Trains and Lights

I can't believe I'm still not caught up to Christmas.  Slowly getting there...

The week before Christmas, one of the local parks opened up at night, and had Santa, train rides, etc.  We went mostly for the train.

That's the train.

 When we got home, the girls talked us in to going up to see the lights at the Big Christmas House again.  We got some popcorn, and this series of photos just makes me laugh.  That's Becca with the bag, and Emma trying to get some.

Spaghetti

In a moment of temporary insanity, I let Julie and Rebecca order spaghetti when we went out for dinner at a new place.  When we're at home, we don't usually have spaghetti (though they do have it at school) - we have some sort of noodle that goes on a fork easier.  And I may or may not make my kids eat naked on spaghetti night at home.

I was shocked at how well they did.  Perhaps because they ate like this:

Their faces were a mess but the clothes remained unstained!  (Emma chose mac and cheese.)

Love this one.

Dance Recital

I've been through the pictures from their first dance recital over and over and over again, and I just can't get myself to delete any of them.  I'm going to have to go back in a few months and try to clean it out.

They had the recital as the last class before Christmas.

They did a ballet warm up, and then a ballet routine.  Then they changed their shoes and did a tap warn up and a tap routine.  They're still at the age where they just follow what the teacher is doing, so they are pretty much looking at her standing in the corner in all of these pictures.

Shuffling backwards.  This was the cutest thing ever, because they all had to turn to look behind them.

Becca is a hard-core tapper.  She doesn't tap, she stomps.

So awesome.

Dentist

The girls had a dentist appointment in December.  This time, we graduated from a chair in a room (maybe they are afraid of screamers?  runners?) to an open area with 3 or 4 chairs in the back.  The change threw the girls for a little bit of a loop.  The hygienist wanted them to lay in the chair by themselves, and the girls weren't quite ready for that.  So, they sat in our laps for the cleaning part again.

While we were waiting for the dentist, we got the girls to "practice" sitting in the chairs by telling them the chairs were airplanes.  The arms on the chairs fold out, and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Look at how long her legs look!

Sitting on the airplane chair.  They would count down from 10 to 1, and blast off.

When the dentist came, only Becca and Emma were brave enough to "ride" on the airplane chair.  Julie still had to sit on dad's lap.

Gingerbread Houses

I bought gingerbread house kits at Target this year, after figuring out the year before that it was more expensive to have to buy all of the "stuff" separately.

Each girl had her own kit, and luckily it worked out so that we had a staggered start.  (I think we did it one Sunday afternoon after naps.)  Because it was kind of crazy chaos.  We had a few roof issues ... with roof panels sliding down.  And walls collapsing inward.  Luckily, the girls thought this was hysterical, though mom and dad were getting tired of waiting for the roof icing "glue" to dry.

Becca chose to add one decoration at a time ... that's why all of the gumdrops are clustered in one corner, and then the gumballs build on those, and then the candy cane pieces.

 Julie was so proud of hers.  Try to avert your eyes from the pantry mess in the background.

Emma looks so old here.

The finished products... from left to right, Emma, Rebecca, and Julie.  Oh, and also pretend that donut box isn't there, too.

We decided that if we do this next year, the kits were a good idea.  But icing "glue" is going to be replaced with hot glue.

New Shoes

I found some sneakers at Target for 50% off ($12.50 for sneakers!), but only in Emma and Rebecca's sizes.  Julie's feet are still 1-2 sizes smaller.  So my original plan was to get a picture of their new sneakers, after they wanted to come to the grocery store with me and Julie wanted to stay home.

It had nothing to do with the tree branch they wanted to pull on.

And, finally, a rare moment of peace in the grocery store while they eat their free cookies.  The store's bakery must know how long its deli takes.

Emma

We went out to dinner a few weeks ago to one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants.  It's a family owned place, and apparently they keep baskets of toys up by the cash register.  We've been going there for a while, but this was the first time someone has brought us a basket of toys.  They toys were pretty random, but the girls loved them.

Emma had some whole scene going between this dinosaur and poor Theodore over there.  (And that sheet of paper?   She wrote all the P's and U's on her own.  The "BOOK" and "KITE" were where she asked us to write dots for her to trace.)

And then Captain Hook decided to ride a dinosaur.

Full-on crazy, I tell you.  And thanks to this trip, I can know say that I have looked up "Chipettes" on Wikipedia to find out that the girl chipmunk in the basket was in fact Brittany.

Momento

Playing catch up since I have to actually export these from my phone, and I forget to do it.  Reading through these, I had forgotten about so many of them, and they STILL make me laugh.

Sunday 30 September 2012
========================

12:35 PM
Me:  how's your turkey, ham, and cheese?
J:  No, mom.  Turkey and cheese and ham.

12:57 PM
E:  The momma giraffe has a baby giraffe that's going to come out of her pouch.  That's what you said yesterday.  (There's a pregnant giraffe at the zoo.)

1:35 PM
E:  After looking at the giraffes:  "I think it's the daddy that has the baby coming out of its pouch."

2:19 PM
R:  Can I gallop?
Me: This isn't a good place to gallop.
R:  But that's what Beccas do best!  (Tigger reference)


Saturday 29 September 2012
==========================

10:09 AM
Talking about mommy going to Amsterdam:
Greg:  Amsterdam is in Europe.
J:  Europe is at school.

12:21 PM
Me:  I think there are some tigers that have black and white stripes.
J:  No, mom.  White and black stripes.


Thursday 27 September 2012
==========================

6:28 PM
Me:  I like what Pink Nose is wearing.
J:  No, mom.  I like it.


