costumes

Our ward trunk or treat was a couple weekends ago.  Though we nearly filled our loan limit at the library with Halloween books, I didn't really talk to Rylee about dressing up.  I had an idea of what she would wear and was going to leave it at that.

 

Then she became obsessed with this book. And 3 days before the party asked to be a dinosaur.  I debated what I should do and told Michael that if I had everything I needed to make a dinosaur I'd do it, otherwise operation change the 2-year olds mind would be put to the test.

 

I remembered a post I'd pinned several months ago and decided if she had an old jacket that still fit I'd do it. Well, I had the everything I'd need (a jacket and matching/coordinating fabric) I decided to make my sweet girl's dream come true. I showed Rylee a picture of what I would make and that night as I tucked her into bed she was so sad that 1. she didn't have her dino tail. and 2. she wasn't helping me make her dino tail. (I didn't have time for her to 'help')

 I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

 When I finally finished and she tried it on she kept hitting all sorts of things as she's turn around. Always saying "sorry" haha.

 You get a little look at our current garden here:

 Kelsey has been rotating between both of Rylee's previously worn costumes. This little gnome kills me.

 I'm not sure what I love most about this picture- loving up on Kelsey or Dino-Rylee getting into character photo bombing the picture.

 **on a side note, I got it trouble for not making a 'tent' correctly with blankets.  Some things only a Daddy can do right.

 I know I'm ridiculous but I couldn't help throwing together a witch costume for Dolly (yes, that is her name).  She's come along to every activity too.

 Here we are headed to the HOA Fall Festival (which was really fun btw - lots of games/treats for kids and plenty of booths and snacks for us). Its been good to have several times for her to wear her costume *trunk-or-treat *fall festival *story time @the library *Halloween night

We've got plans to meet up with friends tomorrow, and who could resist .50 corn dogs?

I feel like I'm on repeat, but the older Rylee gets and the more she enjoys and gets excited for Holidays, the more fun they are for us too. I'm so excited for the rest of the year!

voting

Did our civic duty and voted this week.

Maybe one day I'll live in a state where my vote actually matters (not that I'm disapointed in our state's 'expected' outcome).

 

I was the crazy person that took my two kids to the poll with me.  Well, you know our vote site is the library and we were already there for story time.

 

Rylee kept the older lady in front of us well entertained, as with most parents she went on and on about how she misses when her kids were little.  I guess I understand - Rylee says some pretty hilarious stuff.  Her life is so simple.

 

Rylee asked if she could vote too.

Seriously though, the most important decision she has to make is whether to watch Dora or Super-Why

 

We picked up more than our fair share of "I voted" stickers and met Daddy for lunch at the park.

amusment parks

A couple weeks ago we had some friends invite us to 6 flags with them.  Their employer had the park for a work party and sold discounted tickets to friends.  We couldn't pass it up.

 

 We had a lot of fun, especially Rylee! There were quite a few rides she was tall enough for, as long as I rode with her. (and we were able to sneak her on one she wasn't :))

 The little swing was by far her favorite.  She giggled and smiled the whole ride saying things like "WEEE!" and " I like this!" Immediately after we'd get off she'd say "more more more (while signing) please more?! again?! please, please please!" Who could say no to such manners? We'd go back and forth across the 'road' and ride the little school bus.  She still occationally mentions her gratitude for 6 flags in her prayers and asks if we can go back often.  I wish!

 I did however get a pass to SeaWorld.  We literally live 10 minutes away and its a bit better for smaller kids.  I'm still working on convincing Michael to get a pass as well (the rest of this year is free when you purchase a pass for next year).  In the mean time the girls and I will just have to go during the day.  And because the kids outnumbered me, I didn't get many pictures.  I did get one of Rylee playing with the scubadiver feeding the fish.

Night Out

"National" Night Out was this past Tuesday.  Its purpose is for people to spend the evening outdoors getting to know your neighbors.  I heard the police department especially supports these evenings. The more we know and get involved in the community, the safer families can be sort of thing.  Anyway, our HOA sponsored an event at our park. They had dinner, several booths, and a talent show.  This was my favorite of the activities the HOA has put on - or maybe its because Rylee is older and can enjoy more things. not sure which.

 

A local petting zoo was there giving pony rides (I thought Rylee would be scared, but she LOVED it!!) and they had the CUTEST baby pigs.

 

 There was a face painting booth where the kids could choose from about a dozen designs. The football was 100% Rylee's idea. I pointed out all the cutesy girly things like a butterfly/ladybug/flower but NOPE. she wanted the football :)  Her Daddy was so proud.

 She kept asking to go back and give Elmo a hug.  She was much more hesitant around Buzz Lightyear, I guess I should introduce her to the wonder that is Toy Story.

The police put on a little dog show, explaining all the things they train their dogs to do.  We were able to get the kids finger (and in Kelsey's case foot) printed for our files, and Rylee and I sat/played in a police car pushing the sirens.

Pretty sure the only 'neighbors' we talked to were ward members, Michael had meetings so he wasn't able to stay the whole time but we had fun.

on a side note: Michael was interested (and therefore nominated) to be the landscape commitee chair for the HOA.  He's excited to get more involved.

a few videos + thoughts

Rylee is at such a fun stage. She really does make me laugh every day by what she says and does. When she does something fun that I want to remember, I just have to ask her if I can record it and she usually obliges (I'm sure its mostly because she loves watching the videos of herself).

