Welcome Christmas

Welcome, Christmas. HOw our house loves to host you each December. (Hey, we love you so much that we started in November this year!)

One of the things that makes our house so Christmasy this time of year is our collection of snowmen. I have somewhere around 2 or 3 dozen 'ornamental' snowmen displayed around the house on shelves, tables, and counter tops. I have lots of snowman ornaments. I have snowmen on towels, place mats, and aprons. And -- beginning back in 2002 -- I started collecting Hallmark's annual 'Dancing Snowmen'.

The Dancing Snowmen are really very cute. My first pair -- the girl and guy snowperson duo that sing "Let it Snow" -- were a gift from my mother in law. After that, she decided to add to my collection each year, and I've been very grateful. There is something so darling about the little stuffed snowmen (and their counterparts) bopping along to holiday music . . . it makes me smile. Meg and Kate smile, too -- they also very happy that Nana has brought the singing snowmen and women into our home.

We've got six of these lovely stuffed dancers around our house this year. And -- wouldn't you know? -- Hallmark is NOT adding to the collection in 2009. They did a dancing Snoopy for the Peanuts anniversary this year. Bah Humbug, Hallmark! Snoopy is a fabulous icon of holiday spirit -- but I want my dancing snowmen.

Anyway, I guess we'll make due with the 1/2 dozen we already own.

Did I mention the girls LOVE them? The do . . . and they love to love them all at the same time. Imagine listening to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Let it Snow" and various lyrics sung to Nutcracker tunes . . . all sung in cartoony voices from six bouncing stuffed snowmen at exactly the same time. It gets pretty noisy around here these days.

But what kind of mom would I be if I got all the snowmen out, batteried them up, then said, "No, you can't play with them!" I could never do that. Instead, I just take it for as long as I can. Sometimes I manage to stand all the singing until they girls have had their fill, and sometimes I have to say, "Okay, ladies . . . just one more time . . ." in an effort to move their attention elsewhere. It's worth it. Even if it's noisy, something about those snowmen always makes me smile.

The only part that does get a little old is the fighting that sometimes ensues over which snowman belongs to which girl. But even that is short lived . . .

Initial distress over a stolen snowman . .

usually gives way to a game of "Steal Snowy" after only a few short minutes.

Yes, Welcome Christmas. And welcome Snowmen. Here's hoping that the girls get a chance to build a real snowman sometime this holiday season.

Holiday Traditions

We've been swept up in the holiday traditions of Thanksgiving over the past week. Immediately upon my return from my weekend away with my dad, I hit the ground running for Thanksgiving week. We had a house full of Dahlbys, lots of holiday decor and activities to keep us busy, and two little Dahlby girls that ate up every second of the wonderful week. It was a bit of a whirlwind -- hence my lack of posting over he past several days. I didn't disappear . . . just took a week away from the computer to enjoy what the holiday was offering at my house.

There are many Thanksgiving traditions that Jim and I both bring into our family of four. As with any marriage, it's a little bit of what Jim is accustomed to at the holidays mixed with a little bit of what I grew up with that creates our very own Dahlby family holiday. A lot of compromising goes on as to which way we'll 'do things' -- such as what time we'll eat Thanksgiving dinner or what we will serve -- and what we create in the process are traditions that become uniquely our own. Traditions that (I hope) Meg and Kate will grow up to love and enjoy.

I think the A # 1 Thanksgiving holiday tradition that Jim and I have created for our family: the Georgia/Georgia Tech football game, which takes place on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend every year. As you know, Jim is a Yellow Jacket . . . I'm a Bulldawg. It always makes for a very interesting last-Saturday-in-November. We have gone to the this game together -- Jim and I -- ever year we've been together. This year was no different. 2009 was the 9th edition of our UGA/GT rivalry game attendance.

The girls came down to the tailgate at Bobby Dodd Stadium yesterday -- though we think they are not quite old enough to actually attend the game with Mom and Dad just yet. Still, they loved tailgating with us all . . . decked out as our house divided, of course. It was fun to share with Meg and Kate the excitement of a fall tradition that means so much to Jim and me.

