HAIRCUT!!

I'd been thinking about it for a while.
One day, I decided Ijust had to go
and do it, no more wrestling.
I knew it was going to
change her looks. I love to see her learn new
things, and I especially love it when she
says those clever things. But, part of me
wants her to stay a baby. I want her to look like
my baby. But her stringy hair was causing us to
have issues with combing after washing.
Tangle free shampoo is a lie!

..........BEFORE........

While Annie was waiting for her turn, she
played with a tot sized beautician center.

The dainty, 2 year old twirly blondness........

........ & one last look.......

She picked her chair. She really wanted to
climb up in it all by herself!

Having a lollipop while mom learns how to
NOT cut bangs!

Miss Pat braided her hair and
then snipped it off!!!

Royanne was a pretty good gal for
her first cut.

It is amazing how layered hair will
turn under all by itself!

Ta-da!!!

New Dance Class

I enrolled Annie in another kinder Tots Dance
Class, only to have it canceled and moved to
Round Rock. There weren't
enough signed up at the rec center, so Annie and
the other little girl, Zoe, transferred to
the other facility. I really wanted
her enrolled because after this session,
they'd be displaying some newly
acquired talent to
preform in the town's festivities at the
annual lighting of the Christmas tree and the
parade and all.



......waist twist......

.......tumbling........

........marching.......


......bend your knees!!!!!!!!

(She was having a semi-weepy
day and needed her silky in class)
*

Ham

Yucking it up. One of the last pictures
taken with her longer hair.

*

A Serious Experience

A MOMENT OF SILENCE.....


Annie got her first big girl hair cut
today.

Sigh..............

[she doesn't look like a baby anymore]

Halloween & Trunkin' the Treatin'

This year Royanne grasped the idea of Halloween
right off the bat.
We happened to be at Kay's when it was carving
time. Liam picked out a gourd shaped,
unusual looking pumpkin.
The other pumpkin was very hard - we supposed
it was due to the drought like circumstances -
and Kay was forced to use a hammer and
screwdriver to break through so they
could carve it.

She was amazed by what came out of it!

Abby, being silly!

All dressed up and we've got somewhere
to go! It took over 30 minutes to do the
hair!

First stop:
Great Grandma's.

We thought she'd like a surprise.
She was surprised and said, "Well, I
don't have any treats, so I guess you will
have to trick me!"

Tanner, his big brothers and his dad were
dressed like the three little pigs and the
big bad wolf. Tanner was the wolf!
Their baskets were very clever:
one was made of straw,
one was sticks, and one bricks (which were
small sponges painted brick red. Too cute!)

Lleyton was a doggie. It gave me an idea......
all I needed was a witch and a scarecrow.........
we'd almost have a Wizard of Oz cast!

Abby has been in love with Dorothy and the
Wizard of Oz for years, so she and Royanne
were twin Dorothys!

Royanne, Megan, Addie - and bending - Emma.

Well, things turned out better than I'd hoped!
I found a trunk decorated with scarecrows. And a
witch! And Keonye was a lion! But Lleyton was so sad
and I was trying to hurry because he was being nice
being in the picture, but really only wanted his
mom, and in the hurriedness of it all, I
chopped off the tops of the scarecrows from
the pictures!!! I was very disappointed in my
picture taking.

Waiting in line for a treat.

Lucy (Lue-she) and Royanne.

Royanne with Aunt Marybeth and Uncle
Roger. John Paul the pirate is in
the corner.

Posing with a scarecrow with a pumpkin head!

Staying Home?

Although I am behind on pictures and
stories, I just wanted to post about what
Royanne said this morning first thing.

Last night, last thing, when we were
rocking and singing, she asked me,
"We stay home tomorrow, mommy?"
I said, "Sure, we can stay home."

We had been gone every day for the last 5
days, at least 6 hours of the day. She liked
the occasional skipping of her nap, but she
was tired! Last night we were going to go to
Julie's but it didn't work out.
So, after I affirmed we'd stay home today, she
said, "Go to Julie's today, maybe?"
and she cocked her head to one side and held up
her finger. It was so cute! She was trying to
finish up our to-do list!

