Thanksgiving Staycation!

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving break and all of the Goolden family came to us!  We had a full house and lots of fun!  The weather was unseasonably warm so the girls had some outdoor fun / backyard games.  We also did some painting, made crafts, played dance revolution along with some other indoor games, and of course, playtime wouldn't be complete for this generation of little girls without some Anna and Elsa dress-up!  Here's a peak at some of the fun we captured!

 Dance-Dance Revolution!

Second front tooth came out
on Thanksgiving Day!

 Stealing some time with daddy!

Cider Mimosa's

Backyard Fun / Outdoor Games

 The first day the Hooley's and Perrin's arrived we went to Grammie and Pa's for a visit.  The girls wanted to play in the hot tub which we didn't plan for.  They are so little, we agreed to some splashing around in their undies.  For those of you who know my parents, their hot tub is in the back of their heated garage.  Strange, I know, it must be a north country thing....  Anyway, Claire was so excited she stripped down only to have to dress back up in her winter coat and boots.  She insisted on bringing some dolls out to the garage with her.  When I asked 'Claire, do you want me to hold those for you so you can run like a Cheetah' she said no.  I said 'won't your legs get cold?' and her response was one I may never forget.  She replied in the most serious sense, 'no, and you can't judge someone by what they wear'.  Oh.My.Glory!  She actually was listening to our conversation on the way to school the other day!  To have a four-year old say that when they are dressed like this was JUST.PRICELESS.

Dance party in the house!

On Friday evening the dad's all stayed home so mom and daughters could have some time together.  We had dinner at the Cactus Grill & Cantina followed by a few drinks at the Riverview.  It has literally been like a decade since the 5 of us had some distraction free time with one another and we enjoyed each others company.

 

'Let it go!'

Uncle Dan likes to hand out french fry money when he sees all of the nieces and for this visit it turned into Dollar Tree money.  Stella used her $6 (which included her $1 from the tooth fairy!) and did her own shopping.  She was such a big girl, and while I wasn't willing to explain tax to her, I gave her the extra coins she needed and she was so excited to be able to buy 6 things, since usually mommy only lets her pick 2.

Hulabaloo!

 Poor Claire was so off her schedule while we had house guests.  Here she's having dinner about an hour later than everyone else because she put herself down for a nap at 5:30 pm.

The night prior she came out at 10:30 pm from playing with her cousins and said 'Mom, when are you making dinner?'.  She proceeded to insist I make her 'chicken  noodles with carrots' because she 'wants what I want'.  Her short melt-down resulted in her passing out!












We made some owl crafts because Haley loves owls and since it's so close to Christmas this activity was timely.

Window Crafts

Trying out a homemade
body scrub recipe

We were so happy to have family visit for the holiday.  We always wish our time together would last longer.  To alleviate some of the sadness the day they left we did some special activities and started our holiday shopping.













Last weekend our fall gymnastics and ballet & tap classes ended for the semester.  Stella's in-class showing for dance was being held the same time as Claire's gymnastics class so we asked for special permission to have Claire attend gymnastics with Stella during her class.  Claire fit right in and did a great job with the big kid stretches and showing off what she's been learning.  Stella did awesome at her dance class and was really able to follow along with her teachers to the two choreographed pieces they performed for family.

Also last week, Stella helped make dinner one night, and both girls eagerly volunteered to help wash the dishes!  We'll take the help while it's offered!

To round out this blog post, we are so proud to share news about Claire being chosen as one of 3 students of the quarter from her class.  Claire was chosen for 'outstanding character' because she 'always pays attention, is eager to learn, shares with her classmates, and always raises her hand'.  We must say pre-k is definitely helping Claire learn and grow and we couldn't be happier!

What are mom and dad doing in the cafeteria?

with Miss Viau and classmates at the
student of the quarter ceremony

Sweet November

This weekend we celebrated grandma's 60th birthday with a surprise party!  The girls had a great time opening presents with her and taking many photos with guests using the photo booth app and props we brought along for entertainment!



Some days after school we are all just spent!  Here the girls are chilling with the tablet, watching silly videos.


 Stella helping with the dishes one night after dinner!  It was her first attempt at washing and it went pretty well!








We also had a sleepover with Caroline, Caleb, and Esme.  On Sunday morning we enjoyed a nature walk around the corner from our house.  We had no idea there was a trail in the woods but Caleb stumbled across it and it was great taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather!





On our walk we stopped by the river and the girls were throwing sticks in and watching the current carry them away.  Unfortunately one of Stella's brand new mittens from Aunt MJ ended up in the river too!  Caleb ran along the river and was luckily able to fish it out.  There were a lot of tears but Caleb saved the day!

 Tea party fun!

 Claire simply can't resist playing in the dirt, ever!