And at the end of the afternoon, Nana Dahlby packed up the girls and took them home so Mom and Dad could go into the stadium and see the University of Georgia reclaim our spot as the BESTcollege football team in the state of Georgia. Georgia WON last night -- which was quite an upset in the world of college football.

That is one holiday tradition I just can't ever get tired of. :)

Once a dawg, always a dawg. How sweet it is!

Hope your weekend was as happy and family-filled as ours was . . . and I hope your holiday traditions were enjoyed by everyone around you.

Let Us Be Thankful

It's the thankful season. We are all thankful for so very many things this last week or two each November. I'd like to think I'm thankful every day . . . but we all know that we should stop and be grateful more often than we are.

So let me take a minute to show you what I am thankful for today.

Today, I am thankful for preschool holiday parties. There is nothing like little homemade treats (allergen free, usually) on tiny festive paper plates, followed by a little craft that all the kids are way too busy to bother to finish. I love holiday parties at the preschool. In this thankful season, I'm very thankful for my darling girls who let me share in the fun with them.

What's Up

Life around here is busy. Computer issues (thank goodness Jim fixed it) and a sick Meg have kept me from blogging or even checking email for the past several days. I just logged on for the first time in 3 days. Believe it or not, I've not checked my email since Saturday. I was starting to have real withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, here is what has kept us so busy since last we met . . .

I kept my sunglasses.

Some lady came to my door selling cleaning products (Clean & Simple -- consider yourself warned!). She came at the worst time of day . . . I was trying to get the girls ready for bed . . . but I was too nice to slam the door in her very pushy face. I ended up with some ridiculous cleaning products that I could easily live without, and I felt bad for about 2 days for spending the money on the product. I was so embarrassed -- what was I thinking?! Jim has forgiven me, but I'm still trying to forgive myself.

Jim left for a Sunday-Thursday trip. And when he returns on Thursday night, I'm off for a weekend trip with my dad. Just the two of us, taking some time to ourselves to enjoy each others company and kinda put some of 2009 behind us. It will be a very nice weekend with my Daddy. (Though I'll miss Jim and the girls a lot.)

Meg and Kate both have survived some serious chest congestion over the last week. They have not been "sick sick", just coughy, wheezy, and whiny. No real fever, just not quite themselves. And this time, Meg was the one who got the worst of it. Blech. But hey -- I learned that kids can throw up when the mucus in their chest gets to be too much for them . . . who knew?

Kate is the hostess for the Thanksgiving Feast in her MMO class on Thursday morning. And by Kate hosting . . . I really mean that I am hosting. Must make orange rice krispie treats tomorrow for the affair. I had one heck of a time finding Thanksgiving themed plates/napkins for the shindig . . . seems like many stores go straight from Halloween to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Thanksgiving, stuck smack in the middle of two very retailer-lucrative holidays, has apparently become the red-headed stepchild of seasonal merchandise.

Nana and Papa Dahlby arrive this weekend (while I'm away) for the Thanksgiving week. In preparation for their arrival, I have used my aforementioned too-expensive all-purpose cleaning product to clean my stove top, my oven, all my baseboards, my blinds, and my carpets. I guess new products plus the motivation of having my in-laws land here for more than a week is a good thing . . . by the time my cleaning lady comes and goes on Thursday afternoon, my house will be really very clean.

We have officially kicked off the holiday season at the Dahlby household. We tagged along with some friends and went to check out Santa at Phipps Plaza last week. NO -- we didn't see him yet -- we just checked him out from afar and started gearing Meg up to actually sit with him this year. And while we were in the area . . .

we rode the Pink Pig. In November (okay, in early November). It was awesome . . . the girls loved it, and there was no crowd. Too early or not to early, you can't argue with doing something when it's easy.

