3 year old princess vs 4 year old princess

Trick or Treat!

Our town starts Trick or Treat night in about 45 minutes.

This is the first year we don't have any young people at home to pass out the candy for us.

We have lived here 10 years & never had more than 30ish trick or treaters show up, though closer to 15 kids are the norm here.

The cats know something is up. The front door is decorated & ready to open.

Our front door is hardly ever opened!

What candy will we give out this year?

Three flavors of KitKat bars, Reeses peanut butter cups, peanut M&Ms and an assortment of Airheads, all snack size.

Happy Halloween to All!

Proof...

"I will scientifically PROVE that Santa exists!"

I remember T making that statement during the 1st Christmas season here in Eppin'.

She was 12, loved to read and watch TV.

Between that, her age & her friends, she was beginning to doubt the fat mans existence.

She was determined.

She wrote him a letter, which I (cough, cough!) mailed!

She got a real, hand written letter in response from Santa! (thanks to a senior class fundraiser for the Nbpt HS!)

She had proof & she was happy!

Additionally that year, she had asked Santa for a Nintendo 64 game system because Mom & Dad were too poor to get one.

Christmas morning, she was disappointed that he had ignored her request.

She sadly came with us to Grammy Lambert's house for dinner & such.

When we returned home later that night,

the game system under the tree with an attached note apologizing for the tardy gift!

YES!!

He does exist!

Today, while window shopping at Ben Franklins Ace Hardware & Craft department store, I came across an item that reminded me of T and her quest to prove Santa is real.

A "Prove He Does Exist" kit for parents!

Inside... a stencil w/fake spray snow to create a footprints from the chimney to the tree, a piece of red velvet & fur from his suit, reindeer grain bits, and other related "evidence" to prove he does exist!

Now,

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT 10 YEARS AGO?!??!!

The Maze! Still AMAZING!

The kids did not destroy the maze overnight as I feared they would!

My camera doesn't have a panoramic view feature,

so use your imagination and put all 3 photos end to end to get the full effect of our leaf maze!

After lunch, we went back outside & got in some more fun with it!

Both little kids wish it would stay a maze... forever!

BTW, Connor is going to his first CELTICS game tonight with his Dad!

Is a win guaranteed since Celtics are playing the Knicks?

Have fun, kiddo!

Good bye Halloween!

Today, we made our last Halloween project!

:(

You can see my monster above. Why just mine? I'm better at using scissors!

AND...

We, well... I, raked the leaves at their house.

I did not rake them into a pile to jump in as they thought I would.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

Today, I made pathways through the leaves, creating a MAZE!

It wasn't as awesome or well planned as those corn mazes that have sprung up everywhere, but the kids had a blast running through, trying to find the shortcuts & get a better time

!

Their mom was very impressed! Maybe she'll take pictures of them using the maze...

BEFORE they destroy it!

Whilst raking leaves to create path borders for the maze, I raked leaves from the garden we , ahem. cough, cough, grew this year.

Hidden on the last cucumber vine was this little guy.

It was the size of a pickle, not the baby kind, but a real sized pickle!

I split it into 3 somewhat equal pieces, & the kids ate it up!

Yum!

My Friends Baby

In May, a friend,( same age as my youngest sister), gave birth to a baby girl. Her name... Hazel.

Today, I finally accepted her invitation to be a Facebook friend and for the first time, was able to view the baby pictures that have been taken thus far! A cutie for certain!

Can you tell which baby is Hazel and which one is my grandbaby, Carlotta?

Carlotta's picture was taken in Virginia on September 2nd.

Hazels was taken, in Maine, on September 26th!

As far as I know, T does not know my friend. (though she does know her mother, sister & brother)

Maybe its a required photo that new mothers must take?

See?

I don't ALWAYS run from having my photo taken!

But I sure wish I had! LOL!

except the last one! very happy I got to be there to be in that one!

Lookee, Lookie! Look Who Can Sit!

Yea!

