Giselle Eloise Turns 4 Years Old!

On Saturday, January 3, 2015, Giselle turned 4 years old. From the moment she stepped out of bed, this little girl was ALL SMILES! For her birthday, we planned a party at PUMP IT UP (where you can jump all around on giant inflatable slides, etc.) and invited all of her friends from school. About 13 little ones came to her party, including her cousin Tristan. They jumped around for about an hour and a half and then they all shared pizza and cake in the party room. Giselle wanted a "Frozen" cake with Elsa and Anna and Olaf, so she got one! She was so cute, she would open the card first, name who the gift was from and then open the gift. After the opening of each gift, she would look at the little boy or girl and say THANK YOU! Big sister Isabella sure was her helper at the party. She handed her each gift to open and also passed out cake to everyone at the party. Later that day, we wanted to take her out to dinner and SHE LOVES cheeseburgers. We took her to Red Robin where she devoured that cheeseburger and french fries. Afterwards, the staff came over to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her and gave her a sundae. CHEERS to another year older Giselle and me not getting any younger : ( When I was a little girl, I used to think that time went by SO SLOW. Now that I am not so little anymore it just FLIES BY.

Two little girls = two holiday musicals

Last week, the girls had their holiday musicals at the school on two separate evenings. The ladies got all dolled up in the holiday dresses that daddy bought for them and were happy to perform! They only sang 5 songs, but hey, they had fun and that is all that matters! After their performances, daddy was there to give them a hug and a beautiful bouquet of roses. This was Giselle's first musical and she was so nervous before we left the house that we were going to be late! Enjoy the photos!

18 More Days Until Christmas!!!

The countdown is ON!! The elves are magically moving around our household every night and the girls wake up with excitement everyday only to discover where they are next. Every evening includes a walk over to the advent calendar, in which Isabella and Giselle fish into the little square to find out what they have received on that day. Whether it is a small toy or piece of candy, they look forward to their gift! Giselle baked chocolate chip cookies with her elf the other evening and they wore matching outfits. She was SO EXCITED. And then there is Santa.....Giselle and Isabella visited him and told him everything that they want for Christmas. They both sat on his lap and glowed with excitement and anticipation as they explained what they wanted. Gone are the days where they are afraid of Santa and crying! Tonight and tomorrow, they are each in a holiday musical at their school. It's beginning to look alot like Christmas........

Happy December 1st!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....Over the weekend we decorated the house together and the girls were super excited. Especially for you KNOW WHO...the elf on the shelf! Not to mention SANTA! I don't know about you, but I LOVE homemade gifts from the HEART! They are made with LOVE, CREATIVITY, PASSION, HEART and so much more! I took a few snap shots of some favorite homemade "decoration" gifts that have been given to us/me throughout the years and can't stop SMILING, each and every time that I pull them out because they are only seen once a year. THANK YOU...and you know who you are!! The elves at the Vail household have been crafting homemade gifts.... Cheers to a fun, joyous month of spirit, love, family and friends! Take time out to SMILE, LOVE, give lots of HUGS but most importantly, appreciate one another! Watching these two little girls LIGHT UP with excitement is a blessing! XOXOXO

Are you READY for TURKEY day?

These two little girls ARE! Today they made their infamous THOMAS THE TURKEYS!! A brown paper bag stuffed with newspaper, taped with duct tape and surrounded with construction paper!

A Weekend Away in Michigan on the BEACH

This past weekend, we escaped to a beach house in Michigan. While it is certainly not summer here in the Midwest, it proved to be a relaxing weekend. Too cold to hit the beach with snowflakes falling - we didn't want to get the little ones sick! No wi-fi, very little cell phone service. So what did we do? We crafted! We napped. We watched movies. We cooked and we baked. We read. We played games. We sang! And take all of this times 3 days. Here are some pictures from the weekend and while it proved to be relaxing, it was certainly RELAXING! All in all, LOVED crafting with my two ladies and loving up on them, with NO distractions! (Check out Giselle's face as we were crafting and she was mad at Isabella!) I just need to learn how to RELAX more, which I am NOT SURE is in my nature, but I still TRY!

We are Back!!!

Did you miss US? We missed you! For the first time in 6 years, we did not publish a post in 4 1/2 months! For a while there, we were having technical issues with the email blasts of the blog BUT NOW we have all the kinks ironed out. STAY TUNED for more updates and pictures.....We love and miss you all XOXOXOXOXO