Color us happy

The sad news is that Noah's sister, Sara, and her new hubbie, Leon, have jumped the pond and taken up residence in jolly old England. London to be specific. The great news is that we got some nice QT, in the form of a visit, before Sara had to leave for good. (The silver lining is, of course, that we now have a great excuse to visit -- and a place to stay!)

We took full advantage of having an extra adult in the house during Sara's stay, and we decided to tackle a DIY house project...painting.

For those of you who know me well, you might be scratching your head. Moi + painting? Say it ain't so! After painting our living room in the house we tore down, Noah and I swore that we'd never do it again. Painting would be a thing we'd outsource from here on out. Like hauling heavy boxes when moving from address A to address B. Or scrubbing toilets.

But I've recently become addicted to the design/DIY blog Young House Love. (WARNING -- it's highly addictive, so please don't say I didn't warn you!) And these guys, who recently moved and are redoing a whole new house, make painting look so easy and fun. So I decided to give it another chance.

And... it was easy and fun! And the transformation was so major and immediate. I love it!

I started nice and small with the kitchen island. And while I don't have before pictures, you can paint one in your mind. Because until this color went up, our ENTIRE house was "moon mist", an ever-so-slightly-yellowish-tinted white.

Benjamin Moore's "kingsport gray"

Then we tackled Lily's room. Before = none other than "moon mist." After = Benjamin Moore's "freesia." The exact same color as her cousin, Camilla's, room. Because, you know, at age 6 imitation really is the most sincere form of flattery. That and the fact that these girls are two halves of the same person...separated at birth (and by about 15 months).

BEFORE

Taped, furniture moved to the center, and ready to go!

The colors we were deciding between -- purple, purple and purple. Guess what won? Purple!

AFTER





And while we have decided to leave the big/hard spaces to the painting pros, Noah and I are up to the challenge of bedrooms. Next up... Anna's!

Color us happy, indeed!

Random Act of Kindness

Noah and I went back and forth, back and forth about the "ideal age difference" to have between our kids. There seemed to be pros and cons to both spacing them closely together as well as farther apart. I knew that I could not have done two in diapers, so 3 1/2 years seemed like the happy medium. But some told us that even that was too far apart... the kids may, but may not, become playmates.

The jury was out until recently. But I'm happy to say that not only have they started playing -- I mean really playing -- together, but watching their relationship blossom is nothing short of beauty. Of course they have their hair-pulling, name-calling, toy-grabbing moments too, but all in all they're becoming the best of buds.


There is enough of an age difference that they have their distinct personalities and roles. Lily is just enough older that she feels slightly maternal to Anna...but not so much older that she thinks she's a little mama. Anna is now old enough to hold her own...but still young enough that she likes it when Lily babies her.

Lily, who just recently started earning an allowance, journeyed out to a toy store a few weeks ago with a pretty heavy piggy bank in tow. Not only did she buy a something for herself, but she insisted that she buy Anna something too. With her own money; no parental contributions were accepted. And she bought a baby, because that's what Anna loves best.


A random act of kindness that made this mama very proud.

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

Holiday Greetings... Part 4 (The Final One)

Wishing you holidays full of love, and a new year free of bad behavior...



With much love from Life with Lily and Anna!

Holiday Greetings... Part 3

But as I said, Hanukkah was early. And this holiday season is long. The celebrating didn't stop after all 8 candles had been lit.

LILY...

The Combined Federal Campaign is one of the oldest and largest charitable workplace giving campaigns. Ever. Originally dreamed up by President Eisenhower (same POTUS who dreamed up my Agency!), millions and millions and millions are donated every year by federal employees. Last year I think some $17m was raised by DoD employees alone.

This year has been a rather sporty one for our campaign at work, which resulted in us raising 173% of our goal! And since I was one of the keyworkers, I was very involved. Very. And when one of the other keyworkers suggested that kids singing at Christmas would very likely be a successful fundraiser, I immediately volunteered Lily.

It was, by the way. Successful. We raised almost $3,000 for charity that day.

Poor Lily missed the one and only rehearsal because I was in meetings longer than anticipated... and given that most of the songs at this "non-denominational" concert had more to do with Santa and Frosty than they did with dreidels... Lily held her own and did pretty darn great. And although she might not admit it, I think she had fun.





