Friendly ghosts? No, Scarys!

Mia stitched matching friendly ghosts outfits for C & Q.

Did I already tell this story? Our neighbor has decorated for halloween, and everytime we pull in the driveway Cora points at her tree and announces, "Scary!!!"

When I put Cora in her Halloween costume, she also exclaimed, "Scary!"

These two friendly ghosts don't look so scary to me.

We started out the trick-or-treat evening at our friend Alicia's house for some chili and hot dogs. Afterwards, the girls and I ran back home to get Landon and hit the houses where we were expected in our neighborhood (Cheri & Matt's, etc.), then headed back to Old Village. On our way into Old Village, we decided that we couldn't head to Pitt without stopping at (newlyweds) Justin & Stacy's house, so we ran by there. Somehow, we ended up leaving Quinn with the newlyweds, then headed with Cora to Pitt. 

 By far, the best  place I could have imagined to Trick-or-Treat. It took Cora about 4 houses to figure out what the gig was about. She looked around, saw all of these kids running eagerly up to a house, getting a treat, then running to the next house. After that, Cora was all in. She would have nothing to do with our help, never accepted our offer for a lift or a hand up and down stairs, refused to let us carry some of her candy to lighten her load, and independently marched up to nice ladies on porches.

When I said, "What do you say?" she would exclaim, "PLEASE!!!!" (good, but not hardly in the spirit of the evening).

It wasn't until we were on our way home that Cora realized there was candy in those packages.

She hasn't asked for much candy since.

 These pics were taken after 9PM. Quinn is ALWAYS like this. Seriously, I bet I could list every single time the child has cried!

 She is obsessed with the candy bucket

Two weekends after halloween, godmother Joy came to visit.

When it was time for the adventure of taking Joy back to the airport, Cora insisted on dressing "Scary!".

My little ghost looked pretty running through the airport, arms spread wide like an airplane, in mid-November.

Christmas list #1

Me: Cora, whatcha reading?
C: Santa!
Me: did you know Santa is going to bring you toys?
C: okaaaay
Me: what toys do you want Santa to bring?
C: candy!
Me: what else?
C: hearts!
Me: anything else?
C: stickers?
Me: do you know why Santa brings toys?
C: (puzzled look)
Me: because we're celebrating the baby Jesus
C: He brings me toys?

We're going to have to work on this one...

We love fall!

The Cathedral hosted a fall festival on Sunday afternoon.
There was a jump castle.
There were other things, too, but this kid didn't notice anything else. Anytime her feet hit the ground independently, she was sprinting back to the jump castle.

Here, she was trying to squirm free to make a sprint for... the... you guessed it... Jump Castle!

Caption (From Anne Brumbaugh): "Look... a baby!"

Now that we've discovered face painting, we love it.

Here, cora had a "fligherfly" on her face ("butterfly" in case you can't read 2yearease).

To mimic a butterfly, Papaw Jim taught her to hold her hands up and pump her fingers open and closed quickly. She does it a lot.

I wish I could nap like this!

When we got home, we were all in the kitchen. I heard Quinn get quiet, and I walked in to realize that she had helicoptered/rolled/scooted herself about 10 feet across the room to get to Cora's bucket. There, she dumped it out. Honestly, I just left her alone for a second! She's a quick little booger. Doesn't she look pleased with herself here?

She looks pretty darn pleased with herself here, too.
I love this picture - I love this little face.

Happy baby.

Halloweening #2: Kid's Museum

Again... pics are out of order.

Cora and Quinn had matching halloween outfits... Friendly Ghosts!

Cora and I had a girl's night at the kid's museum for a fall festival. The place was packed! We ended up spending most of our time in the creepers play area, then ventured around after most of the kids cleared out for the night. Cora LOVES the castle area, and she loved visiting the princess.
Our friends Gabe & Anna met us there to play, too.

The cat face isn't part of the costume, but it was what Cora requested at the face painter.

Her first face painting.

I was surprised that she got the concept.

