Fall Birthdays

Well here we are, and November is half over already. I will start where we left off. Halloween!
Halloween was so fun this year. Both girls thoroughly enjoyed it. By mere happenstance, the costumes that we found for the girls both had wings. Thank goodness! Otherwise, I'm afraid they would have been constantly fighting over wings. But as it turned out, Laura was a "scary bat," and Hannah was a lady bug. Laura's costume had a skirt that had LED lights in it, and Hannah was absolutely adorable. The first night we put it on her, she ran around the living room, "buzzing" like a lady bug. They both had head bands too. Whew! They dressed up for their school parties on Halloween during the day, and then when we got home that night, we added some face paint to their costumes and some layers underneath to keep them warm. I took the first round of trick or treating, while Matt passed out candy. Hannah rode in the stroller and was pretty shy at first. But Laura knew the routine and was instantly engaged and excited. As we were going down one street, Laura spotted a man dressed as a gorilla across the street. She was so excited to get to that house. She told me, "Mom, he's a scary monkey, and I'm a scary bat!" When we got to that house, she just stood and smiled at him. He waved to her. I told them what she had told me, and she just gave him a grin and raised her eyebrows. They all burst out laughing. She such a little drama queen. Matt took round two of trick or treating, and I passed out candy. Hannah got much more into it this time. She was saying trick or treat and counting her loot in between houses. It was a great night!

After Halloween, all Laura could talk about was her birthday. It just could not get here fast enough. She was beyond excited. We told her that we were having her party at the zoo, and she just couldn't wait. Well her school was closed on the Friday of her birthday for in service. So on Thursday, I decided to bring a treat in to her class. I bought the little cups of ice cream. There is a little girl in her class that has the same birthday. That little girl was wearing a princess birthday ribbon that pinned to her shirt. When we went into the cafeteria for afternoon snack to have the icecream, the other little girl took the pin off and gave it Laura for snack since we were celebrating Laura's birthday. I thought that was the sweetest thing! That little girl was all too happy to share her birthday with Laura. I was so impressed. Laura's class sang Happy Birthday to her, and we ate icecream. It was a nice afternoon. I took the kids home for the weekend after that, which they loved getting to go home early.

In between Halloween and Laura's birthday is one other fun event - my birthday! It was a great time this year. My mom and dad took the girls for the whole weekend, and Matt and I tailgated the football game. Kara and Adam came down to tailgate with us, and we went to a movie afterward with them. It was an extremely relaxing weekend! (Probably not for my parents:))

Last weekend we celebrated Laura's 4th birthday at the zoo. It was nothing short of perfect. The night before, her actual birthday, she and I baked her a monkey cake, and we let her open presents from us. Then Saturday we had her zoo party. I was very impressed with the zoo's birthday package. The zoo played games with the kids first. They had these little pads that had cords attached to them. The kids held onto the cords and jumped like frogs. They had races with these. They were moderately successful, but comical to watch. We ate pizza for lunch, and then we did presents. Next everyone sang her Happy Birthday, and we had cake, which was delicious. And then the zoo brought in four or five different animals. The kids loved it! They had a mouse/rat looking animal, a snake, an armadillo, and an alligator. It was pretty cool. Then we walked around the zoo for awhile. Afterwards a few people came back to the house, and Laura played with her new toys until late that night. She had a wonderful day!

The week of Laura's birthday we had some other exciting news. We had our second ultrasound and found that we are having our third girl! We are very excited! Laura is happy to have another little sister, and Hannah doesn't really understand. She will like her when she gets here!

This weekend we tailgated the last home game of the season, Penn State, and it was a little colder than we expected. We still had a good time. There is a funny story from the morning. While we were getting ready Saturday morning, the girls found a lady bug upstairs. Hannah loves bugs. Well Laura picked it up and gave it a "bath." She put some hand soap on it and washed it off in the sink. She said, "he's so happy because he's all clean!" Then she thought she should bring him into the shower with us. I drew the line there. That bug was not long for this world! I have mentioned in previous posts that the girls love to run around the upstairs after their baths. Well, after we showered Saturday morning, it was no different. They were hilarious chasing each other around the upstairs with nothing but their hooded towels hanging on their heads. At one point, Laura was holding on to Hannah's towel telling her to heal, like she was a puppy. Hannah didn't mind one bit, probably because she loves puppies.

Last week they saw a princess show that showed all of the people dancing after Cinderella's wedding. Ever since then, whenever there is music playing, Laura tells Hannah, lets get married. And she and Hannah hold hands and dance around in circles. It's so cute!

Well the Holidays are just around the corner. We are so excited! Laura is sitting here watching a Christmas movie on Netflix right now. Although, I like to enjoy Thanksgiving first, we have been listening to some Christmas music already. The season will bring some fun stories and happy memories. I plan to share them several times in the last six weeks of the year!