Day 304 - October 31

Happy Halloween!!

Are you ready for this cuteness?

I think these are self-explanatory. Though I will say that, if you take enough pictures, at least one of them will actually have the child looking in the right direction and in focus because you caught her before she started to walk toward you... again.

I don't enjoy taking pictures of a 15 month old. Michaela, on the other hand, has become a little posing model in the past few weeks. I don't know where this kid came from, but I'll take her. It's SO much easier to get a decent picture of her these days than it's ever been before.

Day 303 - October 30

I couldn't just choose one (or even two) pictures from today - it was a busy one with a Halloween parade in preschool and pumpkin carving at home.

Silly me thought Michaela was just dressing up like a pilot for school (I didn't want her to wear/ruin her Belle dress at school so we had to pull something else out). But when her teacher told all the kids to shout out what they were dressed up as while taking their class picture, she yelled, "My Daddy!!" So sweet.

The pumpkin carving ones speak for themselves. Cate was ready to get in on the gut scooping action, and Michaela was excited to have the chance to help Daddy actually carve - complete with her "bamp-fire" teeth and fairy wings.

Day 302 - October 29

I brought two different snacks to ballet for Cate today. She wanted them both. Plus her water.

There's no telling a 15 month old that she can't actually eat the snacks if she has all the cups.

Day 301 - October 28

It's a birthday portrait today.

Of Fred.

He turned 10 today. That's up there for a lab. He doesn't seem to change much, though, other than getting a bit grayer and a bit slower. But he still thinks he's a puppy sometimes. And he still runs to the kitchen whenever he hears a green pepper on the cutting board. And he definitely appears out of no where every time a batch of popcorn is going in the Whirly Pop. He also still begs for his walk every night and pouts when he doesn't get it. And he waits not-so-patiently for his dinner time treat - the one we started giving him when he was just a few months old so that he would stop crying and whining to get out of his crate when we were eating our dinner.

Two kids later, he definitely gets a little less attention than he used to, but what he doesn't get from the adults in the house is being made up for by the next generation. Cate looks for him first thing every morning and gives her "boof boof" (that's "woof woof" to you and me) and signs "dog" every time she sees him, even if she just saw him a minute ago. I don't know if he returns her love, but he makes her happy even without trying. Just like he's made the rest of us happy for almost 10 years now.

Happy 10th Birthday to our old, gray man. I hope you defy the odds and stay with us for another ten!

Day 300 - October 27

Cate really likes being outside.

Every time we go out to the car, it's a touch and go moment when I scoop her up (as she heads out the garage door and down the driveway) to get her in the car instead of letting her go out to play. She tries to sneak out the back door when we let Fred in or out. She's been known to bring us her shoes and then run for the back door (this just happened today).

She really likes being outside.

So this afternoon, after both girls got up from their naps, Jason decided to go outside with them to play. Cate was happily tucked into a pile of pillows on the couch, just taking her time waking up, when Jason said, "Does anyone want to go outside?" (mostly talking to Michaela). In about 4.2 seconds, Cate was off the couch, running over to the back door, and stretching as far as she could to reach the knob.

Cate really likes being outside!

Day 299 - October 26

Today was a day for Halloween fun. This morning, we went to a Fall Family Fun day at the church where Michaela goes to school, and tonight we went to Bellingrath Gardens for the annual Balloon Glow and trick or treating.

It was nice to have no wind today, so the balloon was fully inflated (is that what the call it when it's a hot air balloon) when we got there, for the first time in the three years we've gone. (The first year, one went up as we were leaving. Last year, it was too windy for them to do more than show off the baskets and flames.) Go figure, though, there was only one balloon there this year.

That didn't stop me from taking a million pictures of it, though. I'm not sure if I like this one better than the one I got two years ago, though, which I have hanging in my office on my picture wall. I think it's good, though!

Day 298 - October 25

Want to know what a couple of old married people do when they only have one child to manage on a "date" night?

They go out for Chinese food and then they go shopping for sneakers.

