Trick or treat

Tonight, we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with our friends Jordan and Cyrus (and their mommy Laura, of course.) I'm not sure Eleanor got a whole lot out of the experience, but she was a little trooper. Jordan (the BIRTHDAY girl!) enjoyed knocking on the doors and prancing around in her beautiful wings.

"Hey, Men-yan, we're not ready yet!"

"Am I flying yet??"

And check out this little punkin'...

Happy Halloween!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!!

Hooked on phonics

Sometimes, I really miss teaching kids to read, so this is how I get my kicks...

And just FYI...so many of our videos take place in the bathtub because that's one of the few places where Eleanor won't immediately try and attack the camera!

My little monkey

When we first bought our house, I mentioned that there was a park right behind the back yard. It's so close to us, and we go so often, that I'm pretty sure Eleanor thinks it is our back yard. Before this week (when we got a LOT of rain), we had gone to the park everyday for about two weeks. Eleanor has even learned the words rock ("rah-rah") and shovel ("sh-blllll") because she spends so much time playing in the gravel pit.

Eleanor's new favorite thing to do at the park is to climb EVERYTHING. She climbs up the slides, and slides back down over and over- sometimes until her little face turns red and she starts sweating. She also loves climbing up and down the equipment that has stairs. She really has no clue that she's in the way of all the big kids who are running around, and most of them are very careful around her.

Here are some pictures of her being a little monkey on Tuesday before the rain came. (Oh, and check out those super cool pants- another gift from our blogger friend Wendy.)

What ever will we do when winter comes???

Check this out!!

So, today I did the least expensive, quickest home improvement project yet, and I'm so excited about it!

We had done everything on the fireplace except for replacing the brass door, which we weren't going to do anytime soon because they cost about 250 bucks.

SO, this morning I went to Lowe's and bought a five dollar can of Rustoleum spray paint in hammered nickel and painted away. And I think it looks great! You gotta love saving over two hundred bucks by doing something so simple!!

Some cute videos...FINALLY!

Blogger and I were having a heated argument for two days about whether or not I was going to get to post these videos. I won. But I'm still bitter about how long it took.

This is what happens when you don't like the way a balloon feels, but you really want to hold it...

Taking a BUB-ble bath...

Silly after a nap...

Okay, Blogger, I forgive you...

These are a few of my favorite things...

Today, I decided not to torture Eleanor by making her sit and pose so that I could have fun taking pictures. I thought I'd take a few (uh-hum) pictures of things she likes to do. So, here they are.

Eleanor loves to...

...talk on her Elmo phone. She holds it up to her ear and says, "Oh."

(I think that's supposed to mean hello.)

...work at becoming a virtuoso.

...and dance like a maniac to the songs she plays.
...learn the ABC's in her school bus.

"Look, lady, I said sit down, so I can drive this thing!"

...make silly faces.
...and climb like a mountain goat.

...contemplate the meaning of pieces of plastic fruit.

...read books. (And try to climb onto the table like aforementioned mountain goat.)

...play with her babies. She gives them lots of hugs and kisses like a good little mommy,

unless they have a dirty diaper.