DC and National Zoo

I find it amazing how after each child I think that I will never be able to do certain things. For instance- grocery shopping with all three girls; I refused for months. Now I do it without blinking an eye. It makes it easier that Moira is sitting up and enjoys the chance to people watch. I guess it just takes time to adjust each time.

Another thing I never thought that I'd be able to do was take all three girls into the city by myself, and yet, that's exactly what I did yesterday. I even voted first! (Yay for Virginia turning red again!) Since Grace is 5 now, she needs her own ticket to ride the metro. She loved putting the ticket in herself and was so proud as she walked through. The older girls loved the train ride. Moira, not so much. That was partly my fault since I forgot to nurse her before we left. We met Kaylon at his office and visited with his coworkers a few minutes before heading out to a creperie. Mmmmm it was delicious!

It was such a beautiful day- probably the last of the season- that we decided to hit the zoo for an hour. It was in the 60s, so a lot of the animals were out, which usually isn't the case. We only did 1/4 of the zoo, but the girls didn't know and had a great time. Moira slept for most of the zoo, which was good for everyone's sanity on the train ride home!

Too bad this near perfect day had to end on a sour note. I decided to try the back roads home in order to miss traffic and ended up turning a 20 minute drive into 1.5 hours. I was on the right road but my sense of direction was all messed up so I went too far in one direction and not far enough in the other. Sigh. I guess I will eventually learn VA maps too...

Happy Halloween!

We had two great days of Halloween! Last night we had a trunk or treat/chili cook-off at the church that was a lot of fun. I took a crock pot of my chili, and while it didn't win any awards, it was all gone very quickly, so I'm ok with that. Chili should not be judged on how spicy it is!

Then this morning we got up early and got ready for family pictures. We figured it was about time to add Liliana to the mix :) Pictures went well and then we looked around the mall for a bit. Naps were then in order and some down time before the festivities began. I am ashamed to say that we never did carve pumpkins. But, on the upside, we now have more pumpkin for pies! I'm gonna try to make pumpkin pie from scratch this year. Should be fun!

Some of our new friends from Grace's school up the street hold an annual Halloween parade which we joined around 4:30. Then we went to a get together at one of their houses. Moira was losing it after awhile though, so we took off and hit the streets for some candy. Liliana really got the concept of trick or treating this year, which made it more fun. She does have an attitude, though, so at one house where no one answered the door she knocked rudely, yelled trick or treat, and when the door remained closed she blew a raspberry at it!

We now have entirely too much candy and I do not want to eat it and ruin my weight loss to this point. Oh well, maybe we'll send half of it to work with Kaylon... anyways, here are the pictures from tonight...

Bumpits and Cash For Gold

Yesterday I couldn't remember the funny story that Grace's teacher told me- but now I do! So here it goes...

Grace's class was talking about leaves last week. Everyone was able to raise their hands and say something they knew about leaves. Grace raises her hand, she's called on, and instead of talking about leaf colors or shapes, she tells her teacher, "I really want a bumpit so that my hair can be fancy!"

If you'd like to know what she's talking about, here's the link: https://www.bumpits.com/2/?MID=538369

The other infomercial that has pulled her in is the Cash for Gold programs going on. She got really excited one day and told me that she was going to trade in all her jewelry for money! Kaylon later informed her that "they rip you off and don't give you much money," which she now repeats whenever she sees the infomercial.

First Parent-Teacher Conference

I got to go in and talk to Ms.Scheufele, Grace's teacher, today. She is so sweet- I really like her. She told me how much they enjoy Grace- how respectful, sweet, and funny she is. She was having trouble in the beginning of the year when told that she couldn't do whatever it was she was doing, but has improved since then (ie she doesn't start crying when she's told no). She is also having trouble staying on topic- she's easily distracted, but Ms. Scheufele said that was developmentally normal. They start assessing her academics soon and then put her in a reading group depending on her reading level. We laughed about some of the things Grace says and talked about what a wonderful girl she is. Overall, it was a great meeting and it's so nice to know that someone else enjoys her as much as we do!

Storybook Pumpkin

Grace's school doesn't do Halloween parties, but to make up for it they did a really cool thing for the library. The kids are allowed to bring in a pumpkin small than their heads decorated (but not carved) as a book character. I suggested Charlotte, from Charlotte's Web, and Grace loved the idea. So we got the paint out this morning and went to town. Here's the finished product :)

Haircut

We tried growing out Liliana's hair, but it just wasn't her. Here's her new do- just in time to be Dora for Halloween :D

Grace's Video

I felt bad that Grace didn't have a video so here she is talking about her favorite person.