Something Different

I was getting tired of the mundane routine that our lives tend to follow so I decided it was time to change something...so I changed dinner...not in the usual way of coming up with some new meal but I thought it was time to change how we eat...so we ate with no dishes or utensils. It was a meal made for McKinlee, Mia wasn't so sure about it and was a little timid about diving in, but loved it. I can't wait until next time.

Light up the Night

Almost every year we have lived here we have gone to Pittsburgh Annual Light Up Night at Station Square. This years theme was fairy tail stories, the girls loved the show of Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, and Aladdin singing chrismas songs as they taught Cinderella the meaning of Christmas. I don't think McKinlee blinked the entire show

McKinlee is so much fun this year because everything is new and magical. I smile as she sees everything decorated and lit up and reaches to grap it saying ooo...pitty. Or mama, mama see. Mia is making it fun because her excitement is rubbing off on to McKinlee.

McKinlee Discovers...

McKinlee has decided that she is big enough to dress herself. We have had some interesting outfits, and styles. One day she wore pajama bottoms, nothing else and every time I tried to get her dressed or put on a top she would have a fit. She has also found her hidden talent of being a hair stylist...Mia is such a good sport.

Lo-Down on the Loot

Halloween is over which makes me sad; however, it was one of the best Halloween's ever. McKinlee was a blast this year. Her first attempt at Trick or Treating was at the grocery store Giant Eagle. They gave her a bag which she thought was really cool, until...someone put candy in it. I watched her as her eyes got really big, she looked at the candy, then at the person, then at me and repeated...then she grabbed the candy looked at it and smiled at me like she had just discovered a candy bringing bag. The rest of the time she held out her bag with no hesitation to collect her goods.

Later we went to a local nursing home. McKinlee proudly held out her bag to collect and if the old people couldn't reach her she would reach up and grab what was in their hands and placed it in her bag for them. She was the hit of the night. By the time Halloween actually rolled around she was well practiced and knew exactly what to do. She excitedly went door to door and collected her goods. Smiled and pointed that she was ready to go to the next door. We had several friends join us and after trick or treat afterwards we ordered pizza and let the Kids play. I laughed as I watched Mckinlee sneak around stealing candy out of the other kids bags when they weren't looking. Later she would sneak out of the door and run down the sidewalk, I was wondering what she was doing and in an attempt to keep an eye on her followed her out...pretty soon she would return with a bag full of candy that the neighbors had left out in case they had any leftover trick or treaters. She did this three or four times. Until they finally pulled in their bucket o' candy then she stole their Jack-O-lantern.

We also went to a local shopping center's trick or treat. They had a horse drawn hay ride that Josh and the girls went on. The horses were wearing poo bags and it was a little too much for me to handle so I went down and visited with one of my Young Women who was handing out candy while they rode the carriage...the girls were excited to find me and wave to me as they passed. Sadly I had forgotten to bring my camera.

I realized how big Mia has gotten, she held the banner for her class during the School Halloween Parade, and later when we were trick or treating, she was preferring to be with her friends over holding our hands. Mia cleaned out her own pumpkin for her Jack-o-lantern, and even carved some of it out herself. In all it was a great year...we estimated that we have over 20 lbs of candy. We are set for a while.