Christmas Day

The girls Christmas dreams came true and Santa brought them (very hard to find) Dragons. Olivia is very pleased with their "screaming death!

Santa also brought Charlotte this alligator puppy. She named him Snappy and absolutely loves him as you can see.

Awesome Lego set. It must be all the rage with 7 year old girls since we found out two of her friends also got the same set.

Olivia was very excited to get a doll like big sissy has, They been having a great time with them.

Grandpa made this amazing doll table and chairs. It has since been used daily for tea parties, stuffed animal birthdays and dinosaur and dragon get togethers.

Poor Bandit was all worn out by 10am.

Maybe it was all that necklace chewing.

On his last visit Chip brought some wooden toys he must have spent all night making. 

Smile

Had to include some of our best portrait shots.

Finn looks like Eeyore in this one. 

Had to stop by and take a ride on the carousel.

Olivia found this pretty wreath and suggested a photo.

Snuggling with Bandit. He's very good with the girls.

Too cute!

Gingerbread Time!!!

The girls requested a candy castle (inspired by Eddie) from Grandma this year; and she delivered. The castle was amazing! The neighbor girl Savannah joined us. I don't think we had enough candy.

Charlotte did her own cottage.

Olivia spent most of the time sneaking candy off the castle.

Olivia now experiencing a sugar-crash.

The finished product was stunning!

Our compliments to the chef!

Thanks for a great time Grandma and Grandpa!

Storybook Land

This year able to squeeze in a visit to Storybook Land. This is a funny display that a bunch of old people from Albany put together at the fair grounds each year for free. There are dozens of booths with a storybook theme, as well as model trains, Victorian doll houses and hundreds of lighted live Christmas trees. It is pretty impressive. The girls are standing in front of the Teddy Bear play ground where hundreds of bears ride on carousels, Ferris wheels in hot air balloons, ice skate and other amusements. Unfortunately; being at the fair grounds-the whole thing smells like cow poop!

We all especially loved the 101 dalmatian booth.

Noah's Ark was also a favorite.

Mrs. Clause was sweet.

Time to see Santa-the girls were afraid.

If Santa looks confused it because Olivia just told him she wants "screaming death" for Christmas. (Its her favorite dragon from the How to Train your Dragon cartoons).

I love photos with Santa!

Charlotte's Birthday

Charlotte turned 7 on Saturday. We planned a fabulous Horse theme party; unfortunately a few girls could come because of the snow storm. But, those that came had a great time.

Please allow me to show off my adorable decorations.

Thank goodness for cardboard!

I made the horse pennants out of  calendars from the dollar store. They were so cute, and are now hanging in Charlotte's bedroom.

We started with a game of pin the  party hat on the horse, and a horse Bingo game. Then each girl got to "adopt" a pony with its very own stable (thanks to Dad for making these awesome stables; they LOVED them!)

The girls spent a solid hour coloring, and adding stickers, jewels and sparkly hearts to their stables.

I was super excited when Charlotte said she wanted cupcakes this year; a cake take much more time and energy!

They were simple, cute and so tasty!

Her very own "American Girl Doll". Shh, don't tell her its a Target knock-off.

This cute picture is capturing the surprise of a gift she didn't think she was getting (see below).

Olivia and Charlotte played Barbies and ponies all weekend. The poor Barbies had to endure frequent attacks from dinosaurs and dragons; she's still pretty dino crazy! 

Charlotte is getting so big; she's as tall as a third grader! She loves all thing horses of course; and is still in love with dinosaurs. I am predicting that 7 will be the year of the Barbie Doll! She continues to be a super sweet sister and is constantly looking out for little sis. So far, we're raising a pretty sweet girl! Ask me again in 10 years!!!

Let it snow!!!

The girls woke up to the sight of fresh snow on Friday morning. They've been talking about how they miss the snow in Arizona and I've been reminding them that snow is very rare in our part of Oregon. So the few inches we got was a much welcome surprise! I got to take 2 "free" days off of work because of dangerous road conditions. We took advantage of our time together and played in the snow, made treats, went to the movies (saw Frozen-it was cute and rather appropriate on a snow day) and played a lot of Barbie Dolls.

 Luckily we still have some snow clothes from our snowy days in AZ.  I think they are so cute in their snow pants.

We didn't have any proper snow play toys; so the rake had to suffice. Later I gave the girls "reindeer rides" down the street; which was me pulling them on a tarp. Fun and exhausting!

Finn thinks snow is just another food source, he loves to eat it.

It was a fun weekend!