Preschool Pumpkin Hunt

Tuesday was the pumpkin hunt for William's preschool class.  We donated 3 cantaloupe size pumpkins for the hunt.  I went to watch and take a few photos of the big event.

William insisted on wearing his Halloween t-shirt since it was pumpkin hunt day, so we opted out of the usual school uniform.  The kids came outside to the playground and were instructed to race for a pumpkin on the count of 3.  I could tell William was diligently surveying the landscape in order desperately locate a pumpkin to run too.  On "3," he ran as fast as he could to the basketball goal and proudly exclaimed, "I FOUND ONE!"

The pumpkin hunt lasted all of 5 minutes, but nevertheless, it was fun to watch the smiles on the kiddos faces.

First Baptist Alexandria Church Fall Festival 2010

Sunday was our church's fall festival.  This is one of William's FAVORITE events of the year.  Literally.  He talks about it ALL YEAR LONG and I'd say it ranks close to Santa Claus.  He was jumping out of his skin on the drive to church!

The fall festival is like a carnival with games, train rides, bounce houses, balloon makers, face painting, etc.  Kids wear their costumes and so William was suited up in his fighter pilot uniform.  The first game William plays every year is the duck game. It's right by the front door and he made a B-line for it again this year.  Basically, you turn a duck over and see what number is written under it.  Then you get a prize from the box that corresponds to your number.  Basic yet thrilling for a 3 year old.  We played 3 times.

Then we headed indoors to several other games.  Many were based on tossing a bean bag (or something similar) into an object.  We played the Dr. Suess version as well as the clown face.  William also liked hitting the baseball into the net, playing Plinko (like the game on Price is Right), the ring toss, the hit the frog on the head game and the ever popular let's go fishing game.  All were a huge success and William won several little prizes.

Then we hit the bounce houses.  William had a big time inside the little kid bounce house, and then he wanted to hit the mac daddy of bounce houses.  It was huge and I asked him if he was sure he wanted to do it.  He said, "Mom Mom, I am putting on my brave face and going on that bounce house."  The kid loved it.  He hit that house 4 more times.  

 

All in all, we had a super day and William is already asking when the next First Baptist fall festival will take place.  364 more days.

18 weeks of picture perfect PINK!

 Dan and I went to the ultrasound doctors on Friday, Oct. 22nd for my "big ultrasound and gender reveal."  People asked me if I was nervous, and yes, I was very nervous.  I am so very thankful for this precious gift.  Life is simply a miracle.   William has been a complete joy to us and I would take 10 million more of him in a heartbeat.  So, my nerves were not a matter of pink or blue.   I just wanted to see a healthy baby on the screen.  

Our ultrasound tech was a dream.  She was incredibly thorough and spent about 45 minutes  checking off every single body part and function.  We could see the baby open and close their mouth, open and close their hands, and wave their feet at us.  

Then it came time for the reveal.  She asked me if I wanted to know the gender, and I of course said "yes."  When asked what I thought it might be, I just threw out "boy" because boys are my world! BUT I WAS SO WRONG!  She said, "well, you might want to rethink that! IT'S A GIRL! And, she looks great!"

I burst into tears.  Tears of joy.  Tears of thankfulness.  Tears of complete humility for the healthy baby God has given me.  Tears only a mommy knows.  Tears of excitment for the journey ahead.  Tears for William knowing he's got a best friend who will walk with him through life.

Bring on the PINK!  

18 weeks Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby B is the size of a large pickle

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 4 lbs plus a few.  going back to the doctor in a few weeks.

Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my maternity dresses (which I prefer) but I have also busted out my maternity pants. Don't like anything tight around the waist.  Legging are my friend.

Gender: IT IS A GIRL!

Movement:  A little bit.  I felt a thumbing between by breast bone all day on Tuesday.  She's been pretty quiet since then.

Sleep: I sleep on my left side and wake up a few times in the night to readjust myself.  Cannot sleep on my right side because it is so uncomfortable.  Same with sleeping on my back.

