Out on the Town

As a prelude to the big Christmas event, my whole family (all the adult members that is) gathered in Tulsa for a glamorous wedding weekend. This is truly the first time Joe and I, my two globe-trotting (well, one is more small western town trotting, but still) siblings, and my parents have had the leisure to hang out without my girls.

They were missed, of course. But as expected, the Halverson family, along with our southern cousins, know how to have a good time!

UnCooped

Released from the grip of our various illnesses, our little family has exploded with energy. The girls have moved from one activity to the next for two days, refusing to let the remnants of their coughs slow them down.

They painted the birdhouses left by the Easter Bunny.

Maya's is on the left; Elle's is on the right. I can't wait to meet the psychedelic hippie birds that decide to nest there.... or maybe they'll just brighten up the garden fence?

They began an epic sea voyage. Originally the gazebo was their ship during yesterday's showers. They spend their time fishing, catching sharks, and then having to swim or steer their boats away from the sharks. Or rescue each other from ready-to-snap jaws. Today the wagon served as a rowboat to the park. Elliot refuses to let go of her fishing pole, complete with a felt fish.


Maya spent our walk picking up litter and mumbling about how thoughtless some people are.

And, as the final sign of our recovered good health, we danced... in costume!

Photo Friday: If at First You Don't Succeed

If at first you don't succeed with your snowshoe construction project....


and if those snow shoes sink right through the exceedingly powdery snow, frustrating the patient snow shoe makers, and creating only a pile of soggy cardboard and non-sticky duct tape....


Then have a dance party instead!

Photo Friday: Dance Party with the Ribbon Rings

Flashes of Dance

For the sake of posterity, here are the girls' most recent dance moves. First it's Elliot in a solo interpretive circle dance, and then you'll see Maya's pre-bedtime impromptu tap performance (with all too-grown-up post-dance commentary).

Photo Friday: Jammie Dance

In Case You Were Wondering...

Someone recently asked me if we gave up dance party, since it has dropped off the blog for a while. Don't worry, my friends, dance party lives on, though it doesn't provide much fodder for new bloggable stories.

A few things have changed, though. The tutus rarely make an appearance anymore, but crepe paper streamers have become regular "ribbon dancing" props.

The girls now synchronize some of their moves, if Maya can convince Elliot to play along.


Stuffed animal dance partners have become a staple. Maya's favorite dance move continues to be the classic "spin til dizzy." Elliot has expanded her repertoire to include barrel rolling across the floor, summersaults, and attaching herself to my left leg.


We have transitioned from using my limited iTunes library to logging on at Pandora for a Mika-based radio station, or perhaps some Funk. We're hoping to really switch up the music now that Joe got two family sing-along music books for his guitar. Oh yes, we will be THAT family (no video, I promise!)


So yes, in case you were wondering, we still rock and roll (or lately, kick it broadway style) on a daily basis. Long live Dance Party!

Celebrate Good Times!

Dance party continues to be the highlight of our days, and it's a great way to celebrate a birthday!

Dance Party Done Right!

We drug all of the dress up costumes out this week, hanging them on the laundry rack right in the living room.

This was mostly a scheme to convince Maya that we have lots of fun costumes already, and we don't need to buy new ones.

It turned into a dance party extravaganza. Why haven't we been dancing in costume (beyond tutus) this whole time?!





Ultimately, it lead to a neighborhood costume walk, which caught a lot of attention. If you are in the mood to talk to neighbors who are usually a bit up tight, bring the little mermaid with you. It really lightens the mood!

We Turned Her One!

A trip to the zoo, birthday cake madness, dance party, and chinese takeout all surrounded by people that love her, made this the best first birthday party EVER! :)

One Year Ago Today

I woke up a year ago today to a mild but unmistakable contraction. As they progressed throughout that rainy, fall Sunday, our little family of three just enjoyed our last few hours alone. We made pancakes, had a dance party (that was before dance party was a regular part of our days!), and we walked around the mall.

Finally, when some poor woman tried to hand me a perfume sample and I had to catch my breath before turning her down, we headed home from the mall (contractions 2 minutes apart!), and sent Joe out for a little KFC. What was I thinking? Well, a girl has got to eat before meeting her daughter!

As it turned out, I had to have the KFC left overs later. When I realized that I was pausing between bites to do a little yoga breathing, we put the greasy chicken away and stashed Maya at the neighbors to wait for Grandma and Grandpa.

Elliot made her way into the world only two hours later, in the most peaceful, natural way that the modern medical community would allow. And from that moment on, she has been this wise, observant, hilarious little person, snuggled in my left arm (seriously, you should see my left bicep after a year of toting her!).



In contrast, today is a gloriously sunny, still day. We had peanut butter banana chocolate chip muffins for the birthday breakfast, and though it may have been the sugar rush, Elliot has been dashing around with so much energy I swear she knows something is important about the day!

New Camera Craziness

I can't stop myself. I'm posing the girls by the garden, making Maya pose on her way to mail some letters, taking more dance party pictures (that's been done to death hasn't it?!) I LOVE the new camera, and I have no stories to share because I'm spending all of my time snapping pictures!

Reunited, And it Feels so Good

After Maya's little weekend vacation with Grandma and Grandpa, and our vacation with just Elliot Rose, we are all glad to be together again.

Maya is full of new stories, dance moves, and funny tricks (I can definitely tell which ones came from Grandpa!)from her big trip. If Joe or I mention that we missed her she employs her most exasperated tone to say, "You KNEW I was coming home.

During Elliot's nap today, Maya and I spent some special time outside making sand art. She told me all about the fancy party she went to Saturday night, while we used glue, sand, finger paint, and flowers to make colorful art.

It's unfortunate that even wintery projects like finger painting and collages are more fun outside... but that might be due to the easy clean up.