Happy Turkey Day

What a fun time we spent with our family. Everyone but Uncle Jonathan and Oma were here to relax and have fun with us. Although we missed them, we still managed to have a good time. There was lots of running and playing and climbing and picture taking. Uncle Bill seems to be the object of Erin's affection these days as I even found her curled up on a couch in the living room because "Uncle Bill" was taking a nap on the other couch. A voluntary nap? You've got to be kidding me.

Dinner was great as Tom smoked the turkey outside and I baked a ham inside. We had all the regular sides and plenty of desserts. It worked out well as there are a little bit of everyone's favorites available.

Erin got to go to her second movie in a big theater. We took her to see "Santa Clause 3". Although it wasn't the best movie ever made (very far from) it was cute enough to be entertaining. And Erin had a blast.

The best time was just spent hanging around the house with family. We played cards and Erin's games. There was lots of story reading and snuggling. Aunt Katie had her camera so there were tons of pictures taken. Cousin Rylie loved playing with Erin and Jeffrey in Erin's room and Erin LOVED sharing that time with Rylie. Seeing the kids play together with each other and all the adults was great.

It was just such a great few days filled with fun and family. Thanks everyone for coming down and playing with us.

The Star of the Show

Well, at least in mommy's eyes. Erin had her first real role in a play this weekend. The fall show was Tom Sawyer. Like most of the fall shows recently it was a musical with lots of great songs and just a bunch of fun. Erin started out as "Girl Number 5" and even had 2 lines. By performance time she'd lost the lines (which is really OK, we couldn't count on her to say them) but gotten a name in the program.

"Lucy White - Erin Wallace"

She had such a fun time with the shows. Her group had parts of 3 songs to learn with little dance moves involved. They also had a little part where they got to play "Ring Around the Rosie". Erin will tell you her favorite part was playing "Ring around the Rosie" or singing the "Ring that Bell" song or the "Part of Being a Kid" song -- especially the frog in a box line. She had an adorable orange costume with a bonnet that just made you want to eat her up. She was clearly the smallest and youngest one on stage and sometimes got a little lost among the bigger kids (I mean, wow, 5-year olds these days seem soooo big). Still she had a blast with it.

Of course every 3-year old has their on-stage moments. The first show she saw her Noni and Oma and when Erin first came on stage she gave them a little wave. OK - that was cute. Apparently she wasn't sure that they saw her, because for her second scene she shouted "Oma, Noni, Jeffrey - Hi". I was standing next to her and must have turned a lovely shade of purple to match my own orange costume. If she got bored or a little lost she always resorted to putting her thumb in her mouth, but would take it out when she was supposed to sing her songs at least.

I'm so glad she enjoyed it. If you look closely in the pictures here she's the bright orange one. Thank goodness she looked like a little pumpkin because it certainly made her stand out on stage and much easier to get pictures of. I think Erin really got a lot out of being in the show. We had to learn new songs and dances together. It was a good experience for her to sit and listen to instruction from someone other than me. She made some great friends too. So the spring show is Bye Bye Birdie - we'll see if she decides she wants to do that. I certainly hope so, because she was just so darn cute in this part.

18 Months Ago

18 Months ago Jeffrey was this adorable and cuddly tiny baby. The spitting up was still a few days to come. He was simply precious. Today....

...he is a complete and total WILD MAN. Jeffrey is now officially 18 months old. He had his Pediatritians appointment yesterday and came away with a great report. Dr. says he looks great, loves how verbal he seems (although he didn't want to talk to her much) and how clearly physical he was. She says he's long and lean (which we had figured out already). He's 33 3/4"tall (90%) and 25 lbs (30%). That may actually put him above his sister in weight. I haven't thrown her on a scale recently.

He is still into absolutely everything. Loves to Eat. Goes up and down the stairs without thought. Sings his ABC's (kind of). Talks back to Dora and Little Einsteins. Climbs on top of the couch. Helps empty the dishwasher. Jumps off the bottom step. Reads stories. Builds towers and so much more.

