Happy Birthday to me!!!

Libi went to school to give Mommy some quiet time on her 32nd birthday.

When I went to pick her up she was running like a crazy person...

she shows so much excitement for any birthday!

We loaded into the car once Ron got home and headed down to the Happiest Place on Earth. Of course we didn't tell Libs this was where we were going, otherwise she never would have taken a nap.

After grabbing my gift card at City Hall in DCA we went straight back to Toy Story Mania. I was determined to ride it today since we've never done it.

The wait was only 20 minutes-- which was fabulous-- so we walked the queue. There were really fun posters explaining how to play.

We couldn't all fit in one car if we all wanted to play, so we sat facing each other. This was ideal for pictures :) Here's Ron-- super excited to finally be on the ride...

and Libs and I in our car... Libi wasn't so sure about the glasses.

Ron did very well on his first ride.

Libi didn't get the hang of it until towards the end...

so she only scored 700 points. I was trying to take pictures, watch Libs, and play so my score wasn't stellar but I'm sure I'll do better next time.

After a brief stop in the gift shop we went to Triton's Carousel.

Lou has been such a fan of carousels lately-- very fun!

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We went over to Disneyland to see Tink and were so pleased to find it decorated for the Fall Revelry.

For those of you who haven't watched the new Tinkerbell movie a thousand times (like we have) Tink gets to make the scepter for the Fall Revelry to replenish the fairy dust tree.

Sadly there were some problems with Tink, so there was a longer wait than the sign said.

Libi filled the time by dancing, hanging off of Daddy, and talking to "Belle". You see the little girl behind us was dressed in full Belle costume and Libi was sure she was in the presence of a princess. The little girl took it quite well and danced with Libi when she asked her to.

Once we got in were met with Silvermist and then something really fantastic happened....

we saw Terrance AND Tink!!!!

Not only did we see both of them, but we saw the fall scepter and all of Tink's tinkering stuff.

We had to have a family shot with all of this cool new stuff!

For dinner we went to our favorite-- New Orleans Cafe-- and I got a celebratory beignet!

I was not a fan of the sauce on the plate, so Libi and Ron ate my dessert.

Today was the first day that Princess Tiana and her prince were out meeting folks. Libi didn't know who they were, but she never met a princess she didn't like!

Since Halloween was a huge hit at our house this year, we asked Libi if she wanted to go on the "spooky Halloween ride" aka Haunted Mansion. To our surprise, she said yes so off we went...

We thought the Nightmare Before Christmas stuff would make it less scary for Libs, but we were wrong. She didn't cry or scream, she clung to Ron with bugged out eyes and her hand over her mouth the entire time. I don't think we will be going on that again any time soon.

Next we went back to Toontown and to our delight it was decorated for Christmas!

Minnie and Goofy were waiting for us by the Christmas tree. Libs was thrilled to see Minnie, but she wasn't too keen on Goofy-- note her standing right by Minnie.

It was the first time in many months that there was no line in either Mickey or Minnie's homes so Libi got to explore.

She found things that she had never seen in Minnie's kitchen and got to sit on lots of things in Mickey's.

In honor of my Birthday, we posed by this cake in Mickey's barn.

While Libs entertained herself by the Mickey mirror, Ron and I shared a tender moment. Love this guy!!

Here's another family picture with our favorite mouse.

Libi told Mickey quite a long story before she would pose with him.

So cute!!

Next we went on Gadget's Go Coaster-- Libi's first roller coaster!

She sat with Daddy and seemed to enjoy herself! When we got off the ride we asked Libi if she liked it and she said, "Yes!" so we offered to go again to which she quickly said, "No!"

Our final few rides were in Adventureland.

We went on the Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Room...

then it was time to go! With my gift card I bought Libs a Jesse doll which she loves-- it was a wonderful birthday.

Wednesday Workday

Libi doesn't normally attend school on Wednesdays, but they needed some help getting ready for the big fundraiser on Friday so they asked me to come in. They let Libs attend class for free while I slaved in the office :)

She loves school so it wasn't really an issue for her, but we were sad that Nana and Pop weren't feeling well enough to have lunch with us.

It was another Skipperific night!

Libs loves the songs-- even the new one that we don't know the sign language to yet.

Everyone comments on what a little personality she is during the dance portion and I have to concur.

As a pre-Birthday celebration we went to Claim Jumper for dinner.

Libs has been fascinated with paying the bill at restaurants, so tonight Ron let her pay the tip. He gave her the cash and she handed it to our server-- she thought she was really paying for dinner.

Before we left Libi wanted to say hello to the broccoli so she and Daddy walked around the salad bar and identified all of the fruits and veggies.

Hugs for everyone!

This was the way I first saw Libi-- all disheveled with her hair half in and half out. I guess school was really fun today!

Today my sweet girl wouldn't leave school without giving hugs to EVERY person on the yard.

She was also very proud to show me her daily report, which said she was a good helper!

Her shirt says it like it is: She is so loved!

It was election day today, so we all went to vote.

