Meet Snowy Reindeer

I gave in to the Elf on the Shelf this year. The day after Thanksgiving, the kids were playing upstairs and I yelled for them. When they came down I told them an elf had just been at the door asking for them. They looked outside and found a wrapped package that had a book and a dvd about the Elf on the Shelf, and our own elf was sitting on the curtain rod. No one knows how he got there. Turns out this little guy is Santa's scout to watch and see if the kids are good or naughty. He watches during the day and flies back to report to the big man at night. In the morning, the kids race to find where he has hidden himself that day.

Well, Snowy Reindeer (the name they came up with) is a bit mischievous. His first morning here, we found him taking a mini marshmallow bath with 2 naked Barbies in the bathroom sink. He was also found sitting on top of the fridge drinking syrup from the bottle with a straw. We even found him sitting on the framed pictures, where he had colored mustaches and ears and beards on all of the pictures of the kids one morning - he is LUCKY that marker wiped off. Today, he has is hiding in our tree with our pixie sitting on his lap. Savannah seems to be on her best behavior and is always aware that the elf is watching. Gage. I think he's getting coal this year. He doesn't care if the elf is watching.

Hot cocoa on a chilly day

Yesterday was a chilly, windy day here. So, when we came in from the bus, I decided everyone needed hot cocoa to warm up. We made it special though, but putting it in mommy's little espresso cups, and having giant pink marshmallows and cookies to dunk in our hot cocoa. mmmmm.....

One little Indian boy...

Remember that song?

one little, two little, three little Indians....

This is our one little Indian boy. At school he is learning (okay, he already learned before Thanksgiving, I am a little late taking this photo off my camera) about Pilgrims & Indians.  They played in teepees, made costumes, and learned about the Mayflower. Savannah also learned that, so she comes home asking me "how many people were on the Mayflower mama?" She proceeds to tell me how many were adults, children, 1 was born, how many died, about the conditions on the ship, how many days the journey met and...over and over...about Squanto. Squanto is her favorite. She loves that he told the Pilgrims to put fish into the ground to feed the corn seeds -she thinks it's awesome. She is my little encyclopedia of knowledge. Smarty pants.

Well, on Gage's last day before Thanksgiving break, they had a feast of Friendship Soup. On the days preceding, each of the kids brought in a can of veggies that the teachers miraculously turned into a vegetable soup...that kids will EAT! Gage said he liked it (shocking because it had VEGETABLES in it!!). Then again, his teachers told him that if he ate it, he would get a skittle. Well played, teachers.

let Christmas begin!

Friday morning, Savannah was asking to put the tree up,m and later that morning, it all started. We put 2 trees up, as well as the nutcrackers, the stockings, garland on the bannister, and our little Swedish guys and girls. Yesterday we made salt dough ornaments and baked them. Today, we painted and glittered them. And the house. We also glittered the house. I'll be sweeping glitter up until July!!

gobble gobble

We have had a flurry of activity this Thanksgiving week. Our friends Nick & Vicky from Greece got in on Monday to spend the week with us. We took them to see schools and homes. In between baking pie (I finally made a delicious pumpkin pie!) and doing some Thanksgiving prep, I took a "break" to cook up some yummy appetizers as we hosted a gathering for 20 or so people from the university on Wednesday. Although Clemson instantly made us feel like we were "part of it" with all of its parties, chili cook-offs, happy hours and such, that has been lacking here in Alabama. So, we've decided to start that culture up ourselves here.

On Thanksgiving, Daddy was nice enough to get his new leaf blower out and round up a big pile of leaves for everyone to jump into. It was a gorgeous 75 degree day, and the kids never bothered to get out of the jammies all day.

 We put our own twist on a traditional meal with orange cranberry sauce made with a raspberry Belgian beer, a southern cornbread pecan and bacon stuffing, roasted beets and parsnips, and a near-dessert quality sweet potato casserole with crunchy brown sugar topping. We introduced our Greek friends to the Thanksgiving traditions of eating until you pop, watching football and movies, and napping. It was fun to host their first Thanksgiving, and they were excited to try lots of new flavors and foods that the don't have in Greece.

the best little barista I know

Gage loves to make coffee. I love coffee. This is a perfect relationship we have.  In the morning he runs to the coffee machine saying "I make you coffee, mama", and some afternoons he insists that he is making me coffee, whether I want it or not. He is - hands down - the best little barista I know :-)

Project "Perfect Christmas Card Photo"

Perusing Pinterest one day, I saw some beautiful shots of kids wrapped up in Christmas lights. Perfect idea for a Christmas card. In theory. In practice, this project had some drawbacks. First, I tried to fix Savannah's hair because she's growing her bangs out and looks like a shaggy dog. She got mad and "feisty" because she didn't like what I was doing. As that was going on, Gage was climbing onto the bathroom counter to brush his teeth. In doing so, he knocked a stool over, which was next to Savannah's stool, which she then fell off of and into the bathroom wall. So, icksnay the Xmas pictures, I sent everyone downstairs to clean up toys and eat dinner. Later, we tried again. We found an acceptable hairstyle for Ms. Pickypants, put Gage back in his handsome shirt, and got everyone to stop swinging the light strands like a double-dutch jump rope. 

