Disney on Ice

I'll start this post by being completely honest.  I love Disney on Ice; always have.  Don't really know why, but I do.  There, I've admitted it.  So, with that admission, you can understand why when Ryan and I saw that Disney on Ice was coming to the Gwinnett Arena on March 31st, I thought to myself, "We're going and we're taking the girls.  Nevermind that tax season is beyond hectic, I want to go.  The girls will not always want to go, nor will they always have the belief in Disney magic, so I'm putting work to the side to enjoy this day with my family."  For the record, very smart move on my part.

The arena is about an hour away from our house, and given that you never know how traffic will be, we left in plenty of time; we arrived about an hour early.  This gave us lots of time to walk around, see the sites, buy a few fun things and enjoy time together.  Here we are testing out seats beforehand: three excited girls!

 Each girl really wanted a Tinkerbell spinner; they love these things!

 What trip to Disney on Ice would be complete without snow cones?  Mia picked a Cinderella cup with rainbow snow while Lily wanted a Tinkerbell cup with rainbow snow.  Since we had plenty of time, we ate them outside so the pieces that fall down (and a lot of pieces fall down) wouldn't land all over our seats.

 We were all eyes once the show started.

 We were using our iPhones to take pictures and unfortunately, it had a really hard time with the ice and its glare.  But here are a few pictures that turned out alright.

First up was The Incredibles family.  They (along with a couple dozen skaters) showed everyone in the audience how to warm up and exercise.

 Next up came Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee and Dum and White Rabbit all getting ready for a happy un-birthday party.  Of course, the queen and her card soldiers came in later which is what this picture is of.  They had some really cool choreography of synchronized moves for the cards.

After Alice, Peter Pan, Wendy, John and Michael came out to play.  Of course, you can't have those kids without Tinkerbell who flew above the ice.  The girls loved it!  Also, Captain Hook and Mr. Smead came out; Mia loves them, so she was excited to see them.  They loved seeing the big alligator slither across the ice in pursuit of Captain Hook. 

Next up was The Lion King which the girls know well since we went to see it in the theatre last fall.  They loved seeing all the lions though Mia kept asking for Scar the mean lion.

 The costumes for The Lion King, whether on stage or on ice, are always impressive to me.

Snow White and her dwarf friends came out for a little while.  They cleaned, the witch came and gave Snow White the apple and she slept until her prince came. 

Of course, you can't have Disney without Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy.  They came out for a little while which all the kids loved.

 This is how Mia and I spent most of the second half of the show.  Trust me, I didn't mind one bit!

 The second half showed us Jasmine and Aladdin who flew across the ice on their magic carpet.  The girls were amazed.

 Peter Pan and the Lost Boys came back out and prevailed over Captain Hook.  Woo-who!

Next up was what we were waiting on: Rapunzel.  It was a lot of fun to watch Rapunzel and Flynn Rider skate under the lanterns that were flying high above the ice.

 Last up all the princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Arora, Tiana, Pocohantas, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Mulan and Ariel) came out and skated with their princes.  The girls loved this part.

 Joining them were Prince Mickey and Princess Minnie.

 The show ended with lots of sparklers and confetti while everyone skated away.

Such a fun family outing.  I told several people, the reactions from the girls was exactly what you want when you plan an outing like this.  They were enthralled throughout the show.  The excitement on their faces was priceless, and I will remember those faces forever.  Just perfect.

Catching Up

Wow, it has been a busy month!  Of course, work has been extremely hectic as tax season ended on April 17th this year.  That always takes up more time than we want right now.  Additionally, Ryan was fortunate to go back to Ambler, Alaska.  This Eskimo village has become so special to him and our family.  We love the people there, and we're thrilled that he gets to spend time with them.  This past trip was scheduled for 8 days, but Ryan had the honor of being asked to participate in a funeral for one of the elders that he truly admired; we were fine that added a couple of extra days to the trip.  We were all thrilled though when he arrived safely home last night.  We managed to have some family time even in the busyness, especially around Easter.  I have a couple of extra blogs dedicated to that coming soon.  In the meatime, here are a few miscellaneous pictures taken recently.

