Holiday Music

The other night Ella put on her doctor's hat (as she calls it) and reindeer headband, and sang 'Rudolph' for me. I thought it was so cute and funny that I grabbed the camera and asked her to sing it again. She had no interest in that idea until I bribed her with a treat.

Ella's version . . . .

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I feel bad, I'm the one who messed up the ending, but I love how she made the song about herself : )

Zoe had on her skeleton costume and told me she wanted a turn too. I thought her version was an absolute a riot, but again, I also gave her the wrong words for the ending. Oh well : )

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Gingerbread Houses

The girls made Gingerbread Houses at preschool last Thursday.

I always did this activity with my Kindergarten classes (using milk cartons, graham crackers, frosting, candy AND 6th Grade Helpers!!), so I was curious how it would go with three-year olds.

It was such a BLAST!!!

I think Ella and Zoe would agree : )

A house made of candy -- how awesome is that?!

: )

Stars of the Week

Way back at the beginning of October Zoe was chosen to be the first Star of the Week for her preschool class. It was very exciting : ) She was given a blank poster to fill in, with information and pictures all about HER! We worked on her poster for little bits of time every day for almost a week to get it just right. She chose what photos she wanted to use and how she wanted to decorate her poster. Tom and I were impressed with her small motor skills and ideas and so proud of her hard work.

The day she shared it in class I had an appointment that morning, so I wasn't able to watch her in action. Because she was the first kid to be the star, and because Zoe can be a little quieter until she gets comfortable in a situation, Tom and I were curious if this would be a challenge for her (the sharing part) or a real positive experience.

It turned into a Super Positive -- both Ms. Lisa and Ms. Barb told Tom and me how great Zoe did sharing her story, that she actually read it all to them on her own and spoke in a loud enough voice so all of her friends could hear.

That week Zoe was the line-leader and had her poster on display in the hallway. She did an awesome job, and again, we are so proud of the little girl she is becoming.

Ella was supposed to be the Star the first week in November, but that's when she and Zoe got sick and missed almost two weeks of school. Ms. Lisa was kind enough to switch weeks for Ella, so she had her turn last week.

Ella also worked really hard on her poster. She was so thoughtful on what colors to use and how she wanted to decorate it -- and then she really took her time to do her best work. She also chose the photos she wanted to use and was VERY excited to be able to share her final product.

I was able to sit in class that morning and videotape when she shared with her classmates. It was such fun to see how comfortable she was in front of the whole class and how happy she was to share her story. One of the best parts was when she was walking around the circle with her poster, so all the kids could see -- and when she got to Zoe she just lit up, so happy to show her sister : ) And Zoe was just as thrilled, even though she had seen the poster and was a member of our 'practice audience' at home, many many times : )

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Now the posters are both back at home,

and being shown to any visitors that we have.

They're pretty special keepsakes and I think I'm even going to laminate them.

Fred Charles and St. Nicholas

Last year I heard about 'The Elf on the Shelf', but didn't buy the book set because 1) I thought the girls might be a little too young, and 2) I didn't want to spend an extra $30. But this year I thought the girls were hopefully at the right age and went ahead with the splurge : )

The first night we read the book and introduced the elf, Ella and Zoe were pretty wide-eyed and interested. They listened very carefully to the story, had quite a few good questions and decided to name their elf 'Fred Charles'. Then they got silly and kept saying 'poop on the shelf Fred Charles', but sobered up a bit when Tom and I reminded them that Fred Charles would be reporting to Santa each night and we were wondering what Santa would think about those comments : )

It has become such a fun part of our daily routine and I can see this elf business being a family tradition for as long as we can pull it off. Fred Charles has helped calm things down at our house -- when the girls are getting a little extra rambunctious, a reminder of Fred Charles and/or Santa usually takes care of any unpleasantries. The girls also really get a kick out of seeing where Fred Charles is hiding each morning, and his hiding spots have gotten even more clever and silly since Tom started taking over the hiding part.

I was more reserved in my hiding spot choices.

But Tom has found quite a few spots

that make all of us laugh and giggle . . .

