Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and looked out my window - it was snowing!  I knew that there was a chance of snow, but I guess I was in winter denial.  I am a summer girl.  I love the beach, sitting in the sun, wearing flip flops, anything and everything that has to do with the warm weather.  I am not a winter girl.  I try to act excited for the kids but uggh, the snow, ice, cold, etc., STINKS!  

The kids on the other hand love the snow.  (Well, all except for Reese - she's my girl!!)  We got them all bundled up and went outside to play.  Greg took them on a sled ride and built two snowmen.  Will loved eating the snow.  Here are a few pics from this morning.

This is a bonus picture - you can see our Christmas tree in the background!

Reese didn't like the sled!

Yes, I know our snowman looks more like a bear!

Quick - Grab the Fairy Dust!

Our trip to Disney World was a blast!  A little chilly for Florida in my opinion, but we had our pants, long sleeves, and jackets.  Olivia loved riding Space Mountain and Everest.  We rode those rides several times - luckily it wasn't very crowded.  Her favorite ride, Tower of Terror, we rode 4 times!  She didn't much care for Mission: Space.  I think she was a little confused as to if it was real or not.  (We had just watched the space shuttle launch a week or so ago.)

Let me say though, this trip was a little different than previous trips.  When we were on the Magical Express on our way to our Disney home, the movie started playing.  We had seen the movie several times since we take the Magical Express almost every time we go to Disney.  I didn't think Olivia was paying much attention to it until she said the dreaded words. 

"Mommy, is that a real person in there?" (Referring to Mickey Mouse) 

I about died right there in my chair.  Of course I said, in a very dramatic way, "No that isn't a real person, that is Mickey Mouse!!" Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of her questions. The entire trip, she asked numerous "is that real or pretend" questions. Luckily most of those questions were directed to different parts of the rides, like fake rain or ghosts. 

Her grown up behavior didn't end there.  Her beloved princess Minnie Mouse that she got 2 or so years ago and has been on every trip we have made in those 2 plus years was left in the hotel room. Minnie has rode all of the rides with Olivia, watched all the shows, and ate all meals with us. This time though, after the first day, Olivia wanted to keep her in the hotel room!

Then, at the Bibbidi Bobbiti Boutique, of the 3 hair do's to choose from, she picked the one that looked the least like a princess.  Don't get me wrong - she did look cute, but it wasn't like a princess.  Speaking of princesses, she only wore her Jasmine costume the first 2 days.  After that, she didn't care much to wear it.  She just wanted her "regular" clothes.  This coming from a girl who begged and pleaded with us on all previous trips to wear her costume for the entire time we were there, including to bed!

I was in complete shock.  I was wishing Tinker Bell would have flown down and sprinkled fairy dust all over Olivia to stop her from growing up!  I do think, for the most part, she still believes in it all.  But I could tell this time that she is beginning to maybe see Disney through big girl eyes!  That's not bad, just a little bit different. 

It's the first day, she still has Minnie and costume!!

Ta da! Disney Diva at your service.

Who doesn't love a Mickey Mouse dessert?

Jasmine, meet Jasmine!

Decorating gingerbread cookies at our hotel.

Breakfast was out of this world!  We bought several different pastries from a pastry shop in France (in Epcot) and shared them.  Oh so yummy!

Disney, here we come!

T minus 17 hours and counting.  Yes, we have the first flight out tomorrow morning to see the big guy. You guessed it right - Mickey Mouse.  Olivia is super excited to go as she is wearing her Tinker Bell costume right now, putting on Mickey Mouse and friends stickers all over my shirt, and coloring in a Mickey Mouse coloring book.  Here she is this morning with her "1st trip" button, sticker, and light up Tinker Bell clips, ready to go.

She has reached another height milestone for this trip.  We will be able to ride Space Mountain, Everest, and Mission Space!  What trip isn't complete without a visit to the Bibbity Bobbidy Boutique and breakfast with the princesses? I am even more excited with her choice of costumes to wear. I have been waiting for my favorite one, and finally, she has agreed to wear it.  She will be Jasmine!  