And speaking of holidays too early . . . we put our tree up last weekend. Okay, that one I'll give you . . . I know it's early. But with me leaving town for the weekend and Thanksgiving banging on the door as soon as I return, it just seemed like we needed to get the tree up or risk not being able to do it as a family (just the four of us, I mean) during Thanksgiving week. So last Friday night, we ate take-out and decorated the tree while watching Frosty the Snowman on DVD. It was a great night.

The early arrival of the Dahlby tree allowed me to dig out the Holiday jammies I had purchased on super-clearance at the end of last season. They'll get to wear them for a few extra weeks . . . so see, I'm trying to make the most of my money in some areas. :)

And that's what's up around here.

Am I Cool Enough?

Am I cool enough for these glasses?

I found these today, and I'm wondering if I can pull them off. If so, Jim wants to wrap them up and give them to me as a Christmas present. (Less shopping for him, less returning of items for me!)

What do you think?

Working Girl

I've been working some lately . . . soliciting some shoots because I miss being behind the camera. This time of year is so busy for photographers, and I've endured it for the past 3 years in a row. I complained the whole time about how hard it was to work and handle the girls. This year, I backed way off the photography to save myself from exhaustion . . . and it feels strange NOT to have a lot of work to do.

And when I look at my images, I miss the work even more. I love doing this. I'm so lucky to have a hobby that helps provide our family with a little extra 'fun money'. And I'm so lucky to have a hobby that -- dare I say it? -- I'm good at. Taking pictures makes me feel good.

Here are my favorites from a couple of my recent shoots . . .

Hours of Entertainment

I had a large piece of white backdrop paper left over after a shoot this weekend, and I decided to put it to good use. The paper had been scuffed up quite a bit, so it was no longer useful in photographing . . . but it sure did make one monster piece of coloring paper. When taped to the kitchen floor, the girls found it to be hours (okay, maybe an hour) of entertainment.

Meg drew herself. I love that she has a head, a face, purple eyebrows, arms, hands, legs, feet, and shoes. (For those of you in Early Childhood Ed, you recognize that this is quite a milestone! It's fun to see what I've learned about in school happening in my very own children.)

Kate just drew and drew . . . until she got bored, then she decided to move the furniture around.

It was a fun project. I left it over night, and the girls were delighted to pick up where they left off after they ate their breakfast this morning.

Have I mentioned how much fun it is to see them playing together?! Aside from a few, "Kate's drawing on my side!" outbursts, they have colored together and seem to enjoy every minute.

Mental note: find more activities they both love. Not only is it great for them, but it is so much fun to sit back and watch.

The Christmas List Begins

"Mommy! Mommy! A purple princess bike!" Meg exclaimed as we wandered through Target one October afternoon.



Naturally, I was as excited as she was to see a purple Disney Princess bike. (No, I'm not kidding.) What could be more perfect for my oldest daughter? I contained my excitement and admired the bike with Meg.



"I want to get it, " Meg told me.



"It's the time of year when we start thinking of things we'd like to ask Santa for as Christmas presents, Meg-a-loo. That would be a great present to talk to Santa about," was my response. After all, I'm certainly not going to fork over $70-some-odd bucks on a Tuesday afternoon for her purple princess bike . . . but, at the same time, I do want to get it for her. I know she'd LOVE it.



"Okay, Mommy. I can tell Santa about it. When I see him. And I can tell him he can get it at Target," my super-smart kid replied.



Well, Meg . . . Santa found your bike this weekend at Costco for $10 less than Target. And he cannot wait to deliver it to you on Christmas Eve.

A Year Later

If you go back and read my blogs from one year ago, I think you can hear the stress, depression, and anxiety I was living through as I settled in to our life with two young children.

But this year, one short year later, life is so much better. It's a whole hell-of-a-lot easier with regards to taking care of the girls, and I'm a whole hell-of-a-lot better equipped to handle our family and all it entails. Funny -- with my dad's cancer and my mother's death this year, it's really been one of the worst years of my life. But with regards to my immediate family and my day-to-day life and responsibilities, it really has not been bad at all.

