Santa!

Here are the girls with Santa last year...

This year, Olivia came with us to see Santa, too.

Athena talk talk talks

Athena's vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds. Our current list has about 75 words + signs, but I think I'm missing quite a few, and she seems to learn a few more every day. Here we are just hanging out a couple of weeks ago.

She's also a HUGE football fan.

And we are all HUGE fans of her.

Mazie the Flamingo Dancer (Part II)... and she also does ballet... and is a pop star.

On the last episode, Ahya was leaving for Spain and Mazie had just begun her flamenco/flamingo training.  Upon her return, Ahya presented Mazie with a beautiful flamenco dress, shoes, and hair accessory, and on Thanksgiving at Barb and Gpa's house (the first of 4 Thanksgivings this year), Mazie regaled us with quite the performance (on the hearth-stage that her mother performed on as a child).  (A certain little sister makes an appearance at the 2:25 mark with some impressive moves of her own.)

Showing her versatility, a few weeks later Mazie performed on a bigger stage for her "Petite Nutcracker Ballet" class recital.  Here she is posing before the show -- note the custom hairstyle she designed herself: "A bun on top and two ponytails on the side."

And here is the performance.


Finally, we still enjoy frequent song-and-dance performances with a more rock-pop flavor in a more intimate venue...