Thanksgiving Branson Trip

For as long as I can remember, the girls in my family have headed to Branson the day after Thanksgiving. The boys would go to the duck cabin, and the girls would shop. It's a tradition that I look forward to every year! This is the third time that I've gotten to go since having the girls, and it also helps that we live closer!

We left on Friday morning, drove, ate, and shopped. I took no pictures on Friday- partly because it was cold, I was tired, and I just didn't feel like dragging out  my camera. We shopped at The Landings, and took the girls to see Santa at the Bass Pro Shop. (If you have one in your area, I'd suggest going- they give you one free Santa picture, and their package is only $10.00, and much better than the mall packages!)

Our original plan was to go to Silver Dollar City on Friday night, but one of the other kiddos with us, got sick and had to go to the walk-in clinic. So, we ordered a pizza, stayed in the condo and went to bed early!

Saturday morning brought more shopping! My sister-in-law brought her wagon, and the girls loved taking turns widing in it..... Well, everyone but Ms. A.- she was a little territorial.

 I was done shopping in my first four stores! I hit up Disney, Nike, the make-up store, and Carters, and decided I was broke!

My cousin Hannah, was shopped out as well, so she walked around with us and helped corral the girls!

I love this picture of MC- she was acting like such a big girl trying to pull the wagon all by herself!

 And, G sitting in the wagon waiting on us to finish up some shopping. G was so unbelievably good while we were in Branson. I was seriously wondering what happened to my kid! She told me on the way there, that she would behave while we were in Branson, but stop as soon as we got back to Oklahoma- ha! Smart girl!

 Around 2:00 we decided we were shopped out and wanted to head to SDC while there was still daylight to enjoy some of the rides. Here's myself with the girls, and my sister-in-law and niece.

 G walking to her very first ride:

I have no idea what this is called, but you sit in boats and shoot these guns at little targets to see who can earn the highest points. G actually did well and scored some points... I was holding MC so I didn't play along. G insisted that she sit by her Gee. 

 My SIL and A got stuck in t he boat behind us.

 G and her Gee.

 Ms. A. and MC have matching winter coats- they looked so sweet!

 After dinner, we rode the carousel.

 G insisted on sitting in the princess carriage.

 We found the swing ride, and G was tall enough so she wanted to try it out. Thankfully, she was the only child riding, and the operator insisted that she would not go fast or high, and after just a few times around G yelled, "I'm getting dizzy!" So the operator was able to stop the ride for G to get off!

 Here are the baby girls waiting for G to finish the swing ride.

 G was not cooperating for this photo at all!

 We finally made our way back to the top of the park so we could sit and watch the parade. We shared a funnel cake, and G really enjoyed watching the parade and seeing all of the floats covered in lights!

 The girls were sound asleep by the time we left the park!

The next day we had to pack to get ready to go, but we wanted to make one last stop at the Grand Village. There's always a Santa near the Christmas store, and we wanted to try to get a few pictures of the girls as well as meet Santa.

 They had t his giant card that you could sign and G wrote her name.

 It is so hard to get a good picture of a 4 year old and two one-year olds!

 We finally happened upon Santa and Mrs. Claus. G was so excited to take her picture with them again.

 But, this is what MC did! She did NOT want to see Santa again!

 So, my mom took her over, but she still wasn't having it!

We had such a fun weekend! It was cold, but we definitely got in the Christmas spirit and finished up some of our Christmas shopping!

G Donates her Hair

I picked G up from preschool last Monday, where she declared to her teacher, "we're going to get my hair cut today!" We weren't, but it sparked some conversation, and G had decided that she was ready for short hair. Hair like mommy's- to her shoulders. I'll be honest, that I was not wanting to cut her hair to her shoulders, but I did agree that it needed a few inches cut off. Her hair had started to become very time consuming to brush and fix every morning, not to mention, washing it was becoming a chore. So, I agreed to take her for a hair cut, when we were in Conway visiting my parents.

There's a cute little kids hair salon in Little Rock, and we have nothing like that in Tulsa. So, we went there last Wednesday, and waited, and waited.... We actually waited about two hours, and I decided I will never get my children's hair cut the day before a holiday. 

DJ actually mentioned Tuesday night that we should donate G's hair, and I told him that it was probably too late to gather the appropriate information and to figure out how to do it correctly. I looked on Locks of Love's website, and learned that the hair had to be 10 inches. I talked to G a little about it, and we had had the conversation about donating her hair in the late summer, but I wasn't settled on the idea, mostly because 10 inches is a lot!

Here's her before pictures. At this point, I still wasn't sure how much we would get cut, but  I knew that it would be a substantial amount. My guess was 4-5 inches. 

Here's the back of her hair. 

