Preschool Halloween Party

Today LP's preschool class celebrated Halloween with a little lunch, some games and dancing, and trick-or-treating. The kids were all dressed in their costumes (the teachers too) and the moms were invited to stay for the day. It was really nice to be able to watch LP in school, to find out who she plays with, see how she responds to and interacts with her teachers, and get to watch her enjoy her day.



They started off with some games in the classroom, then went trick-or-treating around the building. Miss Marianne had lunch brought in for them, and after they were done, put on music so they had a little dance party. I rushed this morning to put together some little treat bags for her friends, but it was worth it to watch her pass them out, concerned that everyone got one.

Peek-a-boo!

Making Memories

The taste of buttered, salted popcorn.
The smell of hot apple cider and spices.
The sound of the fall wind whipping around outside.
The sight of just the candles in the pumpkins and It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on tv.
The feel of my little girl curled up into my side and her little fingers grabbing mine in the popcorn bowl.

Tucking this memory in with the ones of watching the Great Pumpkin with popcorn and my parents as a child.

First Snowflakes

We had our first snowflakes of the season today. They didn't stick, but some of the flakes were pretty big. LP and I could only watch them from the front porch and through the window, they were mixed into too much cold rain to try to catch any today.

Another Olive Kids Contest

Olive Kids, a great company for personalized products that I've blogged about before, is hosting another contest on their site.

They are now offering canvas growth charts and personalized canvas wall art. The colors in the butterfly garden canvas art would be perfect in LP's new bedroom, but I have a feeling she would prefer the Pirates!

Head on over to their site to take a look around and sign up to win one of the 4 prizes!

The Dentist : Take 4

It has been 6 months since our LP's successful trip to the dentist. Today it was time to go back for another cleaning and check-up. This time there was no hesitation, LP followed Gwen right down the hall, climbed up into the chair, and opened her mouth wide to show off her teeth. Before getting started with the exam though, she asked Gwen to check Bear's teeth, she was concerned that he had lost his baby tooth. (the little girl we went on the hayride with last week had lost her two front teeth the week before, I didn't even realize that LP had noticed.)

She was great through the initial check and with the mirror in her mouth, but got a little nervous when Gwen pulled out the sharp hook. After grabbing tight to Bear, she decided that she'd be more comfortable if she sat on my lap. So I climbed into the chair with her and she finished the exam and cleaning without anymore concerns. The highlights of the day for LP were filling the water cup to get a drink, her new Diego toothbrush, and choosing a flower from the treasure chest. The highlight for mommy was hearing that her teeth are clean and healthy and it looks like she's getting her mommy's teeth!

Big Girl Room: In Progress 2

Uncle Dave and I took a trip to Linens and Things the other day to check out the going out of business sale. Prices weren't really marked down much on most things, but we found bedding from Wamsutta that is VERY similar to LP's new big girl bedding. The valences were an almost perfect match and were 30% off, so I picked up one for each window. The blue in the valences is an exact match for the turquoise stripes in the bedding, right down to the same size white polka dots. Now I just have to find some half curtains or material to make them to finish off the windows. We found a green that matched, but with the green walls I thought green curtains would be too much. I would like to do the blue in the bedding, but it's the only color not in the valence, so I will probably end up with a turquoise or purple.

(Excuse the lack of curtain on this window, she used the curtain rod to make polka dots in her wall and broke it, I haven't replaced it yet not knowing what we would end up doing for curtains.)

Keeping Warm

A great big thank you to Nana for LP's new pink hat. It has already kept her warm on our fall outings and LP is very proud to wear it. We all had fun turning off the flashlights to watch it glow during our trip through the corn maze, I still can't believe you found glow-in-the-dark yarn to knit it with!

The Corn Maze

Photo
by herzogbr

Friday night LP Dad was off and we wanted to take LP to do something fall/Halloween related. There isn't much Halloween related to do with a 3 year old, especially one who is the middle of an "everything is scary" phase, but we found a semi-local farm that has flashlight nights in it's corn maze. After dark the maze reopens for you to find your way through with only a few clues and a flashlight as your guide.

We all bundled up (although the layers weren't really necessary, it was a perfect weather night) and headed off with a couple of lights. LP immediately took control of the clues and led us around the maze. It was a strange feeling to only be able to see where your flashlight was shining, but LP thought it was a great adventure. We spent over an hour making our way around the maze, laughing most of the way. It was a night I will never forget, and something we are going to make a yearly tradition.

(I forgot to bring my camera, so no photos of my own. I found the above shot from herzogbr on Flickr.)

Fieldtrip

LP's preschool class took a fieldtrip to the local pumpkin patch this week. The kids all wore the sweatshirts they stamped during class and piled in for a hayride to the fields. Since this was LP's 4th hayride and 3rd trip to a pumpkin patch this fall, she wasn't very interested in picking out a pumpkin. She was more interested in the cornstalks, the horses behind the fence, and running around with her friends. But we did get a small pumpkin to bring home and then headed back to the farm to play in a haymaze, in a bounce house, and on a slide.

Fall With Friends

The sudden rush of fall couldn't stop the kids from having a great time at our playdate this week. Despite cold fingers and runny noses, they ran, climbed, batted balls, and covered themselves and us with leaves.

The Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we took a trip to a local farm to hunt for the perfect Jack O'Lantern pumpkin. This was a new farm for us and we will definitely be going back. We had the entire place almost to ourselves all morning, although it was getting very crowded as we were leaving. We started off by checking out the kids hay maze and feeding the animals, then climbed onto the hayride for a trip out to the pumpkin patch. We stopped along the way to feed the cows and found the perfect pumpkin which will be carved this week. We love having Lilypad Dad home on the weekends.

