Pre-Halloween festivities

We've been spending the last few days getting ready for Halloween. Making sure the costumes are ready, having a couple of parties at daycare, carving the pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds. It's been a busy week!

Here's Mira and Chris carving our pumpkins. Well, Chris did the actual carving and Mira got to draw the face on the other one. Check out Mira's new glasses too! We love these! Much sturdier than the others. We haven't had to get them adjusted yet!




Amelia only got to watch. But she did it so adorably!


Our daycare provider for three days a week (Connie) had TWO parties this week since her "kids" aren't all there on the same day. Fortunately for Mira and Amelia, the days the parties were on were days they were at this daycare. They got to dress up twice! Mira went as a cheerleader and Amelia wore her Mickey Mouse ears from Disneyworld. Their "real" costumes were too cumbersome (and warm) for an indoor party. I let Mira take our point-and-shoot camera to capture some of the party. Most of the photos were blurry, but a few that Connie took worked out!



And here are the girls wearing their new googly-eyed glasses!


We'll be trick-or-treating in our neighborhood tomorrow after getting take-out pizza (Solo's!) for dinner. Everyone have a safe and fun Halloween!

Park, Play-Doh, PJs

Just wanted to post some random photos of Mira and Amelia lately, enjoying their days. We went to the park today, thinking it might be the last nice weekend with such mild weather for a long while. Take advantage while we can! Mira took Amelia down the slide. Did Amelia enjoy it?


Amelia enjoyed playing with Play-Doh for the first time. She only tasted it once and decided it wasn't good enough to pursue. She did like to just mash it around a bit. Mira had to show her the ropes since Mira is a Play-Doh pro!


Mira recently received new Little Mermaid pajamas and a small pillow with a matching pillowcase. She loves them and wears the pajamas to bed every night (no lie). I finally slipped them into the wash today . . . and she is wearing them to bed again tonight!


And we completed the annual task of making sure the girls each had a winter coat, and that all the hats and mittens still fit and were put into pairs. The girls are showing off their winter outerwear!

Uh. Oh.

Last night Mira's glasses broke. Just snapped right in half. We've had lots of problems with them, always having to go into the eye clinic and have them adjusted. Like once or twice every week. It was a pain. They seemed a little flimsy and were constantly changing their shape so that they kept sliding down Mira's nose.

So they "finally" broke.

I took Mira into the clinic today to see what we could do about a replacement. Since the glasses Mira had weren't carried in the store anymore (and, truthfully, I didn't want the same ones anyway), the woman who helped us let me in on a little secret. She had just gotten in new frames. So new they weren't on the display yet.

Any idea what they are called? Disney Princess Jasmine glasses. And the color? Purple Fantasy. They are adorable! With a little charm of Jasmine on one side.
If anyone knows my daughter, she is NUTS about the Disney princesses. We couldn't have dreamed up a better pair of new glasses for Mira. (Well, since her absolute favorite princess is Ariel, the little mermaid, that would have been her charm of choice, but she's just as excited about Jasmine.) Even better, these glasses are much stronger and have these great springs in the side pieces, so they won't keep bending too wide.

I'll be sure to post a photo of Mira in her new glasses later next week! I'm sure she'll be all smiles.

Triathlon PINK!

This Saturday, who is going to . . .

. . . Swim 100 meters . . .


. . . Bicycle 3 kilometers . . .


. . . and Run 1 kilometer?


Halfway across the world in Sydney, Australia, I want to wish my sister Kelly THE BEST OF LUCK in her first triathlon this weekend. It's called Triathlon Pink, and is an all-female triathlon series benefiting breast cancer research. Here's the website: http://www.triathlonpink.com.au/


Have a great time, Kelly! We can't wait to hear about your experience, and post photos of you running across that finish line! I am so proud of you! I love you and will be thinking about you!
Michelle

Pumpkin Patch '08

Every year we take the kids to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Yesterday we went to one in Delano called Fall Harvest. We were there a couple of years ago and thought it was a great place for kids. They have farm animals all over the place! Chickens, goats, pigs, a donkey, plus corn bins to play in, hay bales, a tractor to sit on, all the pumpkins you can stand to look at, and an apple orchard. The kids really had a great time. We met Chris' brother and his family there so the girls got to spend some time with their cousins. It was the nicest day!

