Even MORE Dress-Up & Dancing

Oh my goodness, this is ABSOLUTELY one of Annie's favorite activities these days. Both of my girls have truly rediscovered dress-up, but Annie has gone far beyond rediscovering. Daily she requests to dress up and then dance. Here she is dancing to, of all things, Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop"! I just LOVED dancing with Annie to this song, bringing back all memories of the Valley-Girl eighties! : ) And the first photo really proves what a show Annie puts on for me! I just love it! : ) Then, of course, another day another outfit! LOL! At the bottom Annie is dancing as a "Ballerina Unicorn"! : )

Petshop Beach & Other Winter Fun

Here is Annie with her good friend Aubrie playing none other than the famous "Petshop Beach," a favorite these days. It involves taking all of the "Petshops" (which the original was actually deemed "Bobblehead Kitty" by Oma) and immersing them in Annie's little kitchen sink for hours. Other favorites are figure parades, playdough, and Peri dress-up.

"For the Children in Haiti"

The title of this post is Leia's usual prayer both at dinner time and at night. Ever since the huge earthquake in Haiti in mid-January, Leia has prayed and prayed along with us for the Haitian people, . . . especially the children. I tried to figure out something small we could do that would truly allow the girls to help the situation (more than just collecting change through school and giving a donation through church), . . . and the answer presented itself in the form of the girls' unused stuffed animals. Annie and Leia get so many of these stuffed friends, a few of them always get left by the wayside, . . . never truly to be loved. The girls themselves went through their bins and found ones they really wanted to give, . . . enough to fill a large box. Together we addressed it to the Pediatric Unit at the General Hospital in Port Au Prince, packed all those stuffed toys, and sent it off right away. In reality, it doesn't matter when the hospital gets the package. There will always be poor children there who will bear a smile at seeing one of these cute toys.

Our Little Tantrum Kid

Annie's black eye makes this picture even more pitiful, doesn't it? : ( Well, the truth of the matter is that if Annie isn't put down for a nap every day around lunchtime, . . . this face ensues (along with kicking, screaming, yelling, scratching, biting, and sometimes spitting). Yes, Annie has true tantrums when she is tired, . . . today's was set off by her not being able to spoon her snowcake into her mouth with her mittens on. Oh my. And, yes, these tantrums always end with the "Thinking Corner." (Luckily, this phase didn't last long.)

The Big Snow 2010 (Day 3)

Mamma being afraid to try anything bigger, the girls and I created our own little sledding hill right off the big drift by the back door. We even made a ramp down to the yard so we could have a double drop. It was a tiny little slide, but we had a LOT of fun on it! Then we made "snowcakes" with our sandmolds, complete with chocolate syrup and sprinkles! The girls really enjoyed them!

Leia's Tinker-Dolls

Santa hit the jackpot when he brought Leia tinkertoys this Christmas! They are used every single day! And today after trying to make a sunshine, but running out of spokes, Leia discovered that her creation looked like a guy! SO she made a whole family of Tinker Dolls for us to play with. She made two families: ours and Shenan's. You can see Leia and Shenan in the "pool" with "flippers" and Annie and Armelle in the "pool" as well with "floaties." Leia is holding Daddy and Mamma. : )

Rediscovering Dress-Up

With the snow still outside and school cancelled, the girls came up with a wonderful inside activity that we had all but forgotten about: dress-up! This has been the main activity during this second big snow this winter. And oh how we're enjoying it! Lots of dancing bunnies, lions, angels, dogs, and other fun creatures are invading the home. Annie even did some Wii yoga as a bunny today!