Mommy's Take on Tressel...

So long, Senator!
Love,
Mommy, Lilly, Anna and Michigan fans EVERYWHERE

The Great Big Disney Finale!

And here are the rest of our pictures from Walt Disney World!  We hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Day Weekend!  We did!  We had so much fun with Teti down in SC!  We LOVE IT down there!!  When Teti sends us her pics we'll get those up on the blog.  Thanks for having us, Teti, we love you!!

Love,
Lilly and Anna

Happy Birthday, Uncle Matt! (Unh Ma)

Happy Birthday, Uncle Matt!
Happy Birfday, Unh Ma!
We sure hope you have as much fun tonight as you were having in this picture!
Love,
Lilly and An-NA!

Duh Duh Duh Disney!

 More Disney - Handy Manny...

 LOVE this picture of the girls with Special Agent Oso...

 And fun little pictures of us while we were waiting in line to meet Woody from Toy Story (which those pictures are forthcoming on our just ordered Disney CD of pictures)...

Have a great weekend everybody!
Love,
Lilly and Anna

We Heart Pooh Bear and Stuff

 Character Dining at Disney is a GREAT idea.  You get to stuff your faces full of food and all the characters come to your table for a photo opp which saves you a lot of time waiting in line outside in the hot to meet them (Rapunzel and Flynn Rider had an average 2 - 3 hour wait.  DAILY.  We did not get to meet them).

 Pooh Bear and Friends were at the Crystal Palace which in our opinion, had the best food of any of the character dining joints.  Just FYI should you decide to go, that's what we thought anyway.

 Character dining also gives us the chance to boogie down the aisles with the friends!  Awesome!  You can see who really enjoyed this, no?

It's Anna!  Leading the charge with good old Eeyore who was much happier in person than in books.
Since these pictures are actually still Day 2 of our Disney Trip, we obviously have lots more.  A whole lot more.  Mama is thinking maybe she'll just post the highlights in our next post for your viewing enjoyment.
What we can say to sum it all up is: sure was a whole lotta fun!  Lilly is already asking when we can go "to the castle" again!
Love,
Lilly and Anna

Dancin' with Dale...

 At Hollywood Studios Disney World they had a "dance center" of sorts where "the friends" (i.e. characters) would get out and shake their money makers with you.  We really loved this, especially Anna...

 Just look how happy she is!  She spent about 20 minute just dancin' the day away despite the 90 degree mid-April heat!  Whew!  But as any grown up knows, those friends can't dance forever in that heat.  They need to take breaks and when they do...

Anna gets sad and mopey.  Poor Anna!
Love,
Lilly and Anna

Happy Graduation, Teti!

 Can you spot Teti in this sea of hats and gowns?  Yep, there she is!  Sportin' them sweet neon glasses!

 Way to rock the shades, Teti!  Love it!

HAPPY GRADUATION!!!

Dear Teti,
Mommy tells us college graduation is really the most bittersweet time of your life.  We didn't understand that word, so she put some sugar on a lemon and let us suck on it, ah!  THAT'S bittersweet!  
We're glad we weren't there, we love you and everything but we had a lot more fun playing with Grampa and Grammy and building things than we would have had standing outside for 2 hours listening to Mama cuss at total strangers for not using their damn manners.  Daddy told us he'll never move us to the Northeast because Mommy's blood pressure rose to dangerous levels.  All because people don't know how to say "Excuse me" and stuff like that.  Anyway we digress, but we're 2 and 3 and that happens...
So, Teti, happy graduation.  Mama could get all sappy and say all the right things right now to try and make this easier on you but that's what other people are for.  Mama is your big Sis, she'll let everyone else do the hard work.  What Mama will say to you is this: it gets better, so much better and just when you think everything couldn't possibly - it gets even BETTER.  Promise.  This is the time for you to figure out what you're really made of, Kiddo and you might surprise yourself, but you won't surprise us. We already know what you're made of (and it ain't sugar and spice).
We love you so much.  Congratulations on your graduation and all the best for the rest of your life.
All the best, Babe.
Love,
Mama, Daddy, Lilly and Anna

Happy Mother's Day!