Mickey Mouse ears - check

Pin necklaces - check

Minnie Mouse stuffed animal - check

Jasmine costume - check

autograph books - check

1 super excited mommy, uhh, I mean 4 year old - check!

Disney, here we come!

Who's a drama queen?

Lately Olivia has been acting like a real drama queen.  There is so much drama in everything she does.  Most of the time I just laugh at it.  I even found this cute shirt that says "Such a Drama Queen" and of course I bought it for her. 

Today she decided to wear it - she does look adorable!  So I was in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast and I glanced into the living room and saw that Olivia was playing with Reese.  All of a sudden I hear Olivia say very loudly, "Reese, you are such a drama queen".  I almost rolled on the floor laughing.  I said to her, "Who's the drama queen?" Apparently it is Reese!

Uggghhh

All I have to say today is that it is FREEZING outside, it has rained probably for the last week straight, and now Reese and Will both have colds! 

Afternoon Fun

Our house is FULL of dress up clothes.  Olivia loves to dress up almost everyday.  It is really cute now because she is getting Reese and Will excited about dressing up. Earlier this week she decided that she would pick out their clothes and help to dress them!

Wait a minute, where's Will??

(Can you tell we have an over abundance of stuffed animals and dolls!)

We decided it would be fun if we all sat down to color some Tigger and Pooh pages. I'm sad to say, this is the real first time we have done this.  Reese and Will are just getting out of the "putting everything in their mouth" stage and would eat the crayons. I found it real interesting watching them and seeing how they "colored".  Here they are all sitting at the playroom table.

Reese was real particular with her crayons.  She would line them up and use the first one, then put it at the end of the row.  She continued using them in order until she was finished coloring.

Will on the other hand, had no method of coloring. He just grabbed whichever one was closest and threw it down when he was finished.

Gotta Love Toddlerhood

I bet you didn't know that toddlers can absolutely LOVE something one day, and HATE it the next!!! Well, here is my case in point.  I gave the kids some kind of Spaghetti O's and Reese almost ate the entire can.  She even started crying when it was gone saying, "peas mommy, peas more, peas, peas, peas." Look at her sad, sad face.  (I'm surprised she didn't lick the bowl!)

Since she loved this so much, I decided to give it to her and Will for lunch again the next day.  I leave the kitchen for just a few minutes and when I returned, I found this mess.

Yeah, they weren't loving it so much here.  I even think they enjoyed flinging it off their spoons at each other.  This will teach me to leave the kitchen when they are eating lunch!

Romp in the Leaves

It has been absolutely gorgeous here the past week. The temps have been in the mid 70's which is perfect outdoor play weather.  The best part is that the leaves are falling from the trees, so we were able to rake them up and jump in them.  (Although all I could find was a garden rake, and that is really hard to use for leaves!)  We have pretty small generic neighborhood trees so the leaf pile was pretty small - Olivia didn't care though.  Here she is having the best time.

Right?

Reese has another new saying.  

For the life of me though, I don't know where she got it from.  

This time, it wasn't from me.  (Even though it took me awhile to figure out that "watch out" and "stop it" was from me.  I would just laugh when she said those at the exact time they should be said!)

Her new saying is "right??" (or as she says, 'ight) at the end of almost every sentence - correct voice inflection included!  For example, "Eecee feet cold, 'ight???" or looking at me, "Will Will, shoes off, 'ight??" She also says very frequently after telling me something, " 'ight mommy, 'ight??"  

I can't wait to see what she starts saying next. ;)

Happy Halloween

We hope everyone had a great time trick-or-treating last night!!  Here are a few pics from our evening. Olivia had tons of fun at her school's Halloween Parade.

OK, I know Olivia won't be happy that I am adding this picture - but I couldn't resist!! For the life of me I can't remember why she was so upset! :)

Reese and Will LOVED the candy.  I tried to hold them off as long as possible, but the suckers won in the end.

Well, maybe the chocolate won in the end.  Will was bound and determined to get to the candy, even if it meant eating through the paper!