Zoo Animals at the Library??

M&M Dad went back to work on Tuesday, so the girls and I had to plan some girls time. Well, the first day was all about laundry and getting everybody's presents unpacked and organized. (Yup - it was pretty boring). So Wednesday we decided to get out of the house for some fun. When I checked the libraries website to check on my Disney planning books I noticed that they were having a visit from the Zoo mobile???? Now this seems like a weird combination to me but definitely worth a shot. The girls were very excited because they got to pet the armadillo which funny enough, rolled up exactly like the Bakugans the girls accidentally took home from Grandma M's.

Then it was back home to work on crafting our own medals for our super fun New Years Eve evening (more to come...)

Christmas #3 - Grandma and Grandpa L's

And Friday morning it was on to my parents house for Christmas #3. We had a wonderful time opening stockings and presents and spending time with everybody.

We also all posed for some family pictures, though I don't have the large group shot because that was using Grandpa L's camera. At least we got one of our family because whenever the girls need one for a school project, we never seem to have one!

The girls were super excited to get their American Girls dolls from the grandparents though they are having a very difficult time coming up with names.

We spent the next two days spending more quiet time with both families. Starshine even got a chance to show off her improving swimming skills at the pool. And luckily we got good weather for the drive home on Monday. The next few days will definitely be spend getting rid of old toys and trying to organize space for the new ones!

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Christmas visit.

Christmas #2 - Grandma and Grandpa M's House

Thursday morning we were up and at 'em bright and early at 6AM. A wave of snow storms was coming through, so we wanted to be on the road between two of them. M&M Dad went out to shovel the first 5 inches while I organized the girls. The first couple of hours were sketchy, but then it switched over to rain and we made it in plenty of time for the girls to get to see their cousins.
Here is Jr. Princess soaking up some much loved cousin time:

There were lots of presents to open and the annual Granparents/Grandkids photo.

Starshine is in love with her new DS, and Jr. Princess is obsessed with her new Kid camera. I can't wait to put together a montage of blurry, weirdly cropped photos! And all the kids love running around Grandma and Grandpa M's new house. The next morning our girls got to try out extreme bubble baths in the gigantic bathtub:

It was a wonderful Christmas #2!

Christmas #1 - Our House

This year the festivities started at our house on the 23rd. We had a leisurely morning starting to pack for our upcoming trip to the grandparents. Then, we started on our family traditions:

1. Presents under the tree! Jr. Princess's favorite, by far, was her new mermaid tub toys. We didn't need a bath in the afternoon, so we set her up in the bathroom sink and she played in the bubbles for at least an hour!


2. Appetizers (mini tacos and cheese and crackers) followed by playing with presents and getting ready for a special dinner (fabulous steak, twice-baked potatoes, asparagus). M&M Dad tried a new balsamic vinegar and mushroom glaze which everyone loved. And the girls love that this day they get to drink sparking juice out of the champagne glasses and we all make toasts.

3. A drive to look at Christmas lights while eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate. (Yum!) The big snow storm had started but luckily the roads were still drivable.

4. Then the kids went to bed like angels because we had nicely asked Santa to come to our house early on the 24th so we could head out of town. I love the look of joy on their faces:

5. We tried tried a new recipe for Chrism as morning breakfast - monkey bread! It couldn't have been easier since it proofed on the counter the night before - and good thing because we had to get up and get moving to brave the snow storm on the way to Wisconsin. The girls loved it and we're all happy we have plenty of extra ingredients to make it again for New Years' weekend.

I love spending Christmas (or at least whatever day we deem as Christmas!) with the M&M Dad and the girls!

Like father like daughters

Last night was Starshine's turn to sleep in my bed as M&M Dad was out of town. And, like M&M Dad, she managed to steal the entire comforter during the night so I woke up shivering. Of course, I was too groggy to go get the camera to document the crime.

Well tonight was Jr. Princess's turn and she was not to be outdone. Before I even got to bed she has stolen all of the pillows (that is three under her head and two you can't see under her body). It's like M&M Dad is still here :)! Since it's still early, I couldn't resist sneaking in to take a picture...

