Serving as "Helper Mom" at Lila's School

Does the title make you nervous? It did me!
I was pleasantly surprised to see Lila in action at her school today. She was fine! ...A little cling-y because her mom was there, but fine. She was polite to the teachers, relatively kind to the students, calm, somewhat obedient, but still showed some of her spunk. I was very proud. Here are some pictures of the day:

playing at the felt table

everybody's favorite - dance time

check out the rainbow knee socks

pumpkin picking day
Lila, of course, carried/balanced and dropped, the pumpkin on her head all the way across the parking lot. She even got several others to copy her! That's fine - she's never boring!

Halloween Week

I'm not a huge Halloween fan, but there are certain things you just have to enjoy.....

The Halloween Parade....

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Look at that cute little Tigger!

The Halloween Brownie meeting......


Just for the record, my girls can't decide on one Halloween costume. We must have options. Actually, Emma used to be fine with one decision, but Lila - not so much. I no longer put any effort into one costume. Gone are the days of making chicken costumes out of Martha Stewart Living. We just decide what we feel like dressing as that day, and go with it. Because really - who cares?

Thank You, Gramma!

For those readers that don't know, Lila is beyond attached to her "Big Bear". Gramma made it for her when she was born. Bear WAS a beautiful light green chenille who used to sit in Lila's crib. Since then, he's been everywhere! He's been filthy with unmentionable things, through the washer and dryer many times, had stitches a few times, last Christmas at Gramma's house, he even got his flat ratty body restuffed! Early on, I realized that dragging a large bear with us everywhere was going to be a problem, so for Lila's first Bday, Gramma sent "Baby Bear". He's made of the same fabric, only smaller and flatter. He lived in the car, mostly, for almost three years. That way we always had him with us when we needed a bear.
This past summer, Baby Bear got lost in the sheets in a hotel in Seattle. Horrible, I know. Lila seemed to get over it surprisingly well, since that day we arrived at Gramma and Papa's house and they have lots of other bears. I was more sentimental that Lila was about that silly stuffed animal that had been to every restaurant, theme park, and friend's house since Lila was an infant! When we came home to NJ, her big bear was here waiting for her, and I haven't heard about Baby Bear since. ...Until this week...
We're going to Florida next week - a lazy gulf coast beach resort which I'm looking so forward to. We were talking about Big Bear staying home and the lip came out and the tears welled up. "What's the matter honey? You know Big Bear can't come with us to FL?"
"I really miss, sob, my Baby, sniff, Bear. I lost him - waaaa ."
Am I breaking your heart yet? So we called Gramma on Monday, and today, look who showed up in the mail:
Thank you, Gramma! We REALLY love the new Baby Bear!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins last night, and a good time was had by all. The girls were quite self-sufficient and Ryan helped Lila, so I didn't even have to dip my arm in the goop! They carved while I took pictures, roasted the seeds, and chatted with my mom and sister (who wouldn't miss this festive event).

Say "Halloween"

Concentration

I don't care if I'm three, I can carve a pumpkin by myself!

Glowing Jack-O-Lanterns

Now some light on the carvers.

Girls' Day

I went to NYC Saturday with my group of close girlfriends - we had a super time! Nine women went - no kids, no husbands - which meant we got to do whatever we wanted! We shopped, snacked, laughed, and saw the sights without having to wipe any noses, tie shoes, change diapers, or listen to whining. My purse was even empty - water bottle, camera, wallet, sunglasses - so simple! We decided to not venture up to the typical sights that we all always see. We stayed south of Times Square the whole day. It was neat to see these other areas of the city, and it wasn't even crowded.
We took the Staten Island Ferry in (which was great and free!). Then we strolled through Battery Park and took the subway up to Ground Zero. It's still so moving to see the site of such destruction seven years ago. The last time I was there was about 6 months after 9/11 when there was a crater where the towers used to stand. Now construction is underway. It was nice to see the plans drawn up for the beautiful memorial that will stand there someday soon. Oh, and we had to take a picture with some NYC firefighters behind us.
From here we rode up to Greenwich Village. We shared some gourmet sandwiches (we wanted to try a few different ones) at Peanut Butter and Company. My personal fav was "The Elvis" - grilled P.B., bananas, and bacon - Yum-O! There was a street fair nearby, so we wandered and perused at our own pace with no one putting any pressure on us to move on. Some of us bought sunglasses, or cheap jewelry, or Christmas gifts, while others preferred to eat their way through the different yummy stands (not mentioning any names...). We stopped at Starbucks, the Union Square Farmer's Market (gorgeous this time of year!), and a store that Beth Moore recently recommended on her blog (apparently she's way more hip than any of us - we couldn't even imagine trying anything on!). The day was chilly, but beautiful!
We ended up down by Pier 17 and the Brooklyn Bridge - a great photo opp. Then had dinner at South Street Seaport before catching the ferry back to our cars. I had a great time and we all made some new memories together. I love you girls!

Fall Happenings

I was looking through my pictures and found some good ones that I forgot to post. So here are some fall happenings:

The Zoo with Grammy

"Where's the bear, Lila?" "There."

Stand like the flamingos, girls

Behaving herself in Ballet

Hayride/Pumpkin Picking

I'm not sure what she's trying to inject into this pumpkin

My beautiful girls!

Catch the Phever!

Hayride

We went on a hayride last weekend with our group of friends, but Katie's camera was the only one that got this picture of everybody. I finally managed to steal it off of her blog. It was a really fun fall night!

No Surprise

Have you ever heard of a little girl who takes her tutu off in the middle of ballet class and wears it on her head?

Now you have.

Funny Conversation

Lila and I were just talking about when I she was in my tummy, and here's the hilarious conversation:
M: You used to kick me from inside my tummy.
L: I did?
M: Yes, do you remember being in there?
L: (nodding her head) mmm-hmmm.
M: You do?!
L: Yes.
M: What did it look like inside my tummy?
L: There was lots 'a' junk.
M: Really, like what kind of junk?
L: Like worms,..... and bones,.... and junk.
M: Hmmm, I never knew that.
L: Yup - that's what I remember.

New Couch

...and I love it!!!...

Another First Day

Today was the first day of Lila's preschool program. She'll go once a week to a church down the street for two hours.
So far, I've been pleasantly surprised at her behavior for "school". Both yesterday and today, she was sitting quietly and listening to the teachers. Thank you, Lord. I shouldn't be surprised - I've certainly prayed about how she'll do at school. She's just such an unconventional child, that you never know. When I asked her what she learned about, she said, "Listening ears, and quiet mouths, and walking feet." OK - good. She really liked the program today, and next week the firetruck comes! I did leave her with an extra kiss from Mommy in the palm of her hand. Yesterday, the teacher said she was teary and kept saying that she needed just one more kiss from Mommy. :( The kiss in the hand thing seemed to do the trick except I remembered to do it after she had already started sand play - I had sand in my lip gloss all morning!