Trick-or-treating

Happy Halloween

We attended the Websters' annual pumpkin carving party over the weekend. I asked Maggie if she wanted her jack o' lantern to be spooky or friendly, and she said "spooky AND friendly." Then she drew the eyes and provided art direction for the nose, mouth and hair. That's hers on the left. Audrey gave her Grandma Montgomery instructions for carving hers, on the right.

This morning Maggie's preschool had a Halloween party, complete with the funny hat parade. Maggie wanted a space helmet, so we made helmets for her and Audrey out of paper bags.



Tonight, our friend Matthew is coming over to trick-or-treat with us. The girls' costumes are all from Peter Pan: Maggie is Pan, Audrey is the crocodile, and Jane is Nana the dog. Okay, okay, it's a bit of a stretch, but the costumes are cute and comfortable.

I will, of course, be keeping my annual statistics on our trick-or-treaters. I'm hoping to beat our all-time high record of 213, which was from 2005. The jumbo bags of candy are ready and waiting!

Bedtime girls

What, me worry?

Me: Audrey? Where are you and what are you doing?

Audrey: I'm in here, Mama. Don't worry. I'm just fixing your computer.

Maggie's theatrical debut

Kidspace Pumpkin Festival

Out to lunch

Three of them, one of me. And a bagel dog.

I guess she told me

Audrey desperately wanted to play a computer game, but at the moment I couldn't sit down to help her.

I told her, "I'm sorry, but you're not old enough to play alone."

She said indignantly, "YOU'RE too old. I'M just PERFECT."

Another day, another tea party

I couldn't agree more

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Maggie has "sharing" at preschool. Maggie chooses her items carefully (with a little guidance from me), often bringing a favorite book, photo or a flower she picks outside. Today she took her Leaf Book: a little book she and I made together out of black paper with autumn leaves glued on the pages. On the front, she has written "LEAF."

Today after school I asked her if she shared her leaf book and if the kids liked it.

"The girls liked it, but the boys didn't," she said. "The girls all bring fancy things to share, like books, CDs, princess stuff, flowers, or bugs. The boys only bring Power Rangers, and they're BORING!"

Out to lunch with Janey

A card for me

Grasshopper

Sisters, friends

I am fascinated by the relationship Maggie and Audrey have with one another. Ever since Audrey turned two, their friendship has gotten deeper and more interesting. They invent activities and games, often playing together with no adult interaction and having entire conversations about what they're doing.

Maggie is excellent in the role of big sister: She helps Audrey, gives her ideas of how to play along, helps her use the potty, kisses her when she gets hurt. The other night she even brushed Audrey's teeth for her!

Obviously they get into squabbles once in a while. But now that I think about it, I'm impressed they don't fight more often. Most of the time they are deeply kind to each other, loving and giving.

Here's an exchange I just overheard:

Maggie: "Give me a big hug, Audrey."

(hug)

Audrey: "I like you."

Maggie: "I like you too. We'll be friends forever."

See? This is why I keep having babies!

Maggie's rocketship

Zoo

Jane is four months old

Happy 4-month birthday to Jane!

Welcome Amanda!

David, Maili and Amanda are visiting from Virginia. Amanda is a little bit suspicious of all of us, but has been sharing some nice smiles and enthusiastic pointing anyway. She gave Jane an especially nice welcome, pressing foreheads together. And I think she and Audrey are becoming friends!

Celebrating Gaga's birthday

Shenanigans

Petting zoo at preschool

Pirate Mickey

More evidence of Maggie's gigantic heart: playing "Pirate Mickey" with her.

The story is always the same. Mickey, Donald and Goofy board their ship and go sailing in search of treasure. Pete gets in his rowboat and does the same. It's a race! Whichever vessel is manned by Maggie wins, and she gleefully opens the treasure chest. She has no use for the swords, and they often end up put aside. Instead, she invites all the figures to line up and choose something (a gold coin, a treasure necklace or a silver bar). At the end, they dance and have a party.

Yo ho ho!

Roar, what is it good for?

Add to my list of parenting moments I wasn't prepared for: talking to a 4-year-old about war.

We have "adopted" a soldier through the program Soldiers' Angels: a female paratrooper stationed in Iraq. I send her a letter every week and a package about once a month. She has emailed me a few times to thank me and tell me about herself. I've explained all this to Maggie, and it has led to some brief conversations about the military, the war and Iraq.