Here are some pictures to show how big our little man is getting.

6 Months Old


1 Year Old


18 Months!!

We're off to See the Wizard

Well, Dorothy and the Scarecrow took center stage yesterday. Erin wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween (Ruby Slippers and all) and decided that Jeffrey was going to be the Scarecrow. Noni made their costumes and they came out simply adorable. Erin was so excited all day yesterday to be dressed up as Dorothy. Jeffrey less enthused about the Scarecrow, but he did well and really didn't fuss unless you were in the process of putting the costume on him.

Last Thursday was the Halloween Party at one of our shopping centers. They had Trick-or-Treating at the stores and a costume contest. The kids wore their costumes and walked hand-in-hand to the stores. Erin even sang her "Off to See the Wizard" song a couple of times. Jeffrey did a really good job of staying with us too, which amazed me. They were adorable at the costume contest putting on their biggest smiles for the judges (and Jeffrey being his usual hammy self tried to throw Toto into the fountain right in the middle of it). Erin was so excited when they announced that they had won Best Team Costume. They each got a goody bag full of games and toys. Thankfully it all ended when it did because Jeffrey only went downhill from nearly throwing Toto into the fountain and ended the morning collapsed in a heap perfectly befitting the Scarecrow he was.

Tom took part of the day off on Halloween and we went for a drive up in the mountains. A lot of the color has passed but there are still some patches of beautiful color. The kids wore their Halloween T-shirts. Erin's said "Ghoul Power" and Jeffrey's, "Little Wild Man". Alas, Jeffrey spent the entire drive sleeping in his seat, but since we had a busy night ahead we let him sleep. Erin enjoyed getting out and walking around and climbing on some of the rocks. I'm so glad that she loves to be outside as much as she does.

We decided, because it was so beautiful, that we'd take kids to the University Lawn for Trick-or-Treating. Apparently, so did every other family in town. It was completely mobbed. Erin did good, but Jeffrey got a little overwhelmed. He spent most of the time obsessed with his candy bucket and getting as much candy into his mouth as he could without us noticing. Such a major difference between the two of them. Erin's first real Halloween, when she was Jeffrey's age she didn't know what to do with the candy and was just as interested in giving it to other people as eating it for herself. Not little crazy man, he figured out what to do right away.

So many people commented on their costumes and how cute they were. Even complete strangers were asking to take their picture and the media that was there also seemed to find them. One of the students who was dressed as Dorothy came up and asked Erin if she could get their picture together and Erin was so excited. The comments about how cute they were just kept coming - Great costumes Noni.

The kids has the best time when they found a corner with a big pile of leaves and just started playing in them. Erin would throw them up to the sky and Jeffrey would run around and fall down - just like the Scarecrow should. It was a priceless moment to realize how fun a pile of leaves can really be. Then Erin decided she wanted to Trick-or-Treat a little more. She took Aunt Margaret (who ventured out to come see the cutie-pies) to a couple of stops along the Lawn. Erin ended up with quite a haul of candy.

We ended the evening and the same place we spent last Halloween. Sid had a Haunted Maze set up in his back yard. Erin was hesitant at first, but decided it was pretty cool and even took daddy for a tour of it. We let her Trick-or-Treat a little along the street. She would walk up to a house and knock quietly on the door. Then she'd should "Trick-or-Treat" and hold out her basket. Most of the time she'd remember to say thank you. Then she'd say "Happy Halloween" and turn to look at Tom and I and say -- "Next House Now". HAHA she had it down to a pattern -- "Thank You. Happy Halloween. Next House Now." Jeff walked for a little with us but mostly got carried. Not because he was too tired to walk, but because he was trying to grab handfuls of candy from the bowl and was simply being his crazy self.

Back at Sid's the kids played around outside some more. Erin danced around the lawn in her Ruby Slippers. They snacked on some candy and junk food until Jeffrey crashed. We all had such an awesome time just out having fun and being kids.