Maya's Princess Party

This month Maya had her third birthday and we were invited over for a princess party! I got Claire dressed up in her best party-wear and we were on our way!

I got lucky and caught this super-sweet moment between besties. Aw, you guys!!

Maya trying to get that stubborn candle out!

Claire inching in for the assist...

Maya holding court at the royal princess table!

Taking a moment to chase some bubbles outside...

Blow, Lisa, blow!!

"Hullo? Prince Charming? Can you come over?"

That's one sweet birthday girl!

Meanwhile....still keeping an eye out for Charming....

Happy birthday, Maya! I sure love these girls!

Mama

October Here and There

One day Logan came off the school bus with this nasty looking injury. I was so mad when he told me it happened because someone yanked his arm and caused him to fall into the seat, that I took this picture and was just about to send it off to the transportation department, along with a scathing email, until I asked a few more questions about it.

Turns out, Logan, you were crawling around on the floor of the school bus and messing around with another kid. While I believe you that the kid yanked your arms out from under you - what do you expect to happen when you make choices like that? Well, now we know, right?

Behave!

Wow, now that is a hug!

Let's try that again....

Much better!

Another self-portrait.

Claire coloring. See that crazy hair? Get used to it, kid. It's in your genes, straight from Mommy.

But, you're looking especially well-coiffed on this morning!

Love you guys!

Mama

This is Halloween

Kids,

This year we tried something a little different for Halloween...

View of our front porch.

We dragged our fireplace around to the side of the house, set out some haybales, hot dogs, marshmallows and refreshments...

...and had a little block party!

We even had a Halloween mix on the iPod with songs like "I Want Candy" and "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Lots of people came by, and it was so much fun!

Claire especially enjoyed the plate of cookies our neighbor Amy brought over.

I mean, she REALLY enjoyed them.

EEEEK! When Garden Gnomes Attack!!

Your cousins stopped by.

Here are Tori, Emma, Tommy and Jacob.

Even some of the neighborhood dogs got into the festivities!

Here are Chelsea and Logan from across the street.

And there's Claire, still sitting at the cookie plate.

Heck, I wasn't going to be the one to tell her to eat a hot dog!

This is the only time I could get Logan to stand still long enough for a picture! Then he and the neighborhood kids were off like a light!

Our next door neighbors Mackenzie and Kelly, with Jacob in the background.

Kenzie is one of Claire's favorite people!

The famous "Amy of the Cookie Plate" with adorable little devil Lucas.

Claire in an obvious sugar coma, tranced out by the fire.

Wait, I think I see a hint of expression...

No, at second glance I think some smoke just blew into her eyes.

And then later Claire and Daddy were sitting side by side on the curb. They looked so adorable that I had to run for my camera to grab the shot!

BUT - I missed it. Dang it, Claire! You decided time was up!

But you allowed me to snuggle with you for a moment while Daddy snapped some shots.

I love you both soooooo much!

Mama

The Zoo, Part Deux

Logan had a 5-day weekend over Halloween, and with that many days to kill we really needed an outing! So, the day after Boo at the Zoo we were back to give it another go.

First we had a little lunch at the Lakeside Cafe.

Claire checking out the chimpanzees.

We met up with our neighbors who had their extended families along as well. So many kids in every direction! You guys really kept us on our toes!

Taking a little break with the chimps.

There were still quite a few flowers in bloom at the zoo.

Riding the carousel.

Once again, Claire performed her "haywalking" routine. Every now and then she tried to become part of the scenery as well.

Logan and his buddy Jacob.

Now this was a feat - trying to get a whole mess of kids to look at the camera! Here Claire is clearly contemplating jumping off the haybales.

AND she's down.

Then of course we had to wait for her to climb back up, by which time no one could be bothered to look at the camera.

This is as good as it gets.

Things were hopping in Big Cat Country.

And this zebra looked pretty surrounded by the fall colors.

Claire ALWAYS takes time to smell the roses. That's my girl!

Every now and then Logan would give me a break and push little Lindie for me.

Checking out the bugs.

Butterflies!

The look on Claire's face clearly indicates "I'm done."

One more quickie shot of Logan and we were outta there!

I'm so glad you guys love the zoo!!

Love,

Mama