Pumpkin Carving

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get the pumpkin ready for Halloween! Gigi, Cara, and I had a pumpkin carving party in the garage tonight.


The back of my pumpkin is all dirty with old mud, didn't realize how bad it looked until I saw this picture

Cara got a little bored and is coloring on the floor with chalk instead of helping with the pumpkin

Cara is deep in concentration (notice her tongue hanging out :)

The fnished product ready to be illuminated with a candle

Gigi's pumpkin is on the left, it is a haunted castle, and our Snow White pumpkin is on the right

A better picture of our pumpkin! Tomorrow night we will have to get the Snow White's together for a picture!!

Mommy and Cara proud of our finished product! Daddy was very impressed we did it all by ourselves (he had a late evening at school)!!

Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs

Glitter Graphics
Thanks Grandma Abbott for the special picture

Fall Break Weekend Part 3

On Sunday we went to Zoo Boo with Grandma and Grandpa F and Ashleigh (Mommy's cousins daughter)
All dressed up again and ready for more Halloween fun! We are getting so much wear out of this costume, YEAH!!!

Walking in with Grandma and Grandpa

Standing at the walrus exhibit, the wind was blowing off her tiara, it was pretty windy that day

The sun was setting behind this sign which messed with the lighting, but here are Cara and Ashleigh

After we left the zoo we headed over to Uncle Joe, Aunt Amy, Vince and Charlotte's house. It was Vince's 7th birthday and we were all going out to dinner to celebrate. Here is Vince modeling his halloween costume, he is Link! Happy Birthday Vince!!

Their new puppy Butters found a ribbon off a birthday present and loved it. He is so cute, but pretty hard to photograph because he doesn't EVER stop moving.

Fall Break Weekend Part 2

A trip to Chicago was next on the agenda for Fall Break! I wanted to get Cara and Baby Cara matching holiday dresses and also pick up a few presents for Christmas. Our friends Dendra and Zaina were also going to Chicago for the long weekend so we made plans to meet and eat at American Girl for dinner.

They have a photo studio and even though we just got pictures taken with Cara and Baby Cara we just had to sit in the official studio after about 100 people told us how much they looked alike and how cute they were. They wore their matching dresses for our special dinner and so many people said if they could see a live walking and talking Bitty Twin (the type of doll that Baby Cara is) that Cara would be her. She did great on the first take and we got this cute photo!

Zaina with her doll Ruthie and Cara with Baby Cara posing in the front of the store. American Girl recently moved to Water Tower and the store is SO MUCH BETTER!! Great move!!

Giving hugs!!

At the American Girl Cafe for dinner, the dolls get their own special high chair to join in the fun.

Cara and Baby Cara eating the appetizers. Notice how Baby Cara even gets her own little cup.

Not a great picture, but it was the only one with Mommy in it.

A picture of the fabulous dessert presentation. You get to keep the flower.

So we put one in Baby Cara's hair


When we checked into the hotel the employees in the lobby were talking to Cara and telling us how cute she was (she insisted on carrying her own little luggage), but she was being shy and was VERY tired since she wouldn't nap in the car. I told them that she desperately needed a nap, so they said you need some milk and cookies and then take a good nap for your Mommy and Daddy. That wasn't necessary because as soon as we were in our room with the lights off we snuggled into bed and Cara fell right to sleep for the next two hours! But when we returned from shopping and dinner we found this lovely surprise in our room. Some milk, cookies, brownies, and a little bottle of Bailey's (for Mommy and Daddy) with a nice note from the staff. Wasn't that so sweet??

The next day out for more shopping. Here we are on Michigan and the bridge over the river is up because they were bringing big boats in from lake Michigan. It was a bit more chilly and trying to rain when we first started out but finally the rain stopped and we had a pleasant time walking up and down the Magnificent Mile!

More weekend fun to come....

Fall Break Weekend Part 1

Over the weekend we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa A's house so we could go to the Children's Zoo for some Halloween fun!


Cara dressed as Princess Snow White

Daddy and Cara looking at the kangaroo

Our friends Chris, Amy, and Owen were already planning a trip to the zoo, so it worked out perfect to go together. Here is Owen as Clifford the Big Red Dog along with our Snow White.