This is a lesson in being greedy. If she had just left me one measly pillow I might have let her get away with it. But since she left me with no pillows I'm definitely going to have to upset her happy "Princess and the Pea" moment.

Girls Night

M&M Dad is off to New York for one last 2009 business trip. His original flight was cancelled due to the snow storm but he's trying a different itinerary to get there. Unfortunately the delay means he won't be able to squeeze in a visit with Uncle B like he had planned. Hopefully there won't be more snow preventing his return like some sort of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" moment. So for the time being this has left us with some girl time.

We started by wrapping some more presents. This afternoon the girls wrapped each others present in plain newspaper so they could add their own creative touch. Starshine spent a good hour turning this present into a big piece of candy for Jr. Princess:

Then it was time for dinner. We have 2 traditions at our house when one parent is travelling. 1. The girls get a sleepover in our room (and I cross my fingers that neither is in a kicky or talky sleeping mood). and 2. they get to pick what's for dinner (within reason). Well Starshine knew about this trip in advance so she got her shopping list in early: Hamburger Helper... seriously. Now, our kids are the best most adventurous kid eaters I know. Starshine will usually tell people that her favorite dinner is salmon with fresh spinach and strawberries and she picks Hamburger Helper??? Ah well...

Oh and Jr. Princess wanted her picture taken at dinner too but she had to crouch down behind the counter because she has been hanging around all afternoon in just her underwear :). I'm cold just looking at her!

Boxes and Snow Fun

Everyone always says toddlers love boxes more than the actual presents. Well, apparently my girls still love boxes (though probably not as much as presents). When I got a package yesterday there was a chorus of "Mom, can we keep the box??????" Of course, they know to act quickly because I usually get it out to the recycling container pretty quick as a part of my never ending battle to prevent $%&*, uh, I mean clutter, from taking over our house.

But it's hard to resist when they have such fun turning it into a mask, and loved it so much they took turns wearing it while playing Old Maid.
Then today it finally warmed up a little to enjoy the snow. They were out crafting a fantastic fort with M&M Dad when I got the call for pink spray paint (red food coloring and water in a spray bottle).

Hopefully the smiles will last through the afternoon. I sent M&M Dad and the girls to the first public H1N1 vaccination clinic we have had available. (I got mine a few weeks ago - one of the few perks of being high risk). They are crossing their little fingers that they qualify for the nasal spray.

Obstacle Course and Frosting Fun

I forgot, last weekend, to post the pictures on the obstacle course. This is an invention of M&M Dad's when the kids are going stir crazy on a super cold day. (Notice Jr. Princess is not fazed by the chill in her tank top and no socks...)

It is always different, but often involves ball skills (this time golfing into a cup):

Intellectual breaks (this time spelling words from a scramble of puzzle letters):

And this time culminated in a spectacular finish involving crashing through a wall of pillows while carrying a football (modeled after a scene from Biggest Loser, one of the girls favorite shows):

It is a huge hit, and a nice distraction from the frigid cold.

This weekend, however, was a lot warmer (relatively speaking), so we got to do plenty of sledding outside. We also gave M&M Dad time to do some work by taking a girls' shopping and lunch trip that involved a stop at Michael's to get the necessary ingredients to frost our fabulous Christmas cookies...

(I think I need to hide the Halloween shirts, they keep messing up the Christmas-ness of my photos)

They may not be perfect, but they were decorated with love!

Words of wisdom from a 7-year old

Tonight I was straightening up the living room when I found this piece of paper under the desk:

"you know every one should be nice when it's Christmas cause Santa Clause has his eyes on you so you better do nice things your friends and everyone else cause if you do you will get presents from Santa Clause but you'll still get presents from your family but you still should be nice you get candy and hot chockalte with marshmellows also cookies Christmas is the best time of the year!"


I agree!

St. Nick and Christmas Cookie Time

After yesterday's early start because of breakfast with Santa, I thought for sure the girls would be up and at 'em again this morning for St. Nick's day. Surprisingly, they both slept in until after 7, and then just sat on the couch to watch a show, not even noticing the full stockings sitting under the tree. M&M Dad had to go remind them, and then they came scurrying in to "wake" me up. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because Jr. Princess has lately taken to sleeping in just her underwear (she definitely doesn't get her hot-bodiedness from me!) and has most of her stocking emptied before I thought I should make her put on a shirt for decent photos. They got Old Maid and Pass the Pigs (among other things) which kept us busy most of the morning.

