Let the Halloween Festivities Begin!!!

Halloween has been easy and cheap this year. I gave each of the girls a $5 budget so they got creative with our huge dress-up trunk.  

Eden decided to be Merida, which was easy since she already has the perfect hair.  She bought a bow and arrow and decided to use an old torn Brave dress, which she declared was perfect because Brave rips her dress in the movie.  Score!  

Milan decided to use this fun purple dress along with a new hat and voila....a wizard!

Cora has decided to be a kitty cat, maybe, we can never be sure with that little lady.  Unfortunately, she passed out at 5 and missed the carnival (and our impromptu photo shoot.)  I was on the fence about letting her continue sleeping, but she was exhausted and made it all night.  The girls didn't seem too disappointed that Cora couldn't make it, since they got to split her tickets.  We spent a couple of hours playing games and visiting with friends so it was a great night!  

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Dave is on fall break (WOOT WOOT!) so of course we are tackling a house project and enjoying family time!  The house project is the upstairs bathroom so Dave is changing out the subfloor so that I can redo everything else.  More importantly, we have been enjoying family time together!!  Today, we played hooky from school and enjoyed Vala's for 6 hours!!!  We played, ate, laughed, skipped from place to place, and took little shade breaks along the way.  The girls pushed on even when their little legs were exhausted then passed out on the way home.  We got home, took early showers, and played in our jammies for the rest of the evening.  Perfect day!  

Apple Pick'n!

Today was a great day!  My girls were very tolerant while I spent the last couple of weeks on a bathroom renovation so I decided today would be a fun Saturday and it was :).  First, we drove to Iowa with our picnic lunch, enjoyed beautiful weather, picked apples, snapped some pictures, played at the park, and devoured apple cider donuts.  

After our adventure, I surprised the girls with the new Barbie movie from Redbox then we made apple crisp.  Milan wanted to try peeling apples so I said "sure,"  I think she was over it by the 4th apple, but she stuck it out and was super helpful.  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside with Lucy, roasting hot dogs at our fire pit, and watching the girls put on hilarious shows on the trampoline.  "Act like a crazy, spooky, princess."  What a fun day!    

Tooth Fairy

Eden's bottom tooth was a little wiggly and we were all pretty excited.  However, Eden is super squeamish about turning her earrings, so I figured it would be a while.  Today, they were downstairs watching the new Barbie movie, when I heard "gasp, I've got to tell mom," then little steps up the stairs.  I had no idea what the commotion was about, but was so thrilled (and relieved) to see Eden with her tooth and a bloody mouth.  She pulled it out all by herself!!!  First one and she's pumped! Yay Edenbug!!! 

Cora is 3

Cora has been 3 for a while now, but she has recently started showing us her strong-willed defiant 3 year old personality!  

These are some of the wardrobe guidelines:

- Shorts have to be tight and short (short like underwear).  If they are too long, they will be held up all day.

- The cute ruffly shirts are out because you can see the "tape" that holds them together

- Jeans are completely out of the question

-Some skirts are loved, but other skirts and dresses are only tolerated occassionally

-There is a cute white shirt that would match most everything, but has never been worn, I'm not sure why.

- Leggings are almost always be pushed up into capris

-Hair is always worn in a baby Elsa braid.  Sometimes, there is a request for a ponytail or piggies, but that immediately feels "too loose" and gets yanked out.

-Favorite outfits are nightgowns and "baby swishsuit".  They are sometimes worn under real clothes when leaving the house.  

After we get dressed, which can be a little trying, I love spending the morning with this little nut.  Sometimes we go to Mudpies, the ECC, bike rides (when she hates sitting next to a baby boy while I ride with my friend), and play dates.  Other times, we hang out at home and watch shows, play games, eat snacks, and Cora can destroy the house surprisingly fast!  Cora has preschool Monday-Thursday afternoons.  The first day was a total success, but she has been hesitant ever since.  She takes a blankie in her backpack and most days she asks me to come in with her for a couple minutes. Days where we have busy mornings are more difficult, but she is always completely fine once I leave. She is always super excited to show me her sticker and give me a big hug when I pick her up.

What else has Cora been up to?  She likes to sneak into Milan's room and play with her special stuff.  She knows it's wrong because she shuts the door and does it very quietly.  If I tell her something she doesn't want to hear, then she pretends like she can't hear me.  If I tell her no, she will sometimes go ahead and do it right in front of me anyways.  She has super cute dance moves, loves to sing to "Shake it off!," has a specific chair and spot on the couch, loves Elsa, already loves her baby sister, talks about Halloween, Christmas, and her next birthday constantly.  She has quite the personality and we love her to pieces.

Activity Days Temple Pictures

The activity days leader, who is super nice and amazing, asked me to take some pictures of the girls at the temple so of course I said yes.  I packed up the girlies (after Eden's gymnastics class) and took a ton of pictures while my girls were bouncing off the wall.  The group shots with Cora are extra crazy so we took some with and without her awesome poses.  These are some of my favorite shots with my special activity day girl.