Today, we learned of an Air Force chaplain working in a hospital in Iraq who is soliciting cards for wounded Iraqi soldiers and police, as well as toys and other items for Iraqi children. I told Maggie that we would send a care package to the Iraqi children and she could help me shop for things and draw some pictures to send the kids.

She liked the idea, but she had some more questions about the "roar." It actually took me a second to realize that she had mixed up the words war and roar. "Mommy, about that roar. How do we get those grown-ups to stop fighting and being mean to each other?"

My dad said nobody would believe a 4-year-old had actually asked that, but it's the truth. I, however, was stumped for an answer. Suddenly, in the face of that question, sending beef jerky to a soldier and a box of toys to children seemed kind of lame.

Or maybe not. After I gave up trying to answer her question, Maggie switched gears to something she understood a little better. "I guess those kids might not be able to go in the backyard to play."

I agreed with her, and said, "But maybe some toys and fun things would make them feel a little better."

"And Mommy, can we get them some of those light-up toothbrushes? Kids really like those."

So, there are some Iraqi kids who will get light-up toothbrushes and toys and drawings from an American kid and her mom--neither of whom understand war very well--but are willing to do what's within their power to help.

At least it's something.

We are family

Maggie is really into drawing the family right now and is producing daily iterations.

Here's one featuring a giant, orange Mommy in the center. Notice my fancy eyelashes. I also love the tall red Maggie on the left, with her hopeful little look.


Maggie went through a brief phase of including "belly buttons and nipples" on everyone. Her preschool teacher joyfully laminated one similar to this and hung it on the classroom wall. When I threatened to sneak in at night with a bottle of white-out, she laughed so hard I thought she might choke. Glad I could provide such amusement.



Here is the newest portrait. It includes our ages. Maggie is 4, Audrey is 2, Janey is 2 (months), Daddy is 11 and Mommy is 16.

Roll Janey Roll!

Janey rolled over (tummy to back) for the first time today!

It will come as no surprise that you can find a video and detailed story on her website.

Halloween party

Today Audrey, Jane, Mom and I attended the MOMS Club Halloween party. Maggie elected to go to preschool instead, and I have to admit I was kind of glad, because we had enough chaos as it was! I was on my feet for 3.5 hours straight, except the one time I sat down to nurse Janey. It was a great event, but I am really glad it's over.

Audrey's official Halloween costume hasn't arrived in the mail yet, so she wore a Cinderella dress-up outfit instead. Here she is in the photo spot, sitting on the straw bale that her Gaga Graff wonderfully provided (it was a big hit, Gaga!!):


Audrey got a heart painted on her cheek:


Gymboree demo--Audrey's in the back, on the right:


Costume parade, marching with Gaga Montgomery:


The display I made for Audrey's playgroup, the Acorns:

Sunday

After church:


Maggie wore her new brown dress and boots. I would totally wear this outfit in my size.


Miss Blondie:

Girl Scouts pumpkin patch & carnival

Surprises

Maggie loves a nice surprise, and lately has been orchestrating surprises for me. She will request to be left alone, go into her room and shut the door. A few minutes later I'll hear her calling for me. I open her door, and she screams "SURPRISE!!" and starts jumping up and down and squealing with excitement. "I decorated my WHOLE ROOM!" By this she means she has spread her favorite toys around, tucked her dollies into clever spots, and spread the blankets carefully on the floor in a nice pattern. She often does this before we have friends over too, to make her room especially nice for them.

For today's surprise, she has enlisted Audrey. The two of them have been drawing pictures at the dining room table for over half an hour (!!!). Every couple minutes, they run into the family room with papers in their hands, telling me "Don't look! Just keep working on the computer!" (um...done and done). Then they run to their bedroom, giggling. I look behind me...and they have spread their drawings around the room for the surprise. I call out "Wow! Look at this! How wonderful!" and they race back in screaming "SURPRISE!!!" (and sometimes "happy birthday"), quivering with excitement and pride. Then the whole thing starts over. We're at round 11 or 12 at this point, and it shows no signs of letting up.

Giggly, grabby, gorgeous Jane

Is it just me, or is Jane getting cuter by the second?!

Jane 1-2-3