Trick or Treat!

We had such a fun evening taking Kirkley around for her first night of trick or treating! We stopped by our sweet neighbors, surprised the grandparents, and strolled with the Stephens and Vaughns. We're a little concerned we'll have to reateach her next year that you don't go in everyone's house and hang out. So great to see everyone! No candy was collected, but she had lots of fun! Not many smiles as this was totally pushing bedtime. She's looking pretty zoned out by the end...

Puppy Dog Sadie

Grammy's Front Porch

Raggedy Georgia and Calli Anngel

So much more efficient, Mommy!

Dr. Vaughn

Our last stop -- saying hi to conductor Andrew!

See you next year!

Pumpkin Butter

Made this several years ago...loved it. No idea about canning/jarring. You could also stir some toasted finely chopped pecans in it. Great on pumpkin bread, a biscuit, etc.

PUMPKIN BUTTER

2 ¼ cups sugar
3 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat, and let cool; spoon into jars. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 3 months. Serve with biscuits. Yield: 3 cups.

*1 (1.75) box of Surejell = 6 tablespoons

Fall Fun

We had the best time today getting some of Kirkley's sweet friends together for some fall fun! Group pictures not so easy with a zillion toddlers! It was so funny to see what Kirkley enjoyed -- she warmed up to the bounce and loved it, she bobbed for ice in the drink bucket till we finally pried her away, did some sidewalk chalk masterpieces, and had a ball. No problem getting her to sleep tonight! Here are a few shots from our fun afternoon. Thanks to Aunt Donna and Uncle Keith for the bounces -- they were a HIT!!!! Thanks to Grammy for the goodies and help during the party! Aunt Laurel was awesome to let Kirkley finish her nap then bring her out dressed so berry cute. Kassidy and Rosemary were the best helpers ever!! The McDonalds and Thames were great party cohosts!

Fall Fun Tablescape

Can't forget this -- another dimension of the party planning fun! We had fun doing this! Lots of credit to my mom -- I fed her my ideas and she went with them! I love Sarah Beth's sucker haystack and Ashley's cute arrangements in the pumpkins!! We ran out of brownie bites topped with M & Ms and the crackers with "pumpkin" cheese slices were a hit for a more substantial snack for the toddlers!

All of these goodies and my baby picks...pretzels...

and ice.

Always keeping mommy in line...

fun and fun memories are not defined by these details that I love to obsess over!

Busy Week

We have had the most fun and busy last week! Last weekend some girlfriends and I snuck away for night of shopping and fun! Alex and Kirkley had a great time and went to the equestrian show at the university. Thanks to some awesome husbands for giving us some much needed girl time -- it was a crazy feeling to be bop around shopping centers bargain hunting without a care in the world. We had a great time but were so ready to see our precious families when we got home!

Monday afternoon Kirkley came down with the stomach bug. Alex stayed home with her Tuesday and she was so pitiful. I stayed home with her Wednesday as she was on the up and back to herself again. Thanks for all of the advice on pedialyte pops, rotating Tylenol/Motrin, and just toughing it out! It truly was the 24-hour bug! She's good as new.

We wrapped up a hectic week with more parties, daddy/daughter time at the sop (including her first rickshaw ride), and getting ready for tomorrow's party! This was an off weekend wasn't it???

You know how I said...

our child usually sleeps 12 hours straight? I don't think she's done that since I posted it. But every time we check her sweet mouth, there are more teeth in there! In the past few weeks, she's gotten four molars and now we see two more incisors coming in! So when the infant motrin wears off, we're all up and going, trying to find a way in the middle of the night grogginess to cure what ails her! She was so late to teethe so now she's getting a ton all at once, and we're breaking all of our sleeping through the night/cosleeping rules to try to calm her.

Another task at hand is her interactions with others. She is officially the "hair puller" in her class. Not everyone's hair, just the babies with great flouncy, cute hair! Better than being the "biter," I suppose -- she is the bitee though. Hair pulling is especially tough to work on because most babies we're around with other families barely have any hair! She is certainly starting to test her limits and push the envelope a bit. It is interesting explaining to a toddler not to pull hair, how to share toys, etc. I will soon be bringing back Shepherding a Child's Heart and Don't Make Me Count to Three to the top of the stack on my nightstand. Speaking of, I still want to figure out how to do a blog book club with one of these books -- surely this is possible.

Just a little glimpse of what we're working on right now as she approaches 18 months tomorrow!

First Game

Boppy, Gigi, and Hannah came in town to take Kirkley to her first football game. She did okay, although she didn't really get why we had to sit in a seat the whole time. We were in the walkway around the stadium a lot running around, but she made it until halftime. Mommy and Gigi were not too disappointed to come home and put her to bed. Not sure which was the most fun -- posing in her cheerleading outfit, picking apart shakers, or eating the lemon from Daddy's lemonade. Note that the most fun was not the game!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We had a great trip to the pumpkin patch this morning! It felt like fall and Kirkley loved playing on the farm. She ran around the pumpkins and threw hay on the hay ride, but the big hit was the corn bin! She loved playing in the corn! We even ran into the Stephens and the Vaughns out there. {Calli Ann was lost in the hay maze during the photo op.}

Time for a Cut

The back of Kirkley's hair was starting to reach "party in the back" length. Didn't want to lose the curls so we just cut a little off this morning. She was a good sport and was very into her cone while I cut.

5 Conversations

Stumbled across this blog discussing Vicki Courtney's new book 5 Conversations you must have with your daughter. I looked thinking it wouldn't have much applicable with a 17 month old daughter, but it really did have points that I can start thinking about how to incorporate. And certainly I need to think about how I will handle these topics in Kirkley's future. She's got great applications that are age appropriate. Makes me even more excited to hear her speak tonight at church!

Lake Weekend

We had the best weekend at the lake with our sweet friends the Johnsons and the Fitts. These were our first two couple friends we met as newlyweds when Alex was in law school. Within several months of knowing them, we all took our first trip to the lake together. We tallied up and this is our seventh annual lake trip together. I wish we'd chronicled them all! The oldest picture I could find is from 2003 at the Johnson farm on our second trip together.
This year, the picture looks a little different...

We had a weekend filled with all sorts of fun things -- sweet new family additions, a local fair, great food, and lots of fun!

The flea market was in full effect Saturday morning, including two big ticket items: roasted corn and a cute table, chairs, and bench set! We had intended for this to be a Christmas present once we get it all painted, but it was such a hit with the kids, I don't know that we will wait. There was lots of puzzle playing, goldfish eating, and magna doodle drawing happening around the table this weekend!

Noble 11 months, Porter 16 months, Kirkley 17 months, Libby 2 years

And just to show how time flies...her picture on the rock this yearand last year -- just a little different!

Alex even got to sneak in a little fly fishing early Saturday morning! Very Brad Pitt, A River Runs Through It, I know!

We are so fortunate to have such precious memories with sweet friends! All through the weekend, we discussed our next trip, what year we'd do a big trip, and how much we enjoy catching up. Though we'd love to see each other more, it's so neat to pick right back up. The weekend certainly did not lack laughter, fun, nor food (Mary, we are enjoying the Italian Cream Cake -- we are still talking about this cake and savoring our last pieces you sent home with us!). The Johnsons, as always, were the bests hosts. Can't wait until the next trip!