I remember how hard it was to get through the evenings last fall and winter. Everything took soooo long . . . and I had to do sooooo much because both of the girls were still very young and dependent on me. I had to spoon feed Kate, dress Meg, wash them both, dress them, nurse Kate, put them to bed. The evenings here are still very hectic, but they are getting easier every day. Dinner is not the marathon it once was . . . we all eat the same thing for dinner every night, and everyone feeds herself. Granted, sometimes I don't finish my plate because I'm refilling milk glasses or offering seconds to Kate (my BIG eater), but at least I'm not spoon feeding anyone or holding anyone in my lap. Meg is becoming quite a helper at dinner time -- putting dishes in the sink, cleaning up toys in the living room while I clean up the kitchen. Kate is learning to eat at the table (without the use of her high chair tray), so pretty soon we will all just sit there together and enjoy our meals as one happy family.

I can throw both girls in the tub together, wash and dry them, all in about 20 minutes (longer on some nights if I let them play while I relax for a few minutes by the side of their tub). Meg can get out of the tub, dry herself, retrieve her jammies, and put them on all by herself . . . all while I take care of Kate. Meg's ability to dress herself has been the BIGGEST milestone when it comes to our evenings . . . I'm so grateful that (for whatever self-motivated reason) she decided she was ready to start doing that. Kate does not have to be nursed anymore, so I can just jammie her up, sweetly rock her for a minute or two, they lay her down and off to sleep she goes. I read Meg a few stories, then it's lights out for her, too. Bedtime is really an entirely different process than it was one short year ago.

One year has made all the difference. There are many, MANY things that are easier . . . and a few things that are still kinda tough. We do have to have TWO of everything now -- two lollipops, two juice boxes, two snack cups. When we get ready to go somewhere -- especially now that the weather is cool -- there is a lot of shoe-tying and jacket-zipping to be done. And two totally mobile, very curious girls in a public restroom is a little harder than it was when Kate used to just hang in a stroller. But I think it's a trade off . . . and I would totally trade our 'hard' things now for what was once REALLY hard.

I survived the year with a newborn and a two year old. Now I'm loving my year with a one year old and a three year old. I hear it just gets better and better . . . which will make it harder and harder for us to go back to the beginning and have another baby. Ahhhh, but that is a conversation for another day. A conversation I've told Jim I'm not ready to have for at least another year. For now, I'm just going to enjoy these girls and the things that life throws me.

Happy One-Year-Later to Me!

Autumn is Busy

ALWAYS. Our busiest time of year. At least I recognize this now . . . it's barely November, and I already find myself saying, "I'll do that after the first of the year." The fall just flies by, so I might as well enjoy it and put stuff off until 2010. What's the hurry, anyway?!

This weekend was one of those busy weekends. Friday I got to visit some high school friends . . . I dropped the girls off with my dad for the weekend, then went out to dinner with some of the girls down on the south side of town. Saturday afternoon, Jim and I capitalized on a Meg-and-Kate free afternoon by doing a little Christmas shopping and taking a nap. Jim and I attended a college friend's wedding on Saturday night, which was awesome. Sunday (today) Jim is retrieving the girls from Newnan, and I have a photo shoot in about 2 hours. Like I said, a busy weekend.

When I look ahead in our calendar, we have more busy weekends ahead . . . and when I look back, I remember our October was pretty crazy. How did I manage to do all of this last year -- with a new baby and my photography career in full swing? I'm just glad I survived . . . and so glad I backed off of the work so that I could spend my busy fall with our family. I would hate to let this time fly by and miss out on things like Saturdays at Costco with Jim or Sunday mornings with our girls. In our busy season here, I'm feeling pretty lucky.

Katie LIKES It!

For those of us that grew up with the Life Cereal commercials about Mikey . . . around here, we are saying quite often, "Kate likes it!"

Kate is really turning from our baby to a walking, talking toddler before our very eyes. And finally -- after 16 months of waiting -- we are starting to learn the things she really likes (and doesn't like). She's got opinions, she's got preferences, and she has favorites. It's like she is her very own person!