Last week, and this is in just one day, we:
Got up as usual, ate hurriedly, and went to
dance class. Our class was moved to another
facility due to issues with the number of
kids, and it was 12 miles further away.
She was excited to see her new building and
liked meeting the new girls.
Quickly after class, we went to Kay's to pick
up a table she'd repaired for grandma.
It wouldn't fit in her car, so I was taking
care of the transporting.
Kay forgot to leave it
on the porch, so I went through the gate
and carried it to the van.
I had to explain where everyone was
- school, work, etc. -
and why we couldn't and play. She cried
because she didn't understand.

Then we went to MAACO to check on
the progress of a few items.
We took some pictures to upload
to Bruce and Joe at MAACO franchise
school later on.
A quick stop at the post office and we were
on our way.

Next, we went on to Hobby Lobby to take
a picture of Kay's grand creation: a Christmas
tree with unusual decorations (it was magnificent).
While we were there, we bought 2 small boxes
of Christmas lights that I use as nightlights
on her shelves that are near the ceiling. The ones up
there have burnt out. They backlight
her lambs and stuff. We also looked at a doll we've been
thinking about getting. She finally made a
decision on which one. This doll comes
with stuffing and clothes, sort
of like building the doll from scratch. Afterwards, we
went to Grandma's because Kay and I were
going to put up a tree to hold decorations
in the lobby at the
annual Village Christian Apartments Bazaar.
Kay was meeting us there after working
the morning and running a few of her
own errands.

Royanne was rambunctious so Grandma took
her to her apartment to make the doll
and read some books, while Kay and I attempted
to figure out why the lights weren't working.
Craig had told her the tree didn't light up!
Oh well!
I suggested we use the lights I had just
gotten so I went to the car to get them. Next
thing I knew, it was time for me to leave
and get Abby and Liam at school. Kay was going
to finish the tree. Since Royanne was upstairs
with Grandma, I left her to come back with Kay, got the
diaper bag from the van and gave Kay the
table to take to Grandma.

I went to the school, parked across the street
and walked over to get the kids on the
school porch, where parent pick up is.
They were surprised to see me!
We went to the park because Liam
was having a class function, and waited for
Kay and Royanne to get there.

Then, we went to Kay's for dinner and
playing and then to the grocery store.
We were home by 9:30.
That was just one day of our week, and probably
why she asked if we were staying home today!

When We Took Daddy to the Airport...

Royanne can say "Daddy is at MAACO school in
Pennsylvania."

The internet camera our friends let us borrow
was very useful because Annie and her daddy
used it at least 5 days a week while he was gone.
She got bored sometimes because I had
her strapped in the
booster seat so she couldn't destroy the
office too much!

Here are some pictures before he left on
a jet plane.

We made a quick visit to Shipley's doughnuts
before we headed to the airport.

Annie caught a few ZZZZZZZZs
on the way
because she got up very early.

Boarding pass in hand.
Annie was pretty interested in watching
the suitcase get checked in and then
taken away.

Quick quality time before Bruce had
to go through security.
As he stood in the line that winds back
and forth, she waved and called out to
him.

Bruce on the other side of the airport,
putting his boots back on after going
through security.
Royanne waved and waved until be was
gone. She yelled, "Bye-bye, daddy!"
over to the other side.

*

Julie's baby

In August, on one of our visits to Julie's to
see the baby, Julie took a few pictures of Annie
and Nathaniel.
Royanne was so excited to hold him - I had her
hold him just like Abby held her when she was
brand new - and she talked about it for
days! There were lots of days we'd stop by
after going swimming.

In October, we babysat the sweet boy so Julie could
spend some time with her older son.
When he started to fuss, I told Annie
he was sleepy.
She went and got a baby bed from her
dollhouse and brought it over to him.
IT WAS SO SWEET!!!

She said "I want to kiss him?" and phrased it
as a question. I told her she could only kiss his
head.

*