Look What We've Been Up To...

This is a little glimpse into our Friday afternoon! Could she be having any more fun???

Susannah and I traveled to Arkansas last week to see some old friends. We had a wonderful time visiting such special people and enjoyed seeing the beautiful autumn trees. Sadly I forgot to pack my camera :( so we don't have any pics from our fun trip. Susannah loved "Markansas" as she calls it and kept telling me, "I hear it, Mama, I hear Markansas!" What a beautiful place with awesome people! I sure do miss it!

Mia arrived on Thursday and we have been having lots of adventures. On Friday we went to the zoo and made Halloween cookies! We invited our friends to join us and although it was a bit messy, it was TONS of fun.

Susannah was great at rolling the dough.

Adding some flour.

Adding some more flour.

Berkeley and her French rolling pin- so focused! 

Berkeley loved the dough so much  she decided to carry it around while playing! Look at that adorable apron!!!
 

We may have been a little sprinkle happy! 

Ella Grace and Emily working diligently. EG was very patient and careful.

Sweet Joseph enjoyed some cookies and grapes. We love this boy!

Sesame Street Live!

Our final adventure of the weekend was a Sunday afternoon trip to Sesame Street Live with Berkeley and Joseph and their mommas. What a great experience! The kiddos LOVED it! They were simultaneously delighted, mesmerized, joyous and thrilled. Susannah kept asking, "Where's Elmo? Where's Cookie Monster? Where's Big Bird?" And, once those characters stepped out on the stage, she was in the zone.

 

How about these faces? Priceless! Susannah was chanting "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo!"

 

 We didn't quite make it through the entire show, but we did get to see the Scottish number with Cookie Monster and some sheep. This was definitely my favorite.

At intermission, the kids spent a chunk of time picking up the confetti from the floor and dancing to the music. They also enjoyed their first bites of cotton candy!

 Sesame Street Live is on our calendar for next year. This was a great experience for all of us. What fun to see the children enjoy something this much! Here is one last pic of our crew- not sure why they were standing so far apart, but very thankful that we got one picture of all 3 of them!

Joseph, Berkeley, and Susannah

Boo in the Zoo!

The Greenville Zoo hosts a trick-or-treat night every year and since we missed it last year with this little ladybug, we figured our pink bunny should get to enjoy it!

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2010

We walked down to the zoo and Susannah loved seeing all the other children in their costumes. Right now she is pretty obsessed with Cindere-la-la (this is her way of saying it obviously) and when we came face to face with more than one Cinderella, she was giddy! The zoo workers set up trick-or-treat stations throughout the park and distribute candy and toys. Our girl was very polite with her "Trick or treat, please" and "Thank you!"

 Greeting a ghosty in the zoo.

Hanging out with Daddy and some pumpkins!

Running through the zoo.

After Boo in the Zoo we stopped to play in the park with all the other costumed children. This was probably Susannah's favorite part.

Of course, we are looking forward to more trick-or-treating in just a few more weeks!

So Many Adventures!

Susannah has had an awesome couple of days jam-packed with "adventures!" This also happens to be the request she makes any time we get in the car these days too. "Mama, let's go on a-venture!"

Adventure #1- Greenville Children's  Museum.  A new bank in town provided free admission for the day on Friday and Meg and I decided to skip the zoo and take Suz and Berkeley to the museum. They had an absolute ball! First we visited the grocery store. The girls shopped and sampled (ick!) and loved every minute of it.

Susannah is making a birthday cake in the bakery. Notice the octopus on the top of the cake. Her favorite!

Sampling some baked goods in the bakery.

Berkeley and Susannah checking out the produce. 

The next stop was the farm. We played up here for a long time. There were so many animals to see and a huge slide, and these girls love a slide!

Suz insisted on riding the piggy! Too funny!

The huge "lite brite" style wall was a big hit with the girls and it required some serious concentration.

Our last stop was the teddy bear operation area. A few shots were given but no tears were shed. Mainly the girls just wanted to brush their hair!!

What a great day with sweet friends! 

While she is young...

build good habits, right? Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way she should go, and when she is old she will not turn from it." This is our prayer for Susannah Ruth.


We are so thankful that Susannah is already developing a heart for her "Gobble." She loves the stories about Jesus, Noah, Moses, Adam'n'Eve, and even David and Go-lie-affff! We were given 2 Childrens' Bibles when she was born; they are colorful and definitely abbreviated, but she just loves them. 

Praying is a very big deal right now too.   Last night at our community group, Susannah interrupted Matt's prayer several times with a big clasp of her hands and the exclamation, "Daddy's praying! Sshhh!" We generally sing, "God our father" before and during meals (sometimes 6 or 7 times) and partially out of exasperation, I suggested we thank God for other things instead of singing the prayer over and over. This has now turned into her favorite activity. We always start by thanking God for animals and tractors, then we name the animals- sheepies, piggies, horsies, etc. I love when she moves on to new things like then numbers 5,6, and7, the sky, Scoots (the cat next door), applesauce, microphones, and Berkeley and Ella Grace. It simply warms my heart. The things and people Susannah sees, loves and experiences really are opportunities to thank God. What a blessing to be her mommy and to have the opportunity to learn from her! Thank you God for Susannah!

"Lil Punkin" in the Pumpkin Patch

Today we traveled to Denver Downs for a little fun family outing. This place is awesome! There are lots of animals, tractor rides, a big slide, a pumpkin patch, corn maze and tons of other fun activities. Our girl was a bit on the grouchy side but her mood changed quickly when she saw some animals.

 

Susannah is feeding a goat in this picture! She refused to hold her hand open and just let the goats eat the feed from her palm. Instead she fed them one piece at a time! She absolutely loved it; in fact when the feed was all gone, she tried to give them some hay. Those goats were no fools though.

 

Daddy and Suz climbed some very big hay bales and jumped from bale to bale. She thought this was the most fun. "1-2-3-Jump!" and he would swing her across the dip in the middle of the bales. Squealing and laughing, she definitely loved this part of the day too.

 

The "cornbox" with several dump trucks and "diggers" (this really just means any yellow truck with some kind of scoop) provided another fun opportunity for Susannah. I must admit, I was a little bit grossed out by this. There were little kids making corn-angels, pouring corn all over their heads, etc. Susannah clearly didn't share my queasy concerns. We did wash her hands very well when she was finished. We ran into our friends, the Brasingtons, which was certainly the highlight of the day! Susannah loved playing with Elizabeth!

Feeding goats with Daddy-o and the Brasingtons.

Filling up the dump truck about 6 kernels at a time.

Going down the HUGE slide with Daddy-o. This was a little scary and fast!

Riding a bull with my cowboy hat!

Looking for a pumpkin!

Feeling a little tired and ready for a snack.

Daddy, Mommy and our "Lil Punkin."

Our attempts to keep Susannah awake on the home were totally futile. I gave her some apple sauce in hopes that it would keep her awake. Clearly I was wrong. Poor baby- she was out mid-sip!