The girls with Macey Henderson.  Ryan and the girls went to see Parker play t-ball on a beautiful Saturday; these three always have so much fun together.

 When David and Jan came to visit in March, they went to the zoo with Ryan and the girls while I worked.  The girls always love a zoo trip, and they thoroughaly enjoyed the petting zoo this time.

 The playground at the zoo is always fun too!  Drum away girls!

 Sweet Mia at one of the fountains in Downtown Smyrna.

 One Friday at Lily's school was "history day" and each class was assigned a time period to dress up as.  Lily's class was for the Old Testament time period.  When I asked Lily who she wanted to be, she immediately replied "Mary."  When I explained Mary was in the New Testament, she said "Oh, I thought there was only one testament."  She then said she wanted to be Ruth, so here is a picture of Lily dressed up as Ruth.  As a side note, she was beyond thrilled that Mrs. Worrell came dressed as Naomi because Lily knew the Ruth and Naomi were best friends.

 Of course, little bit wanted part of the dress up action too, so here is Mia as Ruth.

On Monday, Lily asked if I was going to the grocery store.  I explained that I would go Wednesday or Thursday.  She said that was okay, and she had helped by making a list for me.  Here's her list.

Her list was "peanut butter, goldfish, circle crackers (what she and Mia have always called Ritz crackers), green gatoraide, tea...Bama (she wanted to make sure Bama had enough tea) and granola bar.  Funny thing is, we did need all of these things!  When Mia and I went to the store on Thursday morning while Lily was in school, Mia loved getting to cross off everything on Lily's list as we purchased it.  Such helpful girls!

Mia's Craft

This picture of Mia just makes me laugh.  She made this craft last week during her visit to the library with Liz.  She was so excited about it!  This sweet girl lives her life with so much exuberance; she is such a happy little girl!

The Grinch

On the way to church Sunday morning, Mia and Lily started talking about Halloween and what they wanted to dress up as.  Mia said she wants to be The Grinch.  This was our conversation.

M: Will you go tomorrow and get me a grinch costume to wear?
A: I'm sorry Mia but I don't know where to get one.
M: At the store.
A: What store?
M: At the Mommy Goes and Gets Mia a Grinch Costume store.
A: (laughing really hard to myself): That sounds like a great store, but I don't know where it is.
M: (straight-faced serious): It's next to Publix.

Where does she come up with this???

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy birthday to me!  After work today, I had a meeting at church, so our family actually celebrated last night.  When I came home from work, the girls jumped out and yelled "surprise!"  Not only was it a clean house (thank you Liz!), but they had decorated the windows, fireplace mantel and kitchen table with birthday items; this was definitely a fun surprise!  I also got to open a few presents which was fun.  The girls had each made me a card and a craft project.  It may sound silly, but I always love the little projects they make for me.  Liz had also taken them shopping where they picked a present.  Mia picked up a bag of Jelly Beans (and then immediately asked for some after I unwrapped them!), and Lily picked out a package of cute stamps that you put on toast.  We love toast, so that will be fun; one says "I love you" and one has "smile!"  Liz also gave me a gift certificate for a pedicure which will be used within a day or two of the end of tax season, yea!  Ryan gave me a 3D video of a Kenny Chesney concert; he is one of my favorite performers, so I cannot wait to see this.  Also, we are going to a silent auction to benefit Lily's school next week, and I have my eye on a couple of items, so part of my present will be to bid on those.  I'll be honest, it's always fun to get birthday presents!

After this celebration, we went to Figo for dinner.  This is one of our favorite restaurants, and once again, it was wonderful.  Love that place.  After dinner, we returned home to have strawberry petit fors for dessert. Delicious is an understatement.  What a fun celebration!

