Thursday, February 2, 2012

From the Way Back Machine

So these videos come to us courtesy of Aunt Mary, who unearthed them from her camera recently. They were taken on August 5, 2007, so Eliza was just shy of 10 months old. This first one shows her still in her bouncing as dancing phase.


And this one cracks me up for the "no autographs, please" kind of look (with a tiny head shake) she gives Mary when asked if she could say hi.


Don't you just want to squeeze her???

Friday, January 13, 2012

Cowgirl Eliza!

This past Wednesday was Cowboy/Cowgirl day at school. We were luckily able to borrow some costume pieces from "A Christmas Story" (Ralphie's cowboy vest and hat from one of the fantasy sequences) and thus created Cowgirl Eliza who is pink, purple, and sparkly as all cowgirls should be. And really just too cute not to share. Yee haw!!!!





Monday, January 9, 2012

Recitals and Pageants

Makes us sound like an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras, doesn't it? (I've never actually seen that show, mind you, but I think even the occasional preview sums it all up pretty well) We're not that extreme, but Eliza has had some fun in the last year performing here and there.

Last spring was her dance recital where she was a cupcake (Eliza is the third from the left, next to to the teacher).



This fall, her class ended their first unit of inquiry, Recycling, with a performance for the parents. It won't make much sense in the video...but it didn't make much sense even if you were actually there. So this video will make you feel like you were ACTUALLY THERE. Doesn't get much better than that, does it? (This was also my first run at using my iPhone for video)



This fall, we also bought a digital piano (which is not the same as a keyboard and is way cool) and Eliza started taking piano lessons. She goes once a week with another girl named Elizabeth and in December they had a little recital with the other students in Miss Rachel's school. She loved it. Lessons start up again today and apparently there will be a third little girl in her class. But probably not named Elizabeth too.



Our year ended with a Christmas pageant at a nearby church. We didn't mean to end up in the pageant - we were just looking for somewhere to go on Christmas Eve that wasn't the place we went last year. So we attended service the Sunday before Christmas just to check it out. It's a small church so as new people we were very conspicuous. The woman in charge of the pageant heard we had a five year old and asked if she'd like to be in it. I said she would love to and when asked if she would like to be an angel or a sheep, I didn't even blink. Angel. Definitely angel. So not only was she an angel, one of 12, she was the Littlest Angel, which meant her halo was different than everybody else's and she got to carry a star. Totally adorable, if I do say so myself.




Of course, all that angelic-ness can wear a girl out....

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

Monday, November 28, 2011

It's More Than Just Cornfields!

One of the pleasant surprises about moving to Indiana is that it is not, in fact, all just flat cornfields. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of those, too, but we've gone on some fun walks and found beautiful woodsy and hilly spots! So we thought we'd share a few...

How cool is this tree??

Halfway up a "mountain," taking a rest before continuing up.

Near our house - look at the size of that tree!

Seriously - look at that thing.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Fall Recap

Good news - I'm actually posting something! Want even better news? I got an iPhone 4S! Why is this good news for Eliza fans? Because the camera on this thing is amazing, so we are taking a a lot more pictures now, which hopefully means I'll post more of them here.

But anyway, here is what we've been up to this fall. Eliza started kindergarten...can you believe it??? She's doing great, becoming very fluent in French, loves her teacher, has lots of friends. Good times all around at the International School!
She also had a birthday party at her new favorite place on earth, Interactive Academy, which is where she takes gymnastics. Aunt Mary took a bunch of great pictures from the party, so if you want to see more, click here.
She's also been playing with our dog. Did I mention we got a dog? This is Scout, who is infinitely patient. (Scout is a girl, named in honor of To Kill A Mockingbird, just like Eliza)
Close to Halloween, we went to a haunted trail where Eliza was very brave and got to eat s'mores. (Come to think of it, almost everywhere we went this fall seemed to have s'mores. Must be an Indiana thing)
Mommy is doing another play, "A Christmas Story," with the local theater here in Zionsville and Eliza came down one Saturday morning to help work on the set. She painted, held doors steady, fetched tools, and learned the difference between nails and screws. She did great!
And then there was Halloween. Eliza went as Ariel, from "The Little Mermaid." She would like you all to know that this is not her real hair. It's fake hair. Just in case you weren't sure.
Our most recent adventure was a visit from Uncle Friz. He came for work and since Aunt Leslie just started a new job, she and Cousin Jack couldn't come along. So we took lots of pictures for them.

The big day out was a trip to the Children's Museum, one of our favorite places in Indiana. Even the dinosaurs can't wait to get in!
This was Uncle Friz's favorite part. He could have done this all day. As could the random kid who figured out pretty quickly that this guy is really, REALLY FUN!

Important contest at lunch...who has a bigger tongue?
We wore Eliza out pretty good.

Look out, the dinosaurs are escaping!

(Points off from the Children's Museum for decorating the dinosaurs before Thanksgiving. Boo!)



Back at home, Eliza talked Daddy and Uncle Friz into playing her new favorite game, Hedbanz. Don't ask.

So that's what we have for now. Hopefully there will be more soon (I know, I say this all the time!).

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Happy Birthday, Cousin Jack!

A couple of different birthday wishes for Eliza's favorite cousin who is 6!!! Where has the time gone?

So...I posted these and for some reason the tail ends of the videos are getting cut off (and the sound is a bit out of sync - mysterious). Our apologies, especially to Jack who should know that Eliza can't wait to see him in July!


Et en francais!


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Vive la Revolution!

All she needs is one of those red liberty caps!



Allons enfants de la Patrie, Arise, children of the Fatherland,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! The day of glory has arrived!
Contre nous de la tyrannie, Against us, tyranny's
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis) Bloody banner is raised, (repeat)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Do you hear, in the countryside,
Mugir ces féroces soldats ? The howling of those ferocious soldiers?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras They're coming right into your arms
Égorger vos fils et vos compagnes ! To slit the throats of your sons and consorts!

Aux armes, citoyens, To arms, citizens,
Formez vos bataillons, Form your battalions,
Marchons, marchons ! Let's march, let's march!
Qu'un sang impur Let impure blood
Abreuve nos sillons !