The year of imagination

This morning I returned from class to find not Clara but Butterfly waiting for me at the door. It's Butterfly's birthday and she is here for a sleepover. When I told butterfly she was very pretty, she responded with, "Some people say I'm gorgeous."

I've had several visitors over the last few weeks. All between the ages of 8-10. One little girl named Sally stayed for a good part of the day.

Four has been a very imaginative year for us.

Easel

In addition to all the Christmas goodies mentioned in the last post, Clara got a fantastic easel from Grandmom and Granddaddy. This finally motivated me to go through the mounds of craft supplies and organize it all. We now have a functioning craft corner or wall in our office for our little artists. And they are loving their new easel.

Christmas 2010

Ok, so I'm finally getting around to posting Christmas photos, now that it's been almost a month. And to be honest I can't even use the excuse that I was editing them, because I didn't really do any editing other than a crop here or there.




We had a nice Christmas. The girls were really into it this year which was a lot of fun. Clara was really into making presents for people. She drew pictures and even did a little sewing. They were both very excited for Santa's arrival and he did not disappoint. Clara got her Tiana Christmas ornament and Hazel got the tiny purple $0.29 teddy and silly bandz she asked for. Along with much more from mommy and papa, grandparents and aunts and uncles. Clara was so into the Christmas spirit she's still trying to make and give gifts and it's Jan 19th. Maybe I should just let her run with it and save them for next year.



To check out our holiday pictures, look here - http://gallery.me.com/brydeemer#100116

It's not winter until there is snow

And finally we have some. Though it's been too cold to really enjoy it and it's not the right kind for snowmen. Despite the less then ideal conditions the girls were still having fun. We drew a snowman in the snow and they occupy the rest of their outdoor time throwing snow at me and looking for ice. Ahh, winter.

Ballet classes

Clara has been so into the idea of ballet for several months we decided to let her try out some ballet classes. This was her first experience in a structured setting without having Bryan or I around. I'll have to say I was really surprised, she was having a harder time then I thought she would. I was standing out in the hall watching and she kept coming out to me. Many times she refused to do anything the teacher was saying, she told me she wanted to dance her way. At one point she got panicked because she couldn't see me. She cried a few times. Eventually, towards the end she was participating. She got a sticker and when she came home told Bryan she loved ballet and had a great time. Being there, who would have thought.

I've since taken her to a second class and she was completely different. She listened and participated the whole time. I was very proud of her. And it was so cute to watch her, Stella and Evey dancing along with the teacher.

I'm hoping that this will help give her an easier transition to school in the fall.

Dress up

We've been really into dressing up here lately. Here's ballerina Clara with her tough ballerina bodyguard. I personally think the pjs are a nice touch. And then we have the superhero/princess drawing on the white board.

Regardless of whether Clara is dressing up or just wearing a casual dress the tiara has become a permanent fixture on her head.

In her footsteps

It appears as though we have another artist in the family. Hazel drew this on the white board a few minutes ago. She says it's a snowman. She also started making the letter "H" a lot in the last week. Now we just need to work on the "AZEL" part.