Sally gets a desk

One of Lily's favorite stuffed animals of all time is Sally the puppy dog. Today apparently, she got a job at the mall and needed a desk to go with it. (Looks about the size of some of the cubicles I've been in.)

Desk supplies: paper, pencil, ruler. 

Postal box turned desk chair. (I guess she'll work up to the Aeron.)

Lily said that Sally is lying on her desk, gazing at the stars. 

Sally has a visitor at the office. 

Julia's child

Amalia loves cooking--from watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS to helping make today's Super Bowl snacks. She's always ready to pull her stool up to the counter and get her hands dirty. 

 First up today was guacamole. 

She had no interest in eating it, but was happy to scoop out all of the avocados. 

Next up was "heart healthy" buffalo chicken wings. She didn't plan on eating these either. We also made cookies, dipping some in melted chocolate--but she was napping for that part. (Lily was in the kitchen and helped Andy by telling him how she wanted the designs--in true supervisor fashion.)

On a related note, Amalia informed me yesterday that the words on our measuring spoons were written by "the author." 

Hello Mary Lou

Safe to say that watching cousin Kali's gymnastics meet in Ohio a couple of weeks ago made a pretty big impression on Amalia. Here are a couple of clips from this evening, with some color commentary by Lily.

Wonder if her coach approved that music selection. 

(Please forgive the crummy camera work. It kept trying to refocus. I'm sure it's operator error.)

Two little monkeys

O-H!

As Lily and Amalia learned this weekend, the appropriate response is, "I-O!" 

We drove to Ohio this weekend to celebrate Steele Family Christmas. Here, the four siblings are seated in the four chairs (in birth order) surrounded by many of their children and their children's children. 

Amalia and Lily had the honor of helping pass out presents at the gift exchange. 

Logan wins the award for most patient cousin ever.

Amalia in cousin Paul's rescue engine, which made an appearance at the family gathering (along with cousin Paul who had to be on duty that day).  

Amalia was feeling a bit under the weather and thought that chips and salsa would make her feel better. 

Logan and Lily, the latter of whom is still going through separation anxiety. 

Amalia, in her Buckeye PJs, helping Aunt Novella make breakfast. 

Dressed for the occasion

Last weekend, Andy took Lily to the Kennedy Center to see a musical performance of Knuffle Bunny, A Cautionary Tale. 

No pictures were allowed inside, but Andy and Lily got to see the author Mo Willems. I was pretty jealous.

This afternoon, Andy was able to catch a performance of Lily's afterschool hip hop class.

I think she's got the attitude down. 

Precisely

Two recent anecdotes:

We were taking turns weighing the girls this morning. Then Amalia decided to try to measure Lily to see how tall she is. She pronounced her to be "six o'clock." Give or take a minute, I'm guessing.

On the way back from Lily's violin lesson Saturday morning, we passed by a Safeway grocery delivery truck that included the above tagline. She stopped in her tracks and became very indignant, proclaiming, "The ingredients for life are sun, water, air, and dirt. Not Safeway."