Visiting with Santa

 Madeline went to see Santa this past weekend.  It was a special event at the place she takes her tumbling classes and wasn't for little kids.  So Fia stayed home with Mommy while Madeline had some bonding time with her favorite person in the whole world....Daddy!

She loved seeing him and asked for a Princess Dream Castle and a computer.

Then she got to visit with Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman.

"Sparkle" as her nametag implies isn't looking too sparkly, eh?

Then we had another visit with Santa when he visited our street!  He came on a firetruck collecting toys for needy kids.  Madeline gave him our donation and then had a little visit.  Fia sat on his lap for about 0.2 seconds before she started crying so no pictures of her.  Maybe next time...

Putting up the lights

 The weather was beautiful the weekend of Thanksgiving so Andy and Madeline put the lights up outside.  To hear Madeline tell the story, Daddy helped HER put the lights up.

And Fia helped where she could.

Somehow even our tire was decorated.

Turkey Day Craft

You can't have Thanksgiving without the obligatory turkey hand print craft.  The kids loved making this!

Go Bucks!

Madeline learned valuable lessons in school yesterday....the letter O, how to make a Block O and how to say "O-H-I-O"!

Tumbling

Madeline has been doing tumbling once a week for a few months now.  When she first started, she could barely do anything.  Now she does all kinds of crazy stuff with so much confidence!  It has been wonderful watching her grow so much.

On this day, the parents were allowed in to snap some photos.  Here she is swinging on the bar and falling into the pit.

Doing a handstand.

Traversing the snake pit.

And doing a somersault all by herself!

The last session ended last week and we decided to skip the current one for multiple reasons (crazy holiday season, money, etc.).  We hope to get both her and Fia enrolled again in January.  

Playing with my fish-eye lens

 

Painting Pumpkins

Madeline did carve a pumpkin with Daddy at Dad's Carving Night at preschool....

...but we just painted the rest at home.  It was a given that Fia needed to be striped down to her diaper.  Then naturally Madeline had to be just like her sister.  Notice Fia painting her feet.  The week before we made footprint ghosts so she was getting a little confused.

I got her back on track.

Most of the paint did end up on her pumpkin.

Halloween!

So about a month ago we were walking through Costco and they had a rack of Halloween costumes.  I just wanted to see what they had since I had no clue what they were going to be this year (and they were up for a good price).  Well, as soon as Madeline saw all the princess dresses, she had to have one.  She immediately went for Snow White and never wavered with her decision.  And then once I saw the Duck for Fia, that was it.  I'd say the choices were perfect for both of them.

The week before Halloween, Madeline's school had a parade.

And then they sat and sang all the parents songs.

Later that week, a nearby shopping center was having a Halloween event.

Here is Madeline patiently waiting for her balloon flower.

Then it was here......Halloween night.....Trick-or-Treating was finally here!  I had to draw up a countdown calendar earlier in the week because Madeline kept asking if it was time yet.  She was beyond excited.

And the Three Musketeers were off....

Ashley took in the festivities from a seated position.

Madeline was a pro and carried her own candy the whole way.  Fia and Alexis learned quickly.

Family Pictures (Part Two)

The blooper reel....

Family Pictures (Part One)

 We had our family pictures taken recently and I need help deciding what to print.  There are too many good ones!

First is our family portrait.  The photographer obviously liked this first one because she did some editing to it.  However, Andy and I both like the smiles on the second one better.  What do you all think?

Okay, that was the easy part.  Now the hard part.....which picture of each girl to print?  Only one of each now.  I plan on getting 16x20 prints of each to put in our living room.  The second part of this question is whether to get color prints or black and white.

#5

#6

#7

#15

#16

#19

#21

#24

#25

#43

Here are my thoughts:

- I'm currently liking pictures 6 and 19 together or 16 and 25 together.  I'm leaning towards the first set because our living room needs a pop of color.  But the b&w's look awesome too.

- If #16 doesn't end up on our living room wall, it will definitely be up somewhere because I love it!

- I'm also in love with #15 and #43.  They will end up somewhere in the house, I'm sure.