Then it was on to commence Cookie Baking 2009. I definitely required shirts for this, so I got good pictures of their favorite part, crushing of candy canes for M&M Dad's pinwheel cookies.

I think there will be more pictures later -M&M Dad said he would construct an indoor obstacle course to help burn off some energy on this very cold day...

Breakfast with Santa

Saturday the girls were up at the crack of dawn - excited to go off and have breakfast with Santa at my work. The retirees do a wonderful job organizing it. We have a huge breakfast of kid favorites (french toast sticks, donut holes, Trix yogurt, fruit, chocolate milk...) and plenty for the adults, too. Then there are tables to learn about other culture's holidays while you are waiting your turn to sit on Santa's lap. They love to spin the dreidal and get Chinese dragon tattoos. The only bummer was the Diwali table wasn't doing henna tattoos - which were a huge hit last year.

Jr. Princess has been waiting all year to show Santa her fabulous Santa outfit she got last Christmas from Grandpa L. It is a touch snug because she is growing like a weed, but she squeezed herself into it and was super excited when both Santa and Mrs. Claus commented on how great she looked.


They also gave Santa their lists...


All in all, it was a great Saturday morning.

Decorating the Tree

Tonight we put up the Christmas tree, which was a fun family evening. The girls are finally old enough to be lots of help, and we only broke one ornament (actually, it was M&M Dad). Of course, the biggest fun of the evening, apparently, was playing with the empty Christmas tote...

It was rainbow assembly day at Starshine's school, and her grade was assigned orange, so her all-orange outfit was a bizarre bit of Halloween spirit amid the Christmas decorating...

Jr. Princess was all smiles...

It was Starshine's turn to top the tree (with a little help from a super tall M&M Dad)...

Now it's off to bed to rest up for a very exciting "Breakfast with Santa" in the morning!

Tugging at my heart strings...

Yesterday when I picked up Jr. Princess from daycare, the teachers showed me the poster they made after their group time discussion about occupations titled, "What Occupation Will You Be?". My heart just melted when I saw Jr. Princess's answer - "make cereal like my mommy."

I was especially impressed that she has a general sense of what I do (which may be because she and Starshine were super excited when they found out recently that my work makes Lucky Charms). When Starshine was this age, she put on a school poster that "Mommy washes dishes" and "Daddy hammers stuff." Ha!

Family Talent Show 2009

After a long year of planning and keeping secrets, we had our second annual Thanksgiving Family Talent Show. It was a rousing success, and we especially credit our new guests who rose to the occasion and came prepared with a talent act.

Here is a quick montage to help you remember all of the laughs...

Note to self: Next year show how Minnesota fans can sing the school song without a cheat sheet!

If Starshine had a million dollars...

Last week Starshine came home singing "If I had a Million Dollars," which she learned in music class. We had a fun dinner discussion deciding what we would all do. Well, apparently they also made posters in class, and she brought hers home tonight.


Here is what was on her poster:

• I would buy all the webkins in the world
• My house would connect to my friends house
• I would buy Target
• I would buy diamonds
• I would buy all the dresses in the world
• I would buy 80 PetShops
• I would have 60 Barbie dolls
• 10 treehouses
• I'd live in a castle
• Every limo in the world
• 70 Maids
• 16 houses
• I would buy a dolphin to ride to school (M&M Dad's favorite)

Ahhh to be 7.

Note to Grandmas: There appear to be some Christmas present themes in here.

Clueless Mom Moment

So I had a few moments in the kitchen this evening, waiting for M&M Dad to arrive home for dinner, so I decided to check my email. I opened the latest edition of Starshine's school newsletter and scrolled through boring announcements: book fair dates, blah, blah, blah... Then...

Student Council - 2nd grade - Mrs. XXXXXX class - Starshine

Huh?

Me - "Starshine - you're in student council???"
Starshine - "yeah, I told you that"
Me - "No you didn't"
Starshine - "Yeah, remember when we had elections in class?"

