Happy Halloween!!!

Our picture perfect princess, these 2 pictures were taken at the Picture People last week along with her 15 month pictures

Heading out for trick-or-treating

Daddy is videotaping our first trick or treating adventure

A stop along the way to check out the candy in her bucket

Hanging out at our house waiting to pass our more treats

We finally let her have some candy, she is thoroughly enjoying the Neslte Crunch candy bar

Yummy, chocolate is so good!

The pictures probably say it all! We had such a great time on this, Cara's 2nd halloween. She was running away from me when I was trying to get her dressed and ready. But once she was Princess perfect (well, without the tiara which she refused to keep on) she was enjoying every minute of it. We trick or treated to just a few neighbors on our street, and then played in the driveway while we waited on the trick or treaters. Cara had fun handing pieces of candy to the other little kids, but she was not above reaching in their pumpkins to help herself to their candy. Of course we always gave it back :) We finally let her have her some candy and she chose a Nestle crunch bar and loved every bite of it! I asked her to share a bite and she emphatically said NO by shaking her head and body and turning away from me.

Hope everyone had a nice Halloween night! We wish all of our loved ones could have spent this halloween night with us, we know all of her grandparents would have loved to take her trick or treating with us! But hopefully the pictures will make up for it!!

Getting Ready for Halloween

Although it will mean an end for some of our fall fashion choices like this outfit, we are so ready for Halloween! We will be taking Cara trick or treating to a few neighbors! We know she will love helping us pass out candy at our house and seeing all the kids come visit! We know our little Princess will enjoy seeing everyone! On Saturday we went to cousin Vince's birthday party which all the kids came in costume, so we got to see all of Cara's cousins dressed up. Look for more pictures very soon of our Halloween fun!

US Army Jazz Ambassadors

On Thursday night the US Army Jazz Ambassadors visited Scott's school for a special performance. The Jazz Ambassadors of The United States Army Field Band is the Department of the Army's official touring jazz orchestra. Since its formation in 1969, this 19-member big band has received great acclaim both at home and abroad performing America's original art form, jazz. Scott contacted the US Army Field band approximately 3 years ago to request a performance be held at his school, and finally this spring he received an email stating they would be available. They are currently touring the midwest with only 2 stops in Indiana, and will not be back in this area until 2010.

It was a FABULOUS concert. They are such talented musicians! Cara was so good and sat on my lap while she enjoyed the concert. Scott was presented a placque recognizing his school's efforts in hosting the US Army Field Band.

Daddy's Fall Concert

Daddy conducting the middle school band

Cara enjoying looking at the ceiling while the concert is going on

Daddy introducing the high school band

Cara watching through the open doors

Cara hanging out by the wall right outside of the auditorium, luckily the doors were open so we could watch and listen

Cara sitting on a bench after the concert

On Tuesday night we went to Daddy's school for the fall band concert featuring the middle and high school bands. I let Cara have the run of the place for 1/2 an hour before the concert to "wear" her out so she would sit on my lap during the concert. In fact she was walking up and down the aisle and when Scott first appeared on stage she yelled "Dad" and headed down to see him and was halfway up the stage steps when he saw her. So she got a big hug and kiss from Daddy, but he had work to do so we headed back up the auditorium. So when the concert began we sat in our seat, in the back row to make for an easy exit if needed. About halfway through the first song she decided she wasn't done walking around, so off she went. In the sound booth and back out, outside the doors, up and down the ramp, laying on the floor, etc. You get the idea. At least she was quiet when she was busy walking. This is a really rough age to make it through a concert on Mommy's lap. But soon she will realize this is Daddy's job and she will enjoy attending! One can wish can't she!!

She's So Smart!

Yesterday, I was cleaning the little half bath off the kitchen. Normally, we have to keep this door shut because Cara thinks it is fun to go unroll the toilet paper all the way to the cardboard. So while I was cleaning the sink and the mirror, Cara went over to the toilet paper holder and unrolled it to the end which it had only a few squares left. She so she "uh oh" and proceeded to open the cabinet and remove a brand new roll of toliet paper and handed it to me and pointed to the toilet paper holder. Of course I did not place it on there until I was done cleaning so she could not unroll the brand new one, but I thought she was so smart to open the cabinet and hand me a new one.

I had to recreate the moment today so I could take a picture, just so I could share the story with all of you.

