Gigi & Papa did Halloween arts & crafts today!

I left a Jack cut out for them to build & it seems to have inspired them to make bats too!  Can you find Gigi's favorite color!!!  LOL!

It's Fun Friday!!!

Gigi was so excited to pick a costume to wear to Nana & Papa's just for fun today!!!  We were so happy that her witch dress from last year still fits!  I wonder what she'll pick tomorrow!  We're park bound so she doesn't even need an excuse to dress up silly!

Gigi's work of art from school!

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with all the things Gigi is bringing home from school now. It's fun to see the many things she does each day but I can't image having to keep every page she brings home!  I'm running out of space at work too! So is Dan! LOL!  This morning I decided I should start taking pictures of everything and then at least we can look at it again when ever we want to.  It will be fun to have her tell me about them from the pictures. She has a really good memory and can tell you about things she did months ago!  She asked to wear a necklace the other day that she made. I knew it had to be from Valentine's Day because of the conversation hearts on it but I have no memory of it at all. She told me all about how she made it at the "big" library. I asked her if I was with her when she made it but apparently I wasn't which made me feel better & is probably why I don't remember anything at all about it. She laughed and told me that I was silly and that she went to the library with Nana & Papa and made it. 

Thanks Writing Fairy for my new book...A Dollar for Penny!

Look how well my baby is doing with her letter tracing!!!

Gigi loves doing pages from her workbook!!

And I love sitting with her and hearing all about her day. She had fun with her friend Kayla at school and she went to computer class today with Ms. Patty."I used the mouse and I did the blue gorilla, that's my favorite color, and I did the purple elephant, that's your favorite color mommy!"  And today she went for a long walk with Nana and saw two small dogs. It all sounded fascinating!!!

Dear Santa....

In case Santa reads our blog we thought we would start giving him some hints!  Gigi really liked this v-tech writing toy!

Shopping w/ Nana & Tegan

Why does Mommy love Fridays so much?

Well, aside from the obvious....work is over for the week and I get to spend two full days of non-stop Gigi fun...the real joy of Friday is no school which means no morning stress!  She's going to Nana's! I don't even have to feed her breakfast!!! It doesn't matter what she's wearing and there's no backpack or after school snacks to prepare.  Even the drive to work is different...not better because I really enjoy practing my colors, numbers, sight words, shapes, vowels, etc. with her.  I'm getting really good at counting by 3's & 4's too!  LOL!  But it is, well, more grown up!!!  I actually listen to the radio.  It's kind of like getting to turn on the tv every night after Gigi falls asleep!  LOL! 

Three little girls playing dinosaurs...I love it!!!

Handwriting practice was extra spooky today!

I drew several houses & a spooky tree and Gigi traced each line then she added lots of trick-or-treaters (stickers).  It was fun & really put us in the Halloween mood not that we needed the help!!! 

Look who we met in Agrabah!!!

No Trick Here...Only a Big Treat!!!

Wow!  We stopped for a sandwich at the bakery on Main Street and Gigi got a big surprise!  A very nice Cast Member came over, said, "hello Princess" and gave her a humongous cookie filled with Halloween sprinkles!!  The treats have begun!!

First Princess Sighting of the day!

Never to soon to celebrate Halloween!!!

On our way to the Magic Kingdom for a fun family day!!!

So very sad!!!

Gigi is officially a "big kid" now as she has a scraped knee from an unfortunate fall on the sidewalk.  It was so sad but she was a real trooper while we cleaned it up. She now has a lovely Aurora bandaid on it & is sound asleep so it doesn't seem to be bothering her any longer.  My poor baby! I mean big girl!

My favorite time of day!

I love our nightly routine before bedtime! We usually spend about 15-30 minutes doing something educational. During this time we also talk about the day and tonight Gigi said to me, "don't tease me." I wasn't sure why she was saying this as I wasn't teasing her so I asked if someone teased her at school and she that Kayla did. She couldn't tell me what Kayla said or did to tease her but she did say that Kayla was her friend and that she liked to play with RJ too. I was so delighted to hear her talk about her new little friends. She really loves school this year. After we get ready for bed Gigi picks out a book to read to me. Tonight she read a new one with LOTS of new words, Moose and Mouse. The Writing Fairy brought it. Gigi invited her little mouse and tiny little moose too since it was a book about them. Then using her Hippo as a pillow (with Mouse in his mouth and Moose on his ear) she read the book to us. After she reads to us we say our prayers, we share big hugs and kisses and then she lays down on her elephant and goes to sleep. It's only about an hour a night but it's always the best part of my day! I'm still not sure where she came up with "don't tease me" but she's been saying a lot of new things lately and I'm sure it's a result of school. She's says, "just kidding" a lot now and it's just adorable! Hopefully none of the kids will have anything too bad to share with Gigi! So far it's all been very cute!

3 1/2 really makes a difference!

It's so amazing to see how Gigi is changing. She continues to impress us everyday with how well she is reading and you can now see a definite change in her handwriting.  She has much more hand control now and even though her coloring is still mostly scribbling she is very creative in her scribbling. She knows what she is drawing whether or not it ends up looking like it does in her mind or the way she describes it!

