more Christmas

I said we would probably wait a little while before attempting a family movie date again.  Well we waited a month.  We headed to see Arthurs Christmas Sunday evening.  We went to the 7:00 pm showing in Story City.  For you locals, admission is only $3, and candy is only $1.  What a deal.  I think there was about 15 of us in the theater.  So I let Noelle crawl up and down the aisle when she got bored, and Dallas might have put down all of the seats in one section to keep occupied the last 30 minutes of the movie.  I think Grandpa Dallas, Lynne and Emily enjoyed it, and even Rob and I really liked it even though we were kid chasing some of the time.

randoms for the week

 sweet Noelle at the end of Christmas day

 The hooded towels, they look wonderful on the hooks in the bathroom

 Egg Nog, yes please!

 much of Christmas fun for me revolves around this puzzle and my dear Sister.  Lynne spend Christmas day with us.  We worked too long on this 500 piece puzzle with the help of some Lucy Lane wine, we made it within 1 piece of being finished.  I loved doing this with her, I hope we have started a tradition!

 I am not worried about Noelle surviving around here, she is very opportunistic

 Out of proper food, ice cream cones (just the cone) filled in for the afternoon snack.  I pretended they were graham crackers

 we gave a bag of cookies to several of our neighbors, attached was our Christmas card and an invite to The Perfect Gift, an event our church holds each year

 the Johnson boys and the Kibbe boys

 ice cream cone for snack

attempting a cousin picture, we need professional help

more Christmas

Grandpa Dallas joined us for Christmas in Ames.  We love having him here.  Santa was a little selfish and gave him a new coffee maker, but for our house!  (don't worry, he'll get a gift he can take home with him at Kibbe Christmas in a week:)
He is the primary coffee drinker at our house, so our pot gets used once or twice a month, a little more when he stays the night.  Guess what, our previous coffee maker, while still functioning was purchased in 1993.  I thought it made awful coffee, and I think most coffee is awful.  He deserved an upgrade!

Christmas morning 2011

We are really trying to balance things at Christmas.  Emily knows all about the meaning of Christmas, and that presents are just a nice addition, so we seem to be doing well so far.  Our house is fairly small and the kids get spoiled so well from the Grands that we have tried to stick to small meaningful things rather than just having lots of things to open, for the sake of opening.

Have you heard of this.

"something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read"

-we kind of used that as a guideline

 Noelle received a Bilibo

 Emily - Lego's

 Dallas a garage for his cars

Dallas and Emily got slippers that they still haven't taken off.  Noelle got an outfit since she doesn't keep footwear on.  They each received a book.  I always like to hand make them something, so they each received a big, cuddly, hooded towel, should be great for bath time and for trips to the pool this summer!

first Lego set

Emily recieved Lego's for Christmas.  A building house set, and then we also gave her some Lego's that were given to us a couple years ago, that we have been waiting for this age to hit.  I love everything about this picture.  The concentration!  She seems to enjoy it.  I helped a bit with the first couple of pages, showing her how to read the directions.  She wanted to save the last bit of the book to do with daddy.

Christmas in Oskaloosa

 Aunt Chelsey snuggling Noelle and Charley

 Photographer Charley

 He looks even more cute with the bow!

 Noelle and Uncle Greg unwrapping

 Aunt Lynne and Emily working their way through the Christmas Look and Find book

 Grandpa sleeping, doing what grandpa's do best

 Opening presents

 I think he was going for a boogie

 Little Miss runny nose

The following pictures were taken by Emily.  She recieved a new camera from G&G Gallagher

National Parts Depot visit, Ocala, FL

I don't know why I am even attempting to write this post.  Maybe I can get Rob to help me out over break to explain it properly.  We stopped in Ocala while in Florida so Robert could meet with one of The MuscleCar Place sponsors, National Parts Depot.  The FL location is their biggest and acts as headquarters.  It was really amazing, offices, warehouse, and this great big personal collection of cars.  The owner and son store some of their collection (all drivable), and we got to take a peek.  It was eclectic, but fun to look through everything.  I have only posted a few of the pics.

Gingerbread House 2011

Decorating cookies

I let them do it ALL by themselves.  I prepped and baked the cookies, and tinted the frosting. I gave them bottles of sprinkles and let them be...  we had already baked and distrubted other cookies to neighbors, so these didn't need to be "pretty".   Emily loved every minute, and Dallas loved licking the frosting off his fingers.

another one bites the sandwich?

the fifth tooth came out during lunch, I guess that is what happens when you eat a PB and B.  This tooth has been loose since August.  She spit out her half gummed sandwich while saying my tooth!  I heard it drop to the floor.  I found it!  Now there is no escaping her grown-up grin.  With the four bottom teeth you didn't notice right away, but a top tooth missing changes all of that.  Her smile is still pretty as ever!

I have been car pooling for Awana the past month, I have to say it is fabulous.  On my week off, I get to stay at home, and my week to drive I get an hour and half to myself to browse Target, or get any errands checked off my list!  Plus I get an extra little cutie to ride along with. 

Noelle has been extra crazy lately.  She talks all the time, to herself, to objects, to the dog, to the dvd's, and occasionaly to D or Em, and always to me.
She is fast out of the gate when she crawls, often she will trip up her arms with her leg and topple forward, it is so cute, she face plants into the carpet, then talks to the floor and is on her way.
I am pretty sure she is cutting a couple four more teeth, she is all gooey again! 

We are off to the Dr again tomorrow, so I am sure we will be sick, just in time for the weekend.

Disney World: Breakfast with the Princess' at Cinderella's Castle

Back to the FL trip... after the wedding we headed to Orlando.  We planned two full days at Disney World, specifically Magic Kingdom Park, which seems most age appropriate for the 5 and under crowd.  On Sunday I had booked a breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, ie you get to eat in the castle with the princesses.  In my opinion this was well worth the money, and it isn't cheap.  But it was so magical, and since we rarely take vacations, when we do take them we go big (and pay cash!)

One of the perks of a dining experience like this is the Princesses come around to your table and wait patiently for you to jocky your camera to get that perfect picture.  They will even coax your shy little one to pose with them.  We didn't have to stand in the long lines around the park the rest of the visit to wait for photo and autograph moments!  Also if your little one wears a princess dress, everyone working at the park will call her princess all day long.  Emily never stopped grinning. 

Emily and Cinderella

The Kibbe Clan and Cinderella

Belle and Emily

Jasmine and Emily

Aurora and Emily

human Ariel and Emily

Another perk of making your dining reservation early is you can get into the park before the park opens to the public.  Makes for perfect pictures of the family and the castle with few others to share.

Main Street USA (notice only Cast members and few others posing with us)

Our table in Cinderella's Castle.  The breakfast also came with special wishing stars for all children, boys also received swords, and girls received wands.