Boo to You...

From our family to yours....

May you Halloween be filled with more treats than tricks...
and thanks Mom and Dad for the 1950's costume...she totally rocked it!

Fall Break

Tomorrow Hollis returns to school after being home with me for 5 days.
I have soaked up every second of having her home with me.
No schedules. No rushing to school. No homework or sight words.
Fall Break brought:
Lots of snuggles in bed.
A picnic and leaf hunt at our favorite park.
Some thrift store shopping
A playdate at McDonalds playpark.
Pizza night with some good friends.
Church with some friends.
Homemade French toast and sausage for our lazy Monday morning breakfast.
A date night with 'Our Prince'-as Hollis calls her Daddy(I told her I would share mine with her until she finds her own)- and a trip to Borders to pick out a special Halloween book.
Movie night with lots of buttery popcorn and a showing of Horton Hears a Who
Antiquing and lunch as a family on Monday-the first full day we have had off together since she started school.

Now it is back to a routine tomorrow....commitments...appts....
And you know what? That is ok too.
It sure was good while it lasted.

My Daisy

Guess who had her first Daisy Girl Scout meeting last night?
I'll give you one guess...

Our weekly highlights

This is what it has come to..my posting of our weekly highlights.
That is pretty pathetic.
But it is all I can muster in time and energy right now.
I think this might be as good as it gets for awhile too.
Since  I found out I was preggers in March, my mind has been racing with "The Lasts".
The Last things we can do as a family of 3.
The Last things we can do to assure Hollis she is God's most perfect gift to us-that she will never be replaced.
The Last gifts of time and attention we can bestow upon her before we make room for more love in our hearts and home.
Sometimes, "The Lasts" can keep me up at night with worry and anxiety and guilt, to be honest.
Or it can make me grin from ear to ear when one of my friends with many, many children reassures me that a sibling  is one of the greatest gifts you can give a child.
I love that thought.

Taking Hollis to Conner Prairie for their Halloween celebration has been our family tradition for 4 years now.
The entire time we were there on Sunday night, I kept thinking about how this activity may not make "The Last" list, but it will certainly be different next year.

Poor Hollis. We thought we were doing her a favor by taking her on the Headless Horseman hayride.
She was buried in the hay the whole time.
I don't think she saw a thing.
I kept thinking-please God don't let this child wake up with nightmares tonight.
And if she does, just make sure it is during one of my 404 trips I make to the bathroom each night.

Yep. We still  have our heads.

Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong.
Maybe I should label "The Lasts" the "Just Differents"
Yes.
I like that much much better.

MIA

I have been missing in action.
I'm sorry.
I have been tired.
I have been hormonal.
I have not really been in the blogging mood.
So it was probably good I haven't been blogging, right?
Plus, I have been spending time with some of my favorite people in the world.

Some visits were shorter..some were longer.
All of them treasured and appreciated and perfect in every way.
Hard to believe, next time I see these women in my life, I will be holding a new member of the family.
I can hardly wait.

Step In Time

When I read in March that a Broadway production of Mary Poppins was coming to the Murat Theater, I was bound and determined that we were going to be in attendance.
And we were for opening night last Thursday.

 Hollis is not excited that she was going to see Mary Poppins in this photo.
She was excited that her Daddy told her that she could have a pretzel at intermission.

I wish I could honestly tell you that Hollis was over the moon with excitement about the play...
But she wasn't.
She was excited about the promised pretzel she kept pestering me about throughout the whole first act.
I kept looking at Jason and thinking-I could've saved $30 and nuked a pretzel for the kid at home.
Lordy.
I, on the other hand, was on cloud 9-when I wasn't being pestered.
It was everything I imagined and more.
Supercalifragelisticexpialidocious?
Yes, indeedy.

Small Town Festivals

I have a love affair with small town festivals.
There is nothing like them..especially in Indiana.
If you come looking for us on a Sat in the fall...you will most likely find us at a festival.

The only thing better than going to festivals is going to festivals with good friends..even if it is spitting rain.

Hunting for a treasure at Mason's Used Bookstore

Last weekend was the 50's festival in Lebanon....

A Library booksale

My favorite childrens store ever. Period.

Lego display at the library

This was Hollis' favorite "50's car" on display.
She said it was the perfect size for her and Daddy to fit into.
When I  pointed out that all our family couldn't fit into it...and she said,"That's ok."
Hmmmmm.....

 This was my favorite car.
One we could ALL fit into.
Everytime she peeked her head in through the drivers window..I prayed to God someone did not leave the keys in the ignition.

I could certainly think of worst ways to spend my Sats with my favorite kid in the world....