Spooky Tree

Tonight Sophia made her first Halloween art project, her Spooky Tree. On Sunday, I took her to Michaels and let her pick out one of those foam art projects for kids. She got to choose between the black glittery tree, an orange glittery pumpkin, and a ghost. She chose the tree. While in the store, she informed me the tree was spooky. So this is where the name came from for the project.

She was super excited to start it and of course wanted to and did do it all by herself. Here are a couple of pictures of her with the spooky tree.

putting the decorations on her spooky tree

a completed spook tree.....can you find Sophia?? We had a great laugh about this!

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we took Sophia to a pumpkin patch to pick out her pumpkin. It was quite wet outside since we went early in the morning, but she still loved touching all of the pumpkins and picking out just the right one.

Here she is with daddy picking out a pumpkin


Touching all of the stems


Hmmmmm which one do I pick?

Funny little tidbit

In keeping with the fact that Sophia can barely wait for Halloween, I took her to the library on Tuesday to look for some new Halloween books. We also found a cd with Halloween songs on it. I think it is the funniest thing in the world that her favorite song on the cd is Ghostbusters!! When the song is done, she giggles and says again with the ghost song. Who would ever think that this would be her favorite out of all of the songs on the cd!

Ready for Halloween

Today Sophia decided she was ready for Halloween. I think it was because we bought her costume after church this morning. So she thought she should put on her Halloween shirt courtesy of Grandma Jayne. She looked just adorable so I figured it was a much needed photo op.

Sophia's first campout

Last night Sophia had all of her friends over to our front yard to watch 101 Dalmatians in a tent. All of the kids had the best time ever. It was quite the sight to see. They were just adorable laying on their tummies and eating snacks.

Have to do a little bragging

So I need to do a little bragging about the baby shower gift that I made last night. I just love the way these adorable little onesies turned out. I can't wait until she opens them tomorrow!!

All three sets of onesies together


Peace sign onesie (my personal fav)


The princess crown onesie


Cupcake onesie

And....it's a butterfly!

We bought a caterpillar at the State Fair over Labor Day weekend and have been patiently waiting as it turned from a caterpillar into a chrysalis. It has been a chrysalis for quite some time now. Finally yesterday I saw it turn to a black color so we knew something would be happening soon. Sophia could barely wait for it to turn into a monarch!

Last night between our quick stop home and then off to the Y, we noticed that there was a butterfly in the cage. It was just about the coolest moment ever to listen to Sophia get excited about it being a butterfly and to watch the look in her eyes as she examined the cage. I will never forget the sounds or the sight of her face at that moment.

After taking some photos with it, we took it outside and let it fly away. It took some getting use to it's new wings, but eventually figured out how to fly away. I think we were all sad to see it go.

If you haven't ever done this before, take the opportunity to do it now! My mom still talks about when we had a monarch and I still remember it from being a little kid, so I know Sophia will too!

Here are a couple of pictures to document the butterfly:

First Night of Fall Dance

Last night Sophia had her first night of fall dance. Sophia took dance lessons throughout the summer one night a week at Woodbury Dance Center. Now she is taking lessons again one night a week, but this program runs for the entire school year ending with a recital in June. I can barely wait to see my baby girl up on stage in a costume!!

She of course totally adored going to dance last night and loved her teacher Ms. Mary. I don't know how she did it with so many little ones. Here are a couple of pictures from her adventures:

Sophia clapping her hands to a song


Sophia waving her pink scarf to the song


Working with Ms. Mary to jump over the beanie babies

New Sand Box

Over the weekend Sophia got a new sand box. She is just loving it! We played for over 3 hours yesterday even in the sweltering hot sun. She can't get enough of all of the sand toys and the fact that it is right there at our house.

Busy week!

With a long 3 day weekend, we were busy preparing for our back-to-school routine as well as celebrating Hal's 31st birthday.
Friday, we went to San Pedro cafe for dinner with my parents. We had a wonderful time sitting on the patio and enjoying the evening together. We had some amazing pizza for dinner and then chocolate cake with spicy peppers in it for a treat. The cake had quite the kick to it, but was awesome!

Saturday Sophia and I went to the State Fair with Becca. We had a great day enjoying the sights together. I couldn't believe that Sophia lasted for 7 hours that day.

Sunday was Hal's 31st birthday. We spent the day together enjoying the beautiful weather. In the evening my parents and his father came over for dinner. Sitting out on the deck we enjoyed dinner and then opened presents.

Labor Day was spent at the Teddy Bear Park. Sophia had a wonderful time playing at the park and going down the slides. Then we went down by the river and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

Tuesday was my first day back at school. It was such a wonderful day! I'm really enjoying my new students. Yesterday we went to Washington Square in White Bear Lake to celebrate our friend Christy Gutt's 30th birthday. Sophia had a great time sitting in the big booth eating her goldfish.

The rest of the week will be just as busy I'm sure. Until tomorrow!

Day #3 MN State Fair

Today Sophia and I headed back to the Great Minnesota Get Together for the 3rd time. We went with my best friend Becca and had the best time. I didn't think Sophia would last nearly as long as she did. I couldn't believe how fast 7 hours at the fair went. We had such a great time with all of the animals, the food, people watching, and yes the butterflies! We took so many pictures that I couldn't upload all of them. So I picked the best of and hope you enjoy the slide show. Tomorrow is Hal's 31st birthday. Not sure what he is in the mood to do, but I will soon find out! Happy almost birthday honey!

Blast from the past

Recently my mom has been spending several days cleaning out the basement at their house. Through this whole process several "treasures" have appeared and been sent over to my new house.

One of the "treasures" she found was some of my baby clothes. Last night I went to pick Sophia up and she was wearing a little outfit that used to be mine. I couldn't resist taking a picture of her, although it was quite late and she didn't cooperate very well.

MN State Fair Day #2

On Sunday, we took Sophia for yet another round of the State Fair. I have signed up for several years now to run the Milk Run. She had to get up bright and early so we could be out the door at 6:30. She was peppy and thrilled when she got up to go to the fair.

When we got there Hal and Sophia walked around while I ran with some of my neighbor girls. We had a great time! After the race, we were off for our day at the fair. Sophia requested cookies for breakfast AGAIN, so of course there was no denying this little sweet tooth.

After cookies for breakfast we walked around and headed over to the University of Minnesota building. We were trying to get Sophia a backpack, but she got a sweatband instead. She just loved it and wore it for the majority of the day.

The next stop we made was in the Eco Experience building. Sophia had a great time doing all of the kid activities like coloring and putting together puzzles.

We spent a while looking at the Creative Activities building where I showed off my scrapbooking pages which won 2nd place this year!

After being in the stroller for a bit, Sophia needed a break so we took her to the Little Farm Hands with the John Deere. It was so adorable and even better than last year because she got to go on the tractor.

Putting corn in her bucket


My little farmer girl


Riding on the tractor

After we finished up at the Little Farm, Sophia wanted to go on a ride. She picked the monkey ride which coming from her doesn't surprise me. Hal went on with her and she had a great time.


By the end of the day we were all getting a bit tired from being up early and the crowds were getting larger by the minute so we decided to head home. Here's an attempt at a family picture from the fair!

All in all, we had a fantastic day. I can't wait to do it again this weekend.