70 months

C has been really good on Mondays when J is in her drawing class and has not complained once that she doesn't get to go. She was super excited that got to go to the nighttime art class with J one Tuesday night to paint. She settled right in and didn't hesitate when we left them to go and have a glass of wine! When we got there to pick them up she was excited to show us the Christmas gnome she had painted, she was extremely excited that it had glitter! The girls got to meet daddy's cousin and his family that was visiting from Brasil (their second and third cousins), they were boys so they really weren't into each other too much, but we did manage to get a picture of them for proof that they met! She modeled a few dresses for the Spring line that will be coming out, we had to time the shoot around the little bit of cooler temps that we had, she loved both of these dresses and had fun twirling in them!

School was busy and flew by this month. The PTO (my mom crew and I) put on our first Winter Event and it was a success, our principal even dresses up as Buddy the Elf! Daddy brought the girls and they got to meet Santa, do some arts and crafts, get their faces painted and hang out with their friends that were there. C left early to go to her friends party with daddy but they came back at the end of the event just in time to help with cleanup! Their school does an angel tree for some of the students who are in need, this year we chose an eight year old girl and took the girls shopping to pick out items from her list. They had a fun time running around Target and Claire's picking things they thought she would like, of course she needed a pair of boots! C had a better month in school, she had no trips to the clinic other than to escort other kids from her class there, maybe she really needed that hookey day! Her teacher has instituted "lunch bunch" on Fridays for those who got to purple on the color chart for the week, needless to say some is very motivated by that and was very upset the one week she didn't get it! Her reading is off the charts for her age, I can't wait to see where she is level wise when they do the midyear assessments. She is also loving math and doing well with her addition and subtraction, time to get those flash cards going at the dinner table.

We took a quick trip to Disney two weeks before Christmas to visit the big guy and Mrs. Claus, seeing them at Epcot has been our tradition that last couple of years. With all of the traveling daddy has been doing we were able to score a room at the Swan hotel, the girls were excited and it allowed us to ride the boat and walk to the parks. We ventured to Epcot Saturday morning after driving over and rode our three FastPasses, we all love Soarin so it is a must each trip! We went and had some lunch off property and then headed to check into the hotel, the girls were upset we didn't get a suite and just a regular room! I was able to score FastPasses for Tower of Terror and some how we convinced them to ride it so we took the boat over to the Studios. The had no idea what to expect, it was dark, the elevator car was moving and they were already freaking out, I was internally laughing saying to myself "just wait!". Then the elevator started to go up and boom, the ride started and so did the loud screaming! C was next to daddy scared out of her mind and said no way would she go on that again, she hated the ride! We've said they need to try some of the bigger rides, maybe this one was pushing it! After all the trauma we took the nice leisurely boat ride back to the hotel, changed them into their Santa outfits and then walked over to Epcot for the evening. We waited in line for what seemed like an eternity to see Santa, the park had never been this busy to see Santa, I guess having one less weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year is why. After waiting over an hour (we haven't waited for a ride that long with them) it was finally their turn to tell them their wishes, they laughed and talked about wanting unicorns and mermaids, I was happy when Santa said he can not bring mythical live creatures to kids. Seeing their eyes light up when talking to Santa and Mrs. Claus was worth the hour wait, we believe! We had pizza for dinner in Italy and then tried to go and see Anna and Elsa in their new outfits, something must have been going on as we didn't move in 10 minutes and decided to try in the morning. We rode Soarin again and then watched the new nighttime show from the back entrance area before we headed back to the hotel, it was a fun day minus the tower!

Sunday we headed to Epcot at park opening and were one of the first ones to see Anna and Elsa. The girls were excited to see them and talked their ears off. Of course when we left they both said that they needed the new outfits, maybe they should have asked Santa for the the night before! We found them some GIANT donuts for breakfast and then headed towards the Skyliner to take us to the Studios. We stumbled across Mickey, Minnie and Goofy at the back entrance and of course had to stop and take pictures with them. Very rarely do you see these characters out and about in the park like old times, I had to explain to the girls that when I was little this is how you saw the characters and not in a specific area with props! After we saw everyone we hopped on the Skyliner, at first I think the girls were a little apprehensive about it but we all enjoyed the ride and seeing things from above the trees. C was still figuring out whether or not she liked it once we got off, she wasn't sure about swinging in the sky! When we got to the Studios the first thing both girls said was "we are not going on Tower of Terror!". We laughed and asked then if they wanted to ride Aerosmith instead, J said maybe next time she would! C wanted to see the Disney Junior show so we sat through that, we challenged each other on Toy Story Mania, daddy always wins, mommy can't seem to beat him on this one! And then we went and saw the Frozen musical, we all signed our hearts out and at the end of the show there was a surprise, they had about a 10 minute extension singing holiday songs, it was a nice treat to the normal show and really got you in the holiday spirit. Afterwards we had some lunch and then rode Toy Story once more before we headed home, mommy still didn't beat daddy! Besides the traffic from an accident we got going home we had a great weekend, it was just what we needed!

