Merry Christmas!

Katie is Big 5!

Somehow, time has raced by and Katie is now 5 years old. She is thrilled about this, let me tell you! She tells me that she can do so many things now. On the other hand, she is a bit hesitant to get older. One night while we were snuggling, she told me that she wanted to stay 4 years old because "you can't take baths when you get bigger." I told her that even grown-ups like to take baths, so she needn't worry. Ahh, the worries of a child- so innocent.

Katie celebrated her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese this year. She and her buddies had a blast! It's amazing how much fun kids can have with over 500 tokens! Katie was not thrilled about Chuck E. Cheese, the mouse, showing up, though. In fact, most of her other friends were scared of him, too! I did not anticipate this, so poor Chuck E. had to keep his distance. I guess you never know... Katie and her friend, Ella, loved the simulation roller coaster ride and road it over and over and over. It would have made me ill, so I just took pictures. Everyone has to fight their own battles, I suppose. Giant mice or roller coasters- choose your poison!

Happy Autumn!

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Leaf Family

This is the perfect time of year to read "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. It is a charming book about shapes that can be seen (men, fish, cats, etc.) in the autumn when the leaves fall. The girls and I collected leaves, acorns, and feathers at the park today so that we could make our own leaf family. Katie made a Mommy leaf, a Baby Leaf and a Big Sister (10 years old) Leaf, as well as a Ladybug Leaf! Mandy made Big Sister and Little Sister Leaves. We also made the Apple Muffin recipe today that was written in the book "Apple Annie"- another fun book! Try to get out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and scenery before the cold weather comes!:-)

Felicity and the 50's Girl

After much deliberation, my girls decided to be Felicity (from the American Girls) and a 50's Girl this year. Halloween is so fun, with costumes to be chosen, candy to be eaten and decorations to be displayed. Katie counted down the days all month! We spent Halloween night trick or treating with friends. Mandy and Katie's friends Becca, Melissa, Rachel and Ella came to our house and then the fun really started! What a cute group of girls!

This year I was surprised to find that many of our friends do not share our joy of Halloween. It made me do some soul searching. Was I teaching my girls the wrong things? I have to admit that there are definitely some negative parts. I started to whisper the word "Halloween" and was embarassed to talk about costumes and such. I am always concerned that I will offend someone. But then I decided that I just had to get over that! We are in it for the dressing up fun, the pumpkin carving, and the CANDY!! No problems there.:-)

Happy Halloween!

These are my new favorite dessert! I will never buy pre-made caramel apples again! We melted caramels and rolled apples in it. Then we rolled the apples in mini Reese's Pieces, Mini M&M's, and tiny Andes mints. You must run out and make some tonight!!

We had a Halloween party, just the 4 of us, last Saturday night. I had planned a bigger party that included friends, but in an effort to slow things down, we had a change of plans. We had a fun, relaxing evening painting pumpkins and making caramel apples. The girls declared it was "the best party ever!" which made me realize we had made the right decision. :-) Mandy and Katie had such fun decorating their pumpkins!

Last Sights of Summer

I took these pictures in our backyard yesterday as I knew that the warm weather was coming to an end. I LOVE fall and all the beautiful changes it brings, but it is a little hard to say goodbye to the butterflies and moonflowers. There is a busy little bee in one of the pictures and I was so happy to see her! She is one of two that I have seen this year. It makes you wonder where the rest are...