Away in a Manger....

Our kids love music and love to dance. Here is Henri...jamming to his Nativity Scene..playing "Away in a Manger." You'll also see Miss Lili...aka Miss Mouse...with her baby doll. She loves her dolls. Enjoy!

We've meant to post these almost a month ago...but November was absorbed with ear aches, pink eye, coughs and infections. So...now that we have our camera downloading....here you go. Away in a Manger...take two:

More soon.

Birthday weekend...

It's official. I am 37 years old. :) In honor of my birthday weekend, we spent two days down at Disney (we love Disney) and just relaxed. It was a treat...and so nice to be able to get away for a few days.

We tried three times to get the kids picture taken with Santa. Either...the line was too long, Santa was on break, or this morning...it was a downpour and we were not going to wait in the rain. So...here are the kids outside of the Santa line. So sweet.

And now...here is the shot from behind...Henri was given Mickey stickers. Apparently, he thought his hair would be a nice place to put one. From the front...no one notices...from the back and side...everyone was laughing as we walked by. 

PS...notice the black spoons. Our kids are the only children who regularly visit Disney and all they want for a present are the black spoons from restaurants. Thankfully...we don't mind. :)

Ah...37.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree..

It has been very cold here in Orlando. For FL standards...very cold. For those of you that still remember me as a Montana girl, you remember that one of the biggest reasons I didn't want to move to Florida was having to eliminate my scarf, hat, and mitten collection. :) Luckily...I've been able to bust out a few over the past few days. Here are Henri and Lili all bundled up coming home from school. Ironically...that is Henri's warm coat...size 24 months..already too small. :) Jeff is going tomorrow to buy him a new fleece. That boy!

Again...for those from my MT days...might remember that Christmas is a big time of year in the Fleharty home. Growing up...we used to have multiple Christmas trees, including one in the window of Kallie's playhouse. Ah...those were the days of driving in the mountains with a tag from the forest service (or not) and cutting your own tree. I still love Christmas. I make Jeff buy the biggest tree we can fit in our tiny house, and love to play Christmas music while I decorate. Two babes, under the age of two, have changed my Christmas strategy. This year...we bought a tree...the smallest we have ever bought...and put it outside on the patio. I'll upload photos as soon as it is decorated. For inside...I reluctantly agreed to a fake tree...I know...I feel it is blasphemy....but...it was nice not to have all the pine needles all over the floor. Here is Henri and Lili taking a peak at the new addition to our home: 

Henri kept saying, "wow" as he looked at the lights. He loves the Christmas lights. Then...he ran over to his book pile, and brought out the $1 Target coloring book we just bought. He wanted to show us a picture of the Christmas tree. :) He is so smart...hard to believe he is just 18 months old:



And sweet Lili. Here she is with two of her newest favorite things...the tree, and her sippy cup. :)



So many exciting times of late! We'll post more soon....

A Christmas Card preview...

For our loyal blog fans...(thank you!)...here is a link to photos we had recently taken here in Orlando. It was our first-time having professional pictures with the kids...you never know what is going to happen...but we were so pleased! Click below to enjoy! We are taking votes for everyone's favorites...please let us know. :)

Schultz Family Christmas Card Photos

If Lili were a muppet...

One of my colleagues from work shared this with me...we have loved watching it online....and often think that if Lili were a muppet...this is what she would look like. :) We heard that another family who adopted from Ethiopia asked Sesame Street to make this video. Not sure if that is a rumor or not...but either way...we love it...and thank them for creating another great video clip.

I love my hair!

Morse Museum Concert in the Park

After mentioned the Christmas Concert in Central Park on my previous blog...I had to go find a few photos to post. The Morse Museum is probably one of the gems of Central Florida...and the Tiffany Windows they place on display are amazing. These are just a few pics of the windows that were in the park...but gives you a flair for the evening. It is now a "must-do" on our annual calendar...the evening is that spectacular!

 I think this window is one of my favorites..the photos never do them justice...

We had a cold spell come through Orlando...so here is a bundled-up Jeff, with our bundled-up kids.

This cross...is actually made out of raised glass. Breathtaking...

Talk about getting into the Christmas spirit...it was a great night...so glad we loaded up the kids and went...we were thinking about skipping it...and it was such a beautiful night...

Our sweet little Lili in her MT hat...

And Henri...so sweet...

More to come soon.....

Celebrating the Christmas Season

The City of Winter Park, FL has a great Christmas-season kick-off. On the first Thursday of December, they put on a fabulous concert in Central Park and they partner with the Morse Museum to have these gorgeous Tiffany stained-glass windows on display in the park. It's really spectacular. Then...on Saturday morning...they have a parade...and a pancake breakfast. We decided to take the kids this year. Here we are...enjoying the parade:

Of course, Henri also loved playing in the park. This is one of the fountains...he loved watching...and lucky for us...it was designed just right...so he couldn't climb in. :)

Here we are with Lisa Blackwelder...Henri's first girlfriend. He still loves her...watch out cougars!

Santa even came to the parade...Henri and Lili loved watching. Henri loved the music...especially the marching bands. Lili...loved the cheerleaders. Yikes.

After the parade and our naps...we went to Hollywood Studios to watch the light display that Disney puts on. It's amazing...over 5 million lights timed to music. Here are a shot of the tree on the Streets of America:

As you can imagine...it is extremely crowded...here I am...ready to move on out. But Santa and his reindeer are dancing in the background behind me: 

Look...Henri and Lili have light-up necklaces. Their father...can't say no. :)