I had to tinker with the camera settings because of the low light. As you can see, everyone was very excited to take part in this little project. Oh the happiness, I can't stand it!!

I did finally get them laughing by asking them to make their silliest faces.

 

After that, I ended up getting a few nice shots. Although they are not both looking at me, I think that last one is a keeper....

Handsome shirt

Wait. Who is this? Yes, it's Gage! The superhero t-shirt wearing boy is sporting a "handsome shirt".  This past summer we went to a wedding, and I told Gage that he had to wear a "handsome shirt" (plaid with buttons) to a wedding because super hero shirts were not allowed at weddings. The other day, he decided he wanted to wear his handsome shirt, but I said it was too cold outside. Well, I gave in, but we decided to buy some new handsome shirts with long sleeves for him.  At Target, Gage picked this shirt out, and THEN he saw the moose tie next to it asked if he could have a tie like Daddy. Why not?  He put it on when he got home, wore it to the busstop to pick up Savannah (Mr Tom the bus driver went crazy saying "BOY you look SHARP!!" and Gage was beaming with pride. He stood on the stairs looking in the mirror smiling at himself for quite a while.  And the next morning, he insisted he was wearing his handsome shirt and tie to school. He was quite the ladies man, and humble too. I told him "you look handsome" and he responded "I know".

Dream Job Day

Savannah has said she wants to be a zoologist when she grows up. So, when her school had its "dream job day", so scrounged up a zoologist outfit.  Normally, this pink and purple fashionista would not be caught dead in BEIGE, but this was an exception.  We found some beige cargo pants that Gage has not grown into yet and Mommy's floppy hat. She made a "Savannah - ZOOLOGIST" button out of a Halloween button (resourceful!), and grabbed a lemur to take with her. Since then, she has decided that she wants to be a brain surgeon. She used to want to be a mermaid, we'll see what happens!

Wrapping up our trip

We spent one last morning in Magic Kingdom before hitting the road for the long ride home.  We had breakfast with the princesses at Cinderella's castle, and yet again..it was a highlight of the trip. We met Cinderella downstairs, and Gage got a kiss. In fact, he had a lipstick mark on his cheek and the other princesses kept asking who he had been kissing!!  Little ladies man...

We also met Snow White, who talked with us for a long time. Savannah asked her what her blue birds names are, but SW said she hadn't named them yet. So, they talked about possible names, and Gage told her all about his kitties at home. 

 She also came back over to our table for a wishing ceremony. She showed the kids how to wave their wand/sword over their wishing stars, close their eyes tight, and make a wish. When the ceremony ended, she showed them how their wishes were flying into the sky (twinkling lights in the castle).

And..we also met Ariel (who Gage seemed enamored by again), Sleeping Beauty (who asked Savannah if she was her twin sister, because she had her SB dress on), and finally..Jasmine. Savannah was VERY excited, talked to her about her monkey, and declared that Jasmine is now her favorite.

 and...we finished off the day with a lot of rides on Thunder Mountain (there was no wait to so we rode it over and over), and a visit to Woody & Jesse

Because thing had started to get busy, we took one last ride on Cinderella's roller coaster. Before we left I found some info about secrets of Disney. One of them was that they hide paintbrushes on Tom Sawyer's island adn if you find them you get a surprise (they don't do that anymore). Another was that something fun happens when you ask the Knight of Armor for his autograph (you just look silly because nothing happens), and another was that Cinderella has a favorite horse on the carousel who has a red bridle, red ribbon on its tail, and a crown. We found it!

and finally.....I also read that there is a Sword in the Stone that kids try to pull out of the rock. I read that sometimes the sword comes out.  As the VERY last thing we did for our Disney trip, the kids lined up to try it. Gage....DID IT!! His face was red he was pulling so hard, and he got it. He was so proud. Savannah wasn't so lucky, but maybe next time. He is still talking about it....

Hanging out (Day 5)

We were in FL because Adam had a conference...so he had to do some work while we were there. So, my cousin Patti (who lives nearby) met up with me and the kids to hang out on Friday. We went to Downtown Disney and did some shopping and eating.  The kids LOVED the Lego store, especially this big Hulk...

Then, we went back to the hotel for naps and ended up playing on the playset, which the hotel has located conveniently next to the Cabana Bar!  Mommy sipped a cocktail while we fed the ducks, and the kids played until dark. 