I don't know how long Carlotta has been able to sit w/o pillows to prop her up, but this is the first photo of her showing off her skills!

You Go Girl!

Purple

I don't have anything funny, cute, adorable, upsetting, mind-blowing, curious or memorable to blog about today.

I played with the layout & template design features & came up with PURPLE!

I like it!

Let's see if others do too!

Awww!

The cats are taking over!

They are sitting in MY FAVORITE SPOT to watch the football game!

Gracie, looking her saddest in hopes of getting extra treats!

Not happening kitty!

Zee is waking up.

Now will she move from my spot?

Nope! She's liking the warmth of the blanket.

Too cute to make her move!

A sleeping Zee! Earlier in the day. Not in my spot!

The Halloween Party Pics!

Attack of the Giant Spider!

This looks like a nice place to make a nest for my millions of babies!

There are 3 kids living here that will taste YUMMY!

Oh NO!! The youngest is a SPIDER HUNTER!

I'M DOOMED!

You Choose

Today, using 12 small white trash bags, balled up newspaper, twisty ties, black permanent marker and 16" sticks, we made... GHOSTS ON A STICK! to line their walkway for their party on Saturday.

As you can see, Kaya has a dilemma!

She has 2 princess costumes to choose from to wear at her Halloween party on Saturday.

The pink one was purchased first & looks most like a dress Sleeping Beauty would wear.

The purple one has gold thread, pearls & fur trim. She knows it will be a chilly night on Saturday, she thinks this dress will keep her warm.

(remember, Belle wore a fur lined dress in the snow)

Don't mind the weird faces she is making.

I told her she should smile for the picture. She doing her "camera smile".

Are We Old Now?

Came home tonight & leafed through the mail.

Almost had a heart attack when I saw one of the envelopes!

Or in the very least, a fainting spell!

Are we old enough to receive such a piece of mail?

I hope not!

What was it?

No, AARP has not sent us a sign-up form, but you are close if that was your guess!

It was from...

The Scooter Store!

They think we are old enough to qualify for such a vehicle!

A SCOOTER??

Next, we'll get an advertisement for those necklace pagers!

I've fallen off my scooter, and I can't get up!

Are my daughters playing jokes on me & B?

LMAO!

Balloons!

We had a balloon-y-full day today.

First, Colin had a sore throat in the morning so he got his 1st sick day off from school.

Actually, it was his 2nd (he had a dentist appointment one day).

After "schoolwork" w/Kaya, watching some Nick Jr. TV shows and eating lunch, we made several "monster" balloons to display & play with.

The above picture is just a few of our collection.

Can you think of anything more fun to play with kids & balloons than

"Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Floor"?

We found something more fun to do w/a balloon!

Sorry, no picture. They were having too much fun playing with it!

We took a LATEX (helium-quality) balloon and blew it up for a few minutes to stretch it.

Deflate.

Then, using a funnel, we poured in some corn starch.

(This was a tedious process & messy, but the end result is worth it.)

Finally, tie a knot & decorate the balloon w/permanent markers (Sharpies work great!)

Now, you're ready for some fun!

Squish it as a stress reliever!

Toss it high in the air, call out a kids name to catch it!

Watch the fun unfold before your eyes!

Love this weather we're having!

Anyone want to come get the leaves OFF my yard?

Halloween Comes Early!

These are popsicle stick monsters we made for Halloween this year.

In years past, using this same basic stick formation, we've made pumpkin (Jack o' Lanterns), ghosts and witches (use a smaller size stick to create a triangle hat).

B always goes to bed earlier than I do. I'm a night person, he is a morning person.

Last night was no exception.

About an hour after he said "Good Night" & went upstairs, I heard some very loud banging, crashing, closet doors opening & closing, B was groaning and sighing, the cats were going crazy... up the stairs, down the stairs!

Never wake a sleep walker... Right?

So I just listened to be sure he didn't put himself in danger and in a few minutes all was quiet and his snoring was heard once more.