Um - ok, but the way she described the election it sounded like a mock election for election day. Seriously, they send home all kinds of useless paperwork. You think they would send home some sort of "You're daughter is in student council" note. I wonder what else I'm going to learn next week at conferences...

Separate Fun on Saturday

This Saturday we ended up having separate fun with the girls.

The day started with a trip to Home Depot for more caulk (I am about to go postal on our shower where every time I caulk it ends up peeling right off...). It was Kid Project day, so the girls got to make cute trivets. Though, every kid that showed up at the table said, "what's a trivet?" Home Depot needs to contemporize a little...

Then, I took Jr. Princess with me on a volunteer driving trip to a kids theater. The kid we were supposed to drive cancelled at the last minute (as in the minute I showed up at her house), so Jr. Princess and I went by ourselves and had lots of fun.

Starshine and M&M Dad ended up biking (because it was GORGEOUS out) to Wendy's to use her free Frosty coupons from Halloween, followed by baseball at the park, and home for some Wii fun. Now, M&M Dad and I are definitely out of Wii practice, because it is our "we need something to do when it is cold and dark here" hobby, but who knew M&M Dad was this out of practice...

Jr. Princess and I got home just in time to see her first victory at bowling over M&M Dad (who even admits he didn't let her win). We thought it was definitely worthy of putting a picture on the blog.

Of course, Jr. Princess then had to play. And seriously, with no help from me, her score beat M&M Dad's, too!

We then had a delicious dinner at Good Earth. We ordered the edamame appetizer, which is the girls current favorite food item. I love that they get seriously EXCITED over a green vegetable. My entree came with a little pumpkin cake for dessert, which all the girls loved, so we will definitely be making something pumpkin-y at home soon!

Happy Halloween!

Saturday was a long day waiting for it to get dark. I thought the girls were going to explode with anticipation. After an early dinner, we headed to the bathroom to start getting ready.

This year the girls wanted to be matching witches, which worked for me considering Starshine was a witch last year. So, we only had to buy another witch hat, some green hair spray, and some face paint. I crafted another black skirt out of scrap fabric, and luckily we already had dark coats and gloves, because it was a bit chilly. We bypassed the black spider and black sparkly tights in favor of two pairs of pants under the skirts.

I think the black lipstick really completed the ensembles. Here they are posing with their "I'll get you my pretty" faces...

Our little social butterfly Starshine, of course, got invited to go trick-or-treating with a friend up the street. So M&M Dad took the girls out for round one as I handed out candy. It was pretty cute because it turned out the friend was a witch, too.

Meanwhile...

Last year Auntie and I noticed a very smart neighbor up the street sitting in her driveway, by a fire pit, relaxing, handing out candy. Genius! So this year I had M&M Dad light a fire in our driveway while I was dressing up the girls. Then, I sat toasty warm, listening to my Ipod, and watching the cute neighbor kids run around like sugar-crazed maniacs. This was WAY better than going up and down the stairs of our split level all night. I was a little reluctant to give up my spot to M&M Dad as the girls circled back to head up the street the other way, but I did have fun running after them trick-or-treating.

A fun night, for sure!

Pumpkin Carving

Saturday morning was pumpkin carving time! Thank goodness trick-or-treating isn't until tonight because we were too busy with parties, illness, etc. to get this done during the week.

This had to be the easiest year so far, as both girls loved digging in and pulling out the guts. They both designed their own faces, so pretty much M&M Dad and I just had to carve. Even clean-up is easy because we chuck the guts into the woods to feed the deer. I'm sure the city would not approve, but we only ever feed the deer at Halloween, and it always draws the big bucks into the backyard.

(Starshine's hair is still a little green from her witch costume yesterday...)

(I'm not fond of the Santa shirt on Halloween, but I don't believe in interfering with my independent preschooler's sense of style unless it is REALLY bad...)
It was a lot of fun, but we missed having Auntie and Uncle here to carve with us...

The perfect attendence dream is over...

Starshine has been super proud of getting perfect attendance through first grade. So, I knew a meltdown was coming when I got the call Tuesday afternoon that she had a fever. She automatically had to stay home for 24 hours, but M&M Dad and I cringed because so many people at work have been out for days with the flu that we were planning for the rest of the week. Well, she was very upset that she was going to miss school, but even more upset at the potential of missing some very important social events, including a party at Jr. Princess's school, a field trip, a party at her school, a slumber party on Friday, and trick-or-treating.