Tonight for her writing practice I decided to use her preschool curriculum workbook. The last time she did any pages was in May. She wasn't quite ready for it then. But she definitely is now!  Tonight, after doing 22 pages I had to be "mean" and say no more for now! I expected to do 2 or 3 sheets but she wanted to keep going!  She loved it. She almost doesn't need my help at all. With the exception of a few words here and there she even reads the instructions at the top of each page all by herself.  It was neat to compare her writing from May to now.  There are pages where you needed to circle certain pictures and in the pages from May her circles are very shaky and wobbly compared to now where they are smooth...still messy but the line is smooth!  I can't imagine what I will be saying in March when she turns 4!  But I do hope that doesn't come too soon because I am loving 3 1/2!  Especially all the silly things she says now!!!

Pajama Day at school was a big hit this morning!!!

Gigi was very excited to be allowed to wear a night gown to school this morning!  She usually misses these kind of fun days as they are generally on Fridays when she's at Nana & Papa's but Papa is still not feeling well & we don't want to take the chance on spreading any germs! 

Thanks Writing Fairy!!

Wow!  The Writing Fairy left a lollipop for Gigi & even one for Emily!  It was really nice of him to remember Emily since she was visiting & she did practice her hand writing!!!

Emily came for a visit...

Emily decided to practice her handwriting tonight too...she did cursive, of course!  They both did a great job!

Flynn Rider came to my school today!!

Gigi was so excited that Daddy got to come to school this morning and meet her teachers.  When we got out of our cars and I asked her if she wants to take Daddy in to meet her teachers she said, "not daddy...Flynn Rider!!!"  Silly Mommy.  Daddy hasn't been Daddy in months!  She corrects me all the time..."he's not Daddy, he's Flynn Rider!" And of course this is because she is Rapunzel!!!  Sadly I always have to be Mother Gothel! 

Thanks Uncle Michael for my Very Smurfy dinner!

At first glance this may appear to be a yummy cup cake but it is actually a cup cake sized meat loaf with blue (yes blue) mashed potatoes on top!!!  It's as tasty as it is pretty & Gigi loved eating it for dinner tonight!  Uncle Michael is a great cook & very creative too! 

Back to School!

Gigi couldn't wait to get to school today and she was extra excited because she was staying for lunch today!!  She loves her princess lunch box!

Lazy Day!!!

We're just relaxing & playing at home today.  Gigi is having a great time playing with all of her toys in her room...so are we!!!

Last picture of the day!!!

We made it back to our car!!!  We expect Gigi will be asleep in about 10 minutes!  LOL!  It was a great day!  We did and saw so many things today!  We look forward to our next visit!  Gigi already asked if we can come back tomorrow!  We will not be coming back that soon!!!

Aaaaah! That's my baby...not your dinner!

"Look Mommy, those are MY elephants!!!"

Water Flume Ride!

I can't believei let her go on it but she did great!!! I was a nervous wreck but she loved it & got right back in line to do it again. I wasn't as nervous the second time! LOL!

Ride Time!!!

She already did the giant bounce house & now we're off to all the fun rides!!!

Gigi's very good friends!!!

Having another great day!!!!

Today we are at Busch Gardens visiting our very good friends Ernie & Bert!!!

Disney on Ice - Dare to Dream was Delightful

Gigi loved the show especially the  Rapunzel storyline.  She was delighted the entire time and then when she saw Rapunzel she kicked it up to eleven!!!  LOL!  "Mommy, mommy, it's Maximus!"  "You silly horse!!"  He was amazing.  He looked so real!  We will definitely be going to future Disney on Ice shows....we're hooked!!!

A Princess Halloween book...what could be better!

Having fun at the book store!

We're at Barnes & Noble picking out some new books for Gigi.  Thank you Ellie & Sagan for her Baptism gift card!!!  She's having so much fun picking out new books! 

Gigi is ready for Halloween!!!

Gigi opened her half birthday present...her Halloween costume!  This year she wanted to be Jasmine.  We're sure why she became so interested in Jasmine all of a sudden but as cute as she looks in her costume I'm glad she is!!!

Someone is hungry!!!

We are dining at The Plaza Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom.  Gigi is enjoying her first course, a yummy salad.

She picked her favorite color...blue!

Picking her birthday balloon!

A visit with Aurora!

Waiting to meet Mickey & Minnie!!!!

We had our first costume change of the day...a little too hot for a wig & fluffy dress!!!

On our way to the Magic Kingdom!!!

Gigi's first surprise...

Many years ago while we were anxiously waiting for Gigi we got her this little kitchen.  Emily & Tegan played with it for a while but by the time Gigi arrived home it was packed up & she was a little too young for it at that time so we left it in the attic. It should have come out a long time ago but better late than never!  She was delighted by it especially when it started taking & moving! Our favorite line has always been, "who's hungry?" And our favorite joke is, "how do you make a milk shake?  You scare it!!!"

Happy Half Birthday Gigi!!!

Gigi turned 3 1/2 today!  She grew 3/8 of an inch this month! She is now 37 3/8 inches & weighs a whopping 28.2 pounds.

We have lots of fun surprises for her over the next few days starting with a visit to the Magic Kingdom today!!!