walking shoes

helen upped and starting walking last week and hasn't looked back. she's very confident and quiet in her determination. i'll post some videos this weekend but here's my favorite photo of the week, taken today by lisa.

the nutcracker

thea and i went to the nutcracker ballet on december 18. we were both really excited to go. i remember loving the ballet as a girl and though this performance didn't hold a candle to the boston ballet, it was still so much fun. thea wore a dress that laura gave her for her birthday and it couldn't have been more perfect for the occasion.







hellie was sad she couldn't go:



we arrived early and found our seats then went to check out the orchestra pit. thea enjoyed seeing the instruments but was a little impatient to get to her seat. i had to bribe her to go to the bathroom before the show and the entire time we were in line for the toilet, she kept saying, "it's starting! we have to go to our seats! we're going to miss it!" i was a little nervous as to whether she would sit still and be interested. she was definitely interested and sat still for all but the last few minutes. she was somewhat quiet though loudly whispered through a good deal of the show.



all in all, a great first trip to a live performance of this kind. i would do it again in a minute. we have plans to attend cinderella in the spring and we are both looking forward to it!