Anna Grows

There was no white Christmas in Virginia this year, so we decided to seek one out. Conveniently, snow was forecast for New York. How convenient. The Christmas weekend kicked off for Anna with a little ice skating on Christmas Eve day with Mom while Dad secured the hot chocolate. Anna is getting better at skating, but still not quite comfortable enough to let go of Mom's hand. She has requested to wear her snow pants next time because "the ice is cold." Good observation. Ice Skating was followed by Christmas Eve mass at 6 PM, an event Mom secured tickets for earlier in the month. That's right - you need tickets for the 3:45 PM and 6 PM mass on Christmas Eve. The 3:45 mass is the most popular and was "sold out" by the time Mom got there (apparently you need to wait in line an hour in advance of the ticket hand out to ensure you get those tickets - something Mom was not willing to do). We are not sure exactly why 3:45 is so popular and we will probably never fi

December 17 marked Anna's debut in the Christmas Play, The Littlest Christmas Tree . Anna played the role of a bunny, which accented her hopping ability. We are happy to report that she overcame her stage fright and hopped around the littlest christmas tree with three other bunnies. The two pre-school classes put on the production for the proud parents and grandparents (kudos to the teachers for orchestrating this with about 28 4-year olds). Anna was instructed to wear white pants and a white shirt for her costume. Theresa had to stop at several stores to find white pants (really - wear can you find white pants in December?). The production was a success. The kids were most excited about the cookies and punch following the show. The Christmas festivities continued on Saturday morning when the neighborhood hosted its annual "Breakfast with Santa." Santa paid a visit to all the neighborhood kids arriving on a fire truck and delivering presents (Anna got a book). Anna was no

Sunday marked the annual family pilgrimmage to the U.S. Botanic Garden for the gorgeous holiday display. The highlight of trip is always the spectacular train display, which is great for all ages. This year Sue and Aidan joined us for the trip along with Pauletta, Wil, and Grayson. For those of you who know Pauletta, she is a woman of many interests. She is an avid photographer, history buff, and can rival the Griswalds for her Christmas celebrations. This is why it is SHOCKING that the U.S. Botanic Garden is the one place in Washington Pauletta has not been. While the kids had a great time, Pauletta may have enjoyed it the most and was well on her way to passing the 1,000 picture mark. The highlight of course was the train display. Anna and Aidan were particularly excited when the saw Thomas the Train go by and were waving to him. Aidan tried to grab him at one point until Theresa did a quick intervention (no one wants to be banned from the train exhibits in the future). Grayson enjo