Cute Kids

I thought I would post some cute pictures of the girls I took over the past two weeks. But, let's update first.

Ayla has suddenly grown taller, so today we went pants shopping (fun ... eyes rolling). A few weeks ago, I got her these preschool workbooks by Kemon and she LOVES them. She asks every day if we can do her "work." So, she can cut in straight line, can count to 20 by herself, and now she can write the letters T, L, H, I, O, and Q, as well as the numbers 1 and 0. She is expressing so much interest in learning what words say. It is fascinating watching her absorb it all, question it all, and find more to learn on her own. Ayla is really developing into her own, has become so beautiful that it takes my breath away sometimes, and blows our mind with some of the things she can do. We have begun touring some local preschools, but its been a little difficult to coordinate since some want the parents to visit without children (geez), but we are taking our time.

Sophie is still itty bitty, so everything falls off of her tiny bum. She walks and struts around like the owns the place (until Ayla runs into her, that is). She babbles and talks constantly!! She's trying to learn how to play with Ayla (who isn't keen on Sophie's manner of playing), is darned determined to express her wants, and can light up a room with her grin. She's a doll.

At The Pumpkin Patch

The leaves are changing into shades of beautiful golds and oranges, the girls are growing too fast for comfort, and now the holidays are peaking around the corner. Seems to me that time is flying by so quickly these days.

Early this month, we had a BLAST picking pumpkins with Jennifer and Vincent. We ran around the kid's maze at Rock Creek Farm, looked at their farm animals, and cut our pumpkins straight from the vine. Warning: this is a picture heavy post!

Tab, Jennifer, and Sophie lounging on the hay bales


Jeremy carrying all three kids!


"Gimme that camera!"






Ayla and Vincent tripping on hay bales together






Tabetha picked a Sophie from the Patch!


We were too eager to wait until Halloween, so we went ahead and carved our pumpkins. Then we roasted the seeds and coated with sugar and spices... yum! Ayla totally told us what to do and where to carve.

Not Much...

Not a whole lot going on of late except, oh...

The whole "my sister is getting married" announcement. Sounds pretty exciting and now the whole family is making plans to head to Florida for the big to-do. I've never met the new fiance, Jeff, but if he can put up with her than he is tops (tee hee)!

Other than trying to make plans for the marriage shin-dig, we've been researching preschools for Ayla, gearing up for Halloween events, and enjoying the beautiful weather. I've spent time learning the area, checking out the numerous (and SO cool) Farmer's Markets, malls, metaphysical stores, bike trails, parks, etc. There is just so much here... even now, a month later, I feel overwhelmed.

Sophie is all over the place, determined to express her opinion on things in whatever manner she can get it across. She's quite clear when she says she wants more, when she wants to be read to, when she wants to nurse, or when she doesn't want something. "Sophie, are you ready for a diaper change?" Response? A vehement shake of her head "no." Haha She's got the cutest little "bye-bye" wave, too.

Ayla is impressing us more and more lately. She is developing into quite the independent girl.. umm, excuse me. She has changed her mind and she is "a boy now." She's is certainly interested in exploring the variations and questions of gender attributes and stereotypes.... Anyways, she has been working on learning to write the alphabet, cutting in straight lines, and writing/learning number concepts. She recognizes every letter and just about every number (she gets confused between 6 and 9 and has a hard time remembering 8). As of right now, when you ask her to write the letters H, T, and L and numbers 1 and 0, she can do it very well. She is also very much exploring our boundaries and how it relates to doing what she wants to do. There has been some butting of heads, but its wild to see her listen to reason (when she wants to be reasonable! Hah). She can ride a bike beautifully, loves to play at the park, is super helpful when grocery shopping, and is wildly imaginative (wildly).

This week, we are heading to one of the local farms in a hunt for the perfect pumpkin. I think we are getting a sugar one, too, so we can make some pumpkin butter (mmmmmmm). We are also checking out 3 different Montessori schools and one progressive cooperative preschool for Ayla. Should be loads of fun.

A late birthday shout out to Grandpa!! Happy Birthday!