We also supported the Rio Norte band by having dinner at MiMi's. Poor Libi heard the name of the restaurant and thought we were going to see Bonnie and Jim.

Libi takes after her Daddy and is a real sauce lover. We ordered beignets for dessert and it came with three sauces. Libi didn't care about the beignets, she just wanted the strawberry sauce.

Just another manic Monday...

Sorry I have been MIA lately-- I will try to do better :)

Today I tried to do Libi's hair in a bun for the first time-- it didn't stay like this very long, so I'm glad I got a photo of it.

This is Libi's friend Lily. She is such a sweet little girl with a wonderful Mom. We hope that we will run into them at St. Stephen's-- where we are both parishioners.

This is our second to last dance class. I know that Libi will miss it terribly!

This young lady to Libi's right is our class bully. She has had run-ins with almost every girl in our class, but Libi still likes her! Way to see the best in everyone, sweetheart!

I will personally miss the "Teddy Bear" song-- she did it so well!

Libi was again selected to be the leader of the train-- such an honor.

Whoops-- some cars came loose!

Today Miss Cheryl Ann's daughter attended class with the girls. I thought it was hilarious that when it came time to pretend to be tigers that her daughter thought it was time for a pony ride.

Libi has become quite the teacher's pet. I wonder where she gets that from???

She has already learned the entire routine for the Winter program and here she is helping Miss Cheryl Ann to teach it.

With the glare in the parent waiting room, we don't get many good mirror shots-- but I got one today.

"Hello Mom!"

Today for the partner dance Libi got matched with Solea, her preschool friend.

"Doin' the bean bag dance!" That song will get stuck in your head for days!!!

Libs still is a total cheater during this song, holding it on her body part instead of balancing it like she's supposed to.

It's hilarious to watch them but the beanbags between their knees and walk around.

Popping a few bubbles...

before it's time to head for home.

After an early nap it was time for our first afternoon MOPS park playdate.

Hilariously enough-- the dance class bully was at the park! She was so happy to see Libi and was very kind, so she redeemed herself in my book!

We had a really great turn-out-- lots of Moms and kids that we don't see very often.

The lighting was perfect for photos so I took a ton!

Libs was a bit of a chicken about the slide at first, but after much encouragement from Courtney she came down like a champ!

Libi was so funny, she pushed Joie and Corbin in the swing and then expected Joie to push her. She's already beginning to nagotiate at this young age-- I think we'll be in trouble when she's in her teens :)

A post by Libi...

All evening Libi has been asking me if she can blog-- I guess having a Mommy who is proud of the fact that she has blogged every single day this year is rubbing off. So the post below is entirely typed by Libi.
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I think I've created a monster who keeps chanting, "I want to blog, I want to blog Mamma!" Oye!

A low-key welcome to November...

Today we spent the day at home (except for my brief stint at Amy's house where we shrink-wrapped baskets for the school fundraiser.)

Libs made some fabulous pictures using some stickers she got Trick or Treating.

Speaking of Trick or Treating-- Libi wants to do it all the time now. I told her this afternoon that Halloween was over and that Thanksgiving was the next holiday. She replied, "NO!" I then said that after Thanksgiving came Christmas, Santa, and presents. She still replied, "NO! I want Halloween!" I guess we did such a good job of talking up Halloween so she wouldn't be scared that she now likes it best of all.

As Nana says, Libi often goes into her own little world. Lately that world has involved her cars. Ron and I are both thrilled that she enjoys boys toys as well as girly girl things. Today the cars were being told what their Halloween.

After a short Skype with my folks, Libi officially went over the edge. I guess that this is the day after Halloween roller coaster that I used to loathe as a teacher.

Since today is a shorter post, I thought I'd post some funny things that have been said around here:

"I don't like cheese at all on anything!" Very dramatic for a gal who LOVES cheese!!!

"Tobee is my favorite puppy in the whole wide world!"

Two weeks ago at Nana and Pop's Libi was eating carrots from the garden. Nana remarked that Libi ate the carrots just like a rabbit to which Libi scolded:
"I'm not a rabbit, I'm a gril!" Not that's not a typo, she doesn't say girl she says 'grill'!
Then Nana later told her that she was a jewel, then Libi said with even more force:
"NO I'M NOT I'M A GRIL!"
While I wasn't thrilled about her tone, Nana thought it was a scream. Now whenever you ask Libi is she's pretending to be something she replies, "No, I'm a GRIL!!!"

In the car on the drive home last weekend we needed to kill some time so we were pretending to be different animals. I would suggest one then we would all make the sound of the critter. After a few times Libi caught on and she tried to suggest things on her own. Her suggestions: "Be a cow, be a chicken, be Elmo!" Ron and I of course did our best impresonations and Libi was quite impressed!

Libi loves counting and the things they do and say at school show up in her little games with us. Earlier last month she counted from 1-10 and then after 10 she said, "Times up!" We have never said this, so we're assuming it's a school thing!

Finally, we might have watched Monster's Inc. too many times becuase Libi has been overheard to say, " I love you schmoopsy poo!"