It's Turkey Time

Affection

Do you ever walk into a room, see something adorable, and feel a new swell of love for people you already love darn well? I feel so lucky that this happens to me with great regularity. (I know. I am a huge sap. I can't help it. I'm guessing this trait will prove highly embarrassing to my daughters right around 7th or 8th grade, but whatever.) 

Five things I love very much, all wedged into one tiny little corner of our house:

Though it is hard to tell in these photos, Zephie actually seemed pretty psyched while Madelyn was sitting on top of her, thereby proving my brother's theory that, to a dog, any attention is good attention. After Maddie climbed off, she leaned over and kissed Zephie and said "Tanks, Zah-fee!" I thought that was quite considerate.

Toddler Riffing

Madelyn is in her crib in her room, singing to herself.  She is improvising on "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  Her lyrics are:

"Dee doo, dee doo, moo ha ha

Hoo hoo, loo loo, any now."

She pauses. She says quietly to herself: "I know, I know."

She resumes singing, this time to the tune of "Rain, Rain Go Away."

"Rain, rain, go lie down,

Zephie no no Papa la."

I wish I had an Alias-like spy kit so I could snake a miniature recording device under her door and capture these adorable sounds for all eternity.

October LOAD in Review

Here are some of my favorites from October's Layout-A-Day challenge.  You can see all of the layouts together in my Flickr gallery by clicking here.

Halloween Redux

Before we jump into the photos, let me preface this by saying that today the Gutsy Dad and Madelyn are having a competition to see who can barf more.  This means that I, apparently, am having a competition (with myself) to see how many loads of laundry I can do in one day.  

In the 12 years that I have known him, my husband has taken not a single sick day.  (He claims he never has taken one in his 20+ years of work, but I can only vouch for the last 12.)  This tells you a little something about the severity of the barfiness around here.  However, both barfers are now asleep, so I thought I would indulge my sister-in-law (and anyone else) in a few obligatory Halloween pictures.

(You can click on any of the pictures to see things in greater detail.)

Both girls enjoyed helping the Gutsy Dad prep the pumpkins. At Jillson's request, we even roasted the pumpkin seeds.  These turned out to be delicious!

Below is a wonky photo, but it showcases the Gutsy Dad's fine carving skills.  Jillson requested the face on the left from an online template much to Madelyn's delight. Jills drew the face for the one on the right.

Here we are, on our way to the "trunk or treat" event at the church across the street from our house. The sheriff and his two jailbirds were quite popular.

Then we have Jillson the Mermaid (despite all appearances, she is NOT Ariel) and the Fay Pee-cess.  (Madelyn was scheduled to be a zebra, thanks to a hand-me-down costume from her sister, but after a handful of hysterical fits all of which were variations on the theme of "my cah-soom not fahncy!" I broke down and purchased a $7 Fairy Princess costume from Target.  Happiness was restored in the kingdom.)

And, displaying an unprecedented level of participation, I present to you the escort to the Mermaid and the Fay Pee-cess, the Good Witch Gutsy Mom.

After the trunk-or-treat, we hit the neighborhood for some regular trick-or-treating, I attempted to get a few better shots of the pumpkins, failed, and we all collapsed inside in a sugar-induced stupor.