Lauren Starts Violin

Shortly after Lauren's birthday she started taking violin lessons from the same teacher that Sophie and I have. Right now she's learning how to hold the violin and name the different parts. Sophie is also being very "helpful" when we all practice at home. This month Sophie will get "certified" from her school, which means she plays a scale and song that she's memorized for the director of the school. She's nervous, but has been playing her song for months now, so is prepared. I can't wait until all three of us can play a song together!

Sophie demonstrating the proper hold and stance

Happy 4th Birthday Lauren!

On the 26th all of our Christmas decorations came down and we were in full birthday mode! My parents were here for a few days and we had a little family party for Lauren. And then on January 3rd, when the kids were back in school, Dave and I went in to her school and celebrated again with Lauren's class, where she did the traditional Montessori birthday walk around the sun (a candle) holding a globe. And for the third and final celebration she had a party with friends at the Mud Room, a paint-you-own-pottery spot in Ardmore. We had 22 kids and no broken pottery - amazing!

The crazy birthday girl! 

The birthday girl at her friend birthday party

Blowing out the candles at her friend birthday party

Christmas 2016

The year we hosted Christmas for the first time! We had a relatively quite morning with Mom Mom, Pop Pop, Dave, me and the girls. And around 1pm a crew of both Sharps and Rainers came over for a total of 26 people. We successfully we pulled it off! Here's what the house looked like before the madness:

After Santa left off of his goodies

Table for 26

And the table filled with family! Everyone fit! 

Sophie's big present was a set of skies that she got to use right away. Dave took her the day after Christmas to Spring Mountain. 

The hip ski chick

Doing a pretty good run down the hill

The School Year so Far

The girls have both settled into their new schools pretty well at this point. They seem to both have made some good friends and like their teachers. 

Two weeks ago Lauren's school hosted Grandparents Day, and PopPop came in for a visit. She showed him around the classroom, introduced him to her friends, and they both enjoyed snack.

Lauren and PopPop

Last week all of the first graders at Sophie's school put on a concert called Mighty Minds. It was pretty cute. Here's a quick clip of one of the songs. Sophie is on the end, second from the top.

Here's Sophie's first grade picture. Looking a bit sly, I think. Unfortunately Lauren missed her picture day when she was in the hospital with a broken arm, and they don't do any makeups(!). So sadly, we won't have a school picture of her this year. 

Oh, Christmas Tree!

We arrived back from Virginia on Saturday and on Sunday went right into Christmas mode. This year we went to a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm in Collegeville and did just that. We pulled out all of the holiday boxes, and by Sunday night the house was fully decked. One full month of Christmas bliss :)

Sophie helping Dave cut down the tree

The girls and Dave with the freshly cut tree

Fully decorated. As you can see, we don't really abide by the "don't touch" rule for the Elf on the Shelf. He's more of a "helper" in our house.. 

The following weekend we went to see Santa at the Northwestern Stables in Fairmount Park. To be a little more accurate, it's Santa and his horse, Otis.

Lauren wasn't too thrilled about the situation.

Thanksgiving 2016

We headed down to my parent's house in Virginia for Thanksgiving this year. We had the usual group of folks: Doug, Vicky, Carley (no Quinn b/c she's still on her gap year), Nana, Becky, James, and Ariana. We were also joined by Tom and Ginger this year. Dave cooked the bulk of the dinner - as he always does - and it was delicious! 

 Mom and Dad also took the opportunity to snap their Christmas Car pictures with their three grandkids

Election 2016

On November 8th, I headed to the poles with the girls to proudly vote for who we all assumed would be the first woman president, Hillary Clinton. As the day progressed into the evening it became clear that a lot of the country did not feel the same way. I was up early on the morning of the 9th and felt a loss and devastation that I haven't experienced before. I didn't know what to tell the girls after months of talking about the importance of this election, specifically the importance for women and girls. Not only had Hillary not been elected, but instead a sexist, xenophobic, intolerant scumbag had been elected. I literally did not have the words to explain it to them. It's now a month after the election and I'm past the mourning, but far from acceptance. In our home we continue to emphasize powerful female leaders and acceptance of all, but what they're exposed to outside our house can be a different story. The girls are going to change and grow up a lot over the next four years and it is our goal to talk about and expose them to people and organizations who are working for equality acceptance so that this may never happen again.

Me and the girls after casting our vote for Hillary Clinton