More toys

 I ran out of energy yesterday putting toys together so we had some new toys to play with today.  We started with the moon dough which is suppose to be like play dough, but doesn't dry out.  It molds much better than play dough, but when you crush it, it breaks into lots of little pieces and is very messy!  After that, Leeza wanted to play with her train.  We got the track set up and Thomas went around and around.

 No this isn't an alien worm invasion, it is the tunnel from the play tent and tunnel set.

 The girls thought it would be much more fun to drag each other around in it than to just crawl through it.

 It was also pretty fun to just hang out in.

I just had to include this photo. Sasha is such a natural gymnast.  SHe figured out how to do this all by herself.  She was flipping around the handrail on the trampoline like she had been doing it forever.

White Christmas

It started snowing on Christmas Eve.  It snowed most of the day and part of the night.  We probably got 4-5 inches of snow.  It was nice to have a white Christmas and since we were not traveling , the snow didn't bother us.

 It was about 30 degrees out, but we were dressed for it. 

 They had a good time running around the back yard in the snow.

 Leeza just likes to run.

 Sasha tried to get the snow off the swings, but we ended up in a snowball fight instead.

Leeza got pretty good at snowballs and got me with one.  Their pants got pretty wet so we went back in, but they had a good time playing.  The snow didn't pack well enough to make a snowman so we will do that next time.

Christmas morning

Santa visited our house late Christmas Eve.  He snuck into the grils room and put a pillow Dora doll and a Dora comforter on their beds.  He then put a whole bunch of presents under our tree and ate the cookies we put out for him.

 He even left us a message on the new easel

 And left a Buzz Lightyear doll and tool box for Leeza and a Big foot monster for Sasha.  he also left 2 dancing/singing Dora dolls.

 The girls were really good at opening presents this year.  Last year, they were so slow- no problem this year.  Leeza did get all hers opened quickly so she had to go help Sasha.  Sasha was playing already so she didn't care.

 They got leapsters which they like/  Most of the games are a little too old for them, but they should be able to play most of them in the next year.

 Frosty came out to check out what was going on.  She only got one little chew toy so she headed back to her room.

 They also got Dr kits.  This is the fake blood pressure cuff.

 They also got Dora coats and Dora slippers and muppet slippers and some shirts and some moon dough and aqua sand and legos and games a nd 2 new dolls and....

 Sasha tried to combine her new stroller, Dora doll and trampoline all into one game.

 Leeza was happiest just pushing around her new stroller and baby doll

 Sasha tried to play with every toy.

 SHe really likes to just sit on the trampoline.

 Here she is running Leeza train back and forth on the table

Did I mention that Leeza was pretty happy just pushing around her doll.

Christmas Eve

We got a big box of presents from Cousin Kelsey.  Since Santa was going to drop off his presents tomorrow, we decidede to open these on Christmas Eve.

 The box was really big, but we are good at opening things now.

 Leeza got a polar bear pillow pal and Santa got a monkey.  They both ran an put the pillows in their beds.  There isn't much room left in the little toddler beds for kids anymore.  Too many stuffed animals, blankets dolls etc.  Whatever happened to the one animal and one blanket max in bed rule??

 They also got a nice big book and of course, SHOES!

Nothing makes Leeza happier than a new pair of shoes.These are size 10 and they fit. 

Christmas Eve making Santa's cookies

Every good cook deseves a good apron.  Since this will be the girls first time baking cookies we had to get the Head Cookie Tester Sasha and the Head Chef Leeza their own aprons.

 They will be able to wear these for several years as they are a little big, but work really good for keeping the clothes clean.

 First we had to make the cookie dough.  The girls dumped everything in the mixer and even helped to measure out the flour and sugar.  Mama turned the mixer on and off, but the girls loved to stir and scrap the sides of the bowl.

 After chilling th dough, we then moved to rolling it out.  I can't say that they were the most even thickness cookies ever baked, but they came out pretty good. 

 Sasha says she likes this baking stuff.  When do we get to eat the cookies??

 The girls cut out the shapes with the cookie cutters and put them on the tray. We had a few 2 or 3 legged reindeer and a few deformed santas, but overall they did great.  Mama tied to get the candy canes to resemble candy canes, but they were a little rough.

