Merry Chrismas!

Here is the Ott Clan on Christmas Eve...

Dorothy

a.k.a. Nicole
Check out the ruby slippers, Tinman's heart and Toto.
(I had to 'paint' on eyebrows because they were so light compared to the wig!)
Fun night!
Ciao!

Friends ala White Stripes

We had Back-to-School Night this week at Nic's school and her teacher started off her presentation with this very appropriate snippet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az8UDe6UQGQ

(just copy and paste the URL to see the video)


Enjoy!

First Day

Nicole started kindergarten today and she made the whole process easy on all of us. She has been wanting school to start for weeks and made getting up this morning at 5am a breeze because she was so excited. On the way to school, she pulled her 'backpack on wheels' most of the way, and when I was pulling it, she was hopping, skipping and humming on the way there. At drop off, she put up her things and went directly to her seat next to her friend Hibiki (who she has met before because his dad works for Jay!)

Here are a few photos from this morning. I apologize for any poor quality as I had to borrow this camera from Margaret (thanks Marg!) because I have been unable to locate my camera since moving.

Fashonista

For a 5 year old, Nicole is really verbal and learning new words everyday. Occasionally, she gets a word wrong here and there. When we were at Costco and I was picking up the latest JK Rowling book she exclaimed, "Hey, you are getting the new Harry Hotter book!" I giggled a little, but not too loud so as to embarrass her too much, and corrected her that it was Harry Potter. In addition to being into vocabulary she is really into what she wears and seems to know what is in and what isn't (as well as telling me what I should be wearing). Today, she was wearing an adorable dress that was smocked/gathered on the bodice, tied on the shoulders and then was straight to the hem. When her cousins came today to swim, she decided to fill them in on her outfit and said that she really liked it because it had a 'vampire' waist. I corrected her, of course telling her it was 'empire' not 'vampire'...at least she tries to use new words even if she doesn't quite get it right.

Kids & Pets

My nephew, Terry, is turned 40 today (no, I am not that old, I just have a very convoluted family). At milestones like these, my sister Ginny (Terry's Mom) takes loads of time finding old photos and reminiscing by telling old stories. For my 40th, she put together a CD with music and old photos and is doing the same for him. Here is a photo that she decided to send us commemorating how our home was always filled with kids and their pets. You should be able to tell which one is me by picking the one who looks the most like Nicole.

Happy Birthday Terry!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Well, the cake was supposed to look like a castle, but I was rushed to finish it...tasted great anyway!