Well, our little tough girl had a teeny fever with a teeny cough and a teeny headache. By the next day she was feeling fine and went back to school on Thursday. I sure hope this is our version of the flu this year.

Funny thing is I had just gotten my flu shot at work an hour before the call, so I was cheering the little vaccine into action as I drove to Starshine's school.

Simple Pleasures

This scene just made me smile...

Today's project is to turn the girls two bedrooms into a sleeping room and a play room. You may remember that we attempted this about a year ago (at their request) and then reverted back to separate rooms because Jr. Princess wouldn't be quiet at night and drove Starshine nuts. Well, Jr. Princess is MUCH better about going to sleep at night now, and they want to try again. So, M&M Dad and I are placing bets on how long this lasts...

I'm drafting Jr. Princess for my FF team...

Jr. Princess is a natural at field goal kicking - who knew??

I almost interrupted by saying, "Hey! Watch out for the blinds!" when I remembered I HATE those blinds. I have new curtains waiting to go up as soon as we get our new patio doors.

Starshine's Special Day 2009

Woops - we got so busy this weekend we forgot to post about Starshines's Special Day on Friday.
After we sent Jr. Princess off to daycare, here is what Starshine chose:

1.Breakfast - A fantastically huge, "O" shaped pancake filled with berry sauce

2. A trip to Target to pick out treats for her trip to the movies

3. Playing baseball outside with Dad

She may write left-handed, but she bats mainly right-handed. M&M Dad was checking out her switch-hitting skills, and she was thrilled to find out she is special because she can hit from both sides...

4. Nail polish

5. For lunch: PB&J, olives, and chips with guacamole

6. Off to the mall to see a 3-D movie: "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." She had a HUGE coke, along with the peanut butter cups and Dots she picked out at Target. (Doesn't M&M Dad look like Drew Carey with his 3D glasses???)

7. Shopping at Claire's to spend the rest of Auntie and Uncle's birthday gift card. She was soooo sweet picking out "Big Sis" and "Lil Sis" necklaces to share with Jr. Princess. (Totally melted my heart)

8. Then, her super healthy, salmon loving body couldn't handle the treat overload from the movie. She decided to postpone going out to dinner to another day (Snuffy's on Sunday) in exchange for a quiet picnic dinner in front of the tv at home.

M&M Dad and I were both surprised that she chose the movie. Ever since last year's trip to Nickelodeon Adventure at Mall of America, she has been asking non-stop about when she can go again. But, during this last week she changed her mind to the movie - which was fine with us considering neither of us are very good at spinning rides anymore....

We all had a great time!

Jr. Princess's Special Day 2009

Last year we started the tradition of letting each kid have a special day in October when their school was closed. The premise is that they can make all of the choices for the day (within reason) and have some quality two-parent time without the other sibling.

Monday was Jr. Princess's turn because her daycare was closed for teacher training. So, after Starshine left on the school bus, here is what a day in the life of Jr. Princess looks like:

• Blueberry muffin for breakfast
• A trip to the indoor play place, where she was excited to find one of her school friends

• A delicious Fruit Roll-up

• Home for a lunch of hot dog, strawberries, Cheetos, and orange soda
• No official naptime, but instead cuddling on the couch with Mom and Dad watching The Brady Bunch
• And then outside to play in the snow. Who knew that we would get 3-4" of snow that day! M&M Dad and I thought for sure she would pick to go swimming, but this freak early snow was too tempting. First up was building our snowman:

• Followed by sledding in the backyard...

• Trying out the kiddie cross country skis from Grandpa M (a huge hit!)...

• A woods walk, and some well-earned hot chocolate
• A long bit on uninterrupted computer game time
• And, after we picked up Starshine, dinner at Culvers.

It was a lot of fun, and she was all smiles the whole day. I love how it's the little joys in life that really make our kids smile! She's already asking when her next special day is going to be. It's great to spend quality time with one kid so you really get to see their personality and hear what they have to say.

Needless to say, Starshine is busy planning her big day scheduled for Friday.