Trick-or-Treat

Trick-or-Treat, trick-or-treat, trick-or treat, trick-or-treat and trick-or-treat. This year I had the opportunity to trick-or-treating five different times. City party, church party with Danielle and Justin, Grandma Alice's village party, trick or treating with all of the Donovan & Zane and their friends, and finally on Halloween with Mama. In addition to that I've had dressed up in my costume for music class and the after Halloween party day at Ms. Celeste.

Mama made my costume, even though she can't read a pattern. She was inspired by me and the idea of building the costume around a skin colored leotard. I think she said making a 4 year old happy was pretty easy but she won't be making a costume for a 14 year old.

I love all of the princesses, just right now Ariel is my favorite. Over all of the Halloween's in my life that I have dressed up for I've been: a beautiful flower, Cinderella, Snow White and now Ariel. You'll just have to wait to see what I will be next year.

On Friday I was able to run around in just my costume for a little bit before the sun went down but on Thursday I wore my Cuddl Duds from Aunt Colleen and a jacket and hat becuase it was a cold night for Trick or Treating.

Back in good hands

Well, Mama's work routine needs to get back into place and that means I am back with Ms. Celeste. Here is a picture with many of us on our 1st official day.

The boss of me!

On Sunday as I was riding my bike I called down the drive to ask my mom a question. I asked "Mama, when I am ten will you still be the boss of me?" My Mama replied "Yes." I thought for a minute and then asked "Mama, when I am 100 will you still be the boss of me?" She said, "Of course, because I will always be your Mama."

Gee!

Power Tools

Papa was building a sample bench for a customer and I let him know that I wanted to learn how to use his screw gun so he taught me.

I know that there are lots of way that I can help Papa. Papa showed me once and after that I didn't want any more help. The tool is a little heavy but the screws are magnetically attracted to the bit and with more practice I am sure I will be as fast as Papa.

I was pretty successful with the shorter screws but the tall once kept falling over when I tried to put them into the wood.

Can you pet a butterfly?

Well, I can pet a butterfly and I did. Our neighbors have beautiful flowers in front of her home and it seems that the butterflies love to visit. Mama and I went up there and not only did I pet one butterfly, but I think I may have petted four of them. It was so cool, they were flying all over the place. There were bumblebees too, but they were more interested in the flowers than they were in me. I didn't try to pet a bumblebee.

My aunt

My Aunt Colleen came in to visit for her 20 year class reunion. I got the chance to spend time with her on Saturday and Sunday. She taught me a joke, do you want to hear it? Okay, here goes, pay attention. What do you get when you cross a brown chicken and a brown cow? . . .

Brown Chicken, Brown Cow! cha, cha, cha :)

Ellie's 3

My friend Ellie turned three in August. Her parents always put together such fun parties and I got to go play with her and our other friends too. The activity for all of the guests was to decorate our own cupcakes, little ones and big ones. I made chocolate ones and vanilla ones and put lots of sprinkles on everything. Ellie even wore a cupcake shirt and hair tie. Way to coordinate the theme and your outfit. I had a lot of fun.

VBS

For one week this summer I went to vacation bible school at church. I learned about the power of God. I had a little trouble understanding some of the stories and took them literaly. On Wednesday I didn't want to go back because on Tuesday 'some guy' spit in the dirt and wanted to put mud on my face.

I learned lessons about being thankful, helpful, being brave, living forever and spreading the word of God. (Fizz, Sparkie, Dewd, Battery, Super Girl)

In addition to learning lots of great songs and dances about God I enjoyed doing all of these things with my cousins. On the last day of VBS I joined them for lunch, which they shared with me. We fed the geese and got a chance to play on the playground for a little bit too.

On the Farm

Mama and I went to the farm and I got to milk a cow, twice. Since Mama had to hold me so I could reach, we don't have a picture. Her calf was named Shakespere.

I visited with sheep, chickens, petted a rooster, road in a wagon, watched a Border Collie named Lucy herd sheep. I even went to see how plants grow from seeds

underground. Before we left I sat on all of the huge antique tractors.

It's good to be a kid

Summer has been filled with lots of activites. I think Mama and I have had the most fun outside of the house. Possibly all this time together has caused us to get on eachother's nerves. I have said some good and not so good things to my parents lately,

mostly Mama.

Not so good includes: "All kids hear is no, no, no! And wait, wait, wait!" I said this when I wanted her to help me brush my teeth.

Last week I came out and asked her for three, no four favors. They were:
"1st can I go potty?
2nd could you turn my movie on ?
3rd could you make me warm milk?
4th could I have a hug? Actually, that one should be #1." I of course received a hug and a kiss.

