Halloween Baby!

I don't know why I love Halloween so much. I truly enjoy it more than Christmas. Maybe it's because with holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter you have all of the headaches of "who's house" you are going to and all of the stress of making your rounds. Halloween is just all about fun and lets your creativity fly! The hard part with a kid is steering her away from commercial stuff. It takes a lot of child psychology to convince a four year old that a 50's poodle skirt is more fun than a princess.

Complete with Ebay saddle oxfords!

But one costume isn't enough. Not when there's a great Halloween party just down the street. Family costumes require more thought. So without further, adu...

The Three Amigos!!

Steve Martin as "Lucky Day". Martin "Short" as Ned Nederlander. Chevy Chase, as "Dusty Bottoms."

And you know we won this:

Little Bit thought being an Amigo was cooler than cool. Expecially after I showed her a few clips on youtube. I only wish i would have caught our salute on film! Props to Steven for wearing that get-up! He walked down to the neighbor's house by himself. And you know that EVERYONE just happened to be outside as he strutted his stuff down the street! Bwhahaha! I'm puffy heart PROUD of the fact that I whipped up the three amigos costumes myself. My mom helped me with the ties and cumberbuns and a friend at work helped me to draw on the hat designs. Homemade costumes ROCK!

Now the big question, what to do next year! Only 365 more days to plan!

Soph's Top Ten

Wow! It's about time that I changed things up around here! I don't think Little Bit was even 2 years old in those header pictures! I missed her monthly birthday, again. I really need to make more of an effort to AT LEAST blog once a month around the 16th! Four and a half is a really fun age and I should be documenting more of it. So we don't forget. Steven and I constantly look at her and want to bottle her up just the way she is right now. Speech impediment and all! She's a total handful. She's get by with A LOT from A LOT of people. And she sings. Oh how she sings! The two of us have Broadway performances on a weekly basis. She still makes up songs like she's writing for Celine Dion on crack. If Celine wanted to sing songs about cats in Mexico. And the two of us drive Steven crazy on road trips singing at the tops of our lungs in the car.

As we were trucking up 79 a few weeks ago, I flipped through the ipod attached to my car. It's one strange collection of songs. Anyway, as I flipped through, a little voice in the back seat would pipe up, "oh I like that one!" So without further adu, in no particular order, my child's top 10 iphone songs.

1. Live and Let Die- by Paul Mccartney

Frogs sang this one in Shrek the 3rd, when the king frog daddy died. I'm guessing that's why she's a fan.

2. Leaving on a Jet Plane- John Denver

Classic and folksy. Easy words for a kid to remember. When she sings it sounds like this "weaving, on a jet plane."

3. No Woman No Cry tied with Three Little Birds- Bob Marley

She actually sounds exactly like Bob Marley when she sings. "Every-tangs gonna be alright." And really, shouldn't every four year old know every song from Legends? She'll probably end up selling sea shell necklaces on a beach somewhere anyway.

4. Fox on the Run

Because why not go from listening to a Rastafarian to a blue grass band? Seems perfectly logical to me! And I actually love Bluegrass music. Betcha didn't know that about me!

5. Hail West Virginia

No words, just the Pride of WV playing and us singing the words at full blast. This is a favorite b/c at the end she can scream, "Sock 'em, Bust 'em, that's our Custom. West by GOD Virginia.

6. A Pirate Looks a Forty- Jimmy Buffet

I cringe when he sings "I made enough money to by Miami, but I pissed it away so fast." But I do not believe in censoring songs ever. So we're pissing away in the car.

7. Part of that World- Ariel the Little Mermaid

We sing this one like it's our job. Ariel ain't got nothing on us! We usually say we're "practicing" when this one comes on. Practicing for what i haven't quite figured out.

8. Hard Knock Life tied with Tomorrow- Annie and the Orphans

If I had a dream for her, it would be to play Annie on Broadway. I'd settle for the Alban in St. Albans. HA!

9. Angel- Jack Johnson

Daddy brainwashed her on this one.

10. Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison

Because she's just that. :)

Seesh...what a mix! Wonder what song choice says about a person? Of course it's subject to change like the wind.

And another one from the ole Pumpkin Patch!

Gone Too Soon

It's true that you never know just what exactly a child is going to do. I cringe every time she goes over to someone's house. I'm afraid of what she's going to let fly out of her mouth. Stella left us on Friday. Sooner than what I had imagined but it was time. Actually, the ending was easier than all of the grief and sorrow we had faced over the last 9 months. I had heard that when the time came it would be easier. Over the past nine months though, anytime we thought about the end, we thought about Little Bit. Over and over again I would say, "this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for Sophie." How many times I said, "how am I going to tell Sophie that yet again, something she loves is gone." I was ready to put her on a plane and send her to Disney World when the time came. Whatever it took, for her not to feel the pain of loss.

And in the end, she kissed Stella on the head that morning, looked her in the eyes and said in that 4 year old voice of hers, the one that can't pronounce her "r's" or her 'th's" very well, and said, "Stella, it's gonna be ok, you are going to get to go to Heaven and play with Oscar, and I'll see you again one day."

And it was ok. And it has been ok. And it will be ok. She misses her, yes. But I've overhead her tell neighbors and family about what happened to her Stella and it's almost with joy in her voice.

Kids are tough. I forget that. All of us forget that. We shelter our kids way too much and turn them into big giant puss-pots and wimps. We think that they can't handle rejection or sadness. Why is that? I was a tough kid. I turned out all right, in my humble opinion. In the beginning I had considered lying to Little Bit about Stella. I'm so glad that I didn't. I want her to to know that life isn't always rainbows and sunshine. Oh how I wish that she hadn't had to loose two pets within a year of each other. But she did. Nothing can change that. She is a tough kid. And when she let a balloon go up in the air in remembrance of her puppy who was with her for too short of an amount of time, it was with a smile on her face and not tears in her eyes. Maybe we can all learn something from a four year old.

Miss Hollywood

I guess it's a gift. One that I certainly don't have. My friend and co-worker, Missy, can throw together the most awesome b-day parties for her girls. Through the years I've helped her out with Wizard of Oz parties, a 50's party, a 30's party, and an unbelievable carnival. She's a sucker for the details. I'm usually the designated photographer, although, I got roped into being a clown at the carnival party. This year, her oldest turned 12 and wanted a smaller party with a Hollywood theme. Once again, it was fabulous. The girl can decorate a table like something out of a magazine. Sophie of course got to so she could hang out with little 5 year old sister, Emmy . Girlfriend TOTALLY got into the Hollywood theme. She was in total heaven being around 12 year old girls. As they were sitting at the table eating and drinking out of champagne glasses with their pinkies in the air, I noticed Sophie hanging on their every world. Occasionally, she would look over at me, giggle and repeat everything that came out of their mouths. "I just think it's fabulous" or "ohmygod, he is sooooo cute."

The Birthday Girl- Miss Harley