Halloween ... Never Quite What You Hoped For ...

Let me just start right off saying that I do realize that there are Christians out there who do not do the whole Halloween thing. And I respect that. I, however, choose to allow my children to celebrate it. Now, we don't do scary costumes or anything demonic. We don't celebrate the evil, but we DO partake of the the FUN!

That being said, my sweet friend Mary, over at Giving Up On Perfect, is havin herself a little giveaway in celebration of Halloween. She's lookin for stories of a less than perfect Halloween.

And I have a few of those...

There was the time, in elementary school, that I dressed as a hobo for the Halloween parade. Less than halfway in, the blanket I was using to make myself look round, began trailing out of my pants... it was NOT pretty! By the end I was one VERY deflated hobo who could keep herself warm at a moment's notice!

Or, how about the time in high school that I dressed as a pregnant housewife. Complete with rollers, basketball belly and a facial mask ... that I wore all day ... resulting in a horrendous breakout for the next 2 weeks. And, to top it all off, I was one of VERY few people who dressed up.

Or, what about the time I dressed as a doctor. That in itself is OK, except for the fact that I was working in a daycare at the time and we took a little field trip to go trick-or-treating ... at a nursing home. You try walking around a nursing home dressed in scrubs and see how pathetic you feel after no less than 57 elderly people beg you for assistance with this, that or the other thing and you have NO idea how to help them... OH, the guilt!

THEN there was the Hattie's first Halloween with us - she was 1 and 1/2 and we had found the cutest little fairy princess costume, practiced saying trick or treat a thousand times (and it STILL sounded nothing like it, but she sure LOOKED cute tryin!) and bought her a fantabulous little basket to collect our ... er, I mean HER ... goodies. We were so ready for a great time. Til she woke up from nap with a fever of 102.

Stink!

So, we just sat on the driveway giving candy away to OTHER people's kids.

However ...



... she sure looked cute doin it!!!

Finally, there was Sophie's first Halloween. We had the cutest little kangaroo costume for her to wear. BUT, Hattie thought the costume was HER toy and screamed so long and so loud that all we got was this one picture ...



... but she sure looked cute tryin it on!



Then again, we've had a few GOOD times at Halloween too ...




And, seriously, don't they look cute?!?!

Fierce Like That

So, today I noticed a very strong smell in my home.

A smell emanating from one VERY cute little rumpus.

I tried to ignore the smell for as long as possible, but it just would NOT go away.

Finally I looked at Sophie and decided to get to the bottom of the stench.

(get it, bottom ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ... Oh, come ON, that was funny!)

(Ahem ... never mind)

Here is how the conversation went down.


Me: Buggie, did you poo?


Sophie: Piaper? (that would be diaper)


Me: You need a new diaper?


Sophie: Yeah


Me: Are you stinky?


Sophie: Fo shizzle!



Really?

Fo shizzle?

Who am I raising here?


Whoever she is, she is FIERCE!

Cinderella Is Gonna Need A New Ride

The other day as I was taking Hattie out for the bus I noticed that the sun was hitting the changing leaves on the trees in such a way that the leaves literally looked like they were on fire ...


Stunning, isn't it?

And, I am tellin you, these photos are completely untouched!


Those colors?

That vibrance?

That ART?

It is ALL GOD, my friends, all God!


On Saturday, Hattie and I were returning from the ER and I noticed that there was a rogue squirrel hanging around the fall decorations on our lawn. Upon closer inspection it looked like he (or she?) had been pickin at one of the pumpkins. There were a few scratch marks at the top.

By Monday morning the entire top of the pumpkin had been removed and it's contents thoroughly picked through.

This afternoon I noticed that he had started on a second pumpkin. The very top of it had been picked loose. I thought I would take a picture of it but when I came inside I found that the camera batteries were dead.

Before I could get new batteries in, I got a little distracted. Finally, after about an hour, I got out there, camera in hand, and found this...

It had gone from a few picks at the top...

...to completely mangled...

...in just ONE HOUR!

Yeah, at this rate, Cinderella is gonna need a new ride fo sho!!

This Mom Thing Is A ROLLER COASTER!!

Full of ups and downs, ins and outs and even a few twists and turns.

But, one this is for sure, it is NEVER boring!

(here is where I would normally break out the pictures and tell you a story ... sadly, once again, I had a download mishap and lost a WHOLE MESS of pictures. Which would ALSO explain the lack of Project 365 post yesterday! DERN!)

But, ever the resilient story teller, I will make due with some not so new pics.

Because, really, what is a post without a little bit of THIS ...



Or this ...


I mean, come on, it's not like y'all come here for the WORDS or anything!!!

So, back to the roller coaster ...

Just within the last week, I have had a whirlwind of emotions due to this whole motherhood extravaganza! For instance ...

Sophie has most assuredly hit the two's. I hesitate to call them the "terrible" 2's, but there are moments!!!

