Warm Wednesday

Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny, warm day - probably the last one for a while (the weathermen are predicting snow for Halloween evening - I'll believe it when I see it). So we were out enjoying the warmth that day. Helaina played on the playground, rode her bike & scooter and took Emmie for a walk. I can't stop looking at this picture of this amazing little face.

Emmie went for a walk down our neighbor's driveway ...

... running down the sloped driveway ...

... oops, Emmie got away ...

... gotcha!

Thursday was Helaina's Halloween party at school and the kids put on a little show for the parents. They were too darn cute singing all their Halloween songs. At home Helaina belts out the songs so loud that it hurts our ears, but at school she went through all the motions and sung softly or not at all. During a little break I asked her why she wasn't singing loud like she does at home. After that she picked it up a bit. Could it be she DOES have a tiny shy bone somewhere in her body? Jim taped the entire performance so I'll post a little video clip when it's ready.

Eleven adorable little kiddos.

Friday was free Funny Face Pancake Day at IHOP so we took Helaina there for lunch. She decorated her whipped cream faced pancake with candy corn teeth and mini oreo eyes.

Funny Helaina:

One day last week Helaina and I were outside playing when Jim was expected home from work. She was sitting on the front steps and I went into the garage to get something as Jim pulled into the driveway. Helaina screams to me: "Quick, Mommy, get to the side!!!" That's what we tell her - get to the side of the driveway when someone's pulling in so she won't get hit by the car. Glad to see she was looking out for me!

Helaina and Jim were heading down into our basement one night last week for something. Jim went first with Helaina right behind him. As they are going down the steps she says to Jim: "Daddy, don't fall. I have to call the ambulance."

Every once in a while when I ask Helaina to do something lately she'll reply: "OK Mom. Whatever you say." Cracks me up. Whatever I say? Yah, right.

10 minutes + 4-year old = mess

Helaina trashed the family room in 10 minutes flat Sunday afternoon. Jim was on the computer and I was in the kitchen. Helaina was supposed to be resting on the couch (tired and cranky from no nap and lots of weekend activity) watching her latest favorite movie, Lassie (we've rented 3 different Lassie movies for her recently and she LOVES them). Next thing I know the room is torn up - dominos, dogs, musical instruments, doctor's kit, balloons, a pumpkin(!) - we couldn't believe it. Jim took her outside because she obviously still had energy left to burn (we didn't).

I picked up a few things to clear a path and laughed out loud when I looked in the crib. Apparently Sierra the dolly and Puggy the dog are dating now!

We hit Hafner's one last time on Saturday so Helaina could have fun with a few final Fall festivities. Face painting - love the face, and the skeleton too.

Horse riding - this time on Oklahoma - Oakie for short. As they were heading down the path Oakie lifted his tail and let out a toot that traveled about 20 feet to smack me in the face with an unbelievable stench (all I could think about was that Seinfeld episode with Kramer and horse he fed chili). I laughed as I saw Jim walking cautiously near the horse, probably expecting Oakie to unload something else along the way.

The reason for going to Hafner's was that Coco the clown would be there. Coco was at the mall last weekend and made Helaina that huge bug balloon hat. Coco took one look at Helaina dancing with excitement waiting her turn and she said "Hey, I recognize you!" I told Coco that Helaina was her number 1 fan. Helaina chose a doggie on a leash this time.

The hay bale maze.

Helaina and Jim took the horse & wagon ride around the grounds. This driver was great because he let all the kids take turns sitting next to him. When it was time for the next group I envision my daughter trampling the other children to get the seat next to the driver.

I saw them coming down the home stretch with Helaina at the reigns, zoomed the camera and started snapping pictures. She looks as if she thinks she's actually steering the horses!

This next picture cracked me up! Helaina's looking up at the horse dude and by this time she's probably interviewed him in her usual fashion with about 100 questions: What your name? What the horses names? How old are you? When your birthday? Do you have a dog? What's his name? Where you live? Where's your car? What color is your car? Then she'll proceed to tell him her life story. I think it's HYSTERICAL the way the guy has his hand on his forehead as if he's thinking to himself "Geez, is this kid for real?" I swear, Helaina's going to grow up to be the next Barbara Walters!

This llama was in the petting zoo - just love the hairdoo.

