home Sweet Home!

The Happy Faces of Benjamin!

You Know You Are Southern ...

when you insist on wearing a bow with you pajamas!

FFN: Putting the "Fun" in "Fun"-due ...

I apologize for my mother's

ridiculous sense of humor.

Clearly, she needs to get out more!

-

Anyway, we invited over the Grand-bunch --

Gramps, Grammie, & Ompak

for fondue this week.

-

It was a lot of fun.

We did a spicy pepper-jack cheese fondue

which was amazingly yummy with toast squares and green apples.

-

We also did "Italian Fondue" which is definitely an abomination to the Swiss

(and probably to the Italians too).

Despite being terribly inauthentic, it is delicious!

You should try it some time!
We had meatballs and 3 cheese tortellini which we dipped in sweet basil & marinara sauce ...

it was absolutely wonderful!

-

We will definitely have to do this again sometime & experiment with more fun flavors!

Princesses on Ice

Last Saturday Mommy, Gramps, & I went to see Disney Princesses on Ice.

Daddy and Benjamin stayed home to do something manly ... like take a nap! :-)

-

Anyway, it was an absolutely amazing show, & we had GREAT seats.

Those performers are extremely talented!

It was sort of a combination musical/acrobatic act/ and ice skating show.

The costumes and set were pretty amazing too.

-

Here are a few pictures of me watching the show,

they aren't great b/c of the lighting, but you get the idea.

Right now I love all things fairytale ...

I love my fairytale story books.

I like to dress up as a princess.

Sometimes I also like to be the prince & fight the dragon with my sword!

-

The little mermaid was my favorite part of the show!

It's the only one of the movies I've actually seen (the Mommy-edited version).

-

I also liked Cinderella since I have a Cinderella storybook.

They also did Beauty and the Beast which has fun music!

I really liked the dwarfs from Snow White too!

They also did Aladdin which was pretty impressive.

They also did sleepy beauty, but I don't have a picture of that one!

It was definitely a highlight of the year for me.

I have been talking about it all week!

-

Fun at Sam's Club

More Birthday Fun!

I had a fun birthday party with my family over Thanksgiving,

but we have also done a few birthday-ish things

this week to celebrate.

-

Today we went to Chuck E. Cheese with some friends

for pizza and a fun time!

-

You can see that Benjamin was extremely impressed ...

-

But, we had fun riding the cars & playing the games!

-

I loved this ride, but my companion was a little concerned at first.

We had a great time,

& I got a new book!

Thank you M family! :-)

-

Also, earlier I took some cupcakes to "school"

(Mom's Morning Out) for my birthday!

-

One Artist's Beginnings ...

Making Our Own Christmas Wrapping Paper

-

You start by making a Christmas stamp out of a potato.

We did simple star and tree shapes and dipped them in red and green paint.

-

I like to embellish mine with a paint brush after stamping.

-

I also add lots of dots with my fingers!

-

-

When Daddy got done with work,

he joined in the fun too!

-

He's more into abstract art than I am!

-

We got some great paper to wrap our presents with ...

now I can't wait for Christmas!

Advent, Advent, A little light burns ...

My Birthday Present from Ompak

I am really enjoying learning to ride my new bike from Ompak!

I got to pick it out myself!

-

No, I'm not usually allowed to ride it in the house.

Yes, I know my bow doesn't match my sweater ... I picked it out myself!

-

Christmas is coming ... by Ada Marie

Welcome!

When little hands decorate the tree...

all the ornaments end up on the bottom branches!

-

Hurray for 4 stockings this year!

-

I loved unpacking the decorations!

-

I'm also very excited about the "little house" advent calendar!

-

Love, Ada Marie

My Silly Sister by Benjamin

My silly sister is REALLY into playing dress-up these days!

She even likes to dress me up!

-

She makes me laugh a lot!

-

I agreed to the angel wings,

but I did draw the line at a princess dress ...

a little boy has to have boundaries around here!

- Love, Benjamin

And she's off ... by Ada Marie

It wasn't really that cold outside,

but I like to wear my scarf, hat, & coat!

They match my backpack!

Can you guess my favorite color?

-

Thanks Gramaw and Super Papak for the coat!

It fits great this year!

More Gifts by Ada Marie

I got lots of nice gifts for my birthday.

Gramaw and Super Papak sent

me some birthday money.

-

So, I picked out this My Little Pony Collection.

There is a set of four books, a play mat, stickers, and seven ponies to play with!

I love it, and I've already spent hours entertaining myself with it!

-

I also got this new outfit with my birthday money!

-

Thanks Gramaw and Super Papak!

Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Mommy & Me

thinking ...

My Crazy Family!

Dressing up is one of my favorite things ...

my family members were very nice to humor me and dress up

for my birthday party!

-

Thanks guys!

- Ada Marie

By Request: More Cake Pictures & Info

Several people have been asking about the cake.

For those who are interested ...

-

Castle & Towers:

- chocolate cake with cream cheese icing

- two regular ice cream cones stacked and

covered in melted white chocolate

- topped with sugar cones covered in fudge frosting

and rolled in red and white icing sugar.

-

Dragon:

- molded rice crispy treats covered in icing

and then in rolled fondant

The scales were made with icing gel

and the wings were made of fruit roll-ups.

-

- Daddy is the one who carved the fondant

to look like a dragon!

He did an amazing job!

-