I know I don't write about Kate as much as Meg . . . but that is only because Kate is so easy going, she doesn't give me much blog-worthy material. She rarely gives me any problems at all, except for the occasional pestering of her big sister (which, in all honesty, Meg kinda deserves from time to time). Kate is just so easy. She is such a little delight. We have not had to worry much about Kate . . . she just goes along with whatever rolls her way.

I'm very excited to see that now she is really starting to communicate with us, to let us know the things she wants, needs, likes. Kate's first big love -- as is the case with many toddlers -- is the big red guy, Elmo. Kate loves Elmo. One of her first words was, "El-o" and she still says it every time she sees him. Once we established that Kate was really digging Elmo, I ran around the house and gathered up every Sesame Street toy we had. I started turning on Sesame Street and Elmo . . . shows we hadn't watched in ages . . . and explained to Meg that these were shows Kate wanted to watch. And I think Kate loved it. I think she really saw how we responded to her, and so she continued to show us things that she enjoyed.

We also know that Kate enjoys playing with cars. And balls. She's not much into TV, unless it's Elmo . . . and even then it's only temporary. We have learned that she's most likely going to be right handed because she really enjoys coloring with big, fat crayons. At the table, Kate won't touch pears, she could eat anyone under the table and a mac-and-cheese eating contest, and she most certainly has a sweet tooth. She loves to play with baby dolls (just like Meg). She won't really sit still for stories or books (yet).

Kate loves to take a bath. You can just say 'Bath' and she heads right for the staircase, on her way up to have you draw the water. She would sit in the bath tub until the water got cold, if you let her. Kate doesn't mind sharing her tub with Meg . . . but on the rare nights that she gets to bathe alone, you can totally tell she is eating it up. All that space and all those toys all to herself is her own little piece of heaven. My baby girl is a bath-loving kiddo.

She's letting us in on her dislikes, too. Kate gets frustrated very easily -- way more easily than Meg, if you can believe it. My dad will tease her by offering her a toy, but then moving it slightly to one side or the other when she reaches for it . . . you know, a little game . . . and MAN does she hate that. She stomps her little feet and complains like nothing else. Unfortunately, her complaining is still a lot of "Ehh! Ehhh! Ehhh!" type grunts and whines. I'll be glad when she can verbalize her feelings . . . she's loud, and that complaining can really be unnerving at times.

Kate will also fly off the handle when Meg snatches something from her, especially if she is really enjoying it. This has resulted in Kate learning to seriously guard any coveted item for fear that the big sister will come along and take it away. Sad, but true. I have to think that is just the way it goes with siblings. That is not to say that I allow Meg to snatch things -- but there just has got to be some give-and-take as a result of having more than one kid in the house.

Even with her new opinions, Kate remains very easy going. She is like Jim in that . . . she doesn't ask for much, but when she does, she means it. Meg looks like Jim but acts like me; Kate looks like me and acts like Jim. Opposites, of course . . . that may be one of the biggest discoveries we are making as Kate comes into her own. These girls of ours are about as opposite as they could be. Figures, I guess . . . I think that is the way it is supposed to be.

It's just so fun to learn more and more about my second born. For so long, we've just carted her around . . . she's been the one that has had to go-with-the-flow. But not for much longer. I'm working on two walking, talking, opinionated girls around here. Really, it's pretty fun.

Nap Update

So . . . screw it. I'm still putting Meg down for a nap most days. I just can't give it up, and she does not seem to mind her daytime sleep. She still needs it, honestly.

Meg skipped a nap Tuesday and Wednesday last week, which worked out to be just OK. I was hoping less napping would mean early bed times and better mornings . . . but it didn't really work out exactly like that.

Tuesdays are hard because Meg has preschool, lunch, then only about 90 minutes until dance class. I figured that was a good day to try out the skipped nap . . . just let her stay up and go to dance. Last week, that worked out fine. No nap on Tuesday, off to dance, early to bed. Then I thought Wednesday morning Meg would wake up all rested and feeling good from her early bed time . . . but she woke up in her usual semi-crabby mood. So we skipped a nap again on Wednesday. Why not try again? I figured. She fell asleep in the car on the way home from an afternoon of errand-running. And she was pretty crabby that evening. And she woke up as usual on Thursday, which -- as I have established -- is not very easily.

