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.