Holiday Performance and Parade

Hello! We're back from an unintentional holiday hiatus on the blog as well as several days in Iowa for Christmas celebrations. And what a fabulous time it was! More on that to come, but for now let's rewind a bit to the Thursday before Christmas...

Katelyn's dance class held their Holiday Dance Show. Her class highlighted five songs they've been practicing each week. It was pretty casual and the kids did great performing in the "big" dance studio and in front of a crowd (many parents, grandparents, etc. were there seated in chairs right in front of the girls).

They danced to classics like "If You're Happy and You Know It" as well as some special holiday tunes like "Jingle Bells" (complete with bells for each dancer).

Katelyn loves to dance and is always saying, "Mommy, watch this!!" so she liked having a large audience (even if it was comprised of strangers - somewhat surprising to me!) 

Each child had a mark to stand on (a piece of colored tape on the floor) to keep them sufficiently spaced out. At the beginning of each song, Katelyn made absolutely sure she was standing right on her mark. Once a song ended, she'd race right back to her mark and stand there with a big smile on her face. It was so cute!

One song called for skipping, then skating, then hopping, and finally soaring, so the kids boogied in a large circle across the dance floor in each mode.

At the end of the show, the class posed for a group picture. Aren't they adorable?! And the teachers are so good - they're patient, encouraging, and great at explaining various movements to the young students.

It was so fun to see Katelyn in action. I took video clips with my phone and sent them to Michael so he could see for himself what it was like. Talk about making a Mommy and Daddy proud!!

In keeping with the holiday festivities, we decided to meet Michael after work that evening for the Holidazzle Parade which goes through the heart of downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall. It was a chilly one, but so fun for Katelyn to see all the floats lit up with Christmas lights. We got a family picture taken inside Michael's office building before Katelyn and Michael ventured outside. Kendall and I stayed warm inside and watched through the windows.

The highlight for Katelyn was the final float of the parade... several reindeer pulling Santa himself! She kept saying, "I saw Santa!" and "Santa waved to me!" Speaking of Santa, he made an early visit to our house since we would be in Iowa on Christmas day. Stay tuned for more on that and other Christmas adventures!

Holiday Photos... and Outtakes

Say cheese! We've had a couple recent photo shoots and while most of you have seen some of these pictures in our Christmas card, I thought I'd include a few more here. Our friend Matt (a great photographer) took these back in October...

On a whim the other day, I dressed the girls in their new Christmas outfits (a skirt with tights for Kendall and "farkly" dress for Katelyn), positioned them in front of the tree (Katelyn holding Kendall with my hands holding the camera - eek!), and hoped for the best. Almost shockingly, we actually got some good ones. A Christmas miracle, I tell ya.

And because we like to keep it real and reflect life as we know it here on the blog, this is what else happened during these photo shoots. A little dose of reality...

Hey, it's real life and it's a wonderful life. Merry Christmas from Team Mlakar!!

What We Love About December

It's the most wonderful time of the year... for many reasons. Here's what we're loving most about this December:

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care... Four of them this year ♥ 

Christmas stickers and Christmas stamps...

Stickers for everyone (including Malone!)...

Best seasonal candy: White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's! If you haven't tried them yet, do yourself a favor. Go out and get a bag and try (just try!) to make them last longer than two hours. Exclusively at Target. And one of Michael's biggest work projects this Christmas season. A home run if you ask me!!

Time with special visitors (aka Mama's helpers!) while Michael was in Europe for work...

Getting dressed in her "snow swim suit," as she kept calling it, and chomping at the bit to play in the white stuff!

Thankful that Michael arrived home safely from five days in Amsterdam and London just in time for our first big SNOWSTORM (and the debut use of his snowblower!)

Singing in the rain is cool, so why not swinging in the snow? :)

Some of us like the indoors better - Kendall prefers her Sophie teether over the snow (for now anyway).

It's nice to have time for indoor experiments and activities including indoor bubble-blowing (red!), seasonal crafts, and painting. We've also baked lots of cookies for our friends and teachers. 'Tis the season!

Can't you just hear this little girl singing, "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..." in this picture?!

Playing, playing, and more playing! Kendall seems to be developing more and more everyday. Her hands are working overtime to grab and pull objects toward her.

She's also getting more acquainted with the Bumbo chair and her bunny friend.

Sister time! It warms my heart to see these sweeties playing together. Kendall loves watching Katelyn bounce all over the place and Katelyn loves to say, "Hi, honey" or "Hi, Kendo" in a soft voice to Kendall and bring her toys.

It sure is fun to share the infant activity mat with a sister...

or dolly friends... (this was Katelyn's arrangement, as you may have guessed ;)

December also marked the start of dance class for Katelyn. She was thrilled to be joining a dance class - after all, dance parties still happen regularly at our house and Angelina Ballerina is a favorite show.

Another holiday tradition is searching for our Elf on the Shelf every morning. Katelyn named him "Arthur" and each time she wakes up from either a nap or a full night's sleep, she asks: "Is Arffur in a different sffot (spot)?" It's fun to search for him and so far, Katelyn's favorite spots for him were in the fridge guarding her yogurt, making a snow angel with flour, and resting in our wreath like a hammock. We also made a Santa craft and add a cotton ball to his beard every morning until Christmas.

In the midst of our busy December, we are making certain to slow down and enjoy the wonder of this special time of year while reminding ourselves the true reason for the season. As Katelyn said in her prayers last night, "Thank you, Jesus, for baby Jesus, baby Kendo... and Julie's tree." (Our neighbor across the street has a beautiful outdoor tree that we admire with a million colorful lights on it.) Thank you indeed.