Peyton, Noah & the Fall Festival

Thursday was the Fall Festival Program at Peyton's school. A bunch of 3 & 4 year olds singing and dancing, is there a better way to spend your morning? I think not!

Not sure what was more entertaining this day, the songs the everyone did or watching Peyton and her friend Noah while the other classes performed.

Noah, it has been reported, likes Peyton.  Not just likes her, but likes her likes her.

And honestly, what's not to like about this face?

 As all this was unfolding, Dug looked at me and said "You're totally eating this up aren't you?"  And I was!  10 minutes after he asked me that, I hear from across the way "Michelle!  Michelle!!"  And it's Noah's mom Cheryl.  "Are you watching those 2?" she asks, "I got them on camera!" I reply.  Dug's on the other side of me just shaking his head.

 

Noah's mom also told me that he won't wear his "motorcycle hair" anymore because Peyton told him she liked his hair like that.  What is "motorcycle hair" you ask?  When he would wear it all spiked up with gel of course.  This is the same Noah who when he walked in the door a few weeks ago, all the girls in the hallway turned and as 1 said "Hi Noah!" (Draw it out for about 6 syllables like any girl says to a cute guy!)  No other boy this year has gotten a greeting like that. It's always the shy quiet type isn't it?! And besides Noah, there are only 3 other boys in the class.  There are 11 girls.  It's good to be a boy in room 3 this year.

Back to the show at hand...Peyton's class sang songs about the weather, decorating a pumpkin, and a song about the alphabet.

Singing and dancing, and to do both in front of an audience? Just a few of Peyton's favorite things!

Take a bow sister for a job well done!

This Sunday is Halloween and we always have a really good time with our neighbors on this day!  There is a hot firepit, coolers full of cold beverages, warm soups and pizza, and about 5 houses that all come together to celebrate in 1 driveway.  There is a chocolate cake in the shape of a pumpkin and some cupcakes on my kitchen table waiting for me to frost & decorate them, we have friends coming for dinner, and I need to email these pictures to Noah's mom, so off I go to enjoy my weekend! 

Hope you do too!!

1st Place Cupcake!

There was a Halloween party & costume contest Sunday at Peyton's pre-school.  Cost of admission was a bag of candy, so needless to say this was my kind of party!  There was a costume contest for babies on up to the big kids, and that costume right there, took 1st place among the 3&4 year olds.  I really need to thank my friend Stephanie who was adamant that Peyton be a cupcake!  Well, Stephanie and Pottery Barn Kids.  There were blow up bouncy houses, a sinking ship blow up slide that was REALLY fast, witches hat ring toss, make your own life size pixie stick, and this the simplest game ever:

Balloons and a paper plate taped to a ruler.  She would have stayed here all day if we let her.  There was other things to see and do though.  We met up with our neighbor Tinkerbell, I mean, Lily:

The last activity of the day was scratching out a face and belly button on this spider at Miss Karen's art table:

After dinner it was carve the pumpkin time.  Normally this is a neighborhood activity, but we had a family birthday party the night the other houses did pumpkins. 

Peyton had fallen asleep in the truck the night we came home from the birthday party, and I was hoping to get her in the house before she noticed that the neighbors were doing pumpkins.  It was 9:00, she was going on no nap, recovering from a cold, and just plain needed to go to bed.  Well, guess who saw the neighbors gathered in the garage next door and pumpkins on the tables?  

The mini-version of the meltdown went something like this:

P: "I want to go to Lily's and do my pumpkin."

Me: "Not tonight. We'll do yours another night."

P: "But I don't ever get to do my pumpkin!  I waited all summer to do my pumpkin!  You never let me do my pumpkin!" <said in her best drawn out whiny over dramatic voice>

Me: <making mental notes to not forget this conversation> 

So Peyton and Dug did her pumpkin after the party at her pre-school and all is right in her world again.

Well, it was right until she asked for a candle to put inside and I didn't have any tea lights on hand.  Whoopsies.  Forgive me for not remembering the tea-lights, but Halloween just isn't my holiday.  The best part of Halloween for me is that Christmas season and music start the day after.  Technically it starts at 7:00pm Halloween night if you ask my mom, because that is when Trick-or-Treating is over.

But back to the holiday at hand...Peyton also got to wear her cupcake costume to dance class Monday night and she had fun with that.  It is not a ballet movement or car-riding friendly costume, so I bet she had to work really hard that night at dance and when I put it on her Sunday before we left:

P: "Um, how am I supposed to sit in my seat in this thing? Cause it's not very bendy like this thing, so how does that work?"   

