Sunday, October 31, 2010

Trick-or-Treat

Out we went for trick-or-treating. This year Alexa wanted to be a fairy. She picked out the fabric. I made the dress large enough to fit lots of layers under it. Good thing too because it was about 34 degrees and I saw snow flakes coming down. Chloe was a horse. She wanted to be a black horse which is not a great idea for trick-or-treating, so they were decked out in lots of glow sticks, flashing lights, and pumpkin flashlights. Her costume was warmer since it was made of fleece. She was layered underneath too.

I was hoping to take some pictures while they were out, but Alexa was clutching my hand. She likes the idea of trick-or-treating but has never been a fan of people in costumes. The older kids out there tend to scare her as does any house that has anything remotely creepy outside. I got the after photos though.
As you can see they made out really well and should have enough candy to last quite awhile.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins tonight. I usually have the girls just paint them, but this year I purchased some carving tools (that turned out to be very cheap and barely made it through before breaking).


Alexa was a bit grossed out by the cold guts inside.



I did her carving for her. She wanted to make sure her pumpkin had a smile not a "mean scary face, a nice happy face."

She made sure he was well polished after we were done.





Chloe did a great job carving hers.




Alexa was happy to wash the seeds for me to get them ready to roast.

Both kids liked spreading the seeds all over the pan in oil.



Tah Dah! We are ready for the big night!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Preschool Halloween

Alexa had a performance tonight at her preschool.
The kids came in costume and sang some songs. She has been chatting about it all week and did a wonderful job.

If the site cooperates, tomorrow I will post a video clip. I am too tired to fight with it tonight!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Bad Habits

We have had a job for about a month and a half now. We are pet sitting. We take this job very seriously. The pet gets lots of love every day. Alexa and Chloe make sure of that.


It is possible we may have some explaining to do over a few bad habits. I don't feel completely responsible. I mean Lucy already had a pretty cushy life. As Alexa was quick to point out to me, "Mommy, Jason said we could feed the dog," and she is right. He did. He may not have realized exactly what that would look like in the long run. So for that I publicly apologize for any relentless begging habits that she may have picked up from the girls. You see dinner kind of looks like this around here...


As for our own dog Cabbie, a bit of a double standard holds. He is still sentenced to the "other room" during dinner. He waits out meals times with every bit the envious stares you can imagine, but he stays put.

Well, most of the time. As for Lucy's habit...

I am sorry.


They just can't resist that face!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Overdue Thank You

OK Grammie Eva, we are way overdue on a thank you. Last week a package arrived at our house. It contained a new hat and scarf for Chloe. Grammie made it from left over yarn from Chloe's sweater.
She loves it Grammie double knit and reversible! Thank you very much. Now Alexa has some mittens in mind...

Monday, October 11, 2010

A Day With Alexa

Today is Columbus Day. In some places (such as daycare centers) it is a holiday. In other places (such as public schools in Vermont) it is not a holiday. As a result Alexa's daycare was closed today, but my work was not. This scenario is familiar to me as I have had to deal with using a personal day on Columbus Day for years now. I did realize however, that this was the last time I would have to do it. Next year Alexa will be in kindergarten and I will spend the day at work. So we decided to make the most of our day with just Alexa and mommy. We started our day by walking Chloe to school. She next wanted me to make her a fruit smoothie and watch me work on her Halloween costume.
As you can see things got a little crazy.


Alexa mentioned last night that she really wanted to take the dogs for a walk today. It was a little chilly this morning so we bundled up and headed out.

When we got home she wanted to head out for a bike ride. It was a great day for it since it was warming up and sunny. After heading home for lunch and a little play time in the yard, we headed back over to pick up Chloe.


Alexa wanted to round out the day by riding her scooter over to Chloe's school. She was pretty tired by the time we got home and I am predicting an early bedtime tonight!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Alexa's Hair Cut

Alexa had decided that she wanted her hair cut shorter. I was glad (given her last cutting attempt) that she didn't take matters into her own hands instead asking me to take her to the hair dresser. I wanted to make sure she was really sure she wanted it cut and had her wait a couple of weeks and really think about it. She decided she was sure, so today we made the appointment to get it cut. These are the before pictures.




Alexa has only had the back of her hair trimmed once in her life and just a half an inch.




She was so excited she giggled the whole way through the cut.



The new look! She was rewarded for her great behavior with a balloon and lollipop. The pictures looked so familiar to me I dug back through some files and sure enough... here was Chloe at age four just after she got all her hair cut off.

Look similar? Both of them had enough to donate to locks of love.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Taiko Drumming Concert

Chloe was in a school concert tonight. Her school has had a visiting Taiko drumming artist for the past two weeks teaching the children. There was a school wide concert tonight for all the classes to perform what they had learned. The concert was set outside and would have been a wonderful location were it not raining. The kids did wonderfully despite the cold rainy weather.


Chloe was nervous about performing. She felt that she wasn't sure of some of the parts. As you can see she looks rather nervous at times.
Chloe is to the right of the center drum that the instructor was playing.

She was a good sport though and despite being rain soaked she still managed a smile for me at the end for the school wide dance.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Halloween Prep

The girls and I hit the fabric store today so that they could pick out fabrics for their costumes. While there we picked up a few art projects in the one dollar clearance bins to help us get ready for the holiday. They got busy working on them when we got home.



It also gave us the chance to dig the other decorations out of the basement.



Things are a little festive around here! Now I just have to start sewing.