She sat superstill. Afterwards, back in the castle area, she saw herself in the mirror.

She was really surprised, then was ecstatic to announce, "Mommy! Look at me!"

So big, so fast.

Halloweening Number 1: Hampton Park

We joined Erin & Cody at Hamptom Park on Friday night for some Halloweening.

My friend Anne's daughter Jocelyn made us these adorable cardinal outfits.

When we first came up with the idea, we were certain the cards were going to the World Series.

Oh well, these little girls weren't losers in their feathers.

Cora actually kept these feet on the entire time. At first, when she walked, she lifted her feet up dramatically, like big bird.

These pics are a bit out of order (they were uploaded from my phone... which is tricky).

After Hamptom Park, we went to the Groebers for pizza. Erin commented and it was so true that this was the first year that the kids aren't babies. Well, Quinn and Annalisa are definitely babies, but Sean and crew were running around well after dark. Cora was hanging with the boys, too, as best she could. In fact, we stayed at the Groeber's til around 9:00, then drove from West Ashley to Mt Pleasant... and Cora was STILL awake when we got  home. She is a social butterfly!

I promise you that she thought this was fun. Her annoyed face is mostly because she had no desire to pause for a picture. Fire truck. Jump castle. Trunk-or-treating. Hayride. Mom's camera was not entertaining.

When we first arrived at Hampton Park in the afternoon, Cora was wearing this outfit (designed and stitched by Mia). I met Landon and the girls at the park. He picked them up from daycare, but I had their costumes in my car. All of the way to the park, Landon was describing what the party would be like. He had really emphasized that kids would be wearing costumes. When Landon got Cora out of the car, she took in the scene, looked up at Landon, got really excited, and after stammering around for a couple of seconds finally exclaimed, "And I'm a doggy!" (there is a dog on her dress here).

James is so sweet to Quinn. We often find him in the floor quietly playing with her. He is the most gentle soul - never rough, and always giving her little toys to play with. Sometimes I cannot believe he is only 2!

When we got home, I decided to trim Cora's hair for the first time. She was in the tub, and Landon and I had been discussing that her curls were losing some bounce. I thought I did a pretty decent job... but thank goodness curls are forgiving! There was a 1-ince difference bewtween the left and right side of her head! A few days later, I went to trim it again. I sat Cora up on the sink with a squeeze-pouch of apple sauce, and made a cut on a good chunk of hair. Cora's eyes got big when she saw me putting locks of hair in a baggie. She said, "That's my hair. You cut it?"

Designed and Stiched by Mia

"I'd better write this down" Moment #6

STORY 1.

Cora came down the stairs this morning and out-of-the-blue announced:

"My cat Hopey is at Papaw's house."

Hope isn't Papaw Jim's cat. Hope is Aunt Jen & Uncle Tim's cat. The last two times we were in Kentucky, we were there for weddings in Northern Kentucky, and we stayed with Tim & Jen. Both times, Papaw Jim & Mia stayed there too.

But in Cora's world, what is Cora's is Cora's and everything else is Papaw's.

It's a trend. For example, there is a particularly fancy house next to the place where we enter the beach. Everytime we pass it, Cora announces, "Papaw lives there".

Last week, I was trying to describe a Halloween party we were going to. I explained that we would wear costumes and ask for candy and there would be a lot of people and we could play games and ride behind a tractor. Cora's response: "At Papaw's house?"

And in Cora's mind, everything that is Papaw Jim's is hers anyways.

She probably has good reason to think so. I mentioned the cat story to my Mom, and she responded with, "We may have to get a cat for her to have here".

In Cora's world, what is Cora's is Cora's and everything else is Papaw Jim's. And in Cora's mind, everything that is Papaw Jim's is hers anyways.

STORY 2.

Cora got dressed this morning. It was cold, so I bundled her in her black and white animal print jacket with matching hat. She had to work hard to get her hand in the pocket. Once she did, she looked up and exclaimed "I can't find my keys". She sounded just like me :)