Treats, Treats and more Treats

The costumes have been ready since summer, the treats were purchased weeks ago, we've been reading about Halloween and even receiving Halloween goodies in the mail for several weeks... but tonight was the big event. Though Lilly is 3, this was the first year we actually took her trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. So, for about an hour, we cruised the culdesacs in search of goodies... candy, popcorn, toys, plastic jewelery and fun...

Claire, even at her young age, got the jist of it- she held on to her bag while following the big kids to the door. All she had to do was look cute, and people gave her candy. The big kids said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you." Claire excelled at saying "Bye-Bye," sometimes saying it 5 or 6 times.

Our friends Brennan and Jaden joined us for dinner before T-time, and they seemed to have just as great of a time visiting the neighbors. Here they are before setting out in the neighborhood:

What's a stroll through the neighborhood without the wagon?

And, of course, Miss Hannah joined us. She and Lilly have been talking about and planning for this evening for months- Tinkerbell and Ariel. In their adorable attire, they set forth to gather treats. Here they are:

Once the whining and fussing began, we knew it was time to head home. Claire was ready for bed in an instant, so everyone else celebrated with pumpkin pie. Hannah and Lilly found it extra fun to answer the door and give popcorn to the other trick-or-treaters. The night ended with big hugs, a few bites of candy and toothpaste laden toothbrushes.

Until next time... Happy Halloween everyone!

It's here!

As I was blogging this afternoon, the UPS man knocked at the door and delivered something quite special. I thought you'd like to see. Many of you know I began my doctoral program in 2006 just before Lilly was born. Well... 3 years later, I'm almost finished. That's right, I will be graduating in December. Hooray!

The dissertation is done- I'm just waiting to hold my defense in mid-November. Needless to say, I am VERY happy about that! Here is my latest fashionable graduation wardrobe item.
I took my dissertation chair's advice and purchased a "nice" robe instead of the cheesy papery kind. Since I participate in graduation ceremonies at my campus, this will come in handy each May. For as much as I paid for it, you'd think it had a built-in air conditioner, but it looks nice nonetheless. And here she is...

One more month until graduation. I'm counting the days!

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more...

Each year we enjoy a fall outing at local Schnepf Farms. They have a Pumpkin and Chili party- pumpkin patch, train rides, petting zoo, grilled corn to eat, homemade pies- lots of fun for the kiddos. Instead of our usual tradition of "Schnepfing" with our cousins the Stimmlers (sick kiddos and record heat), we went with the Huckfeldts on a beautiful fall 75 degree October day. And of course it was a great time, just as it is every year. The only bummer of the day was a dead camera battery about 1 hour after we arrived. Argh! In light of that, I managed to capture a few good photos...

Hannah and Lilly... best friends returning to their Midwestern roots 
by posing in a sunflower patch.

The gruesome foursome: Hannah, Dylan, Lilly and Claire... not so thrilled at this moment.

My favorites: my girls and sunflowers!

This was a big week at preschool. Tuesday was Lilly's Harvest Party and yes, she was able to wear her Ariel costume to class. They trick-or-treated, played games, made snacks and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Since I'm one of the room-moms, I was able to help out! It was great! Here's her entire class on their trick-or-treat route.

Then today, we took a field trip to another local pumpkin patch... even little sister came along.

It was a brisk 65 degrees (sweater weather), but we survived. Big sigh! Claire enjoyed hanging out with the "big kids" and the pumpkins.

Lilly and her classmate Haley were the first to arrive.

Lilly's friend Annabelle was more than happy to show just how tall she is. I think she and Lilly are two of the tallest in the preschool class.

Here's looking forward to a great Halloween weekend.

Trick or Treat everyone!

First "official" school photo

I must say I was quite impressed with the photographer Lilly's preschool hired to take photos of the kiddos. It just so happened I volunteered in Lilly's classroom on the day the photos were taken. There were no tears and surprisingly everyone followed directions... hmmm, why doesn't that happen at home?
I think her photo turned out rather cute, don't you?

Here is miss Lilly, age 3, preschool photo, October 2009.

Great Grandma Wurtie and Clariel

We were excited to spend a few hours with Great Grandma Wurtie while she was in town last week. Joe and Lee hosted us for the evening, and we had a good time catching up. Lilly, Claire, David and Thomas had a great time playing with each other... that's Batman, I mean David, in the photo. He and Lilly are quite the pair when together.

You may recall that Claire has tagged right along with the dress-up gig that goes on at our house. On this particular night, she hijacked Lilly's Ariel Halloween costume. Now introducing... CLARIEL.

Butt Naked?

Another Funny Lilly Story-
Lilly is fond of her baby dolls- playing house and all sorts of things. Lately she chuckles while telling Rob and me, "This baby is butt naked." She really means buck naked, right? Despite many attempts to correct her, she insists her baby doll is "butt naked." I'm guessing a friend at Tiny Toes (Megan) taught her this phrase. It perplexes me and yet, at the same time, is very funny to hear her say. Rob agrees.
So, in search of the correct lingo, and for peace of mind, I did a little Google search on the term/terms. It's rather interesting what I found... perhaps Lilly is correct after all...
After googling "origin of buck naked," here's what I found:

Basically, there are 2 theories to the origin of "Buck Naked."
Theory One: One theory backed by the American Heritage Dictionary proposes the original phrase was actually "butt naked." The phrase was then cleaned up to "buck naked" so it could be used in polite company.

