Playing Dress up At AMY

To celebrate one of my favorite cousin's birthday (Liz!), we decided to meet at the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY) to play with the new exhibit (Fairy Tails, Frogs, and Fables). I have to say, so far I have liked all the other exhibits, but this one is by far my favorite! My girls LOVE to play dress up!!! And Friday, they had a lot of opportunities. So, here are a few pictures.

Noelle, as Alice (from Alice in Wonderland)

Three "Little Red Hiding Hoods" (no one wanted to be the big bad wolf)
Morgan

Noelle

And Melanie!

Noelle is a fairy princess

So is Melanie...

They made paper frogs and fairs. It was a fun craft.

Then Morgan decided she wanted to be a fairy too.

Queen Melanie

Queen Morgan

Princess Noelle

Princess Noelle turned into a PIG!!! Oh NO!

And so did Queen Melanie!!!

They had so much fun, they were so sad when he had to leave. The exhibit will be leaving soon, so we will have to check it out a few more times, and SOON!

Thank you Liz for having a birthday so that we had an excuse to go play! I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

A Surprise "We Love Daddy" Party

Brandon has been working crazy hours lately, and the girls have been going through "Daddy-withdrawl" (To tell you the truth, we ALL have). When Brandon had to leave for work yesterday around 6 am (after not getting home until 2 am), Melanie was really upset. So, we made a plan. We were going to through Daddy a surprise "We Love You" Party.

Melanie had the whole thing planned out:

1. Pink Frosted Cookies
2. Strawberry Cake with Chocolate Frosting
3. Flower Decorations
4. Party Hats

Well, we didn't get everything on that list, but we did get half of them.

First thing, we made the cookies. These cookies are extra special to me. My Great Grandma George use to make them for everyone, and it made everyone feel loved and important. That is definitely how we wanted Daddy to feel, so they were a "must have".

Both girls helped with the cookies.

The anticipation of them was just too much. The girls had to sit and watch them bake.

After the cookies were ready, we headed to the library for story time, then home for lunch and naps. After our naps, we only had an hour to finish... and we still needed to DECORATE!!!

Don't they look so cute in their paint shirts?

The Decorations:

Noelle's

Melanie's

Mom's

Finally, he got home, and we said "SURPRISE!". Then as a family, we frosted and decorated the cookies!

When all the excitement was over, Brandon was still tired. But he wasn't alone, he had a cute snuggle partner.

Brandon, we love you! Thank you for all the hard work you have been doing lately for us. We do miss you, but we love you so much, and understand.

We Love Being a Girl

I was thinking.... How could someone NOT want to have girls? (Especially sisters). They really do have a lot of fun together. Like, story time in mom's laundry basket.

I know, you are thinking "boys can do that too", and you are right. But how many little boys ask their mothers to tie their blanket around them as a princess?

And then giggle, run around, and then play ring around the rosie together?

Not many! I'm so grateful for my girls. I love being a mom.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss's birthday was this week. He would be 107 if he were still alive. Melanie has been all excited about Dr. Seuss all week, and was talking about how he needed a birthday party. So, I decided to surprise her with one. While she was napping, I made the cake. Then, when Brandon got home from work, he took the girlies to the park, giving me a little over an hour to go to the store, buy supplies, come home, cut, frost, and decorate the cake. (Let's just say, it's not the best cake I've ever made, but it still made my girlies happy).

Here is Melanie, finding out what the surprise was.

And Noelle thinks it looks finger licking good.
While we sang happy birthday to Dr. Seuss, Noelle just grinned and laid back. It was too cute not to get a picture.

Both girls got a chance to blow out the candle.

Then it was time to dive in. I think this looks cool.

We all enjoyed the cake (as indicated by the following pictures)

And, I couldn't help a sophisticated cake eating picture...

Thank you Dr. Seuss for everything you did for Children's Literature. I knew I truly enjoyed your books as I was growing up. Now both of my girls are have a love for them too. Happy Birthday!

The Doctor is In...

And she is taking patients...

Come at your own risk.

Feelin' Irish, Ridin' Around, and Cookin' up Some Fun

March is here, and the next holiday we get to celebrate is ST. PATRICK'S DAY! We decided out house wasn't nearly green enough, so we have started to work on remedying that.

Melanie made this cute Leprechaun hat and Leprechaun. She did most of the painting (I will admit to helping paint the actual Leprechaun, but she did do most of it. And she applied all the stickers, coiled the pipe cleaner, and made all the big decisions. I helped by cutting and applying glue. I think we make a good team.

Noelle, in the meanwhile, took up a new hobby... riding... pretty much everything. It started with the "quad" and moved onto the bicycle. She is definitely her father's daughter.

To make everything even more interesting and exciting at the Smithson house, Noelle has become a culinary master. Her new favorite dish to make... Melanie!

Melanie tells me "Noelle is cooking me, mom." And when Noelle decided she was done baking her sister in the oven (which wasn't for a while, because, believe it or not, they were doing this for at least a hour and giggling the entire time), Melanie yelled down the hall to her sister, "Noelle, come cook me... PLEASE!" Too silly.