Farewell to Chameleon Earhart

We had a lot of of fun this year picking out costumes. Originally Jacob was going to be a spider (I would be the web), Anna was going to be a bee girl (Doug would be the beekeeper) and Lauren was going to be Amelia Earhart (or according to her: Chameleon Earhart). She must have asked me 10,000 times, "What's her name again, Mommy?" It all fell apart though when Anna decided she did not want to wear a yellow turtleneck; Lauren decided she didn't like her goggles and leather jacket; and I saw the owl costume pattern for Jacob in a magazine. We switched gears and bought Lauren another pirate costume (Elizabeth Swan) but it turned out to be a tad tight. When Doug went back to the store to exchange it for a larger size, they were out. So, Daddy came home with a ninja costume and a sword that was as big as Lauren. Of course, she fell for it. Although it wasn't exactly a mother's dream costume for her little girl, it suited Lauren to a tee. We had to take it away though as she was going to wear it out before Halloween even arrived. Anna fell in love with the fortune teller costume. As soon as we pulled it out of the box, she started reading people's futures. She even set up shop with a crystal ball and charged 5 cents a palm reading. As for Jacob, he was definitely the cutest little owl baby that I've ever seen...although I may be a bit biased.

Happy Belated Hall"owl"een

Hi all,

Sorry we've been absent for most of the month. It's been a bit tumultuous around here as of late. Hopefully, things are back on track in our home and I'll be able to update more often. I'm working on a recap of October that I'll try to post tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a shot of our baby owl on his first Halloween. I was so excited about his costume. It's one of the few things I've attempted to make that actually turned out! Hope you had lots of treats and not too many tricks!

Dear Tooth Fairy...

A couple of months ago while making Anna's bed, I found a post-it that read:

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I don't have a loose tooth yet but
I hope you're finding lots of teeth.

Love,

Anna

Well, weeks down the road we discovered she did indeed have a loose tooth. It's taken 3 weeks for the tooth to actually come out but today it finally DID! It's taken so long because there wasn't a whole lot of wiggling going on once Daddy mentioned there might be blood. I think Anna's response was something like, "WHAT??!! BLOOD???? (moan)". She is our delicate flower, you know. :) Believe it or not though, she managed to get over the whole blood thing and pulled it herself while at school. She did say there was a TON of blood though. The school office gave her the cutest little treasure box to bring it home in.

At bedtime, we'll place it in her tooth fairy pillow that we made based on a tutorial from "mmmcrafts".... along with a note that reads:

In this pocket you will find

A teeny, tiny tooth of mine.

So while I sleep where dreams are made

In this pocket I will lay

The little tooth I lost today.

Please Dear Fairy, tonight as I sleep

Leave me a coin, my tooth

You can keep.

Her tooth will sit in a little pocket below the teeth of the fairy.

I just hope the tooth fairy doesn't fall asleep and forget to take the tooth and leave a little treat. Since this is our first tooth, I'm unsure what the going rate is in today's dollars. I know 32 years ago, a tooth was worth about a quarter. Can you guys clue me in on the current expectation? Anna has been asking for a new doll but I'm pretty sure it won't fit in the tooth fairy pillow pocket!

And while, we're on teeth...look who now has two! He would NOT be still so this picture is quite blurry but at least you get the idea.

Boy Meets Pumpkin

Boy meets pumpkin... Boy contemplates pumpkin...

I don't know about you guys but I'm starting to see pumpkins everywhere...even in places where there aren't any. Can you guess where I found this one? Have you guys found any pumpkins hiding in strange places too?

Fruit of the Spirit

Little Lauren, don't you know? You need to some fruit to help you grow. Apples, bananas, and grapes are yummy but fruit of the spirit is for more than your tummy.

One of our favorite books is by Mindy MacDonald and is called "9 Fruits Alive". I immediately thought of this book when we got the newsletter from Lauren's preschool that said this Tuesday would be Fruit of the Spirit day. I panicked a bit because I didn't have a fruit costume and everyone was supposed to wear something "fruity". I figured I would work on it but then we went to Monterey for the weekend and I didn't think about it again until 4:30 am Tuesday morning. It was one of those "Oh SHOOT!" mornings. All I could come up with was an apple hat made out of felt and batting. So, I plundered around in the dark and found what I needed. When the girls woke up, I started sewing. Lauren said she liked it but, of course, refused to wear it. Her teacher was dressed as a bunch of grapes and I saw only one other kid dressed up...he was a pear. Other than that there were a lot of teachers wearing hats with fake fruit hot-glued to them. So, it would appear in the future, I shouldn't worry too much about Lauren being the only one not "fruity" enough. I still think it turned out cute though.

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

You may have noticed that there are links on the left of blogs of a few of my friends. If you'll scroll a bit further down you'll see that I've added some new links to a few other blogs I follow. One of the links will take you to Grosgrain Fabulous....she makes bEE-U-Tiful clothing and GIVES it away. You all know I've been on a huge Alice in Wonderland kick recently and we're decorating the girls' room along those lines. Click on the link above to see what Grosgrain is giving away. It's to die for!!

Love Notes

I’ve been placing “love notes” written on napkins in Anna’s lunch box each day. I tell her how proud I am of her and how much I love her. I also usually draw a picture of some silly little something. She never comes home with them so I thought she had just thrown them away. At back to school night, I looked in her desk and there was a little stack of napkins all folded neatly next to her math book. She told me she pulls them out to read if she’s having a bad day or feeling sad. It made me remember just how important the little things can be to our little ones.
In response to my letters, she’s been leaving little love notes for us all over the house. Usually at least once or twice a day, she will hand deliver our “mail” to us by saying, “Mail’s here. Mail is here.” So, I thought she might enjoy having her own little mailbox to use. I sat down and attempted to follow a tutorial for a fabric mailbox from giver’s log. It’s not perfect but I don’t think she minds. I just had to share some of her cutest notes to us. She is soooo funny and I’ve been saving my own little “stash” of her love notes to pull out and read when I’m having a bad day or feeling sad.

As long as your with me I will not lose you forever. With lots of love from Anna with lots of kisses.

Welcome to Annas terrific tea hose. Come today?!
Thank you for chooseing this one.

Mom, I am sorry I am not in bed but I was trying to sleep so hard but I can not do it. But I also love you. I hope you are not mad at me mommy. But if you are I am sorry. What is your reacticon happy or mad?

Dear Mommy,
I know you had a bad day I hope tomorrow is better I love you. Good bye.
Hope this spot. O
As long as your with me I wont lose you forever.
Hug this spot O
Kiss this spot O
From Anna to mommy

Dear family
I love you all I hope you all had a good day good bye I will always love you.
Fair well.

Share the soap!

Give love! Anna Kleist
1+3=4

To do list:
Morning break
Doll break
Breakfast break
Say good morning
Say my ABC’s
Spin in the dining room
Spend time with family
Hold Jacob
Give Mom Dad love
(Followed by a picture of the 6 of us with a dancing heart!)

Stay tuned for Anna’s short stories!