 Stella wasn't feeling that great two weeks ago on Sunday morning so she stayed home while Mommy and Claire went to church.  Claire-bear was such a good girl at children's church!

 On the 7th we had a free evening so we ventured out to Appleton Arena for an SLU Men's hockey game.  It was the girls first game and they enjoyed it, especially the snacks!









The girls love to watch shows together - here they are relaxing on the floor with the tablet.

 We have dance shows frequently.  This time in our jammies/undies!

 We spent some time this fall cleaning out the extra room in our upstairs.  We've transformed this into our 'quiet room', where we can play games and read stories - but not leave anything behind!  It's been nice to utilize this space after being here for 5 years and not really using it much!

Claire-Bear walking Sammy with Miss Julie!  Some afternoons on our way home from Julie's after school it will be time to walk the dog.  This afternoon when we made it to our house Claire wanted to keep going with Miss Julie!  So glad she loves being with her :)                                                                                                                            

Happy Halloween 2015

Elsa, Wonder Woman, and Skye Pup!

 This weekend we had some time at home and since both of the girls have come down with a cold it was a good thing!  Claire-Bear was able to take a much needed nap on Sunday afternoon and hopefully (fingers crossed) they will be well enough to go to school tomorrow!

Although the girls were coughing a lot on Halloween day we did take them out and about to around a dozen neighbors to trick or treat.  It
was fun but by the last house Claire said "I don't want to anymore mommy".  We headed home so they could pass out candy instead, which they loved!

 Stella is signed up to bring snack again this week.  For her last snack she chose cosmic brownies, which I tried to convince her not to take.  There's a nut allergy in her class and I knew not all of the children would be able to have one.  She insisted though, that it was her favorite snack.  Which it is, and it's also a treat we don't buy for her all that often.  I gave in but had her choose a nut-free individually packaged frosted sugar cookie to take with her.  The evening of her snack night I asked her how it went and she said she ate goldfish.  I asked her why and it turns out, the child with the allergy chooses a friend to sit with at snack time each day and that friend must also eat a nut-free snack.  Her friend chose Stella but she said to me happily 'it's ok Mommy, I ate my brownie at Miss Julie's after school!'. We are so happy Stella is able to roll with her surroundings so well and hope she continues to be that way. (And that brownie story was karma right there!)  So anyway, this time, she chose something all of her friends at school will be able to eat, a veggie cup!  And she made some turkey heads to decorate the cups this weekend with a little help from mommy's cricut!




We didn't leave the house on Sunday and to pass the time the girls played dress up with Mommy and Daddy's clothes - they were on the way to a wedding...

 There was a half day at School on Friday which was a good thing since Claire's been under the weather.  Mom took the day off work to visit school for the Halloween Parade.  The girls had a great time!










Afterward, Niece and Kalub came to visit for the afternoon and we had dinner together at the Riverview.  The girls were so happy to see them!

Together Again!

Poor Claire-Bear hasn't felt well.  On Thursday she went to bed at 5 o'clock, and only woke to brush her teeth and have daddy read her a bed-time story.  She didn't even eat dinner!  Stella's been doing well fending it off but the cough caught up with her on Friday.  Luckily they are healthy girls for the most part and hopefully this little cold will soon pass! 

While we have such a short time after school to do much, one afternoon Stella gave Claire a quick backyard golf lesson!










Carving Pumpkins, and making scary/angry faces:

 Last weekend we had our first snow and the girls were excited about it!  But not Mommy.  Glad it didn't stick!

Visiting BMC for the PTO Craft Fair

 The girls are still little for carving pumpkins so they did some painting and stick on facial features.

Last Saturday Stella had her first real accident.  Mommy was already in bed and she was bouncing around popping a balloon up into the air in our bedroom.  She tripped and hit her face on the frame of our bed.  She was very scared but we took her to the ER to have a doctor look at it.  They ended up gluing it and despite being there 2.5 hours, Stella was able to see first hand how the hospital is not always a scary place.  The receptionist, after hearing us read all of the books we brought twice, came out with some coloring pages and crayons, which really brightened Stella's mood, especially because she was getting inpatient, and very, very tired.  She was up until midnight, I think the latest yet!
When they glued her cut she laid still and quiet but the moment they left the room she burst into tears and said it hurt.  Poor baby.  She was so brave!  Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Aunt MJ for coming over right away and hanging out with grumpy bear Claire who was devastated she couldn't come along.  We are so appreciative she didn't have to spend time sitting around with us and was able to get a decent nights sleep!  We are happy to report that Stella's cut is healing nicely and is far enough away from her eye that she's not experiencing any problems.  We bought some Mederma but she may end up with a scar on her face.  We'll see.

When we told Stella she couldn't play in our room anymore with balloons her response was that we should do that outside, where there's lots of room!