Savannah and I also had fun swinging each other in the hammock. She screamed stop stop stop, but she did not mean it, she was having a blast :-) Hammock = Happy

Animal Kingdom (Day 3)

Okay, maybe we are crazy, but Adam and I like Animal Kingdom more than Magic Kingdom. It is more laid back, has great rides, lots of good food options, short lines, and a jungley feeling that we like.  We started out (as always) with a ride on the African safari, and saw elephants, giraffes, zebra, lions, hippos, ostrich, and lots of other animals right outside our safari car. It's really incredible.  Then we moved to Asia, to go on the Everest roller coaster. Surprise...Savannah is tall enough! So, she rode it and guess what...the car got stuck at the top of the ride. Adam texted me to say they were being rescued.  They had to turn the lights on and have everyone walk down 17 flights of stairs. Savannah thought it was awesome because she got to see where they control the ride, and all the inner workings. She got to go on later and actually finish the ride. She would have gone on it 100 times if we let her.  Gage and I hung to watch Savannah & Daddy come down the big hill with - of course -- their hands in the air.

 We also got to meet some characters, with no lines -- whoo hoo!!!Gage loves Pluto, so he was excited to meet him.

 We also did the Dinoland area, which we had never done before. There's a big dino playset built into a dino skeleton, a dino dig area, lots of slides and fun stuff. We all went down the slides about 100 times.

 And..Savannah got to meet Pocahantas - she was very excited :-)

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party!

On Halloween, they close the park early to regular guests and sell a limited # of tickets to a halloween party, and we went!!  The part was decked out in pumpkins and fall decorations, and they lit all of the buildings up in spooky purple and orange colors. Savannah was Dorothy (complete with ruby slippers, although some dorky guy who took this picture told her that her dog Toto was the wrong color and that he should be black. why thank you for making my daughter sad, you #$*&@(.  Mommy was just the lady in black because my hat kept flying off in the wind so I gave up (in the parking lot!). Daddy was the jester (appropriate) and Gage, or course, was Captain America. 

 A popular new attraction at Magic Kingdom is Merida, from Brave (the new princess movie).  While everyone else was trick or treating in long lines, we just did all the other fun stuff, with no lines!  We rode rides over and over, without even getting off the ride, because there was no one behind us to get on! It was fantastic!!! We met Merida and she chatteed with the kids. Savannah asked if her little brothers were trouble makers and Merida told her stories about them, they talked about the movie, etc. She was adorable...very animated and chatty. The kids loved it :-)

 At 8:00, I was begging for food...a hot dog... anything. Well, the hot dog stand we saw earlier was closed, but we ended up stumbling upon Minnie, Daisy,  Goofy, and Donald -- all with no wait!  So they hugged and high fived and posed with all those guys. And then....they found a giant mickey cookie on the way out.  Dinner? Maybe...

 We planned to trick or treat, but honestly, the lines were too long.  So, we promised to buy candy, and just went from ride to ride, and character to character, and had a blast.  It was a really fun way to spend Halloween :-)  By the end of the night....our littles were pooped out, can you tell?

Epcot (Day 2)

We have never been to Epcot before, and...we probably won't be going back any time soon.  We did a Nemo ride first, which the kids loved, and then sat through an interactive talk with Crush the Turtle that was great. And then....Savannah fell on the escalator.  She had big scrapes on

her ankles and was scared and upset. But...we coaxed her to ride again and again, so she would not be scared from that point on.  By the end of our trip, she was begging me to go on the escalator, so I think that was a good move. We were dumped into a gift shop and then Gage had a meltdown because he wanted a toy.  It went downhill from there. He was tired. Cranky. Crying. All he could think about was a Nemo car that he saw. Savannah was mopey from her boo-boos. Daddy gave them a "you guys had better snap out of it, stop crying and have fun or else I'll go work for the whole week" talk.  We finally recovered and headed to the World Showcase.  I think Adam and I would have loved checking out all the countries, but the  kids were bored. We did find a few fun things...like some cutout totem pole things in Canada

  

We had lunch at the Biergarten in Germany.  Adam saw the buffet and pronounced that Mama had done a good job choosing lunch. The kids were happy with mac & cheese, Savannah loved  the spaetzel with cheese. Gage loved the sausage and pretzel rolls. Savannah thought her gigantic stein of chocolate milk was awesome, and Mommy made the mistake of ordering a large beer. In Germany. It was large. Very large.

 We also went to Norway and found a giant troll and rode a viking ship.

 We ran into Chip & Dale

and...we called the day short.  We took everyone back to the hotel to nap...because (a) they were bored, and (b) we were going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party later that night!! 

We will go back to Epcot when the kiddos are older..much older....