I've learned a lot of things in 3 1/2 years of being a mother.  Many things I've shared with you all right here on this blog.  But, the most important thing of all my kids have taught me so far is: it isn't as easy as it looks.  I mean everything.  All of this Mom stuff carries a weight I could never have even begun to imagine.  No matter how innocuous or inane I think a decision I make might be, it could be the one thing costing my kids thousands of dollars in therapy 20 years down the road ("She made me eat TUNA!" "You should have SEEN the clothes she put us in!" "I was forced to wear hand me downs my whole life - my little sister's hand me downs!").  I don't know, I won't know until it's too late and my kids can count all the ways I screwed up as their Mother.  If I don't get anything else right as a Mom, as long as I live, so long as I do this ONE THING for them - the ONE THING I know Moms the world over do day in and day out - the ONE THING I know my Mom did and still does, her Mom, Mama J, Grammy, every Mom I've personally ever met and loved, if I only get ONE THING right for my kids it's this:
I try, girls.  I really, really try.
And of course, I love you both more than any word in the world can begin to describe and I love, love, love being your Mommy.
Thank you for the privilege - and the gamble.  And Moms, thank YOU for everything.  Even the screw ups.
Love,
Mommy

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Dear Grandma,
Happy Birthday!!  Today, you can have your cake and eat it, too!
We love you!!!  You're the BEST!
xoxoxoxo
Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Lilly and Anna

Disney World Part 1: Princess, But of Course!

 On day 1 of our trip to Disney World we had breakfast with the Princesses at Akershus in Epcot!  Mommy brought the camera, lo, she did not put a memory card in it before we left for our trip!  She remembered to bring us, though, and that was more important than a memory card.  So we only had the memory on the camera which bought us 3 pictures.  Yep.  Three, whole, pictures.

 This actually worked out fine because Anna as you can see, was very skeptical towards the princesses.  It didn't help things that Anna had puked her guts out just 10 minutes before getting her hand kissed by Snow White.  Sorry, Snow White.  Way to kick off vacation, Anna!  BLECH!

 Later in the afternoon this same day Mommy took me to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and it was Bibbidi Bobbidi Fantastic!  At this event though, because nothing can ever go right, Mommy got into a fight with the camera and lost.  Somehow the battery pack got all jacked and she had to use her finger to shove the battery up the chamber (yeah, yeah pull your head out of the gutter people) while concurrently using her other hand to point and shoot.  This was not the end of the world though as there were PROFESSIONAL photogs there shooting much better pics with much better equipment anyway.  So, here's the best we could do with what we had.

 Don't I look overjoyed?

 Here, I can hardly stop smiling!

My excitement is contagious!

I chose this hairstyle myself.  It was the "Disney Diva" style.  When we walked into the salon I told my Fairy Godmother in Training I wanted BIG, PINK hair (hey, I'm kinda southern).  She said, do you want blonde hair to match your pretty hair?  I looked at her like she had a booger coming out of her eye and I said, "NO.  BIG.  PINK.  HAIR."  Well, today was all about me being a Princess and acting the part, naturally I got what I wanted.

 And I was thrilled beyond words.

BEYOND words, I said...

 Okay, lady, Mommy, I'll cut you a break, and I'll crack the tiniest of smiles.  $200 well spent, no?  That's right.  I said $200.

Here is a picture of Daddy, who has no earthly idea how much all of this Bibbidi Bobbidi Nonsense cost, now we'll find out if he actually reads this blog!  Heh, heh, heh.
Anyhoo!  After my spa day at the Boutique we had dinner at Cinderella's Palace!  This was actually, honestly...

 Pretty freaking awesome.

 And without a hint of sarcasm this time, I really couldn't stop smiling!

 And I might or might not have puked 10 minutes ago...

 But I really got into this...this rocked.  If you have a Princess of your own and take them to Disney, Mommy highly recommends Dinner at Cinderella's Castle.  It only set us back $150 but we got pictures with Cinderella (actual real pictures), and food (of course, some darn good lamb for Mommy), magical memories to last a lifetime (you actually do start to buy into this the more money you spend), a wand, a wishing star, and a formal invitation from Cinderella.  So worth the cash!  Right?  RIGHT?!

 Even Anna loosened up and had a little fun, and was able to keep some bread down.  When you are spending dollars at Disney (thousands of them) you don't let a little pukin' hold ya back!  No way!  Power through!  Puke!

 Last but not least of all, Mommy's favorite Princess at Disney!  ARIEL!  Ariel was so awesome!  She was like a Princess on speed!  She did not shut up!  She talked all kinds of nonsense but Mommy loved her!  Look at her!  She's adorable!  Blah, blah, blah, I'm Ariel!  Blah, blah, blah!

We just loved our first day at Disney, our Princess Day!  Too bad Mommy and Daddy weren't able to capture all the magic on their own crappy camera (Mommy thought the new camera was too big a risk to take, she was probably right as you'll see later in our updates...) but hey, that's what the PhotoPass Photographers were for!  And for only $100 if purchased BEFORE your Disney Trip ($150 if you wait till you get back...) you can get real, good Disney photos.
Cha-ching!
Cha-ching!
Cha-ching!
Love,
Lilly and Anna