Party in the Park with Abby and Minnie

 This year flew by and Friday, our little cupcake turns three!  It's hard to believe!  This past Saturday, we had her birthday bash at our neighborhood park.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day and she had lots of fun with friends from school and playgroup. 

 Making a Wish

 I made cupcakes for everyone, but the week before the party, Abby kept commenting about her cake.  I started to worry she would be disappointed with a cupcake and ran out two days before and ordered her a personal cake.

 Lots of Kids

 They were hungry and thirsty after playing hard on the playground.

 PawPaw pushes the birthday girl.

 Of course, Mickey came to the celebration.

 It was really neat to see Abby interact with her guests.  She ran up to this school friend when he arrived saying, "There you are!"

 Old Fashioned Fun

 Toward the end of the party, she was tuckered out. Her face was so red!

 Waiting to hit the pinata

 It was a hit.

 Abby opened the presents from her friends at the party.  She was really sweet and would run over to thank each friend after opening the gift.

 Caroline got a present too!

When we got home, Abby opened her presents from GiGi and PawPaw.

 A Grill!  Now she can cook out with Daddy.  Stay tuned for posts about our next birthday celebration on Friday, her actual birthday.  We like to celebrate all week around here.

Going green? Not us.

The other night Caroline played in the refrigerator for a good twenty minutes.  I had no problem with this. She was occupied, happy and right next to me while I cooked dinner. Big Sister was playing in her own kitchen and I think they enjoyed some independent playtime.

 She worked hard taking everything out that was in reach.

 She lined it all up just so, and then sat down inside the door to take a rest and examine her work.

Two Bits, Four Bits, Six Bits, a Dollar!

Abby's school keeps me on my toes.  Every day, this girl has to dress up or take something special.  It is fun, but I am continuously running around making sure she has what she needs.  Today was cheerleader/jersey day.  It was the perfect excuse I needed to go ahead and order these Aggie outfits.  Hopefully, they will be able to wear them next year.

 Abby loved the uniform and wanted to pose with this finger Pops got her from College Station.

 Although she loved the uniform, we did have a battle over the shoes.  Thus, she is barefoot in this pic.  Our morning wouldn't be complete without some sort of disagreement about what she is wearing. 

Can I have one for my sister?

Halloween was a big hit with Abby and Caroline.  Abby can sometimes be shy, but not for this occasion.  We were all surprised to see her enjoy it as much as she did.  Both girls walked right up to doors and said trick or treat.

Some video clips of our adventure:

The girls were anxious to get started.  We got ready a little too early, so we played in the front yard for a while before heading out.

The first house-Caroline would kind of mill around on the porch while Abby did the ringing of doorbell, knocking and talking.

Of course, we had to look for acorns along the way.

A few people left their candy on the porch with a sign that said they were trick or treating.  Abby liked picking out the candy at these houses.  After we saw this great idea, Nonnie made a sign for her porch and joined us for our trick or treating.

Caroline digs into her loot.  She wanted to eat it all immediately and had a good time rummaging around in her pumpkin.  Toward the end of our night, she stayed in the wagon while Abby went up to the houses.  She would always remember to ask the neighbor if she could have a piece of candy for her sister.  She would say, "Can I have one for my sister?  She is in the wagon with the trash."  She was referring to some of the wrappers from candy they had already eaten.

Abby waits next to a shark trick or treater.

Back at home, the girls sorted through their goodies.

Halloween Tricks and Treats

We had a busy week and weekend full of Halloween tricks and treats. Last Thursday, Abby had her school fall carnival.

Trick:  The theme was circus and Abby had picked out a cute elephant costume.  We had it ready 2 weeks ahead of time and then, two nights before the big event, Mommy accidentally let go of the chinstrap to the hat, popping Abby in the nose.  She wouldn't have anything to do with that costume after this incident, so Nonnie and Mommy ran all over town looking for a circus costume.  We ended up with a leopard outfit.  The night before, Abby was a ham and ran all around the house in it.  She even let me practice putting whiskers and a nose on her face.  The day of the carnival she would not have the whiskers and when we arrived at her classroom, she ripped off the ears and tail, threw them on the floor and stated she was not going to wear them.  Ugh!!

 These are pics from the night before the carnival.

 Happiest Little Leopard

 Treat:  GiGi and PawPaw came into town and saw the girls do their swim lessons Wednesday evening and enjoyed escorting our leopard at her carnival. 

 Another treat was that Abby participated in all the games and had a really good time. 

 Abby is always focused on any game or task at hand.

 After she completed all the booths, she went for another round so she could get prizes for Caroline.  She always thinks of her sister.

 GiGi had to assist with this game.

 Her absolute favorite part was the bounce house slide.  Everytime she got to the bottom, she started jumping and saying "again! I'm going to do the slide again!"

 Her audience waits at the bottom for the 20th time.  I don't think grandparents ever get tired of watching something like this.  The 20th time is just as fun to watch as the 1st time.

 Pure Joy after each exit

 Trick:  Brent and I went to the Aggie game this weekend.  We were bummed the game was at 11am and then we lost.

 Treat:  We had fantastic weather and a wonderful time with family and old friends.  Brent got a secret Bloody Mary recipe from a friend and made them for all the early risers.

 Ryan and Dad talk football before the game.

 Ruth, Betsy and John watch March In.

 Reveille comes by

 At the Game

 I enjoyed our band more than the game.

 It was fun to see my cousin Ashley!  She is having a good first semester in Aggieland.

 Four Zeta Best Friends

 It had been years since we were all at a game together.  All of our husbands were there too!

 Brent and Some of His Corp Buddies

 Dad and Uncle Tommy stayed busy at the grills after the game.

 Mom, Dad, Uncle Tommy, Aunt Lynn and some of their dear friends who live in College Station.  My uncle went to school with them years ago at A&M.

 Treat:  GiGi, PawPaw and Aunt Haley kept the girls in Spring all weekend, while Brent and I went to College Station.  They were busy girls and had a lot of fun!

 They made Elmo and Cookie Monster Pumpkins.

 I think Abby loves Cookie.

 The weather was perfect, so they went to the park multiple times and played in the backyard.

 Bubbles and Chase

 Caroline runs after Chloe.

 Looks like they did some flower picking.

 What a good little gardener!



Treat:  Sunday afternoon we headed back and went to Nonnie's and Pop's neighborhood parade.  It was an anniversary parade, so there were food vendors handing out yummy snacks and ice cream.

  The Cat in the Hat and a Witch joined us.

 Ready to Roll!

 Watching the rest of the parade after we got to the end of the route.

 Oh! What's in my trunk?

 Messy Ice Cream

Abby helps wipe Caroline's face.

The girls played on the playground after the parade.

Trick:  At the beginning of the year, I volunteered to bring homemade brown playdough to Abby's class for November.  I didn't realize they would need it the day after Halloween-as if we didn't have enough going on!  So, between playgroup, naps and trick or treating, we made brown playdough.

We made it at Nonnie's house, so if it came out wrong, she could help me figure out how to fix it.

Treat:  The girls had fun making it and the recipe worked!

Treat: Caroline loves her witch hat so much, she wore it all around Target.  Hysterical!