My goal is to 'trick' my girls into liking football so that they will want to watch the games with their Daddy and I can get some serious crafting/reading done all football season. We've got a Green Bay Packers fan on our hands:

She's demanded we sing "twinkle twinkle little star" before bed for a while now. She's recently started singing to "dolly" when its time for her nap too.
I am amazed at the number of books/nursery rhymes she has memorized. seriously. Even books we haven't had long from the library. I love that after she wakes up from a nap she quietly flips through book after book. Often "reading" them out loud to herself.
Of course I had to throw in a video of Kelsey too. That little girl is growing too fast!! (obviously this video isn't exactly 'current' as she still had her glove on) She's started climbing up to stuff and even took a few wobbly steps along the couch. :( I may have cried a little (and contemplated pushing her over)


A few random things:
the other day in the car Kelsey was crying and Rylee screamed "Kelsey! Be Quiet!" The best part is Kelsey actually listened to her :)
Every Sunday Rylee cries during the intermediate hymn because its not time to go to nursery yet. Rylee picked up my phone asking if she could call Lily, I said sure and the 'conversation' went like this: "Hi Lily, what doing? playing? on stairs? OH, Good! bye!"
After a big lightning storm about 6 weeks ago (that woke up everyone but Rylee) Kelsey started having a hard time falling asleep at night. She was fine during the day, but at nights I'd have to spend a few extra minutes rocking her before she'd let me lay her down without screaming. She's just starting to get better at letting me just lay her down again.

I am convinced that 2.5 year olds are the epitome of 'opposition in all things'. While often what she says and does brings so much joy, she also can throw a fit like its no body's business, and certainly knows how to drive her Momma CRAZY! I try to focus on the positive :)

Mini Town

At the beginning of the summer I bought a Groupon for a punch card to a place called "mini town".  Its basically a miniature 'town' for little kids.  There are several themed rooms full of kid sized stuff to play with. They have a grocery store, house, school, bank, dance room, theatre, park, play room (what used to be a zoo??), they also have a playground outside with a sandbox and on Fridays a train.

 

I thought it would be something fun to take the girls and do indoors during the blistering heat. We'd bring Rylee's friend Lily when we could.  Its always fun to watch them play together. They both loved the little see-saw, and of course the candy shop.

 

Here are the little Momma's lined up with their babies in their strollers.

 Rylee especially loved the 'house'.  This was the first time she played with a doll that opens and closes its eyes when it sits up/down.  She looked at it for a minute and then said "smart!" :) Here she is putting the doll in the carrier. Holding it up on her arm -exactly like I do. Such a copier :)

 

 

 bustin a move - most likely to "Tearin' up my Heart", One Direction or Hanna Montana

 

 

Its always nice to have a buddy.

(on a side note, I didn't think I'd be one to buy licensed/cartoon items (aside from pj's) but seeing Rylee's face light up when at the sight of pictured Dora shirt on clearance, I lamented.  She prefers to wear it several days in a row, I'm not as big of a push-over on the later. Speaking of Dora. . . . . . .

 if you're even remotely familiar with the explorer you should see this fake movie trailor, its pretty funny:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/28/dora-the-explorer-fake-movie-trailer-college-humor_n_1635756.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular&fb_source=message )

 

I'm not sure I'd pay full price to go more but we had fun and it was nice to mix things up a bit.

lil' Momma

Rylee really is such a sweet big sister.

 

I was a little nervous for the girls to start sharing a room (you know, like 6 months ago).  After one night, Rylee cried because Kelsey wasn't ready for bed yet at her bedtime. Thankfully that didn't last long as we moved Kelsey's bed time up and now its the same time. While they usually nap about the same time during the day I separate them because Kelsey doesn't usually sleep as long and I don't want to risk her waking up Rylee.  Rylee STILL asks which bed Kelsey will be sleeping in.

 

A couple months ago I fed Kelsey in Rylee's bed and didn't feel like moving her (pre-rolling and Rylee's bed is currently 4 inches off the ground).  I thought I heard Rylee in the room but found her in the living room so I didn't think too much of it. Later on, I snuck in to check on Kelsey to discover Rylee had taken her blanket to cover up Kelsey and quietly left.  That's a pretty big deal because Rylee is rather possessive of her blankies!

 

 

 For a long time a pre-requisite to giving Kelsey a hug was she had to be on her back. It was pretty comical watching her try to roll Kelsey over to "assume the position".  She always kisses her on her head.

 Another morning I was getting some work done on the computer and heard Kelsey get up. Rylee immediately went in to "get her".  When someone first enters the room Kelsey quiets down and then if you don't pick her up right away gets upset.  Well, this particular day she didn't fuss again.  I was working on the computer and didn't run in right away. After about 15 minutes I thought I'd better investigate:

Rylee had climbed into the crib and was bouncing Kelsey around like it was a trampoline! Kels thought it was hilarious!  I love to hear them laughing together - no one can get Kelsey going quite like Rylee can :)

Rylee loves blowing Kelsey kisses when put down for a nap, and now commandeers the spoons when its feeding time.  She's even recently agreed to read books to Kelsey, pointing out the toys/numbers/colors. She's very good about making sure Kelsey has a toy and her bink.

I've always said they'll either be best friends or best enemies - probably both.  And its true, the older and more mobile Kelsey gets, the more annoyed Rylee gets - taking her toys or destroying her "castle" laying on her book/blanket/bed/lap. Kelsey' (like most little sisters) just idolizes her.  It is rather sweet.

Love my little ladies!