Oh, Holidays...

We are definitely feeling the Holiday Spirit!  Elsie Anne has been reading her Christmas books since Halloween, and loves seeing all the Xmas decorations @ the stores.  On a family trip to WalMart, we made our first Xmas purchases of the year... wreath, xmas fern, and reindeer antennas!!

Memoo sent EA this grocery buggy for an early Xmas gift!  We are loving her 'Xmas-morning-face' each time she gets an early "Kissmas pesent"!!

The boxes are always the best!!

EA's first holiday attire... she says "ormanet shuut + santa mittens" (ornament shirt).  For some reason she loves these socks on her hands, too funny!!

Daddy wearing her Reindeer Antenna headband (the red noses light up) while playing w/ her Insect Flash Cards!  Shawn has taught her to stomp or smack the mosquito + cock roach, haha!!

Loved this wreath... I added the bows, but thought I'll be able to use it for the rest of the winter + add different accessories to it:)

I've got to say that I usually don't get the first Christmas decoration out until the week after Thanksgiving.  This is something that I've inherited from my mother.  We love our Thanksgiving Family Celebration so much, that we don't even think about Xmas until after.  But this year is a bit different...w/ a toddler talking about Santa + candy canes already, I've let down my guard, + Shawn, who has Xmas spirit year-round, has gotten his way!  We've even been singing Xmas carols... I am LOVING it!!

ProNunCiaTion!

I've been meaning to blog about Elsie Anne's hilarious speech.  To start, I must give some background information on why this makes Shawn + I so proud... 

My grandmother, BumBum, as many of you know, is quite the Linguist.  She writes poems for every occasion in our family, spent 30+ years writing letters for Florida's Commissioner of Education, and has perfect grammar!  She has helped me w/ my Resume and Letter of Intent, when I had a real job, and the rest of her 7 grandchildren in one way or another!  Long story, short... she knows vocabulary words that you've never heard of, hehe!!

We think it must be a trait that is passed on, b/c as EA learns new words, she tries really hard to pronunciate just the way we do!  But the last letter of her word is always louder than the rest!  These are not necessarily new words, but just an example...

Me: M is for Milk.  mm, mm, Milk!
EA: "milKK!"

Me: H is for Heart.  hh, hh, Heart!
EA: "haaarTT!"

Me: B is for Blanket.  bb, bb, Blanket!
EA: "bankeTT!"

It is really the cutest thing to hear.  I need to post a video for you to get the full effect:)

HALLOWEEN!

What a fun evening... we met some friends downtown where they close off Harris + High Streets for children to Trick-or-Treat.  Its nice not worrying about cars!  The best part is that ALL the houses participate + most of them are renovated Mining houses, so it looks spooky anyway!!

This is Nadia + Elsie Anne's hello... they looked in each other's pumpkin basket + when Nadia saw that EA had no candy (we had just started), she gave EA a few of her pieces!  It was the kindest gesture... we all swooned @ the sight:)

The Firemen were handing out candy too!  Their truck had the lights on, as they made sure no cars entered!  The children were mezmerized...

By the way, EA is a Monkey, but the head-piece w/ ears did not fit her big head, and the booties w/ fingers would've been too slippery, so she is half dressed!  Oh, and the TuTu was her idea... gotta love her little mind!

I loved this house... they gave out TOOTH BRUSHES!!  That is Shawn looking creepy as ever w/ that wig on, haha!

Our last house!  It was starting to get too cold as the sun went down, and after walking almost 6 blocks all by themselves, the girls were slowing their pace a bit!

At home, enjoying EAs sugar high!  She was like a little Tiger, pacing back + forth, w/ her stroller of course!!  Thank goodness I only let her have ONE "pop-pop" (lollipop)!!

Imagination!

You must be wondering why Elsie Anne keeps getting new toys?!  Well, her imagination is exploding right now + she has outgrown all her toys!  We are definitely not ones to SPOIL, and choose our toys wisely, so she has truly gotten her $$s worth in the ones we are letting go! 

With winter here, the option of playing outside is rather limited, so its pertinent to have engaging indoor toys for EA (and Adeline, who plays w/ us 3days/wk)!  That said, we decided to get her Christmas presents early:)  We know she'll have plenty to open on Xmas morning, since both our families send her boxes!

With a little encouragement, EA chose this... she is in awe that we have it @ home, since she plays w/ a bigger version @ Peek-A-Boo Toy Store!!

Up, Up, Up the steps...

All she talks about now is her "doll-hows" + the "gull + bewy" (girl/boy) who live there!  As we come down the steps in the mornings, she peeks around the corner to see it + goes nuts!!

