State Fair

So we took the mini to the fair today - an event she has been looking forward to since last year. She had an absolute blast. We figured we go, spend 3 or 4 hours, and then get home for naptime. We got there at 10:18 this morning. We left at 7:15 this evening. Needless to say, the mini was asleep almost before we got out of the parking lot. It was a full day, but a fun one. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance to go.


Mezmerized by the baby ducks.






Petting a duckling.






Lap bunny. This rabbit was the personal pet of the lady with the ducklings. She let the mini into the "restricted" area to sit on a chair and hold her own rabbit. I thought that was really nice of her and it made the mini's morning!






Feeding alpacas.








Milking a cow. I think we might have another farm girl in the making!








Riding the carousel.









Riding a real pony!







All by herself on the big slide!





End of the day exhaustion.

Learning the ABC's in a Different Way

practicing a "t"






double "e's"






making an "i" with her left hand and telling me that she's only make 1 of them. Too cute!






After picking the mini up from school today, we decided to have a girl's lunch at Wendy's. Over french fries, she asked me:

"Mom, how do you make an 'A?'"
"Do you mean with my fingers?"
"Yes."

So we practiced our sign language alphabet. She's getting really good at it! We've been using very basic signs with her since she was about 6 months old, and she understands them, but now she's working on her own finger manipulations. I'm so proud of her!

School Days

School started last week. I have pictures of the mini's first day, I just haven't taken the time to download them off my camera yet. As she did last year, she took one look into her classroom, then promptly forgot all about me and made a beeline for her friends. I got nothin' -- no love, no hugs, no kisses. If it weren't for the fact that she tells me several times a day that she loves me and reassures me that "You're the best, Mommy!", I think I might get a complex.

Rainy Days and Blocks of Fun

It's been raining for the past 2 days, so we haven't exactly been getting a lot of outdoor playtime. However, in honor of the rain, which we have been desperately needing, the mini got in some playtime with a large rain puddle at church yesterday. It's so funny to see how much fun a 3-year-old can have with nothing more than water and a pair of polka-dot boots!





And then last night, also at church, one of her very good buddies thought it would be lots of fun to bury her in a bucket of cardboard blocks. Luckily I had my camera handy and took a couple of shots. I'm so glad I can capture these random moments!

The A,B...Zzzzzz's?

The mini, although totally convinced that at 3½ years old she's too much of a big girl to take a nap, she still needs one on an almost daily basis. She puts up a bit of a fuss, more for appearances than anything, but will generally lay down within 15 minutes or so of my urging, then shortly thereafter go to sleep, usually in the neighborhood of 2 hours. Just now, though, rather than counting sheep or having me sing to her or read her a story, she fell asleep while reciting the ABC's. She got to H before she had to start over, then she only made it to F before her eyes closed. Is she too cute or what?

A Snuggle A Day Keeps the Doctor Away....

Having just (and I mean only this morning) semi-recovered from a horrible stomach virus which knocked me on my keister all day yesterday, and during which DH valiantly stayed by my side and attempted to take over my neglected chores, I still had to get my act together and get back about my routine today. So, the mini and I headed over to the auto shop to take care of a quick fluid replacement, followed by a half-eaten lunch at Subway, then on to the grocery store. By this time, I was definitely almost wiped out and looking forward to an afternoon nap, which, surprisingly, the mini has agreed to take with me. So, there we are in the canned goods aisle when she looks up at me from the shopping cart, which I am pushing in a most lackluster manner, when she holds out her arms and says "Mommy, can I hug you?" And during our impromptu snuggle, she very sweetly squeezes me just a little bit tighter and says "I love you, Mommy." Can I even start to tell you how much better I feel?

Home Improvement, HGTV style

I got the urge to paint something a couple of days ago. Lucky for DH, I chose to use paint we already had on the single vanity in the mini's bathroom. It is now a refreshing white rather than the ugly brown that it formerly was. AND I even took out the drawers, removed the door, took off the hinges and spray painted them in metallic silver to match the knobs that we put on there 4 years ago. And I'm proud to say that I went to Lowe's and only bought one can of spray paint - this is a major victory for me as I have a tendency to go overboard when in any store. Now the bathroom is too white, of course, so I'm going to have to repaint the walls, possibly tile the floor, replace the mirror and faucets and, of course, completely redecorate the whole thing. Poor DH, he has to put up with (and bankroll) me and my little projects so often!