Well it is a huge victory for us. Both girls sitting on Santas lap and smiling!
This was taken at Christmas Village after we saw Fantasy in Lights at Callaway. The light show was incredible as always and the girls loved being able to sit in the front seat and peer out the window at the light displays. It will have to be a yearly tradition. But we will not stay at the Fireside Inn again. Dont ever stay there. We had to call the cops at 2am. Thats all I will say about that.
We went to Callaway gardens to the "Fantasy in Lights" show and I have to say it is definitely worth the trip to Pine Mountain.
We went to the butterfly garden first and sadly there were not that many butterflies. Hannah liked them, but made sure they were not going to land on her by covering her hands with her sleeves. Leah had a "The Santa Clause" moment and climbed up on the lap of an unsuspecting Santa look a like hanging out at the garden. Well he did have a Santa SHIRT on! She was not going to miss an opportunity to tell him she wanted a Princess jeep for Christmas And here is a pretty butterfly And being cute The best we could do here..
The girls each received a video from Santa from the Portable North Pole and they had very different reactions. Hannah was in awe, silently staring at the computer screen with a little smile. but she wanted to watch it over and over. I knew Leah would be dramatic so I recorded it (mainly because Matt was out of town and couldnt watch her for himself).
Well, I have been seeing a bunch of little 10 year olds dancing it out to this song from the Hannah Montana movie. Not to be outdone, I was determined to learn it. Did you know there was a how to video on you tube? Anyway, I am not posting a video of me doing this, but the girls picked up on quite a lot, and that is a lot more entertaining than me stumbling my way through it. And yes it is december and they are wearing bathing suits. Don't judge.
Bet no one knew there was a break dancing move in this hoedown
The girls love Musicals. And of course Sound of Music is their favorite. Here are some videos for your listening enjoyment from the beautiful vocals of 2 sweet 3 year olds.
We have been doing some Holiday Baking and crafting lately. Here are some of the girls creations
Handprint sweatshirts Hannah's Leah's Gingerbread houses - check out the concentration - and its finger lickin fun! And their favorite was making Muddy Buddies! (chex mix coated in pb and chocolate anc covered in powdered sugar)
The girls have been watching "Barney's Christmas" in which Barney and his gang act out the "12 days of christmas". Whenever it comes on, Leah has to get up from where she is laying and do her best to copy them. I always try to get it on camera because she actually does better than she will perform in front of the camera but this is the best I could do. Its too cute.
and both of them get in on it. they really like the 5 golden rings and the partridge in a pear tree.
Leah (while wearing her cinderella dress) : mommy, I want lots of green beans. Can I have lots? Me: yes, honey. Leah: can you say "yes miss Cinderella"? Me: ...yes, miss Cinderella ...
I Washed the girls' sheets but they were using their pillows in the living room. I laid their pillowcases out on their newly made beds. Later we hear Leah yelling from her room.: Daddy, come in here! Look! My pillows smashed! I can never sleep on it again! It's smashed!
She comes out holding her pillowcase up, very distraught. "it's smashed daddy!"
Matt then tells her to go to her room and he would fix it. He put the pillow in and saved the day. Leah returned from her room and gave her hero a big hug. Then she told her daddy to blow hannah's pillow up too.
I found these cute little sleeping beauty dresses on sale at cracker barrel, and the girls were so excited to wear them for Halloween. Especially Hannah, because leah has her sleeping beauty nightgown she wears 24/7 that shebfindsbgo be the most beautiful thing In the world...
So on Halloween (eve actually) Leah got all dressed up, crown, wand, makeup, and ponytail (ponytails are for princesses of course). We were going trick or treating with the cousins and some friends so Leah ran downstairs to await the candy asking adventure.
Hannah was still taking a cat nap in the living room and I had to wake her up. And she woke up on the wrong side of the couch. As I went to get her dressed, the conversation went like this.
Me: ok lets get your pretty dress on so we can go trick or treating! Everyone is here! H: no I'm cold!!! ( she has taken off her pjs and not happy about it) Me: well hurry! Put this on H: no it's scratchy. Me: ok we can put a shirt under it. H: no I don't want that. I can't wear the dress. It's too long Me: no it's not. Now come on, we have to Urey or everyone will leave us! H: it's too long. If I wear that I'll step on it. You'll have to carry me all the time Me: (exasperated). Fine then what do you want to do? H: I wanna be a fairy!
So I rummaged through their dress up clothes and found a shirt and some pants that matched and then she was happy. But I couldn't do her hair.
Now we got some cute pictures of all the kids ready to go trick or treating. Unfortunately when i asked Matt to make sure the camera was ready he checked the batteries, but didn't make sure the memory card was in there.
The kids had a great time trick or treating and all of them were adorable.
These pictures are actually from the next night on our way to the church's wild night. Matt tried to make it up to me...