My plan didn't work. Or -- maybe it was doomed from the start because my little three-year-old still needs her naps. The rest of last week and all weekend, Meg got her naps.

Then today -- Tuesday again -- I goofed and let her nap. After last week, I had decided that it might be easier to let Meg skip naps on Tuesday to avoid having to wake her up for dance and face the sleepy monster she can become. But I thought dance was cancelled because they follow the local school holiday calendar . . . and today was a school holiday due to local elections. No school = no dance = Meg can nap . . . but that wasn't the case today. Turns out the studio only sticks to the school calendar for real holidays.

Too bad I didn't learn about this until I had already put Meg down for her nap. But thank goodness that another mom called to let me know or else Meg would have missed dance all together.

I had to wake Meg up about 1 hour into her nap in order to dress and depart for dance class. It was awful. Crying, whining, crying, more whining. When we arrived at the dance studio, another mom cheerfully asked her if she had tears on her face or if she had been splashed with water. It was that bad. Her twisted seat belt was enough to send her into a fit for the entire (5 min) ride to the studio, and the tears were flowing.

"Oh, those are tears . . . and lots of them," I replied to the friendly mom. With Meg's tear-stained grimace, I bet everyone in the place thought I'd drug my poor kid to dance against her will. I bet I looked like a pushy mom, forcing her kid into her leotard and tights for my own benefit.

Nope. Meg loves dance. Loves it. Just HATES missing sleep.

Like I said -- screw the whole nap debate. I don't have any more time to worry about it. What I learned from my little experiment is that Meg can deal without her nap, but it's not always a pretty sight. So, if we have to skip a nap, we'll survive. But if at all possible, let the kid sleep for a while mid-afternoon. Everyone is happier for it.

*Sigh* At least this means that afternoon naps are safe for little Kate for months to come.

More from the Mouth of Meg

"Did you play on the playground today?" I ask as we drive away from preschool car pool.

"Well . . . " Meg begins. She's so animated and involved in her story telling these days, many of her responses begin that way. With hand motions . . . like lifting her arms, bent at the elbow, and turning her hands over, palms up, then bouncing them up and down as she talks. Or putting her little fingers close to her mouth like a megaphone. All for emphasis, I'm sure.

"When we got ready to go out side, it wasn't quite sunny enough to play outside. So we had to go to the big room (gym) and play a wittle bit. Then we checked again, and it was quite sunny enough, so we got to go outside and swide."

_____

Meg sleeps with 2 lovees. She needs both of them to sleep . . . though they are identical blankets. Our original thought was that we'd have 2 of the same lovee . . . one for the car or the wash, one for her to love. But somehow, she ended up with both. Now we need them both. So, Meg sleeps with 2 lovees.

Sometimes she likes to pretend she doesn't need the lovees for sleeping. The truth is, they are a great source of comfort for her, and she does need them to help her settle in and rest. But, she sometimes likes to play the 'big girl' card and tell me she does not need her lovees.

"Where are your lovees?" I ask as Meg and I settle in for some bedtime stories.

"I don't need them. I'm a big girl, so I don't need my lovees," Meg tells me.

Sigh. This happens a lot -- the lovees disappear as we go through the bedtime routine. I think it's a ploy to stretch out her bedtime.

"Meg, please go get them. I don't want to start reading and you to start complaining because you don't have your lovees. It's okay to sleep with them -- it doesn't make you a baby," I say.

"But, Mommy. I don't need them. Trust me," she replies.

Trust me. Really? My 3 year old says, "Trust me." ??

________________________

Meg: "Mommy, can we get another baby?"

Me: "What?!"

Meg: "I'm ready for you to get another baby."

