Addi's Blanky

Our first child with an attachment to an object besides a pacifier. Addison loves her pink blanky to cuddle and often chew on. She gets very excited when you give it to her and it generally goes straight to her mouth, even if the pacifier is in.

When she is tired, her arm reaches for it and she lays her head right on it. So sweet.

Happy birthday to me!

I turned 33 over the weekend. For the first time, I actually had to think twice about how old I was... seems like mid-30's become a blur! I celebrated Friday night by going out with Derek - my mom was nice enough to come over and stay with the kids. At dinner, he gave me my present, which was a new camera! We had been talking about investing in a really good camera for a long time, and he had done some research and gotten a Nikon D80. I am even more excited about the fact that it comes with 18 camera classes at the camera shop in Covington. I am always taking pictures of the kids and our family, and I am thankful that Derek agrees that this camera is a worthwhile investment - I can't wait to learn more and sharpen my photography skills!

Hailey's Thanksgiving Feast

Hailey had a "Thanksgiving Feast" at preschool. Each child got to bring small servings of a favorite food to share with the class, and then serve them. The kids brought in all sorts of different foods: raisins, cheese and crackers, indian fry bread, popcorn, cookies, etc. Hailey told me she wanted to bring "meat". Interesting choice! So we brought chicken nuggets, very simple and quite popular with the 4-year-old crowd!

They all wore their turkey hats, at least until the hats started falling over their eyes or bothering them. It was quite a sight!

We still had show and tell that day, and Hailey brought her diary she had chosen to buy with her own money at Disneyland. Funny story - here is how our conversation went:

Hailey: Mommy, I want to bring my Diarrhea to show the class.

Mommy: Do you mean Diary?

Hailey: Oh yeah, I mean diary. Diarrhea is that really bad kind of potty right?

Mommy: Yes, Hailey. Important you get those words right!

She cracks me up. One of the great benefits of being her preschool teacher is that I get to see and be a part of all these fun things we do as a class!

The only age you can stick your tongue out at Mommy

Addison has learned where her tongue is and she will stick it out on demand. I think it is so cute, I just keep making her do it over and over. Sometimes she mixes it up with giving a kiss though, and it gets pretty slobbery! I'll take slobbery kisses as long as I can get 'em.

Surprise for mommy

Party animals
Inside Symantha's card was a cute drawn picture of me and her

Hailey wrote this card herself - Daddy just told her the letters! And I guess the picture of me is in a polka dot dress, just like what I wear all the time :)

After scrapbooking all day on Saturday, I came home to the girls anxiously waiting to give me a surprise birthday party! They had streamers, party blowers, cake (which they had made with Daddy during the day) and ice cream, presents, cards and the works. It was a week before my birthday, so they thought they were being really tricky - I think they were just a LITTLE more excited than I was! It was very sweet and a nice way for me to come home. I almost was going to stay and scrapbook a little longer, but glad I didn't because I would have felt horrible!

Going home

Looking at this picture of sleeping Hailey...

You would never know that 1 hour before she was dancing and being crazy with all the energy in the world!

They went home in their matching Disneyland shirts. Symantha spent her own money to buy that locket around her neck - she intends to put a little picture of Daddy and Mommy in it "so she can always look at us".

It was a great trip, the perfect amount of time for little kids having their first trip to Disneyland. I, however, could have enjoyed the California sunshine for just a few more days - it was very hard to come back to the rain and cold weather!

Disneyland, Day 3

Symantha on an interactive ride, Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters. You use a laser gun to shoot different targets while spinning around - pretty fun!


I love that I captured this expression on Hailey's face before going into the whale's mouth on the Storybook boats! There was room for two kids to sit on the front edge there, but once Hailey saw that whale, she turned to me and wanted to sit down on the bench. Then she was happy again!

Symantha driving us at Autopia. The first half of the ride she was very concerned because "she doesn't know how to drive"! But once she realized she really couldn't make us go off a cliff or anything, she had more fun. She also loved that they give you your own little driver's license.