What I miss: jogging, but I am trying to walk when the weather cooperates.  Climbing 42 stairs to my door everyday, several times a day is also handy.

Cravings: fruit, vegetables, orange juice, yogurt, so thirsty for water, and finally I can withstand a salad!

Best Moment this week: Seeing my sweet baby girl moving and grooving on the ultrasound screen. 

The Patch 2010

William and I hit up another pumpkin patch after school today.  We needed to grab 3 little spookies for his school pumpkin hunt next Tuesday.  Of course, we also had to spend a L-O-N-G time driving the red wagon around the patch in order to find William THE PERFECT pumpkin for our porch.   Twas a great fall day even if my goblin wasn't in the mood to smile much!

Clifton Day!

Sunday Oct. 11th was Clifton Day in Clifton, Virginia.  Clifton has maintained the charm and feeling of a Norman Rockwell painting. The town has been around since the 1700's—initially as a plantation and earlier as Indian hunting grounds. The railroad started Clifton on its way to the town we know.  This quaint little town is home to 200 residence and every year they host a fall festival called "Clifton Day!"

The VRE trains were offering $5 round trip rides from Burk, VA to Clifton for people attending the fall festival.  We thought this would be so fun since William had not been on a "real" train.  He's a pro at the metro trains, but "Mom Mom, I am so excited!  I am have never been on the VRE trains!  This is great!"  Our little passenger was fired up.

We boarded the 1pm train and in 15 minutes we were in Clifton!  The streets were packed with food vendors, craft booths, companies promoting their products and the Boy and Girl Scouts running a bake sale.  Just the storybook picture you would imagine from a Norman Rockwell town!  There were also TONS of people!  The weather was HOT for October, but I had packed snacks and plenty of water to see us through.

We wandered the streets and sampled the good food (hot dogs, lemonade, chips and salsa, ice cream, etc) .  Then we found out there was a childrens area with a bounce house, trampoline, fishing for toys, a crazy clown on a unicycle, and of course, a playground.  William was fired up and we spent most of our time in kiddie land.  He had a great time in the bounce house and on the playground.  

After 3 hours, we decided to board the return VRE train and head back to the car.  We rode on the upper deck and once we got off, we met the conductor.  William wanted to wait and watch the train depart from the station.  We were able to wave at the conductor as he made his way back to Clifton day!

Bebe and Pops are in town

Bebe and Pops came to town Wednesday and we are having a big time!   William is SO HAPPY!  He proudly showed Bebe his school yesterday and took both Bebe and Pops to sports camp with him.  

Yesterday it poured and poured rain so Mom and I worked on the new curtains in my bedroom and hit up the grocery store.  We picked William up from school and came home to play airplanes.  Then we grabbed Pops for sports camp and after class we just came home.  William's Thursdays are long with both school and sports, so any amount of time he can have just being home with his toys is key.  He LOVES to play and can spend hours with his airport or books.  This was the perfect way to spend a rainy day with his Bebe and Pops!

On Friday Dan took William to school.  They picked up Pops along the way so he could see the school and ride into DC with Dan for his meetings.  After we grab William from school, we all went to Leesburg and hit the outlet mall.  After shopping we headed for downtown Leesburg to try out the Chicago Hot Dog restrauant that had a big write up in the weekend section of the newspaper.   Once full of fuel, we headed to the CORN MAZE.  



