trick-or-treat!

molly thoroughly enjoyed halloween this year! we checked out books at the library about barney trick-or-treating and had lots of festivities at the library and another fun party plus a few crafts at home with mom and then to top it all off, the real thing - trick-or-treating! we didn't go door to door so much but went to the square and ended up with lots of candy. molly didn't want to wait in line so she weaved her way through the crowd to get to the candy. it was really quite cute how she figured this out. she was very polite by signing thank you but a bit delayed and usually did it as she was turning around or walking away. oh, well. she got that she was supposed to say thank you! grandma and anna came to watch her trick-or-treat and she really enjoyed that as well! molly was quite the little helper passing out candy too. unless that is if the kid had a mask on or lots of face paint! they were a bit scary! i had to help towards the end because she was being a bit too generous with some kids and we were sure to run out before the night was over.

that's a wrap on halloween. on to thanksgiving! i can't wait to make turkeys with molly!

pumpkin carving with the drakes

molly was so excited to carve her pumpkin....

she even helped draw the lid!

and then she saw the inside and ran away.

she did get brave enough to pick off a seed. we tried telling her they were pumpkin nuts but it didn't work!

so, i did it for her. molly likes her carved pumpkin a lot now!matt worked hard making his bat. he went easy this year as we new we weren't going to have much time with molly running around.

i made a cute little friendly ghost.molly helped matt pick out seeds. by this time she was much braver. i'm thinking she just didn't want to stick her hand in the pumpkin.

she helped get the seeds ready to bake and enjoyed eating them after they were done as well!

the final products all lit up!

library halloween fun and a super easy craft

today was halloween at the library and so the kids got to wear their costumes. molly was excited to wear hers only because she thought she might get some candy (i was hoping this was true too as i told her she'd get some!). the start was much the same - songs and a story. then, they got to make a craft. it was the cutest little pumpkin ever and so easy! here's what you need: 1 roll of toilet paper, one piece orange tissue paper, felt cut in to the shape of a leaf, eyes, nose, and mouth, lime green pipe cleaner, darker green pipe cleaner, tape, brown lunch sack.

first, wrap the tissue paper around the pumpkin and stuff it in the hole.

next, roll up the paper sack and stick it in the hole for the stem.

then, tape the leaf on to one pipe cleaner and twist the other around your finger. stick them in the hole.

finally, add the eyes, nose and mouth!

after the craft, the kids went trick-or-treating! molly loved this because she's been practicing saying "treat". she wasn't shy about going up to the library or city hall staff and asking for her treat!

then they all got to enjoy some cupcakes and spiders made with cracker, pretzels and raisins. molly had a lot of fun and now wants to go back and do it again. i can't wait for saturday night!

mommy's little helper

i'm so thankful that molly enjoys helping out with housework. it makes it a bit harder, but definitely worth it. i remember growing up hating doing chores - i had a ton everyday - well, it seemed that way when i was younger. however, i do see the value in it - especially after teaching and hearing stories and seeing kids who have zero responsibility at home. their parents clean their room, pack their backpack and essentially let them loaf around the house. maybe it's because they have control issues or have to everything in its place or maybe it is just easier. and while, yes, it might be easier, if they train and teach the child how to do the chores properly, well, it would be easier! :) i hope molly's enthusiasm lasts because whether it does or doesn't, she's stuck with chores as long as she lives in our house! molly has several "chores" including putting away the silverware from the dishwasher. this would be a chore that would be easier for me to do because i have to go back and redo it. molly simply throws the silverware in the drawer. matt and i keep talking about buying a step stool so she can see where everything goes but we've yet to do it. she also helps pick up her toys at night and whenever i need to vacuum, puts clothes in the washer and dryer, puts socks and underwear away, and her wash cloths. she does great taking her dirty clothes from the bathroom after her bath and putting them in her clothes basket also. i think helping with housework at such a young age will help in the years to come - at least i hope! :)

kittens!

last week we had the privilege of having 3 kittens and their momma visit our backyard. i say we, but am really only referring to molly and me, as matt did not share so much in the joy. i came home from church to find them sunning themselves on our patio chairs. molly and i watched for quite awhile. she enjoyed watching one kitten nurse and liked that it was drinking milk! she also saw the momma cat give it a bath which amused her as well. these kittens were not super tiny, they were well on their way and could most definitely eat solid food but adorable nonetheless! they ventured over to our trash, which was overflowing because we forgot to set it out for the trash man, so i went out to scare them away. most stray cats would run, but these cats were not afraid, in fact, they welcomed the open door and human that approached them and came running up to me. they looked hungry but i knew better than to feed them - i must be obedient to my husband! i did give them some water, though. they looked healthy but i told molly we couldn't touch them because they might be sick.

when matt woke up, molly was anxious to show him and he wasn't too happy because they had indeed torn up the trash. being the good man that he is, went out and cleaned up the trash and set the new trash bag on top of the trash cans (remember, it was too full because we forgot to take it out!) we were getting ready to leave for church that evening and two of the kittens were laying on top of the trash bag all snuggled together. it was a cute picture and well, even matt had to crack a smile. i knew he had a soft spot in his heart for the kittens! then he went as far as naming one - the little black and white one - he called it chip! monday morning he even asked how little chip was doing. hmmm....

chip and panther sleeping on the trash

monday and tuesday night molly and i did play with a little black kitten, panther. oh, matt named that one too! :) (and remember he didn't like them...) she loved it and it humored her to no end. she tried feeding it with her spoon and even threw some nuts for it to chase. the kitten did frustrate her when he was trying to get the nuts she had collected out of her bowl. she's just a little protective of her nuts! since then we haven't seen any sign of the kittens. i'm hoping they've moved on to a safe home where someone will feed them decent food and give them shelter!

molly playing with panther

if you give molly a book, she'll want to imitate the characters!

molly's graduated from the library board books (which i think we've read everyone like 5 times) and moved on to paper pages. i was a little leery at first, hoping i didn't have to start paying to repair torn pages and such but she's done great. there's so much more variety too! curious george is one of molly's favorites. she loves to see him get in trouble and waves her finger at him and says "no, no, no". so cute! among her other favorites are if you give...books. it seems that a lot of these books involve food and so molly likes to be like the characters and either eat or make the food. our first adventure came after reading if you give a pig a pancake. molly loved this book (probably her favorite out of all of them) and so we had pancakes for breakfast one day. molly's had pancakes before but they were much more fun when she was like the pig. curious george also helped make pancakes with blueberries so the other day we made some blueberry pancakes. molly was in charge of the blueberries. she had fun dropping a handful of blueberries on the pancakes! last week we checked out the book if you give a cat a cupcake and so tonight we made cupcakes. well, i made them and then molly put the sprinkles on like the cat did. she had so much fun and paused every so often to give her fingers a good lick since there were a number of sprinkles stuck to her hand! of course she ate one too! and then asked for another...needless to say, she didn't get it! :)

i don't want to be like alex!

molly loves her uncle alex (I, she calls him) but knows that he's famous for passing gas and therefore, stinks! well, these past two days that molly has been sick she's passed quite a bit of gas herself and is becoming aware of when she does it. after it happens she grabs her diaper and asks to be changed. of course, there's nothing there and when i tell her it's just some gas, she starts to cry and says "no, I" the I of course, for alex! :) this is all very funny to me and so then i have to tell her that everyone has gas, not just molly and alex. this seems to help but only for that particular moment. we repeat with the next passing. so yes, alex, while molly associates you with the passing of gas, she also realizes you play baseball and football and proudly says your name whenever baseball or football is on t.v. you are know for more than your smell!