Today, Mom brought our favorite Chinese take-out up to the office for lunch which was a fun treat.  She and Dad also gave me a beautiful new purse as a gift; thank you!  We enjoyed petit fors from McEntyres for dessert that the office staff bought.  Are you seeing a pattern in what I like to eat?  I can't hide it!  After work, I headed up to church for my meeting, and I was surprised by cupcakes and singing there.  When I got home this evening, I was greeted by a beautiful bouquet of tulips from David and Jan; they are already beautiful as bulbs, but I can't wait to see how gorgeous they will be when they open up in another day or two.  The day was also fun as I received many phone calls, text messages and Facebook notes from family and friends.  Thanks to everyone who reached and said happy birthday!  This was a wonderful birthday.  I look forward to what the next year holds in store for me!

Weekend Visitors

We were so excited to have David and Jan (aka, Grandpops and Grandma Jan) come down from Chicago to visit last weekend!  We always have a great time with them, so we couldn't wait for them to arrive.  The girls were besides themselves when we told them they were coming; they couldn't wait!  They treated the four of us to dinner at Veni, Vidi, Vici on Friday night which was both a great time to catch up and delicious.  This was also Mia's first time to go to an "adult" place for dinner; she did very well, especially considering we were there almost two hours enjoying our time together.  This is where Ryan and Lily go for Daddy Daughter's dates, so she handled it very well.  What a great evening!  Here's a picture of the girls outside by the big sign.

On Saturday, David and Jan met Ryan and the girls at the zoo while I went to work.  It was a beautiful day, and they all enjoyed the time outside.  I think the girls enjoyed showing off all the animals, and I know they enjoyed playing on the playground for a little while.  As they were walking out, Grandpops and Grandma Jan kindly offered to stop in the gift shop and purchase a little something to remember the day.  The girls were thrilled!  They each picked out a little wind-up toy (Mia choose a ladybug while Lily went with a butterfly), and they have had all sorts of fun with those.  They also picked out a stuffed animal.  Mia picked a beautiful rainbow tree frog, and Lily picked an otter.  She has fallen for the otter.  "Olly" is with her everywhere now.  She sleeps with her, brings her in the car, plays with her and generally loves on her.  She has already said that next week when she is servant of the day, she is going to bring Olly because the share topic is bringing whatever they want to talk about.  She can't wait.  Thank you both for these gifts that the girls are loving!

After the zoo, it was time for lunch and then head back for a nap; I'm pretty sure Grandpops squeezed one in at the hotel too!  Saturday evening, David and Jan, my mom and dad and the Henderson family came over to have dinner and visit.  It was a great time.  The four grandparents loved watching the kids eat and play together, the four kids were happy to be with their friends and the four parents were glad the kids had playmates so we could enjoy some adult conversation!  We went super simple with chili and cornbread (plus an appetizer from the Hendersons and a dessert from Grandma Jan - thank you!), but it was yummy.  Best of all though was the time spent being with one another.  This was a fantastic evening.

After dinner, it was bedtime, so the Hendersons headed on home, and we snapped this picture of the girls with David and Jan and my parents.  What a great way to end a fun weekend with special visitors!  We certainly hope they will come back again very soon!

All Sorts of Miscellaneous Pictures

With work being incredibly busy right now, I only have a few miscellaneous pictures from the last month.  Here you go!

Meme is staying over at Mom and Dad's house for a little bit while she recovers from an illness.  We went to see her one afternoon which everyone enjoyed.  The girls adore Meme, and she always loves to visit with them too.  The girls love to show off their latest songs and knowledge for her!

Granny sent down from Tennessee a huge package of dress-up jewelry for the girls.  They have had a blast playing with it!  Thank you Granny!

 Lily's sweet friend Jilly made this card for her one day.  I thought it was precious and wanted to include it here.  Lily has made some great friends at school.  They are kind to one another, and they are always making little cards for one another.  Such sweeties!

 Lily is learning to read and is doing a great job.  Mrs. Worrell gave her this award though because of how well she behaves during their reading groups.  I love seeing this new skill!

 Snow White after having a strawberry popcycle for dessert.

