Merry Christmas!

From Our Family to Yours...

{Sorry for the poor picture quality. This is a picture of the actual picture. I was too lazy to go upstairs and scan the picture.}

See you in 2011!

Waste Not, Want Not

Audrey is on a big kick right now of saving her food. And it goes in the fridge whether it needs refrigeration or not. This is what I saw today...{Cheez-Its, Hershey's candy bar, ring pop, and a Chick-fil-a mint}

Poor Baby

Princess-in-training

It's tough to be the youngest!

Naptime: Take 2

Halloween 2010

Even though we officially spent Halloween at Disney World this year, we did have several parties to attend and of course, the holiday wouldn't be complete without a visit to our favorite pumpkin patch. This year we went to Cedar Hill Farm with the Wingerts. Audrey loves Saige and "Spanna."
Almost as much as she loves her sister.

Originally, Audrey wanted to be a bumblebee (again) for Halloween. I tried to talk her out of it. Since we were going to be in Disney World it seemed only logical that she would be a princess. Well, as we all know, 3 year olds don't understand logic. And as I expected, she changed her mind at the last minute to be a princess. Since I had already bought the bumblebee, she agreed that she would wear it to her school parade and party and then she could be a princess for the church party and Disney World. Next year, I am waiting until the last minute to buy her costume! My bank account doesn't like costume changes.

She changed out of her costume after the parade and into her Halloween outfit that I made for her. Thanks, Staci, for the adorable spider!(and for any OCD people, like myself, who like things to be precise, her pant legs really are even. This picture bugs me because from the way she is standing they don't look even!)

Also, I had a couple people ask... I did make these Minnie Mouse shirts for the girls for Disney World. I lucked out and found the polka dot pants on super clearance so it saved me a few hours sewing!

I also made this princess outfit for Audrey to wear after the princess breakfast. She saw the fabric when we were looking for the red/white polka dots and refused to leave without it.

Audrey became Cinderella for our church party.

And Emily was a sweet little flower.

Audrey's friends, Delaney and Holly.

The winners of the fishing carnival game received fish as prizes. While it was a very cute prize, I did not enjoy trying to figure out where the fish was going to live and what it was going to eat at 9 o'clock at night. Especially when I was trying to wrap up packing for our trip! Poor "Nemo" didn't survive while we were gone (shocker).

Despite the costume changes and unexpected fish, we had a wonderful Halloween. I love this time of the year! The leaves changing, weather cooling, and lots of fun family traditions. I love it!

Disney World 2010: Days 5 and 6

Day 5 we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We had reservations to eat breakfast at Cinderella's castle and I don't know who was more excited- me or Audrey. I remember wishing as a kid that I could go in Cinderella's castle but my parents always told me that you couldn't. I don't know if that was true or not. I never found the date when the castle opened so I will choose to believe that my parents were telling me the truth and not trying to deprive me of every little girls dream. (ha ha) We ran into Cinderella's stepmother and evil step-sisters on the way in the castle. I don't know why but this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Audrey making a wish using her wand and wishing star. We saw Snow White, who was so sweet with Emily,
Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle, who was so sweet with Justin. I don't think Justin minded Belle interrupting his breakfast!

One of my favorite character visits was with Prince Naveen from "Princess and the Frog." I felt like I was talking to the real Prince Naveen. He sounded exactly like the character in the movie and looked just like him. And he was hilarious!

Thursday was a rainy day so we tried to do things inside as much as possible. Audrey and Popa being goofy with Zurg from "Toy Story."Audrey and Justin with Mickey and Minnie

The rain let up just in time for the "Main Street Electrical Parade."

We were halfway into the beautiful fireworks show when the heavens opened and unloaded a month's worth of rain on us in about 10 minutes. Not a dry spot on any of us!

The last day we decided to visit the Animal Kingdom again. We ran into Pooh Bear as soon as we walked in and Audrey was in heaven. She loves her princesses but Pooh Bear most definitely has a special place in her heart. In fact, when looking at stuffed animals, she chose another Pooh Bear. The exact same Pooh Bear that she already owns. But there was no changing her mind so now Audrey is the proud owner of one really beautiful, clean Pooh Bear, and his very loved, in desperate need of a bath twin. In the end I think it was a good choice. Now when she loses one (or when the dog tries to steal it again), we'll have a back up.

