Happy Halloween!

As some of you know, I haven't been the biggest fan of Halloween in the past and neither has Corey.......until now. Now we are pumpkin carving, costume making, trick or treating goblins and Natalie makes it so much fun. And this year she's a cuddly, furry, (sometimes moody) little black kitty.........

She grabbed the mouse cat toy totally on her own yesterday (that's what she's playing with on the door).....I did not give it to her as a prop, I promise. She must have been really getting into her character! Thank goodness she didn't try to eat it....I think there's a battery inside.

Moody kitty! She learned this look from Charlie!

We took her over to the neighbors yesterday to trick or treat. She played with her candy bars all night. Poor girl, her parents are going to eat them soon and she's not going to be able to figure out where they went!

This girl just loves cats....so any opportunity she has to be furry with a tail and ears makes her so happy. She actually snuggles herself while wearing this costume! She re-adjusts her ears so they're on correctly (most kids would toss them in seconds!) and she hugs her furry little self and says "ahhh" just like she says when she's snuggling Scarlet. The only thing she absolutely, positively will not allow is for me to put a little nose and whiskers on her with eyeliner!

Even Scarlet got into it (literally) this year! Actually, I think she's just looking for her little black mouse toy!

Pumpkin Patch

We took Natalie to a pumpkin patch today and she loved it. It was so hot...probably at least 90 degrees...not exactly typical pumpkin patch weather, but we had fun. She got to pick out a tiny pumpkin and decorate it with as many stickers as she could get her hands on. Corey parked her right on the decorating table between the two bins of stickers and she was in heaven. We could have left her there until sunset and she would have been perfectly content.

We also went on a hayride, looked at lots of farm animals and attempted a hay bale maze. We ended the morning with a pumpkin patch pumpkin purchase that I was so proud of....until we arrived home and realized one side was totally smooshy and rotten. I guess my pumpkin picking judgement isn't so good after 2 hours on a hot farm!

I'm not sure who was wearing more stickers, Natalie or her tiny pumpkin!

Sadly, this really is me trying to figure our way out of this 18" high hay bale maze. I took a wrong turn at least 3 times. As you can see, Natalie is leaving me because I clearly have no idea where I'm going. It was hot, okay?

This is Natalie's little friend, Natalie, believe it or not. They love to hug...it's the cutest thing. They hug hello, they hug goodbye, they hug because they're so excited to be in a tiny patch of tiny pumpkins!

This is Natalie kissing her pumpkin as we left the pumpkin patch. She's played with it all afternoon!

Trip to Tucson

Corey was out of the country all of last week for work, so Natalie and I decided we needed a road trip to Tucson to visit Aunt Ashley and Uncle Matt.

This is a really cool mountain on the way to Tucson called Picacho Peak....I took a picture in a moving car...not a good idea, I know, but it seemed safer than pulling over on the side of the freeway.

Our first stop on Friday was Ashley's school and Natalie made herself quite at home in various classrooms. We peeked in the classroom of one of Ashley's good friends, and Natalie immediately ran to the bookshelf to help herself to a good read. Teacher Rachel was kind enough to let Natalie borrow a snowman book but instead of just accepting her gift and taking it home to read, she promptly took a seat in a middle school sized desk and began to read....out loud...while class was in session. Oh, Natalie!

In the next classroom we visited, Natalie was welcomed by a student who offered her a pen, a piece of notebook paper and the opportunity to draw.....not an offer our Natalie could pass up! She LOVES to draw...especially with pens. These kids were in the middle of a spelling test, so they were more than happy for the surprise guest to buy them a little more time!