At the candy stations you handed them a ticket in exchange for some candy, Cara got the hang of this real quick :)

Owen and Cara holding hands walking through the zoo

Mommy and Cara "posing" on the way out of the zoo

Cara walked holding G & G's hands through the parking lot to the car

The next morning we were treated to Grandma's homemade hot chocolate with peanut butter toast, yummy!

Cara is all smiles because breakfast was so good!!

More weekend fun posts coming.......

New Dishwasher

Our dishwasher broke the other day and we had a ton of dishes to do, so luckily Cara came to the rescue!! She created more mess than she helped but it sure was fun!! Thanks Cara!!

After all that hard work she wanted to lay in the big chair with a few of her friends underneath her favorite blanket!!

p.s. Luckily Grandpa F came to our rescue and replaced the fuse in the dishwasher, thank goodness!! Thank you Grandpa F!!

The Show Must Go On...

The fall concert was earlier this week, and despite being Scott being under the weather, we were treated to a great night. Here are a few pictures from our evening.

Cara is playing on the porch at Cracker barrel. She and I went there for dinner in Lafayette on our way to the concert. She was much too busy running around to pose for a picture, but I thought this one was cute. Silly Mommy forgot her wallet and realized it as we were walking into the restaurant. Luckily Daddy had just enough time to leave school and bring us money before he had to warm up the bands. Thank you for coming to our rescue Daddy!!

Here is Scott talking to the audience for the 6th grade band started

Cara was holding the door open (not really!) but she thought she was important

She is carrying her little purse which contained little princess figurines which she had to take out and show anyone that would stop to talk to her. She walked around the school liked she owned it and knew everybody, I guess because everyone was talking to her and using her name. She thought she was big stuff!

Siting in a big chair holding my flowers after the concert. The parent organization sells roses at all concerts/events as a fundraiser and they were so sweet to give me 6 of them after the concert. Cara loved how they smelled.

The 3 of us after the concert, although Cara and I have been keeping our distance from Daddy so he doesn't get us sick, we did stop and pose for a picture together!

During the concert Cara was standing in the aisle clapping, singing, conducting and being totally cute. She entertained the audience sitting around us. She would talk to Daddy on stage. At one point as a song was concluding Cara yelled "yeah" and clapped her hands. Scott turned around and said "guess my daughter made it"! The high school band played a Mary Poppins medley "just for her" and she was in heaven. She sang with it and was tapping her foot.

Thanks for a great concert Daddy!

Birthday Party Fun

Cara trying to play skeeball

Happy Birthday Dillon, the big 9 this year

Charlotte holding a big group of tickets she just won from a game.

Oscar thoroughly enjoying his cupcake

Oscar and Cara busy driving, too bad they couldn't reach the pedals, hehe

Cara and another attempt at skeeball, with some extra help from Uncle Mike

(I managed to get pictures of all the cousins, but Vince closed his eyes when I took the picture which I didn't realize until I put them on the computer today.)

Dillon's birthday party was Saturday evening. For his friends it included laser tag, but for the little ones and the parents, we were entertained in the arcade. Cara had a ball and couldn't go from game to game fast enough. She wasn't able to do much, but all the lights, steering wheels, and fun sounds from the games made it entertaining enough. After the laser tag games, everyone joined together for pizza, cupcakes, and presents. But Oscar and Cara couldn't get back to the video games fast enough. Thanks for inviting us to your party Dillon, we all had lots of fun!!

Cara's latest adventures

I have written before about Cara's escapades while I am showering and this is another for the memory books. Despite my best efforts to keep things out of her reach, she always manages to find something. Last week it was bright red nail polish which has left a lovely stain on the carpet. This week I had left my little purse on the bathroom counter which I had used for the wedding over the weekend. It contained lipstick, but not any old washable lipstick, it was the last 8 hour super strong non washable stuff. So below are some pictures showing off her good makeup application :) Thank goodness Grandma F came to the rescue with some special makeup remover because it would NOT come off without it.

Cara is the age where she wants to make her own fashion choices. So yesterday morning when Grandpa F was babysitting and getting her dressed she found her princess panties which we bought in the hopes of starting potty training. She is constantly asking to wear them but yet refuses to use the potty. So Grandpa let her put her panties on over her diaper and then she refused to put anything on over them. I tried to put pants on her yesterday but she said "no, don't cover my panties"!! So here is her cute little tooshie in panties -and a diaper :)!!