You're jealous. You know it.

Meanwhile, though, I bought my first new pair of sneakers in WAY too long. Now to get back to Zumba classes some time this century.

(And those laces are not whatever color this is showing up as. They're straight up bright pink!)

Day 297 - October 24

This morning we headed to a friend's house for a playdate. We've been meaning to do it for a long time and finally made it work. Michaela and John are trouble at church every Sunday, especially now that Michaela doesn't go to the nursery anymore and they can't get their energy out in there. Now they just run around during coffee hour.

So it was time to get them together in a place where it was ok for them to cause trouble - the safety of John's house. Plus, it was nice for me to get some adult conversation with my friend, too!

Here are Michaela and John right before we left - Super Bunny and her sidekick, Pirate boy.

We don't ask questions, we just let it happen!

Day 296 - October 23

It's pumpkin patch time of the year!

Last year, we tried to keep Cate propped up enough in the pictures so you could actually see her and so that she would look all cute and stuff. This year, we had to hold her down, practically, because she didn't want to stop moving long enough to actually get pictures.

It's amazing how much difference a year makes in the life of a baby.

*sigh*

Day 295 - October 22

Apparently, 45 minutes of ballet class is not nearly enough time to do all the dancing you need to do when you're wearing your ballet outfit.

She came out of her studio dancing and didn't want to stop when it was time to go. Putting her in ballet lessons was definitely one of the best decisions we've ever made.

Day 294 - October 21

Michaela has a new-found obsession with "The Little Mermaid" courtesy of our recent trip to Disney which was followed by the re-release of the digitally remastered BluRay version.

So she has taken to telling us that she wants to grow red hair and a tail and be a Princess Ariel as a mermaid when she grows up.

The awesome thing about this is that she's the "Star Student" at school this week (which just means more work for her parents in case you wondered) and the last page of the little book she had to fill out about herself was "When I grow up, I want to be....."

Note the pictures of different occupations' headwear around the edge of the drawing area.

Yeah, none of those are good enough for my girl!
(And, no, that's not Ariel standing on a house. The green part is her tail. I'm clarifying because Jason didn't see it.)

Day 293 - October 20

Ah, the excitement of birthday parties! For people I don't know! When I hate being in social situations with people I don't know! Especially when Jason stays home with the baby and I have to do it alone!

But at least Michaela had fun.

Day 292 - October 19

It's October 19th. That should be a date that falls firmly into the category of "autumn." And yet, today was the first day since last spring that it didn't get into the 80s I think. I guess that's really as much "fall" as we get around here, but it could've come a little earlier if you ask me.

So I thought maybe if I finally changed out our bedding to the fall/winter set, it might give Mother Nature a hint and maybe we'll start to feel a little more fall-like around here. I'm not holding my breath, but I can still hope!

Day 291 - October 18

Fred.

Day 290 - October 17

I don't remember being busy on Thursday, but apparently I was because this is the only picture I took.

Cate thought she would get all comfy on Jason's side of the bed after her morning milk. I guess that's what I get for turning on the TV while I nurse her.

Day 289 - October 16

I posted a picture a few days ago on either Facebook or Instagram, or both, of Cate eating snap peas out of the pod. All anyone could comment on was how clean she was while she was eating.

So when we had a nice, messy, tomato-based sauced dinner, I had to take a picture to show that she's not always that neat when she's eating.

Note the sauce on her forehead....

Day 288 - October 15

I can't believe I didn't end up blogging about Sammy back in early September when we had our first visit with him.

Sammy (Silent Sammy) is a stuffed monkey that comes home with the child who is the most behaved/quietest in Michaela's class each day. (I'm pretty sure Sammy comes home in alphabetical-ish order, but he's still good motivation for her teacher, I'm sure.)

Sammy has a journal in which you (the parent, of course) get to write down all the fun Sammy has while he's at your house. I'm thankful that Sammy didn't come home for a long weekend this time because that was 5 days of Sammy fun the last time. At least this time it was just two overnights. Whew.

