Butterfly birthday party

The girls were invited to a friend's birthday party a few weeks back and it was a monarch butterfly theme. There were tons of kids there from their class. They had crafts set up and some fun activities for the kiddos.

Making yourself into a cocoon.

Busting out into a butterfly...

Piñata time!

Visit with Santa

We visited our favorite Santa at Oak Brook mall again this year. He is the best! He really interacts well with the kids and plays the role perfectly!

Waiting patiently for our turn to see Santa...

This year, Santa was in an Airstream camper that was all decked out with Christmas decorations. Avery surprisingly warmed up to this Santa super fast. We spent a lot of time talking with him and they loved it!

And in the biggest surprise of all, Avery even gave him a hug on the way out! Morgan could have stayed and talked to him forever. These girl are so different! Ha!

Pancake Breakfast

The place where Ruth lives hosted a pancake breakfast with Santa for the families to come enjoy. The girls took their lists to Santa and we got a few pictures with him. Avery still has her aversion to Santa and won't sit on his lap or stand too close to him. She stands next to Morgan, who has no problem sitting on his lap or hugging him or telling him her life story. :)

The Elf is back!

Our Elf (aka Twinkle Toes) is back! She's dressed in her ballet finest and is ready to cause havoc! :) The girls still talk about the things Twinkle Toes did last year. I'm going to have to get a little more creative this year... if I can wake up early enough!

Ballerina

Avery is so excited to be back in ballet. I signed her up for lyrical ballet this time because that seems to be what she does in her "shows" for us at home. She loves the class!

Blizzard

We got a little bit of snow this past week. The girls already had the day off of school for a teacher institute day, so no "official" snow day for them. No matter, they still enjoyed playing outside in it. Since we really don't have any hills near us, we let the girls sled down the icy driveway. They loved it! Then, we warmed up by the fire with hot chocolate.

Christmas Lists

The girls wrote their Christmas lists for Santa. Avery's was alternating red and green and she had to make sure she had an even number of items so there would be the same number of red items as green items. :) Morgan wrote out a big story for Santa. She asked for superhero toys and then told him that she would draw a picture to help him out.