None of us realized how COLD it was going to be on Friday.  We thought we'd tackle the maze around mid-day, but it didn't open until 6pm for the "night maze" craze.  
The wind was blowing hard and we only came prepared with the clothes we were wearing from our sunny afternoon of shopping.   I tried to be resourceful and dug around the back of the car hoping to find a jacket or sweater to help us out.......You can see from our photos that Dan fashioned a cape out of an airplane blanket and I made a shawl out of the ol' Bundle Me fleece car seat liner!  Both worked like a charm!  Thankfully, William and Pops were both dressed warm  and Bebe was a trooper for toughing it out sans winter wear.
The corn maze was loads of fun and Bebe and Pops enjoyed it since they'd never been through one before.  We made it a playful game for William and let him find all of the maze markers in order for us to nagivate our way out.  We also hit up the paint ball firing range and the bounce house pillow for William to jump on.  It was dark so there were very few kids William's age, but William had a blast because he was with his Bebe and his Pops!
Saturday we all went down town to explore the Capitol Visitors Center by Dan's office.  It's been a work in progess for 8 years.  Talk about impressive!  It's all underground and a wonderful way for visitors to learn about Washington, D.C. and the history of the Senate and the House.  We hit up Matchbox pizza (yum!) for lunch and then drove to College Park, MD in order to play at the Maryland Aviation Museum.   
This was an airplane museum that we had never been too (shocker!) and everyone was eager to see it.  William played on the planes and spent time building airplanes out of blocks in the kids area.  After a couple of hours we left and drove through the University of Maryland campus.  Then we hit up a country store that Dan randomly knew about.  It was FILLED TO THE BRIM with trinkets and we had fun wandering around.  


Bright and early on Sunday morning Bebe and Pops headed back to OKC.  We are so glad they came to see us and I'd say we packed in a fun filled weekend of good times!  LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU GUYS ALREADY!

Favorite Things 2010 - WBB 3.5 years old

To give you some background, I have VERY fond memories of my dad pulling out a spiral notebook at the dinner table and going around the room asking my brother and sister and me all about our favorite things. He 'd write the answers down and note the date and our age at the time of the interview. We did this about 2 or 3 times a year and each time we'd open the notebook, everyone got a kick out of what they said when they were 6, 7, 8, etc. years old. I consider that childhood memory as one of my most "favorite things" about my dad.

So, this afternoon I decided to ask William the same questions again and see how much things have changed for the young lad.   The last interview was Dec. 3rd, 2009 when William was 2.5 years old.  

I wrote down exactly what he said for each answer even though I think some of them are not as accurate as they should be. But, some of the random answers are exactly what make this interview such a fun memory.

William Barron -3.5 Years old Oct. 11, 2010

"My Favorites"

• color - red and blue
• animal - zebra
• airplane - American Airlines and Pacific Playmobil
• number-1
• food- pizza
• candy -skittles and m&ms
• train - VRE like we just rode yesterday
• toy -my airplanes and my race cards
• friend - Caroline and Ava - my two girlfriends
• car - Mom Mom's car
• thing about preschool - playing with airplanes at Grace Episcopal School
• thing to do with Dada - play race cars
• thing to do with Mom Mom -hold me
• book - new airplane book with lots of pages in it.  Let me show you.  It's my Big Book of Toy Airplanes Identification Guide and Value List
• song - ABC song
• Thomas trains - Henry, James and Thomas
• about Bebe - I smile at her
• about Pops -when he gives me a tubby
• about Gram - looking at the water fountains
• about Bubba - fixing things with him like the paper shredder machine because the paper makes lines
• drink - water and milk
• at night - read crazy books. tons of them
• about morning - giving mom mom a hug
• to wear - t-shirt and pants and underwear
• place to go in the car - airport and airplane store at Christmas
• on a trip - Bebe's house
• about Santa - bring Gemini Jets
• tv show: Bernstein Bears
• movie:  Cleared for Take Off because they switch Uniteds.  One is an old fashioned United jumbo jet 747 and the other one is a baby airplane
• game:  soccer because I do jumping jacks with Coach

A Laugh

Me:  "Be careful.  It's not a good idea to pick off your scab."

William:  "Why not?"

Me:  "Well, you might bleed."

William in a very serious voice:  "Bleed?  You mean like dipping sauce might come out?"

(dipping sauce is ketchup)

16 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 16 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby B is the size of an avacado

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 4 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my normal dresses (which I prefer) but wear maternity shorts and pants.  Don't like anything tight around the waist.  Legging are my friend.

