Halloween

Today was a long day. I took a half day from work to see Little Miss's Halloween Parade as I missed last year. I worked the other half from home. First, I helped some of the kids get ready in their costumes and then watched as they paraded around the parking lot area of the school. They were all just the cutest things ever. Then, there was a big party with lots of food and drink, but it was much more organized than I expected.

After, I took Little Miss home early from school. We ate lunch, and then she took a reluctant nap. After she woke up, I wrangled her into her costume. At this point, she decided she no longer wanted to be a pirate. She was quite cranky all day today. Once we got to my parents' house, she was all in pirate mood once again at least.

On the way to my parents', we stopped in my work to show off the costume (and beg for candy). So, she started the night with a nice bag full of loot. When we got to my parents' house, Sister, Nephew and Brother-in-Law showed up shortly after that. We all had dinner and then got ready to go trick or treating. Last year, Little Miss got the concept, but it was a lot of walking for her little legs and the big kids ran ahead so fast. This year, she could keep up with the big kids (well, nephew anyway). She was allowed one piece of candy and then I changed her into her pjs for the ride home. She couldn't wait to show Husband all her candy and tell him about her night. Then, she was pretty agreeable to brushing her teeth and going straight to bed. I have no doubt we'll all sleep well tonight.

The above photo is the best I could do especially considering those kids didn't sit still for a single second. Good thing we have some from the week before, and we have plenty of pictures of them separately.

Weekend Update - Birthday and Halloween

Little Miss's actual birthday was last Friday. Husband and I hurried to get grocery shopping out of the way so we could spend some time with her in the evening. You can see her evening here.

On Saturday, we had a big day. We got ready, bundled up and went to the bookstore to see Laura Numeroff. Her new book is If You Give a Dog a Donut. We met Mom, Sister, and Nephew for lunch and then the booksigning. When we left the booksigning, it was SNOWING! We got a little dusting, but it fell fast and furious for moments. After the booksigning, we met up with Sister-in-Law and the other Nephew at a birthday party. Then, we head home.

On Sunday, we had a well-deserved day off. I also wasn't feeling 100% so I spent a lot of time in bed or on the couch.

There's a Spider on Yo Head

Bonus points if you know what movie I paraphrased.

This year, we carved a pumpkin for the first time (I think Husband may have helped me with one when we were first together, but it was a poor attempt). You can see my efforts in this previous post, but here it is again:

I was pretty pleased with it.

Happy Birthday, Little Miss!

If you click here, you can see Little Miss Birthday first thing this morning with her birthday shirt and cupcake hat (though you can't see the cupcake portion of the hat).

When she got home, we gave her a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to her.  Then, she sang Happy Birthday to herself.

Birthday Treats (pt 2)

So, here are the treats I attemted to make. Here are the ones I actually made.

I was disappointed at first, but I think they are good enough to present to 4-year-olds (even if my 4-year-old declared them "disgusting").

Weekend Update - My Girl Wants to Party All the Time

Last Friday, we went grocery shopping to get prepared for Little Miss's birthday party. We did quite a bit the night before and still got to bed at a reasonable hour which is a first for us.


On Saturday, my parents and sister and nephew came over to help set up the community room in our apartment building and then the masses descended at 2PM. It seems like the kids had fun based on the noise and chaos. We had things for them to color and the kids could make their own bookmarks or decorate their own little pumpkin gourd. Then, we had cake (as seen below). Father-in-Law baked the cake and it was delicious!

We had friends coming from out of town so they and others came up to our apartment. The kids had a blast hanging out together. Needless to say, we all slept well that night.


On Sunday, Little Miss and I went through her gifts and set everything up. Then, we went grocery shopping where she fell asleep in the grocery store cart (you can see video of her drifting to sleep in the cart here). Amazingly, she was wide awake enough to get free ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. (You can see how much she perked up if you click here.)


That pretty much summed up our very fast weekend. Little Miss had a blast and then counted down to her "actual birthday party" which is what she called her birth date.

New TV

This week, I checked out Once Upon a Time on ABC. I'm interested, but I need to see where it's going after a few episodes. It's very complex and that can be interesting or too confusing. It'll depend on how sloppy the writers are. They are the same folk who did Lost. Though I didn't watch that show, it helps that they are used to flipping around in time and handling a lot of storylines and characters. Also, it depends on how patient I am with the fairytale aspect of the show. Basically, the Wicked Queen (from Snow White) casts a spell at Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding. Rumplestilskin told them their future for a price. So, in order to save the kingdom, they hide their baby, Emma. So, all the fairytale characters are in present-day reality with no memory of their past life. The pilot also has Emma coming to Storybrook and, hopefully, to break the spell. It was a very busy pilot.