Mira and Cara in the corn crib:

Mira and Cara feeding the goats:

All the kids on the hay bales:

Mira found her pumpkin!


Amelia LOVED to run away from us. We only lost her once! Here's a photo of her planning her great getaway! She has that mischievous look in her eye A LOT. She's going to be trouble, that one.


Afterward we all went to Randy and Terrie's house for hot dogs and s'mores. Thanks for dinner! It was the most mild evening we could remember . . . especially for being October 11!


Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad! I love you, Dad!
Michelle

Great job, Mira!

Mira has been doing such a great job wearing her patch lately that we bought her a Pink Power Care Bear. Here she is showing off her latest bear:


Great job, Mira! We are so proud of you.

Mira's eyes update

Mira had her 3-month appointment last Friday for her eye exam. We've been faithfully patching every day since her first visit, for about 2 1/2 hours a day. Mira has been so wonderful at keeping her patch on and not complaining much.

Her visit was very encouraging! While Mira really hoped she could be done patching, she'll have to keep patching for another 4 months until her next appointment. BUT, the doctor did say that Mira's vision has improved. She's gone from 20/40 to 20/25 in her left eye, and from 20/80 to 20/50 in her right eye! Hopefully, that will be even better at her next appointment.

I asked the doctor about how long she thought Mira would need glasses (because she had mentioned that it's possible the problem can be fixed), and she thought there was a 50/50 chance that Mira either will always wear them or won't need them at all. We don't care either way, but it would be nice for her to not to have to wear them. We'll see.

Swimming lessons/fun at the park

Today was Mira's first swimming lesson! She really enjoyed it. They put the kids in little inner tubes, had them throw a toy, then they would paddle to it. She did really well and is looking forward to the next lesson on Saturday.


I had planned to take the girls to an apple orchard this afternoon, but Amelia slept a bit later than usual. (Actually, all THREE of us fell asleep [Chris is out of town this weekend] and we ALL slept later than I thought.) So I took the girls to a large park about 3 miles from our house. Mira made a friend named Lilli there who was also 4 years old. It was a beautiful afternoon and we ended up staying about 1 1/2 hours at the park. We'll have to go again soon. Mira is really hoping we run into Lilli again so we can schedule a playdate.


Just lazing around at home:


Kisses for daddy!


Milk mustache!

Amelia's first haircut

I've cut Amelia's bangs a couple of times, and not very well, might I add. So it was time this past weekend to bring her to the salon for a "professional" 'do.

The "before" shot:
Spraying her down:

First cuts:

One satisfied customer!

Work camp.

Put them to work. They stay out of trouble.


Don't you love Amelia's wife-beater shirt?


And thanks for the cupcakes, Grandpa Randy!

Again with the butt?

Mira was watching "Sid the Science Kid" today and they were learning about smells. Mira held out her finger and said, "Mom, what do you smell?"

"I don't know," I said. "Where was your finger?"

"Not . . . in my butt!" Uggh. The "joys" of a 4-year-old.


And in other news, Amelia got her first "shiner" today. She's walking pretty good, but is still a little unsteady. She fell near the coffee table and got an eyeful of the corner. Fortunately, it was a rounded corner. Unfortunately, it was hard wood. She took it very well and didn't cry too much. I hate to have to explain this at daycare tomorrow!


Here's a photo of Amelia in the neighbor's backyard. She really is a mischievous little girl! And so funny. She doesn't tell jokes or anything, but there is a little glint in her eye and she really knows how to get into trouble! We think she'll be "the funny one"!

Weekend with the 'rents

Last weekend Mom and Dad come to spend some time with us. We haven't seen them since early August, and didn't have plans to visit until Thanksgiving, probably, so it was wonderful to see them. We took them out to dinner Saturday night for their birthdays. Then on Sunday, Chris took Dad to the Vikings game, and Mom and I did a little shopping with the girls. Of course, Mom fit in a little play time with Mira and Amelia.

A beautiful log cabin was built in just one afternoon!


My beautiful 4-year-old:



What the heck is on Amelia's face? She's cute even covered in crusty food!


Somehow, Dad escaped my camera. He had a great time at the game, even though the Vikings blew a nice lead.

This weekend, I take Mira to see "Mama Mia" in the theater. She loves the soundtrack so much that I think she'll really enjoy the movie too. Oh, and I guess I wouldn't mind seeing it again either!