Gender: Can't wait to find out on Oct. 22nd at 9:30 am

Movement:  Not much.  Probably gas!

Sleep: I sleep on my left side and wake up a few times in the night to readjust myself.  Cannot sleep on my right side because it is so uncomfortable.  Same with sleeping on my back.

What I miss: jogging, but I am trying to walk when the weather cooperates.

Cravings: fruit, cereal, orange juice, yogurt, a few veggies.  Today was one of few days that a sandwich actually sounded appealing.

Best Moment this week: setting my appointment to find out pink or blue!

Cox Farm Extravaganza 2010

I bought tickets for William and I to play at the Cox Farm Fall Festival this year.  We went with Ava and Carrie last fall and the kids had the best time!  This year, we went with William's friend Caroline and her mom.  We've had a ton of rain lately so the farm has been closed off and on.  However, Tuesday it was a brisk 64 degrees and sunny.  I pulled William out of school around 11am and we set out for an afternoon of slides, hayrides, pumpkins and good ol' fashion farm fun.

When we pulled up to the farm, William remembered exactly what to expect.  The first thing he shouted was "oh Mom Mom this is the place we went with Ava last time and they have all those super slides!  I am so excited!"  I had no doubt the boy would be ready to party.

The best part about going to Cox Farm during the week is that no one is there!  We arrived at noon and stayed 3.5 hours.  No crowds, no lines, no fuss.  It was fabulous!  Cherilyn and I could sit on the benches and just watch the kids climb up the great big hills and come crashing down the haystack slides.  Caroline and William rode the slides for 3 hours before we decided to take the hayride tour of the farm.  They also loved climbing up the hay bales and into the dark tunnel mazes.

William "liked" the hayride ok.  He had never been on a hayride before and told me, "Mom Mom this is my first hayride and I like it a lot!"  The "ok" part was that the hayride drove us through a haunted corn field of silly ghostly statues, cardboard cutouts and a couple of real people running around in alien costumes.  William found this whole part of the journey questionable.  He covered his eyes while I explained that these were simply people like Mom Mom and Dada in costumes.  He was slightly confused, but took it in stride after climbing in my lap!

Our entrance fee included a pumpkin for each of us.  William put a lot of thought into his choice and we came home with two really cute baby pumpkins.  4 hours later, we headed home.  Our day was REALLY fun and I loved spending time with just my favorite little boy.  One of my fondest fall memories!

William's Wednesday Special Snack - Biscuit Jack - o - Lanterns

 I tried 4 times to download this picture correctly, but it kept turning it!  This will have to do!

Today was William's turn to bring the special snack to preschool in October.  The kids are not allowed to have sweet snacks (cupcakes, cookies, etc.), but they all love bread!  Who doesn't?   So, I came up with the idea to make Jack-o-Lanterns using biscuits.  I am sure there are several versions of this cutie online, but I made up my own using supplies I already had in stock.

William was so excited and very proud to bring his snack to school today.  Oh, and it's really cute how snack time works at the preschool.  There is a special basket for "special snack day" and the teachers fill it up with the treats that the student brings in that day.  Then the child (in this case William today) walks around to each friend and says, "Campbell (child's name), would you like a biscuit Jack-o-Lantern?  Please or no thank you?" After the child answers, William hands them a snack out of the basket.  There are 22 kids, so William will ask the question 22 times before sitting down.  WHEW!  Three cheers for manners!

Jack -o- Lantern Biscuits

Refrigerator biscuit dough 

Kraft sliced cheese singles

pretzels (I had the sourdough so that is what I used, but you can use any size)

1. Pinch a section of the biscuit dough and remove it.  Shape dough into a heart and place on a pan in the oven.  Follow baking directions.
2. Cut triangles out of slices of Kraft cheese singles and snap the pretzels into stem shapes.
3. Pull biscuits out of the oven.  While hot, place the cheese triangles on the biscuit as the face.  Stick pretzels at the top for the stem.
4. Place back in the oven for a couple of minutes just to set the cheese.

Faces