indian Museum. The kids loved both and got to have the experience with both Grandma Jean and Aunt Laura. In Philadelphia, Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop surprised the kids with tickets to Frozen on Ice. They were in heaven! We had a wonderful time seeing family and friends; our only disappointment being not being able to share any time with cousin Nicholas. But we are hopeful to see him soon!

Click to see some pictures of our holiday adventures!

Christmas 2014