Mom took the kids back for naps so Megan and I could do some of the bigger rides - this was a self-portrait on California Screamin' roller coaster. With short or no lines, we could do everything we wanted in a couple of hours.

Hailey with her new Minnie ears on

Meeting Princess Minnie

Symantha took this picture while we were waiting to meet princesses. Our one and only grown-up picture!

New ears - gotta get them when you go to Disneyland! With your name on the back, of course.

Another fun day, which turned into a very late night! We didn't get back to the hotel until 11:30, but the girls did so well due to nice afternoon naps. We were able to do all that we wanted to do at both parks, with the exception of It's a Small world. This was the one big bummer because I had been building this ride up as the first one we would do and the girls learned the song and everything! They were getting it ready for the holidays, so it wasn't open at all.

Disneyland Day 2

Hailey loving Mr. Toad - before she went on his "Wild Ride" and decided she did not like some of the scary voices. She was funny - she would be totally fine in a ride and show little emotion until the end when she would declare either she liked it or didn't (usually due to dark or scary voices).

We discovered this challenge course at California Adventure and it had a cool rope swing at the end. Symantha was hooked and did it a couple of times - unfortunately Hailey was too short.

Dopey was our first character in a long line of visiting characters - I'll spare you all the MANY pictures I have of them, even though they are so cute! They walked by some of the bad guy characters from movies too (like King John from Robin Hood - not scary in the least), but the girls would have nothing to do with them.

Going through Mickey's house in Toon Town, Hailey was running from thing to thing, trying to make them work although most of it was fake - she would not give up!

Mickey's Go Coaster, which Hailey loved and Symantha did not. Hailey was much braver than Symantha for the most part, although she tried SOOO hard to convince me that she would not be scared at the Haunted Mansion. I had been scared of that myself, so I knew she would hate it! But she begged and begged anyways. I did not let in, though I wanted to just to prove my point!

Our second day was really hot, but we learned a perfect plan for the rest of our trip. We went to the parks in the morning, back to the hotel in the afternoon for some pool time and naps, then back to the parks in the evening until late at night. We saw parades both nights, which the girls loved. Somehow I am thinking the Black Diamond parade might not look so cool to them anymore!

Disneyland, at last! First impressions

We met Mickey within 10 minutes of being in the park - a good beginning!

Our first ride - the rockets. This remained their favorite ride.

Mom, Megan, me, Symantha and Hailey with Mickey

Hailey checking it all out - the sun was just going down and it was beautiful

We were so excited!

I love Disneyland. Yes, there are lots of people and often long lines, but going in November makes that much less of a problem. Even though I had been there 5 or 6 times before, this was my first time taking my own children, which was such a different and wonderful experience! The big girls and I went with my mom and sister (Megan) for 3 nights, and it was such a great trip. Symantha (6) and Hailey (4) were the perfect age for all the magic of princesses, castles, Mickey and Minnie, Tinkerbell, and the other host of characters we were able to see. Plus, it was like stepping back into summer, with 75-80 degree weather - a nice change from the current downpours of Seattle! We missed Daddy and Addison, but Daddy had a work hunting trip and Addi is just not the best age for Disneyland.

I took over 300 pictures and videos (I know, not very many for 4 days, huh? Ha!), so choosing a few to highlight our trip is a little difficult! But I'll break these blog entries into days, and show a few pictures from each.

Halloween girls

Symantha as Dorothy - she couldn't wait to put those ruby slippers on!

Addison, my little flower


Hailey, the bride

We had fun figuring out the girls' costumes this year. It was Addison's first Halloween, and she was such a cute little flower. I loved that cuddly costume, not too cumbersome and she wasn't miserable in it. Hailey was funny about being a bride - she had told Daddy he could be her groom, but then changed her mind because Daddy was already married to Mommy. She said she would find her own groom one day! Symantha loved being Dorothy, especially with the shiny shoes and carrying her little "Toto" in the basket.

Halloween night we ended up "trick or treating" at a few family member's houses, going out to dinner, and then going to a big Event that Camp Berachah was having, with inflatables, games, etc. It was a nice indoor option, and totally free.