He left for work in the morning & we didn't see each other until 7pm.

That's when I found out WHY he was up & making so much noise & our cats were crazy!

A BAT!

Yes, a BAT had somehow gotten in upstairs & Zee was doing her job by trying to catch it, waking up B, who promptly shut every door in the room to limit the bat's access to other places (thanks for that, BTW).

He opened the bedroom window & shooed the bat out!

B also managed to keep Zee from jumping out the same window after the bat!

Then, he closed the window, opened the bedroom door & went back to sleep/snoring... without informing me of what had happened.

How did we get a bat in the house?

It's a mystery!

B thinks it had made a nest in the window A/C units, which are stored in the big closet upstairs... maybe that's how it got in!

OOoohh... spooky!

Happy Halloween!

Made Me Cry

I am not much of a crier.

I believe it's because I have a crooked mouth. It really shows its crookedness when I cry.

My siblings loved to make me cry or get me in trouble w/Mom so they could get a good laugh.

My whole face looks silly & weird with the crying eyes & crooked mouth!

So, I try my best not to cry, even in "crying accepted" places.

B is a crier!

He cries at everything!

He even teared up last November during the Twilight sequel movie.

Talks or testimony in Church? It takes him less than 30 seconds to go into full blown cry mode!

That said, it is B, not me, who you would catch crying while watching a sad movie.

UNTIL... last night.

I was watching a movie starring Richard Gere called "Haichi".

Based on a true story from the 1930s, out of Japan, this movie broke my heart!

A man finds a lost puppy & they become best friends. The dog waits for him at the train station every night & walks home with him.

One day, the man has a heart attack, dies, never to return to the station.

This doesn't stop the dog from coming back every night to wait for his friend.

(even writing this much... I'm tearing up again!)

I was bawling!

Thank goodness B & C were sleeping so I wouldn't be laughed at with my crooked mouth!

I recommend this movie! Just don't forget the tissues!

Tonight, on PBS, is a special about a group of elephants whose matriarch, Echo, has just died after living for 68 years. This group of elephants have been filmed for the past 30 years & is showing very touching moments about her & her family.

Not much is cuter in the world than a baby elephant trying to figure out how to use its trunk! (except Carlotta!)

I'm blogging now because my emotions were coming in fast & I felt my eyes welling up again. No more crying!

But I will go back & watch some more, hopefully the sad stuff won't make be blubber with my crooked mouth again!

Well, good night all!

Surprise!

C has come home for the evening/overnight.

She sure comes home a lot more than she said she would!

Not complaining!

Just an observation!

Reminded Of...

I watched How To Train Your Dragon today with the little ones.

I wasn't really paying close attention to the story line (because I found it boring).

However, every time Toothless (dragon) & Hiccup (boy) were shown together,

I was reminded of my cats, Gracie & Zee.

The nudging to get some attention, the wagging tail, the big eyes & deep looks.

That's all I found interesting in the movie.

Bummer!

I wanted to love the movie!

Plan B

She wanted a dog cake, later on... a horse one!

She ended up with THIS chocolate cake because that's as talented as I get with decorating!

(Krista created the princesses head & hair)

No worries though!

She LOVED it!

Her parents gave her a walking Barbie horse (almost like C's), books, a pink poodle Pillow Pet and tiny horses that fit in her hand.

Her favorite present came from her Mammaw in Kentucky...

A Fur Real white dog that barks, yips, moves its head and walks on a leash!

She treats this toy as though it were a real dog (which she wants sooo badly!)

Tonight, the BINKY FAIRY makes a visit to her bedroom.

The cut-off age @ their house for binkies is 4yrs old so it must go!

Turning 4 has meant several changes for Kaya. So far, she's handling all the changes well.

And, Carlotta celebrated her 8 MONTH birthday today!

T sent 3 photos of the birthday girl to me, which I have posted on Facebook!

Love You !

Time Goes By So Fast!

