Halloween Night

Here we are just before venturing out on Halloween Night in search of some "good" candy. (Er...not to be confused by the "yucky" candy, AKA candy that Elizabeth has deemed worthy to give away to the trick-or-treaters who come to our door!) LOL

As it turned out, we made one trip around the block before calling it quits. Ashley never got out of the wagon. Just wasn't interested. But she did yellow "Tick-o-Teat" a few times after she saw the door open for Sister to get candy, sometimes resulting in an extra piece added to Elizabeth's bag. Clever!

Elizabeth did pretty well with the whole trick-or-treat event, save for a minor breakdown when she knocked on a door, waited, and politely said "trick-or-treat" to the resident, only to realize belatedly that she had left her pumpkin in the wagon. I found myself having to apologize to the startled homeowner for Elizabeth's sudden outburst of "I forgot it!!!"--while quickly explaining that we are "new" at this whole ritual! ;-)

All in all...a great night!

Monkey on Parade

Halloweekend for us was jam-packed with non-stop fun-filled festivities!

Mom and girls ready for the neighborhood parade to begin! We're told the parade has been a family tradition in our neighborhood for over 40 years!

Gathering with neighbors to start the parade!
Following the crowd down Roswell Drive from Hillsman to Shelby Court. About halfway down the street, E asked "Where is the parade?"...so I had to explain to her that she WAS the parade! LOL

Following the parade, Elizabeth was awarded 3rd place for her age group in the costume contest!

We think it was a combination of her many "accessories" (a bow "so that people will know I'm a girl monkey"...a banana "so people will know I'm a monkey and not a mouse"...and a Mo "so people will know I'm a MOMMY monkey"!) and the endearing little determined look on her face as she marched around the circle!

It's hard to describe...but watch for yourself and you'll see that she was taking her task of "parading" around the circle very seriously. And she was insistent that she perform the task ALONE without Mommy walking her around. Toward the end, she even started to get her groove on a little bit. Maybe that was just the thing to tip the judging in her favor! At any rate...she was very pleasantly surprised (as were we!) when she was named one of the WINNERS! :-)

Heather's Wedding Weekend

We had a great time this past weekend at my cousin Heather's wedding in Houston! Well...some of us did anyway!

Here are some highlights (and lowlights) of the wedding day!

The happy couple just after tying the knot!

After the ceremony outside the church...

Janeann & Jennifer waiting for pictures...


Atrial fibrulation landed Dad-o in the hospital the morning of the wedding. Here we are visiting him between the ceremony and reception. He's now out of the hospital and feeling great at home!

Together at the reception...

...and visiting with Peter's parents!

Richard & Heather on their way to Happily Ever After...

Double Blogging

I have to apologize for lagging behind on this blog due to the fact that I post frequently on facebook--so it becomes a bit of a "double blog" to upkeep both sites.

Then I remind myself that there are some of you who don't get to see the stuff on facebook. So it is with you NON-facebookers in mind—along with the idea that I can drone on about mundane topics in this format without risk of being DE-friended—that I am resolving to Blog On!

Without further ado...I give you Today's Rainy Day Activity #37:Fairy Princess Dress-Up!

Here is a video that shows the kind of fun that can be had while dressed as a Fairy Princess...again and again and again! (Memory card on the camera was full before the fun was finished recording...but you'll get the idea!)

Back-up Lovey

As many of you know, Elizabeth has a "lovey" named Mo (which is actually short for his full name, "Seymour") And, well...somewhere along the way, we accumulated 7 (yes, SEVEN) "back-up" MOs. You know...just in case. And now she sleeps with all of them on her bed! And, believe me, she notices if one of them is missing, as they are all completely distinguishable by her from one another. So much for the "back-up" plan.

Anyway, when Ashley came along, we decided on "Puppers" as her lovey, and I didn't do such a great job of planning ahead on the "back-up" situation. Upon finally decided to go ahead and purchase the back-up guy, I learned that Puppers was a discontinued lovey. (OOPS!) I eventually found him on eBay for about twice the price as the original...and considered myself lucky to find him at all!
Until last week, the back-up Puppers sat in the top of Ashley's closet, untouched...and, though I should probably not admit to this, her original Puppers had NEVER had a bath! Not once...in 18 months! YIKES!
Needless to say, I was a little skeptical about whether the "back-up" imposter Puppers would pass the smell/feel test and be deemed an acceptable alternate "Puppoo" while her TRUE "Puppoo" was getting his first washing-machine bath. However, as you can tell by this photo, there was no need for concern at all.

Operation Puppoo Switcheroo = SUCCESS!!!

Double Bounce

Some days I get lucky and get a few pieces of fun on film! :-)

The REAL First Day of Preschool!

Well...today was the Big Day!

Elizabeth started her first day of preschool! And she handled it like a pro! After a special First Day of School Breakfast with the Family (a tradition borrowed from Auntie P), she got dressed in her brand new school outfit (courtesy of Grammy & PopPop) and posed for pictures out in the front yard.

Got some great photos due to Elizabeth being a little silly and cracking herself up!

