Kicking off the holiday season

This weekend we went to Elgin Christmas Tree Farm to pick out our tree. Eliza was a big help to Daddy. ;) We also went to a parade, and Eliza's mouth is wide open because she saw Santa Claus.

Birthday

I'm thankful for...

So our little clan has been a little down trodden the last week or so...nothing serious, just tired, sick, overwhelmed by housework, etc. I need a little reminder of what's going well:

• After today, 5 days off from work! And S gets a couple of days off too!
• Grammy came to the rescue yesterday and today so I wouldn't have to miss so much work since Eliza has to stay home. Thanks, Grammy!
• Illness = incentive to clean the house this weekend. I've been needing to do that anyway, right?
• I'm picking up some awesome Thanksgiving side dishes from Central Market tomorrow.
• No need to fly during all the airport drama- hooray for having 5 grandparents only an hour away!
• Got an appointment for tomorrow morning to figure out why our "check engine" light is on in the car.
• Finally got some stuff checked off of my "to do" list today.
• Several of my students were very understanding about my need to reschedule their appointments while I was home with E.
• None of the little illnesses we've had have been serious. We're very fortunate to be healthy for the most part.
• Best of all, Eliza has been riding her birthday scooter around like crazy and she looks super cute on it!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Anticipation

Eliza has been asking for months if she's 3 years old yet. Saturday, we had family in town and had a little family party for her. Her actual birthday isn't until Wednesday, and she's having a party at school that day. So she wakes up Saturday morning all excited about her party and asks me if she's 3 yet. I decided the whole "we're celebrating on the weekend" thing would be too confusing for her, so I just said, yes, you're three now because your party is today. She immediately ran to the full length mirror in the hall and then started crying. I couldn't figure out why she was crying when she was so excited about her party and her cupcakes. She said, "Mom, I'm really 3? Then why am I still little?!" I told her she was a big girl now and she cried that she wasn't as big as me yet. We tried to convince her she was at least medium-sized now, but she was still disappointed. Luckily she was soon distracted by cupcakes and party prep. She also is already saying, "when I'm 5, I'll go to kindergarten," so I guess enjoying the moment and being three isn't exactly her forte. :)

Highlights of the weekend

• "Reading" Green Eggs & Ham to us. She still refused to actually eat the green eggs I made though. Although she loved the ham.
• She sings all the time. This weekend she was singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Very cute.
• We've been rationing out her Halloween candy all week. She gets one piece in the morning and one after nap. We had dinner at the Griffin's last night and little Caleb handed Eliza a package of his trick or treat M&Ms. She handed them back and said, "no thanks, I've already had my candy for the day." I was shocked.
• We got some cupcake supplies for Eliza's birthday party at school this weekend. She was so proud to show them to her grandparents on Saturday night. Last night she woke up screaming at 3am. She was yelling, "No, Miss Claudette, don't unwrap my cupcakes yet! Only one!" Apparently she's worried that her teacher is going to eat them all. Ha!

Halloween

So Eliza decided to be a princess for school on Friday and a cat for trick or treating on Sunday (Her daddy put her cat make up on). She had a blast with her little friends at a Halloween party last night (she proudly decorated the cookies) and she really got the hang of trick or treating this year. All of her friends looked adorable too, but I don't want to post pics of their faces without their parents' permission... Crazy to think last year all she would say is "happy 'ween!" and this year she talks non stop and asks all these deep questions!

Pumpkins

So S did 99% of the work, but Eliza really enjoyed "carving" our pumpkins this year. Every night the two of them would go outside and light them together. Very cute. p.s. Something about the picture in the middle reminds me of my mom. :)