This perfect Melissa + Doug dollhouse came w/ 11 pieces of wooden furniture + 2 dolls!  I love EA's enthusiasm as she plays w/ it!  She loves giving them "tubbies" and makes them go out the front door to "wuuk" (work) over + over!!

Fun-Day Friday!!

Elsie Anne + I started our fun-day w/ Family Gym Time!  She went crazy in this bouncy house, after having so much practice @ GeeGee + Papa's in Ohio!!  We had fun playing w/ balls, tunnels, tents, hula hoops + climbing on the mats!!

After a great nap, Elsie Anne woke up to Daddy + pumpkin carving!  Yes, we are procrastinators... we've had the pumpkin, just never took the time to carve it.  EA was a big helper!

Then, we headed to Kid's Night Out @ our church!  We got all checked in, pointed out costumes that EA recognized, got EA to the right group... and OFF we went for our 2nd Breckenridge Dinner Date, since EA's arrival, almost 20 months ago (the 1st was last winter when my Mom was in town)!!

Shawn + I enjoyed appetizers + drinks @ The Hearthstone, where we hadn't dined since our 2yr anniversary when I was preggo w/ Elsie Anne!  It always brings back good memories:)  Our 'honey time' was very satisfying + we were able to really enjoy each other's company.  I'm ready for another one already, heehee!

After a little over an hour, we were anxious to get back to our Princess!  I know, it's sad, but we live + breath our little girl, + since it's just the 3 of us out here, we do EVERYTHING together, so it was weird not having her with us.  We spyed for a bit, before EA knew we were there.  This is how we found her little group.  She is right behind the boy looking @ the camera, you can only see the top of her head w/ a halloween bow, of course:) 

We watched her line up w/ all the children to go into the mess hall, and as she came out of the room, we popped out!  She got so excited and ran over to hug us, as if to say, "I haven't seen you in a whole HOUR!"  It was the best reunion ever:)

As we drove home, she told us about the Dance Room ~ which the teacher had already commented to us about her "hilarious dance moves," and that she HAD to stay longer than the rest her age, so she danced w/ the older children too:) ~ the Face Painting, the Barney Movie, and her favorite costumes, which were Woody from Toy Story, a Spider, a Princess, and a Pirate, she kept talking about her teacher, Ms. Nikki, and all the big children too!  It was so fun to see her pride + feel her excitement about her adventures ALL BY HERSELF!!

It was a SUCCESS!  SIGN US UP for the next 'Kids Night Out'! :)

Thursday Treat!!

Elsie Anne decided to put Mommy's snow boots on... I was surprised how well she could walk in them!

When Daddy got home from work, he scooped up his girls + took us to dinner!  Fatty's is always a fun time... especially holidays, they go all out in the decorating department!  EA was in awe of the ghosts, pumpkins, skeletons + frankenstein!!

Random nights out are always the best!  Thank you Daddy:)

Halloween Story Time!

As always, our local libraries come to the rescue!!  This time of year, its always hard to find things to do for our toddlers, since its pretty tiresome playing in the snow!  We are very thankful the three libraries around Summit County have Story Time on different days of the week.  So, last week marked our first weekly rotation of Winter activities!

Mon: Dance Class + Toddlers In Motion (starts next wk @ gym) Tues: Silverthorne Story Time  Wed: Family Gym Time + Breck Story Time  Thur: Peek-A-Boo Toy Store Fri: Tumbling Tots (starts next wk @ gym)  And, I'm still nannying Tues-Thurs, so we'll be keeping super busy this Winter! :)

Elsie Anne + Adeline had a SPOOKY time @ Frisco Story Time this week...

They climbed up + down the 'stadium seating' before the stories began!

We got to practice Trick-or-Treating around the Library... EA refused to put her Monkey costume on, so I dressed her in purple/green, I thought that was at least festive:)

The girls picked it up pretty fast... and loved reaping their rewards!  "POP-POPS"!!

I can't wait for this Sunday... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

SNOW ANGEL!!

Our first SNOW DAY includes... long underwear, cozy socks, sweat shirt, snow pants, snow boots, mittens, jacket, beanie...and that's the order of operation!!  Luckily, Elsie Anne was super excited to go outside in the snow, so the layers + layers of clothes didn't bother her one bit:)

We had to show her what a SNOW ANGEL was...

Checking out our hard work...

I think EA will be a SNOW BUNNY this winter:)  She couldn't get enough!

**I am still having to upload one picture @ a time, so if anyone has any suggestions, I really need the help!  This is not making blogging very fun :(