Halloween Play Group 10-28-09

As in a couple years past, I hosted playgroup the Wednesday before Halloween. It's a fun way to get the kids together, and adds a little extra excitement to the weekly get together. Of course, it's also another time to get the kiddos in their costumes! Here they are having their Halloween snack.

Pretty cute little pretzel skeletons!

We went outside to take pictures, and this is what most kids were doing before we could corral them up--wandering around, playing on the little swingset--it was a gorgeous day!

Then we finally got them together to take a picture, and we couldn't get them all to look at the camera group at the same time.

Others may have had better luck, but this is the best one I got! Mac isn't even facing in the right direction, let alone looking at us!

And then within about 30 seconds of taking the above picture, she was over on the other side of the yard, looking mischievous. (What other look does she have, really?) No amount of coaxing could convince her to come back to the group. And, as is obvious in all the pictures, no amount of coaxing could get her to keep her hat on, either.

Budding Artist

Leiden really has inherited a measure of her dad's drawing abilities. (One of these days I'll make him draw something and put it up on the blog--he can really DRAW!)

Here is a caterpillar, climbing a flower.


This is a cactus. Yes, a cactus. We saw one at the store, and she drew this at home. Very prickly.


And of course, a bunny--no relation to the ones daddy got this summer and are now resting in peace in the field across Blackhawk Road.

Carving Pumpkins 10-25-09

On the Sunday before Halloween, we got a short surprise visit from Grandma! While she was here, we decided we would carve our pumpkins so she could see them. Here's Leiden with the necessary tools.



Doing the necessary work, with Mac wondering what on earth is going on.

Mac getting into the swing of things.

Happy happy!

Leiden thought she'd try her hand at the saw. Good thing they are, in fact, quite useless!

Even Mac was having a good time!

I was a little surprised Leiden wasn't grossed out about the goo, although Mac is more my 'texture' child.

While Leiden was drawing on her pumpking the design she wanted, Mac was also in the artistic mode. This is a funny picture--it's the first time I've ever seen her stretch out on the floor like that to do something.

Leiden really really wanted an octopus, so of course, Dad tried to comply.

Our pumpkins (the octopus is on the other side of the one on the left. Sorry. No pictures of it!)

Second Mid-Pregnancy Ultrasound

So at my first mid-pregnancy ultrasound, they were unable to get a profile shot, so I had to go back and do another. Fine by me! So this was at about 22.5 weeks. It's amazing what difference a couple weeks makes in what you can see and make out in an ultrasound. The tech told me that they would do all ultrasounds later in pregnancy, but there is only a small window of a few weeks where the measurements are accurate. Here is baby's profile.


She was moving all around--although not head down! I am seriously praying for that to happen. I really don't want to deal with a breech baby. At any rate, this is a picture of the baby opening her mouth to swallow, which the tech told me you don't actually see very often.


This is the same picture, but labeled, so you know what the heck I'm talking about. You can see her jaw bones opening wide and the darker color going into her mouth and throat, which is the amniotic fluid. Amazing. It looks kind of macabre, but it's amazing.


I was also anxious for the tech to reassure me that it was, in fact, a girl. It is! I think at this point, if I had been told otherwise, I would be even more disappointed about the change than I was about the initial news! So, little girl Macdonald, coming sometime right around February 18, 2010.

Playtime 10-16-09

A while back, Mac started putting her blanket on her head, and walking around. She can see through it, as long as it's only on single thickness. This is her trying to get it on her head.

Once it's finally on her head, we usually say, "It's Mac the ghost!" So eventually, which was so fitting during the month of October, she would say it herself--"Mac ghost!"

Other than spooky characters, Mac has been attempting to do somersaults. Her legs are usually too far away from her head to propel her over, so when she does get it right, it usually startles her.

And then, as always, Leiden is my best tool when I'm taking pictures of Mac. Mac will smile for her like no one else. At this point, Leiden was in the bay windowsill and Mac was watching her antics while I snapped away happily.

Look at this face.

Dinnertime Fun 10-15-09

Yes, dinnertime at our house often involves the camera. Everyone is (supposed to be) sitting in one spot, there's lots of talking and interaction, and the camera is usually on the kitchen table, anyway. Brad likes to play with the black and white features.


They're looking at me, and by their faces, I really wonder what I was doing.


As I said, we are 'supposed to' be in our seats. We seem to have to remind Leiden a lot.


