Fall 2018

Holy cow.  I REALLY fell far behind on this... ay yi yi.
Life has just been... busy.  The holidays are always crazy busy and fun, and my new job in HR has been really great but also really busy.  So anyway, here we are - let's take a look at what we were up to last fall!

putting their wings together like the Tinkerbell sisters

getting a quick photo for our Twoodlou print

Sweet Syd

I've said it before, and I'll say it a million more times - we have the best neighbors!  Getting nails painted by Kim

Game day for the Hokies!

We decided to fancy them up and take them to a nice dinner at the Japanese steakhouse.  They really loved it.... except for the fire....

hahahaha

two princesses spent the morning at Romp n' Roll

game night - we played Gone Fishin'!

Oh my, look at her happy face!

these two during meal times.... it's usually so annoying, but they always make me secretly smile

new swing!

they love singing happy birthday to people - today was Uncle J!

we were playing out in the court, and the girls ran over to the Courington's and started playing with her little flags

It was a gorgeous (and hot!) September day, so we headed to ChesterFest to get out of the house

they looooved those balloons

Ella and Sydney LOVE school buses.  Every morning in the car on the way to daycare, they will spot one and shout "schooool bus!"  So when we saw that school buses were the shuttle to Thomas Dale at Chesterfest, we knew we HAD to get them on for their first school bus ride.  They were soooo happy!

They were practicing writing their names, and Sydney literally couldn't get closer to Ella (and Ella didn't mind)

wearing the shirts they tie dyed at school

we kicked off our OBX Fall vacation with a fun dinner out with our neighbors.  My sister randomly took the girls so we could sneak out for a few, and we had margs and this view

Kim + Kim

someone woke up early from naptime

and she couldn't keep her eyes off her sissy, and wanted her to wake up so bad!

swinging with Nana

after dinner S'mores

rainbow babies ya'll

ready for gymnastics

Thennnnnnnnnnnnnn momma didn't realize a car in front of her had stopped, the afternoon of Hurricane Michael.  I tried to slam on my breaks, but just slid on the slick roads and found myself basically under a jacked up Ford 150.  Needless to say, my van was totaled, and his truck had about $500 worth of damage to his bumper.  He had also hit the car in front of him - oy vey.

womp womp, adios my very first minivan

but SO happy to be safe and snuggled with this crew

I went to gather the contents of the van, and snapped a few pics.  We are so LUCKY and so THANKFUL everyone was okay!

spotted sweet Ella playing nicely with the letters on the fridge

two foxes heading to celebrate Harrison's third birthday!

On Sunday mornings, Daniel and I make coffee and watch Sunday Morning in the family room, and we let the girls pick their own Sunday morning movie and hang out in the playroom.  I like that they're at a point where we can do something like that without supervision.... or so I thought.  I rounded the corner to find the two of them STANDING on top of the couch, just casually watching their movie.  At least they thoughtfully made sure their babies had a front row seat to the show, too!?!?
Sigh.  Add "we don't stand on top of the couch" to the long list of "we don't....."

We had to sneak in a quick trip to the pumpkin patch!

so happy with their picks!

We dropped the girls off at my mom's, so we could grab lunch and look at some new minivans...

bloody mary, pizza and pretzels, and this cute guy

morning views

Ella... I mean Kylo Ren.... was using pliers on Sydney's arm and they were both just lauuuughing.

How did we spend our evening celebrating 9 fantastic years of wedded bliss?  Test driving a new minivan and giggling over pizza, of course!!

Boo!

Jacob came over to play, and he had a Boo! shirt on, too!  Of course we had to snag a cousins pic

And we found the one!  Momma got an upgrade.  Though I'm sad I was in a car accident and all the mess that comes along with it, my insides are all excited that I've gotten to upgrade to what I've really wanted this whole time - a Honda Odyssey.  It's worked out.

the longggggg process of signing papers

this is what mom dreams are made of

snuggling with these two pumpkins

seriously, nothing is better than being covered in Ella and Sydney

Sydney had a hold of my fingers so tightly <3

headed to Grandma's house!

so Momma and Daddy could enjoy a kid-free fancy night at Flemings

Grandma Georgia loves to spoil our girls, and we love how much they are loved!  After a fun sleepover, she took them to brunch and build a bear

Georgia unexpectedly kept them through "nap", and when Daniel went to go get them, they were CRAZY.  Clearly didn't get enough sleep or nap, they were raging lunatics.  They immediately fell asleep on the way home, and barely got through dinner when we put them to bed at 7.

