Questions for Shaylah

I have enjoyed asking Shaylah questions lately to see what her answers may be....

What is your favorite number? Two

What is your favorite color? pink

What is your favorite animal? giraffe

What is your favorite sport? swimming

What are you afraid of? giants....but not Mommy giants

Who is in your family? Daddy.

Is Mommy in your family? No silly, you are just my Mom.

What is your favorite show? Dora

What is your favorite food? Candy

Thanks Melanie!

My dearest friend from my TWU days came to visit in September and took a few pictures of the kids at Stanley Park for us. Melanie was my bridesmaid at our wedding and has remained my closest friend, even though she lives so far away. She is an amazing photographer....here are a couple of my favorites of Shaylah! Thanks Mel!

Halloween night

I decided to take the kids to the mall for trick or treating this year, since it was supposed to rain in the evening. Shaylah filled her Dora basket and was satisfied. Her Daddy then took her out around the neighborhood when the rain stopped and she had a blast. Now that Halloween is over, her first question to us this morning was..."Now can we go to Christmas?". She cannot wait to go and visit her cousins!

Pumpkin Patch party at the church

On Thursday night, we went to our church for their annual Pumpkin Patch party. Shaylah got to play games and "win" candy and prizes. She thought the games were great, but was a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and people.

Singing and Dancing at Mother Goose

Just as a side note, the little boy she is dancing with is only 12 days younger than Shaylah...but only comes up to her shoulders. She is quite tall for her age.

Carving the Pumpkins

Shaylah had to be convinced this year that she would like a pumpkin to carve (not sure why!). We got a book out the library called "Dora's Perfect Pumpkin" and told her that we could carve Dora's face. Then, everything was fine. She wasn't really into cleaning the seeds out...too messy for the little princess. She was extremely happy with the end result though! Dora and Swiper now sit proudly on our front steps.

Nature Walks

So we finally decided to get a digital SLR camera and try to learn how to use it. Since I know nothing about photography, I am starting at the beginning. We took a few walks through the woods this weekend and this is me playing with aperture....

Laity Pumpkin Patch

Shaylah enjoyed all the amenities at the Pumpkin Patch, but she did NOT want to bring a pumpkin home with us. There's always next year!

Joke from a 2 year old

Shaylah has started telling me this joke at least once a day. I have no idea where it came from, but she thinks it is pretty funny.

S: I have an idea Mommy!
M: What is your idea?
S: Quesadilla!

Pictures of the day

Today was such a beautiful sunny day, that we decided to go out and enjoy it....before we voted, of course.

Somersaults

Shaylah learned this skill a couple of months ago, but she still insists on showing everyone who will watch....so here it is for everyone who hasn't seen her do a somersault!

New playhouse

I have been looking for awhile to buy a second-hand playhouse for the kids....and we finally found one! It is now sitting proudly under our deck and Shaylah loves it.

Big sister

People always ask us how Shaylah is with the babies and if she ever got jealous with their arrival. We can honestly say that Shaylah has jumped into "big sisterhood" with such a joy and love for her babies that it is quite fun to watch. There are the occasional meltdowns when they have toy that she wants, but for the most part she has been very caring and generous with them. She loves to get them laughing and is quite proud of her brother and sister.

So big!

Shaylah seems to have hit a big growth spurt in the last few weeks.....or it may be that we have just been in shorts and t-shirts for so long. Now that the weather has changed, however, it recently took me several attempts to find a pair of pants and a shirt long enough to cover the ankles and wrists! Plus, she seems to have skipped a shoe size entirely! We need to do a major shopping spree for a whole new wardrobe very soon. Who told this little girl that she was allowed to grow up so fast? It certainly wasn't me. I find myself willing her to stay little, while simultaneously wishing the babies would hurry up and grow! It is wonderful and sad at the same time to watch your baby grow up into an independent person. I love that she understands more, can think things through on her own, has a wild imagination and can remember conversations from several weeks ago, but I am also sad that she is needing me less and less to help her understand the world. I have been thinking a lot about how my mother used to always tell me not to grow up. I remember these conversations vividly and I now understand how she felt....and would love to be able to share this insight with her.

Random Summer Pictures

Making smores with Daddy

Playing in the backyard

Eating a muffin

Watching the sun set with the babies

Painted butterfly

The PNE

After the superdog show

Airplane ride with Mommy

Carosel ride with Daddy

Petting a goat

Checking out the animals with Grandpa and Taylor

Teaching Ashlyn about The Wiggles

Playground with cousin Catherine

Posted for Grammy Barb to see.

Tea Party at Great Gran's House

Thanks Jenn for sending the pictures! Shaylah is still talking about Samantha.

Salad

Checking out the "salad", otherwise known as seaweed, with Grandpa.

Grandma's hat

Shaylah discovered a hat that belonged to my mother and fell in love with it. It became her "cowboy hat" and was the hat she wore for the rest of the weekend. I can just imagine how pleased my mom would have been to see Shaylah in that hat.

Weekend with my other cousins

We were lucky this weekend because we got to spend some time with the Fitzpatrick family down at Birch Bay. Shaylah loves to play with her cousins!
















Watching Faith dig in the sand...as the tide was coming in.

















Sharing a snack.

















Watching the Birch Bay Parade.