The girls do this funny thing. When I give them a thumbs up, they like to touch my thumb with one of their fingers and make a clicking noise. Mac will ask to do it a hundred times in a row. She's equally happy with pointer finger to pointer finger. As long as she gets to make the clicking noise!

Snack Time

You can tell I'm really behind, as these pictures were taken October 15! Better late than never!

Anyway, I gave the girls a snack, and as I often do as a lazy mom, don't make them sit at the table to eat it. I came around the corner of the counter and found Mac here. She had wedged herself between the door and the chair, and was quite contentedly munching on her cheese stick and colored goldfish!


She couldn't figure out why I thought that was funny. To her, it made perfect sense.

Mac at the Computer

One of Mac's favorite (banned) activities is to play at the computer. She loves to climb up on the chair and poke at the keyboard. Then there's the obligatory, "Mac! No!", as she usually performs some function with the keyboard that we don't know how to reverse.



She actually looks like she knows what she's doing. It's even better when she's poking the keyboard and looking up at the screen.

Pumpkin Patch and Picking Apples

Last year, I took the girls to an apple orchard, and wanted to take them to a pumpkin patch, but Brad wasn't convinced that would be very fun, so we skipped it. This year, we decided to do both in one shot! It was pretty cold when we got there--like 41 degrees, and I had just put jackets on the girls in anticipation of the high temp for the day. Most of the other kids were in coats, hats, and mittens. Oh, well. Leiden was pretty happy!


Mac was pretty happy herself, when she was moving around enough to stay warm!

Riding on the hay ride was another story, so Brad wrapped her up in his jacket, which helped both of them.

Leiden in the pumpkin patch. It was pretty cool.

Mac was very unsure of the pumpkin patch. She kept saying, "punkin", but she was not willing to touch one, and after a minute, refused to even walk among them.

She went a ways holding on to hands, but was very wary.

And then she had had enough of the pumpkin patch.

Some very nice pumpkins were to be found.

More pumpkin-induced sadness.

This is my favorite of the day. Most of the time Leiden gives this really funny closed mouth smile, but we got the real thing here.

Going to weigh our pumpkins.

Once out of the pumpkin patch, Mac was a lot better. Plus it was a bit warmer.

I picked out a sweet little pumpkin just for Mac, and finally convinced her to touch it.

Then, wonder of wonders, she actually took it from me, and carted it around for the next few minutes.

It's an important job.

Then we switched to apples. They were much less frightening to Mac. She found one on the ground, and didn't let it go the rest of the trip. She actually ate more than half of it on the way home. As in she took bites off the apple and ate them! I've never seen her do that.

Ended up being a great family outing.

More Girls

Here are some more girls. Taking pictures is pretty much all I have to do all day--besides clean, feed them, sewing, cooking--you know. We can't leave grandparents out just because they don't live here!

Leiden had gotten out her old snow hat, that now should really be Mac's, and was playing with it.



Mac thought it was funny. No one can make Mac laugh like Leiden!



Of course, who wouldn't laugh when confronted with this?


Speaking of winter things. It's October and we have already needed them. Ugh. The worst part is that Mac is bigger than Leiden was at the same age, so she's already outgrown stuff that she's never even worn! The day of the first snowstorm I traipsed out to the shed, where all our extra stuff is in our hopeless attempt to sell our house, and grabbed the snow boots Leiden wore this same winter (in age). Did they fit Mac? No, of course not. I barely got them on her feet, and when she stood up, she whimpered and wouldn't take a step. So it's off to Target we go. At least Leiden is still (currently) fitting into her coat from last year! It's never ending!

Another Halloween Dinner and AWESOME Bread

Another Halloween endeavor the other night. They actually turned out pretty cute, and the stew was good, too! The girls seem less than impressed--I knew Mac was too little to care, but I thought Leiden would be a little more excited. Oh, well. I walk a fine line trying to find the 'cute' Halloween themed dinners and the gross ones. When they're older, the gross ones will be fine, but stewed eyeballs would not go over with little Leiden.



Here was the best part, though. This bread was amazing. Truly wonderful. Think European artisan bakery bread--crusty on the outside and tender on the inside, with just the right amount of saltiness. The only catch? You have to make it in the dutch oven, which you can put in your regular oven, but it's still cumbersome. Remember the burn on Mac's arm? I now have a similar one on my arm. But much tinier. I barely touched the dutch oven while it was hot--immediate blistering. But, the bread was really good.



Even Mac, who is not a bread fan, liked it.