Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! The City of Auburn held trick-or-treating this past Thursday night so we set out around town showing off our cute little cowgirl! Margie Grace had a great time. In case you don't recognize her, MG is dressed as Jessie the Cowgirl (aka Woody's sister from the Toy Story movies). Mom made her chaps, I did the shirt and belt, the boots are my sister's from when she was a kid (nearly as good as new with a little persuasion from the hot glue gun!) and the red hat came from Wal-Mart. I think Margie Grace liked her costume and had a good time checking out everyone that was dressed up downtown. She received a fair amount of Halloween loot and has really been enjoying her candy over these past few days!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and More Pumpkins

This week we've been decorating the three pumpkins that we picked up at the pumpkin patch. The two that Neil and I got were a decent enough size to carve. We used our handy dandy pumpkin carving kit that we picked up at Target last year to make two fun faces in our pumpkins. Margie Grace's pumpkin was a good bit smaller so I decided to let her paint her's. I figured this would be more fun -- and a lot safer -- for her (you know, her knife skills aren't up to par yet!). She really got into it and enjoyed decorating the pumpkin. She was a little bit finicky, though, about the paint getting on her hands. She'd say "nasty, mommy!" and demand that I wipe any wayward paint from her hands and the brush handle immediately. Here are some pictures from all that pumpkin decorating!

A View from the Top

Yesterday I had the opportunity to climb to the top of Samford Tower and catch the view from the highest point on Auburn's campus. It was a really cool experience and I'm glad I got to go. Our office is working on a video project for the Web and needed to shoot some scenes from the venerable clock tower. So we hauled ourselves and the gear up several flights of stairs (reminding me why I am so glad I work in the basement as opposed to the fourth floor) and into the attic of Samford Hall where we accessed the ladders that ascend first to the bell tower and then to the clock tower above it. All four of the clock faces in the tower manually roll back and you can stand within their circular frame for a bird's eye view of campus (Let me just add here that there are no window panes or screens but only a knee-high webbed barrier that is draped across the opening once the faces are rolled back. It is this small barrier alone that keeps you from being one footstep away from the ultimate meeting with the heavenly Father so the words "don't trip" up there carry significantly stronger meaning!). The view is truly magnificent and especially yesterday, with the weather being cool and crisp, it offered a perfect glimpse of Auburn from above. Each of the clock faces is backed by a huge piece of plywood and over the years, folks who have been lucky enough to venture to the clock tower have signed their names on the boards. I took the opportunity to inscribe my name in perpetuity in the tower -- if you are ever there, check out the bottom left-hand corner of the board on the clock face pointing toward College Street. I think this is a relatively new tradition as I didn't notice any signatures dating beyond the mid-90s; however, there is a bit of graffiti dated '15 (as in 1915) in the portion of the tower where the bell is housed. I guess there is something about proving your presence in a place and literally leaving your mark that never gets old. With all the new buildings and the face of campus changing significantly in the 21st century, it was really neat to be able to step back in time so the speak and see it all from above. Seeing the exposed brick and old beams in the attic immediately made me think of what the university must have been like when Samford Hall was truly the hub of a campus which was only made up of a couple of buildings. In case you are curious, Samford Hall is actually taller than Haley Center and offers a better view as it sits higher above sea level. Also, next time you visit Samford and look up, notice the weather vane that adorns the very top of the building's clock tower. The vane itself stands at 14 feet tall!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Sunday Neil, Margie Grace and I ventured out to Jack-O-Lantern Lane, a pumpkin farm outside of LaFayette, Ala., to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and pick out the perfect pumkin to carve. This is the second year we have visited the farm and for the bargain price of $6 each, we got to ride on a tractor-drawn wagon out to the patch in search of the great pumpkin of 2008. Here's a tip: if you are looking for the perfect pumpkin any size bigger than a basketball, do not wait until the week before Halloween. It is akin to pulling up to the tree farm on Christmas Eve -- you're left with slim pickens at best. For a week before the big day, however, the selection was ok. Although the remaining gourds were a little on the smallish side, it actually worked out well for Margie Grace as she could pick up most of the pumpkins and handle them herself (which she is all about these days! "Margie do it."). The three of us wandered through the patch, each searching for the best pumpkin of the bunch. After scouring the place we settled on three pretty good ones . . . a momma pumpkin, a daddy pumpkin and a little baby pumpkin. We also took time to look around the working farm, which the owners have open for the public. Margie Grace got to see a donkey, goats, rabbits, chickens and horses. She was more aware and unsure of the animals this year as opposed to last year but I really think she enjoyed seeing live animals and being able to relate them to the ones we read about in her books. Here are some pictures from our visit.

The Pumpkin Patch . . . One Year Later

Since we visited the same Pumpkin Patch this year as last year, I thought it would be fun to try to recreate some of the pictures we captured last fall. This is my best attempt. Apparently over the course of this year Margie Grace has come to dislike horses and hay. I couldn't get her to sit on the hay bales long enough to take a photo (it was too "sticky" as she said). But she would cling to Neil so that I could take a couple with the sweet horse. What a difference a year makes!

