He's Baaaack...

Ernie, our elf on the shelf, made his return appearance this year on Thanksgiving morning!

We'd been thinking he might show up sometime around Thanksgiving, but the girls were so excited when after about fifteen minutes of watching morning cartoons in the living room, Mallory finally spotted him on top of the TV armoire. I really should have had a camera ready to capture their excitement. You would have thought Santa himself was perched on top of the TV.

Ernie has been showing up in some pretty creative places. In the picture above, he was on the light in the kitchen {Ernie could have dusted for me; he was up there all day!}. I stood underneath him for a good two minutes while at the sink before Mallory turned around to ask me something and spotted him above my head; even I hadn't yet found him up there!

Now, you may wonder if Ernie has had good or bad news to report to Santa these past few days, and I have to tell you it's been a little of both. However, I think we saw somewhat of a turning point the other day when the girls watched the Elf on the Shelf show that we had recorded. As if Ernie wasn't already a real elf, watching the show really seemed to make a strong impression on both Anna Claire and Mallory, and if Chippey can fly back and forth to the North Pole and talk to Santa, then Ernie can to! And we certainly hope Ernie will have only good things to report to Santa between now and Christmas!

Thanks for Giving

This past Thanksgiving week, the girls were handed down two amazingly awesome toys we couldn't be more excited or grateful for.

First, Grace's Barbie Jeep {thanks, T-Bone}:

They absolutely love it and {thanks to unseasonably warm weather} have been able to spend hours riding it all over the cul~de~sac. It took Mallory about an afternoon to figure out the logistics of "driving" and now she is a natural. Seriously, she can maneuver the jeep foreward and in reverse, around corners and park it in its space in the garage better than I can handle my mini~van.

Anna Claire, on the other hand, is a little less secure behind the wheel and ends up getting frustrated and overwhelmed. She's more than happy to let Mallory take the wheel. I've been joking that when they're teenagers, Mallory will have to drive them everywhere because Anna Claire might be eighteen before she gets her license!

Next up, Connor and Dylan's "old" Wii that Aunt Michelle thought was broken and didn't figure out it wasn't until they had already bought a new one:

I got the last Nickolodeon Dance at Target on Black Friday, and we have all been gettin' our groove on ever since. They love it and have almost mastered the remotes; however, every morning since Thanksgiving it's been the first thing they've wanted to play after waking up at the crack of dawn. It's really hard for me to be awakened from a dead sleep at 6:30am and dragged out of bed to boogie with the Fresh Beat Band. Coffee first, please. They are having a blast and hoping Santa might bring them another game or two!

Many thanks to Terence and Aunt Michelle for the "early Christams presents!"

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a very happy Thanksgiving, and we hope you did, too!

We spent a lazy morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade {the girls actually watched, but eventually got frustrated by the commercials}.

Later, we headed over to Granny and Papa's for lunch. The turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes, and all the other fixin's were yummy, but of course, Anna Claire and Mallory just couldn't wait to get to dessert... 

Our contribution to Thanksgiving dinner along with sweet potato casserole was pecan pie. The girls helped out again; they love to dump ingredients into the bowl, and all three of us were fascinated watching the pecans bubble to the top. Who knew!?!? 

Here's what I have to say about pecan pie: easy to make; forever to bake! I think I baked those pies for ninety minutes trying to get the centers to set; of course, that meant the edges were over cooked...still yummy, though! 

After we finished eating, the girls headed outside to swing in the hammock...

 jump on the trampoline...

and enjoy a beautiful Thanksgiving day playing outside!

It's hard to believe it's back to work tomorrow. Only three weeks until Christmas break. I think hope I can do it!

Swinging Monkey and Pretty Butterfly

...those are Anna Claire and Mallory's Indians Native American names for yesterday's Thanksgiving Feast at playschool.

