The Weekend of Birthdays

This past weekend was all about the birthdays.  On Saturday we went to Aunt Kay Kay's house to help celebrate Colby's 10th birthday.  I cannot believe he has gotten so big!  Seems like just the other day he was teeny tiny and having sleep overs with me every weekend.

 Lily absolutely loves Colby so she followed him like a little shadow almost the entire time we were there and he is SO sweet with her.  She likes Baby Trent too...he's got fun toys!

Her favorite activity of the day by far was the discovery of guitars.  Colby brought his out for her to play with and before we knew it, she was plucking the strings and singing to herself like she'd been doing it her whole life.  I told everybody right then, this kid is going to be a star one day! Now it looks like I've got to place a call to the North Pole to see if Santa can bring her, her own guitar for Christmas.

 As any big artist will tell you...performing is hard work!  Lily crashed 10 minutes into our trip home.

Sunday we traveled to Clarkston to celebrate my Aunt Betty's 85th birthday. I didn't really get any photos besides this one because I literally spent almost the entire time chasing Lily around.  Unfortunately the fellowship hall we were at is right on the edge of a busy street and my child has no sense of self preservation so she kept making a beeline straight for danger.  I was EXHAUSTED (and grateful I didn't wear heels!)  But it was really good to see all of our extended family that we've not seen in a few years and have the chance to introduce them to Lily Bug, my Granny's namesake.

Next week we have a lot of early Thanksgiving activities with work and school so we are looking forward to more fun!!

Halloween Fun

I was really excited this week because not only did we have Lily’s first Fall Festival at school but it was also the first Halloween that Lily was old enough to go to Trick or Treating!  Lily dressed up in the Minnie Mouse outfit that Ms. Kelly bought for her and she looked SO cute!  She was also very excited to show off her outfit to her teacher Mrs. Cathy because she knows that she loves all things Mickey and Minnie.   

Jess and I both took Friday morning off to join Lily for the school festivities and were looking forward to all the crafts and games they had planned.  Unfortunately, the kiddo just wasn’t feeling it and kept pulling us to the door saying, “Home, Home.”   So fifteen minutes in and that was that.  Maybe next year she’ll enjoy it more.

  

Having struck out that morning, I wasn’t sure if Lily was going to be up for going out that evening but all afternoon she carried her little pumpkin bucket around the house saying, “Trick or Treat!” to all the bits of furniture.   So I figured we’d at least give it a go.  Unfortunately Daddy’s back problems prevented him from being able to venture out with us so he stayed home and handed out candy instead. 

   

Once I opened the door and led Lily to the driveway, she took off ahead of me, racing to the neighbor’s door at breakneck speed yelling, “Trick or Treat!”  I’ve no clue how she already knew how to Trick or Treat…I wonder if stockpiling candy is instinctual?

 

At any rate, Lily was completely in awe of the experience.  Every other phrase out of her mouth was, “Whoa…look at that!” and “Oh my gosh!” She loved seeing all the spooky decorations and different pumpkins…she even gave one a big kiss.  Oddly enough, she was also fascinated with the fire hydrants and insisted on stopping and speaking to each one we came upon.  

 

I was so proud of her.  She was never frightened to knock on a door, or stand next to a bunch of big kids waiting her turn.  Running through the night, holding onto her mouse ears so they didn’t fall, Lily was the happiest I have ever seen her.  

We Trick or Treated our house last and Daddy put extra candy in her bucket!  Since Jess missed out on our adventure, I took over candy duty at the door while he and Lily sat in the living room  and sorted through her spoils.  Fortunately her first instinct wasn’t to try to eat it all, she just liked to dump it all out…pick it all up and repeat.  LOL.

She had a really great time and woke up first thing the next morning asking to go Trick or Treating again!  I can’t wait until next year!