Me: "Well, you'll put it back on once we get to the school."

P: "Oh, alright, that's cool."

My oven timer is ringing and I have Halloween cupcakes to finish for my sister, frosting and sprinkles await!

1 fish, 2 fish...

3 fish, breathing fish.  This is her fish "Bubbles".  And by fish, I mean the mask to her nebulizer is a fish, not the swims in circles in a bowl fish.  Bubble has been a part of our family for about a year and a 1/2.   We are lucky enough that we have a child who doesn't necessarily mind having to do "fishes" when told.  So long as she can turn the machine on and off herself and can possibly find a Phineas & Ferb episode, we are good to go.  Before this pic was snapped she had been leaning on the tray in a "this is the most boring lecture I have ever heard" style. 

She got this tray last week while out shopping with Dug for a little Daddy/Daughter time.  It serves many purposes for her.  She can prop herself awake during fish time, eat meals on it, color on it (pre-marker fiasco of 2010) and use it as a "blanket" for nap time as so demonstrated here:

We ate dinner this night down in the family room as the kitchen table was slightly occupied by about 7 dozen cupcakes.  Dug and I were talking about random stuff going on, how was your day, blah blah blah...when we noticed it had gotten quiet, we look up, there she was.  Passed out cold at 6:00 P.M.  She must have had a nugget or tot too many that night.  "Don't make a sound!" I whispered as I tiptoed to go get my camera.  She stayed there for about an hour.  Never moved and then turned around and went to bed for the night at 8:30. 

It amuses me greatly to see/find her passed out in random places about the house.  I once found her 1/2 in the bottom of the linen closet in the upstairs hallway, on the floor in the front room, while sitting in her chair eating dinner at the kitchen table mid-chew, or buried under a mountain of stuffed animals on her bed at 11 in the morning.  If it has gone quiet in this house for more than 15 minutes she has fallen asleep.  Guaranteed.

We have settled somewhat back into a sense of normalcy now that the wedding is over and my huge reception order went out over the weekend.  One of those normal things is dance class on Monday nights, and this night it happened to be sunny and 75.  She felt the need to wear this thick sweatshirt over her leotard "just in case it got cold out when I get out of dance class."  

I asked her if she needed to wear pants too if since she thought it was going to be so cold out when she got done with class.  "No mom.  It's not that cold out, only sweatshirt cold."  She replied in a tone of voice that suggests that I am the crazy one.   Ah to be 4 again and have all the answers!

At the pumpkin farm

All she wanted that day was a "Peyton sized pumpkin".  And this was the chosen one!

We went with our friends Eric & Amy and their daughter Addison.  And it was COLD!  I don't know that we have ever had good weather when going to the pumpkin farm with the Norberg family.  This being only the 2nd year that we have gone together, not like it has been a lifetime of pumpkin farm trips or anything.  Side note: we also went to Michigan this summer with the Norberg's and it was cold that week too.  I sense a trend here maybe??  One of these years though, we'll pick a good weekend!

In the goat pen, they were not to keen on the goat and I think the feeling was mutual.



But they liked the funny face photo stand!

Peyton leading the way in their matching hoodies we got them on vacation this summer, again because it was so cold!

Addison telling Peyton she needed to get out of her picture!  I think the look on Peyton's face says: "Yeah right chickie!"

Then she tried to *steal* a wagon!

As hard as we tried, and for as many pictures that we took, I don't think we had a picture with Peyton & Addison facing and smiling at the same time or in the same direction.  Addison also yelled "NO! NO! NO!" when Peyton climbed in the wagon with her and her pumpkins.  It was all good though once Uncle Eric took his hat off and shook his fluffy hair around! 

Peyton and Dug walking into the farm.  I love when I get pictures like this!

My mom and I took Peyton back to the same pumpkin farm 3 days later and it was sunny & 75.  Easily 20 degrees warmer than it had been on the Saturday when we went.

In deep conversation with the goat.  You can decide what the conversation was about.

Peyton and grandma.  She looks thrilled right?!

Peyton and I.

A decent picture of her in the pumpkin patch.

She thought that grandma needed a "Peyton sized" pumpkin or 2.

These 2 pumpkins and a bigger one made a new home on my mom's front porch next to her goose named Annie.  I honestly don't know that we have ever had such good weather as we did on this Tuesday.  Any weekend we have gone we have froze or been rained on.  Is there some unwritten rule that you only get good pumpkin farm weather during the week? 