Like the time she tore ALL of the stuffing out of her Tinkerbell pillow that her Auntie Weezer made for her.

Or the time that she thought that she would "help" me with my Bible study and fill in a few pages for me.

Or that lovely time (or seven) when she decided that she did NOT need clothes on and that I was taking a little too long to get her out of bed. So, I found her buck nekked waiting for me when I got back there.

However, it's not all bad, this turning two thing. It brings with it a great many Blessings. The vocabulary, for example, is SUCH a joy.

Sophie is a born narrator. She tells us everything she's doing AS she does it.

She bounces on her sisters bed, all the while calling out "I bountTHing" (she has a bit of a lisp, or JUMPS in her bed crying out "I jumping"! But, my favorite (and least favorite all at the same time) is, as she dances around the room she says "I dancing" - except, somehow, dancing sounds more like a word that rhymes with "wexy" and it STILL freaks me ... out every single time!

And, then, just this morning we were watching Cinderella. The mean step sisters had left for the ball after tearing our girl's dress to shreds. The Fairy Godmother had not shown up yet and Cinderella was crying in the garden. Sophie pointed at the screen and said "she sad". I agreed that, yes, she was, indeed, crying. Sophie JUMPS off the couch, runs to the TV and pats the screen and asks "why you sad Lella?" But Cinderella just kept crying, so she stood up on her tippy toes, kissed the screen and said "all bettew". During this time the Godmother had arrived and was fixing everything, so Cinderella had become happy again. I think, for Sophie's sake, we'll just let her keep thinking it was her sweet words and kiss that did the trick!

Yes, being Sophie's mommy is an adventure.

But, being Hattie's mommy is just as much of a roller coaster, if - at times - not more so!

Friday I got a call from school telling me that our girl had fallen during therapy and whacked her face on the floor. they told me that she seemed to be OK and was acting fine. Since it was just over an hour before she would be home we decided to let her finish the day and come home. And, except for the rug burn across her nose, cheek and eye, she did seem fine. She played well, ate well and fought with her sister just like normal. So much so that we decided to go through with previous plans.

So, we went to a home group meeting that we are starting at church for adoptive families. I am SO excited about this group, I can hardly stand it!!! Then, about 8:30/8:45 Hattie started acting very lethargic and listless. It was past her bedtime on a Friday night so I didn't think much of it. We came home and I took her temp to be safe. Normal. I asked her if her face hurt, she said it did and that her tummy hurt too. And then a little bit later she vomited.

I went into panic mode. A couple of things went through my mind - either we had just exposed a whole bunch of people (including 2 newborns and a 7mo old) to the flu OR she had a concussion. I dreaded BOTH possibilities. But, as soon as she had thrown up she started acting fine again. She played on the couch for an hour (so I could keep an eye on her) before I decided that she was OK and put her to bed. Just to be safe I woke her up a few times through the night to be SURE she was OK.

She woke up Saturday and was herself again. She played with the cats - and, by "play", I mean she made their lives miserable! - danced around the room and chased her sister to get her bedtime bear back. Normal. Until about an hour later when she suddenly started vomiting again.

After speaking with Hubby's sister ( who is a nurse) and the pediatrician's office, it was decided that we should take Hattie in to have her checked out. So, Hattie and I went to the ER. Normally, any mention of medical personnel or their facilities bring out a panic attack in our girl - there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth involved! But, this time, when I told her where we were going, all she said was "doctor check my belly and my nose and my eye?" She knew exactly why we were going and she went willingly.

She vomited one more time just before we left - more of dry heave though since she had pretty much emptied her tummy. Then, on our way out the door, she grabbed her water bottle out of the fridge. By the time we got to the ER, she had downed the water, was BEGGING me for food and had transformed into a chatty kathy doll.

The fact that she played with the nurse who took her vitals and ANSWERED ALL OF THE DOCTOR'S QUESTIONS is a miracle in and of itself!

Once the doc had assessed the situation, it was decided that the vomiting was in no way related to the fall. Nor did she have a flu or other virus - she never had a fever through the whole ordeal - and I checked quite a few times and she was in NO way acting like she was sick. So, he thinks that she may have had a VERY mild case of food poisening or other GI track situation that, once out of her system, she was fine. We were advised to watch her carefully and sent on our merry way. When we got home she helped herself to her sister's cheetos and fritos (healthy snack, I know ...), downed another bottle of water and emptied half a pack of graham crackers. And, I figure, if all of THAT can stay down, she must be OK.

And, I was right. She never had another problem all weekend. In fact anytime I asked her if her face or belly hurt, she said "NOPE, all better!".

And THAT is a prayer answered right there!

I do have a few picture from the church Harvest party that I managed to save. Once they are edited I will post those for you. I also have a few fall color shots for you too. So, stay tuned...