When we were finally called, I asked the hair dresser to measure her hair for me, just to let me know how much 10 inches would look like. She asked if we were thinking of donating her hair and I told her that I wasn't sure. She separated G's hair into pigtails and measured her hair, letting me know that 10 inches would make her hair chin length. I was definitely not willing to go that short! But, she let me know that Pantene had a program, where the hair only had to be 8 inches, and that would be at her shoulders. I asked G and she was more than willing to cut 8 inches and donate her hair to the program!

So, the hair dresser measured the correct amount....

and, cut!

I was kind of squirming at that point, but I also wanted to let G know how proud I was of her decision to donate her hair. I think if it had been 100% my idea, I would've had a more difficult time.

 G sat very still during her hair cut and even had two suckers. 

 And here are the after pictures!

I absolutely love how her hair turned out, and it has been so much easier to take care of! I'm not sure we'll keep it this short, and maybe she'll be willing to grow it back out to donate again. 

G loves her hair cut too. She's commented several times about how long hair can get in the toilet, although admits that hers never did- only Rapunzel's, and that she looks like Princess Sophia (Disney's new princess t.v. show that will be airing in January.) 

I think the best part is that we have very few tangles, and it's cut her hair routine in half!

Thanksgiving Day 2012

The girls and I went to my parents for Thanksgiving. DJ couldn't join us, because of course, Tulsa had practice that morning, and left for a game the day after. I've become accustomed to celebrating Turkey-day sans DJ. 

My mom made pancakes for breakfast, which of course were delicious, and the girls and I settled in to watch the Macy's parade. It's a tradition that goes back for as long as I can remember! I've had G watch it every year too, but this is the first year that she was truly interested in the entire parade. She enjoyed the floats, performances, balloons, and Santa!!!

 I dressed the girls in their fall squirrel smocked dresses that I found on Facebook. I really wish I could remember which page specifically, but I can't. I bought them in August! MC's was a little big, and G's a little small, but I had to have them and took whatever sizes I could get! 

We headed to my aunt's for lunch, and enjoyed all of the fixin's! I think the green bean casserole and pumpkin pie were my favorites! 

My mom and grandma took the babies for a car ride, after lunch, so they could take a little nap! G had so much fun playing with her cousins, that I barely saw her, and then she decided to spend the night with her great-grandma. 

The older kids sat around and played games and caught up, while the more mature adults watched football. 

Later on, we went to visit my step-dad's side of the family. It was nice to only have one kiddo to keep up with! We went back to my aunt's for leftovers, and then home to get MC in the bed, pack for our Branson trip, and make Christmas pillowcases! 

Family Photos 2012

This week DJ and I received our family photo's back from the very talented Madison Vining. We were more than thrilled with the results, and she did a fabulous job capturing our girls and our family. 

 G is such a performer, and loves to be the center of attention, as we were in a building, she found a microphone and started singing. Maybe she's the next American Idol? If so, you'll see this photo in about 18 years!

 MC is quite the runner. She never sits still. She loves to climb, and this photo, shows that personality trait off perfectly.

Thank you Madison, for doing an amazing job, yet again in capturing our family!

Halloween Night

I decided to fix the girls a fun Halloween themed dinner last week! I forgot to throw something in the crock pot so this is what I came up with : pumpkin pb&j, monster fingers, and monster eyeballs! G enjoyed the theme of the dinner and ate everything! 

 The girls decided to be fairies this year for Halloween. I made their costumes, as I have for the past four years.

MC was a "flower fairy" and her costume was pink and orange. 

 G decided to be Tinkerbell. 

 I added flowers to the back of MC's wings. 

 And made her a matching hair piece. 

 She just looked so precious on Halloween night! 

 G's outfit turned out just as cute! I did purchase her real Tinkerbell shoes from the disney store, and purchased her wings and a long sleeve t-shirt. But, her tutu costume was all me! I had fun making these this year! 

 I even got in the fun and dressed up as a pirate!

 G was so excited to go trick-or-treating! She's been looking forward to this for weeks! 

 As we were walking the neighborhood, MC decided she needed to help push the wagon! It was so funny to watch her push as she walked along. 

 Once she figured out that she was getting candy in her bucket, she was so excited to trick-or-treat! She tried to walk into a few houses, but it was so cute to watch the excitement in her face as she got candy and said "thank you" which sometimes lead to more candy! 

 G ran along with a friend, so it was rare to get a photo of her standing still! 

 DJ met us in our neighborhood once he was off work! I was relieved because it was exhausting trick-or-treating with two kids. 

 I love this picture of MC. She just looks so grown up and independent.

 On our way home, we put MC in the wagon, and she just dug in her treat bucket. 

 Here she is signing "please" because she really wanted her candy! 

 We dumped out all of their candy when we came home, and picked out all of the "gross" candy. G decided that we needed to give away candy, so she gave all the pieces that she didn't want to trick-or-treaters! 

 I put MC in her Halloween pj's, and put her in bed as soon as I could! She was already up over an hour after her bedtime, and was so exhausted! 

I can't wait till next Halloween! It'll be so much fun watching them run through the neighborhood and trying to choose their Halloween costumes!