Once Upon A Dream

Here is a little "hot potato" game that Gabby got us all to play over Thanksgiving weekend. You pass an object...usually a ball....but on this day...a bear and sing a little song. Whoever is holding the object on the last word of the song is out....until there is only one player remaining.

The music ball goes round and round...
It stops at every little town...
If you're the one who has it last...
Then for you the game is past...
You are out!

I would like you to meet a man bunny and a woman....

Gillian proudly put this blanket around Amanda's head while we were playing "Music Ball". Then Gillian announced...."now you are a real woman". It is that easy folks.

Gabby decided to play "balloon girl selling balloons in the park" as we were cleaning up from the shower over the weekend.

The cost of a leftover balloon from a pretend balloon salesman.....$1.00.
The look of joy on her face as she is playing with Uncle Lou.....priceless.

The girls have enjoyed creating their own advent calendars/nativity scenes...of course - as of today, it is only December 7th! 18 more days until Christmas!

We got home from Meme and Papa's house on Sunday after Thanksgiving. We started putting our tree up on Monday. It took a couple days to get all the decorations up in the house, and the girls did much of it all by themselves this year.

We realized recently that Gillian was long overdue to move into a big bed. She had a 4 stage crib which we were really happy with. It turned into a day bed, but she was just too long for it. It also turns into a queen size bed, but that was just too big for her bedroom. We let her look at a few different beds, and she really wanted bunk beds....so that Gabby could sleep over with her. This was fine with us because we often have family/guests over to sleep. So Aunt Becky and Uncle Louie bought the bunk bed for the girls for Christmas. We ordered it and Dave put it together for the girls last week. We are so happy with it, and the girls love it. Mostly they love sleeping over together! Thanks so much Aunt Becky and Uncle Louie! You can try it out next time you visit!

The girls had a great idea about how to deliver Christmas Cards to friends in the area. They thought that we should go caroling. They filled one basket with candy canes...and the other with Christmas cards to deliver. They did their best to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to everyone that was home that day. It was their first caroling experience....and they want to do it again next year.

PS - please forgive the red eye....

We had our first snow on Saturday/Sunday!

Tis the season for lots of fun parties! Yeah! We went to a Christmas party that was thrown for the children of people who work in Dave's company. It was held at the Holiday Inn of Schenectady. It was a great party!

This may be the last year that Gabby sits on Santa's lap...and really believes. Here is a converstation that I witnessed in her class while doing centers last week.

Girl 1: Everybody knows that Santa isn't real.
Boy 1: Yes he is. Who do you think puts all those presents under the tree?
Girl 1: DUH! Your Dad.
Boy 2: That is not true. I woke up on Christmas Eve one night and I saw Santa. He is real.
Boy 1: Do you guys know who is fake? The Grinch.
Girl 1: No....he's real. I know it.

It was a little comical. Gabby was sitting at the table when the conversation was going on, but she wasn't participating. When we got home, she said, "Mom, (Girl 1), said that Santa wasn't real today at school". I said, "hmmmm - what do you think about that?" Gabby replied, "I think he is real".

She believes....but for how much longer?

Meme and Papa gave this dollhouse to Gabby and Gilli last Christmas. They also gave them a kit of materials to decorate the dollhouse for Christmas. It took a little time...especially to string up the cute little lights...and decorate the little trees, but the girls had a lot of fun and the dollhouse looked adorable.

We got hit with a lot of snow....about 8 inches during the night and today.

We celebrated Christmas in Staten Island this weekend. We kicked off the festivities by taking the little princesses to see the Princess and the Frog. The movie was great and everyone loved it. Aunt Lena made some really yummy frog cupcakes, and we also did some crafts with frogs and masks that went perfectly with the theme.

We went to Brooklyn over the weekend to see the Nutcracker at the Performing Arts Center at Brooklyn College. The girls all loved the ballet. The little mice were so cute!

This is a tradition.....

Gabby got a cool Jedi game from Aunt Lena and Uncle Tony. It is called the Force Trainer. We don't really know how this thing works, but you put the headgear on...concentrate, and the ball will go up. Gabby's face was priceless. She was concentrating so hard, and she really thought that she was using the force when the ball went up....maybe she was.

Well...we have officially started a tradition. We celebrate Hannukah with our neighbors, Barry and Carol, and they will come over to our house on Christmas Eve. This is our second Christmas in this house and our second year sharing our traditions with great neighbors. We don't know what we would do without Barry and Carol!

Gabby had to do a presentation in class on Friday. They have been studying traditions, and she chose to do our family tradition of sprinkling reindeer dust on Christmas Eve. She did a great job. She told about her tradition and mixed a huge batch of reindeer dust. All the students got to take some home.

We drove up to Utica on Friday to take a train ride on the Polar Express. It was a fun experience. The train station was very beautiful....a mini Grand Central. The girls danced and colored polar express ornaments while we waited for our train to arrive. The elves came out and blew their horns. They awarded the first prize of Christmas to a boy in the crowd. Then we all boarded the train. The conductor came around and punched our tickets. There were elves all over playing games and singing Christmas carols with everyone. We finally made it to the North Pole. Santa came out of his workshop and announced that he was finished making toys for the year and would ride back on the train with us. He came around and visited all the children. He gave us bells. He told us about his magic key that he wears around his neck. He uses it to get into kids houses where there is no chimney. The girls want to go again next year. They loved it.

If you like Disney...and you have the chance to see Disney on Ice...you should go. It was AWESOME!

Granddaddy and Nana Karen came to visit and they spent Christmas with us. We had a lot of fun playing....and eating. We all hope they can come back really soon because the trip was too quick.

We got some great presents in the mail from Ohio. Thanks (Grandpa Mike, Grandma Cathy, Grandma Darlene, Aunt Lauren, and Uncle Chris )so much for all the wonderful gifts and delicious english muffins! Miss you!

Christmas Eve was a great time for us this year. We spent the day with friends and family. The girls had a little time to sprinkle their reindeer dust before church. We got home early...and into bed to be ready for Santa.

Time to play and relax. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Hammy has been with us for 1 year!

We had a lot of little events tucked into a small stay in Kersey, PA. We celebrated Christmas with the family there....and took a field trip to the brewery (boys only), had a party for Meme (Happy 61!), had a pizelle eating contest, found the pickle a couple times, and had a game night....I think there are a few more things that didn't get mentioned. It was a very busy visit.