Wednesday 26 September 2012
===========================

7:12 PM
Wearing the stethoscope in their ears:  J, R:  "talk what you did on vacation."


Monday 24 September 2012
========================

6:36 PM
E:  We tell children to find their own work.   (A Montessori reference.)

6:38 PM
R:  I'll be the baby teacher ... waaaaah.


Sunday 23 September 2012
========================

10:59 AM
J:  Mommy, those cars are going to the apple pick.  (Apple pick = apple orchard)


Monday 17 September 2012
========================

8:16 PM  Facebook
I asked Emma what her favorite part of vacation was. "Riding bikes." Um, we didn't do that. She later came back with "Being in the parking garage." At least we did do that. Do I know how to show these kids a good time or what?


Sunday 16 September 2012
========================

10:33 AM
R:  When I get polka dots on me, I have to wash them off with rainbows.

1:08 PM Facebook
One hour into a five hour car trip and the DVD player broke. Emma and Rebecca shrieked "I want Mickey" for about ten minutes. Until we passed Dunkin Donuts and their shrieks turned to "I want a donut!". Somehow, Julie managed to fall asleep with all the screaming. I've appeased Rebecca with a water bottle and and apple ("I don't want a little apple!"), but Emma has currently moved on to "I don't want my door closed!". Wish us luck on surviving this one.


Saturday 15 September 2012
==========================

6:49 PM
E:  Mus mustache  (= milk mustache)


Sunday 9 September 2012
=======================

8:16 PM
E:  Cows give out milk from their heinies.

8:22 PM
E:  When I grow up I want to be a cow.  I'm going to squirt milk right into your glass.


Wednesday 5 September 2012
==========================

11:49 AM Facebook
The girls' first dance class was yesterday afternoon at school, and they had a blast. They came home telling me all the things they need... "a black short sleeve shirt that comes all the way down" (that would be a leotard) and "dance shoes." I called this morning to confirm, and sure enough, we need 3 black leotards, 3 pairs of pink tights, 3 pink skirts, 3 pairs of pink ballet shoes, and 3 pairs of black tap shoes. I sure hope they don't get sick of this after a month...


Monday 3 September 2012
=======================

3:19 PM
E:  Do you know where mommy got this?  (glow bracelets they found that were packed for the beach). Belgium!

3:20 PM
R:  I got these (blocks) in baby Belgium.

3:21 PM
E:  Belgium is where I live.  You want to know what continent my bear lives?  It's a far away land called North America.


Sunday 2 September 2012
=======================

10:53 AM
R:  This is going to be cool.  This is going to be the best festival I ever had.  (the Apple Festival)

2:20 PM
E:  I think your airplane has red cold-itis.  (courtesy of Doc McStuffins)

7:46 PM
R:  Spiderman!  (catcher in red equipment at the baseball game)


Saturday 1 September 2012
=========================

7:14 PM
E:  Mommy, you're my best friend.

8:10 PM
J:  Mommy, you wear me out.


Friday 31 August 2012
=====================

8:32 AM
R:  To her teachers:  Do you like my mom's new shoes?


Wednesday 29 August 2012
========================

6:42 PM
R:  That train has messy cars.  (graffiti)


Tuesday 28 August 2012
======================

3:49 PM
R:  Mommy, you know what?  I love you.

3:59 PM
R:  At starbucks for a snack:  mom, our bags have girls on them.

8:37 PM Facebook
I went shoe shopping over the weekend, and got a couple of new pairs for work. I took one of them out of the box this morning, and Becca said, "Mommy, do you have any more sizes in that box?" Seriously, shoes are better than toys in this house.


Monday 27 August 2012
=====================

7:58 AM
R:  On the way to work:  Mom, is Bib going to be at work?  Do you sit next to daddy at work?  Why not?


Saturday 25 August 2012
=======================

6:31 PM
R:  Those are mermaids.  (Apparently it's been a while since we had edamame.)


Thursday 23 August 2012
=======================

5:11 PM Facebook
J: S said some not nice words to me today. And then I said some not nice words to him. Me: What did you say? Julie: I told him, "Don't! You can't come to my tea party!" I'm not sure what poor S did to deserve such harsh words from my little lady.

Gingerbread Houses

We went up to the Grove Park Inn again this year to see the gingerbread houses.  Somehow, in the two years that we've gone, we've managed to pick a rainy day both times.

A family picture where everyone is looking at the camera!  We should've gotten that woman's phone number.

We looked at a few gingerbread houses, and then decided to head for lunch.  They've got a huge dining room that's about 6 floors up, and looks out at the Blue Ridge mountains.  Still a nice view, despite the rain.

Our waitress mentioned that there were gingerbread cookies in the dessert buffet, but we couldn't find them.  Someone on the wait staff overheard Julie asking me where the gingerbread men were, and said they might have some in the back.  He didn't come back, so we gave up.  A few minutes later, he showed up at our table with the gingerbread man.  And then we had to send him back for two more.  Our waitress also sent us home with 3 gingerbread men.  It's that kind of hotel.  You know, the one we couldn't actually stay at...

Emma went right for the head.

So happy to have her gingerbread man.

Winnie the Pooh

Tom and Jerry

Muppets Christmas Carol

Polar Express

They really weren't as interested in the gingerbread houses this year.  They acted like they were in a hurry, and we mostly just walked by them all.  The rocking chairs were a big draw again, though.

If you look, you can sort of see my reflection in the big silver ball.

They wanted me to take their picture.