Happy Halloween!!

Yesterday was Paige's party at school. The cups I made were a huge success. All the kids loved them and the parents kept asking where I find the time. I don't know. Really, I don't. Everyone loved her little costume. Tonight we are going trick or treating with Nikki and her family. I think she said there will be about 30 of us total. Should definitely be a good time!

About 2 weeks ago now we took Paige to the pumpkin patch.


She had to test sit the pumpkins to try them! We came home with 2, one for her and one for Daddy. We used the Playskool Mr. Potato Head pumpkin kits to do our pumpkins. That way Mommy didn't have to clean out all the junk inside. These are supposed to push into the pumpkin, but they are safe for ages 2 and up, so they are blunt points. How do you get them into the pumpkin you ask? Find the wine corkscrew you haven't used in years. It makes the perfect size hole!

Daddy has a pirate, Paige got a monster. I had to do a pumpkin for work. We had a pumpkin decorating contest. I got the idea from a magazine, and took it a bit further. So, presenting my Burger & Fries:

I used felt to make a burger patty (2 brown pieces glued together) & to make lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheese & onions. I cut the pumpkin in half and glued halves of pistachio shells to the top to make sesame seeds. Ronnie used yellow construction paper to make giant fries, and alternated red foam & felt to make the pile of ketchup. They'll announce the winner of the competition today, but I took the day off from work.

Our weened will be spent at the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs. It's a great 2 day arts & crafts show. My parents set up a booth to sell Moms jewelry & the children's clothes she makes. This year she's debuting her ribbon skirts. Super adorable. I'll have to post a picture of Paige wearing hers. I may not post Halloween pictures until next week, so forgive me, please! I'm spending the weekend away from home.

Big Girl Bike

At his 2nd birthday party my cousin Andrew got his first big boy bike. Paige saw it and her eyes lit up. By the time she managed to sit on it she was in love. As I pulled her from the bike she was telling me how much she wanted a big girl bike. Being a good Mommy, my first thought turned to bribery. See, I wanted Paige to potty train, she wanted a big girl bike, I saw where we could work something out.

On the way home I explained to Paige that to get a big girl bike she needed to be a big girl. I then went on to say that big girls use the potty, only babies use a diaper. So, to get a big girl bike she had to use the potty. Ronnie & I discussed the rules: fully trained during the day time. Night time is more control & more of a physical development of the bladder. So, fully trained, no accidents during the day, and she gets a big girl bike.

Saturday we went to the USS Alabama again. She went all day with no accidents. Sunday morning Aunt Wii took her to church & once again, no accidents. That put her at a solid 3 weeks with no accidents during the day. After she woke up from her nap off we went shopping.

We didn't tell her what we were shopping for, only that we needed to go to the store. We went to Toys R Us and hit the bike section. We pulled down every 12 inch bike they had for girls. Paige had to make the final decision. She had a hard time deciding between a Barbie and the one she got. See, Barbie had a bell & cool streamers. I pulled some off the shelf to show her we could buy some for the other bike. She was sold. We came home with this one.

She loves riding her bike. You can tell by the chessy grin.



We were out riding well into the darkness. We finally pried her off the bike & into the house with promises of chips & salsa. And with promises of being able to ride after school on Monday. And of Tuesday. And well, everyday.



Mommy gets lots of exercise with this too. Paige doesn't get the full idea of peddling. She pushes down with one foot and can't do it with the other. I have to run behind her helping to push & steer at the same time. Next goal: learn to ride the bike.

This n That

First, in an effort of full disclosure, Paige has 14 pair of shoes, not 13. I thought I was missing a pair, and it turns out that I was. A pair of cute little flats, white with varying shades of pink hearts on them. My Imelda Marcos has grown her collection a bit. But, it will be shrinking soon. We're getting down to 38 tonight. For the Deep South, that's colder than cold. I don't like it. It means I have to pack away the flip flops and sandals, both mine and Paige's.

Second, Paige got her first big girl bike on Sunday. I'll post pictures tomorrow. We had told Paige that when she could use the potty like a big girl, she could have a big girl bike. We've been about 3 weeks without an accident. Paige got a trip to Toys R Us where she picked out the bike she wanted. She's been having a blast riding her big girl bike up and down the driveway.

Finally, I've finished the Dark Tower series. It's taken longer than I expected. In part because I cheated one week and read 2 James Patterson novels. I couldn't help it. The call of that stack of books from Aunt Glennis was just too strong. I've also had studying to do, work, this whole parenting gig gets in the way of books sometimes. But, I've finished. The story reads amazingly well start to finish. I enjoyed my return to Roland's world. Stephen King has written other novels that tie into these. I plan on reading more of them to round out the story.

