Girls vs. Boys: Round 2

Back by popular demand is round two of Girls vs. Boys. The first round went to the girls, but we have a feeling things may get evened up this time around (Ava's "Girls Rule" socks notwithstanding). However, we'll let you, our faithful and loyal blog readers, be the judge. Leave a comment and tell us who you think wins this round of the competition.

Strike a Pose

Since about age two, Ava has been horrible sitting still and smiling for pictures. However, we recently had a small breakthrough. If we ask Ava to strike a pose for the camera, she suddenly gets more focused on having her picture taken (albeit she still sometimes struggles with looking at the camera).

Sometimes the results are a bit sassy...

...other times sweet and innocent.

Some poses are standoffish...

...while others are inviting.

Many of the poses are quite silly...

...whereas others are quite serious.

She even works some dance moves into a few of her poses. Here's high fifth position...

...and here's a tap pose.

Now if only we could get her to smile for the camera.

Dancing Queen

In December, Ava had her first "mini" dance recital.
Parents and friends were invited to come watch the class perform.
Ava loved wearing her costume.
Her dance class included lessons in ballet, tap, and jazz. Here Ava is showing off her tap skills.
Here she is showing her first position plié.
And here she is taking a bow.
We are so proud of our little dancer.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a very fun Thanksgiving this year. Jordan, Danny, and Patricia were able to come visit and we got to see a lot of the Olsen family at our annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Hart's home. Here's Christian getting ready in the morning dreaming about all of the yummy food!

Here he is ready to go!

Ava, our picky eater, (if she had her choice, she would eat cereal for every meal), was not so excited about the food, but she was very excited to go and see the movie Tangled.

She decided to do her dance poses in the pictures to show her excitement.

Then Christian decided he wanted to get in on the posing. This is his "I'm a tough guy" / hip-hop pose.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The food was delicious, the movie was great, and the company was tons of fun!

More Cousins Pictures

Here are some more of our favorite pictures from the cousins photo shoot.

All of the little kids did such a great job during the photo session but by the end, Christian decided he was hungry and tired.

Thanks Kate for doing such an amazing job!

Olsen Cousins Pictures 2010

At the beginning of November, we got all of the Olsen grandchildren together to get their pictures taken. The pictures were taken by Kate Jeppson who did such a great job of capturing adorable photographs of ten spirited children.

Here are the five beautiful little girls.

The three three-year-olds. They are the best of friends!

Christian was very excited when it was time to play in the leaves.

He was a lot more interested in the tiny leaf on his hand than in getting his picture taken.

It's crazy to think that he is not the baby anymore. Since the last cousins pictures last December, we have had two more Olsen cousins born, Katharine and James.

Christian is now my sweet little toddler!

And here is my sweet little Ava!