Turning 4 in the Land of OZ

Welcome to the land of Oz!

Gracie/Dorothy turned 4 on October 11th. She has been obsessed with the movie for over a year. She wanted to have an Oz party, so I obliged. I made a yellow brick road to cover the LONG sidewalk leading up to the house (we had the party at my BFF's house. They have a great screened in porch) There was a sign by the doorbell that quoted the one in the movie about knocking because the doorbell is broken. Below is Dorothy beside the Pin the Heart on the Tin Man game. It turned out really cute!

We had all kinds of costumes that we borrowed from our local theater group so the girls could dress up like the witch and munchkins. the girls enjoyed that too.

We had mini subs ("Munchkins Subs"), Pretzel sticks ("Broomsticks"), and Melted Witch Punch...

My art teacher at school made a tree (even better than I had expected it to look!) We used it for the Apple Toss game. It was supposed to be like when the Scarecrow and Dorothy pick apples off the tree, and the trees throw them at the pair. I had some soft apples we got for relieving stress at the beginning of the school year. The kids had to throw the apples through the hole in the tree.

Aww... Harrison was here too, but I couldn't get him to stand still long enough to get a pic.

Catching up in reverse... Pumpkin Patch '08

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch in mid-October.

"Is this a pumpkin... or a BALL!!!!"

Harrison walked around throwing his little pumpkin and saying, "Ball!"

Can someone say GRUMPY?

(I don't know exactly what caused this meltdown, but it was a good one. After 20 minutes, she was fine thanks to Aunt KK!)

Harrison likes to show off his tongue, and Sissy is happy to oblige!

"Peek-a-BOO!"

Happy Fall

Who ARE those people behind us!!??

Ethan, Gracie, and Harrison

My favorite one of Little Man

Tracy, I thought of you and you own little own "Punkin"... Isn't life wonderful now that we have them in our pumpkin-filled lives?

Update...

I want to thank all of my bloggy friends for your prayers and words of encouragement. This has been a very trying time for our family. We feel God at work and see his love pouring out through the generosity of others. My administration and coworkers at my new school have been tremendous blessings to us. Harry had heard nothing in 3 weeks and then this week, he had 2 interviews. He REALLY felt like one of them is where he is supposed to be, but we haven't heard back from them. The other place, a car lot, is very interested, but the money is not enough to support us in the long run. We are thinking he will take this job with the understanding that he is still looking for something in his field of expertise (computers)... We are so grateful for this opportunity and can hardly wait to see God's plan for Harry unfold. I've missed you all so much! Love, Nicole

"Trick or Treat!"

Happy Trick-or-Treat to everyone!

We went to Old Navy in our costumes the Saturday before with Corie (cousin). Any child in costume got a free t-shirt.

For trick-or-treating, we met up at Ally's house around the corner with some of the girls from our local group to eat and go out in the 'hood together. The girls are all growing so quickly. They had a great time as always. Below are Leah (Rosetta the Fairy) and Gracie ready to go in the wagon.

The Gang... We had a ladybug, monkey, Superman, Rosetta, Silvermist, a princess, a ninja princess, Dorothy, and a girl (Olivia didn't want to dress up).

Anna Grace, a.k.a. Silvermist

Daddy had his hands full!

My little ladybug!

Hope your night was as great as ours!

and now...time for my favorite time of year-bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Prayers welcome...

My husband, Harry, last his job last week unexpectedly. We have been on our knees asking God to reveal his plan. I feel so out of touch with my bloggy friends, but I'm hoping things will get better soon and I can get back to normal. We welcome any prayers lifted up in our name. I miss you all. Gracie had a good birthday on Saturday and I'll be posting those and some pictures from the previous weekend or two VERY soon. Love to all... Nicole

Something I borrowed...

I read this on Krista's blog and just had to borrow it. It is wonderfully put! Have a great weekend...

How to really love a child, by Sark

Be there. Say yes as often as possible. Let them bang on pots and pans. If they’re cranky, put them in water. Realize how important it is to be a child. Go to the movie theatre in your pajamas. Read books out loud with joy. Invent. Remember how small they really are. Giggle. Giggle a lot. Surprise them. Say no when necessary. Teach feelings. Heal your own inner child. Learn about parenting. Hug trees together. Make loving safe. Bake a cake and eat it with no hands. Go find elephants and kiss them. Plan to build a rocket ship. Imagine yourself magic. Makes lots of forts with blankets. Let your angel fly. Reveal your own dreams. Search out the positive. Keep the gleam in your eye. Write letters to God. Encourage silly. Plant licorice in your garden. Open up. Stop yelling. Express your love. A lot! Speak kindly. Paint their tennis shoes. Handle with care. Always remember ~ Children are miraculous

Ivy turns 6!

So, Gracie tells me the other night as I'm tucking her into bed that the next day would be her doll, Ivy's, 6th birthday and she was going to need a party. I scrambled to "throw" something together the next day and even called my mom who was coming over that night. I warned her she might not want to come empty handed. Nana brought a Snow White dress up outfit for Gracie and a card for Ivy...

Ivy had to blow out her candle after we sang the Happy Birthday song...( the brownie bites were delish!) Gracie had to help Ivy take a bite...

Gracie wrapped up a couple of things from her room for the "birthday girl"... Here she is opening baby powder...

Reading Nana's card...

Opening the gift I "got" her...

I know Ivy had a great birthday, but I think we may have created a birthday monster. The very next day she informed me it was a different doll's birthday, so we threw together another impromptu bday party... and I bet you can't guess what my little angel told that night as I was tucking her into bed... That's right! The next day would be TWO of her other dolls' birthday... Needless to say, I had to stop the trips to Winn Dixie's bakery dept, and we are just pretending to have cake... I might be able to lose some weight if all these baby dolls would stop having birthday parties!