Boo at the Zoo

The last time we were at the zoo, I saw signs up that said they were going to have trick-or-treating at the zoo on the 25th. I thought that sounded like a lot of fun and I am always looking for more opportunities for Allary to get to wear her cute costume. Allary looked so great and was so excited to go. My heart sank when I realized the incredibly long line of cars backed up on the road was a line of cars all trying to get to the zoo. I had a heck of a time just getting onto the right road with all the traffic congestion, let alone actually finding a spot to park. It was complete chaos. People were parking on the street, miles away, and just walking. I was thinking that this was a horrible idea and I'll just pull into one of the parking lots, turn around, and head home with a crying child. I got stuck in the parking lot because the skinny little aisle I went down had no available spots and no outlet and I couldn't back out because of all the cars coming in and out creating grid-lock. As luck would have it, a woman walking through the lot started waving at me and pointing to her car indicating she was leaving. Hallelujah! I wanted to jump out and hug her. So, that was a long story of how we got to the zoo, but we made it and I'm glad we did because Allary had a great time. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. We had to wait in line for about 5-15 minutes at each station just to get one piece of candy. And, we didn't see much of the animals because of all the crowds everywhere. I was feeling kind of bummed about how it turned out, but I perked right up when I realized Allary really couldn't have cared less about all the crazy people there. She was just so happy to be in her costume and stuffing her face with candy and taking it all in.

So, here is my cute little kitty all ready to go.

Only, don't tell her she's cute or she'll get mad and tell you, "No, I'm not cute, I am a spooky black cat!" We have had many arguments over what she was going to be for Halloween because she wanted to be scary. She kept telling me she wanted to be the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty (probably the scariest thing she can think of). First of all, where in the world would I find that costume, and secondly, I really wanted her to be cute. Once I made her try on her spooky/cute kitty costume, she decided she loved it.

Here she is showing off her tail.


What a cute kitty face!!!
At the zoo.

I really wanted to get a shot of her with the leopard, seeing as how they matched and all, but the leopard was moving so fast and there were so many people pressing up to the window, this was the best I managed to get.

Apple Pie

I've been trying to think of some sort of new hobby or at least some new skill to try and master. Mostly, I just need something to do that is just for me. I thought I would try to get better at baking. I've never been good at it and therefore never found a liking for it. We had a bunch of leftover apples from the apple tree and so I thought I'd try my hand at an apple pie and my first homemade pie crust. The bottom part of the crust rolled out and I got it into the pan no problem. The top part on the other hand...oh dear. I had to try and try and try again to get it from the counter top to the top of the pie. By the time I finally got it on there, it was overloaded with flour and falling apart. So, I just patched it up the best I could, crimped the edges and put it in the oven. Besides the excess flour and crispy edges, it turned out better than I would have thought for my first attempt. Still not the beautiful and delicious masterpiece I would like, but not bad for me. I think my next try at a pie will be one with only a bottom crust.

Pumpkin Masterpiece

Allary and I bought our Halloween pumpkins the other day. She was thrilled to death and wanted to get started creating her pumpkin masterpiece as soon as we got home. I drew on a face and then let her paint it however she wanted.

She really loves her pumpkin!



I took this little video of her painting because I thought it was so cute how serious she was and how hard she was concentrating.



Here is the finished product.


We will probably do our pumpkin carving this weekend (if Jason is around) and maybe let her paint another one.
I love the Fall season! I made pumpkin pie last week and have been craving all things pumpkin, and candy corn, and spiced cider, etc. I love the gorgeous fall colors and I must say it is especially beautiful up here on the mountain. I love it.

Girly Weekend

Trisha and Mark went on a fun overnight date over the weekend and so we had Jenna and Paige over to our house. (The boys stayed the night with their other aunt and uncle.) We had so much fun here with it being just us gals. Jason hasn't been home at all this week and actually stayed the night at the hotel he was working at on Friday, so it really was just the girls.