We also visited the petting zoo, ran into more characters, danced to some African music,

and watched "A Bug's Life Show: 3D." That show was disturbing on so many levels. Definitely not the show for people who hate bugs.

We ended the day at the "Lion King" show which is amazing. If you ever go to the Animal Kingdom, you must see this show. We were on the front row (thanks, Jus!) and it was just as beautiful as I remembered. Wish I had pictures.

After getting kicked out of the Animal Kingdom at 5 pm (it is crazy to me that they close so early!!!), we enjoyed one last dinner together at the Medevial Times.
When we planned this trip, I knew that we would have fun. I figured there would be little fights and maybe some drama here and there but I was wrong. The biggest drama was who was going to sit by Magra everywhere we went but after Magra started her list to keep track of whose turn it was, there was no drama. We had so much fun and created so many memories that I know none of us will ever forget. It was hard to come back to reality but I am so grateful for the pictures, stories, souveniers, and memories that will stay with us forever.

Disney World 2010: Days 3 and 4

Day 3 started with Emily waking up with a high fever and completely miserable. We knew that we couldn't take her out to the parks that day so Brett graciously volunteered to stay at the hotel with her. I felt kind of bad but I also think he secretly enjoyed the peace and quiet. So, Audrey and I headed off to Hollywood Studios to meet up with the rest of my family. We started our day by visiting Buzz and Woody. While we waited in line, they had different props from the movie that the kids could pose with so Audrey and I killed the time by taking advantage of them. Here are some of the cuter ones...

strapped to the firecracker

stuck in "Stinky Pete's" box

I threw this one in to show what a poser my child is. It is becoming quite difficult to get her to smile. She definitely prefers being goofy.

I couldn't believe how big Buzz and Woody were! They were GIANT!

While we waited for an animation drawing class, we said hi to Mickey

and harrassed Justin.

The art class was very cool. Unfortunately, I was reminded very quickly that I am not artistic at all- not to mention I was seated next to little "Miss Perfect Artist" herself. I decided to help Audrey and watch with fascination the artist sitting next to me. I was quite proud of Audrey and her rendition of Tigger. Even more proud to see her working on writing her name.

After a few shows and lunch we were headed back to the Toy Story ride when my brother realized that they were missing their camera. Luckily, the Disney workers are great with kids and this sweet girl kept them entertained while we waited.

Amazingly, the camera had been turned in so we headed to Toy Story. Audrey and Hailey all ready for the 3D ride.

Me and my spastic child...

who loves to poke and annoy everyone around her.

Unfortunately, as we were heading into another show, I got a phone call from Brett saying that Emily was getting worse and her fever was going up. So, I left Hollywood Studios and we took her to the Minor Med. Results: she had an ear infection. We got her some medicine and took her back to the hotel to rest. Thank goodness for wonderful grandparents who were there to help!

Day 4 we headed to Epcot. I hadn't been there since I was a teenager and when you are a teenager, places like Epcot are boring. As an adult, Epcot was so much fun. I could have definitely spent another day there!

We toured all the countries and enjoyed trying all the food. We stopped in France for pastries, ate lunch in China, and dessert in Germany. It was fab.u.lous. Definitely not the place for someone on a diet. In the American section, the girls got to participate in a ceremony where they were each given copies of the Declaration of Independence.

We were there during the "Food and Wine Festival" and Boyz II Men was having a concert that afternoon. Yes, I was excited. Yes, I was singing along. Yes, I may have been screaming like a 12 year old girl. They were very entertaining and it was funny to see the crazies in the front row (not like us calm folks in the back).

I think the best part of the day was watching Audrey and my dad play in the "jumping" water. It took me back to the days when I loved playing in and watching the water jump to each section as a kid. Of course, the most fun is to see the water jump over the sidewalk and Popa gave Audrey the best seat in the house.

Emily loved watching all the fun from a warm, dry spot.

After changing into dry clothes, we went to play in the exhibits.

We were hoping to catch the fireworks show, but it started raining and Emily was still sick so we called it a night.