Thanks to a quick shutter, I was able to capture the naturally giggly moments on camera!

When we arrived at school, I parked along the street and we got out of the car and went to the other side to get Ashley out. I told E, "Let me get Ashley out of the car and I'll help you with your backpack." But Little Miss Independent responded, "That's okay...I can do it myself!" And she slipped her arms into the straps with confidence! :-)

We then crossed the street where she posed in front of the doors for another picture.

Then, we made our way down the hall, and I followed her into the classroom. She found the cubbies and cheerfully hung her own backpack on a hook!

She turned around to survey the room as if she were wondering, "Now...what should I do first?"

...and then, after a brief goodbye, she was off to play!

With Ashley in my arms, I slipped out the room, down the hall, exited the building, and made it all the way to the car before I let loose with buckets of tears!!!!

My baby is not a baby anymore...and today marks her first day of school...for the rest of her life!! (Drama Queen much? I think, yes! But then Dad calmed me down with his reassurance that "One of the most important parts of the being a parent is letting go just a little at a time. You're doing a good thing." Thanks, Dad-O!)

When I picked her up, she was all smiles! Had nothing but great things to say about school, and seemed to really enjoy herself! Throughout the rest of the day, she would give me more and more little details about the days happenings. I learned that she listened to three stories (one was about monkeys!), she rode the elevator to the playground(!), and she got to pass out cups at snack!

As I put her to bed tonight, she spontaneously announced, "I'm really excited to go back to school tomorrow!"...and I had to break it to her that, in reality, her next school day is not until Tuesday---which, in the mind of a 3-year-old, is about 100 "tomorrows" away!

Goofy Girlies

Sunday after church, Elizabeth and Ashley were goofing around, holding hands and kind of wandering and dancing around the living room and kitchen. There isn't much to see, really...and even less to understand (b/c E is sing-songing a rhythm in some kind of made up gibberish that I couldn't even begin to translate), but I thought this video was kind of sweet. Enjoy!



Side note: We went back to Trinity Methodist Sunday (on the day of the Blessing of the Backpacks!...Hooray for no more evil-doing backpacks!...except E didn't bring hers, so the threat-level of her backpack may still be in question! OOPS!) and there were TONS of kids there! 20 kids in Elizabeth's 3- and 4-year-old class alone! And we really enjoyed the service and the message. So...we may have a winner!

Meet the Teacher (aka First Day of Preschool PRACTICE Run!)

This morning was Elizabeth's "Teacher Meet & Greet" at The Day School! And was she ever excited!!!

Of course, all the pictures I tried to take of her standing on the front porch turned out completely goofy!


See Exhibit A:






So I finally got a close up after telling her "don't try so hard to smile" and this is what she came up with...LOL

We arrived at her school at 8:58am (the open house started at 9am) and we were the first ones in the room (shocker, I know!) ;-)
Anyway, Elizabeth impressed her teachers with her good "make a friend" manners ("Hi, I'm Elizabeth...it's nice to meet you.") and then she made herself right at home in the kitchen play area...with her little sister!

She put on an apron, "cut" some cookie dough, and topped the cookie pieces with pretend icing. Then, she spotted a little container of animals on the table. She began removing the animals and lining them up in a row. When I asked what she was doing, she said "I'm very busy sorting out the farm animals." LOL
We stayed for about 25 minutes or so, met a few parents and other classmates, and explored the classroom.
When I suggested that it was probably time for us to go, she responded with an oddly mature, "Oh....well...I'm not quite ready." It made me laugh...but I just reassured her that we would be back on Thursday. We said goodbye and left.

She is very much looking forward to Thursday morning for her official first day of preschool. I hope drop-off goes well! :-)

Froot Loop Fun!

This morning, we made a run to the market and, along with E's favorite "Honey Bunches of Oats with Cinnamon Bunches", we picked up a fun-size variety pack of what I affectionately refer to as "junky cereals". This included two boxes of Froot Loops. (Side note: Is it just me...or has anyone else ever noticed that the cereal is spelled Froot Loops instead of Fruit Loops? I hadn't noticed until recently!)
Anyway, when we got home, we had lunch and then Elizabeth pointed to the variety pack and asked to try some cereal with no milk. The box she chose was Froot Loops. She took them out of the package, and it gave me an idea!
Why not try to show her how to make a color pattern necklace! Then she can eat it when we are done! She was ALL about it! So I got out some ribbon and began showing her how to lace the Os onto the ribbon, one at a time. At first, I was ambitiously committed to the color pattern idea. But then it became more and more obvious that this was going to take the patience of Job! Patience that my three and a half year old simply does not possess! So, we quickly abandoned the patterning in favor of the more immediately gratifying "put on any color as fast as you can" approach! Ta-DA!!!
When we were done, I tied it around her neck and she suggested, "I think we need to take a picture and send it to Grandma and Grammy!" (Sorry Grandpa and PopPop...apparently you two are just silent sidekicks in this scenario!) So...that's exactly what we did!

And then she ate them all up! Every. Last. One.

