Nutcracker

Sunday, Mattie danced in her second Nutcracker. She takes dancing in the nutcracker very serious, no smiling. She was so happy to have her cousin Khloe come and watch her dance.

Pacific Aquarium

We went to the Aquarium in Long Beach this past Friday evening. Mattie and Jake mostly like touching the sand sharks and the rays.

Mattie got to help the trainers while the feed the sea lions.

Jake got a few minutes outside of the stroller which was his favorite part.

Mattie and Khloe

Mattie got to go the Christmas Party at the Fire Station. Mattie was thrilled to go there. What made it even better was that she got to play with her cousin Khloe. Santa came, but I think both girls would say the best part was the bounce house slide!

DISNEYLAND

I was a good mom today and I took Mattie and Jake to Disneyland! They had a nice time, even though it was really busy. We got to see Santa and real reindeer. Mattie was being so brave, normally she won't talk to any characters other than princess, but today she was all about saying hi and getting autographs and pictures.

Mattie and Jake got to see Sully, but he couldn't talk or sign Mattie's book.

Cuerella D'ville was sadden by the fact that Mattie and Jake don't have black and white dogs.

Mattie really liked Sleeping Beauty's castle. She told me that Mickey and his friends decorated it for Christmas time.

Jake is 2!

Jake is now 2! He will tell you that if a) he is in a good mood b) you are not a stranger and/or c) he feels like it. It is pretty cute. He got tons of great presents. He didn't care to much about opening any of them after the 1st one, but luckily for him his sister mattie and cousin khloe were there to help him!

MISSION INN LIGHTING

We had a lot of fun waiting for the lights to come on in the freezing cold!

S O C C E R S T A R

It is official! Mattie is a soccer star. She finally got her much awaited soccer trophy. She was very excited!

T H A N K S G I V I N G

We went to Knott's Berry Farm for Thanksgiving Lunch today. They actually have turkey and all the normal stuff, so its not as bad as it might sound to some of you. Jake really liked the cupcakes.

Picture Day

Jake's birthday is coming soon, so I thought I would get his 2 year old pictures taken and Christmas Pictures all in one. I brought 4 different outfits for Jake to wear. He was not in the mood for pictures. This the one picture they took, luckily it was actually right between screams, but it was as good as it was going to get.

Mattie has the cutest Ballet outfit so I thought she should get some pictures too, plus I had more coupons.

Things got better for Jake when he could play in a sleigh with his favorite person.

Jake's Day

Jake woke up dark and early, but after 5am, so it was fair game to start our day then. He played, had a nice breakfast, walked his sister to kindergarten and then went to kids club. We usually come home, I give him a snack while I get dressed and then we go and get Mattie, then he eats lunch and THEN naps. Well i came out to check on him and this is what I found. I woke him up, after I took these pictures, but the day was shot, he counted those 15 maybe 16 minutes of shut eye as his 3 hour nap.

He couldn't play anymore.

Why do boys always get such great lashes?

Later, while Mattie was napping, I could hear jake moving the kitchen chairs around, when it got quiet again, and he didn't come out, I went to check on him (being quiet in our house tends to be a red flag). Jake just wanted some water, I guess.

Look at his face, he doesn't even look guilty, just cute.

HALLOWEEN

Here are some pictures from our ward's trunk or treat party last night. Mattie was very happy to go and was disappointed that I didn't buy the same candy as last year. Jake really liked wearing his hat once he saw all the other kids dressed up.

Ballerina

Mattie is going to be in the Nutcracker this winter. She is very excited and takes her ballet very serious. She refuses to smile while doing ballet. "Ballerinas don't smile" that is what mattie tells me. Yesterday she became worried that she couldn't remember her whole dance. So she put on her ballet shoes, and began practicing. After about an hour of serious practice that was in the living room and then in the kitchen and back to the living room. I notice the soft snoring instead of ballet sounds. She had fallen asleep while practicing. I took this chance to snap a few pictures on my ballerina.

Halloween haunt

PUMPKIN PATCH

Last night we went to the pumpkin patch. It had rained most of the day, and was still pretty chilly, so there was hardly anyone at the pumpkin patch, which only made really more fun for us. Jake was able to walk around and feel free.

Mattie was so excited. She has been telling me about how last year she got to go to the pumpkin patch. She remembers everything. She was really excited about the horse rides. Jake, on the other hand, prefers the horses at disneyland. He wouldn't let go of my hand, but he did have fun.

Mattie and Jake really liked seeing all the huge pumpkins, which by the way, cost $60!! We didn't get one :)

The had a bounce house which was really fun, and very nice since they were the only ones playing in it.