Four Eyes For Less

It's that time again, I need to get new glasses. Unlike the rest of my family, I don't need glasses in order to see my own hands when I wake up in the morning. I can read just fine without them, but after extended periods of reading or on the computer I will get a headache. Since having LP, I haven't had the time to spend reading or on the computer, so my last pair were put away and forgotten about. I haven't gotten a new pair of glasses in about 8 years. But now that LP is getting into longer books and I've been spending more time on the computer doing some work for Uncle Dave, I think it is time to replace them.

But glasses can be very expensive. Since they aren't something that I wear everyday, I don't want to spend too much on them. I just want something light, simple, comfortable, and cheap. So I started researching my options. An article in the Chicago Tribune discusses your options for frames, such as your local optometrist, warehouse clubs, and online.

The article talks about one online site, Zenni Optical, which sells stylish prescription eyeglasses from $8. They have a wide range of frames for men, women and children, from basic plastic or metal to stainless steel and memory titanium. They offer single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. I have already found a couple of frames that I think would be great, and you can't beat the price!

Big Girl Room: In Progress

We are working on switching from a nursery to a big girl room. It's a slow project, but we are making progress. The next steps will be to refinish the mirror to put over the dresser now that it's not a changing table anymore, new curtains, and hopefully a new rug. Here are the two newest changes to the room.

Big Girl Bedding

A birthday present from Nana and PopPop. The green stripe in the bedding is an exact match to the green paint on the walls. It is girly, without being too babyish or too tween/teen looking. The blues and purples in the bedding work well with splashes of pink in the room for accents, without making you feel overwhelmed with pink.



Star Lighting

We picked up these adorable star lights at Ikea yesterday. We hung them in the corner opposite her bed today, they are soft enough that she can fall asleep with them on, but bright enough that she isn't scared of the dark. Thank you Auntie Diane for the birthday present to put towards her bedroom, this is what we used it on!

Let's Go Shopping!

Yesterday LP and I took a road trip to Ikea and Trader Joe's with Alessandro and his mom. The kids actually love going down, apparently Ikea is almost as good as a playground for them. They now know exactly where to go, they don't even need us moms with them. Does this mean we go there a little too often?

Watching the (Squirrel) World Go By

Without putting too much effort into it though, her chin is actually resting on the windowsill.

First Pigtails

I thought it would never happen. First I wasn't sure she would ever have enough hair to put it up at all. Finally this summer there was enough to pull it back, but the most she has ever allowed me to do was pull up the sides and pull the top back into a little ponytail. While I was getting ready to go out the other day, LP came in and handed me two matching elastics and told me that she wanted ponytails. When I started to pull it back as usual, she told me no, she wanted TWO ponytails. So I finally got to put her hair in pigtails. I love it, I think they look adorable. This isn't the best picture of LP, but it is the best one I have of her first pigtails.

Happy Anniversary Dad and Anne!

A (belated) Happy Anniversary to my Dad and Anne. Their wedding took place 3 years ago last week, and was LP's first wedding ceremony at less than 6 weeks old.

Anne, we are so happy that you have joined our family, you have really made my dad happy. And according to LP, you know how to have a great tea party!

A Day On The Farm

Lilypad Princess and I were invited to go on a hayride today at a friend's family farm. The farm is beautiful, the colors and wonderful smells of rosemary and basil made you just want to stand and enjoy. The farm has been in their family for over 130 years and is now a specialty herb and vegetable producer. We took a hayride out into the fields where we picked pumpkins, peppers, eggplant, rosemary, and purple basil until our arms and hands were full. Then we headed back to enjoy a little snack and enjoy the company before heading home. I keep walking back into my kitchen to smell the rosemary. Thank you so much for the wonderful day Jenny!

Ballet

Lilypad Princess has narrowed her Halloween costume down to 2 choices - a witch and Angelina Ballerina. Since we already have most of the Angelina costume, I thought we would pick up some ballet slippers for her yesterday so if she does decide on to be the dancing mouse we will be all set. The ballet slippers were a bigger hit than I even imagined. As soon as they were on her feet she took off dancing around the store. She told me that she was doing piroettes and arabesques. She might have been since I don't know what either of those are!

Cat Food?

Even Forster has been enjoying the apples. I never thought we'd be able to use all 24 pounds, especially in less than 1 week!

Apples, Apples, Everywhere

We ended up with almost 24 pounds of apples the other day. I've been busy making applesauce and apple crumble, but LP has been just as busy eating the apples as the are. I keep a bowl of washed apples out on the table for her to grab whenever she wants, which is 3 to 4 times a day.

Apple Picking

This weekend we went apple picking. For LP, the girl who will eat 5 apples a day if you let her, the apple orchard was her idea of heaven. We took a tractor ride out to the orchard where she ran from tree to tree picking the perfect apples. She made sure to get the biggest apple ever for Uncle Dave, and filled the 1/2 bushel bag. She ate 3 apples while in the orchard, one as soon as we got there and two apples at the same time (different kinds) on the way back out. After the tractor ride back, we listened to some music, had apple cider and cider donuts, and checked out the rest of the farm before heading home.

Hopscotch

Fall At The Beach

We took one last trip down to the beach this week to close up the house for the winter. We lucked out with beautiful weather, nice warm days to play at the park, the beach, and in the yard, and to wander around Mystic, with cool to cold nights just perfect for sleeping.