The girls were Indians {Anna Claire and Mallory are now the only girls in their class}, and all the boys were pilgrims. I braided both girls hair this morning so they would look like Indian princesses {or so I told them}. I can't believe Anna Claire let me french braid her hair and kept it braided; I wish I'd gotten a picture. Mallory, on the other hand, pulled out her braids in chapel.

Everyone started off in chapel where they sang Thanksgiving songs {Albuquerque Turkey was the girls' favorite} and watched the kindergartners perform their Thanksgiving play. There was also a slide show where the children said what they were thankful for. Mallory said she was thankful for Mommy and Daddy, and Anna Claire said she was thankful for God. Awww...

{Anna Claire's video clip was too quick for me to get a pic}

Sadly, it was very difficult to get any good pics of the girls in chapel; they were just too far away. I think I need to ask Santa for a new camera lens!

After chapel, it was time for their Thanksgiving feast in the classroom...much better pictures. The girls looked very cute in their Native American attire and feasted on turkey sandwiches, sugar cookies, and marshmallows. Not exactly your typical Thanksgiving meal, but they enjoyed every bite!

Nobember

I really must do a better job preserving the silly, witty, hilarious, observant, and downright intelligent things the girls say these days.

Tonight Mallory told me oh~so~matter~of~factly that it was "Nobember." I asked her what holiday was in November and she said, "Thanksgibing."

Then she said she didn't want to eat turkey because they had feathers. I reminded her that chickens also had feathers and we ate them {the chicken, not the feathers} all the time. She agreed, telling me the reason we didn't eat the feathers was because they were too expensive.

And this little conversation occurred while she was sitting on the potty tonight. The girls and I sometimes have the deepest conversations while they are on the potty. I think I'll start keeping paper and pencil in the bathroom.

Point and Shoot

Just can't wait to see these pictures. Anna Claire, Mallory, Connor, and Dylan did great though the girls got a little tired near the end. 400+ pictures ~ there has to be a few keepers!

Golf Tournament

In trying to get Halloween pictures out there, I completely forgot to share pics of the golf tournament  which was the Sunday before Halloween{of course, there are no golfing or golfers in the pictures} The girls certainly enjoyed running around on the golf course and rolling golf balls down the hills until it got too cold.

 The girls ran around in circles on the deck, and Mallory showed some of her new moves on the dance floor:

Sunday

Tea party was the name of the game today and it kept Anna Claire and Mallory busy on and off all day

Of course, I joined in the party when I wasn't busy switching out their summer clothes for fall clothes {socks/tights, jammies, and play clothes today; closet next weekend}. Lovely...

Of course, I do not let the girls watch TV while they're eating. I just plop the laptop down on the kitchen table and pull up a Disney parade on YouTube {bad mommy}.

We took the clunky rails off the girls' beds and Walter attached the matching rails the beds came with. You'd think they had gotten brand new beds {so excited}.

Sound asleep...

 Oops. Not quite...

Happy Halloween! {a little late}

My cute little bumble bee and lady bug. These costumes were really too easy to make {The hats ~ not so much. Granny made the hats.} Much cuter than ketchup and mustard, don't you think?

We got an early start {about 6pm}, so it wasn't too crowded at first. The girls did a great job of ringing doorbells and saying "trick~or~treat" and "thank you!" I think they were just amazed that people were giving them so much candy!

Grandmom and Granny walked around with us while Papa stayed back at our house and gave out candy.

It was so hard to get great pictures because the girls pretty much ran up to every house and ran back shreiking about the candy they were given!

How cute are their wings? And don't miss Mallory's stinger. It's kinda hard to see in these shots.

The girls were good for about three streets. As the skies started getting darker and the streets more crowed, both Anna Claire and Mallory were ready to head home. Not before playing a trick on Papa, though. They wanted to ring our own doorbell and say "trick~or~treat!"

We were home by seven and in bed at eight. Now that's my kind of Halloween.

A Bug's Life

Anna Claire and Mallory had a great time trick~or~treating {for real} for the first time. Here's a little taste of their excitement. Pictures coming soon!