Trick or treating at Walmart? Yup, they had a Halloween parade Saturday afternoon. The kids wore their costumes and paraded through the store getting TONS of candy. Helaina was in trick or treat heaven. There weren't many kids so the people were giving fistfulls of candy.

"Mom, I got my FAVORITE!!!" - oh yah, a ring pop! Helaina's dentist Dr. Scott would be thrilled with the thought of Helaina bathing her teeth in straight-up sugar.

Sunday morning it was cold and rainy so we couldn't play outside. Helaina was bouncing off the walls of the family room so we decided to take her somewhere that she could really bounce off the walls - Bounce, Fun & More.

They have an air hockey table there and she absolutely loves to play. Look at her hair stuck to her head. She's a total sweatball after bouncing for 90 minutes.

They've added a rock climbing wall since the last time we were there.

Even with all that activity she still wouldn't nap Sunday afternoon. Helaina's down to about 2 days a week now with an afternoon nap. Man, I miss that 90-minutes of "free time" when she used to nap regularly every afternoon!

Pre-K Open House

Open house at pre-k last night. We got to see Helaina's classroom all decked out with the kids' Fall artwork projects. There was cider and cookies and lots of kids running around like crazies.

One of the projects the children were working on for open house.

A colorful confetti tree and the "2 red apples" wall. Helaina sings this "2 red apples" song and it is my absolute favorite. They have learned lots of Fall and Halloween songs in school and Helaina is really into them - singing out of tune at the top of her lungs and doing all the hand movements. At her Halloween party next week the kids will be performing some of them for the parents. We definately need to bring the video recorder for that one.

There are jobs in class that the kids rotate doing and Helaina loves it when she sees her name on one of the boards. She was the weatherman yesterday.

Helaina's absolute favorite job is being the line leader. That should be no surprise to anyone who knows her.

Playing in the refreshment area. She bounced on this ball for a very long time.

She also loved clomping around on these cup things.

School this year is all about kindergarten prep and Helaina seems to be right on track. She loves having books read to her, enjoys working on letter recognition and points out letters on just about anything - street signs, cereal boxes, TV, shirts, the newspaper. In school they have started doing simple math with their fingers. At home we work on rhyming, pattern sequences, sorting skills, counting, printing the alphabet and we have recently started some work with phonics. Luckily Helaina loves practicing all these things and thinks we're playing games instead of learning what's necessary for kindergarten. She talks a lot about riding the bus to school when she's 5. Yikes, I can't even think about that day. I wonder how many weeks I'll spend following the bus to school to watch her get off the bus?! Oh my, our girl is growing up so quickly. We're actually getting close to the 3-year anniversary of when we first saw little Men Ying's face on the waiting child list at our adoption agency. Wow, hard to believe.

Helaina's Jack-o-Lantern

We finally carved out a pumpkin last week. Helaina drew the design she wanted on the pumpkin and then dug her hands in to start de-gutting it.

"Are you sure you want our pumpkin to have 3 eyes?" I asked before I started carving. "Yuppeedoo" was her response.

Good job, Helaina.

Funny Helaina:

Here is a funny conversation that took place at the dinner table the other night:

Helaina: Daddy said a bad word.

Jim: What?

Me: What bad word did Daddy say.

Helaina: I not supposed to say.

Jim and I both told her she could say the word and she wouldn't get in trouble - this time.

Helaina: (leaning in close to my face and whispering, she said...) Stupid.

Me: Daddy called something stupid?

Helaina: Yup.

Me: Oh, that's ok. It's not really a bad word, it's just not a nice word and we would never call someone stupid.

She's so funny. We've asked her not to use certain words like stupid or hate. She'll start to use the word hate then stop herself mid-sentence. "Oh, I ha..., oops, I mean I don't like that." Good girl, Helaina. Some of what we teach her sinks in!

Another fun weekend for Helaina

We've been out of fresh-picked apples for a while so Saturday morning we headed out to apple country for more Fall fun. As we were pulling into the parking lot at Beak & Skiff the trailer with the Apple Ponies was pulling in ahead of us. "Look Helaina, the Apple ponies are here!" Yikes, the shrieking and carseat kicking began. "I so excited!!!" Ya think?

We scored with the apples, picking red delicious, jonagolds, spies and cortlands.

I lost count of how many small apples Helaina picked and ate right there in the orchard.

