Fall Parties and a Costume

Lots of fall fun the past week!  

Amelia's favorite aspect of festivals- food.

 This is the pumpkin she picked:

Why would you just want a plain orange one?

More food... (the secret to keeping her happy):

 This day was seriously the most perfect fall day you could have.  Look at that sky!  Great for a pumpkin patch day.

(About 50,000 other Coloradoans thought so, too)

 Amelia wanted to jump on the bouncy pillow, too.  There were so many kids and it cost a small fortune, so we decided no.  She was satisfied with swinging.

Old barrels- a nice, rickety alternative to the spinning tea cups:

The next festival was one where kids dressed up.  Abbey and I were reading "Elephants Cannot Dance," by Mo Willems and we decided that dressing up like Piggy and Elephant would be the perfect Halloween costume.  I was excited because it was creative and different (even though Stu maintained- probably correctly- that nobody would know who we were).  She already had a pink tutu, I would just need to get a pig costume for her and an elephant trunk and ears for me, and some sweat pants and a sweat band (google the book title and you will hopefully see an image).  We were set.  Then we were reading a Little People Halloween book and she saw a girl in a princess costume and my creativity and planning was all for not.  She was going to be a princess, and there was no swaying her.  *sigh*  Oh well.  I still had the pink tutu I could use.  I refused to buy her the standard Disney princess costume and decided to make the skirt and hat.  If she is going to be a princess, at least she will be a different princess.  

The original tutu costume (from her ballet recital):

Transformed to a princess gown with a hat: 

and her self-chosen princess boots:

But really... what girl wouldn't love those boots???

 Amelia... show a little modesty.

 Unsere kleine Fräulein...

 For some reason I love this picture...

 She is so fearless.  I set her down to walk around and she made a bee-line straight for the bull.  Yes, she is trying to climb in to the pin.  

 I think Amelia was wondering if we could bring him home.

By the way, if you have pre-schoolers (I might have already mentioned this), check out the Piggy and Elephant books by Mo Willems.  Fantastic.

Cheerios

Stu gave the girls some Cheerios while I was making dinner last night.  He took this progression of photos.  They speak for themselves (forgive the blur... they were taken with the iPad).

 Make sure you zoom in on this one:

The best part about it is that you can see Amelia's Cheerios right in front of her.  

Stu's Project

Stu and I have been trying to figure out a way to make our back patio more usable and safer for the little ones (the littlest one, in particular).  We looked into making it a one-level deck, but it was too expensive to hire it out and Stu didn't have the time to invest into a multi-week project.  He finally came up with the idea to partition it off so we can put a gate in to keep Amelia from going down the steps unmonitored.  He got to work on Monday morning and finished it today... well done to him for finishing it in less than a week.  He took a couple of vacation days, but had to squeeze in some office work throughout the week.  Plus he always has 2 little distractions wandering about.  Let's be honest... he has 3 distractions.

See, we don't really need a boy.  I am guessing that two little girls that adore their dad are just as enthusiastic about a project (pink polka-dot skirt and all)!

 Amelia had to be involved.

 Perfectly level!

 She is pointing at something... 

 Seriously, Mom.  Why can't I be out there??

 The finished project:

Now we'll have to wait and see if our Homeowner's Association notices it, and what they will say if they do!

Good job, Stu!

October Visitors

Our first two weeks of October brought visitors!  

The first was my mom... Stu had a trip to Barcelona.  While I would have loved to visit Barcelona, I think my mom coming out made it about an even score for Stu and me.  If my dad had been able to come out, I would have definitely had the better end of the deal!  As it was, the girls enjoyed having another face to look at, other than mine.

 A new game... they were pretending to fly on an airplane.  They played this a lot.

 Making cupcakes:

 I tried to get a picture of the 3 of them.  This was the best one:

It has started to get chilly here!

My cousin from Prague came to visit our grandmother, and they stayed with us.  It was fun for the kids to play.  N is a year younger than Abbey and O is a few months younger than Amelia.

N spent most of his time playing with the train.

 

Amelia "talking" to Aunt P and O.

 Abbey and N on a late afternoon walk to the park:

Abbey reading to O:

September

When we were still in Germany, my friend put on a little blogging course for those of us that wanted to have an easy way to update family at a distance.  Thus began the blog.  The majority of those in attendance were moms, and the majority of the moms had their kids with them.  This is prevalent information.  I was seated on the floor during the "workshop" and along came a toddler that toppled straight down onto my laptop.  My computer was never the same.  :)  Amazingly, it lasted an additional two and a half years, bent screen and all.  I'll be honest... my computer issues have very little to do with outside factors.  They are mainly internal factors... or really internal factor: me.  Electrical devices have little hope in my hand.  We usually by extended warranties.  I bought a 3-year warranty with my last laptop, and I used and abused that warranty.  It definitely paid for itself.  I had to get a new hard drive, a new motherboard, a new battery, and I think one other thing, but I really don't remember what it was.  Here is where I am going with all of that: I finally had to get a new computer.  A bit over a week ago, I turned on my computer and the screen went: flicker-flicker-flicker... off.    Good bye, Dell XPS, Hello iMac.  Here's hoping I have better luck.  

On to the girls:

You would never guess by looking at this picture what troubles we went through in the first year when it came to this little girl and sleep.  Now when I say, "Amelia, it's time for nap (or bed)," she crawls to the stairs.  Sometimes she even does it unprompted!  What a love.

 Matching PJ's:

 They were all playing the drums:

 Looking out at the open space behind us:

 They must have found it unsatisfactory, because we haven't seen them since.

 The ocean (I am slated to paint an elephant on her arm tomorrow.  I am horrible at drawing elephants.  I am hoping I can talk her into a horse instead).

 Cheese.

 Cheese.

 Following in my footsteps?  We'll see! (She's more creative than I ever was)!

 Putting her shoes "on."

 Amelia is a climber:  

 Action shot:

 Hilarious:

 Abbey and I made fresh pumpkin pie one day (thank you very much, Dora book).  We didn't finish it until bedtime, so I promised her she could have it after breakfast the next morning.

 Amelia thoroughly enjoyed it, as well.

I always knew it would be harder to keep sweets and things out of younger siblings hands.  There is no pulling the wool over Amelia's eyes.  I figured a small piece of pie was no different than a pop-tart.

We spent the majority of September outside.  The weather here was absolutely perfect... 72 degrees (22 celsius), little breeze, gorgeous sunshine (a bit cool in the shade).

 More climbing:

 Talking to Daddy, working in the basement.

 Abbey LOVES to help. 

 More climbing:

I am looking at all the pictures... I really don't keep the girls in their PJs all day (although that would be Abbey's preference).  It just looks that way because a lot of times I have the camera out first thing in the morning!