More Pumpkins

I love our pumpkins this year. More happy than spooky. That's my kind of Halloween!

Audrey was totally into the guts!

Nana is here!  This is her third Halloween in a row with us!

Natalie decorated our Jack-O-Lanterns with flower crowns.

Little Pumpkins

We visited our favorite pumpkin patch yesterday. Or, rather, our favorite version of a pumpkin patch...a shady and tranquil nursery in central Phoenix where we find great pumpkins, look at beautiful plants, trees, fountains and sculpture and visit the resident peacocks. The "real deal" pumpkin patches in Arizona are way too hot and dusty for us.

Even though we were there to select cute little pumpkins to carve, we determined our little pumpkins were, by far, the cutest in the patch. So, naturally, Corey took about a bazillion pictures of them.

I love these shots.

They capture their personalities so well.

 

honestly...could you gobble her up or what???

 

This is Audrey's "oh my gosh can you believe how cool that thing over there is?" face.

 

Such a little lady

Fall Fun

We had a great time last weekend at a party that Ashley and Paul hosted for Paul's 2 year old nephew, Luke. Hay bales, scarecrows, a bouncy house and the resident chickens and goats were great entertainment for the kids...especially mine. Natalie loves the animals at Ashley and Paul's. I think she fed the goats enough to last them a week. And we could not get Audrey out of the bouncy house. I think she would have been happy to just jump until she dropped and then, after a brief nap, start all over again. Add goody bags, cupcakes, kazoos and dirt (both of my children love dirt) and it took a lot of convincing to get them in the car to go home. We weren't even out of the driveway when Natalie asked when we were going back. Ash took some great pictures of the day.

Thanks for including us, Ash and Paul. We loved being part of it.

Growing

At a baby shower I attended today the guests were asked to share parenting words of wisdom. One friend of mine passed on a comment that her grandmother shared with her when she had her first baby..."you're beginning the best part of your life," she said, "but you'll be too busy to realize it!" That rings true around here, for sure. Weeks and months seem to fly by in a blur. The girls change and grow so much every week that it's sad to think how fast these sweet (and sometimes bittersweet) times are flying by.

Natalie actually used the word problematic in a sentence yesterday.  Correctly.  I was so hung up on the fact that my four year old used the word problematic correctly that I don't even remember her exact comment and what exactly was so problematic.  This one is going to out-smart us in a few years.  That may be a bit problematic.

And she recently broke a little statue she had of the Eiffel Tower.  She was devastated.  Ever since she's become a bit obsessed with spotting Eiffel Towers.  When we were driving on a desolate desert road yesterday she spotted a long stretch of tall power towers (I'm sure there is a technical name but I don't know what it is) and she said, "look at all those Eiffel Towers, Mommy!!"  I can't wait to show her the real thing someday!

. Audrey has added a few words to her repertoire, too!  Now she says her very own version of balloon, baby, Daddy, and more.  But her all time favorite word is  bye.  She shouts bye  (and I mean SHOUTS) to anyone and everyone that is going in the opposite direction that she's going.  She shouts it so loudly and for so long that it's comical.   Far longer than the intended recipient is within earshot.  I had the car windows down the other day as we left the YMCA and she was shouting her goodbyes from her carseat (accompanied by a vigorous wave, of course) to all the people walking to and from their cars in the parking lot.  

Kids  do make life sweeter...and stickier!

We have a lovey!

For months...so many months...we have tried unsuccessfully to get Audrey to find that special little comfort object. Something. Anything. Everything we offered (stuffed animals, blankets, stuffed animals that were attached to blankets) was quickly tossed aside.

She's been a notoriously awful sleeper and I just knew if there was something she could cling to for comfort at bedtime and throughout the night that she wouldn't feel the need to summon me at all hours. Natalie's thumb habit was SO hard to break that I was relieved Audrey didn't care for hers...well, mostly relieved. On a few occasions I thought of dipping that thumb in the sugar dish at 3 in the morning just to sell her on it so I could get some sleep.

Well, the other day we went shopping in our attic for Audrey's 18 month clothes and tucked amongst Natalie's outgrown pants and pj's was this fuzzy little blanket that Aimee and Emma had given us before Natalie was even born. Audrey grabbed it, held it to her face and then promptly plopped herself on top of it and snuggled it silly. I was so happy. Then I was so irritated that the answer to our prayers may have been up in the dusty attic this entire time.