Natalie read the snowman book all weekend....and Uncle Matt even read it to her once or twice.
Ashley invited some of her friends from school as well as her favorite neighbors to come over on Saturday night to meet us. They were a great group and Natalie loved hanging out with their kids and playing with the various toys and stickers they all brought with them. One of the highlights of the evening was when Ashley brought out her old Tickle Me Elmo doll for Natalie to snuggle. (Natalie is CRAZY for all things Elmo). Needless to say, it was a hit, and at the end of the night she and Elmo waved goodbye to the last of the guests. The next day we went out to lunch and this was by far the worst dining out experience with Natalie. She has been such a delight in almost all dining out experiences, but she was in no mood to be cooperative this time.
This is Natalie plotting how she's going to ruin this lunch for her mother, her aunt and everyone in the near vicinity.
This was our last ditch effort to thwart a tantrum....lemons....it's totally gross, not to mention terrible for the teeth, but she loves to suck on lemons and it seemed to appease her for a while. Before long, however, the lemons lost their luster and she turned on us again. She screamed, she threw things, and all she would eat was fruit dipped in ranch dressing....and eventually just the ranch dressing that she would slop into her mouth with her fingers or a soggy french fry. It was lovely. Can't wait to do it again.

Deep in thought....happy to have finally been taken on a walk after her mother was too embarrassed to stay at the restaurant a second longer.


Natalie wearing Aunt Ashley's shoes and carrying around a book about cats....very Natalie!
I thought this was just such a pretty desert view from a hotel near Ashley and Matt's neighborhood. The question is....can you find Natalie?
Thanks Ash and Matt for a great weekend. Your home is beautiful and your friends are so great. We had such a good time and can't wait to come back and stay longer!

Well Hydrated

I don't think we ever have to worry about Natalie becoming dehydrated in the desert. She absolutely loves to drink water. I had every intention of retiring the plastic sippy cups and replacing them with a stainless steel canteen that I ordered (it's super cute and this company has a small one with a sippy cup attachment if anyone is interested in ordering one).

She was hooked as soon as it arrived and was carrying it around everywhere we went and emptying it numerous times a day. That is until we went to the Phoenix Zoo last week and she got a cool purple plastic cup with a lion, zebra and giraffe on it at the Zoo Cafe with her kids meal. The flexible straw is her absolute favorite thing. Now she won't drink out of anything else. So much for ridding the house of toxic plastics! She brings this to me for a refill all day long and carries it with her at all times. If she doesn't have the cup in her hand, she's at least carrying the straw!

Look at that face.....

Natalie was using utensils very well.....until recently. For some reason, she now prefers to use her hands for almost everything...including yogurt....not really a finger food.

It's quite the sight...she sticks her hand in the tiny carton, gets her fingers nice and covered and then sucks on them. Lovely. I guess the novelty of silverware has already worn off. Notice the spoon in her left hand is clean as can be.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall.....

who loves her reflection most of all? When I went on the hunt for a missing (but not so quiet) Natalie yesterday, this is how I found her. She was standing on the toilet in the powder bath looking at herself in the mirror and carrying on quite the conversation with her reflection. She was talking, singing, jumping and clapping....and loving every minute watching herself perform.

I think that's why it took me longer than usual to look for her....usually, silence is the first sign of trouble, but she was jib jabbering away so I knew she couldn't be doing anything too terrible. Turns out she wasn't.....it was just a little dangerous because she has her mother's sense of balance!

Race for the Cure

We had such a fun weekend. Ashley came to town and joined Natalie and me in the Phoenix Race for the Cure. In our case, it was more like the "Very Slow Walk" for the Cure but we had a really good time being part of a huge, inspiring event and hanging out together.

Natalie was a trooper...she woke up with a stuffy nose after not a very good night sleep and she made it through the walk from the car to the race (a longer distance than the actual race course), the actual race, the walk back to the car (which felt longest of all) and lunch afterward!

The Komen race is an amazing event that I'm excited to participate in again (Asheville didn't have one, believe it or not) and I encourage all of you to take part in one if you haven't before. It was especially meaningful this year to experience it with my sister. Breast cancer has taken a few very special women in our family way before their time and this is just a small way to honor them.

Thanks for a great weekend, Ash. We love you!

Natalie needed to be registered, too, so she had her own race number and tiny t-shirt!
Little trooper...she wasn't feeling too well!




Natalie collected rocks she found in the parking lot in her free tote!

Enjoying her complimentary yogurt (whipped chocolate, no less...no wonder she didn't want to part with it...she had no idea yogurt could taste quite so good!)