dancing diva

Avery's dance class performed a "nutcracker" dance for their winter presentation (they danced to a selection of nutcracker music and a small wooden nutcracker made a brief appearance, however that is where the "nutcracker" similarities ended). Avery has been dancing since she was itty bitty and has put on countless "performances" for us at home, but this was her first actual dance recital. The other studio she attended prior to this class had one BIG show a year, up on stage, with lights, $35 tickets and was always held on a Sunday. Someday maybe, but for a 2, 3, 4 year old, this more casual recital atmosphere seemed much more appropriate.

Avery loved every minute of it. She loved dressing up, she loved having her own little cheering section- YaYa, PaPa, Bubba, Gramma Lee, Pa, Mom, Dad, Finley, and Emerson were all in attendance, she loved performing her routines... she was completely in her element. It was so fun to watch her do something that she loves so much.

Her favorite part of all.... receiving flowers from her adoring fans! She thought that was just the greatest thing ever. "Just like Angelina Ballerina," she said. Avery did prep me for days ahead of time, wanting to make sure that we would have flowers to give her after her show :) Can you say high maintenance?! Even still, her reaction was just priceless and made it well worth the covert mission we sent YaYa on at the last minute to grab the forgotten flowers.

princess, flower, and tiger, oh my

Halloween has come and gone. It was not my most creative year- no coordinating, handmade costumes, but we all survived. Also, after the one night we set aside to do pumpkins turned into a night of mishaps, one after another, we threw in the towel and didn't carve a pumpkin at all. I do love Halloween and all that goes along with it, but this year I had to let go of something- hours of costume fashioning and pumpkin creation crafting were unfortunately the first to go.... I plan to come back with a vengeance next year:).

Avery wanted to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Easy enough. We had a Belle dress up dress already. Add a crown, gloves, and a red ribbon necklace and we are done. For trunk-or-treat at church we did not have the gloves yet (finding kid sized gloves, when you want them or course, was a challenge) and Avery refused to be an "incomplete" Belle, so she went as a ballerina- we came straight from dance class... convenient:). She did go as Belle (after I got her the appropriate "accessories") to Tiny Tigers on Thursday, Pismo trunk-or-treat on Friday, and on Halloween night at the Rober's (thanks for inviting us and accommodating Paul's Oregon football obsession :). Avery LOVED all the festivities, trick-or-treating, and the windfall of candy (of course).

The day of trunk-or- treat I set out 4+ full costumes for Finley to choose from... minnie mouse, a butterfly, a fairy, and a ballerina. She refused them all. She was insistent that she wanted to be a tiger. I didn't have a tiger costume, so we quickly fashioned a cowgirl costume, complete with a stick horse. She ended up staying in the back of the van the whole night because she was too scared of all the "monsters"....everything is very REAL to her at this point. We went and got a tiger outfit for her to wear for our other events, but when we got it home she decided it was too scary. She did end up wearing it (without the head and paws... those were the scary parts) for the Pismo ward trunk-or-treat and on Halloween.

Finley loved the candy, but was not thrilled about how you go about getting the candy. She was done after trick-or-treating at one house... "can we go home now?"

Emerson went as a flower dressed in a green track suit and a $1.00 flower headband I got at Target a few years ago at Easter time. She was cute, and I have no pictures.

Paul dressed up as a tourist for work on Friday- madras plaid shorts, yellow Hawaiian shirt, black socks, sandals. It was a good look for him.

I went as a tired, overworked, underpaid mom of 3 small children. I have yet to take off my disguise:).