I asked Jenna if she would like to plan and set up and surprise the little girls with a Princess Tea Party. She was very excited and so I gave her a list of things she would need for the party: table and tablecloth, plates, name cards, decorations and princess dress-ups and provided her with all of the above. She really did a great job and went all out to make it fun for Paige and Allary.


Here are the two little princesses busy coloring.


Jenna brought her whole nail-painting kit and so by the end of the evening, all the girls had very beautiful sparkly nails.


We had chocolate milk and treats and watched a movie.


Sweet girls.

Paige slept in a play pen and the next morning, while I was busy fixing pancakes for breakfast, Allary decided it looked like fun.


Saturday afternoon, we went to the zoo. With our family pass, it was free! We had a lot of fun. Jenna was a huge help as she had to push a stroller all over the zoo.




Do you like their hair-dos? I spent quite a bit of time that morning giving them all matching hair-dos.
Allary and I really enjoyed having them over. What sweet fun girls!

Okay, let's go!

"Hey Allary! Go get some pants and some shoes on and let's go pick up something for dinner!"
"Okay Mom!"
A few minutes later and, "Okay, Mom, I'm ready!"

I told her it's too cold for flip-flops, but with an outfit as great as this, who cares, right? And yes, we did go in the restaurant like this, wings and all. :)

Girls' Retreat

Last weekend, my mom and my sister and my two sisters-in-law and I got to have a fun girls' retreat. We stayed at a nice hotel for the weekend and got to eat out and go shopping, lots of shopping, and just visit and relax. It was fabulous. I look forward to these retreats because I forget what it's like to just be me as a person and not just me as a mom. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing I love and cherish more than being a mom, but a little break from the demands of a toddler can be extremely refreshing. Plus, I was glad to see Jason and Allary get a whole weekend together as well. I was so glad for the break and we had so much fun!

Just Havin' Some Fun

I needed to make some cookies for a pack meeting for Jason last week and I had the great idea to make little ghost cookies with Allary and frost them and have these wonderful cute cookies to bring. So, anyone who knows me well, knows I cannot bake. The first batch all mooshed together into unrecognizable shapes and I also burned the ones that may have somewhat resembled ghosts. Ugh. We ended up with less than ten usable cookies, which I did not bring to the pack meeting. I threw together a batch of plain old chocolate chip cookies right before we had to leave and still burned a batch of those.
This is Allary showing off her ghost cookies she frosted.


Before the cold front and the snow over the weekend, Allary and I took advantage of the nice weather and headed to the park last week.




We also went to the zoo. Pretty soon it will be too cold to be any fun.
This is Allary on the snake slide.

...in a dinosaur egg.
...riding an alligator.
...and sizing herself up to a gorilla.

She wanted to take a picture of me in front of the gorilla too. :)


Allary is just such a little sweetheart. I feel like the past few months have been difficult what with the potty training and all. I've had to really set my mind to just relax about it and lay off a bit and just hope that she will figure it out and get better with time. It's not worth it to be angry with her. Once I stopped stressing out about that, I remembered just how much I enjoy my little princess. She is just so sweet. I was talking to her the other day and telling her how much I appreciate what a good girl she is. I said, "Allary, I think you are the sweetest, most beautiful, wonderful little girl in the whole world. Thank you for being such a good girl." She wrapped her little arms around my neck and said, "Mommy, you are my best friend. Thank you for being such a good mommy. I love you." She is very strong-willed and independent and she is also very tender-hearted and sweet and loving. When I was feeling a little sick, I was laying on the couch and Allary came over and asked, very concerned, "Mommy, are you sad?" I said, "No sweetheart, Mommy's just feeling a little sick." She said, "Oh, don't worry, I will take care of you." I'm thinking, oh no, she's going to go get her doctor's kit, but instead she came back carrying my Diet Coke and covered me with her blanket. :)