On a different morning I came out and asked if she would like a morning hug and kiss. You can guess her response.

Mama bought me a Sponge Bob fishing rod in late spring. Papa got everything out of the package and taught me how to cast. Planton is the weight on end and I can cast pretty well, next I need to get a hook baited and catch fish. There are no fish in our yard.

Grandpa Don bought me a sandbox (it's portable) and just the right size. Its fun to play in the sand but its important not to throw it around because it can get in your eyes and that hurts.

I have exhibited some stubborness. I haven't wanted to wear underwear. My excuses have included that they are too small or too soft. Mama bought me new Hannah Montana underwear but I told her they are too small so I am wearing the other ones that are the next size up from High School Musical. I think as long as my bottom is covered she isn't too bothered. I did drive her nuts though for awhile.

We went to the festival on the square and I rode the Merry-go-Round. I love lots of rides but not rollercoasters. I still have flashbacks of the Dragon rollercoaster at the IX Indoor Amusement park.

I also say things like, "Thank you for saving me Mama." when she catches me if I slip. I think she really like hearing that because it makes her smile and hug me.

Last summer I visited Papa at work a few times, but he was working a little closer to home. This summer I only visited him once and it was while Ian was working with him.

My Biggest Boy

Ian is my oldest cousin. He came in this summer for a few weeks to work with Papa and Uncle Vern. First he stayed with my cousins, then when he returned he stayed at our house. I loved having him here and now I am not so shy around him.

We went to see the Cleveland Indians vs. the Detroit Tigers. Ends up Ian's girlfriend Courtney is one of the Tigers biggest fans. She must have been happy that they won the game. It was the first Indian's baseball game I had ever seen and by the fourth inning I had pretty much lost all interest even though we were sitting about seventeen rows back from the home plate. (The first baseball game I went to was my cousin's Justin's. I watched the 3rd inning.)

All of us went for a hike in the park on Sunday. Papa threw Chelsea in the water and she swam a little. I think it was Ian though that really got her to swim. It was fun being in the river. I took off one shoe but Papa convinced me to leave the shoes on to keep my feet safe. Papa tried to teach me how to skip stones. I learned that not all rocks thrown in the water skip across, but I kept trying.

Ian will be celebrating his 18th birthday this month. By the time I am 18 he will be 32. Mama says time goes pretty fast because she still remembers him as a little guy and now he is all grown up.

While he was here he played Candyland, catch outside and watched cartoons with me. He played with Chelsea too.

In the fall he will start college in Detroit to become an illustrator.

Swimming Lessons

During three weeks of July, I took swimming lessons at the pool. My teachers were Brittany, Dave and Aaron. Brittany has been one of my teachers last year. I passed "Pee-Wee" and next I move up to Seahorse. I am able to:

• enter the water by myself


• blow bubbles


• go underwater


• have knowledge of deep water


• use a flotation device


• spend time in the deep water using a flotation device


• spiderman (which means I can hold on to the wall and 'walk' around the edge of the pool)

I had a lot of fun swimming, getting the rings from the shallow end, playing alligator, alligator, jumping into the water to a teacher, sliding on the big curly slide with my teachers (on my own I spun too much and came down sideways and backwards), and sliding on the picnic table 'table slide' the teachers tilted in the shallow end.

Hello Jasper

I have a new cousin named Jasper. Actually, he is my 3rd cousin, and he is the only person in my whole family that I am older than. His parents, Jim and Janet, are both potters and he is their best creation, an amazing sculpture that changes and grows constantly. Mama and I had the chance to visit with all of them on the last Friday in July.

Janet shared that Jim's nickname is Goofy Jim. I don't know if he is goofy, but he sure is a lot of fun. He danced with me to the music I made on the organ at Grand Auntie Rita's home.

Jim was watching me line up the toys and told my Mama about an artist named Andy Goldsworthy who sculpts things in nature in a very exact way. You can check out clips from his film Rivers and Tides on YouTube. I'm looking forward to looking at the books we ordered from the library and watching the movie about him too. Maybe you'll see my art posted here soon.

Jim, Janet and Jasper; I had fun meeting all of you. I look forward to a visit again sometime in the future, possibly on the west coast.

Visiting with friends

We went out to lunch at The Olive Garden with Mama's friends and my friend Ellie too. I don't know if I like Italian food or not since when their is pasta around I just want it buttered, although the other day I did eat Spaghetti-O's. My friend Ellie is a much more adventerous and really gets into her food. She shared her dress up items with me.

