Glamour Girl

This little girl of ours is turning out to be quite the character! I never know what is going on in her mind and why she loves certain things. On one particular Sunday afternoon she wore her pajamas for her nap (that makes some sense, I suppose) and after her nap her outfit continued to improve. She grabbed her sparkly headband, then a necklace from her Nana the day before, then her favorite sparkly light-up shoes from Gammie. And don't forget the stickers Nana gave her the day before. Yup, that's my girl and that is her style. And I love every bit of it. Even the pink tu-tu she wore to daycare today!

Potato Stamps

Last week we finished our last activity for our 'Jesse Bear What Will You Wear' book. We made potato stamps and stamped designs like the one on Jesse Bear's kitchen floor. The stamps were easy to make, I sliced one large baking potato into thirds and then carved a circle, square and triangle into each third. I bought some inexpensive washable ink pads from Amazon and we stamped away! Mark had to do most of the work of helping Allison while I took pictures. I think he might still be a bit bitter about it, but I'm pretty sure deep down inside he loved it. I'm thinking we may be making some Christmas wrapping paper this way. We ended the night with a much needed bath time.

In the picture above she had just said 'I bite this' and I think she liked my reaction to that statement! Thankfully she learned pretty quick it wasn't a pleasant thing to bite!

Allison and the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend I had my 10-year college reunion and was having fun about 60 miles away. I left the camera with Mark since I knew he & Allison were going to be meeting up with our good friends, the Wagner's for a Pumpkin Patch trip. It was Allison's first trip of the year. She went again on Tuesday with her daycare Toddler class. We heard more about the bus on that trip than the pumpkins and I have yet to see pictures but I can't wait. Anyhow, here are some of my favorite pictures from Mark & Allison's trip last Saturday. I really don't know what is going on in these....which makes it even more fun to look at them! Enjoy!

This is the pumpkin Allison actually came home with. I think Mark has a rule about her being able to carry her own pumpkin! I also heard a rumor of her trying to sit on hers like Bekah did hers...but I'll leave that for Jodi's blog.

Balancing Act

I thought it was about time for a bike riding update... When I look through pictures on our computer I find lots of pictures like the one above - I'm always trying to capture Allison's latest & greatest riding on a camera. And it is hard! What you can't see above is how she picks both her feet up, sticks them straight out and weaves around. It is pretty darn cute. And we are very proud of her ability to balance! As you can see below she takes her riding very seriously!

We try to get out for a walk or ride in the evenings when it is dry (and sometimes when it is wet!). Tonight was a gorgeous fall evening so we went around the block. The most significant thing I noticed tonight? It is about time to raise the seat on Allison's bike. She is growing so fast! And her latest trick from tonight? Trying to stick both her feet up on the cross bar of her bike when riding. She didn't quite fall trying it tonight but she and her father had a little talk about going faster when attempting tricks. I think it is sinking in....I heard 'I go fast' coming out of her mouth several times tonight. Gotta love every minute of it!

And yes, I know, we forgot her helmet tonight. I feel a little bad. But she does ride on the sidewalk and her 'fast' is still quite slow so we didn't worry about it.

Fall Hymn Sing

The worship pastor at our church does incorporate the occasional hymn on Sunday mornings but I realized Allison wasn't going to really learn the old hymns well if she didn't hear them a bit more often. So we started a quarterly 'Hymn Sing' this month. We invited a handful of friends over and Mark put together a collection of well known hymns. We sang them. Allison & the other kids danced and ran around. We're not sure how much they absorbed but we will keep trying! I enjoy having the opportunity to sing some of my favorite songs as well. We're looking forward to our future quarterly gatherings. Here are some pictures of Allison dancing....

And Benji Boy playing with the remote...he actually was probably the best behaved kiddo of the night. He sat rather quietly on his chair. Way to go Benji!

And to wrap up the evening I made Nanaimo Bars from scratch (and learned all sorts of history about the Canadian Nanaimo bar which I then repeated to my Canadian co-worker the next day, much to her amusement since she already knew all about them!). I used this Nanaimo Bars III recipe from AllRecipes.com (I used vanilla pudding instead of custard powder). They were fantastic! And I pulled out the Hot Apple Cider recipe given to me by my dear friend Myra who now lives in a climate that is much too warm for hot cider. Here is her recipe, it was quite the hit. I skipped the rum, it was a hymn sing after all! That and we don't have any around here.

Myra's Hot Apple Cider

2 qts Apple Cider
3/4 to 1 c. Lemon Juice Concentrate
1 c. firmly packed Brown Sugar
8 whole Cloves
2 Cinnamon Sticks
3/4 c. Rum (optional)

In a large saucepan combine all ingredients (except rum). Bring to boil. Reduce heat & simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove spices and add rum just before serving (if desired).

So Jodi, Mel, Claire & Cara Lynn, I can now say you have the recipes you asked for!

Uncle Tills the Soccer Star

On one of the last days that actually felt like summer around here Allison & I headed to a soccer game my cousin, Tillerman, was playing in. It was a beautiful day and Allison thoroughly enjoyed playing in the dirt with the other kids. She was quite warm by the time the game was over and I did not pack enough water!

She did take a few breaks from playing in the dirt to clap and cheer for 'Uncle' Tills.

And she was pretty fascinated by him at the end of the game, especially his ice pack. At daycare they have little ice packs they get when they have 'owies' but this one was huge! It made quite the impression on her.

Yup, this girl, loves her Uncle Tills! The camera caught her just as she was starting to smile so she looks half asleep. She was TIRED after this game - all of the running around, playing and cheering wore her out. We look forward to a few more games before the season is over. But we'll likely be huddling under umbrellas (or playing in the mud) for the rest of them.

Jesse Bear Party

This fall I purchased the 'Before Five in a Row' homeschooling preschool curriculum to make sure I had plenty of ideas of activities for time with Allison. I've also been trading in my Amazon gift cards for lots of children's books from the curriculum. The first book we 'studied' (I use the term 'studied' very loosely) was Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? We had fun reading the book in the evenings and looking at the pictures. Eventually I scheduled a 'Jesse Bear' party with Allison's new friend, Annie, from church. I don't actually have any pictures of the girls at the party because we were busy doing activities but here is a glimpse of what we did. I had all of Allison's stuffed bears out to play with and Annie's Dad, Jeff read them the book.

Then we let the girls dress their own Jesse Bears (I cut them out of really thin cardboard and used my fabric scraps). They were both more obsessed with the glue than the thought of making clothes. At this point I was bummed Bekah had her school party and couldn't join us, I know she would have put together some fabulous outfits!

And our party snacks, gummy bears, mini Teddy Grahams and home made sugar cookies cut into small bears (I made cookie sandwiches out of them with frosting). The girls also 'dressed' (decorated) some butterfly sugar cookies...apparently I don't have a big bear cookie cutter...good thing neither of the girls cared! We're looking forward to more adventures inspired by books in the months to come. And Allison (and I) is thrilled to have a new friend Annie (and her Mom, Tana) to enjoy books with her!