 After about 11 years, we broke down and bought a new tv for the living room; it's awesome and we love it.  It has a 3-D feature which is just fun.  We had the Hendersons over for dinner one night, and this is a picture of all the kids trying out the glasses while watching "How To Train Your Dragon" which is one of Mia's favorite movies.  Fun times!

Happy (very belated) Valentine's Day

Wow!  So apparently, I haven't uploaded the (few) pictures from our camera in awhile!  Whoops.  Anyway, this is to remind us about our fun Valentine's Day dinner.  The girls were greeted on Valentine's morning to a couple of little surprises at the table: new books, new Belle DVD, new water bottles and cards.  They were thrilled to start the day with gifts!

The girls love Valentine's Day, so Ryan and I left work early so we could all enjoy a fun evening together.  We made a little dinner and ate it picnic-style in our living room while watching their new Belle movie.  For dinner, we made heart-shaped quesadillas, heart-shaped cheesy bites, strawberries and jello cut-out to spell love.  The girls thought this was great!  It's amazing what a little bit of creativity can do for them.

We also gave them tickets to the circus as a present, but we didn't tell them until later in the week.  This was a wonderful little celebration!

God's Creation

Each day, Lily's class has a "servant of the day" whose role is to help serve the class by passing out supplies, leading lines, etc.  When they are assigned to be servant of the day, the child also brings in an item from home for show and tell.  Mrs. Worrell changes the "share topics" that the items relate to each time they get through all ten kids.  In the past, these topics have been your favorite toy, favorite picture, etc.  It's a big surprise for the kids each day on what the show and tell topic will be, so they love it!  Currently, the share topic is "God's Creation," and the kids bring things from home that show something God created.  Last week, Lily told me kids brought things like rocks, leaves, berries, etc.  Lily was servant of the day on Monday, so on Sunday night when I asked what she wanted to take for her share topic, her face lit up and she said "Me!"  On the way to school Monday morning, she was so excited and telling me how she was going to pretend to pull something out of her book bag, and when the kids asked "what did you bring?," she will turn around and say "it's me!"  She was so excited about this, and she told me that afternoon it went great.

I couldn't agree with her on a better example of God's amazing creations than this precious 5 year old!

The Greatest Show on Earth

It's tax season right now which means Ryan and I work more than usual, and we don't get to do as much fun stuff with the kids.  However, a few weeks ago we saw that Ringling Brothers was coming to town.  We knew we needed to take last Saturday off and take the girls - it was definitely the right decision.  We took Lily and our nice Molly last year, and they both loved it; we knew Lily would be thrilled to go again, and we were right.  Mia has never been to the circus before, so she didn't really know what to expect.  For the first 45 minutes, she sat on the edge of her seat, eating popcorn with her eyes wide open.  She also got up and danced a few times with the music.  For about the last 5 to 10 minutes of the first half and the entire second half though, she was pretty restless.  She was exhausted, and the whole thing was just overwhelming; the sights, sounds and smells were too much.  She sat in my lap most of the second half.  When we left, she said she did not like it, but on Sunday (and each day since then) she has said she liked it a lot and wants to go back.  She and Lily have been playing circus, calling it "The Greatest Show On Earth," each day too.  Overall, I think this was a success.



Three girls waiting on the show to start.

 Most of the acts walking out at the beginning.  Both girls loved the elephants!

 Mia on the edge of her seat; she was captivated for quite awhile.

 Both girls loved the tightrope walkers, especially when they got on this bike.

 This picture shows why the circus might be a little overwhelming to a 3 year old.

 The elephant act; I loved them!

Lily said her favorite part of the circus was when they did "Fire It Up," a song just before they shot a human cannonball across the arena.  Mia said her favorite part was the acrobats; I think she means tightrope walkers.  I'm glad we were able to share this experience with the girls.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Last Friday night was the Daddy Daughter Valentine's Dance at our church.  Lily couldn't wait for her special night out with Ryan!  The week before, she, my mom and I had gone out shopping to find a great dress.  She loved this beautiful white one with pretty pink flowers around the waist.  Spoiler alert: I bought a 3T one as well so you'll see this dress again at Easter.



