Halloween

Marie was one of 3 cats at our little Halloween trek tonight. She did not want to get into her costume and also did not like it when one of her friends gave her a hug...that ended in tears. She tagged along a little slow at first but once she caught on, she took off. We could tell that she had the trick or treating thing figured out when she started to run to the next house. She would not allow anyone to carry her little Jack o'Lantern basket, even when it got quite heavy with candy. And she kept stopping in between houses to try and eat some candy. It didn't make sense to her to get all this candy and not eat it! This particular house freaked her out a little so Momma carried her away. The candy is deposited in a nice big basket on the counter with perhaps a few pieces missing.

And the fish is still alive.

A New Seat and Hat

Marie got an early Christmas gift this week too. She was given a cape/poncho and matching hat knitted especially for her by Aunt Dottie. She has not worn the cape yet but wore the hat yesterday while she went to the park with Daddy. Today when we put it on her, she had a great time pulling it down over her face to make us ask, "Where did Marie go?" It is very cute on her. We tried to capture some pictures and they really don't do the hat justice. I will keep trying.
Thank you!

This weekend I had the flu so Daddy was on deck. He did wonderfully, which is a surprise to no one. Friday night, I spent the night sleeping on the couch and really don't recall it. Saturday I know he and Marie went to the library, the park and got Chinese food. They played a lot together and she took a great nap. Good job Daddy! Sunday, he got a break as I was a lot better. Jim went to church while Marie and I took naps. Then she and I colored. Her new thing is she wants to sit "Indian-Style." You know, with crossed legs. She was trying to imitate me and sit that way while we were coloring today. For those of you who haven't been to the new house, you can see we have taped paper to the floor of the dining room part of the kitchen. (I am a true vision in sweats with a blanket draped over me to ward off chills). We then watched about 3/4's of Big Bird Goes To China. For our fellow China travelers, have you seen this? Am curious what you thought of it. Marie really loved the Monkey King; as I pulled up the blog I saw that Jim had already gone to Wikipedia to look it up. After that, on went the hat and off they went to Pet Smart to get a fish. We will see how long it lasts with the cat.

Football Sunday

Obviously, I need more toys...

...and stuffed animals.

Having a post-Lions victory, pre-park snack.

Taking over Momma's sudoko. (Note matching pink bows on shirt and child.)

WHEW is all I can say. In the past 7 weeks, we have had 2 trips to Chicago, 4 weekend family visits, 1 all weekend long ski patrol refresher and parent-teacher conferences. This weekend, we had...nothing. And it was good.

We went on a gorgeous hike at Empire Bluff, a short hike that ends on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Marie slept beautifully and her parents watched U of M beat try to lose to Illinois. Today, we biked around the peninsula a few times and Marie and Jim watched the Lions win. I sat on the back deck and read. It was heavenly.

Marie is doing wonderful. She is in love with markers and coloring. We have to hide the markers but she knows where to look. Gotta get smarter...

In a Groove

We have settled into the school year. Marie knows when it is a weekend and when it is a "school day." She l-o-v-e-s weekends. Daddy is there all day long...naptimes are uninterrupted...all the attention...no rushing...relax and play! She gets excited when she realizes in the morning that we are both there; that doesn't happen during the week very often. Although on Thursdays Jim goes into work a little late so we can have "family breakfast." Wednesday nights he has judo so we don't eat dinner together; we decided to make up the time on Thursday mornings. It is a wonderful tradition. Marie is just tickled when she gets to start her day with both of us. But weekends...ahhh...that is another thing. She gets a lot of one-on-one Daddy time. Oddly enough, she seems to like watching football with Jim. Probably because he has had so many opportunities to cheer the past few weeks. Marie roots for whoever is winning - U of M, Chicago Bears, Philly Eagles...and said, "UH OH!" when the Lions quarterback got sacked. She is obviously getting it!

Her words so far are "UH OH," "Dad-ddduuh" ( for Daddy), and "Buh-Bye!" Still no Mama...