This grainy picture shows the dress Kaya chose to begin her new life as a 4 year old that only wears nightgowns... AT NIGHT!

She has worn "day clothes" every day since (about 2 weeks now!)

As late afternoon approaches, she begins asking if it is close enough to nighttime to put her nightgown back on.

After 18 months of wearing that nightgown almost EVERY DAY, she's not quite ready to give it up!

In February 2007, I began to care for 3 children whose ages ranged from 4 months to 4 years old.

The youngest will turn 4 years old tomorrow!

Time has flown by!

She is writing her own name now.

She also has her own ideas about how schoolwork should be done.

She got bored drawing straight lines, so ... Voila! she made curly Q ones!

The Holidays

Let's face it!

The holidays are coming!

The BIG ones!

Thanksgiving & Christmas!

As a kid, I looked forward to traditions during the holidays.

As a teenager I recall making fun of or complaining about the traditions.

As a newly wed, I tried to find ways to enjoy my family's & B's family's traditions w/o ticking anyone off.

Not always a successful venture!

As a parent, I tried to meld & celebrate as many traditions as I could for our young daughters to enjoy throughout the holidays.

It became obvious after T got married that my outlook on traditions during the holidays would be changing, again.

The biggest change?

I am a grandparent now and would love to be with my grandbaby during every holiday, but distance and finances will most likely prohibit that from happening on a regular basis.

What to do?

(enter stage right, B, in a Superman costume)

I have been rescued, once again, from my dilemma, by B!

He has worked hard & set aside enough cash so I may enjoy Carlotta's 1st Thanksgiving, WITH HER!

(Yes, just me! B & C have limited time off while I negotiated a few extra days!

B & C will be celebrating w/the Lambert family)

I will be leaving for VA on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving & leaving to return to NH, in the afternoon, on Saturday!

I'm a bit nervous as this will be the 1st time I actually "stay" @ T's house and NOT at a hotel.

But I am so excited to visit w/Carlotta that I won't even notice if her house is clean & neat!

I have much to celebrate & be thankful for this year!!

Blah, blah, blah

It is 3:30 am.

Yes, I am awake at this dark, chilly hour.

No reason. Just am.

Had to pee, so I did.

Checked my fantasy football score. We are currently losing, but Moss plays on MNF.

I played a Facebook game or 2.

I am not sleepy enough right now to return to bed.

Can't do much else @ 3 in the morning, so I'll post this blog entry.

About nothing.

Very Seinfeld-ish of me, I know.

Cats are confused why I haven't fed them.

I am awake after all!

I'd do a load of laundry but C is home for the night & I'd rather not wake her.

Hope she appreciates that I thought about her!

T went to DC Temple this weekend.

I hoped for a Carlotta pic, but none came.

Well, there's my post about nothing.

Have a good day!

Update

M found a new job.

M trained for 2 weeks @ new job.

New job has gone bankrupt.

M is out of a job.

(pause here for 20 minutes)

M has another new job.

M's newest new job is a 60 minute commute, one-way.

T & M are looking into apartments in Roanoke area.

M & T and Carlotta are doing OK.

I remain unsuccessful in getting T to make or take or return many phone calls, texts, emails.

Thankfully, I have the whole... "I pay for your phone, so... Call Me!" guilt trip to use.

Unfortunately, it only works to MY advantage, no one elses!

Lest you feel that no return calls or emails from her may mean she is mad at you or upset about something... DO NOT FRET!

She does this thing (not answering the phone or emails) to EVERYONE!

Yes, she hates talking on the phone THAT MUCH!

What's a mother to do? Just keep trying to reach her, I guess. Good Luck to everyone else.

And So It Begins!

The holiday season has begun.

For the next 6-7 months, there are so many crafts to do for so many holidays!

Halloween is where it all begins.

Halloween is also the time where I can add to my dress-up chest.

Here, the kids try on a mask they'd like me to get for my collection.

Oh no, that is not what I collect!