New Trick #too many

Better take her in boys...
Teresa has learned how to pull out & climb up on the kitchen chairs. AND if she's there long enough she gets down, pushes them where she wants to go & stands on them to reach the counters. AND if she's there long enough she pushes it back to the table, climbs up, & does a lovely little jig atop of it. Nothing is out of her reach anymore!I may need to call for back-up.

Halloween Preview #1

Some of the Mom's group characters all decked out for Halloween
Mmm...cupcakes Of course princesses can eat chocolate

Sure, right now I'm eating a cookie, but in a minute I'll be standing on the table!

Out of shape

Can you name the shapes?
I was blest to host the kiddos for Friends Preschool again last week.
We learned all about shapes.
We read The Pumpkin Patch Parable, had a shape scavenger hunt, danced the Shapes Hokey-Pokey, & made these Mr. Pumpkinheads.

Some were more realistic than others. All were cute!

The finished product

Those are some cute faces... all eight of 'em!

***

Rebecca LOVES Friends Preschool. She cracks me up with her chit-chat about it afterwards. Here's a part of our conversation from a few weeks ago... priceless.

"I like Joshie. He's so friendly."
"There were LOTS of boys today. They were fighting & shooting & swording..."
"We ate cheese boats for a snack!!! Did you know cheese was a boat?"

Field Trip

Rebecca's "Friends Preschool" took it's first field trip on the 15th. I had to reassure her that it would not be a "scary field trip" like Andrew's. She got spooked by one of the haunted houses... just the outside, we didn't even go in! I had just finished retelling her that "No, it's not scary, just fun!" when we walked in the door to a tombstone & spooky voice in the entry. :P Oh, well! She got over it.
We got Lost in Fun! Surrounded by humongous jungle gyms, she picked to play mostly with the blocks & puzzles like we have at home. :P
Maria & Teresa enjoyed each other's company

She's a wild one!

Gemma & Rebecca trying out the puzzles

"I'm too big for that baby swing..."

Peek-a-Isaiah

Just a swingin'

***

We also enjoyed the bounce-houses, foam block pit, & pizza.

Thanks for a fun time Amy, Aubrey, & families!

It's a delicacy

While enjoying a yummy supper of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, & asparagus, Rebecca in all seriousness requested,

"Could I have some more armadillo?"

Building blocks

Thanks to Bob & Donna, our adopted grandparents, for these fun blocks! Rebecca set out to build a castle with every last one in the box.
She succeeded!

And Teresa did what she does best. ;)

To which Rebecca quickly retorted in anger,

"Teresa!!! Humph, paddleboat toe."

Absolutely Autumnal

Andrew enjoyed his first Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch last week. A big part of the thrill was riding the bus! Once again, I didn't partake. The girls & I drove to attempt a siesta or two for Teresa. This trip brought back so many memories for me. Last year we went with the preschoolers on my due date with Teresa. I was kind of torn between enjoying it & wishing I was in the hospital! It was a gorgeous day & so much fun. Then it snowed the next one! I keep thinking any minute we'll see snowflakes...

The kindergarten crowd

We have been blest with abundant pumpkins from my parents, but you can't really go to the pumpkin patch & come home without one or two more. Andrew on the much smaller of the two slides

Our little court jester

Not-so-fierce dragon
Princess of the pile
King of the mountain
Andrew with buddy Matt on "the banana peel"
Feeding the goats... actually Teresa tried to give this one a kiss

***

We had a marvelous fall day! I know that the thrill they showed at every.single.thing will not last forever, but it was sure fun to watch now. What a blessing to share this memory with our little ones.

PENGUINS!!!

Andrew had Columbus Day off of school so we gathered the gang & enjoyed one last blast at the zoo. The girls enjoying their free dum-dums.
Andrew is trying out his new birthday camera from his godparents in the background. Another big hit! We saw lots of friends, neighbors, & classmates there
AND these new penguins!!!

In all the times we've gone to this zoo, I have NEVER seen the caribou awake, much less walking & eating. Lots of the normally sedentary animals were on the move: the red panda, scurrying armadillos, burrowing ground hogs, hopping wallabys. Sure made it a lot more thrilling!

Look at all those eagles!

(Now if only they had the bald eagle mask at the gift shop that I was on the hunt for. Sold out. Andrew insists on it as a Halloween costume. Anyone have an eagle ensemble laying around? A dark brown sweatsuit or beak we could borrow???)

Teresa is such a crazy runner... kudos to the inventor of the stroller.

Honey, I shrunk the (neighborhood) kids Make yourself comfy, Macy.

Spiders

I've never seen a triple yolk before. =]

***

Thanks for the fun, Nikki & kiddos!

Miss T

Happy 1st Birthday to our little Teresa Rose!
We were happy to celebrate your birthday more than once... who can say no to twice the cake?
So, we had a party for you, Andrew, & Red Grandpa all together!

Andrew tried to steal the show by losing his first tooth right after we sung Happy Birthday!!! You seriously enjoyed your cake.

So many fun toys are now yours... this orange fishy from Aunt Katie & Uncle Brad is your favorite.

After partying all afternoon, we just couldn't stop. So we went out with ALL the grandparents to dinner.

They gave us three free HUGE desserts. That's what I thought, too, Andrew!

Then we celebrated on your real birthday, October 12th, too. Here's your now unpackaged loot from party #1 to greet you for breakfast.

You spent most of the day being pulled around in your new sled. Can't wait to use it in the snow!

On your 12 month check up you weighed 19 lbs 6 oz (25th %) & were 31" tall (95th %). You love to chase your brother & sister, laugh, eat, bark like a puppy, tear paper into tiny pieces, & climb the nearest piece of furniture. You will only crawl if you're being silly, prefer to feed yourself entirely, & go to bed without much assistance to sleep soundly until morning! Much of that has started in the last month but you are now little Miss Independence.

You're beautiful. We love you so much!