Movie Mania

We have been watching a ton of Christmas movies this year!  Of course we have watched all the animated holiday classics, but this year the girls are old enough to really enjoy some of our favorite Christmas movies!!  It has been so fun to introduce them to movies that we grew up loving and watch them love them the way we do. 

Their favorites are 'Home Alone' (1 and 2); 'The Santa Clause' (1, 2 and 3); and 'Elf'.  And we have watched them over...and over...and over!!  They have even been repeating the lines like crazy.

Here are two funny interactions I had with Hannah...as a direct result of watching them.

'Home Alone: Lost in New York' reference on Christmas day: (I laughed so hard at this one I almost cried, but it embarrassed her so she wouldn't let me tell Dan.)

• Mommy, to Hannah: "I love you so much, baby!"
• Hannah: "Get down on your knees and tell me you love me."

"Elf" reference:

• Hannah: ""Why is that like that?" (talking about my laptop screen)
• Mommy: "I don't know...it just is."
• Hannah: "What? I'm kind of pissed about that."

Sometimes I wonder if those movies were really age appropriate since they all have adult humor in them. Some of them, obviously, even have spurts of foul language, but they loved them and I don't think they did any permanent damage ;) 

Favorite iPhone Photos of 2011

Clearly, I have not have been the best at keeping up to date with our blog this year, but we sure did have some great times together!!  Here are some of our favorite pictures we captured on out iPhones throughout the year...in no particular order:

Creekside at Christmas with the Gibsons

 Riding new bikes

Decorating christmas cookies

Adding money to our Disney savings jar

An Easter kiss

Hartford fair

Scioto Mile fountains

Sleeping in the girls club

Reverting back to infancy ;)

Doing nothing on Christmas break

Hannah loves to line up her little toys

Lunch date...when I was still teaching

Pretending the ottoman is a boat

Riding a real {paddle} boat

Sliding at the park

Riding a pony

Poolside

Quiet time...2 Chronicles.  She is ambitious :)

Red, White and Boom

Sleeping Hannah

Helping Daddy get readdy for a wedding...my personal favorite!!

Visiting the Santa Maria

Christmas Eve dinner

Typical Hannah face

Holiday Lights Parade

Umm...yeah, you can figure this out ;)

Girls Club

Riding bikes

Playing in the leaves

Easton

Yes, this is Dan REAL school yearbook picture!

Chalking

More toy line ups...

Backyard picnics

Zoo!!

Lounging in the school library

Sisters

So sweet

Safety Town

Creekside...our 'go to' Summer hang out

Silly with Daddy

Alyssa love her new 'vintage' school desk!

Yep...our family is #1!!

Thank God for the iPhone!!

Christmas

Despite the lack of pictures, we had a GREAT holiday together.  Even though we visited just as many places as usual, it seemed more relaxed this year...like we actually got to slow down a little and enjoy the day itself.  Unfortunately, my camera needs a tune up...at least I am hoping that is all it is.  The shutter isn't working right and nothing seems to focus properly :\ Oh well, I still got a few shots of them opening gifts at our house from us and Santa. 

 

We aren't to the point where they wake up crazy early, so I got to sneak out of bed to make homemade blueberry muffins before the girls even woke up at 8:30. Then when they woke up, we could open presents while their sweet aroma filled our house. 

 

This year was another Princess Christmas.  More than half the gifts were Disney products...they seriously have a monopoly on the industry!  They each got two of the young princess animator series dolls.  Hannah got Ariel and Belle...Alyssa got Aurora and Cinderella.  Then they each got an Ariel 'pillow pet' type pillow, princess dance bags, some movies and games, more little princess 'trinkets', some clothes and diamond-ish Mickey Mouse earrings (for Disney World this year!!)...and, last but certainly not least, the Sing and Glow Rapunzel dolls.  Those were a whole ordeal in and of itself.  For two over-priced dolls...just like the four we already have the don't sing or glow...who sing two lines from the movie's theme song.  Finally,  'Santa' brought them Doodle Bears, which haven't been played with nearly as much as I thought they would be.

 

The grandparents went with a Barbie theme, as we seem to be moving into that stage with the girls.  They got a camper and several themed Barbies with her relatives.  My mom also got them the Princess Dream Castle...Disney's answer to the Barbie Malibu Dream House.  It is pretty cute...and it is huge, but it is cheaply made for the price!  I was expecting a little more quality from Disney for $175.  At any rate, the girls LOVE it! And, I am sure their girls will love it someday too...then it will be a 'vintage' dream castle ;)

 Showing of their gifts from 'Santa'...

At the end of the day Alyssa wrote a little note to herself.  It is a little rough, but it says, "My favorite gift for Christmas is my Princess Dream Castle"  I love how inventive her spelling is.  And, I love even more that she is learning to express herself through writing.  It is so incredible and fun to watch these skills emerge and develop.  She still just seems like my little baby... 

 I can't believe another Christmas season is on the books!  Bring on the new year!