Time for timeapple.  

Melt my heart over and over. 

Happy Halloween!

A few of my favorite shots of pumpkin carving and Halloween! Graham did an especially amazing job interpreting Alaire’s mock-up of her pumpkin design. As always, Graham claims his spot in the Dad hall of fame!

Halloween Day! Emery’s first rollover, the second, caught on film! 

Field Trip! Notice. The boy with the bright red hair sitting next to Alaire. Yep, that’s Andrew. Our little best friend is Orla! It was a Dad chaperoned field trip – way cool! 

We are not proud. Seriously, we are not proud. Okay, maybe we’re a little proud.

I walked in the door, just getting home from work, to find a slightly stressed out Graham, “pick up was a little drama tonight!”

What?! Why?

Apparently, Graham witnessed the tail end of a scramble between Alaire and her ol’ buddy Andrew. Who’s Andrew? Alaire and Andrew have been in class together since they were 10 monthly old. Their relationship quite resembles brother and sister; they know exactly what buttons to push to throw one another into a tizzy. Also, Andrew loves to give Alaire hugs and in the process tends to overwhelm and frustrate her. She uses her words to decline the affection, but Andrew is persistent.

Graham and I adore Andrew. He has bright red hair and always wants to give us hugs and kisses. On several occasions, he has referred to Graham as Daddy. Now, Graham assures me he has no idea why…but we won’t go there 🙂 He also frequently compliments me on my shoes. No seriously, the kid says things like, “I like your shoes, they are sparkly today!”

Anyway, back to our story. Andrew bumped into Alaire with some sort of toy and it was all she could take. Alaire clocked him. And Andrew? Well, his nose started gushing. Graham said it was quite a scene as the teachers worked to clean him up and stop the bleeding.

On the drive home, as Alaire got her talking to, Graham asked why she hit Andrew, her response? “Dad, I used my powers!”

Well. At least we can take comfort that for Alaire, No MEANS NO!

Here’s Alaire suffering part of her punishment, drawing Andrew an apology picture.

After weeks of jumping off any platform available yelling, “cannonball!” we decided gymnastics was in order for Alaire. And, I admit, I am living vicariously through my little energetic monkey! I was 8 years old in 1984 when Mary Lou Retton performed her perfect 10 vault. I can still see the performance in my head and feel goosebumps thinking about it! Remember??? She stuck that landing, everyone knew she won the gold, her coached hugged her and sent her back out for a second glory round. That moment triggered my love affair with gymnastics (along with every other American girl my age). After that, I checked out every library book on gymnastics that I could find in our grade school library and set up homemade vaults in our front yard. I still have a goose egg on my left shin from trying to vault a picnic bench. Okay, enough about me…kids activities are all about the kids right!? Riiiight.

Anyway, her first gymnastics class was a hit. I am actually amazed at how much actual gymnastics they do with these little space cadette three year olds! In her first session, they did the balance beam, rings, and floor exercises.

And, Alaire loved her first class so much, she cried the entire walk to the car (about 5 blocks), “I want more gymnastics!”

While we may not have the next Mary Lou (sorry baby girl, your parents did not bless you with the best coordination), I love that she’s loving it! Saturday gymnastics is now a beloved family affair!