A New Ride

One of the gifts Neil and I gave Margie Grace for her birthday was a tricycle . . . or as Margie Grace calls it, a "trisickah." We had seen how much she enjoyed driving her Cozy Coupe car in the backyard and we figured she'd love a new set of wheels that she could actually take for a spin around the block. After lots of research (because I'm OCD like that), we settled on a snazzy Radio Flyer model. The great thing about this particular trike is that it can "grow" with Margie Grace and she'll hopefully get lots of use out of it. It has a long handle in the back that Neil or I can use to steer so until she gets the hang of peddling, we can give her a nice ride. Once she's old enough to peddle it herself, we can remove the handle and she can enjoy a typical tricycle. This model also features lots of neat storage compartments (in case we decide to peddle it cross country) and Margie Grace enjoys storing all manner of things in the various pockets and compartments -- her dishes and play food, her magnetic alphabet set, her baby dolls, all of her Fisher Price Little People -- they have all had a turn in the trike. The Radio Flyer even features a little bell that MG loves to use to let people know she is coming! Here are a few photos from a recent stroll around the block.

(As a footnote, Neil and I were proud to receive props from our pediatrician at MG's 2-year-old check-up when MG told her she got a "trisickah" for her birthday. The doc's comment was something along the lines of "I'm so glad you got a tricycle instead of one of those motorized things." I did not take the opportunity to mention that a "motorized thing" might well be in MG's future as those vehicles look super fun and weren't around when Neil and I were little -- right now we'll just let it all be about the exercise! Who knew a tricycle equals smart parenting!?)

Birthday Number 2

Margie Grace was very lucky to get to celebrate her birthday with two parties this year. I've previously posted pictures from her party on Monday, Oct. 6, with our family that lives in Auburn. We hosted another small party for out-of-town family and friends on Saturday, Oct. 11. Margie Grace was excited to get to visit with everyone that came to share this special time with her. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

Although I have a ton of unfinished sewing projects waiting to get done, I did manage to make Margie Grace something special to wear for her birthday. I smocked the cupcakes and my mom (thanks again mom!) constructed this precious dress that MG wore for the occasion. Also, a big thanks to Nick and Julie who picked up this cute and very delicious cake from Edgar's in Birmingham for the big day.

Back at it . . .

After a bit of a blogging hiatus, I'm official back at it. Thanks for being patient over these past few weeks as I took a time-out for some important life events. Since Margie Grace was born two years ago, the month of October is always somewhat of a blur for us and this year was no exception. With her birthday on Oct. 6, the first part of the month is always spent planning for and celebrating her birthday. We had two great parties for her this year: one on Monday, Oct. 6, and one the following Saturday, Oct. 11. After only a couple of days to recuperate from the birthday festivities, we headed south to Orlando, Fla., to celebrate turning 2 one more time -- this time with Mickey Mouse at Disney World. Neil, Margie Grace and I along with my parents and Laura and John spent five days in the "World." We returned last Sunday evening and spent this past week getting back into our routine, doing mounds of laundry and wishing for a fairy godmother to come and miraculously clean our house (this hasn't happened yet!) Anyway, over the past few weeks we collected lots of fun stories and great pictures (yes, the Disney stuff is coming soon) that I plan to share with you over the next few days as we also work feverishly to prepare for Halloween. I can't believe November is almost here. Thanks for reading!

Band-Aid Tragedy

Parenting lesson No. 572: Never, ever try to remove a toddler's band-aid by launching a surprise attack while you deem said toddler as occupied and unaware. This tactic does not work and no exceptions should be made regardless of how that band-aid appears: dirty, crumpled up and hanging on by one small corner that hasn't yet lost its sticky. This is in no way a good idea and the results can be quite traumatic. Let me tell you how we discovered this truth.

