The Lump of Coal

Bay Area Children's Theater was putting on a Lemony Snickett play this winter called "A Lump of Coal" Even though Mommy dislikes Lemony Snickett's writing, we went. It was in San Francisco. Here we are all dressed up, both using bun donuts for our hair.

 The fun thing about this play was that it required a lot of audience participation. Lily got to go up on stage to be a cat in the window of a pet shop!

 Afterwards we went to a playground right outside to try out some slides. The first one was twisty and covered and fast and when Fi went down she shot out the bottom and landed about 2 feet away from the end on her booty.(Mommy and Daddy were sad we hadn't been taking video;) She cried and did not want to try that slide again. This one was more her speed.

Christmas

For the last Christmas in Grandpa and Grammy's houses, we drove down on the 23rd. In the morning on Christmas Eve we decorated Grandpa's tree. Fi tried on the Santa's helper hat.

 We had lunch at a brewery (big surprise).

 Then it was back to Grammy's for cookie decorating.

 Uncle Louis and Ariel showed up and Fiona monopolized their time playing with her two fake phones and making calls to them. 

 Lily did some chilling out with her freshly mended quilt (that used to be mine!) on the couch with Grandpa.

 James manned the BBQ in the cold and rain. 

The next morning the girls awoke to find that Santa left them a large dollhouse. I guess Santa didn't realize how small our house is!

 Gifts from Grandma Donna came next. Lip gloss was a huge hit for Fiona.

 Lily was excited by the cash :)

 My cute girls in their pj's...

 and then in their fancy clothes.

 A family photo all dressed up in our finery.

 Santa's helper. It always falls to the youngest to distribute gifts. That used to fall to Lou, but now that Lily can read its all up to her.

 Here are the helpers helping each other.

 Fi and Colton got a phone and hid under the piano to play a game.

 My phone got kidnapped for some selfies with Aunt Natalie and Fiona, both with Christmas ribbon in their hair.

 It degraded into face making. Cuties.

 I decided I wanted a shot of the girls with their Uncle. Both girls are sporting new clothes they got for Christmas and just had to change into.

 More selfies, this time with Lily and Gooey.

 And then Lily and Uncle Stephen.

 Grandpa was overwhelmed by the excitement of dinner and he fell asleep at the table.

 Fiona and Ariel got into some dino building after dinner.

 James with a handful of girls.

 I got them all in for a cute shot in my old bedroom before the cousins were off for the  night.

 Lily and Fiona had some sister time at the end of the night before heading off to bed.

 You can tell they had a late night. Fiona fell asleep in the car on the way home the next morning while watching Little Mermaid on the computer.

Pre Christmas Photos

Early in December we went tree shopping. It was raining out, but we went anyhow. Fiona liked looking at all the trees.

 They had a photo op at Home Depot and the girls decided to take part. Fiona Claus and Lily the Snowman.

 Can't leave the big sister out of the photo taking.

 Later that night we decorated the tree together. We always listen to Christmas music and have fancy drinks.

 The following weekend was Fiona's school performance. Lily and Tyler (who went to preschool together and are now at Rosa Parks together) both came to watch their sisters perform.

 Fiona is part of the dance class at school so she sat with the rest of the dancers.

 Here she is in my favorite pose of the dance to the Happiest Christmas Tree.

 We surprised her with a visit from Uncle Louis (Gooey) who came to watch her.

 The next day she had her in class performance for her ballet class.

 She did a great job and looked super cute in her costume.

 On Sunday we had our annual gingerbread house decorating with Emma and Maya.

 Fi did most of her own decorating this year. I just put on the frosting where she wanted it.

 Then it was time for Lily to perform the following weekend. Here she is with her class, posing for a group photo.

 This is her costume for the girl part of her dance.

 Emma and Maya both performed as well, Emma in hip hop and tap/jazz and Maya as part of the Nutcracker.

 Fiona in the audience with Daddy.

 Nalani and Melina performed too, but we were never in the same dressing room as Melina's class.

 Here is Lily in her angel costume.

 The next day it was time for the annual pre Christmas manicure/pedicure with friends.

 On Tuesday of Christmas week we went into the city for a visit with Santa. The girls decided on matching dresses. Fi asked for a tea set and Lily for a Chromebook.

 There was a Nutcracker presentation going on there as well so both girls posed as dancers.

 They also watched the projection of the ballet on the domed ceiling.