Morning Ritual

Welcome to our Morning Ritual. Daddy leaves the door open when he goes out to his car so the girls can press their noses against the glass and wave good-bye! Today, they were back-and-forthing "Bye Daddy"s for a while before I got the camera out to record it, but you can get the idea.



Do you think Daddy has any idea how much he is LOVED??? ;-)

Prairie Girls

Last week, we made a little day trip to the site of the Battle of Bull Run! (Yeah...I admit it would not have been my first thought either, but our friend, Chris, was visiting and he is a Civil War buff!) Anyway...it was a GORGEOUS day and it turned out to be a nice spot for a picnic and some really cute pictures. Cue the "Little House on the Prairie Music...Bum-bum-ba-da...Bum-ba-da...Bum-bum ba-da...Ba-da-da-da-dum...Ba-da!"

Date Night!

This isn't a post about the children either...but rather the lack of children on our DATE NIGHT to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary!

Cheers to 15 wonderful years together...and to Devon, our built-in babysitter next door! (One more year until she is off to college...tear!)

Big Giant Tree

This post isn't about the girls...but I couldn't resist sharing this picture of our neighbors' uprooted tree! You might recognize that this house is the same floor plan as ours. And, until last Thursday, it had a tree in approximately the same location in their front yard as the enormous hickory (?) tree in ours! We had a storm blow through...with strong, strong winds and heavy rain, lightning, thunder...the whole works!
From our front porch two houses over, I watched this tree fall with a gigantic CRASH!!!! Miraculously, not only was no one hurt, but it completely missed the house! Plus, despite the tree falling across their driveway, they had parked their cars on the street that day...so those were spared as well! Crazy!

Sunday Funday!

After visiting yet another church this morning, (Side note to Mom: this place one-upped BUMC's "Blessing of the Animals" with "Blessing of the Backpacks"...really?!?! Is that what we are doing now?? ;-)) we returned home for lunch and some pre-naptime fun & games with the kiddos! Here is Elizabeth enjoying a rousing game of "Hide the Mo!" Although we didn't test this theory (we stopped after about 35 minutes), I think it's safe to conclude that she could play this ALL DAY and never get tired of it!



And here is Ashley showing off her "reading" skills! She's come a long way, baby!

Antsy-Pants Swimming Dance!

I know it may not look like it from this video, but Elizabeth LOVES swimming lessons. No really. She does!

This is her "jumping" into the pool to her swim instructor!




And, if you ask her...she will say, "I was SO BRAVE! I put my WHOLE SELF in!" Which, she did. On the first day. This is Day Eight. Notsomuch with the "whole self in" today...but don't tell HER I said that. ;-)
By the way...yes...I am aware that this is pretty much the ugliest swimming suit known to man! But we were in Target and E saw it and exclaimed, "I need THAT one! Then I can look like a turtle!" ...and looking "like a turtle" is apparently a good thing. Especially when you are swimming! So, I bought it...partly b/c I am a sucker...and partly b/c it was on clearance for $3.48 (gee...wonder WHY!?!) ;-)

Airplane!

Yesterday was a warm and breezy day in Virginia! So...we loaded up the fam and went for a little drive! Destination: the park near Reagan National so we could watch planes land. It was a huge hit with the girls!


And, there's even a rugby pitch right there...so Daddy and Elizabeth ran around on the grass, tossing the rugby ball around!


Ashley and I stayed on the blanket, had a little juice, and continued to watch the planes land!

"She's Forlorn"

In case we haven't mentioned it before, now would be a good time to reiterate that Elizabeth LOVES books!
At bedtime, she usually gets to pick two books for us to read to her. (She prefers one book from Daddy and one book from Mommy...or, in her words: "I need TWO people to put me to bed!")
The House That Jack Built is a frequent favorite pick to read with Daddy! I suspect she loves the sing-song rhythm and repeating rhymes in the book. From this video, you can tell that Daddy rather enjoys it, too! XO

It's Official: We Have WALKING!

Ashley debuted her walking skills this past Sunday afternoon. Then gave us a few sneak peeks of 3-4 steps at a time over the course of the next few days. But it was all leading up to tonight's PREMIERE PERFORMANCE! And voila!...Here she is! Look out, world!

Too Many Shoes?

Of course not...no such thing!

I posted this on facebook the other day with just this photo. But I'm thinking maybe here I will find an audience that is interested in the live action version of events! ;-)

Today I walked upstairs to find that E had dumped (literally!) ALL of her books from her bookshelf onto the floor and was replacing them with pairs of shoes! HUH?!?! I gasped and took a breath in preparation of ordering her to put all the books back--now!...but instead something nagged me to ASK her WHY she was doing that! She looked up me with such an earnest little face and said "I needed these shelves for my shoe store!" LOL What else could I do at that point but help her set up shop! ;-)

Right away, we got to work on the sign (she wrote the "E" and the "L") and then I cut out some price tags (she dictated the prices...a little bit random...but hey...it's HER store!). Finally, she informed me that she needed a name tag to be a "worker"...so I made the little badge for her to wear. Voila!

Sidenote: As you'll see from the video...Ashley was not sure she wanted any part of this land of make-believe. But E and I had fun in spite of this! haha!