zoo and annie

B and I were both working overtime today and the girls’ friend graciously offered to take them to the zoo. The weather was gorgeous and they were there ALL day. Sweet pictures of their fun kept popping up on my phone all day.

I met these ladies at home with just enough time to get cleaned up and then off to the theater. B was catering that evening and let’s be honest, he didn’t want to see Annie so we made it a special girls night.

We had front row seats and the girls were thrilled to be so close to the stage. We loved the entire production especially the songs. I really do love these adventures with my girls.

swimming and pizza party

These little ladies love to swim and didn’t miss an opportunity to hit the pool today. We had a babysitter come to the house to help us out since B and I both had to work. They asked her to take them to the pool and she graciously did so! I met her there after work and she definitely wore them out for me.

That evening the girls had some friends join them for a pizza party. They made their own mini pizzas and played hard all night. The giggling echoed through the house!

fish and mortons

The girls are officially on Thanksgiving break — and it’s a long one. They get 10 days off school and that’s a challenge for a workin’ momma. I try to find them fun activities to do, but I have realized they just want to hang out at home and play and stay in their pajamas all day long if at all possible.

Today my dad and Melissa flew in to town and we had dinner with them at Mortons. It was delicious dinner and great to catch up…even if the girls had to get out of pjs and actually get dressed for the day.

our leftovers — enough to feed a small army

the girls got fish today. Gwyneth named hers Bob Smith

Annabelle named hers Napoleon Dynamite. (spoiler alert | he didn’t survive the night. she has some bad luck with fish)

its beginning to look a lot like christmas

I woke up Sunday morning with a the crazy urge to decorate for Christmas! What??? I’m typically the bah hum bug one about decorating, but I was really in the Christmas spirit today. B was a good sport, especially since it was still a few days shy of Thanksgiving.

Our old tree had seen better days and our girls were not the least bit interested in getting a live tree. In fact, they threw a big ol’ fit about how they hated live trees and wanted a fake one again. Really? Who hates live trees? Weirdos!

We ran over and purchased a new tree and some fun new ornaments. It’s just the most lovely tree and I love, love, love it. The girls decorated their doors with snowflakes and even set up our nativity. My mom gets me a new piece each year and it’s turning into quite the collection. Our house is as festive as can be!

My favorite of the new ornaments:

bears packers show down

The Bears Packers game is always a big deal with our crew. The game this week also happened to fall on Hanna’s birthday!

The Tyler’s brought over their new puppies and Miss Annabelle was pretty entranced with those little guys.

It was a crazy, fun day!

movie night | daddy’s home

B had a catering event and Gwyneth went off to a sleepover at a friend’s house so I had Miss Annabelle all to myself. I asked if she wanted to invite a friend over and to my surprise she said, “No, I want to just hang out with you tonight.” Wait, what??? I’m just going to love every stinkin’ minute of that!

It gets dark so early these days and it’s getting so chilly. I love this time of year! I was up for anything and Annabelle wanted to go to a movie. She picked Daddy’s Home 2 which had a pretty funny cast and was pretty silly. We laughed our way through and then met up with B for a late night snack after his catering event. It was a pretty great night.

My sassy tween. Love her.

poser

I have given up on buying the girls clothing. They have a mind (and style) all their own. It’s surprising how different they are when it comes to clothes. They still like to match on occasion but for the most part their styles are distinct.

We had a little girls day of shopping and Gwyneth was pretty excited to model her new favorite outfit. Annabelle couldn’t let that wackiness last without a photobomb!

girl scouts | first aid and ambulance tour

We had a joint meeting with both girls’ troops tonight and we had a very special guest. A medic from the Rocky Mountain Children’s hospital arrived to teach the girls CPR and to let them tour the ambulance. It was a pretty great meeting and the girls were thrilled to be able to climb inside the ambulance.

Annabelle’s troop minus Jessica.

Gwyneth’s troop.

music man

We were able to sneak in a weekday trip to the theater tonight to see Music Man. It made for a rather busy day/night because we had work, school, and volleyball practice, but I love these little experiences. I was especially excited because I had no idea what the show was about! It’s always fun to go into to a show with out any expectations.

Unfortunately B came home from work with a sore throat and Annabelle was exhausted from a busy day. They were troopers though and didn’t want to miss the show. Annabelle wouldn’t appease me with photos and I assumed we were just experiencing the nastiness of the “tween sassiness” phase. Nope, she was just hungry. As soon as she had something to eat she was right back to her funny, happy little self! I gotta remember to feed these kids more often…

While Annabelle was rushing around after volleyball practice trying to get ready, find her shoes and jacket, and giving her dad an overall difficult time, Gwyneth and I went outside and snapped some pictures She loved her Halloween shoes so much that she decided they should become a major fixture in her wardrobe going forward.

I tried to get some photos of Annabelle before we left but she was not having it. Note to self: food than photos.

This girl can never have too much sparkle

It’s getting chilly around here…

Annabelle was cold and being goofy so these were the best photos I could get before the show. That girl cracks me up and I’ll take what I can get with the photos.

Time for the show!

We all agree that the story was a little slow, but we loved the music. Great music, great set. Overall we give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

It was a late night and the girls fell asleep in the car on the way home. Fingers crossed for no migraines and happy girls tomorrow.

happy halloween

Annabelle’s team had their first volleyball game on Halloween. She has been really loving the practices but was really nervous to play in the game. She sat out this game, which she was relieved about, but we hope to see her play next time. She really does great in the practices. Let’s hope she can get past those nerves at the next game.