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!

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!