Did anybody else watch? Thoughts? Was it sweet, interesting, wacky, too far-fetched?

Birthday Treats

First, I should say that the photo of the picture was snagged from this website though I've seen the same photo elsewhere as well and am not sure where it originated.


Little Miss's 4th birthday is Friday. Her birthday party was last Saturday (post to follow later this week). However, we now have to bring something to school for snack. I try not to bring big, sugary things. Last year, I brought chocolate chip cookies at her request. This year, I thought I'd try to find something in the Halloween theme. She had a Halloween party for her birthday, but it's also the theme at school this week. So, I've decided to tackle pretzel rod ghosts. I can guarantee now that mine will not look like the above photo. I have the ingredients, but my store was out of black icing pens so I have a pink and blue. I just saw another site where the faces were made from mini chocolate chips though so maybe I'll snag some of those and use the pink and blue as decoration. Or the whole thing could be a disaster and I'll be hitting the grocery store before school.


Stay tuned...

Family Tree Lesson

We talked about families today.  Husband and I said our parents were coming over.  Little Miss asked who our parents are.  So, we explained that our parents are her grandparents.  Also, she was lucky because she has great-grandparents.  She looks up at me and solemnly asked, "Who are my bad grandparents?"

It is an honest question.  Without bad grandparents, how do you know your great-grandparents are great? 

Directions from Little Miss

We went grocery shopping last night. On the way home, we have the choice of going one of two ways. Last night, Husband took an alternate route. Little Miss groaned in the back seat. Then, as we turned to our street, she said, "This road goes to the vodka!"


Sure enough, as we turned the corner, the ABC store was straight ahead. And now, any doubt she was ours has vanished.

Weekend Update - Fall Fun

Last Friday, we had our usual grocery shopping night and then a quiet evening in.


On Saturday, Little Miss and I woke up and got ready to go to Oktoberfest at her school. There were inflatable slides and obstacle courses, food, crafts and all sorts of fun. It was a nice way to spend a morning. Sister and Nephew joined us. Then, the four of us went to Silver Diner for lunch. After, Little Miss and I went our separate way and to the library for new books. Then, she spent the night with the In-Laws.


Husband and I took advantage of the free night and celebrated our 12th anniversary. My parents were nice enough to get us gift certificates to Legal Sea Foods where I had a lovely apple sangria, cream of crab soup and stuffed shrimp - I took most of the shrimp home which Husband and I shared for lunch the next day. Then, we went to see a movie on the parents. It was a great night.


On Sunday, I almost slept late but then Mom called me to chat. After, I got up and went shopping for Little Miss's birthday party and for her present. Never have a Halloween-themed birthday party and go shopping the weekend before Halloween. The party store was a mad house. Little Miss came home and we did her homework. Then, I went to Oyamel to meet friends for dinner. It was a great evening complete with a great margarita.


Quick week until a big weekend coming up - friends and family and Little Miss's friends from school all coming for Little Miss's 4th birthday party.

New TV

Homeland started 3 weeks ago, and I love it. It's so complex and interesting and suspenseful. I'll be curious to see how it fares through an entire season and, if we're lucky, long-term. However, for now, I really enjoy it. I like the cast (Damien Lewis, Claire Danes, and Mandy Patinkin) and it's the first show in awhile that has me genuinely looking forward to the next week to find out what will happen.

On the opposite end of the tv spectrum, Suburgatory is a half-hour comedy. It's very silly and brightly-colored. It does make me laugh though. I don't know if I'll stay tuned for its quirkiness long-term, but it's rare to find a comedy to make me laugh.

School Pictures

Last year, I did not buy school pictures. It was confusing because Little Miss only went to school on Tuesday and Thursday. Pictures were on a Monday, and I wasn't smart enough to figure out when the make-up day was. Regardless, this year, we were prepared. I sent her off to school and crossed my fingers. I was pleased with the final result.

Happy Anniversary!