Tuesday is playgroup day, so we were over by the base and I figured it would be fun to have Sammy talk about going to the base to see Michaela's helicopter pilot daddy and have lunch there. So that's what we did.

(Did I mention that the first over-achieving parent who had Sammy thought it was cute to put pictures in the journal, too? Yeah.)

Day 287 - October 14

Do you know what happens when you bring your EfM (Education for Ministry) books with you on your vacation and then you choose not to actually keep up with the reading? And also what happens when somehow the week gets away from you every.single.week and the next thing you know, you have class the next day and you haven't touched your book yet?

You spend almost a whole day just reading a lot.

A lot.

I still have a half of an old chapter to get caught up on, but at least I got the readings for tomorrow done.

Whew.

Day 286 - October 13

Before dinner tonight, Jason looked out in the back yard and saw Fred just staring at the back fence and we were both wondering what the heck was going on. 

We got our answer after dinner when he was doing it again - only he wasn't just staring at the fence. He was staring at a kitten.

This little girl made her way under the big gate in the fence and into the yard. Fred just stared at her and she hung out and didn't run, so I was able to pick her up. 

She was just a teeny tiny little thing, probably not more than 4 or 5 weeks old. The girls were fascinated by her (Michaela has been asking to get a kitten forEVER), Fred scared her, and I got to cuddle her a little. 

Then, thanks to the power of Facebook, I got in touch with a lady down the road who takes in strays. She has a nursing mama cat in her house right now, and 6 other stray kittens she'd taken in, and she was happy to take this girl on, too. Within minutes of Jason getting her there, she was nursing and being groomed. 

I feel bad that there's a stray mama cat out there somewhere tonight who might be missing one of her babies, but I'm glad this little one won't be trying to fend for herself in the wild. 

If I wasn't allergic (my eyes are a smidge itchy tonight, even with all the hand-washing I did), we might have had a new pet in our house, though. She was cute! And very sweet!

Day 285 - October 12

We made the drive down to Gulf Shores for the Shrimp Festival today. It was slightly disappointing, but it gave us a reason to stop in Foley at the outlets on the way back.

I meant to go shopping for sunglasses while we were in Florida and we never got to the outlets there, so that was my mission in Foley.

And I actually found something I like. I've been wearing the same style of sunglasses (with the exception of two small breaks when I switched it up a little) for about 12 years now, so it was time for a change!

Day 284 - October 11

I don't know when Michaela started drawing whole people (not just faces), but she was a little artiste tonight at dinner (we went to Bonefish Grill where you can draw on the table).

This is our family, "except not Fred because I don't know how to draw dogs."

There's Michaela, Cate (before she got a fried shrimp grease stain on her head that Michaela covered up with some bedhead hair), Daddy, and Mommy. (In a pumpkin... I don't know why, but I'm in a pumpkin. I'm grateful for that so that at least she just didn't draw me as "fluffy.")

In addition to drawing each of us, she also interviewed us and "wrote" our answers in the coloring book they gave her. School is obviously paying off!

Day 283 - October 10

Every once in a while, the girls pretend they can really have fun together. Cate thinks this happens all the time. But Michaela maybe doesn't see "fun" the same way Cate does.

But then, stick them in a bathtub together, tell them it's ok to splash, and fun is had by all!

Day 282 - October 9

This just never gets old.

A daddy and a daughter, sitting close, reading books.

Nope, never gets old.

Day 281 - October 8

So I think most people prefer their portraits to show faces.

I, on the other hand, am a sucker for the story you can tell when faces aren't in the picture at all.

And, goodness, I love these girls.

Day 280 - October 7

The point of taking these pictures today was that Cate's hair was hilarious. I had to get her out of bed from her morning nap at the last minute to go get Michaela, so I didn't have time to fix it before we left. Then, when we got home, Michaela asked for a snack before her naptime, so Cate wanted to eat, too. So I never got around to fixing her hair (it's still a disaster and it's almost 11pm).

