Elf Antics-Week One

Lana, the elf, has been back for almost a week now. The girls have loved having her back and they run down the stairs each morning to see what adventures she had during the night.

Day 1: Lana and friends played a little game of Candy Land.

Day 2: Fishing for a snack.

Day 3: Drawing a self-portrait.

Day 4: After she made a snowflake garland, she decided to just hang around.

Day 5: Lana heard that Emma had Show & Tell at school, so she decided to tag along.

Day 6: Lana read to The Little People Nativity group. What is she reading? Their favorite book, The Christmas Story, of course.

North Pole Breakfast

Our beloved elf, Lana, returned to us this morning from the North Pole. She brought along some treats for the girls and a letter from the big man himself to remind the girls that Lana would be watching over them until Christmas and reporting their behavior back to Santa.

The girls were so excited to wake up and find that the breakfast table had been redecorated by Lana, along with some special surprises all the way from the North Pole.  Lana brought the girls new cups and special breakfast of snowmen, hot cocoa, and snowflake marshmallows.

I can't wait to see the antics that Lana pulls while we sleep. She seems like such a sweet elf, but she sure has a silly streak!

It was a great morning full of memories with our girls. I absolutely love this time of year!

Thanksgiving Teacher Gifts

Did Thanksgiving sneak up on anyone else? I swear that we went trick-or-treating yesterday and then BAM! It's turkey time.

I realized that I needed to get a move on to put together a little gift for Emma's teachers to thank them for the amazing job they do every day. Since she only has school on Monday next week, I needed it to be something that could be done quickly, but still be cute. Cue Pinterest.

I had seen these cute waffle cone cornucopias that I thought would be perfect, but it involved boiling water and steaming cones or baking the cones...no thanks. One pin caught my eye because it involved dipping the end of the cone in water and then putting it in the microwave. I like the microwave. Unfortunately, this did not produce a pliable cone that could be rolled into a cornucopia shape. It made a sticky, goopy waffle cone.

So I thought fast (it happens) and decided to cover the cone with a damp paper towel and then put it in the microwave.

 

 After 20 seconds, the cone was soft enough to mold. If you microwave it too long, it will burn. Keep an eye on it! While it was still in the microwave, I quickly curled the end of the cone around a clean pencil and held it for about a minute. I removed the pencil and viola! I had a cute little cornucopia. 

 

 

I filled it with some goodies, tied a ribbon and a tag to it and they were cute as could be. The prefect little "thanks" for two sweet teachers.

 

 

Jesus Loves Me

My sweet Emma loves to sing. She makes up songs at home, and can memorize a song really quickly. Her Sunday School group has been practicing for an upcoming performance at church and Emma is the star of the show (in my humble opinion!). I'm so impressed with how focused she is and how comfortable she is when she practices in front of people, since she's usually shy around people she doesn't know.

Her sweet voice just makes me so happy!

A Beautiful Afternoon

The weather around here has been gorgeous. Warm, sunny, a slight breeze...it definitely doesn't seem like November 11th! We took the girls to the park to burn off some energy and to enjoy the great weather.

 

Emma is all business when we play and refuses to sit still or look at the camera for pictures. This is the only way I could get a shot of the two girls together!

Halloween 2012

This post is a little late, but better late than never!  Halloween was SO much fun this year, with both girls excited about their costumes and trick-or-treating.

We kicked off Halloween at Boo at the Zoo. It was raining for the first part of our visit, which made things difficult, but the night ended well and the girls had such a wonderful time. Sophia loved the carousel again and really got the hang of saying "trick-or-treat (or her version, anyway!)" to get her candy.

This FACE!

My little dancing queen.

On Sunday, the girls painted their pumpkins. We gave them the paint and let them go to town.

On Halloween night, our friends Matthew, Amber, and Brad came over to trick-or-treat with us. It was so much fun seeing the kids be so grown up and walk up to the doors all on their own. Sophia insisted on walking around the neighborhood and refused to be carried. She did a great job hanging with the "big kids."

 

 

Emma is already talking about her costume for next year. I guess that means she had a great Halloween!
 

Chicago Day 3- Our Last Day!

I was thrilled when I woke up on the last day of our trip because it was sunny and we had a lot left to do.

Our first stop of the day was a walk down to the Navy Pier.  The pier was really cool, and again, it made me think of how much the girls would love it. Someday, we'll go back as a family.

Andy and I walked around, enjoying the view of the city and the lake. We played a game of mini golf and just enjoyed the morning.

After the pier, we headed out to the Sears Tower to check out the views from the Skydeck.  Neither Andy or I love heights, but we promised each other that we'd be brave and step out on the see through ledge. The wait to go to the top was crazy and I just about gave up. We finally hit the top though and braved the ledge to see the views.

Next, we headed to Millennium Park to see "The Bean." There were so many weddings going on and there were brides and wedding parties everywhere!

In the summer, this fountain spits water out at park visitors.

I was so excited to see this building because it was in Adventures in Babysitting.

After the park, we visited The Art Institute of Chicago.  The museum was huge and there was so much to see. We got lost several times, but we were able to see some famous pieces.

For our last dinner, we went to Shaw's Crab House. I loved this restaurant. It felt like we stepped back in time with the waiters wearing white jackets and the art deco styling. Our dinner was delicious and the perfect end to our trip. 

I'm so thankful that Andy and I were able to take this amazing trip together to celebrate a wonderful six years of marriage. I'm looking forward to many more trips together!