Fun with Tink and Giraffe

This year we had a super fun time with fall and Halloween activities. We had our annual Halloween costume party at playgroup this past week. It was a mad house as always, but fun to see all the kids all dressed up. We also took the obligatory annual photo to remember the madness. It is always chaos trying to get the shot and as I was scrolling through them I was wondering why we torture ourselves trying to get everyone to smile. Ah well. You can follow the chaos below.

And then for extra fun, we had some friends over tonight for some chili and cornbread and fixings and then a stroll around the neighborhood. The kids had a fab time, and I actually enjoyed myself too!

Cousins

Jack and Annelise walking to the park with Uncle Chris and Auntie Rubie (they were actually holding hands until I broke out the camera)

One fun thing about being in Cali these last couple weeks was the time that Hadleigh and Annelise got to spend with their cousins Matt and Jack. Actually Annelise is really just beginning to pay attention to other kids, so she did not really care about her cousins, but Hadleigh and Matt were fun to watch. We only overlapped for a couple of days, but they seemed to remember each other right away...one nice thing about my kids getting older is that they remember people!

Hadleigh and Matt (right before he had to leave)

On the way to my parents' house from the airport, Mom mentioned that Matt said he wanted chase Hadleigh around the house. In my head I wondered how that would go over with Hadleigh, and I wondered what she thought of the statement, but I figured we would find out soon enough. We ended up driving up the coast to the house because of course the 405 is a nasty mess these days, and Hadleigh got a little motion sick. I was trying to comfort her, and suggested that as soon as we got to the house she could lie down a rest. And withought missing a beat she said, "but Mama, Matt has to chase me!" OK, apparently she was not feeling THAT bad!

lots of movement from the little ones, you can see Jack is NOT happy about being held

My favorite memory of them together is of Matt and Hadleigh singing "If You Are Happy and You Know It". So cute. They were facing each other, singing back and forth and taking turns saying what they had to do...if you are happy and you know it stomp your feet...scratch your face (?)...bop your head...jump on one leg...so cute. And they were laughing hysterically while they sang. It was the best thing ever.

Matt and Hadleigh

Apparently when Karina told Matt they were leaving (after a weekend of fun), he began to cry. So sweet! Hadleigh does not really get leaving yet, but she definitely asked where Matt was throughout the rest of our stay.

The Girls Take Disney

The girls and I just got back from Cali. Mom celebrated her 60th birthday and we decided, we should fly out and help her par-tay! The whole fam was able to be there, except Dave...sorry dude! After everyone left Mom and I decided to brave Disneyland. It had actually been 9 years since I was last there, and I thought this might be a good opp to take the girls.

We loaded up the girls on a rainy, Wednesday morning and hit the road. Inspite of the rain, we actually made good time to the park (usually rain and Cali drivers = traffic nightmare). It was definitely raining by Cali standards, but was more of a sprinkle by Atl standards. The sun did come out a couple times, but by the end of the afternoon we were more or less wet, and I was happy to have a change of clothes waiting for us in the car. I thought the rain would deter folks from coming out, but no such luck. It was pretty crowded for being a rainy Wednesday in October.

We had a good in any case. THe word was that we better hit the "new" Nemo ride first because the wait tends to be long, and since Hadleigh loves Nemo I thought that would be a good choice. The only problem was that we stopped letting HC watch Nemo because it was too scary and she was having nightmares about sharks. Soo...of course the ride was a little scary, in my opinion, for little kids, and now HC is talking about how she saw a shark, and it was "a little, little scary". Ah well...dumb Disney.

Since neither girl knew many of the characters they were more excited about riding the cars and trains then any of the kiddo rides. We did "It's a Small World" twice, and they just LOVED every minute of that one. As we ate lunch we were within sight of "the flying elephant" (Dumbo) and the carousel. Both Hadleigh and Annelise could harldy contain themselves. We jumped on Dumbo, Mom and Hadleigh in one and me and Annelise in another. Oddly enough it was Annelise who did NOT want to go high, and was happy to get out of the elephant. HC wanted to ride again, but when I asked Annelise, she said, "No".

We jumped on the carousel, and HC was thrilled to find a horse with an orange saddle. We got the girls on horses side by side and everything was fine until the horses began to move. Annelise was crawling off the horse onto my head screaming. Interesting.

We managed to go on a couple other rides before the ultimate meltdown. The girls did fairly well all in all, but they were exhausted when we got home, as was I. Glad we did it. Annelise has a Mickey doll and a Minnie shirt, and HC has a Pooh Bear and a Tinkerbelle shirt to show for their efforts...thanks Nana!

Miss Hadleigh Claire is 3 1/2

OK, she is one month older than 3 1/2, but close enough. We have had some great times with the little miss recently. Hadleigh continues to be more and more helpful, which always amazes me. I guess it is surprising to realize how much she can help me these days. She goes to the bathroom completely by herself...YA! She completely dresses herself and can pick out her own clothes, though I still like to supervise at times. She can totally get ready for her nap, including putting on her diaper. And then there is all the stuff she does to help me around the house. She puts all the silverware away, she loves helping me with the wash and with dusting and vacuuming. She can buckle herself into her car seat. The other day when I was getting the girls' lunches ready, I called for them to come to the table. They both climbed into their seats, and then Hadleigh jumped down to help push Annelise's chair up to the table. "There you are, Annelise, " sh exclaimed, "is that too tight?" It was so sweet, and so helpful.