Before we knew it school was over for Winter Break, we were baking cookies, making rice pudding and it was Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas Eve day home and I think the girls hung out in their jammies until after lunch. We went over to G&G's for dinner and presents, it was all the girls asked about all day, when they would get to open some. They got their gifts from us and from G&G and were happy campers. I went with the "something for their bedroom" theme this year, C got new big girl vanity and some accessories, her little plastic one was just not cutting it anymore, she could barely sit at it! She was so happy to give me the gift she picked out for me, a new wallet that was my favorite color blue and had two mermaids on it (one for her and one for J). You could tell by her face how proud she was of the gift she chose for me and wanted to make sure everything would fit (and even if it didn't I would make it as there was no way I was returning it), I had been looking for a wallet for over two years, I should have just let her pick one out from the start because she picked the perfect one! Then the doorbell rang and they went screaming to the door, the tradition we have started for the big gifts! They opened the door and two bags were there waiting for them, they were so excited and couldn't wait to tear into them, daddy had to help get the bows and he couldn't take them off fast enough! When they saw the box and what it was they were ecstatic! They have been wanting the big AG dolls and their wish came true thanks to G&G and Uncle G and Auntie V for accessorizing them. They opened the clothes and accessories first and were confused and thought Auntie V bought the wrong ones for their smaller dolls! Our dance off with their Georgia cousins continued, we didn't get through too many rounds as they were too buys opening gifts and playing with their dolls!  We had a yummy dinner, there was nothing left and no one had room for dessert! We had a nice night and they were asleep pretty fast when their heads it the pillow, they didn't even hear Santa come in!

Christmas morning we were awakened by the pitter pattering of feet into our room telling us that something crazy had happened. After they told us and we asked them how they got out they said "we just went under"! Oh that Santa didn't put it far enough down to keep them in! They did want to bust through the paper and did that before they tore open their gifts! C was most excited for her new Elsa dress and her mannequin head, all she had been asking for (or should I say whining and screaming for) the last month, a doll to practice her hair styles on! She also loved her cowgirls boots, which she wore all day and did not take off, and her new watch/activity tracker, once we got it working she started stepping away! We stayed in our jammies until almost 2pm eating, cooking, figuring out toys (that was daddy's job), playing with the toys and games, and talking/opening more present with family via Facetime. Our house look like it exploded and these kids got way more than they needed! G&G came over in the afternoon to hang out and have dinner. We all got into playing with their flying owls and teaching them how to fly, they crashed more than they flew, they need more practice! It was another nice day, next year I'm going to get us all matching jammies so we can stay in them ALL day!

The week after Christmas we spent quite a bit of time with our friends. We went to Mote and C couldn't wait to show them the guitar fish that she fell in love with last time we were there. It wasn't as friendly but she got to pet it a few times. They enjoyed watching the otters and seeing them be fed, playing all the electronic things they could find  and learning about the turtles that were in the rehabilitation area.  We had pizza dinner one night and the kids had a sleepover, C and W wore their matching elf jammies and wanted to sleep together in the same room, W on an air mattress and C moved sides of the bed (she usually sleeps closer to the window) so she could be next to him, these two have a really cute and special relationship, I hope they always stay friends.

The year and decade ended with a quiet but fun New Year's Eve at home with friends. The girls got dressed in their new fancy Frozen dresses, we ate some good food, played some family games with the kids and surprisingly the kids stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop! I had promised them they could bang pots and pans at midnight if they stayed up and had to make good on my promise, I'm sure the neighbors loved me! New Years Day we de-Christmased the house and daddy was back to work on the second. The girls and I spent the afternoon riding bikes and playing between the two parks we can ride too, it was nice to get some fresh air, it was really the first down day all break that we had with nothing to do or make!

Here are the pictures from the month, our weekend at Disney and Christmas.