The good news is that I remembered this year!  I didn't blog about it, but I did remember.  Husband I celebrated 12 years married on Monday.  We plan to celebrate in old married style over the weekend (read that as dinner and a movie).  It was a low-key anniversary day, but that's what happens when the anniversary falls on a Monday.  Still, 12 years!  It seems like a long time, but I swear it flew by in a blink.

You Look Mah-velous!

Husband recently said that he hopes Little Miss has the same confidence that she has now when she's 13.  Case in point:

Over the weekend, she asked Husband to pick her up and put her on the bed so she could see herself in the mirror.  She tells him, "I want to see how beautiful I look".  So, he picks her up and puts her on the bed.  She looks at her reflection and declares, "I look beautiful!"

Weekend Update - Cousins!!!

Last Friday, we did our usual routine of grocery shopping after work. Then, we all were beat after a long week at work. Plus, we had a big weekend coming up.

On Saturday, we woke up at our usual time (8-ish) and had breakfast and got ready to go. We left the apartment to go to Butler's Orchard for their Pumpkin Festival. Little Miss had a great time sliding down slides, playing on jungle gyms, and just running all over the place. Then, in the afternoon, we met Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law and Nephew at the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkin. We, of course, hit the store afterwards to get pumpkin seeds and cider. After we went hit The Kielbasa Factory for some kielbasa and then went to dinner at Matchbox. We were plenty beat after that, and I'm not embarrassed to say that I barely stayed awake past Little Miss.

On Sunday, Sister and Nephew came over and Little Miss and I joined them in walking to the playground. The kids played, had a snack and then we hit the library on the way home for some books and a DVD. The weekend went quickly, but we all had a lot of fun. Little Miss so loves her cousins!

Counting Off

I was using my fingers to count the number of children coming to Little Miss's birthday party.  Each child's name was ticked off by pointing to a finger.  Child 1 - index finger.  Child 2 - middle finger.  Child 3 - ring finger.  At this point, Nephew looks at me and, straight-faced, asks me if those are the names of my fingers.  I'm proud of myself for just answering, "No, they are Little Miss's friends coming to her part."  I figured it may be damaging if I laughed at him... like his mother did.

Daddy's Favorite Things

Little Miss was cuddling with Husband the other night.  She looked up at him and just says, "You love cuddling me."  Husband nodded. 

"You love hugging me," she says.  Husband nods in agreement again.

""You love kissing me,"  she says.  Husband nods.

"You love making coffee." 

At that, I must admit that Husband and I both laughed.  Those actions, according to her, are his favorite things.  I'm disappointed that I didn't even make the list.

Making Up Words

A couple of weeks ago, Little Miss sat down to breakfast.  Husband served her pancakes.  She took a bite and declared them "yumtastic". 

Since then, she's added "- tastic" to almost every word you can think of.

Then, the next day, when asked how much she loved her daddy, she replied, "100 much!" 

I guess sometimes, the words you know just aren't good enough to express what you're feeling.

Weekend Update - Family Time

On Friday, I picked up Little Miss on the way home and we met friends and their two kids.  We had dinner in our neighborhood at The Front Page and then went to our apartment for dessert.  The Front Page is really great with the kids. They bring them snacks as soon as we sit down and crayons and then serve them their food first. After dinner, the little ones get a little toy (Little Miss chose a bouncy ball which I'm sure we've already lost). The kids really had a good time.  Little Miss was sad to say goodbye and asked to see them again on Saturday.  We had plans to, but then the weather turned out awful. 


On Saturday, our plan was to take family pictures in the morning except we hit horrendous traffic and got there over an hour late.  The very nice people at The Picture People took us almost as soon as we got there regardless and were very efficient at taking the pictures.  Little Miss allowed herself to be posed and gave us mostly good smiles.  It was painless!  After, Husband went to get new license plates for our new car while Little Miss and I had lunch with Sister, her boyfriend, and Nephew.  Then, Little Miss and I saw Sister's new house and then hung out at my parents' place until after dinner. 

On Sunday, Little Miss and I ran errands and took a nap and did our Sunday routine - eating, sleeping, more eating, bath time.  I read quite a bit.  It was a relatively relaxing day which is rare this month.

Why We Rarely Have Stickers

Little Miss loves stickers.  However, she will usually find a piece of paper and stick every single sticker from a sheet of stickers one on top of another on top of another on top of another until you have an inch worth of stickers.  It's kind of a waste.  Anyway, if she doesn't do that, she likes to find people on which to stick the stickers.  I have them all over my bathrobe, my outfit I wore today, and on my blanket.  However, sometimes, we're lucky and the stickers just end up like this:

I have no idea why she looks miserable in the photo because she was not miserable.  She was probably reacting to my expression though.