breaking the mold

Avery and Finley followed a very similar growth and development pattern- neither one were on the charts for height or weight during their first year, were very petite and often mistake for younger than their age, they got teeth about the same time, had similar dirty diaper issues (or lack thereof)... things were fairly predictable with Finley because we had already seen it with Avery. Emerson is a different story all together. I am not sure what to expect with her- it is a whole new game. We had her 6 month well-check on Wednesday and she continues break the mold. She is in the 90th percentile for weight (17 lbs. 8 oz) and 50th percentile for height (25 1/2 inches). Dr. Bravo assures me that the upside down ratio of height to weight is not of ANY concern at this point. I even had to break out the box of 6-12 month clothes last week... right at 6 months, instead of 12 months. Still no teeth- and it doesn't look like they are coming anytime soon (the other girls had 4 by 6 months). She has NO problem filling her diapers... several times a day even. We are going through diapers faster than ever before. Even though she not following the "pattern" we are used to, she is perfectly healthy in every way.... and adorable to boot! She gets a lot of attention for her eyes (which are not as light as they were- I am not ready to concede the dream just yet) and even more specifically her eyelashes (just like the other girls); but, if I hear one more time how HUGE her thighs are, I might have to scream. I know. Just like I know I have 3 girls- besides stating the obvious, there is nothing wrong with it, and there is nothing I can do about it- good or bad.... it is what it is. We love our squishy little mold breaker. She is keeping us on our toes!

she did it!

As a sunbeam (sunday school class for children ages 3-4) this year, Avery participated in her very first primary program at church on Sunday. We practiced her lines over and over (Finley was going around saying "I must take care of my body" and "Repentance helps me return to my Heavenly Father" right along with Avery), but it was no guarantee that she would actually get up and talk into the microphone... it is a little intimidating for a 4 year old (who am I kidding, it is for me too). There might have been some serious bribing involved but, when it came down to it, she did it and she did great. She sang most of the songs too (or at least I could see her mouth moving :)). Ya Ya and Papa came too- Avery loved sharing it with them. When she was done, Finley rushed to her side, gave Avery a big hug and said " I so proud of you Avery! I knew you could do it!" So sweet (it is good to know that in spite of tormenting each other a lot of the time, they can be sweet when they want to be). We are very proud of her too. It is a right of passage of sorts. She is growing up so quickly.

no cost/low cost halloween decor

I love decorating for holidays... but, just as I am very particular about what I put in my house for everyday decor, I am equally as discriminating about my seasonal displays. Plus, this year there is not much extra in the budget for non-essentials like seasonal decorations. I came across a few ideas for things that I wanted to make and incorporate into my fall decorating this year and then also modified a few things that I had laying around to round it all out.... all for a very minimal cost. I am really liking out it all turned out.

The wreath on the front door is just the grapevine wreath I usually have up, but with a fall berry garland (that I already had) wrapped around it... cost $0

I got the idea for the pumpkin topiaries here. I am planning on picking up 6 craft pumpkins on clearance after halloween to make the full size ones for next year. The mini ones worked perfectly for my entry table though. Pumpkins from our garden and a few little ones from the barn (3 for $2)- total cost $2 (for 2 topiaries).

These were my interpretation of a halloween sign I saw at Tai Pan while we were up in Utah. Everything there is super inexpensive, but I still didn't feel like paying $12 for something like that. So, found a font I liked (this is "chiller"), typed it out in publisher, cut out a piece of newspaper that fit inside a 8x10 frame I already had, and ran it through my printer. Easy. cost $0

The bird was a similar idea, but the newspaper for the 10x13 frame wouldn't fit through my printer, so I printed just the silouette, cut it out, and mounted it on the newspaper. cost $0

The burlap banner was an idea I saw here (with link to tutorial). I love, love, love how it turned out and it couldn't have been easier to do. cost $3

The wreath is a christmas berry wreath that I then wrapped a fall leaf garland around it. Now it will carry me through to December. cost $0

Total cost for all of my fall/halloween decor... $5.

a taste of fall

During our few days of actual fall-ish weather last week (before the temps soared into the high 80's... argg. I am so DONE with the heat) we took advantage of the fact that Paul had Monday off for Columbus day and went as a family on a non-weekend day to the barn and get our pumpkins. I know I have said it before (maybe a few times), but I really, truly LOVE the barn, most especially in October. I could visit every day. The smells of fresh baking yumminess, the colors, pumpkins in all shapes, sizes, and varieties, the candy shop, the ice cream, the fresh apples... plus they have a few trees with leaves that actually change color! It is where I go for my fix of all things fall.