With all the helpfulness comes the constant complaining...will it ever go away? Oi vey! One day, I hope that will be gone because it is hard for me to handle calmly.

Hadleigh LOVES being outside, and is always asking to play on her big wheel, which has been our new fun activity...when it is not raining here in the Atl. She has finally figured out how to use petals...that seemed to be beyond her for a while, but she has it mastered now.

She still loves everything that is mechanical and moves, cars, trucks, planes, etc. I love it. She is a pretty regular kiddo, and not into anything too girly, which is fine with me. I am not a particularly girly girl, so it all works out. Maybe one day I will want to "do" her hair, or some other such thing, but for now I love the fact that I do not even have to brush it in the morning. Yea! Hadleigh also loves animals and bugs. It is fun to go on walks and look for crickets and worms and bees and dogs and cats, and birds. Yesterday she came home with a picture she had drawn at preschool. She told me that it was birds flying over the ocean and stars. It actually looked mostly like what she described, so it was fun to see what she is choosing to draw when she has time.

Of course she also loves her friends at school and playgroup. They have such fun together and it is so sweet to see her caring about them. She is also doing a fabulous job of memorizing the catechism and corresponding verses. We are enjoying family worship time and teaching her songs and truths from the Bible. I am always surprised with what her little mind remembers, it is amazing. We usually go over a cople catechism questions a week and on the second day I asked her, "Who wrote the Bible" and was about to help her repeat the answer when she piped up, "Chosen men who wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit." Wow...I was SHOCKED, and then of course told her she was amazing, because she is. I wish I had a mind like a steel trap! ANd now I hear her up from her nap, so I must run. I love my little Hadleigh girl!

The Elf is 23 Months

I obviously missed my monthly update in September. I really think that Labor Day, schooling beginning and my birthday threw me off entirely. I should continue blaming things like, then it was the CRAZY rain/floods here in the ATL and last week we had a bit of the flu. Swine flu, you ask? Possibly. We did not go to the doctor, but most of my friends seem to indicate that if it is the flu, it is prob the swine flu. Not too worry, it wasn't as bad as all the media hype. I was a bit surprised that when I called our doc he told us not to come in (that is of course unless they started having real issues), but I was happy to not make the trek, besides all he would have done was take a swab and then tell me what kind of flu they had. I'll keep my co-pay to myself thanks. Anyway, the girls are all healthy now, and I am happy to have that behind us.

So, Annelise is 1 month shy of being 2 years old. That is incredible to me! She is such a big girl now. This morning she was counting to 10. What? She knows that A is for Annelise. All of these things I think she has picked up from Hadleigh, because the Lord knows I have not had time to sit down with her and teach her these things. She just picks up things here and there. That is just fine with me. I am not a big teacher, I just want the girls to learn by doing different things.

Annelise has become quite a singer. Now she has been leading our family worship time. She has three that she likes to begin with, "Hallelujah-Praise ye the Lord", "Ho, Ho, Ho, Hosanna", and "Glory Be to the Father." It is super sweet when she begins the songs. I just LOVE it! She also knows what songs we know from memory and when we need our makeshift songbook. She insists we look at the words for some songs.

cooking with Grandma

All is well on the potty-front, and I cannot remember the last time she had an accident. Yea!

She is enjoying nursery and school (which she attneds 1 day a week). When I pick her up she always has a smile on her face, and when I ask her what she did, she exclaims, "FRIENDS!" Today she was talking about someone particular and I could not figure out the name she was using, so I need to look at the roster to see who is in her nursery class.

Yesterday morning I took Annelise for a walk and Dave took Hadleigh to the market. When Hadleigh returned the girls ran to each other and gave each other a big hug. It was super sweet and I am so glad that they feel that way toward each other.

Annelise is a pro on the phone. This is a great skill, and one that HC has not really developed yet. But Annelise LOVES to talk to Dave, and yesterday even talked to Nana with some coaching. She is a great little communicator and is great at answering questions.

Another fun thing is that Annelise is really getting into cooking with me. She wants to get her hands dirty and help me make most everything. I love it (mostly), though it does take longer. We made chicken toes the other day, and Annelise was in charge of stirring the chicken in the cornflakes...she did a great job, my main concern was her touching things with her raw chicken hands...don't touch your mouth!!! Ugh!

Happy October!

October is my favorite month of the year. The weather is awesome, the leaves change colors, we get to open windows and put on pants (not just because it is cold in the ac). And of course, Dave and I got married in October, HAPPY 6th Anniversary!

This month is going to be particularly busy. Dave is going on a flyfishing trip with a buddy, I am taking the girls to Cali for a visit, and lots of things in between. So we needed to go ahead and squeeze in our family fun trip to pick pumpkins this weekend. For the last three years, we have gone to the same farm in north Georgia. It is a small, family farm, so it is not as overwhelming as Burt's Farm. They offer a hayride for $2 and you get to stop and feed the fish in the pond, which is always a big treat for the girls. They have loads of different varieties of pumpkins and are always on hand to answer questions, like what kind makes the best pumpkin pie. I did buy one pie pumpkin, but am also trying a new variety that the owner suggested. She said it is unbelievable...we will see!

I also enjoy it because it is a "small" operation, and we are not surrounded by crowds of folks. I am sure it does get crowded at some point, but not first thing on a Friday morning. Last year we were the first folks there, right at 9am.

It was a fun morning out and the girls really enjoyed every minute.