 Then we had to make the frosting.  Lots of powdered sugar was flying in the air.  Lots of frosting was eaten by little girls!

 We made red, green, yellow and dark purple(Leeza blend) frosting.  Lots of sugar sprinkles, red candies, chocolate sprinkles and candy ornaments were used.  We frosted cookies after nap time so of course we had to have a change of clothes!

 Frosting cookies is hard work.  It is also messy work.  Don't even ask about the floor.

 Just don't try to take her sprinkles away fron her.  We had to use them ALL!

 The cookies came out looking pretty good for 2 three year olds frosting them.

Both girls had a lot of fun making cookies.  Then they each picked out a cookie for Santa and put it on a plate with some milk for his visit.  Santa really liked the cookies!

Santa

We tried for a picture of the girls and Santa at the zoo and failed.  They had a Santa come to their daycare and Sasha would have nothing to do with him.  Leeza did hold hands with the Santa who came to her preschool, but would not sit in his lap.  So we ended up back at the mall to see the mall Santa.  There was a short line and when we were finally next, Leeza decided that she had to go to the bathroom.  Off we went to the bathroom only to find it was being cleaned.  I talked the janitor into letting us in as Leeza was now doing the pee pee dance and holding herself.  He said he had kids and let us in.  Sometimes having 2 cute 3 year olds is an advantage as the next restroom was very far away.
 After we went potty, we got back in line- or I should say Leeza and I got in line as Sasha had decided that she was NOT going to see Santa.  When our turn came, Leeza sat on the bench near Santa, but about 2 ft away and Sasha would not go anywhere near him.  SO finally, I just gave in and picked Sasha up and we all sat down next to Santa.  Santa was not smiling.  .  Sasha is NOT happy in the picture and she did not want to be there even sitting on my lap.  Leeza had a sucker so that made her happy adn she didn't care anything about the Santa.  Then the lady screwed up the photo and cut off our feet and added the bottom of someone elses photo to the top!  I think I can photoshop it better, but here is my edited with scissors version! I guess this was just the year for no good Santa photo.

Christmas Party in Grand Ridge

Last weekend, we went up to Grand Ridge to see the Harmon side of the family and have Christmas.  There were lots of kids there and the girls had a great time.  They got to meet a lot of cousins, second cousins, Great Aunts, cousins in law .....,  Leeza was moving the whole time.

 There was lots of food, but you had to slow down to eat so the girls didn't eat much.

 Here is Sasha with her Great Aunt Shirley. 

 The girls got lots of presents too.  They ended up with a whole bag full of new toys and blankets.

At one point, Leeza climbed up onto one of these tall bar stool and grabbed one of the drinks sitting on the bar.  Luckily, I was nearby and got her before she could drink it.  The girls were sound asleep in the car before we went very far.  They slept the whole drive home.  I had hoped they would sleep late the next day, but no luck.

Santa at the Zoo

2 weeks ago, we went to Santa's PJ party at the zoo.  We had a lot of fun there.  We got to make paper gingerbread houses.

 OK, so we really just glued a bunch of stuff to the bag and it looked nothing like a gingerbread house, but it was fun.

 Both girls had fun with scissors.  Leeza uses them at school so she was pretty good, but Sasha cut off Frosty the snowman's head and cut her Christmas tree in half.

 Next was decorating cookies.  Or better known as just eating the frosting.

 After the cookies, we made pinecone bird feeders by putting peanut butter on pinecones and then rolling them in bird seed.  It was a little messy.

 Then we got to see some animals.  We saw a dove, a duck, a bunny, a ferret...

 and a rat snake.Grandma loves the pictures of the girls with snakes.

 Sasha was excited about how big the snake was.

 Then Mr and Mrs Santa finally made their appearance.  They read the kids a couple of stories and then the kids lined up to see Santa.  We went last as the girls were tired by then and not wanting to wait in a line.

So where is Sasha?  She wanted nothing to do with either and would go no where near Santa.  Leeza would not sit with Santa, but did sit with Mrs Claus.  After the picture, I took Sasha up to santa so she could tell him that she wanted a monster for Christmas, but she would not go without me.