This was the first time Helaina rode Skipper. She's been riding the apple ponies at Beak & Skiff and the apple festival for years. By now Heather (the apple pony lady) recognizes Helaina as a frequent rider. When Helaina got through the line, she ran up to Heather, pulled back her hair and proudly showed her the horsie earrings she was wearing.

To say that Helaina is memorable is an understatement. She obviously stands out in a sea of children not only because she's Asian, but her enthusiasm for life and everything she does oozes out of her like crazy. She's excited about the little things and is always happy, talks non-stop, asks questions non-stop, strikes up conversations with anyone standing near her and then tells them all about herself. Yah, she's memorable. I describe Helaina as "hard to contain", so true.

Anyways, in this next picture Helaina's riding Chucky. As I waited for her and Jim to exit the horse riding area the first time, one of the guys called out in my direction "Heather wants to see you." I turned around to see if there was someone behind me he was talking to, but nope, nobody there. I said to him "Who, me?" Yup. So I got Helaina and told her to go see the pony lady. She bent down to Helaina and said "Do you want to ride again, honey?" The jumping began, hence Helaina's free ride on Chucky. Arms up in complete happiness.

While Helaina was riding I told the apple pony lady that she made my daughter's day with a 2nd ride. She told me that there's a stable nearby that has horse riding lessons for young children and that her 2 daughters take lessons there. She said Helaina's at the perfect age and the woman who runs the stable is great with kids. Something to think about. Helaina is absolutely crazy about horses. When Helaina got off Chucky she ran over to Heather, gave her a big hug around the legs and said thank you. You couldn't wipe the smile off Helaina's face.

On Sunday we went to Carousel Mall to join in their 20th anniversary celebrations. Free carousel rides, face painting, clowns, balloons and kiddie activities.

A chocolate Frosty from Wendy's hits the spot.

Face painting by a very nice clown.

Helaina chose a unicorn this time. She must be continuing with the horse theme of the weekend - the unicorn on her face goes with the horsie earrings.

2 helium balloons and a balloon bug hat made by Coco the clown. How can life possibly get any better?

Can't wait to see what next weekend holds!

Columbus Day Weekend Activities

We had a busy Columbus Day weekend and crammed lots of activities into 3 days. It was a beautiful weekend for the Lafayette Apple Festival. It's the official start of my Christmas shopping and I did get a few gifts in the craft tents. Helaina got what she wanted too (no surprise there). Our balloon-obsessed daughter sweet-talked this balloon right out of some lady's hand instead of waiting for us to get her one at the booth. "Oh, no, it's ok. She can have it" said the nice lady. At age 4 Helaina has learned how to get "extras" out of people by asking politely, smiling and looking too darn adorable. At least she always remembers to say thank you.

She loves climbing on all the farm equipment on display.

The Apple Ponies were at the festival and Helaina rode Herschey this time. There was a long line and Helaina's not that great at waiting, but she did ok.

She chose a pink octopus for her cheek this time.

And then there was her favorite green bug roller coaster - arms up all the way.

Bounce until you barf is Helaina's motto.

That tired little body was asleep in her carseat in no time, clutching her cherished red balloon.

We went to Hafner's one morning because you can never ride too many horses in one weekend. Helaina's on top of Ghost this time and she was super excited, as always.

We took the horse-drawn hay ride through the grounds. When the ride was over Helaina said to one of the horse ladies "I like your horses." "Oh, you do? Would you like to come up and pet them?" Jim and I just laughed as Helaina worked her magic to get up close and personal with the horsies.

Face painting again. Helaina never tires of it. Black cat with glitter this time.

Cute pic.

We headed out to cousin Beth's Saturday night for a pumpkin painting party, complete with pizza and Halloween cupcakes. Helaina had a ball running around and playing with Anna, Nic and tons of other kids.

Helaina chose to paint her pumpkin instead of carving it. Good choice.

Helaina was dressed in head-to-toe Halloween, including purple sparkly spider web socks, orange pumpkin patch ribbon in her braids and of course, what outfit is complete without sparkly candy corn earrings.

On Columbus Day we took a ride to a pumpkin farm. Helaina picked out a tiny pumpkin and we went on yet another hayride - a spooky one through a forest.

Love ... this ...

... amazing ... face.

Walking through the cornfield maze.

End of another full 3-day weekend where Jim was happy to get back to work for a much-needed break.