Swim Lessons!!

I'm not sure I've ever seen Katy such a ball of wiggling and excitement. Swim! Lessons! At! Last!









She was actually determined to be too advanced for this class (as I suspected, but since it was the first time, I didn't know and didn't want to overwhelm her either) so we re-enrolled her into a different class right after it ended for the day. She had SUCH a good time.

All good things must come to an end.

We had to take Luanne to the airport and send her home the day after Halloween. Luckily she was flying out of terminal 2 at the airport; the best one to play in. So, she and Katy got to have one last hour or so of fun.



This photo is random, but it was me explaining to Katy how a camera works (hey, she asked) while we were sitting in the airport.

At Last!

Good thing we saw that costume in the weeks *before* Halloween because it was much too cold on the actual night.

Katy was really overwhelmed. She likes to dress up. She likes the concept of Halloween, but she doesn't like people in masks. This was NOT Ethan as far as she was concerned and she was scared.

We got her calmed down and started in with the crowd. And crowded it was. I've been through a lot of Halloweens in my life and 3 others at this base, but I've NEVER seen crowds like this. Katy refused to go to the doors alone, so I assisted.


Very quickly Katy announced that she was tired and that she wanted to go home. When a 3 year old tells you they're tired and want to go home on one of the most eagerly anticipated nights of the year, you listen! So off we trekked.

One last house on the way out. Katy went with Bobbie Jo instead of me - and allowed Bobbie Jo to step away. Progress!



We survived. Candy was consumed on the drive home. An exhausted child headed to bed very quickly. The Halloween Fairy came and whisked the rest away in exchange for a lovely toy. Need I say more?

What? It was Thanksgiving yesterday and you say I STILL haven't gotten to Halloween proper yet?

This was our pre-Halloween festivities. Pizza and games with our friends the Coles.







At the end we got ourselves all gussied up and ready to head out for the main event. Off we go!

It's been a long year with its share of ups and downs, but what counts at the end is what I'm truly thankful for.

This:



And this:



Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Salt Dough Ornaments!

On Halloween morning Luanne agreed to watch Katy for me while I ran out with a friend to sign the kids up for swim lessons. Katy was game, but when Luanne suggested they go for a walk, Katy refused to change out of her pajamas. So off they went with pajamas, jacket, hat, scarf, walking stick, balloon and apples to feed horses.

Notice how much of that Luanne is now carrying.....

I came home to an empty house (after successfully signing Katy up for lessons). They had a lovely time and I'm glad they got a good chance to bond without me.

After school Katy and I whipped up some banana bread while Luanne took a walk. I made her take off her costume (which was TRAGIC) and put on an apron. She made me join suit. When Luanne returned from her walk she had a lovely leaf, which Katy insisted on putting in her hair.

Halloween, Part ?? (Who are we kidding, I've lost count)

I sent Katy to school on the Friday before Halloween (even though Mamoo was still here) because of all of the Halloween festivities. Here she is, dressed up in all of her glory, before school. And yes, I really did spray her hair pink....

A rare glimpse.

Here are Katy and I while talking on the phone with Ryan.

I'm not sure Katy could get much cuter than this shot.

An afternoon shopping excursion to Globus to let Mamoo check out our favorite German shopping.

Just to make a full day fuller....

After the basket factory and chocolate factory we headed off to the science museum.

Luanne said that she hates that I'm hardly ever on the blog, so most of these pictures are hers; since she caught me in a lot of the shots.








Katy spent a rodiculous amount of time spinning around on this thing. Neither of us ever got a really good shot, so you'll have to trust me that she had a phenomenal time.





A final "How does your camera work?" shot. Learning by example....

The basket factory was followed up quickly by a trip to the chocolate factory. Much more fun in at least one of our opinions.... It was fun to watch them in full production mode with chocolate Santa's.

Katy was allowed to pick out a piece of chocolate; she ended up with a two piece chocolate lollipop set. The cashier gave her another. We set off immediately in search of LUNCH first; there was a bakery right up the street. Mean Mommy, making her eat.

Finally, the chocolate....

One happy little girl.



I love this one (Luanne took it). She looks like the cat who ate the canary.

Happy Anniversary, Ryan!

It's been 11 fantastic years.

Ahhh, we were so young.

The Basket Factory

I kept Katy out of school for a few of the days of Luanne's visit so that we could have some adventures. One morning we headed off towards the basket factory. It's a fun place to visit but not photo worthy. BUT, we did catch these before we went in. Katy was too cute not to capture.

Of course, there were plenty of other opportunities for snuggling. Such as at the BX in the new KMCC.

Luanne offered to knit Katy a scarf to match the sweater she'd already knitted. Katy was entranced and a lot of good snuggling was had while the knitting commenced.