Grandma- Day 1 and 2

 Grandma arrived Thursday afternoon.  We stopped to eat dinner and by the time we got home it was almost bedtime.  We put Grandma to work the next day making cookies.

 The girls had a great time.  Leeza is taking the pictures.  The girls have their aprons from last year on.

 Leeza rolled and rolled and rolled the dough.  It was well loved dough by the time the cookies were actually cut out.

 Leeza is good with the camera.  She took lots of pictures.

 Once the cookies were baked, it was time for frosting and decorations.  Lots and lots of decorations. 

 Thye really like to bake and have fun making the cookies pretty.

Frosty slept through most of the activites.

Polar Express

 We got new PJs for our Polar Express ride.  If you know the story, they followed it very closely.  They even had wolves outside the train at one point.  The train museum in Monticello puts this on each year. 

 The evening started with our arrival at the Depot.  We took pictures and had some cookies while we waited.

 Leeza inside the Depot waiting for the train to start.

 They had an area set up for the kids to color and do a few little games.  It was too crowded to really do much.

 We were in the first train car.  We got our tickets June 1st at 10:05.  They were sold out an hour later.  You really have to plan early for this ride.  Our train was number 892 Car #1.

 Waiting for the conductor to let us on the train.

 You must have your gold ticket to ride.  You can't lose it or else you have to ride on top of the train.(You  need to read the Polar Express story if you don't get this)

 Tickets at the ready.  The hobo did come by and try to steal our tickets, but we were too smart for him.  No one lost their ticket to him.

 Once the ride began, the cook came through with hot chocolate at just the right temperature- not too hot or not too cold.

 They had the dancing waiters(or girls) that danced down the aisle with the hot chocolate.

 Then the conductor came by and checked our tickets.  He punched a S in Sasha's and a L in Leeza's and a J in mommy's

 The train ride took us past the wolves and through Monticello until we reached the North Pole.  We made a brief stop to pick up Santa.  He came through the cars and passed out silver bells to every kid.

 Think 30 or 40 kids in an enclosed train car with silver bells and all of them ringing the bells at the same time.  It was a noisey ride back to the station.

The girls had a good time and were really happy to see Santa.  They keep asking if they can go back next year.

Thanksgiving

I didn't take a single picture of the turkey we had.  These last few weeks have been so busy.  WE did have a large 16lb turkey for just the 3 of us.  Mom spent the day shopping on line.  No way was I going nor could I go out to do Black Friday this year.  All the different start times made that impossible, but I found almost every single sale on line.  The few that weren't were not that great anyway.  I did go out Friday around 9am to Walmart and got some clothes for the girls.  It was pretty empty by then of both people and things.

Makeup

 Sasha got a new hat and had to wear it all day.  She is playing with the cat toy she got from Aunt Debbie a year ago.

 They are always up to something.  They may look like little angels, but they can be wild little trouble makers at times.  Then they smile and think they can get away with it all.  Sadly, it usually works!  Mommy just can't resist these faces.

 This is a rare event.  Sleeping at nap time at home.  I remember those wonderful days of napping and mommy getting a break on weekends.  Now, if it does happen, it is for 30 minutes on the sofa.

 When we were at Disney, they got makeup kits from the Bippity Boppity Boutique.  they begged to play with them so I finally gave them to the girls.  Sasha is wearing about 20 coats of lip gloss and blush and eye shadow on her cheeks.

 They love putting on makeup. 

 Leeza tends to spend her time putting makeup on Sahsa.  She does wear some herself, but not the multiple layers that Sasha gets.

 Oh, yes, the many moods of Leeza.  She loves to make faces at the camera now instead of smiling .

 She can be quite the character.  It can take a while to get a good picture of her.

 But finally, she agreed to just smile nicely.

After i took the makeup away, they started using markers on their faces and bodies. I can leave the room for a minute and come back and Sasha's legs and arms are colored red or green or blue.   Leeza like to dress up and carry bags of toys around.  She has a dozen purses, but will use any bag she finds.

Fall

 The leaves stayed on the tress for a long time this year.  One day there was a wind storm that finally took them off the trees and piled them in the corner of the yard.

 That was perfect for two little girls to play in the pile of leaves.

 They had a good time with lots of leaves flying around.

Maybe in a few years, they will be raking leaves for mommy.  Probably not, but mommy can dream!

Happy Birthday Mommy

 We were in Dairy Queen and Leeza saw this cake and just had to have it for mommy's birthday.  Normally, I don't do much anymore, but Leeza insisted.

I used 3 candles- one for each of us.  So I blew out one, leeza did one and Sasha did one.  After all the cake drama of getting one, Leeza declared that she didn;t like cake when I gave her a piece.  I think she just wanted the princess dolls that came on top!

The Many Faces of Donald

Donald Duck

 In Adventure Land

 At Tusker House

 In Epcot at Mexico

And the Original Donald Himself

Some characters seemed to be every where.  We saw lots of Donalds and Mickeys at character meal, in parades, and in meet and greet areas. They have alot of different outfits!