She was so excited!

 I love this sweet girl to pieces! 

 What a great pair.

 Lily loved the little pink corsage Ryan had for her.  It was a tad too big so it kept sliding around her wrist.  She didn't mind though.

 Love these two!

Ryan said they had a great time at the dance even though Lily didn't really want to dance a whole lot.  Lots of our friends have kids the same age, so they both had lots of people to talk with.  They had a delicious dinner, danced a little, talked a lot and played some games.  One of the games was something of a treasure hunt around the children's area of the church.  Part of what they handed out were pieces of paper meant to be "conversation starters" for the parents and kids.  Lily has loved pulling one out each day and discussing it with us.  For instance, one of the questions was "which of your friends do you think I like the most and why?" 

After the dance, Ryan and Lily went to Toys R Us to pick up a little treat.  After examining the entire store, she was very excited to settle on a Tinkerbell umbrella.  Her princess umbrella broke awhile ago, and apparently, she has been in need of a new one.  Anyway, it is very cute, and it's been fun for her and Mia to fight over play with.

This dance is such a fun Valentine's tradition, and it is part of the reason why Valentine's Day is Lily's favorite holiday (yes, even more so than Christmas she claims; for the record, she informed me this morning that Groundhogs Day is her third favorite holiday).  The other reason is because everything associated with Valentine's Day is pink, and there are lots of hearts and flowers; her words, not mine.  Such a girly-girl!  I can't wait for next year's dance when Ryan gets to take both girls!

Funny Mia

When Mia saw Ryan put on a tie last Friday, she wanted to try one on too! 

Mia and I were supposed to have a Mommy-Daughter date last Friday while Ryan and Lily went out but the power steering going out on my car on the way home from work that evening sidetracked those plans.  Luckily, at three she is pretty easy to impress.  Watching the tow truck come to our house and pick up my Jeep was very exciting.  She talked about it for awhile afterwards.  Then we met my brother and two of his kids at Steak and Shake which always makes her happy.  Not exactly how the evening was planned, but my sweet little monkey was happy as she could be.  Love this little girl!

Mia insisted on holding the new Tinkerbell umbrella while she and Lily played on their LeapPads.  I guess you never know when the rain is going to come...

Tea Party Girls

Lily and her best friend Jill have been planning a play date for awhile now.  Almost everyday after school Lily would ask me when she and Jill could play together.  Finally, Jill's mom and I were able to work out a time.  Beverly picked up both girls from school last Thursday.  They went to Jill's home for lunch and playtime.  Another little girl from their class, Grey, lives very close by so she came up after lunch, and the three of them had an adorable little tea party on the back porch.  Beverly sent these pictures to me.  Lily is on the far left, Jill is in the middle and Grey is on the right.  How cute are they?

Ryan and Mia's Date

Saturday night was Chick-fil-a's Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Date.  Mia was soooo excited about her date with Daddy!  She loved that she got to wear a "fancy" dress.  I helped her get dressed, she spun around and said "Oh, I am fancy!"  Such a precious little one.

On our back deck before heading out.

Look at her smile!  She was beaming!

A kiss for Daddy.

Meeting the cow during dinner.

After dinner, Ryan treated Mia to Haagan-Daaz ice cream; she loves strawberry ice cream.

They also made a little stop at Toys R Us where Mia fell in love with this little golf set.  She and Lily have been having a lot of fun with it today.

I think Ryan and Mia had a great time on their date.  While they were out, Lily, Mom and I went to dinner and shopping.  We found the girls beautiful matching Easter dresses; Lily's will double as her Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance dress next weekend.  She is really looking forward to her date too!  I am so thankful that Ryan loves spending time with the girls and showing them how they should expect to be treated some day down the road.  I know what it's like to have a great relationship with my dad, and I am very thankful that my girls will have that with Ryan too.