After a little house hunting we went back to her home to swing on her tire swing and have popsicles.

Baby Eddie, July 15th

I had the chance to meet Baby Eddie and his Momma. Once his Momma returns to work with mine, I get to visit with him everyday. Isn't he cute? He has a rocker mohawke.

An additional bonus of the visit with him was that I had the chance to swim in their pool. Imagine, a pool right in their backyard and this isn't even Florida. :)

Rock Star, Princess

When I grow up one of the things I plan to do is become a Rock Star. I already have some great moves. My favorite "rockers" right now include Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. In the car sometimes we turn up the radio and rock out.

Also, I will continue to serve in my role as Princess. The royal addition to my wardrobe was given to my by my Aunt Colleen.

IdleWild, PA

July 11th Mama and I went on an adventure. Mama wasn't clear on the distance of this adventure until after she purchased the tickets.

She had heard about Storybook Forest at IdleWild and this was the summer she was determined to have me get my first glance. As we passed into the pages we first met Little Bo Peep who needed to go looking for her sheep. We saw Raggedy Ann, met Goldilocks and Pirate Ruby who had commandeered The Good Ship Lollypop. We also crossed the Troll's bridge and saw the goats living in his shack. I tried to pull the sword from the stone but it seemed pretty stuck. Red Riding Hood warned me to be careful of the Big Bad Wolf because he was out in the woods somewhere. I went inside Peter Piper's Pumpkin, saw the three little pigs by the brick house, road on Aladdin's carpet and so, so many other stories and characters.

After at least and hour and a half in the forest we went to the children's rides in another section of the park. I didn't want to wait in the line but ended up liking Mr. Roger's Neighborhood trolley ride the best. This is us after we invited all of the people to join King Friday at the palace for his "Hug and Song" celebration. I also rode in an airplane, in a race car and an old fashioned car, on a boat and even soared on the back of a dinosaur.

Happy 4th of July

We walked up to see the annual parade. It was great. This parade is my favorite because there are bands, cartoon characters, and best of all candy. I came home with a huge bag filled with candy.

Later in the afternoon we went over to Ms. Sherry's and Mr. Steve's home for a cook-out. I tried snap-its and they were full of surprising, exploding fun. It was a fun way to spend the holiday.

On the 5th we continued to celebration with Mr. Tim and Ms. Jeannie at their house. I especially enjoyed playing volleyball with their children Emily and TJ along with their cousins.

Follow the Leader 6 29 '08

On Sunday afternoon Mama and I played follow the leader with Papa. We were in the van and he was driving the Camaro home after all of the winter work done on it in Mr. Kenny's garage.

I told Mama that "is one FANCY car" when Papa pulled it out of the garage rumbling and he made it bark once or twice on the way home.

It's good to have the car back home. Pretty soon, after Papa completes all of the work on the interior, our family can take it for a ride.

Chuck E. Cheese 6 26 '08

On the 26th Mama surprised me with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Ends up it was either the pool or Chuck's and with the anticipated rainstorm the choice was to get together indoors. Ends up the rain didn't come till evening, but a visit inside or out is always fun when with friends.

When I arrived it was so fun to see all of my friends one at a time. Each time I turned a corner there was a new hug to be had. I enjoyed seeing Ellie, Benny, Leigh, Jenna and Matthew. I am also thankful to Benny for finding my Tinkerbell token purse that I left behind in my enthusiasm to play.

WALL-E

On June 27th I went with Grandma Alice and Mama to see WALL-E. I really enjoyed the movie. I love how WALL-E loves Eve. I also found parts of the movie funny. Grandma and Mama didn't share my enthusiasm but Mama was surprised to find the -cockroach to be a nice movie pet along with a few others things that she found cute.

Mama also shared she couldn't stop thinking if Ray Bradbury might see this movie and appreciate its message.

Vacation

June marked a visit to Grams and Gramps in Florida. I enjoyed spending time with them as well as reading books, putting together puzzles, splashing at the sprinkler playground, and especially swimming in the pool and playing and looking for shells at the beach.

June also marked my first cruise. Our ship, the Enchantment of the Seas, was humongus and took us to Key West and Cozumel. All of my cousins were there. Ian and Sheamus, my big boys, and Danielle and Justin to celebrate Grams and Gramps 50th wedding anniversary. I ate chicken tenders and french fries in the dining room every night. For dessert there was always a chocolate covered brownie. When we returned to the room each night there was a new towel animal to cuddle with. . . . thank you for a lovely cruise.