ANNA...

And while it was great fun to see and hear the kids sing for such a worthy cause, we also had a blast two days later seeing and hearing the kids sing at the Holiday Open House at Anna's school.

Now, after the Thanksgiving performance of 10 Little Indians, I thought that I was prepared for just about anything. And I almost was. I ALMOST made it through Anna's impersonation of an elf without laughing. Almost... But not quite.

Although she's in the 2 year old class -- the youngest in the school -- I personally think that they were the best. They stole the show. Now don't get me wrong... the 2 1/2 year old pint sized Elvis look alikes and the 4 year old Bolivian dancers were ADORABLE. K-RAY-ZEE cute, in fact. But the little dancing Elves stole my heart. And, no, I'm not biased at all.



Not to be outdone by the kids, there were a few very special visitors.



Of course, Dora got just a little too close to comfort when we attempted to take a class photo. I've never seen so many kids look so shell shocked...and then simultaneously burst in to tears...as I did that day.




My little Hanukkah elf...

Holiday Greetings... Part 2

Although amazingly... sadly... I don't have ANY photos from Hanukkah this year (how did that happen?!?), I was able to snap a few at the Hanukkah Family Service/Shir Joy Hanukkah Concert at Temple.

My cousin Susana and I got the "brilliant" idea to sign our girls up for the Temple K-2 choir this year. Without asking them. And although they've both protested at various points along the way, she and I seem to be winning the battle of the wills. Lesson learned: ignored complaints will SOME TIMES actually go away.

We missed the first Shir Joy choir concert. It was the same weekend as "the incident", and Lily was in no mood to leave the house let alone perform in public. So be it. By the time concert #2 rolled around, she seemed to actually be embracing the idea. And her beloved cousin.


I'm happy to say that Hanukkah was a grand-slam success this year. Noah and I got eachother...well...a brand new and much larger mortgage.

The girls got just about everything on their wish lists. Nothing really big. But big hits all around! Lily was so excited on the first day of Hanukkah that she came home and reported that she'd had a hard time concentrating in school. In my book that = mission accomplished.

Remember, this is the child who, when asked what she wanted for Hanukkah at age two replied...to sit on Santa's lap.


And while I couldn't be more proud of Anna and her super Spanish skills, it knocks my socks off that Lily is learning...REALLY learning...Hebrew. It's awesome. Uber awesome.

(apologies for the poor camera angle...which includes some awful, um, boob shots...but I had to be stealth since all cameras were strictly forbidden in the sanctuary... my disobedience probably doesn't bode well for me in the after life!)

Holiday Greetings... Part 1

Hanukkah this year was early. REALLY early. Which meant that the Holiday Season 2010 was (well, still is...) long. REALLY long.

We've celebrated over and over and over. The kids were really in to it this year. Which made it ten times more fun. At six and two, the girls knew what the holidays were all about. They had plans. And wish lists. And lots of activities they wanted to try.

Like gingerbread decorating.

Although we don't celebrate Christmas, we do apparently celebrate art projects and candy. And we REALLY celebrate when we get to combine the two. Which we do every year...in a lovely mother/daughter tradition that started a few years ago (2009, 2008, & photos from 2007 are buried somewhere in iPhoto...).

Although Lily was anxious to invite her old buddies again this year, we branched out to her new kindergarten friends -- plus cousin Camilla of course! -- and had an absolutely lovely afternoon. Each of the girls partnered with their moms to decorate AND name their houses. I was amazed by how different each house ended up...despite having all the same ingredients at each work station. The names were just as quirky and cute as the houses themselves. Sadly -- SHAMEFULLY -- I forgot to write them down. Bummer!

(Erin with the winning house, in my book...this one rocked!)

(can you see that Lily's gummy Frosty is on candy cane skis? Bonus points for creativity!)

Even the little girls -- who were simply candy "catchers" (as it fell off the table and in to their mouths) last year -- had tons of fun doing their own houses this year. And I must say, having the extra 2,000+ sq/ft of (real) house made ALL the difference when setting up to decorate 8 cookie/candy houses!