Theory Two: British wordsmith Michael Quinon has another theory. He's of the notion that "buck" and "buff," another term to describe nudity, are both derived from buckskin and buffalo hides. He argues that buff leather is tan in color, much like the color of the Europeans' skin after being in the sun. This led to the expression "to be in the buff," or naked. Thomas Dekker was the first to go on record with the term when he said in 1602, "I go in stag, in buff." The assumption is that "buck naked" has a similar derivation from buckskin.

Which theory is correct? We'll never know, so I guess we don't need to correct Lilly for referring to her baby as "butt naked." She could be technically correct according to theory #1, yet not too polite, to say the least. :)

18 months and more to come

Today marked Claire's 18 month well-check at the pediatrician's office. Her measurements indicate she is one healthy little lady- 90%tile weight and >95%tile height, imagine that. The doctor was most impressed with her motor skills and speech. She was oh-so-eager to get there- had a great time tearing up the paper cover on the exam table but was less than thrilled with her MMR and Hep A shots. This picture captures her uneasiness as we awaited the nurse's return just before shot-time.

They weren't that bad! After all, she did get to choose a toy from the treasure chest. It's amazing how a cheap plastic ring can make all the tears go away.
Cross your fingers that our next visit to the doctor will be a scheduled one in 6 months instead of an emergency visit due to the swine flu.

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18months and Halloween

Claire turns 18 months next week, and Halloween is only a few short weeks away... so what better excuse to visit the picture store this morning...

Claire was my best participant for this picture adventure.
She was her normal cheerful self.

Claire will be a "little pink bug" this year-
Lilly thinks this is hilarious,
and Claire thinks her costume is super neat.

The fearsome duo: Ariel and Little Pink Bug

Lilly was a little less than thrilled to have her picture taken today, but we managed to get a few good ones....

But perhaps this picture more accurately portrays
what really went on during the photo shoot:
Little Miss Wouldn't Smile and Little Miss Antenna

Mom... get these off!!
Oh well, they're still super cute!!

Happy Early Halloween from Lilly and Claire!!

Above the weather?

Little Claire is feeling much better. After her bout with the crud and lovely ER visit last week, she is on the mend... we hope. A lingering infrequent cough remains, but that's all. Instead of the "crabby under the weather Claire," today we enjoyed Claire's typical sweet self. Relief! She was all smiles for most of the day.

I've blogged off and on about Hannah and Lilly's dress-up adventures. Well, someone else has gotten in on the game... Claire. This weekend Claire showed interest in dressing up too. It all started this morning when she tried on her Halloween costume -- she thought she was BIG STUFF! Then this afternoon when Hannah came to play, Claire tried on a skirt or two. I snapped this photo while she "talked" on her phone. That's our Claire!

The Dress-up Divas

Time: Saturday Afternoon
Occasion: Nothing out of the ordinary
Event: Dress-up at Lilly's house
Hannah comes over it seems almost every day (give or take), and dress-up is on their top 10 list of fun things to do. They'll play tea party, dance about the house, and trade clothes over and over again. Today they decided to get out Lilly's Ariel Halloween costume, but since there was only one Ariel dress, they had to compromise - and they did: Hannah wore the Ariel dress and Lilly wore the Ariel shoes. In case you don't recognize them in their princess regalia, that's Barbie (Hannah) on the left and Belle (Lilly) on the right.

It's all about the clothes... already. I find it amazing that at the age of 3 and 4 two young girls enjoy being dressed up in sparkly, frilly dresses. And it's not just the dresses but the accessories that make it complete: high-heeled shoes, tiaras, jewelery, purses, play cell phones, pretend make-up and even toy baby strollers. Lilly has become quite fond of dressing up (even when Hannah's not over to play). She loves acting out the scene from Cinderella- you know, the scene where Cinderella dances with the prince (usually asks Rob to dance with her), hears the clock strike midnight (she begins to chime like a clock), loses her shoe (she kicks off a plastic high-heel princess shoe) and runs down the castle steps (runs down the hall to her room.) Then, we hear her call from her bedroom, "OK, come see if the shoe fits now." She has done this several times, complete unprompted by Rob or me. We know what is about to transpire when Lilly sways out of her room fully adorned in the princess attire. With a slight sheepish smile on her face she graciously says, "Oh Hiiiiii." Then, with that same sheepish grin she asks Rob to "be her prince" and dance with her. Of course he obliges (how could he turn her down), and she usually hums a dancing tune... until the clock strikes midnight.
Our Lilly princess is quite the drama queen already - in more ways than one.

Mom's little helper

Like mother, like daughter?
Lately Lilly has shown increasing interest to help in the kitchen. The other night we made roasted potatoes to accompany our dinner, and she was all over the preparation. We then made banana bread, and she was cued in on every step. There is a young chef academy (fun cooking classes for kiddos) near our home, so maybe we will look in to enrolling her next summer. For now, I'll continue to "feed" her curiosity for all things cooking. Maybe someday she'll show an interest in helping do the dishes.... I will patiently wait for that!

Ironically, that little step stool Lilly is standing on was made for Amy and me by our Grandpa Ham. It was the same step stool I used to stand on when helping my mom in the kitchen.