Snow Day

Under the category of "be extremely careful what you wish for"... the DC area got it's first real snow fall of the year. Last year we had survived Snowmageddon, which arrived around Christmas, and were bracing for Snowpocalypse, which arrived in early Feb (and delayed the demolition of our old house). This year, not so much. And with the several near misses earlier in the season, I was actually sort of longing for snow...




And while we only got 4 or 5 inches Wednesday night, they were wet heavy inches that took down power lines EVERYWHERE. And caused a rush hour that no one will ever forget (it took some colleagues 8 hours to go 20 miles!). And closed schools for two days.




In an usual sign of bravado, the Federal Government delayed its opening by 2 hours. On day one. And that was it. Which meant that I had to take a few vacation hours yesterday and get really creative today (two "helpers" came with me to work, and some VERY awesome colleagues kept them busy to I could meet a deadline!).





And strangely enough it took a lot of time to get the girls psyched up enough to go outside. For most of the day they were happy to hang out indoors. They stayed out of trouble. Mostly... They dressed up a lot. And danced!



By the time we got them bundled enough to go out, we didn't have much sunlight left. But in the waning hour of the day, we got in plenty of sledding and had tons of fun. My mom, who lost power at her house and was camping out at ours, even took a turn down the slope!

My dancing princesses

My dad used to tease us when we were little that he was born with a tuxedo and top hat on and a cigar in his hand (a bizarre thought...). Oh yeah, and he also walked 6 miles to school. Each way. Uphill BOTH ways. And somehow in the snow year-round.

But I digress...

He may or may not have started his life surrounded by such formality as a tux and top hat, but our little Anna did start her life destined to dance.

I'll spare you all the details from April 10, 2008... But I will foreshadow things just a bit by saying that nearly every pregnant woman in Arlington must have delivered that night. The hospital was slammed and my nurses were running from patient to patient. Being that I was a second time mom, I got less attention than I may have under other circumstances. That is until about 7 minutes before Anna was born... when I had Noah track down a nurse to check me... when we realized that I was crowning and no one was around...


The hilarity of the situation was not lost on me, and the laughing that ensued caused Anna to literally skate on out. Her first performance. Such grace!

Since she learned to walk she hasn't looked back. But she doesn't walk. Or run. She dances. So, naturally, when it came time to enroll her in a winter weekend activity this year, ballet got the vote.


Unlike Lily, who never really took to dance (to each their own... Lily is kicking some downward dog tushie in yoga right now!), I knew that Anna would love it. Almost as much as I love dressing my girls up for ballet.

Ah the memories... Remember when Lily started (oh go ahead and click through...the photos are SO worth it!)? Even if it didn't take with her, she was pretty darn cute!

Anna's now three weeks in to the session, and a total natural if I do say so myself. And she loves it. Unlike Lily's class way back when I was oh-so-pregnant-with-Anna-and-as-big-as-a-whale-and-had-to-dance-around-the-studio-looking-like-a-fool, Anna's class isn't a Mommy & Me. It's a I'm-two-now-and-can-do-this-on-my-own-thank-you-very-much! class. And although I was skeptical, I convinced her two little gal pals from preschool to sign up too. Bet paid off, and the posse of girls is loving it.


And although I have to miss CBS Sunday Morning, I now get to spend my Sunday mornings sipping coffee and watching pint sized ballerinas dance their little hearts away. Watch out Bolshoi...Anna Lake is on the loose!

New Year

I'm still in the midst of finalizing my resolutions for 2011. First resolution...make at least one of my resolutions very actionable (definitive start and finish) so that I actually DO it. And then cross it off the list.

One of my less quantifiable resolutions will be to stop and smell the roses a bit more. Yes, it's cliche, but I'm sometimes a bit too focused on doing, doing, doing that I forget to slow down and enjoy life's little moments. With two small children in the house, there are lots and lots of little moments. I resolve to not only notice them more, but to partake.

So instead of getting dressed up for some fancy New Year's Eve gala, Noah and I took the girls to a local First Night celebration. The main street was closed with back to back bands playing on center stage. There was "FUNalley" set up for kids, with free popcorn and hot chocolate to keep them going between the moon bounces and velcro wall. And many of the stores stayed open late. Including one of our favorites...a local paint your own pottery place.

No need to rub your eyes to check them...Anna's mouth is, indeed, blue. Thanks to an ill-timed lollipop.

And while we definitely didn't burn the midnight oil, the girls got to burn past their regular bedtimes. When we got home we had our own NYE dance-a-thon; I can only imagine what the neighbors must have thought if they caught glimpse of the four or us "getting down" (the entire back of our house is glass after all). No I can't dance...and yes my girls take after me. But we had fun. Lots of fun. And then toasted our Fox-Israel Family with a some non-alcoholic bubbly before officially saying good-bye to 2010.

Not sure what 2011 has in store for us. But I resolve to make the most of it!

Happy New Year to you and yours.

XOXO
Courtney