Joy

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween!

This year I was really feeling under pressure to make Claire another cute costume and keep up with the standards of previous years.

2008 - The Bear2009 - The Chicken

The really hard part is just thinking of something for her to be that is out of the ordinary. The fun part was figuring out how to make it as cute as possible. I think we were successful!

2010 - The Pteradactyl

Some of you may have guessed after reading this post that she would be a dinosaur. When Claire was a baby we called her a "Claireadactyl" because she would screech just like one. We knew that's what she had to be and I was glad because Pteradactyls are skinny (unlike all other dinosaurs) and I wouldn't have to add a bunch of uncomfortable bulk to her.

This costume was by far the most challenging - because of the head. Pteradactyls have pointy long heads and that was very hard to copy. A shout out to Kris Williams for giving me the idea of using styrafoam cones. Figuring out how to keep the head in place without choking the poor girl was even more challenging. (the teeth were carefully hand-shaped baking clay, the eyes are painted purse feet)

I also was more concerned with the feet this year. Last year we made her feet out of felt. They didn't stay on very well and they attracted the loose straw and grass like a magnet. This year, I covered her old, water shoes by hot gluing fabric over them. These feet would hold up in a marathon and are comfy and functional.

and don't forget the token tail!

We headed over to our church's Harvest Carnival and Claire had a great time.

Here she is with her friend Keyara. It is pictures like this that make me think she may be a "little person". Keyara is a year older.... but still.She played a few games, and got some dino tracks painted on her face..but mostly wanted to bounce in the bounce houses.
She was such a sweet girl all night. I just wanted to eat her up.
Happy Halloween little Claireadactyl!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Fall Treat

It's that time again...

time for caramel apples!

Claire can eat them easier than she could last year.

She LOVES caramel apples.

Can you tell?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Riding Horsies!

One of the conversations that Claire and I have repeatedly, as we drive around Laveen is about horses. She saw someone riding one day and wanted to ride a horse a too. I told her that when she is a big girl she can ride a horse. Every time she sees one now, she says "When I'm a big girl, I can ride horsies!" She has been saying this for months now.

Then it dawned on me that my friend Sara, has horses. I told Claire we would ask her if we could ride. We finally asked her this past Sunday and she said yes!

Claire was so excited! Sara had her horse, Jackpot, pretty much ready when we got there. I was sure that Claire would be too afraid to get on - she hadn't even seen one up close yet.

On the contrary, she was so happy to be close to the horse and wasn't intimidated at all. She got to take JackPot for a walk....
but he was more interested in eating the grass. Claire yelled "No eat the grass!" at him every time he tried.

We sat Claire up on the horse and again I was expecting tears and "I'm scared!" but the first words out of her mouth were "YeeHaw!"
She rode by herself while Sara walked the horse. Then Sara and I took turns riding behind her and going a little faster. I trusted Sara with her more than myself. Horse riding is fun but I am not very good at it. Sara, on the other hand, is a pro has won quite a few barrel races on JackPot.

Claire didn't want to stop but we had to say good-bye to JackPot.
We really had to talk Claire into giving him a kiss.
She did NOT like the flies that constantly hovered around his nose.
Thank you Sara! We know that owning a horse is a ton of work. Thanks for letting us enjoy the fun part of horses!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Inside Pool

Claire has been sick for the majority of the week so we have had a dull couple of days.

Tonight we blew up the pool we had for Will's birth and let Claire play in it with her balls.

The bottom is inflatable too so it is really fun to jump around in.

At least the pool is going to good use.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Spoiled!

I am so excited! Behold! My craft room! Because we figure we have a least a year before a baby will be occupying this room, I thought of how glorious it would be to have all of my stuff in one place, easily accessible, and out of sight. Josh agreed that is was a good idea (he is sick of fabric scraps all over our room) and thus, my craft room came into existence.
(I haven't had time to move all of my fabric in here yet though.)
Not only is everything all in one place, but I don't have to clean everything up between uses. Before, I would spend half of my "free time" getting everything out and cleaning it all up. Now I can just shut the door and when I come back - I pick up right where I left off.

I also suspect that I will have more time than ever to work on sewing projects and what not, now that Claire is older.

I have discovered a great secret. Thrift stores often have quilt batting! I got these brand new packages a few weeks ago. They cost me $8 altogether.
At Joann I would have spent over $40.I am proud that I hardly spent any money on this room. Most everything I either had already or purchased for dirt cheap at a thrift store. e.i. chair for $3.99.

I feel so spoiled! - But then I remember the reason we have an empty room.
I'll take whatever silver-lining I can get.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Claire's Trip to The Museum

Last week, our neighbor took us to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. She bought a year pass so she had some "buddy passes". I was so excited - I have been wanting to take Claire for quite a while but could never get my hands on a culture pass.

We started out in the "Under 3's" room because our neighbor's baby just turned 1. Claire had a lot of fun in there. The hole that blew air up at her was quite the attraction.

Anything that had to do with balls was pretty cool too.

After awhile, I wanted to take Claire to the noodle forest because I thought it looked like so much fun... It was definitely not fun. There were big kids running through there screaming. Claire said she was scared.

We then looked around the various rooms for something that would either appeal to Claire and/or was not overrun with other kids.



She rode a bike through the car wash.

Claire really liked this thing

In the craft room we started to make leaf rubbings - mostly because all the school kids were NOT making leaf rubbings. Claire was unimpressed so we played with some black play dough.
She enjoyed feeding the fake horse some felt carrots.
We both had the joy of climbing through the new climber. It was weird though, it was made of chain link fence and milk crates so it was definitely not child friendly in my opinion.Come to think of it the whole museum doesn't look very child friendly. It is so dark and looks like the kids are playing in a warehouse with the cement floors and lack of color.

Claire and I had fun despite the decor. It was a great way to spend the day!