We now have good fall weather that has rolled in, nothing above 65 for the next week at least, and it's almost flannel sheet time!! I can't wait!

A 4 year old, a marker, and a LOT of cupcakes...

Can never be a good combination.  I found this out on Thursday morning.  Right about the time I was going to put Peyton in the shower to get her ready for school, I happen to notice a light green circle/square on the carpet.  My 1st thought was "Why is there Easter grass out and on the carpet?"  Peyton also happens to be standing in the middle of said circle/square on the carpet.  Upon further review of the situation, I realize that it is not Easter grass, but marker.  And it was green marker at that.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Green marker. 


This is the carpet after 2 rounds of carpet cleaner. 
Had I not been so livid, I would have gotten a picture before Dug tried to clean it.

We won't go into what my 2nd thought on this was, but the swear jar at my sister's house would be about $5 richer, maybe more.  She might charge more for the worse the word gets.  And know that it was not a pretty sight here at 812 for about the last 25 min before we left for school.  But also know that "Precious" was sprung early for good behavior that day, and her playroom escaped a day long lock down about 45min before bedtime that night. 

Of course now that my parent's are grandparents they see the humor and find the above situation charming and funny.  "It's just carpet Michelle" says my dad yesterday with a smile on his face.  "Well then how about I give her some markers and let her color on your carpet dad?"  He did not think that was so funny.  My mom said she could go color on the carpet upstairs, but it is so dark & brown that nobody would even notice it. 

You might be asking how the cupcakes factor into this.  I had an order for a wedding reception this weekend for 144 cupcakes and a small cake to go with it.  Needless to say I have been a wee bit more busy than I normally am, and followed on the heels of my sister's wedding the week before, I think someone just wanted & needed some attention. 

I could probably think of a few other less destructive ways to go about getting your parent's attention, but as crazycakes as things have been here the past few weeks, it does start to slow down just a little heading into Halloween.   And what is Peyton going to be for Halloween you ask??  A cupcake of course! 

And speaking of cupcakes, I have an order to finish for later today.  Pumpkin Farm pics to follow soon!

Wedding Weekend

  

The new Mr. & Mrs. Kunz!

But, before we get here, we had a fabulous weekend leading up to this.  Margaritas & mimosas, wedding rings & lifesavers, quite possibly the biggest/tallest bridal party ever, dance floor domination, recovery brunch the day after...Whew! 

Peyton had her 1st pedicure & manicure

My little rock-star of the weekend.  Runny nose, fever, and a cough wasn't going to stop her!

Dad walking his last daughter down the aisle, Mel would tell you the best was saved for last!

Brad being Brad, using a lifesaver as a stand in for the wedding rings.

I put out this jersey for Peyton to wear to get her hair done.  She added the hat.  Pretty put together for 7:15 in the morning!

Maid of Honor Sam, our sister Melissa, and the bride Melanie.

Sisters

Brad's sister Tracey & her daughter Katie.

Beautiful Bride-to-Be!

 Pretty flower girl after getting a touch of make-up. A "proud mama" moment for sure.  And yes, I totally lost it, had to get my make-up redone lost it, when she was done in the chair.  This is the 1st really big thing she has done, and she did a fantastic job! 

Simply stunning.

Pictures at a local greenhouse after the ceremony.

And after dinner, a whole lot of this.  There was dance floor domination by the Ukovich, Gura, and Norman girls!  This was the last wedding among our families, and we were going to do it up right.

Rockin out with "air" guitars!

I told you my kid was a rock-star this weekend.  This was also pre-meltdown, and it was a doozy of a meltdown.

This is my 10 year old neice Morgan with my escort for the wedding Grant. Morgan snagged this bouquet from a gaggle of former Big 10 volleyball players & javelin thrower and a bunch of other single ladies.  Morgan's parents, my sister-in-law and her husband, were all "How the hell did that happen?!?!"  Seriously, these girls stoop upwards of 6'4" in their heels.  Morgan swiped it up once the bouquet hit the floor, she was a whole lot closer to it than they were!

I call this bowling for people.  Apparently it is a Carlyle/southern IL thing.  Brad bowled 1st:

And Mel picked up the 7/10 split.  And the "pins" know it is supposed to be a 7/10 split.  It was pretty fun to watch!

Congrats again to Mel and Brad!