Christmas Fanciness

Audrey refused to let me do anything but put a headband in her hair and Celia by some miracle asked for me to put her hair back.  So she had two braids going back into a cute little red bow.  But they looked adorable for Christmas eve service.

Natural History Museum

Audrey has a love for a local Natural History Museum.  It is a very small museum and rarely crowded but it does frequently host field trips.  I have been meaning to get a membership to it.  We had a reciprocal membership last year but it expired at the end of June.  So when I saw that they had a holiday BOGO, I went with it.  We get a reciprocal membership to all science museums with of course many restrictions, ha!

So Audrey and I went on a Friday and then brought Celia back on a Monday afternoon.  Celia usually blows through the place in less then 20 min but we actually found some things that occupied her for longer.  In fact I mistakenly thought that the museum closed at 3:00 and really it was 4:30.  I rushed them out and then saw the hours on the door and Celia was really mad at me!

 Building Carbon Atoms

 Balancing a Nano world

 Blurry but she points out everything

 We love the below ground aquarium.  It is pretend but very cool.

 So the thing behind them is called Titanaboa.  There was a fossil of a snake found that was this large.  They found 28 of them.  The snake was the size of a bus.  Can you imagine bumping into that???

In the Discovery room they have some animals in cages.  

The girls are not squeamish of snakes, love that!

 Just hanging out in the rain forest

 Mrs. Claus in the rainforest

Audrey tells me every time- "you not that is not real, it's just he's bones" (yes not his he's)

Christmas Party Photos

Olaf enjoyed being in the picture with the two Elsas

 As you can see, Audrey really, really loved Santa

Merry Christmas

The above card had our new address

Christmas eve tradition

Every Christmas eve since Celia has been born I have taken her to Wegmans to pick out an ornament on clearance.  Wegmans is a grocery story.  When Audrey was born she decided to include her in the tradition.  We added having breakfast to the tradition last year.  This year the girls picked out "lovely" owl ornaments.  I give them free range in what they pick and some of the ornaments have been quite interesting.  Wegmans is a grocery story that is amazing, there is even a model train that runs through the top of part of the store.  Some Wegmans have pubs.

 Healthy smoothy with not so healthy donuts

Morning

Turns out when she sleeps in and eats after big sis and Daddy have left she is happy.

Why yes that is how Pete would look with long blond hair.

Random Post

Audrey had a Thanksgiving show at her school.  It is fun having a Thanksgiving show and not a Christmas show.  The holidays just get stressful and I like to think that at school they are spending more time having fun and talking about the real meaning of Christmas (she goes to a Christian preschool) and not having to practice for a show.  

So on the day of her show we had a small snow storm.  It ruined Grandma and Grandpas plans to go to Celia's grandparents day at school but no fear because Mom Mom attended the event.  She made Celia even happier by bringing her home early as Mom Mom wanted to make it home safely. 

So Celia's best buddy came over and all three girls made the snow man.  They did it without any help at all!  I just handed the random requests for snowman accessories.

And here is my crazy Olaf wearing eldest.  She stayed out in the snow far longer then I expected.

The girls and I are outdoor loving people however Cecelia is not one to tolerate the cold.  We practically had to drag the girls in after hours outside.  Audrey was the first to come to her senses and come inside.

I never showed off Audrey's birthday cake.  A pony.  Some fondant and an online tutorial made it super easy.

So a few days after Thanksgiving we decorated the tree.

Something irritated this kiddo.  A lot of things tend to do that.

Deep in thought.  Actually she is likely gathering up her argument for something that I told her not to do as we are at that, I can not accept no age.  Oh wait, I don't think we have ever not been in that stage.

This is for my friend Julie.

Yup, candy in the insta snow!!  So at Pete's company Christmas party the girls made insta snow.

They enjoyed playing with it at home and I bought gummy trees and bears for play.  We play a lot with candy.  Skittles are awesome to scoop.

Playing away, Audrey eating a banana.  Do you like the face painting?

Pete's company had a frozen themed party this year.  Audrey loved Elsa and Anna… Santa on the other hand, not so much.

Longwood and a Frozen Face

 We are lucky to be gifted a membership to a local garden by my in laws.  

They have an incredible Christmas display.

We went a week ago to members only night.  Unfortunately it was raining so we primarily stayed inside.

 This is the tree from Audrey's school.

Next year she gets to make ornaments for the tree!!

Pete's company has a huge children's christmas party every year.

This year's theme was Frozen.  They had Elsa and Anna at the party and Santa of course.

The girls had their faces painted as Elsa.  Audrey would not have anything to do with Santa.

Thanksgiving

Celia is in first grade.  We still get emails from her pre-k teacher on holidays.  She is amazing.

Dear Sonbeam Alumni and Families- HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Among my many blessings, YOU are right on top! My prayer is that you will have a wonderful day filled with God's sweet blessings and a fantastic time with your family and friends. I miss you all and I count it a privilege to have you as part of my family. It was amazing to have so many of you at the Thanksgiving program yesterday! We need to have a reunion! My love is with each and every one of you. Stay in touch and have a tremendous holiday. Give your parents and great big hug and tell them how much you love them! You are in my prayers, Miss Shelley

Have a Wobderful Thanksgiving

It's 3 star dress day!!

Celia's school has different dress code days.  The biggest day of the year is Grandparents Day which they celebrate the day before Thanksgiving.  This year the weather has really put a damper on some grandparents coming but I love the uniform!!!  Please note this is the only circumstance in which I can get her to tuck in a shirt and wear something close to her belly button.