She's Here!

Olivia has a new best friend who arrived this Christmas....Kit! Yes- Kit is Olivia's first big American Girl doll. Of course she joins Olivia's much loved Bitty Baby also from the American Girl family. My mom gave this treasure to Olivia for Christmas without me knowing a thing about it! That Nana sure is sneaky. Olivia loves her new friend. I know that they will have many fun times together! They are already planning their first trip together to church tomorrow!

Gingerbread House

We bought a kit to make our first gingerbread house. Olivia loves watching the cake decorating shows on the Food Network so I thought that this would be right up her alley. After Michael worked his magic and actually got the house to stand, we started decorating it with all the included candy materials. It was great fun. Olivia really loved decorating the roof. I think it turned out nicely. Of course we couldn't win the big $10,000 first prize check in a gingerbread competition, but we wouldn't be disqualified either because as of today our house is still standing and looking better than ever!

Ayres Tea Room and the State Museum

My mom, Olivia, and I visited the State Museum this past weekend to eat at the Ayres Tea Room. We had a good time. Olivia enjoyed the little trinket all the children received at the end of the meal. She tried and actually ate Chicken Velvet Soup for the first time. All in all we had a nice time even without the white tablecloths....Mom! Thanks for a fun day!

Ohhhh- Notice the red shoes courtesy of Olivia's mimi. They were quite festive and complimented the outfit perfectly!

Having a PINK Christmas!

Don't adjust the color on your computer...because yes...the tree is PINK! Olivia loves the pink Christmas tree my mom bought her for her bedroom. She was so excited to get it out tonight and help fancy it up. The Hannah Montana ornament she so lovingly placed on top just might be her favorite part. It even sings a snazzy little tune that we are certain to hear about a trillion times this holiday season. Have a Merry Little PINK Christmas!

Trick or Treat

Olivia was Minnie Mouse this year. She was sooooooo cute. I took her out trick or treating while Michael passed out candy at home. She was a trooper and made it around the whole block....even after falling down at the fifth house and tearing her tights. Oh well!

Jacob came over for the annual Halloween photo. This year there was a new addition....Emma! Jacob looked awesone as a superhero, and Emma was the cutest strawberry ever.

New Decorations

Olivia finally has what she has always wanted....a PINK room. This past weekend my uncle generously painted Olivia's room. The color does remind you a bit of Pepto Bismal...but it is PERFECT for Olivia. She loves it!

My mom added her own special touch with a beautiful quilt, pillow cases, and shams. We both agree that it is her best work by far! She even made a matching ruffled bedskirt. We added the quilt rack, Olivia books, and cute coat hanger as extra decorations.

Now all we are looking for is a new set of curtains...which my mom has said she would make (thank goodness). And... a new light fixture is needed. I think a girly chandelier would be the best fit.

Extra thanks to my mom and uncle for making this room happen. They made a little five year old feel like a princess!

Olivia's First Missing Tooth

Olivia lost her first tooth on Saturday, October 17, 2009 . Julie pulled it out during breakfast at Don and Donna's. It was not as traumatic as I would have expected. I think Olivia was pretty surprised that it was actually out. Sarah Kate made a small comment about the blood but even that did not seem to phase Olivia.

She put the tooth under her pillow and the oh so generous tooth fairy left a big ol' five dollar bill. It is burning a hole in her pocket, and she just can't wait to purchase something new. However, she thinks five dollars will buy a lot more than it will actually buy. I had to tell her that --no you can not get a Hannah Montana doll, clothes, and accessories with the tooth fairy five dollars. But you can save the money from your next five teeth and that might cover it!!!

The second photo is Olivia in the cutest outfit in the world. Again it is a Nana purchase. Thanks Nana! This is totally how I think a little girl should dress....sweet, cute, and age appropriate!

Long Time...No Post!

Here is a quick photo of our darling Olivia. My mom made this cute fall skirt for her. Yesterday we found the perfect top and jacket to match. The whole outfit is compliments of Nana!

