Thoughts on Thanksgiving

While we were driving home from nursery school the other day, Alette asked me 'Mommy, why you never tell me about Thanksgiving?'. In my head I'm thinking of the zillions of Thanksgiving books we've read, the millions of conversations, and at least TWO VERY RECENT Thanksgiving crafts we worked on together. hmmmmmm.

After a rocky start, our conversation went as follows (I'm trying to remember it exactly after a week, but you'll get the gist).
Alette: You know what mommy? I'm thankful for 1,2,3,4,5 things.
Me: like what?
Alette: I'm thankful for my toys, my mommy, and daddy, and sister, and all the things that Jesus gives to me, and my cat, and my friends.

I just love my daughter.

Halloween

The girls had a great time playing at the Children's Garden. Alette got a ton of candy (her main goal for the day). As excited as she was to get candy, she has largely forgotten about it. Somehow though the pile of chocolate is disappearing...hmmmm. She never got around to wearing the long princess skirt I made, and on Halloween, refused to wear her crown or carry her wand. Nonetheless, she looked darn cute and had a great time. Thanks to Auntie Laura and Grandmom for joining us!
Abria was out of sorts all day, hence, she is scowling in most of the pictures. Nonetheless, she was the cutest pumpkin I have ever seen.

Yes, she's 3.

Alette has been excited about dressing up as a princess for weeks. We talked about her costume and she even helped me pick out the materials to make a long princess skirt. She has a short princess skirt, but she really, really, really wanted a long one for her halloween party. Then the day of the big event came....and the long skirt was rejected. UGH. So I bit my tongue, put it aside, and have been a bit steamed ever since. Maybe it'll be put to use this weekend. In the meantime I'll keep smiling and repeating 'she's only 3, it's not personal...'

It Finally Feels Like Fall

We missed apple picking but made it out to Johnsons' Farm in time to gather a few pumpkins for Halloween. It was cold and blustery, perfect fall weather! Alette ran from pumpkin to pumpkin, rejecting many because they were too bumpy, dirty, orange, green, tall, round, short etc. Finally she found the perfect pumpkin for herself and Abria-aided by my threat of the hayride tractor leaving without us. Within five minutes of being in the field Abria picked up the tiniest gourd and carried her treasure for the rest of our time at the farm. Alette's eagerly awaiting the chance to go to school in her princess costume....only 4 more days.

OC

We spent the weekend in Ocean City with three other families from our church care group. Abria was pretty sick the previous week and we weren't sure if we would make it but her fever broke on Thursday, so we packed up and headed to the beach. With 7 kids under the age of 6, there was plenty of noise and fun. Alette, Andy and a couple of the others did actually make it to the beach and briefly played in the sand.

Thank Goodness for Big Sisters!

Officially Abria is walking....however, given the opportunity, she would much rather have the helping hand of someone older. Luckily Alette is pretty willing to play that role, as I tend to get tired of doing laps around our living room. I have no idea why the audio is not working...probably need to plug something in, or turn something on.

Our Little Show Off

Anyone who says they have their child's first steps on video is stretching the truth. I spent the greater part of today trying to capture Abria's walking (a very shaky venture for her at this point). I'll post the results later, but I found it a near impossible task. Abria crawled, fell, cried..... However, I did get some great video of her identifying body parts (and doing some weird thing with her tongue). Hopefully the audio works. We will keep working on the walking thing. Neither girl has broken any records with early walking.....