Fall Fun

I think fall has finally arrived in Houston!!  We welcomed cooler weather this weekend and daddy was intent on having his little girl help with yard work.  A trip to Home Depot led us to this small rake.  Daddy trimmed off the long handle and the little girl's wish of a pink rake was easily fixed with a can of pink spray paint.  She was so excited to help daddy rake leaves!

Hard at work!

 

She took her job very seriously!

 We made an attempt to go to the zoo this morning for the annual Zoo Boo festivities.  Right as we were making our final approach to the zoo, Madeline got sick and threw up all over her costume.  So, needless to say, we ventured back home.  After some snuggle time on the couch, a long nap and a load of laundry, she was back to her spunky self and still askingto go to the zoo.  Luckily we still had time.  The Zoo Boo festivities were over, but she still had fun parading through the zoo in her butterfly costume.

Posing in front of her favorite....the elephants!

 

"I am the butterfly!"

Doing the butterfly dance in the open grass!

She was very full of energy, so apparently her morning 'bug' was very short lived!

Posing with the rhinos!  This is her meerkat look!

She was good friends with the monkey today!

Silly butterfly girl

This is a big one!

Pumpkin carving time!  

She wasn't too keen on getting her hands dirty, and preferred using the spoon to dig out the pumpkin guts!

Daddy carved a great monster pumpkin (or silly face pumpkin, as Madeline called it), but Madeline was asleep by the time it was finished.  You'll have to stay tuned to our Halloween post to see pictures!

Rainy Day Cupcakes

Today was quite the rainy day.  We desperately need the rain, so we were happy to stay inside and occupy our time.  Madeline loves baking cupcakes in her toy kitchen, but she has yet to help me make anything in the kitchen.  I thought today's rain would provide the perfect opportunity to put the little chef to work, making her favorite....cupcakes!

She did a great job stirring the batter!

The best part was cleaning the bowl when the cupcakes were in the oven!

She was very proud of herself when she discovered she could do a pirouette while standing on her stool!

She was very excited about the finished product!

Mommy says, "Who made cupcakes?"
Madeline replies, "Madeline made cupcakes, they're yummy!"

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is supposedly here, but you would never guess it with our 90+ degree temperatures!  This is one of the only weekends in October when we will all be here in Houston together, so we knew this was our only chance for a family trip to the pumpkin patch.  After some discussion whether or not it was cruel and unusual to dress our daughter in a sweater on a 80+ degree day, she saw the outfit I wanted her to wear and exclaimed, "It's cute, I'm cute" and then wouldn't wear anything else.  So, on our hot "fall" day, with Madeline in her new autumn sweater, we ventured out to make fun memories!

"I'm Cute"

"It's a big one!"

It's tough job picking the right pumpkin!

Such a big girl!  She rode the train all by herself!

You can't see it very well, but it was a very cute train.  She picked the car decorated like a motorcycle (somebody else had already picked the pink kitty car!)

"Hi Mommy!"

She liked the little spookies best, she referred to them as 'babies"

This medieval looking contraption was the 'punkin' chucker'

If you double click this photo to enlarge, you can see a pumpkin in the middle of the screen.  The punkin' chucker could really make those things fly!

"Look what I got!"

Madeline had a great time.  She insisted on taking her 'babies' up to her room.  I did everything I could to keep her from taking them into the crib for her nap.  I convinced her to place one on the shelf and the other is currently sitting in the rocking chair....and yes, they did have to sit in our lap for stories before nap time!

Multicultural Parade

Madeline's class has been learning about different cultures this month. They topped it off with a multicultural parade where each classroom dressed up with costumes they made in class. Madeline's group was Ancient Egypt.

Where's Madeline?

She took her parade responsibilities very seriously and wouldn't look anywhere but straight ahead!

She cracked me up with how serious she was!

There's that crazy personality....


...and a bit of a smile!


The grand finale:


I think she had a fun time, and they got to celebrate with a party afterwards--who doesn't like a fun party?

She got to take her flag home and she has recreated the parade a number of times!