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Olivia visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique inside of Cinderella's Castle. This is a magical children's salon run by Fairy Godmothers in training. You get a royal invitation and get to pick

your own princess style. Olivia chose the Fairy Princess which included a Cinderella hairstyle, tiara, manicure, makeup, jewels, and shash. The Fairy Godmother in training was great. She called her Princess Olivia and told her stories about living in the castle and training to be a Fairy Godmother. (Totally in character the whole time) I love the look on Olivia's face in the second photo. She had just been turned around to see herself for the first time in the mirror. Total amazement and joy on her face. At the end they sprinkled her hair with magic sparkle dust so that she could make a special wish. What a princess!

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

This is one of the character meals that Olivia attended. We took the monorail to the

Contemporary Resort. Chef Mickey's is a buffet restaurant inside of this resort. You sit at nice big tables and have a waitress that continually brings you coffee, tea, milk, soda, etc. The buffet was filled with typical cold and hot breakfast foods. Olivia however enjoyed Mickey Shaped Waffles. Yum! After breakfast they had a breakfast dessert bar filled with any type of donut you would crave.

The characters started coming around midway through the meal. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy were all at our breakfast. Each character would come to your table, autograph your book, take a picture or twenty, and mime a conversation with the guest. In the picture above Mickey is asking Olivia how old she is by putting up his fingers. You think he might have it wrong...but Mickey only has four fingers on each hand. He needs two hands to make the number five. Took me a couple of days to actually recongize this.

We had a great time at Chef Mickey's. Olivia was so excited about getting special time with each character.

Outdoor Art

Olivia and I were outside the other evening messing around. She started coloring the inside of her hula hoop blue...at that point I was thinking "OHHHHHHHH! What a mess!" However, I ended up being incorrect. She continued exploring the yard for things to add to her Nature Friend. She used two hula hoops for the head and body, a leaf branch for hair, a tambourine for a nose, leaves for a mouth/moustache, a jump rope for arms, and rocks for buttons. She colored in the eyes, eyebrows, and body. So cute and creative--- and she did it all by herself!

The Tea Party

Olivia had a birthday tea party today at Imagination Station. Julie set it all up for her, and it was wonderful. The girls all dressed up in fancy outfits. Julie had such great things planned for the party. The girls learned proper tea party manners, made a bookmark craft, listened to a special book about being 5, ate cake, drank tea (lemonade), and opened presents. It was so much fun!

Bats!!!

My class studies bats for a few weeks at the end of each year. Rob Mies from the Organization for Bat Conservation visits my classroom and brings different bats to show the students.

This year he brought five different bats. I only posted pictures of three. The Rodrigues Bat(2nd photo) is from an island off of Madagascar. It is one of the rarest bats in the world. He also brought a Malayan Flying Fox. It boasts a wingspan of 6 feet...yes 6 feet on a bat! The last few pictures are of a typical fruit bat. He fed the bat cantalope during the presentation. It was so funny because bats just suck the juice and mushy part out of the fruit and then spit out the rest. The kids thought it was hilarious when the half chewed fruit landed on the classroom floor. Yuck!

Even though many people think bats are gross, they really are amazing animals. I know that many years from now my students will still remember this amazing experience. Who could forget a 6 foot Asian bat swinging in your face in the middle of Indiana??

Splash!

Olivia has been taking swimming lessons at the high school for the past few days. I can't believe how well she is doing already. She was timid at first, but soon grew some fins and jumped right in. So far she has practiced backstroke, kicking on the kick board, and swimming freestyle. My camera skills are horrible so I wasn't able to capture a picture of her backstroke technique. But I assure you that it is a sight to behold.

At the end of each lesson the students have free time to jump off the diving board. This is Olivia's favorite part. She climbs right up, walks right out to the end, and jumps! She can even swim independently over to the side of the pool. Michael and I are so proud of our little fish!