IU and the Oliver Winery

Sitting on steps on the campus of IU, part of the Memorial Union is in the background

At the sample gates, the traditional entrance into Indiana University off of Kirkwood

Letting Cara roam by the beautiful mums right behind the sample gates

At Oliver Winery enjoying our picnic with the beautiful background scenery

Cara and Mommy laughing in the winery tasting room, and no! we did not let Cara taste

Cara and Daddy at the winery

With the sunlight streaming down, Cara is posed in front of the waterfall

All the grounds at Oliver Winery are impecable, gorgeous flowers, greenery and perfectly set with pumpkins and gourds for the season


On Saturday we headed down to Indiana University with our friends Jay and Julie. Julie had a choir rehearsal with an orchestra in the MAC for 3 hours, which gave the rest of us lots of time to walk around and enjoy campus. It has been several years since we have been on campus to just walk around and enjoy the scenery, and this was Jay and Julie's first time to see campus. So after we dropped Julie off for her rehearsal we headed off to see the buildings, walk around the union, headed to shop on Kirkwood, and got on lots of photo ops of the three of us on campus. It was at IU where Mommy and Daddy met 14 years ago, and without that, there would be no Cara. It was IU's football homecoming on Saturday, so there was lots of energy in the air, but few people on campus, which was nice to walk around without it being crowded. It would have been fun to go to the game, but Julie's rehearsal didn't end until 1 pm, and the game started at 12. But we thought of another great idea. We stopped by a deli, grabbed lunch to go and headed to Oliver Winery which is just north of Bloomington.

Because of the beautiful fall day we were enjoying, with the leaves on the trees beginning to turn, apparently a lot of people had the great idea to go to the winery. It was very crowded, but we just joined the crowd. We ate our picnic lunch outside, with a view of the lake, and the crisp clear skies, it was a perfect setting to enjoy ourselves. We stopped by the tasting room after lunch and sipped some new wines. For most of the wine tasting session, Scott had to keep Cara occupied on the porch because she was a bit bored. We stopped to take some more pictures on our way out and joined up with the football traffic to head back home.

Cara' s schedule was quite messed up with the days festivities, napping was not priority because she may miss something, but she was such a trooper and handled it gracefully. We had such a fun day!

New Pictures

On Sunday Mommy, Cara and Grandma F went to the Covered Bridge Festival in Parke county. Mommy decided going to a fall festival was the perfect time to dress Cara in her cute little Halloween outfit, she even has black and orage Halloween socks to match. We took these pictures Sunday evening once we got home after a long day at the festival. The last picture is to show how big Cara's teeth are getting, she now has 12 teeth, with another molar making an appearance over the weekend!

Dillon's 8th Birthday

Oscar helping Dillon unwrap his gifts

All 5 grandkids together

Oscar and Cara share a big hug when they first saw each other on Saturday
Oscar goes in for another hug which turns out to be a tackle, luckily Cara didn't mind

Cara is using Oscar's toy as a chair

Cara was hoping Stella didn't mind sharing her dog cage for a little bit


On Saturday we headed to Dillon's house to celebrate his 8th birthday with the rest of the family. The kids had a lot of fun playing with each other. Oscar and Cara went right for the hug as soon as we got there. Hopefully Aunt Lisa or Grandma F will post more pictures from the day. Cara got a few kissess from Stella, their dog, that day. She giggled and loved it. Dillon apparently wanted to make his 8th birthday really something to remember by breaking his finger later in the evening when the kids came over for the friends party. Happy Birthday Dillon!

p.s. I hope Great Grandma A recognizes this outfit, she sent it to Cara for her birthday. It is adorable!!

Yeah for Fall Outfits

Playing with the Nintendo Wii remotes in the basement

Grabbing for the camera as I took the picture, I think it came out neat


It is so nice to finally change Cara's wardrobe around a bit. When she was smaller she was outgrowing clothes every few months so she was constantly wearing new things. It seems like this summer dragged on so long and she has been wearing the same clothes over and over. But finally, we get to wear new threads for fall. Like this fuzzy red velour outfit and this cute black and pink flower outfit. It is nice to change things up. I know in the spring once it is warming up to the 50's and 60's we will be breaking out the short sleeves shirts thinking it is finally warm out, but for now we are ready for the more fall like temperatures we have had this past week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys the beautiful weather out there!

Zoo Time Again

Cara and Grandma and Grandpa A watching the dolphin show

Cara sitting on the ledge inside the dolphin pavilion

Cara and Grandpa F looking at the giraffes

Watching the giraffes with Grandma and Grandpa A

With Mommy in front of the elephants

We saw an elephant playing in the water on this hot fall day

Grandpa A helping Cara down the slide


We had special visitors earlier in the week with Grandma and Grandpa A coming down while Grandpa was on fall break from the university. So we decided to do something fun on Monday, so after everyone was up and showered we headed to the Children's Musuem. Only to find out that they are closed on Mondays. The gate attendant offered the suggestion of going to the zoo, so that is what we decided to do. Lucky for us Grandpa F was at home and not busy and agreed to meet us at the zoo to use his membership to get in. We had planned on an indoor activity since it was another 90 degree day in October. But because it was so hot, the zoo was not very crowded, and it was a school day, sorry Scott.

We enjoyed the dolphin show, which was a bit boring for Cara, too much talking, not enough tricks. After a bite to eat, we headed in search of the giraffes and elephants. We got to see all the giraffe and elephants babies, two of each. We stopped and saw the white rhino's, lions, and monkeys. A stop for ice cream led us to the water fountain area for kids to play in, so we stripped Cara down to just her t-shirt and diaper and let her go. The water was a bit too much for her, she was more afraid than having fun, so after a few trips down the slide we decided to go. What a hot fun day we had spending it with both Grandpa F and Grandma and Grandpa A.