Forget the toys, just give them the boxes they came in!

A lot of Amazon boxes have made their way to our doorstep of late, and one in particular has caught the attention and imagination of the Snowflowers! Of course I can't say what came in such a fantastic box because that would spoil someones surprise! It has been modified to a castle, a boat, a floating castle with a moat, a spaceship, a getaway car(where on earth?)...and funnily enough...which looks kind of macabre, but in fact is Sleeping Beauty's bed...and not a coffin thank you very much!

Sandbox Threads ROCK!Everyone that knows me KNOWS that I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with cute tshirts for the Snowflowers! One of my favorite places to find them great tshirts is SANDBOX THREADS

The girls were sent their OBAMA tees by their 'Aunty' Kris, and we loved them so much that when Paisley grew out of hers we ordered another one! We've also loved the 'custom' word shirts..but I think they need to add a few more words, perhaps 'obstinate', belligerent, diabolical and devilish to the mix (perhaps there's a smaller market for those words eh). My new favorites are the John Stewart shirt...all can be seen here! They also have some rockin' deals, so check out their website. Sandbox is also trying to get fans on facebook and are giving away some $50 gift certificates to four lucky people! Go here to Friend them on Facebook!

Don't look a free tree in the mouth!It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas over here...the weather has finally started to cool down (today was -10C for all the antipodeans)...we hoofed it over to our Realtors office for their annual Toys for Tots/Santa/free tree extravaganza! Hey, I'm not saying no to a free tree even if it looks like Charlie Browns!

Minnesotan girls use chainsaws!Piper & Paisley revel in the chilly weather

"gah, stinky smoke"

The girls stood in line to see Santa, luckily the line was about 15 minutes long...which brings me to this point...how on earth is the line for Santa so short, but the line for Pioneer Woman 5 hours long? hmmmm. Paisley was unsure she wanted to see Santa...can you tell? I'd rather have a cookie thank you very much!
In Minnesota you get the REAL THING...no fake beards here, this is the ONE!! Piper loved the Big Guy...Paisley was absolutely terrified...but she did send him a letter and hopes that her requests are met! "listen to Mummy & Daddy?

what was that Santa? I wasn't listening?"

Going on a Bear Hunt "No bears here Mummy...but I find pinecones!"This morning when we dropped Piper off at School, we hopped over to the park and decided to have a bit of a run around with the hope that I could snap off a few photos for Christmas cards...someone was far too busy to stand still, and far too interested in throwing pine cones and running away from her Mummy to stop for more than a nano second! the bribe of m&m's seemed to work...for about a nano-second...can you see the contemplation?
really? M&M's? and all I have to do is stand still for a few seconds?
nah!bwahahahahahaha!

IN SEARCH OF... Mum, Dad, Tracey...friends far and near...I am in search of the Secret Seven & Famous Five series of books by Enid Blyton. I desperately want these for Piper and Paisley so that I can read them to them each night. Sure, they are from the 40's and 50's but I fondly remember wearing the covers of these books thin when I was a child, and I want the girls to have the same enjoyment as I did. My love of books is no secret, I have almost an unhealthy obsession with children's literature. But...I cannot help myself wanting these favorites for their bookshelf. The Malory Towers series was one of my all time childhood favorites. Another favorite I am hoping to pick up, luckily this one is available on Amazon...but please, if anyone can source out ANY the above series for me I would be eternally grateful!

and then there are these sweet gems...I must have them...I must!

UPDATE: I found the secret Seven series for a good price with free shipping so I ordered them for Piper's 5th birthday.

Christmas letter time

Our local grocery store has letters for Santa, complete with a mailbox. We picked up two last week and this morning we worked on compiling that all important list. Piper is reading now and wanted to sound out her words to write the letter all by herself. I only had to help her with a few words, for the most part she worked it out for herself.

She requested a 'sewing kit', 'Barbie kit', and a toy cat. She told me she wanted to write 'pretty pretty please' Lets hope Santa listens!

My tiny tornado!LARGER than life itself! Crazier than a coconut! Sassier than Sassy McSassypants!

and then she is

my shining star my HIGH DEFINITION no holds barred technicolor girl!