Sydney made a kitty cat that she is convinced is a dog and named Pebbles, even has a barking noise inside its paw.
Ella made a rainbow teddy bear she is convinced is a cat and named it Daisy, even has a purr noise inside its paw.
If you tried to tell them anything different about their animals, they lost their minds.  They were such crazy lunatics Daniel and I literally laughed until we cried.

Hokie colors!

had to call in reinforcements to help with hair cuts

On Wednesdays, the girls have gymnastics.  99% of the time, Daniel snags them from daycare, and gets them ready, but every now and then, I have to.  They were getting ready in the back of my van, an I wish I could post Live Photos on here, because in this photo, Ella is saying to Sydney "don't pee on me!!".  Literally have no idea why, but it's hilarious.  Three year olds.

ready for Halloween gymnastics!

Sydney's first ribbon!

Ella's first ribbon

little gymnasts!

Kim and Jeff came over for a visit and asked the girls what they were going to be for Halloween.  Ella, without even looking up and pointing towards Sydney, said "I'm going to be Anna and that one is going to be Elsa".

That one.

Ya'll.  Dead.

trying on costumes for the Fall Festival at Momma's work

Anna and Elsa were beautiful and a huge hit!

first ever cotton candy

they giggled at all the animals

and really loved the "Just Dance" truck, particularly because they played Frozen songs over and over

sweet Princess sisters

Sydney is one petite gorgeous thing

they have their pumpkins ready to head to Aunt Annabeth's house for a carving party

my favorite ever pajamas

I really love so much about this age.  I particularly love how excited Ella and Sydney are over every thing, but especially holidays.  We decided to put on our pumpkin tutu costumes and practiced trick or treating at a few neighbors houses.  They giggled and squealed and had  THE BEST time.

trick or treating with Daddy

Jeff was playing games with their candy

Get yir flu shot!

Gimme allllll the Halloween outfits

And finally... the big day - Happy Halloween!

They seriously loved every bit of it.  And they seemed to really get it.  They were soooo cute, ringing the door bell, screaming "Trick or Treat!!!", saying "thank you", and squealing at their stash. 

After we trick or treated, we hung out in the Court at our annual bon fire + passing out candy.  So.much.fun!

they loooooove dressing up... look who is cooking us a meal!

love this view of one of their most favorite activities

squeaky clean babes in Momma's lap

Friday night movie night

haha

Momma + Syd

Daddy + Ella + a teddy bear

the #doublesinks playing with a sink

cousins came over to watch football and things got a little out of hand

party animals, ready for Nolan's birthday

gimme those cupcakes

 "Everyone is matching, let's get a picture of the kiddos" went a little awry

"

my my my, love how our lives have turned out <3 from college parties to this

Daniel and the girls were off for Veteran's Day, and we all know he's the #1 dad, he took them to Chuck E Cheese for the day!

Anna and Elsa do gymnastics... look at those leotards

"Wook Daddy, I picked out your shirt and tie today!" -Syd

A long while back, we scored awesome tickets to Disney on Ice.  We met our friend, Evelyn, and dressed up like the real princesses we are, and had THE BEST TIME EVER.  Seriously, so, so, so much fun.

princesses are all here

and Grandma and Nana came to experience the magic!

three generations

so much wonder, it was amazing

we all had so much fun watching the little girls have so much fun.  being a mom is so magical

pretty fall twins

We headed to the Dentist for a check-up!  Everyone did great, no cavities

Ella walked over to hold Syd's hand

haha

found the coolest sugar cookies made by a high school friend... you paint them!

And then we blinked and it was Thanksgiving!  {Insert sappy thankful post here} - but no really, it's already March and we all know how our hearts swell for our abundant blessings, so maybe next year.

haha

enjoyed going through the Black Friday ads

and they watched the parade! {2018}

same scene in 2017

one of my most favorite pictures of them <3 <3

Sink ladies ready to go eat turkey and pie!

Staley clan!

and all the Staley great-grands

made it to the big screen at the VT vs. UVA game!
LET'S GO!

A few of the really, really hilarious and cute things they say:

"Daddy, can you put quacky-quack chips on our plate, because Ella likes them and so do I!" -Sydney (quacky-quack chips = Pringles, and they are their favorite!)

"I have a sister, and a mommy, and a daddy, and that means we are FAMILY!!!" - Ella

I had to take a sick day from work, and the next day Ella said to me "You weren't feeling well??  Were your friends at work hitting you???" hahahaha - seriously, the way they view the world is so funny

One day Ella asked me a question and I replied with "I don't know" - she looked at me plain as day and said "well, can you try???"