Autumn Is In Session

School has been in for a month.

I have baked two apple pies.
(yeah, those are Skor bits in the pies)

We have "had a good frost", as my Grandma always says and we are enjoying our beautiful shades of yellow, red and orange with a clear blue backdrop. Autumn is in session, folks, and we are drinking it up.

With all of those lovelies, of course, come GERMS! We have had vomit, and a lot of snot this past week, along with jammied couch days and Mama guilt about running errands that need to be run with girls who would much rather stay at home watching cartoons - but we are handling it like troopers. Or Scouts, for those who'll get the Drum Corps reference.

Lisa and I took the girls to the Zoo on Saturday, and even though we laugh at how pathetic the Valley Zoo is, the girls all had fun.

That's what matters, I suppose. It was cool and overcast enough to make it a perfect zoo day, in fact, all the animals were out and lively.

I was absolutely SHOCKED that Elise didn't back out on the Pony Ride at the last second, and even more surprised that she ENJOYED it.

Baby couldn't ride her beloved Horsey (too young) but the girls did let her get up close and personal. She was thrilled.

To conclude with an unrelated tidbit, Elise is a drunk lady of the evening...

Uuummmmmmm..... DA! and other Tessie Girl antics.

This is what Tessa says when you ask her a question that begins with "Where is/are". Ummmmmmmmmm.. Da! Da, has actually been a constant in her vocabulary for months and months and for a while, with a bit of Ba! mixed in - it was all we could get her to say. It pretty much meant anything she was trying to tell us. In this current instance, however, it simply means "there" and her little pointing finger is just too much cuteness for this Mama.

In just a few short weeks, we went from being almost worried about where her speech wasn't, to "Ah, here it comes." The girl repeats anything her sister tells her to, and though sometimes it isn't decipherable to any ear but the Mama's - it is MILES from where we were 6 weeks ago. And damn, the girl is precious. I think I kiss her cheeks more these days than I did even when she was a squishy newborn. She is strong willed, but man - does she love a good snuggle. Or "Huuuugck!" as she yells as she grabs up her "bankie!" and runs across the room for me to pick her up several times a day. And yes, she yells. Everything she says, she has a hard time CONTROLLING THE VOLUME OF HER VOICE!. I don't know WHERE she got that from... In the mornings I hear her bellowing "Eeeeese! Eeeeese!" at her still sleeping sister who is a mere 3 feet from her own bed. Lovely. There are still some things she has trouble communicating to us of course, but those end up in hilarity more often than frustration. Tonight, for instance, Elise ran her head right into the corner of the couch while she and Matt were goofing around. After we comforted her and she moved on, Tessa kept frantically pointing at the corner Elise had hit until she finally banged her own head right into it. We laughed SO HARD. Yes Tessa, sissy hit her head on the couch.

Her and I start a storytime class at the library tomorrow morning while Elise is at school. I hope they don't expect her to whisper.

Elise in Wonderland

Parties are totally my thing - I love to plan, create, and imagine the most fantabulous celebrations into life. And since having my girls - it has only become more of a passion. So, we go big. Any of my close friends and family will tell you that I start planning the next one just after (sometimes before :P)the present one has gone off without a hitch. I am thinking horses for Tessa in January... But that's another post altogether and THIS one is about Elise's third birthday party.
(It seems so surreal to type that and know that it has come and gone).






















In about March, Elise watched Disney's version of Alice in Wonderland for the first time. Since then she has watched it about 450 other times. I had already been thinking Tea Party for her third, and so when she fell in love with Alice - the idea came together like avocado and cream cheese. I spent hours outsourcing (read: searching the internet for other people's awesome Mad Hatter Tea Party ideas) cool things to make the party really super special. In the end, there was a red carpet (read - red plastic table cloth roll) up our walkway to our door, Alice inspired signage, giant playing cards, paper lanterns, Red and white roses splattered with red paint, "eat me" signs in the tea sandwiches and a most fantatstic Topsy-Turvy birthday cake with a teapot on top care of my great friends at Creative Cakes. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Edmonton-AB/creative-cakes/152945649022?ref=ts






My girl was soooo excited to dress up in her Alice outfit. Tessa was The Cheshire Cat and my crazy, nobody-else-would-put-this-together-just-to-get-a-smile-out-of-their-girl awesome Grandma and Auntie Pat dressed as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, my cousin Carol and her sweet girl Isabel were the pink flamingo and hedgehog and my Mom was the queen of hearts. Too. Much. They were all priceless and, as usual, aided in creating some precious memories for my girl.






She had the best time, with all her little friends and her big friends too. She loved each and every gift, her cake, and her smile makes the work seem like nothing. She is already talking about her next party. It went something like this- her~ "And for my party, I will get a TonkBack Racer" (read Tonka Bounceback racer) ~me "Honey, it already was your party and you got plenty of wonderful things" her~ "No Mom, my NEXT party"...