Gobble Gobble!

First Attempt

Anni

Elli

Color By Number

The girls love to color.  Ever since we traded out our high chairs for boosters in August, there is a new found freedom in climbing up to the table and coloring whenever the fancy strikes.  We have color-by-number books and 3 - 9 sheets torn out at any given time.  They circulate between us and we each leave our mark.  We swap whenever someone says, "Trade?" 

The attraction to the past-time might be that they each have so many pretty things trapped in a container.  (1:  We love pretty things.  2: We love storage vessels.)  Plus, there is no worrying about stealing/sharing, because Sister is ALL of the way across the table and quite out of reach.  

I don't get my own 24-count of crayons, but must ask to borrow a color each time I need one.  And, I'd better return it quickly to the lender or I get the what-for.

Glorious Colors!

Often times we will sit from dinner until bedtime just looking at our crayons and running our fingers over them, occasionally scribbling or commenting on someone's artistry.

On this evening, I decided that I just needed to have more than one crayon, so I asked Elli to please share more crayons with me. As I scribbled away, she carefully chose some for me to have, and handed them to me one-by-one...  

To my surprise, she picked out one crayon from each hue for me!  My simple life is full of wonder.

The Rainbow

Punkins - Part III

Finally, the day had arrived to fill our plastic punkins once more.  The girls were a little uneasy with all of the masked little munchkins running around, so they held tight for a while.

Mama and Anni & Papa and Elli

  

But, once they realized their punkins were filling up with colorful, yummy delights, they started getting a little more brave.

All By Themselves

They never actually said "Trick or Treat" to a person's face without coaxing, but they yelled it over and over and over from the moment they left one neighbors house running - all of the way to the next house.

We ended up hitting about 75% of the houses in our neighborhood - much more than Papa or I expected. 

Recapping the Night With the Cul De Sac Girls

Then, I forced the girls to sit on our stoop to take these pictures...

When all they really wanted to do was sort their candy and count how many suckers they had scored.

They sorted several times a day for a week!

Punkins - Part II

Once you've picked your pumpkin, then you...

Grab a hammer and nails and go to work!

PAPA & ANNI

Let's do this.

The first strike!

"Papa, are we making a Hellraiser pumpkin?"

Anni is proud.

Papa is proud.

Reinserting the nails made for long-lasting fun!

Love this smile.

MAMA & ELLI

Experimenting with techniques.

First swing.

Working together is lame.

"Free at last!"

Elli's way.

The "E".

An old pro.

Then you make them glow!

I assure you these are LEDs.

  

Finally...

Punkins - Part I

First, take your Punkins to pick out some pumpkins.

The decision-making process.

The Punkin Protector.

Anni's Pumpkin Pick

Elli's Pumpkin Pick & Pumpkin Hug

  

Then...

Sleeping Beauty Meeting Minutes

Today was the first day the girls slept with any sort of covering.  I was a little concerned that the quilts might be an issue, but we prepared by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama earlier in the day and pointing out how nice and cozy Baby Llama looked under his quilt.  So, once all of our toys were put away and Papa had helped brush teeth and been given sufficient "lovin'" we head back for our nighttime routine...

At 7:00pm, we piled into a rocking chair for a few Bible stories.

At 7:10pm, we were discussing, once again, that only one snuggly creature was allowed per crib.  (Without this discussion, there would be a veritable zoo in each crib, and I would be obliged to tuck each one in.)  Doggy and Bear have been the favorites for several weeks now.

At 7:12pm, the girls were tucked under their quilts, their blankies were on their bellies, and all binkies were located... and Doggy apparently wanted to read a book in bed.  (Doggy was not allowed to read a book in bed.)

At 7:13pm, Mama said prayers and "night, night, Jesus" and "love you, Jesus" was said.  (It's Elli's new thing.)

At 7:15pm, these photos were taken:

Sweet Little One and Two 

  

At 7:16pm, there was some discussion as to whether Bear and Doggy would be under the quilts as well.  It was decided that they should be.  Hugging snuggly creatures commenced.

At 7:20pm, a request by both sleepers to visit the toilet was made.  Lucy ate Mama's dinner while she attended to said business.

At 7:30pm, the tucking-in process began again.

At 7:34pm, Mama walked out the door again, and little girls threw off their covers to meet for a little bouncing and dancing.

At 7:35pm, Anni required assistance after undressing herself... and again at 7:37 and 7:40 and 7:50pm.  (This is not unusual.)

Thanks once again to Grandma B for our cozy quilts, and to Auntie Miki for our tag "blankies"  we never sleep without, and to Mama Scott for Bear and Doggy!

Candy Corn

I LOVE candy corn.  I especially love my little candy corns.  Papa's unit hosted a "Trunk or Treat" at their Fall Festival last weekend, so we got decked out in our sweetest little costumes.

You can't teach this kind of posing - brooding, melancholy, enchanted.

  

Some favorite shots from the day...  The girls were thrilled that simply walking up to a person with candy resulted in colorful handfuls of fun being tossed into their pumpkins.

      

The best shot together in a while.

Only later did the girls learn exactly what candy is...

Tootsie-Pops are the reigning favorite.

The best part is sorting out and categorizing candy over and over,

just like Mommy used to do.

Turns out Elli also likes to sort her Skittles by color

before eating them, also like Mommy.

Dancing Queens

We sure do like to dance around here.  I trace it back to Viennese Waltzing with the girls about the house to calm them down when they were very small.  (Actually, it probably started in the womb when I would bust a move to hip-hop on the radio.) Somehow they remembered and started waltzing with their monkey and frog back in July.

Elli, Monkey and Miles

Anni Dancing Cheek to Cheek

The girls have since moved on to shaking their groove thangs (refer to a recent post) and pas de deux.

Sisters & Strauss

Cider & Donuts

Growing up in Michigan, cider and donuts are synonymous with autumn. Cider Mills and "You Pick" orchards are everywhere! Since leaving there, I have yet to live in a place that had anything worthy of comparison.

So, today we drove a few hours to the nearest cider mill. (We saw a lot of cows on the way. Elli spoke her longest sentence yet: "Elli sees cows!")

The Louisburg Cider Mill

The girls' donuts were gone before I even got to take a bite.

First Donuts

They also drank most of our cider.

"More? More?"

There were plenty of pumpkins afoot for photo opps.

"Hug a pumpkin!"

On a mission to "right" wronged pumpkins.

Afterward, we ventured over to Fiorella's, which is Zagat survey rated #1 for barbecue. (It really was delicious, and I don't even like meat.) The girls each had a plate of sliced meat - probably between a quarter and a half pound of it - with French fries.

These shots were taken within seconds of one another.

I don't know where Anni puts her food so fast! (They both ended up finishing.)

A great day!

Poppin' a pumpkin squat with Papa.