Twinkle Toes!!

I have to share a very adorable story about my very adorable Kate. For several months, possibly close to a year now, my sweet daughter has been asking for these adorable shoes called "Twinkle Toes". Now, I have to admit it- "I am cheap". I rarely pay $40 for a pair of shoes for myself - let alone my 4 yr. old. SO... needless to say I had managed to hold her off by saying they did not come in her size, ( which originally was true)- next I tried the honesty approach by just stating they were too expensive. Well- they went on sale at Kohl's and I had a 30% off coupon so I broke down and purchased them with a little pressure from Nicklas in the mix also.

My sweet Kate is in heaven and thinks they are the most beautiful shoes and they even light up ( which I have managed to avoid light up shoes for 9 yrs. now- it figures the little girl would be able to wear me down on this one). Now I just have to hope her size 7 feet stay that size for at least a few more months. The upside is she enjoys walking on her own more so she can see them light up! Yeah for mom and dad!

Pure Delight!!

Look at those pretty Shoes!

Oh. Kate, Kate Kate!!

My sweet little Kate cracks me up. Last week I took Kate over to her friend Ella's house. As she was getting out of the car she says to me "How long do I get to stay?"
I said " I will be back to get you in about an hour."
She turns to me and says, " I can walk home."
To which I reply, " no, you are 4 and I will pick you up."
Kate then says, "But I really want to walk home."
Needless to say of course I picked her up, but I will never forget the look on her face when she told me she would walk home. I think Kate is 4 trying to skip ahead to 12.

What year were you born?

I don't often have cute 9 year old Alex stories to relay, but today I thought I would tell you something funny his Grandpa Max shared with his dad and I. Bryan's dad, Grandpa Max, agreed to take Alex to the Jazz Game with his Jr. Jazz tickets last Saturday. Grandpa said Alex was just full of information, stats on famous sports professionals, World War information, etc. Here is the cutest thing of all.
Max said Alex asked him what year he was born, to which he replied- 1942. Alex then said, " Grandpa you were 3 yrs old when World War II ended"- Grandpa decided right there Alex was a pretty smart kid and probably knows more then him. That is just so Alex for you!

Jedi Training Academy!

Our last trip to Disneyland (3 Yrs ago) the boys were just dying to get to be a Jedi for the Jedi Training Academy Show. We went to the show 2 or 3 times to try and get them the chance, with no luck. This time it really paid off to have my dad there. He was totally jumping up and down, pointing at the boys trying to get them picked to do it, and they both got up there and had a great time.

Here are the boys before the start of the show. We got there close to 30 min. early so we could be in the very front- thus have a better chance to be chosen.

Nick got picked at the very beginning and boy was he a very serious Jedi in Training, the kid didn't crack a smile the whole time he was up there. I wasn't even sure the kid was having fun, but when it was all over and I asked him if it was fun he verified it was.

Alex got picked at the very end- I was starting to sweat it. I was afraid he was going to be so disappointed if he didn't get to do it also. He looked like he was having a blast.

Here are both of them fighting Darth Vader, that was really cool. They both agreed that was the funnest part.
So they both earned there Jedi Master Certificates and it was one of the highlights of the trip.

Kate and the Disney Princesses!

The cutest thing ever was watching Kate wait so patiently in the worst of all the lines we had to stand in to meet a princess. She was so adorable, she would hug them and blow them kisses and it was the sweetest, cutest thing ever. The princesses were by far the most important thing for Kate. She also had to get her face painted. One our first day in the park my mom and I took Kate to see the princesses and when we left she saw a little girl getting her face painted. Needless to say that was all Kate could talk about that night and the next day, so I promised her that first thing on our last day there we would go get her face painted and we did.

Kate and Cinderella!

Isn't this unicorn mask so adorable, she kept saying to me, " Don't I look so pretty!". Kate you are always pretty your mother.


Snow White and Kate!

Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Kate!

We even got the boys to go with Kate to see Jasmine and Aladdin. Aladdin asked the boys if they were Kate's bodyguards, It was so cute. Alex was totally not excited about it, but in the end he decided to cooperate. Thanks Alex.

Belle and Kate!
Kate was so adorable with the princesses, it was definitely a highlight of the trip to see her so in awe of them and so excited to give them a hug and talk to them.

Ariel ( the Little Mermaid) and Kate!

Disneyland!!!

Our family went to Disneyland the end of October and had a wonderful time. We invited my mom and dad to go with us and I really think the kids enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa there. We totally ran them ragged but I think they had a great time. The kids loved the rides and we all enjoyed all the wonderful Halloween decorations at both Disneyland and California Adventure. Disneyland always goes all out, no cutting corners for them.
The boys loved the Grizzly River Rapids and rode it several times. I think they wanted to get as soaked as possible.

We all love the new Toy Story Mania Ride, it was very fun and we all could ride it so that was a big plus. You collect points by playing these 3-D arcade games as you go through the ride. It was so fun, I could have ridden it all day long. We also like to see who could get the highest score. By the end Bryan and my dad were by far the best and they wouldn't let us forget it.

The teacups was Kate's favorite ride and she always insisted they get in a pink one. You should have seen her face it was priceless. She had the biggest grin ever. Of course Dad did the spinning and according to Kate he needed to go much, much faster.

We were also very lucky to have our niece Whitney drive up from San Diego one of the days. We miss her and loved having her spend the day with us.

We enjoyed the awesome Halloween Screams Fireworks show, the Disney parade and the Pixar Parade. I think Kate really enjoyed the parades, you should have seen how cute she was waving at the characters and dancing, it was truly priceless.

The boys got to finally attend the Jedi Training Academy and fight Darth Vader, how cool is that. It was definitely one of their highlights of the trip.

This is a Butterfly!

Here is a very funny and cute story courtesy of Kate.

We were in Disneyland last month (more to come on that) and while watching T.V. Kate and Nick were trying to decide what iCarly was dressed up as in a Halloween Special. Kate said "She is a bee, Nick." To which Nick replied, "No, she is a butterfly!"
While this conversation was taking place my dad was showing my mom this museum information in a magazine and Kate asked my dad if she could see it for a minute.
She took the magazine and said to Nick, "This is a butterfly" ( it was an artists rendering of a butterfly) and then she pointed to the television and said " that is a bee." Needless to say my parents thought is was hysterical and so did I.