Changes

I'm getting a bit tired of the old layout & am searching for a new one. I'm not sure this is it. I do have a few ideas in mind. Please bear with me as I start making a few changes. Let's call them tweaks. Geeks like to tweak. If you see one you particularly like, let me know. One thing I have updated is my blog list. I've added a couple that I read and have been lazy about adding on here for some reason.

Paige the Shoe Queen

We would like to think we're raising the perfect adult. Everyone thinks their child will be perfect, and we're no exceptions. Paige will be tall (approximate adult height is 5'10), will probably have big boobs, is cute (everyone says so) & is smart beyond belief. So far she's a reader (good thing being named Paige), likes to watch SciFi, likes Marvel comics movies & most forms of music. She also has a love of Mickey Mouse, dolls, cars & trains. She'll learn to be a good cook from Daddy & how to balance the checkbook from Mommy. Overall, we think she's pretty rounded. We think some guy is going to be pretty damn lucky in about 25 years.

Then, there's her weakness: shoes. Paige was less than a year old when she realized what shoes were. She got dressed & I put new shoes on her. Daddy & Aunt Wii told her how pretty they were. That did it. Ever since then she's had a shoe fetish. She gets a new pair of shoes and has to show them off for days. She will put her foot out, pointing her toe and command you to look at her new shoes. You are required to ooohhhh and aaaahhhh at these new shoes. If you do not, she will continue to show you her new shoes until you do. And just because you've seen the new shoes today doesn't mean you won't be shown again tomorrow. New shoes are worn daily for at least a week. And they are considered new shoes as long as Paige says they are. She will also tell you who bought her new shoes.

In preparation for writing this post I gathered up all of her shoes to count & take a picture. I just got up to count my shoes for comparison. Paige has 13 pair of shoes. That's 13 pair of shoes that currently fit her & that she wears. Granted, it's almost winter and the summer shoes will go away. But still, 13 pair of shoes. I only own 21 pair, and my feet haven't grown since 7th grade! Here's the proof:


If you look closely at the pink glittery on the bottom right here you can see how loved these have been. In every size she wears we have to have 2 shoes: sparklies & pink Converse. Please ignore my craft basket mess in the upper corner. Just pretend you don't see it. :) There are 2 pairs in here that Paige doesn't even know about yet. The brown boots on the bottom left are for her Halloween costume. We'll give them to her then. Then in the top portion there's a pair of brown Mary Jane's. I got those to go with skirts & dresses this winter. I try to space out giving new shoes so that she gets maximum "new shoeness" out of each pair.

I know this can't be normal for a 2 year old to have 13 pairs of shoes. How many pairs do your kids have?

Paige the Kitty Cat

Lately Paige has been pretending to be various animals. She's been a horse, dog & cat mostly. Her favorite to pretend is a cat. And she makes a really good cat. When she's a cat she can only meow. She crawls around on all fours. The best part is she likes to snuggle. Paige Kitty will crawl up in your lap and wait for you to "pet" her hair and back. She'll rub up against you and meow if you don't pet fast enough.

This game can go on for literally hours. Just don't make the mistake of meowing back at her. She stops, looks at you and says "No, Mommy. You're not a kitty cat. You're a Mommy." At least I still know my place in this household.

Christmas Goody Bags

I've been working on my Christmas goody bags off and on since August. I'm close to being finished with the contents. I don't want to do the actual bags until closer to Christmas. I'm putting each child's name on the bag, and someone could leave. It's rare to see someone leave our daycare, but it could happen. I did 2 bags to show, 1 boy & 1 girl. I used names that I'm sure will still be there at Christmas: Paige & Jude, her "boyfriend".

Each bag includes a Christmas koosh ball necklace (thanks, Grammy), a candy cane ornament, & a zipper pull made with Christmas beads. Girls are also getting a gingerbread man lip gloss holder. Boys will be getting a Frosty in sleigh ornament instead. Each bag is decorated with their name and stickers. After putting everything in I close the bag with ribbon with jingle bells. There's a "From Paige" tag on each bag as well. Except for the bags themselves, everything else has been made just for this. I even made the tags with my scrapbooking supplies!

Here's a girl bag:


And a boy bag:


I haven't trimmed down the edges of the zipper pulls yet. The plastic cording is still curved. I'm going to hang them so they can straighten out. Once they've been tied extra tight, I'll trim down the excess.

Once again, this was all pretty thrifty. These are more than my Halloween bags. The girl bags cost $1.37 a bag, and the boys were $1.62. I was able to buy most of these things back in March on a great clearance sale. The boys ornaments were more of an afterthought & I had to pay full price, that's why there's a difference. Overall, I think I did pretty well though. And there's definitely still time for everyone else to get working on their goody bags!