(upon Hannah coming out of her room after bedtime)
Me: Hannah! Get back in bed right now!!!! (yelling voice) H: (runs back to her room sobbing) L: (to H) what's the matter sweetie? H: mommy yelled at me! (sob sob) L: (comes out to find me and says in a very stern voice:) Mommy! Did you yell at H?! You say you're sorry right now! (returns to bedroom) L: (to H) mommy is going to say "you're sorry", ok sweetheart?
Dr. Bo asked if they were talking well yet when he first came in. I said yes with a smirk. Then he asked if strangers can understand them - as Leah proceeded to tell him she has a stethoscope at home just Like his - plain as day. Got a chuckle out of the little doc who never laughs ;)
Today we went to the pumpkin patch which has been the talked about place since last October. Anytime we mention a train, the girls bring up the Pumpkin Patch. I like it because it is a cute time to take pictures if I can get the girls to sit down long enough.
And we did get a few cute pictures.
2007 - he brings back memories!
Hannah insisted on going back and sitting on the scary pumpkin head mans lap and taking a picture, after we had visited him earlier
And when we were driving home from the Pumpkin patch both girls insisted on holding their pumpkins they had picked out. We then had to stop by Walmart for some iddy biddy pumpkins. (we needed dish detergent, so it was not a stop JUST for baby pumpkins)
"Awww! Iddy Biddy POmpkins! They are just my size! I wanna take a nap with my baby Pompkin! They are so cute!" - quote from Leah upon receiving her tiny Pumpkin.
Hannah and Leah are three years old. Is it even possible? Seems like I can remember so much from when they were babies, like it was yesterday...
But this age is a blast, and Disney World gave me an idea for the theme of their birthday. They already wanted a Princess Party, so I decided it would be cute if Cinderella came.
Cinderella was their favorite in Disney, and it is their favorite movie, but of course when I asked them what kind of cake they wanted, Hannah wanted Belle, and Leah wanted Sleeping Beauty. They cant make it easy on a Momma who vows to always make her kids' cakes. :)
Cinderella was adorable. She was a surprise mystery guest, and sang, read the story of Cinderella while being very animated, did the girls' make-up, helped serve the cake, assisted in the present opening, and posed for the pictures. Precious. (Email me if you want the number to her castle for your own princess party and live in my area). Hannah was too busy jumping on their new trampoline to be bothered with a picture at this point, but Leah posed of course
The party was organized chaos, maybe without the organization. But it went great and Hannah and Leah had a blast. Leah told me later that night "I Just cant believe it! Cinderella came to my birthday party! She gave me a fork!" (I guess when she was helping pass out the cake?) Funny what sticks out in childrens' minds.
The cakes turned out ok. It was my first time doing fondant. I tried to make pleats in Sleeping Beauty's skirt and that was a disaster. I ended up throwing one batch of fondant away and starting over. What it ended up as was a final attempt before the cake would have been demolished. Belle wasnt as bad but I had learned from Sleeping Beauty, so I knew to change the tactic a bit. Still I would do them both differently if I had to do it again. I had planned on doing some intricate piping on the dresses but by the time I finished the basics, I was spent. It was fun nonetheless, and the birthday girls were impressed.
Thank you to everyone who came to be a part of their special day! It means a lot to have such wonderful family and friends.
And this is what we did on Sunday, the day after their party and their real birthday. All they want out of life is to sing Happy Birthday and blow out candles. They put the candles back in their cupcakes two more times and sang happy birthday to themselves. And then they sang Happy birthday the whole following week on anything they could find - tupperware, candle holders, folded washcloths. Whatever works
With my new job, my babies are now in a preschool class one day a week. I wish it was 2 or more, but that is all I could get on such short notice. They were pretty excited to start with their new princess backpacks and lunch boxes.
It was an amazing trip. We have amazing parents that took us and I enjoyed it more this time with my girls than I ever did in the past. September is a great time to go because the lines were not bad, and we could still go to the water park. And I am really excited to see the expansion they are working on in Magic Kingdom for next time.
Our favorite thing about Disney this time would have to have been the characters (Princesses). A month later and it still comes up on a daily basis.
And the Carousel.
We can NOT wait to go back, and if you have a trip coming up with 3 year old girls - I can give you all our highlights! :)
And All I am going to say about the return trip home is that next time we will be breaking it up... or flying.
Matt and I love the Hoop-de-doo revue at the camp grounds in Disney, and given the girls' musical affinity, we thought they would love it as well.
The night started out with quite a few tantrums, but once the show started they were mesmerized. The pictures capture it all. And apparently, if you did not know this before, Ariel, Belle, and Tiana are in the show. I dont think the performers know this either, but to the girls, it was just a fact. They wouldnt listen otherwise.