We also celebrated St. Nicholas' Day

(a day late, but the girls had no idea).

We wrote St. Nick a letter and left carrots out for his white horse.

Neither Ella or Zoe are real 'easy to wake up type of kids' but they both flew out of bed (still half-asleep) to see if St. Nick indeed did make a stop at our house the night before.

He did, to their delight.

Princess stickers, candy canes and mini-butterfinger candy bars were among the treasures found in their shoes. I had to laugh -- Ella quite dramatically said 'This is peeeeeerfect!! It's just what I always wanted!', while Zoe went straight to work putting her new stickers on a piece of white paper with glitters.

Fun times!!

Christmas Decorations

Most of the gifts are purchased (though not wrapped), half of our Christmas cards are in the mail, the lights are lit and our house is full of santas, stockings, angels, stars, snowmen

and the smell of evergreen.

Getting ready for the season has been extra fun this year, listening to the girls' comments and seeing it all through their 3 1/2 year old eyes. And knowing that I can hold Santa over their heads has been great for increasing positive behaviors and decreasing negatives.

Loving that!!

My friend Annie, at Santiago Twin Girls is hosting a Christmas Decorations Tour and I thought it'd be fun to join in.

So first off, The Tree.

The night we decorated it I got a phone call right after we unpacked the ornaments. I was in the kitchen for maybe 5 minutes, and when I came back Ella and Zoe had put most of the ornaments on the bottom 6 inches of the tree, by themselves. It really was so sweet and funny : ) I was tempted to leave it be but I knew it would bug me too much, so I told the girls we had more lights to hang and then we'd put the decorations on together. They were fine with that, and have since rearranged the ornaments many times.

Some of my Favorite Ornaments . . .

~ Zoe and Ella's Angels ~

~ Ella's 'Baby A' Ornament ~

~ Zoe's 'Baby B' Ornament ~

Some of my Favorite Decorations . . .

~ Our Christmas Stockings ~

~ Outdoor Decorations ~

And now that I have my photos taken of the outside stuff

it has finally started to snow.

It really is beginning to look like Christmas!!

FUN TIMES = The Children's Museum

Not much tops spending a morning at the Children's Museum;

watching leaves twirl around in a wind tunnel . . . .

hanging out in a treehouse . . . .

exploring the job of a construction worker . . . .

driving the city bus all over downtown St. Paul . . .

delivering mail . . .

or taking a little time out to make some music . . .

. . . and watch yourself on tv.

Learning about what's inside of your body ranks right up there too . . .

. . . and showing off your 'fixed' kidneys was a highlight for Ella (even though one is upside-down)!!

But really, being able to paint your OWN face . . .

that REALLY tops the list!!!

Seriously.

We think even Ron would agree -- it was a morning well spent.

Cinderella

This past Sunday night Ella and Zoe went to their first play (Cinderella) at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis -- it was a gift from my parents and was truly a magical night.

Ella woke from her nap a bit grumpy and told us she was scared and didn't want to see the step-sisters, but once the play started she was absolutely entranced and didn't want it to end.

I don't think Zoe took her eyes off the stage

during the whole performance.

Both girls thought it was THE BEST when one of the step-sisters asked me if I liked her hair, during the play. They also thought it was funny and silly that the step-sisters were actually played by men dressed up as women : ) It was hilarious.

The play was so well done and so entertaining.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad!!

Before the play started (no photos were allowed during the performance).

Ella looking at the camera . . . .

. . . and Zoe looking at the camera!

Go VIKES!!

Ever since Ella was a newborn she has loved wearing hats.

The ONLY hat Ella does not like to wear

is her purple Vikings Helga hat.

She actually gets sad when we ask her to put it on.

We're just hoping she's not secretly a Packer's fan.

Two Years Ago

I just came across these pics

from when Ella and Zoe were 1 1/2 years old.

*Little Miss Ella*

*Little Miss Zoe*

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be Thankful For . . .

Fantastic Family, Fun Friends and two Gorgeous Girls that keep Smiles on our Faces and Joy in our Hearts -- even when it's a challenging day.