After scoffing, I reply, "Well, since we are ordering up babies, do you want a boy or a girl?"

Meg: "A girl. We can name her Jim. Daddy would like that."

_____________________

"Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be like you."

A blushing and flattered mother replies through her smiles, "What do you mean?"

"Like, a Mommy. I want to be a Mommy like you."
"Oh, I hope so, Meg. And what will you do when you are a Mommy?" Mom asks.
"Take care of me and Kate, like you do," Meg matter-of-factly states.

In that moment, I felt really, truly appreciated. It was sweet to see that Meg recognizes all the things that her mommy does for her.

______

Riding in the car . . . when some of our best conversations occur. So many witty comments occur while driving, I have started carrying a little pad and paper with me so that I can remember some of the best ones. This one happened on a Sunday, after a shopping errand with everyone in tow.

"Daddy, when we get home, can I have some more juice?" asked Meg.

"I don't know, Meg. You've already two cups of juice today. That's a lot," Daddy replies. (Good Daddy!)

"Two cups is not a lot of juice, Daddy. TEN cups is a lot of juice. Two is not a lot," replied Meg.

Jim and I both laughed . . . we had to try not to laugh out loud for fear that she'd realize she was being cute. Meg can really ham it up if she knows she's amusing us.

"How about this, Meg. Two cups might not be a lot, but it's enough. We'll talk about milk or water when we get home," Daddy said.

"Okay. But it's not a LOT. Two cups of juice is not a lot of juice, Daddy," says Meg. She has to have the last point in the conversation on many occasions.

____

Just a side note: Meg does, in fact, address us as "Mommy" or "Daddy" as often as I state in these little quips. She calls us by name nearly all the time . . . sometimes I hear "Mommy" so many times in one day, I want to scream. (I'm terrible, I know.) She can't start a conversation without saying, "Mommy . . ." and she rarely continues what she is saying until I respond with, "Yes, Meg?" It's cute -- and I waited my whole life to be called Mommy -- but I often wonder how many times a day I hear my own name.

We're Off to See the Wizard

Unfortunately, it rained on Halloween.

But that did not slow us down one single bit. Rain or shine, it was the MOST fun Halloween I have ever had.

Meg could not WAIT to Trick or Treat. Starting on Thursday, she was saying, "The day after tomorrow we will Trick or Treat!" Then Friday came, and she knew Halloween was just one day away. When I warned her that it might rain, she responded with, "That's OK, Mommy. I'll hold my Toto and basket in THIS hand, and I'll hold my Aurora umbrella in the other hand."

True to her word, she had it all figured out when we stepped out into the mist to Trick or Treat around the 'Hampton on Saturday evening. It was cold and wet, but Meg did not care. She rang doorbell after doorbell . . . then ran back to report what goodies she was given. I don't know when I've seen her so excited. (And yes, I eventually talked her into wearing a jacket over her dress, as sad as it was to cover up her blue gingham.)

And Kate . . . well, once she was suited up like the Scarecrow, I could not get enough of her. She was the cutest little Ozian I could have ever imagined. She took the whole night in stride . . . she did not let the the rain bother her at all (though she got SOAKED!). She toddled along behind Meg and wanted to go to each and every house her big sister did. Kate could not say, "Trick or Treat" just yet, but nobody cared. The neighbors took one look at her and those painted-on freckles, and she was given as much candy as her chubby little hands could carry.

It was so much fun.

And when our baskets were full, home we went to dump out the loot and see what we'd gotten. The girls were stripped down to their underclothes and I tried to get them upstairs into a warm bath -- but they weren't having any of it. They wanted to give out candy to the trick-or-treaters ringing our doorbell, and they wanted to eat as much of their candy as we'd let them. So that's what we did.

Rain or shine, it was an awesome night. It's going to be hard to top it in years to come . . . the cuteness, the innocence, the sheer joy they felt from such a fun event. I had a blast watching my girls soak up the childhood wonder that is Halloween.

Now that it is all over -- and the girls had such a great time -- what on earth do I do with all of this candy?!