Having fun

Well, we stopped at the Magic Kingdom on the day we arrived.  We didnt have much daylight going in, but we really wanted to see the fireworks show...AMAZING!! We did ride Its a Small World and the Dumbo ride.  Eliana and Tim rode a small rollercoaster called the Barnstormer.  Elianas first rollercoaster. She loved it! No, Olivia didnt ride it. She want ready.  She did ride her first one today, but thats another story.  There was also a dance party with Stitch, Pluto, and Goofy.  It was fun..great (loud) music, concert lights, and lots of kids dancing. No, my girls wouldnt join in, but they enjoyed watching. There were other things we did on those few short hours at the Magic Kingdom but they are escaping me at the moment.  We will be going back in a couple of days so we can be sure to meet every princess and character we can find...and to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain.  Pictures will come later. They are on my camera so i will do picture posts when we return.

From VA to FL

we made it safely to Florida. The flight was nice. The take off was like the start of a rollercoaster.  We shot down the runway. The view of the VA mountains capped with snow was breathtaking. The flight itself was smooth.  The landing was perfect.  The girls enjoyed the flight although on ascending and descending they felt wierd, normal flight wierd like elevator feeling magnified.  It is hot here. Yay! I will check back in soon.

the tween is in the house!

 Well, the end of January is very near and I have yet to share pictures from Olivia's 10th birthday or Christmas.  I will start with Olivia.  As you can see from the cake, she chose to have an artist party.  The cake turned out pretty good.  Again, the teachings of my cake genius friend have helped me to make a great cake.  The birthday girls was very pleased...and frankly, that's what counts.  I'd like to say that the color is off, but no, it's pretty true to life.  I was aiming for neon pink and super bright paints on that palette and I think it worked. 

 Now, you can't be an artist without a beret.  It was the only real gift request and thanks to Target, I found one, well, two.  You know they both needed to have a beret.  I love a cute hat.  Olivia's is a lovely raspberry color...go ahead, indulge in the music of the 80's and sing it.  No one will mind.  They may wonder why all of a sudden you were inspired to hum a Prince tune for the rest of the day, but it's okay.  You only re-live once!

 Many gifts for this party were true to the theme.  She got loaded up with every artistic medium you can think of.  Sketching pencils, water color pencils, oil pastels, soft pastels, acrylic paints, all the special papers for each medium, and extra drawing pads to keep the creative juices flowing.

 She was super excited to have an art box to take on the go that had a built in easel.  Once the weather warms up I can see this being used under the dogwood tree or in the shade of the chicken coop as she sketches the details of her surroundings.

 Oh, and the dress.  The birthday dress...it is quite frowned upon when I try to call it the birthday suit.  I went a completely different direction this year.  Usually the outfit to match the theme, and even the chosen fabric, is a surprise.  Not this year.  Ten is big...ten has a style...ten has specific likes and dislikes, so we went to the fabric store together.  She chose this awesome tie dyed fabric.  It's so her. 

 Then we headed over to the patterns.  She wanted a dress...with a v-neck.  We searched and found this perfect dress, Simplicity's New Look 6171,...a fake wrap-around with an elastic waist for the super skinny girl and cute sleeves.  The pattern has many variations...three quarter sleeves and a collar or an asymmetrical tunic top and capris.  I love the variety, I can see other variations being more of Eliana's style, but this is what Olivia chose.

 The pattern seemed complicated at first, but came together easily, and it fits perfectly.  I did make it longer that it was supposed to be because, well, mini doesn't go over well here.   She chose the button...a perfect match and a lovely detail that was a must.  Had I thought ahead I could have done a little fussy cutting to get that tie dye burst to match up perfectly on the wrap around part on the front, but even without the fussy cutting it came out pretty close. 

I still can't believe I have a 10 year old.  She loves to read, mysteries mostly, oh and you can never have too many graphic novels.  She loves to write magazines for her friends and create her own comic books occasionally, but mostly she loves to draw.  She's a blessing to us, great big sister and a wonderful friend.  Ten.

double digits

Well, it's official...my baby turned 10 years old.  I cannot believe ten years have passed.  She is on the precipice of teen years and quite excited...especially now that she is officially a tween.  We had a small celebration with the opening of one gift from us and one from a friend.  The day was relaxed and fun.  The birthday girl requested a taco dinner (which was a gift to me-simple and delicious) then we went to Sweet Frog for dessert. Yum!  The party where there are more gifts and most importantly cake, will be this weekend when family from near and far will come and celebrate with us.  We are looking forward to it!