Mana and Ibby - Part 1

Oh my, oh my, oh my! We have had a seriously fun week with Aunt Mana and Aunt Ibby! Here are a few pics of our adventures on Thursday. Susannah felt the need to wear her sunglasses like the big girls. In fact, she is looking like SUCH a big girl in these zoo pics.

What a blessing to have such awesome sisters who will take time out of their own lives to come and love on Susannah and her mommy- so thankful for these two!  Stay tuned for more peeks into our fun week!

Bluegrass Baby

Looks like some Arkansas rubbed off on our girl.

Oh yea, that's a harmonica and she is rocking it! She is VERY proud of herself when it makes noise and she taps her toe and dances while playing. I have attempted to post a video of her playing for Matt. In it you can see a host of projects we did with Mia, some in-progress meatloaf in a bowl (doesn't look too appetizing), and Susannah learning how to take a bow. Hope you can see it! Enjoy the music!

Sweet and Thoughtful!

In my family we have an aunt whom we call "Tip" and she is so sweet and thoughtful. She always remembers birthdays and holidays and sends cards or little surprises. No special event passes without some acknowledgement from Tip and Uncle Tom. The book they sent for Susannah's birthday is definitely one her favorites. She knows most of the nursery rhymes from the book and has learned "Ring Around the Roses" and "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" which she loves to sing at the top of her lungs these days.

Susannah loves to get the mail, and just before Halloween a card arrived for Susannah. This thrilled her! She hasn't stopped reading it. In fact, I think she has it memorized.

 She says, "I wanna read 'for a special girl." Then she opens the card and says, "Sunanna- special girl. Have fun with your Mia on Halloween night! Love you, Tip'n'Tom. The End" And closes it like a book.

 Last night she changed the words to "Have fun with your Tip'n'Tom/Daddy/Mommy/Suzy/Tiger on Halloween Night! Of course, she thought this was hilarious! What a smart girl!

Thank you, Tip, for making us feel so special and loved- even way out here in South Carolina! We can't wait to see you at Christmas! Lots of love! The End!

Happy Halloween...

from the cutest little Tiger in town! We hope you had a wonderful Halloween. Susannah LOVES it! She is still saying "Happy Halloween" and "Trick or Treat" to random people in stores! We joined some neighbors for a little trick-or-treating and seeing her friends in costumes was definitely a highlight, although she did not really like the masks!

It took us about an hour to go to 4-5 houses. Each time she would greet the neighbors and watch the candy drop into her bucket. The big score of the night was pretzels. Susannah hasn't really had chocolate yet, so when she recognized the pretzels in the bag, we had to stop and have a snack. She loved showing Mia her "loot."

We stopped to see some of our favorite neighbors.

And finished up our night handing out candy to big kids. Doesn't Daddy look festive in his headband?

We had so much fun on Halloween and we are so thankful Mia was here to help us celebrate!
See you later!

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!