But then when I went through the pictures to find the right one, I decided I had to use all of them because it's so funny how she can make so many different faces in the span of about 5 seconds. Maybe 10.

And isn't that hair fabulous?

Day 279 - October 6

We had a rough day with Michaela on Saturday.

So by dinner time Sunday, we needed some fun. A pizza picnic and "The Little Mermaid" were just what the doctor ordered.

Day 278 - October 5

We've lived her in Mobile for just over 3 years now. Jason recently submitted his "dreamsheet" for the upcoming summer transfer season and we should be leaving in about 8 months or so.

So what better time to finally put pictures up on the big blank wall in the girls' room than now?

For anyone who is as crazy about this kind of thing as I am, I just have to say that, no, the pictures are not centered over the crib, they're centered on the wall.

And, yes, there are two empty frames up there because I need to order the 5x7 pictures to go in them.

And we'll be lowering the crib mattress a ton to make sure Cate can't actually reach any of those low pictures. That's not too big a worry, though, since she only sleeps in there for a nap a few times a week.

Day 277 - October 4

I couldn't decide between two pictures for today. Mostly because I had a request for a Fred picture (you're welcome, Beth).

So, first up.... in case you haven't been paying attention to the news, or you don't live in Alabama and don't care, they were forecasting a hurricane heading this way this weekend. I say "were forecasting" because, as seems to happen more and more lately, there was an awful lot of hype for a storm that has turned into not much.

But at least every household in West Mobile appears to have enough bread to last the weekend anyway. Because, really, who wants to go out in the rain?

And then there's Cate and Fred, sharing her blanket. All together now.... "Awwwww!!!"

Day 276 - October 3

I love Michaela's imagination.

These pine needles had a million different uses at the park. I'm not entirely sure of all the things she used them for, but they were definitely cleaning tools at one point. And then they became pompoms.

If I had actually carried them all around the park for her like she wanted me to, they probably would've been used do a million other things, too.

Day 275 - October 2

Proving once again that there is no reason to buy actual toys, just the boxes they come in.

Day 274 - October 1

I shouldn't be as excited about this as I am, but I can't help it.

This is 5 lbs of non-GMO pop corn. And I only paid $10 for it courtesy of a local bulk food buying group through Facebook. It's the little things.

Yum.

Day 273 - September 30

I think I've been avoiding blogging because life is back to the normal hum drum with nothing as exciting as Disney pictures to post. *sigh*

Well, not really.

I haven't blogged all week because I cheated and took my picture for Monday today (Friday). I got home too late from doing the shopping for the stuff in the picture and didn't want to make it look nice to take a picture. Then every time I thought about it through the rest of the week, it was already late and dark so it wouldn't turn out well.

So I finally got around to it this morning - thank goodness for naptime.

Voila! Kidz Klozet consignment sale booty!

Michaela has decided she can only wear dresses to school because all the girls wear dresses (on the first day, on the way home, I got, "Why didn't I wear a dress today, Mommy? All the girls were wearing dresses today!"), so I had to find some decent dresses that didn't cost me a fortune so she can ruin them at school.

I spent just about $200 bucks and got Michaela 10 dresses (two of them dressy), 2 pairs of jeans, 1 denim skirt, 2 shirts (including a sparkly Mickey tee that was something like $25 or $30 at Disney World), 1 sweatshirt (Little Mermaid, of course), 1 fleece jacket, a pair of leggings, a sweater vest, 2 cropped sweaters to wear over dresses this winter, a pair of gloves, and a princess cape (not in the picture because I tucked it away). For Cate, I got 2 dresses, some bloomers, and 3 hairbows. I also got some brand new Melissa and Doug coloring/activity stuff to put in stockings for Christmas! Not bad!

I'm going to be so sad when we leave and I can't completely outfit Michaela (and, thus, Cate) for such a small amount of money and with such cute stuff. I should be able to hit the sale in the spring and that will be my last one. Sad.