Sunday evening Margie Grace scrapped her knee on our driveway. The incident created a noticeable but very superficial boo boo. She didn't cry but seemed a little worried by it so Neil and I put on a good show doctoring it. I put a little Neosporin on the "wound" and a Hello Kitty band-aid for good measure (which she really hated at first, go figure). She still had the band-aid on when Neil dropped her off at Mrs. Elaine's Monday morning. I noticed Monday afternoon that Hello Kitty had been replaced by Nemo and Margie Grace seemed to be oblivious and over the injury. Well, the band-aid should have been removed Monday evening but with all the birthday hubbub I forgot. So last night after Neil had gotten MG out of the bathtub, I was drying her off and getting her ready for bed. We were both talking and laughing with Margie Grace. Suddenly, I am in the midst of drying her hair with the towel when I hear the band-aid rip off. A horrified expression came over Margie Grace's face as her eyes got big and she started to scream and cry and point at her knee. "What happened?!?" I asked, very concerned that my docile toddler was suddenly reduced to a fit of hysterics. "I took off her band-aid while she wasn't looking," Neil said. "It needed to go." With no advanced warning to either me or MG, Neil decided to rip Nemo off for good. The results of his actions were tragic. Margie Grace began crying uncontrollable, I was still trying to assess the situation and Neil was feeling really bad and repeating "I thought she wouldn't notice." Well, folks, she noticed. And when Neil moved in for an apologetic hug, he was brutally rebuffed by Margie Grace. She pushed him away with a hard shove at which point I suggested that he just leave the room and give us a few minutes to collect ourselves. I tried to speak rationally to my child about the band-aid being dirty and needing to come off and the boo boo was healed but this did not help! Margie Grace kept repeating through her sobs, "Meemo gone, gone!" "Daddy Meemo off!" "Margie Grace boo boo! Kiss it!" I offered lots of kisses and hugs and tried to ease her through this tragedy. Slowly, she began to pull herself together and the tears dried up -- I was relieved. We continued with our bedtime routine and I even got a smile and a hug when I suggested we go and play with her new dishes that Mam-ma and Pa-pa gave her for her birthday. On the way into the den, however, we met Daddy. Now, Margie Grace was fine with this and I think she had already forgiven him. But as he went in for a conciliatory hug and began explaining that he was sorry but the band-aid had to come off, she lost it again. "Hey, here's a tip," I said. "Let's drop this and not mention Nemo or the band-aid again!" And that is how we painfully learned Parenting lesson No. 572. Next time there is a band-aid that needs to be removed, we are going to give advanced warning because, yes, she will notice!

Celebrating Two Years Old

As yesterday was Margie Grace's 2nd birthday, we had a little party for her with our family that live in town: Neil and I, my parents, grandparents and brother. We will have another party with out-of-town family and friends this Saturday so that everyone can celebrate this special occasion with Margie Grace. And we are taking a special trip next week to commemorate this event (why not stretch this birthday thing out all month, right?) It is a good thing that we decided to divide up all of the fun. Margie Grace opened her presents last night very thoroughly, examining each one and demanding that someone "open it," meaning actually take each individual toy or item out of the packaging after she had unwrapped it. And it didn't stop with opening the gifts, MG wanted to inspect and play with each one after it was unwrapped. She had a great time and she really savored every moment of the gift giving. She also enjoyed blowing out the candles on her cupcakes. In fact, she had practiced blowing them out so much that she extinguished one of the candles before we even got the other one lit. We had to do the candle blowing a couple of times just to make sure we got enough pictures, but she didn't mind as she enjoyed blowing them out each time. Here are a few pictures from yesterday's festivities.

Happy Birthday, Margie Grace!

Happy Birthday, Margie Grace! Monday my sweet baby girl turns 2 years old! As I write this on Sunday evening, Oct. 5, and reflect on MG's birthday, I can't help but think back to two years ago today when I was as big as a house and thought my little pumpkin would never get here! I am so glad that she decided to make her debut a whole two weeks and one day early because I honestly thought I would not make it another day pregnant. In fact, I left work early on Oct. 5, 2006, feeling pretty crummy. I told Neil that afternoon to please just take me out and shoot me -- like they do with old horses that are past their prime. I told him I had great confidence in his ability to be a single parent; I simply couldn't take being pregnant for one more second! In hindsight, I was feeling so terrible because Margie Grace was on her way. And at 2:09 a.m. on Friday morning Oct. 6, we greeted her for the first time. I can't believe it has been two years already since that moment when our life changed forever. Neil and I often ask each other what we did before Margie Grace was born. Honestly, we can't really remember -- life was pretty boring! She continues to make every waking moment more interesting than the next. Happy Birthday, Margie Grace!

A Beacon in the Night

I never thought that teaching Mission Friends would be detrimental to our health. However, I've come to the conclusion that after four weeks, we might not make it through the year. Yeah, the kids are rowdy but that is the least of our worries. Our problem is that on the way home from church on Wednesday nights, our car passes by four bastions of yummy goodness: Wendy's, Sonic, Dairy Queen and Mrs. Storey's Dairy Barn. So far, we've favored Sonic and Dairy Queen as the score is tied at two apiece for those particular dessert havens but I'm sure the others will get to make a play as the year progresses. We've fallen into a pretty bad habit (and with my new found love of Chick-fil-A's ice dream this really must stop!) but it is easy to be persuaded by the sugary goodness available at all these locations. Plus, it seems like our car just drives there without being told to do so. And as we typically pass these places between 7:30 and 8 p.m., it is prime time for an evening treat!

I knew we were in trouble last week when, as we pulled into the turning lane to make the left turn into Sonic -- bear in mind we hadn't even turned in yet -- Margie Grace gasped in excitement. "Bite! Bite! Bite!" she started yelling as she clapped her hands and kicked her legs. For her, those neon lights and that drive-thru window meant pure bliss. She knows: really nothing tastes better than a cherry limeade with crushed ice after an hour wrangling four-year-olds . . . maybe except for an Oreo Blizzard . . . or a grape slush. Perhaps we should make it our weekly challenge to see if we can drive right by all those places without stopping. The problem is that Wendy's and Mrs. Storey's are clearly already at a disadvantage and I wouldn't want them to feel left out. I guess that makes me an equal-opportunity dessert connoisseur -- it's a title I wear with pride!