She has not gone to bed without this blanket since. She grabs it while I'm reading her a story and cuddles it like crazy.

We might just get regular restful nights around here!

Our Little Linguist

Natalie continues to amaze us. Her mind is always working and usually one step ahead of either of ours. And her vocabulary seems shockingly advanced.

There was a major fire in the house behind us the other night. When we went to inspect the damage, Natalie said,

Fires are just so destructive, Mommy.

After Audrey threw a ball right into her little Tupperware terrarium of rocks, leaves, fake flowers and plastic bugs she, of course, screamed loudly in frustration and anger. I told her she had to collect her emotions. She hesitantly agreed and then shouted,

Audrey just has to be more conscientious!

When she overhead someone talking about Brazil on the radio she said,

Did someone just say "Brazil"? I know how to say "hello" to Brazil... Ola!
(where is this kid learning Portuguese?)

Luckily there are enough comments that remind us she's still, in fact, a four year old.

She was inspecting the seeds on her bread the other day and she asked if all seeds, when planted, would grow into something. We told her that most seeds would. She then asked,

If we plant these seeds on my bread will we grow a bread tree?
(Don't I wish, babe! Don't I wish!)

And in the car yesterday she asked if she could have pink hair. With sparkles. I said, "for Halloween?" and she quickly said,

No. For EVER. I'm tired of my blonde hair.
( Well, I'm getting a little tired of hearing about this disappointing blonde hair of hers!)

Race for the Cure

Ashley, Natalie, Audrey and I all walked the Komen Race for the Cure today in downtown Phoenix. It's always a touching and inspiring event and I love sharing it with my sister and my daughters.

I hope Natalie and Audrey walk it together one day...

celebrating the cure instead of racing for it!

Natalie announced on the ride there that she was going to win the race. She was back in the stroller before we even made it to the official start point!
I think she had the most fun climbing a tree before the race started.

Race day picture face. Natalie's entire wardrobe is pink. I'm not sure how she ended up in black and white at a totally pink event.

We all got a kick out of this dog. It's hard to tell in the picture but she had a breast cancer ribbon cut on both hips and one around her neck. I think her tail looked like cotton candy.

Our Star of the Week

Natalie is Star of the Week this week at school. This star of ours is on cloud 9. It's as if this Star of the Week business was designed just for her. I must say, it is a bit over the top but it's been fun. She was given the honor last Friday as the school day was ending and she came out of the classroom with a huge smile and a Star of the Week box that contained instructions for her star stricken parents:

-Monday she was to come with a poster of pictures and drawings and stickers and such representing Natalie, her family and all her favorite things. (her poster was great...she covered every square inch of the poster board!)

-Tuesday she was to show the class her three favorite objects from home (she brought her baby doll, her sticker book and a pink glitter sparkle purse from Aunt Kristen).

-Wednesday we were to bring in a letter, poem or story written about our Star and read it to the class at their morning circle time (she kept reminding me (firmly) all week, "Mommy, don't forget to write the letter about how special I am!!!").

-Thursday she is to share her favorite story and help the teacher read it to the class (she brought The Very Fairy Princess, naturally!).

-Friday she gets to pass the torch to some other lucky kid (all I can say is PHEW!)!

Needless to say, it's been a busy week! Today I shared a special story about Natalie with her class and decided to stay all morning. I had a blast and I think Natalie did, too. I marched in an instrument parade in music class, pulled at least 4different sets of 2 kids in the wagon on the track at the playground, made firefighter helmets out of red construction paper, watched every kid in the class practice stopping, dropping and rolling and learned a new traffic light song.

the poster

the star

this super cool twirly drawing board that the teacher spins while the kids draw

Audrey stayed in a room for little ones the entire 2 1/2 hours and did great. Natalie's school has a program called Moms Morning Out where you can drop off little siblings during the preschool hours for a fee. Although, if you stay on campus and help in a classroom, there is no charge. I hear from the staff she had a great time playing with toys, going on the swings outside and eating her snack at a little table just her size. She fell asleep in the car before we left the parking lot. That's the sign of a good morning!

Audrey in her little classroom

(picture face is still with us)