Happy Halloween

Finley insisted on being Tinkerbell for Halloween, she was so excited about her costume. We were able to recycle one of Finley's old costumes for Ellis since she doesn't really care yet. I think we may have one more year before she really starts to care. Brandon was thrilled to pull out the TCU cheerleader costume again. Finley wore it two years ago. They had a Hallween parade at School and then we went Trick or Treating in our neighborhood.

Ellis was so excited to pull candy out of our bowl and put it into her pumpkin...



We tried to convince her we were going to get more candy outside, but she was having so much fun...



Still not happy...



Fin, ready to go...

Finally over it...

Brilliant costume choice by our neighbor...Yo Gabba Gabba! Hilarious!

Wedding

Brandon's sister, Virginia (Ginger to us and Aunt G to the girls) got married on October 1, 2011 in their hometown of Sherman. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of family and friends celebrating Ginger and Steve. We all couldn't be happier to Aunt G, but it is very bittersweet. Ginger is going from living a couple blocks away from us in Dallas to Connecticut! We will miss her very much and I know she will miss the girls, but we are so excited for her and Steve to start their lives together.

The Rehearsal dinner was at a beautiful restaurant on Lake Texoma, unfortunately it was a parent’s nightmare – concrete patio with railing that overlooked a 20 foot drop off. Brandon and I spent most the night playing defense and making sure the girls didn’t slip through the rails. We ended up with a few falls and one bump of the head from the concrete, no permanent damage. It was a beautiful night and the girls had a blast – we were exhausted!

I can't wait for the professional photos to be ready. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a Christmas Card!

Momo and her girls...

Finley and Ellis were the flower girls in the wedding. Finley was really into it and followed instructions beautifully. She’s my rule follower! Ellis, on the other hand, was the wild card and we knew that going into it. Even the minister looked a little nervous when we showed up with our mini flower girl. The girls started out down the aisle and Finley was perfect, dropping her petals like a pro. Ellis toddled behind and instead of dropping the flowers from her basket, she bent down and started picking up the flowers that had been dropped and putting them back in her basket. She continued doing this until about half way down the aisle when she finally looked up and realized there was a lot of people in the church watching her. At this point, Ellis quickly turned her basket over, dumped her petals, dropped her basket and ran back to the door where my mom was waiting to catch her in case she tried to make a run for it. She watched the wedding from the back, which was probably the best place for her to be.

The entire Ellis clan...

The beautiful bride...

Ballet Class

Finley started dance again this fall and she still loves it!

Mimi and her girls...

Beach Trip

We went to Gulf Shores, AL again this year with my family and it was just as pretty as I remembered. We stayed in the same resort this year, except we had to get a house because of our extra passenger Ellis. The house was wonderful plus it came with a golf cart! We spent our days going back and forth between the beach and pool, driving the golf cart and napping. Ellis had a great time on her first beach trip, but kept us all on our toes. Finley became a little fish and wanted to spend most of her time at the pool after an unfortunate run in with baby jellyfish on our first day at the beach. We can't wait to go back again!

When we made it home, Finley didn't quite understand that our vacation was over. She asked if we could take the golf cart and go to the pool. It broke my heart to tell her that we no longer have a golf cart or a pool. Brandon took her swimming at his gym, but I don't think she was very impressed. We all had a hard time adjusting back to the real world, but poor Fin really missed the beach!

Finley

Yesterday, I went to get the girls from school a little earlier than usual. I went to Ellis's class first and she was so excited to see me. She ran over to me saying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," it just warmed my heart! I picked her up and she said, "bye, bye" and waved to her teacher and looked at me as said, "Ninley", which means let's go get Finley. We walked over to Finley's classroom and Finley and two of her best buddies looked like they are having the best time. We hang out for a minute and then I tell Finley it's time to go home. Well, she was having so much fun that she didn't want to leave. I let her play a few more minutes then tell her again that we need to go. Then came the tears, which broke my heart. After dragging her kicking and screaming to the car, we finally start home.

Finley is still crying and telling me that she wants to play with her friends and didn't understand why they couldn't come home with her. She did not understand my explanation which included things like, "Your friends need to go home and spend time with their families, eat dinner and take a bath just like you, you will see them tomorrow." I keep telling her this over and over again. All the time, she is crying and being very dramatic. She said, "I don't want to play with Ellis, I want to play with a bigger girl, Ellis is too little." My response was, "Well, you can play with Mommy, I'm a bigger girl." Finley then says, "No, I want to play with a bigger girl that's nice." Ouch! That hurt a little bit!

We make it home after a pretty painful trip and she finally calms down and gets over it. The rest of the night was fine and she woke up in a good mood this morning. We were heading back to school this morning and Finley asked me, "Where are we going?" I said, "We're going to school, silly, you know that." She says, "I don't want to go to school." Really? I don't know what I am going to do with that girl!

Birthday Parties

Finley had several birthday parties at the end of the school year. All were super fun, a splash park, a princess party and our first party at Pump it Up. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pictures at Pump it Up because I was trying to keep up with Ellis and keep an eye on Finley. As far as the Splash Park, if you can't tell from the pictures, both girls had a blast.

Finley and her best buddies...

Snow White was a huge hit at the Princess Party...

All dressed up for Pump it Up...