Whew! What a weekend.

We fit so much into this weekend, I think I'm going to need several days to post it all. Gymnastics, Pumpkin Patch, Birthday Party and Halloween Party oh my! We also fit some other errands in there too - don't ask me how, it was all a delightful blur.

Hannah is doing really well in gymnastics. She seems to have started getting the basic idea around balance and jumping. Her arms and legs seem to have gotten stronger. I promise I will try and get better pictures of Hannah in action, but my camera is a P.O.S. I'm just sayin'.



We woke up Saturday morning to some really grumpy weather. It was overcast and rainy pretty much all morning. There were even a couple of thunderstorms to contend with. But we were determined to go pumpkin picking with our church. All the kids were such troopers. If anything, you could say we had the place to ourselves. And we got some really nice (and muddy) pumpkins.









Right after the pumpkin patch we stopped at the house to change out of our wet clothes into appropriate birthday party attire. Then we were off!
:-)

An evening at the races

Chris was lucky enough to get some box tickets for the race last weekend. We figured that being in the box was the best way for a four-year-old to watch her first race in Nascar country. The race held her attention longer than we thought it would - she even picked a car to cheer for. Go number 77!


Unfortunately, number 77 had a really bad race and did not finish, but Hannah kept telling him not to give up. I think his crew chief had other plans.
:-)

A Book Review: Liberty's Journey

Ha Ha! I found a children's book on the "Statue of Liberry". It is called "Liberty's Journey" by Kelly DiPucchio & Richard Egielski. Lady Liberty gets tired of standing on her pedestal and decides to walk across the country to see how people have been doing since she welcomed them into the United States. The story does a good job of describing the landscape while she is crossing the country. For example, "amber waves of grain" is mentioned. She doesn't end up interacting with as many children as I'd like, but I realize that you can't drag a children's book out too long. The "natives" just get too restless. All in all, a very cute book for those of you who happen to have a child with an appreciation of the Statue of Liberty.
:-)

A note to Santa

Have I mentioned that Hannah is a planner? That's my girl. Anyway, here we are in early October and she is already thinking of Christmas. Out of the blue this week Hannah announced that she wants to write a note to Santa and tell him what she would like for Christmas. Care to guess what she wants? You will NEVER guess. Here are the drawings...




And here is my drawing to give her some guidance. Have you guessed yet?



That's right! A spork. Do not ask me why. The best we have been able to figure involves two theories:

Theory One: There is a really cute scene in the movie "WALL•E" that involves a spork.
Theory Two: When Hannah is eating macaroni and cheese (which unfortunately is too often) she seems to be torn between a fork (for spearing the noodles) or a spoon (for scooping the noodles). I think we may have mentioned that a spork would be perfect - although we did not realize that she had put two and two together. Smarty Pants.



So as the "wonderful" mother I am, I am on a quest to find the most awesomest spork ever. Stop rolling your eyes, because I found this:


What is THAT, you say? Why it is the most coolest spork EVER. You too can get one! Just go to Light My Fire. They come in 19, yes thats 19, colors and TITANIUM. Oh yeah.
:-)

Welcome Home Chico

Sorry this has taken awhile to get these photos up, I don't have a good excuse, so I won't bore you with any bad excuses. We decided to adopt Chico into our family on Saturday. He is in worse shape than the rescue group let on, but I don't think we could live with ourselves if we left him there. We're not dead inside, you know.


He is almost blind and seems to be rather hard of hearing. He had hot spots, which have already started to heal. I was thinking of changing his name to "Keller" as in "Helen Keller" but that didn't seem to be very nice. We kept the name "Chico", but I usually call him "Cheeks".


We will take him to the vet's next week. Keep your fingers crossed that no additional problems crop up.
:-)

Wish us luck!

I've debated about whether or not to share this too soon, but what the heck! This is Chico. He is a big, beautiful five year old pug that we are meeting for the first time this weekend. Please think good thoughts for us. If everything goes well on Saturday he will be coming home with us. Don't you just want to squeeze him? I know I do.
;-)

Happy Autumn Moon Festival!

Today we had our first official "Red Couch Group" event. We celebrated the Autumn Moon Festival at the Village Park in Kannapolis. So far, the group consists of two families, and we hope to grow it little by little. Hannah, Emma Grace, Elisabeth and Cole had a great time.









I found some moon cakes online, but I wasn't sure how they tasted. Luckily, I remembered to buy moon pies in case the moon cakes were not a hit. While we taste-tested all four kinds of moon cakes (melon was the least favorite, I think the black bean & nut moon cakes were the favorites among the adults) - the moon pies were definitely a hit with the kids. Whew!




We had a wonderful time in the park and hope to continue this tradition every year.
:-)

Wanted: a friend for Jack-Jack

Strike three! Let me explain. Over the last several weeks, we have been trying to find a friend for Jack-Jack. I think I have mentioned before that ever since Domino passed away, he has been really lonely.

Strike One:
The adorable puppies from a coworker were both sold while we were on vacation.

Strike Two:
Lady who we found on kijiji.com never returned my call. We scheduled a meeting time and place and when I called to confirm and get directions to her home... nada.

Strike Three:
Another kijiji person. Again we had a very nice conversation (during which she never mentioned that other people were interested), scheduled to meet this Wednesday and tonight I got an email from her telling me that she met someone today and has decided to give her dog to them. Well at least she let us know. But I am still really bummed.

I am starting to get really disappointed in people. I feel like I keep going through a breakup when I have never met the person I am breaking up with in the first place. I didn't think finding a dog would be this hard. Any suggestions?
:-)

The Rock that Blows

Chris took Hannah and I to Blowing Rock for my birthday. We had a lovely weekend of fresh air, blue skies and delicious food. It was really nice to get away.

Hannah loves the "Statue of Liberee", and she strikes the pose whenever the mood strikes her. I have been looking for a picture book about the Statue of Liberty for her.



I snapped this picture of Hannah looking up at her Daddy. She just adores him.


This was taken in front of the library in Blowing Rock, we kept asking her to lean over the statue to see what the girl is reading. Maybe she's got a thing for statues in general. Too cute.
;-)

The answer is...

P!nk.
Hannah and I watched VH1 "Behind the Music" on P!nk last week and ever since then she wants pink hair. She also really likes her songs and got up danced everytime one of her songs came up during the documentary. Since I have already planned her costume, I have figure out how to integrate pink hair. More on that to come.
:-)

Care to guess what Hannah wants to be for Halloween?

Maybe this one will give you a hint.


:-)

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

May you rest in peace Mr Swayze.

Sick Day Cupcakes

Last week Hannah had her four year old checkup and was the unhappy recipient of three different shots. Hannah calls them "pokes" because the nurse said right before administering the first shot "Now, you are going to feel a poke..."

Unfortunately, the "pokes" gave Hannah some trouble. She was feverish and overall achy for a few days. Since daycare has its fever policy, we decided to keep Hannah home one day to let her rest and hopefully get over her discomfort. In the afternoon, we decided to make cupcakes since Hannah was feeling better.

Here's how cupcake making goes down in our household:


Step One: Mix batter.


Step Two: Lick.


Step Three: Pour batter into cupcake pan.


Step Four: Bake.


Step Five: After cupcakes are cool, ice the cupcakes.


Step Six: Enjoy.

:-)

Happy Birthday to Me-atball!

Today is my birthday and I usually try not to make a big deal about it... I wasn't planning on mentioning it on the blog. But I just had to share these cupcakes that a coworker made for me today. Aren't they cool?
;-)