First Day of School

First Day of School picture.  Sorry for the delay in posting.  In my defense, I did post on Tumblr and Facebook and Twitter.  It just took me awhile to load the pictures from my camera.  It was a little chilly that first day so she wore a sweater, but first day of school could always go either way.  I remember it was really warm last Fall.  It's been a pretty chilly Fall this year.  It's an adorable bubble skirt that was on a super summer sale at Carter's.  She wore the same outfit for school pictures, I think, too.  I'll remember once I see the pictures after they come in (they can't possibly be worse than last year's photos).

Little Miss absolutely LOVES school this year.  It's nice to see her interact more with kids.  She also seems to love her teacher.  She seems to have learned so much in just a month so far.  The fourth year is so much fun.  I can't wait to see what else she learns this year.

Sleep Study

Can't help it.  She's totally going to hate me as soon as she figures out how to work a computer, but I had to do it!  For the last week or two, I've been photographing Little Miss while she sleeps. 

In the first, you'll notice she does take after me a little (or a lot depending on the day).  This is her falling asleep with a book (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom).

In the second, you'll see that she loves her Oso stuffed animal and she and he both sleep with their mouths open. 

In the last, it was more to show the strangest position.  She basically flipped herself around and cuddled her bed rail which could not be comfortable.  Later in the evening, she claims she woke up and retucked herself in bed.  She was all tucked in and snug as a bug when I woke her in the morning (and was when Husband went to bed as well).

Well, until she figures out how to work a computer, I'll continue taking pictures of her sleeping.

Books Read in September 2011

1. Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen (NOTE: This is part of a series. You can find the order in which to read here - also note that the books are nothing like the television series except that the names and occupations are the same.)
2. Only Yours by Susan Mallery (NOTE: This book is part of the Fool's Gold series. The order in which to read the series can be found here.)
3. Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl (NOTE: This is part of The Donovan Brothers Brewery series. You can find the order in which to read here
4. Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis (NOTE: This book is the first book in the Animal series. The order in which to read can be found here.)
5. Living on the Edge by Shannon K. Butcher (NOTE: This is the first book in the The Edge series. The order in which to read can be found here.)
6. New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb (NOTE: This is #33 in the In Death series. You can find the order in which to read here.)
7. Already Home by Susan Mallery

It was a really great month for reading because I was on vacation and read more than a book a day. I mostly kept it up, too (though my pace slowed considerably). I read some electronic books, some paper books and started borrowing books from the library for my nook. I also really loved every book I read last month. October has a lot to live up to and already is failing miserably though I have liked the books I've read so far, just not as much.

Movies Watched in September 2011

1. Push
2. Fair Game

Hit or miss. I thought Push was a giant waste of time but full of potential but at least it was just a cable movie. I liked Fair Game (rental). It was more for Husband because he likes documentaries or movies based on real events. So, occasionally, he makes me learn stuff.

Weekend Update Videos

Here are the kids climbing up the ladder to slide down the slide (sorry, I'm too short to get them sliding down). The second video is the inflatable obstacle course. They ran through that quite 3-4 times. Lots of fun in a short time. Plus, all of the activities (that we did) were free which is the best part!

Weekend Update - Clarendon Day

Last Friday, we went grocery shopping and kept the kid out way too late, but it made for a pleasant Saturday morning. I woke up with her on Saturday. We had a lovely morning. Then, Sister came by with Nephew. The kids played and then the three of us walked to Clarendon. They had fun on all the inflatable exhibits - jumping castle (well, barrel of monkeys), inflatable slide and inflatable obstacle course. They were great, and I knew it would tire them out considerably. It tired them out so much that we took the Metro home instead of walking. We met Brother-in-Law at the mall and had lunch and ice cream. After, Brother-in-Law took Nephew and Little Miss and I went home to nap.

On Sunday, I actually woke up with Little Miss (Husband had many weekend mornings because Little Miss preferred him and who was I to argue). Then, when Husband woke up, I went back for a little snooze. His friends came over for football which made Little Miss thrilled. Then, we had bath night, dinner and bedtime. Stay tuned for some short videos of the kids!