A little Indian Summer

 

Kerry was happy to be able to play outside today without a jacket.  And I just love watching my girl having fun.

 

 

 

 

She borrowed a little cane from Joseph (from our Nativity set) and entertained herself by "bamming" the last of the dead leaves from our trees, then hooking the cane onto a low branch and letting go to watch it spring up into the air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She played on her swingset a bit.

 

 

Penguin puppet is a constant companion nowadays.  Wherever she goes, he goes...often even from room to room in the house.  I'm not looking forward to breaking it to her that he won't be able to go to Kindergarten with her next year, or that he'll at least have to stay in her backpack.  And those nearly-outgrown-and-covered-in-paint crocs that she grabbed from the screened in patio have to go...soon. 

 

 

She's pointing his head at the camera so he can say "cheese" too, hehee.  You may have noticed he's sporting a new accessory.   She apparently thought he needed a collar.  I guess it's better then the stickers he's often covered with. 

 

 

Daddy was talking about mowing one last time to mulch the leaves so she thought she'd give him a hand. 

 

Christmas Card photo shoot

Yesterday was absolutely and completely georgeous..as in clear, sunny skies and 73 degrees, so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and try to get this years Christmas card photo taken care of.  I decided to dress Kerry in her red and gold Cheongsam dress this year, the colors just seemed Christmas-y.   So we packed up, headed to Bernheim Arboretum and ended up plopping a chair down in the middle of the Hubboch Holly collection.

 

 

 

She insisted on getting Penguin Puppet in on the action so he was in the first few shots.  I had to make him my "special assistant" so I could get him behind the scenes.  This included me having to make him "talk" and give her instructions in a silly voice...but I was willing to look silly if it meant getting this years Christmas card photo taken out-doors instead of in the living room this year. 

 

 

It's always interesting trying to get a good shot of my silly, spicy girl.

 

 



 

It's a bit of a challenge sometimes...

 

 

but it's never-ever boring.

 

 

 

 I got a lot of the "forced smile" look.

 

I got some sweet ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I think I got a winner or two.

 

 

 

 

This is what she calls her "princess" smile, he hee.

 

 

I had also lured her with the promise of a post photo-shoot picnic...she loves picnics at Bernheim.  We ended up having a really, really great day.  I kind of wish I had a photo-editing program, these are just SOOC, but I'm pretty happy with them, anyway.


 

Gymnastics cuteness!

 

 

Kerry is love, love, LOVING gymnastics, and I must say I love watching her.  Sometimes it's pretty funny...it's always pretty darn cute.  The little clip below is from last nights lesson and it starts off with some funny little hand-stand attempts, then we go into THE cutest attempt at learning a backflip ever!  The clip ends with some bar work..I think she accidentally bumped her mouth in her first attempt but she keeps on going.  Enjoy!

 

 

The Doc is in!

 

  

 

This girl was counting the days to Halloween! 

She decided early on that she wanted to dress as "Doc McStuffins" this year.  There aren't really any costumes out there (that I could find, at least) so we just ordered a little lab coat on-line, bought a striped purple shirt, added a pink skirt and bright pink sneakers that she already owned.  To top it off we found a super sparkly purple headband, ripped the bow off, and hot glued a pink and white flower taken off of a clippy barette and put her hair in braids.  She was pleased as punch with her costume =).

 

 



      We got a slightly later start on trick-or-treating that anticipated so my pictures were not so great but I think she was super cute.

She had so much fun and said " Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank you!" at each house.  She even said "BOO!" at a few stops even though she was far from scary, he hee.

 

Even though she's not even a huge candy eater, she was so excited to get home and check out her loot. 

 

 

 

I have to tell you what my sweet girl did.  She knows I love Skittles and after stopping at several houses she said "I have to get some "Skillets" for you Mommy, I just Have to!"  I assured her that I would be perfectly okay without them and not to worry, but at each house she still took note of what candy she got.  Well, after dumping her loot out on the living room floor she spotted on lone package of the rainbow colored candy.  She jumped up with a huge grin and squealed "Mommy, I DID get 'Skillets'! I'm sooo glad! Here, these are for YOU!"   I just love her sweet little heart =).