Trick-or-Treat!

I thought this year for Halloween Claire could dress up as a butterfly since she LOVES butterflies. I asked her about a month or so ago if she'd like to be a butterfly, and she said, "Yeah." However, whenever anyone else asked her what she was going to be for Halloween, she'd say, "A ladybug." I have no idea where she came up with this ladybug idea, but I asked her if she'd rather be a ladybug or a butterfly, and she said, "ladybug." So, I made her a ladybug costume. Last Thursday morning (we were going Trick-or Treating Thursday night) she started crying and saying, "I want to be a butterfly!" After working hard on a ladybug costume, I tried to appease her by saying that she'll have to be a ladybug tonight, but if she wanted to, she could be a butterfly tomorrow. That seemed to calm her down, and I didn't hear anything about a butterfly after that. Here are some pictures of my little ladybug...

Going through her loot with Mimi...

Playing a balloon relay race with Daddy...

Gummi worm eating contest: Everyone's a winner!

Get Ready, Get Set...

Go!!!

I can't post Halloween pictures without including this picture of my adorable nieces, Gabi and Isabella, or should I say Cookie Monster and Elmo...

Our Trip to Stone Harbor

Claire and I went to Stone Harbor, N.J. with our family this past weekend. The beach is so beautiful this time of year. Here is a picture of Claire and Pap on the beach.

We saw a lot of beautiful birds including a great blue heron, snowy white egrets, even bald eagles! Thanks to my parents, we know what we're looking at. :) There were also tons of beautiful butterflies flying around. It was so relaxing and refreshing. My sister and her boyfriend found an awesome playground for Claire to enjoy. Here are some picture of her at the playground.

It's Pumpkin Time!

Even though it doesn't feel like it these days, fall is finally here! I love fall - apple cider, pumpkins, baking pies, beautiful autumn leaves. It is by far my favorite season of the year. We went to an orchard the other day to pick out a pumpkin for Claire. Here is a picture of her by the biggest pumpkin they had. (No, we didn't buy this one for her. )

Ephesians 6:1

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." -Ephesians 6:1

Random Comments by Claire

Today we were riding home from the store, and Claire and I had a few very interesting conversations. They went like this:

Claire: There's a brown bus
Allie: Where? (Didn't see any other cars, trucks, or buses on the road)
Claire: There's a brown bus in the tree

Claire: I want to sit in the back seat
Allie: You are sitting in the back seat.
Claire: No, I want to sit in the back seat (pointing to the front seat).
Allie: Oh, you mean you want to sit in the front seat?
Claire: Yeah.
Allie: Well, you can't sit in the the front seat while Mommy's driving because it's against the law.
Claire: (trying to repeat Mommy) I can't sit next to the law.
Allie: laughing, No, you can't sit next to the law.
Claire: Where's the law?
Allie: speechless

Claire: (grabbing at her ear) I want to hold my ear.
Allie: Okay, you can hold your ear.
Claire: I want to take it off.
Allie: You can't take your ear off, sweetie.
Claire: I want to hold my ear.
Allie: You can hold it while it's on your head, but you can't take it off.
Claire: smiling and apparently satisfied with my answer

Reasoning with a 2-year old is quite interesting. I recommend it to everyone.

Pony Ride

Claire, Justin, and I went to an apple festival on Saturday, and they had pony rides. We weren't sure if Claire would be scared or not, but we tried it anyway. She loved it!! We actually did it twice! We didn't get any good pictures from the front, which is unfortunate, because she was beaming the entire time!

Justin took her by himself the first time, and I stayed back and watched. We both decided to go along the second time, and Justin warned me to watch where I step. Well...I tried to do that, but I got so caught up in the moment of Claire enjoying the ride that ~~~SQUISH~~~ yep, you guessed it, I stepped in a HUGE pile of pony poop! Fortunately, my shoes didn't have too much of a tread, and it worked its way out pretty quickly.