Thanksgiving, Etc.

We've been staying busy, as always.

Sabine has some budding musical interests these days.



As well as a budding fashion sense. Girl likes her accessories to match.



And she sat still enough for her first quasi-French braid. It lasted about 32 seconds before all the fine strands fell out.



We've been seeing friends and going to birthday parties,



and logging a lot of time at the park. Sabine's had a lot of energy to burn recently, and fortunately the weather has cooperated.



It gets dark really early, but we've seen some beautiful sunsets.



And speaking of burning energy, Sabine can now ride her trike to the park all by herself. It's almost a mile away, so it's some great exercise. (Mediocre view, eh?)



We've also been spending time at the park with friends.



Including one special one who is about to head overseas for several months, we are already excited for you to come home!



Thanksgiving went really well this year! Sabine was more into it, there was a lot more anticipation.



She did a lot of cooking in her own kitchen,



Which was even more fun when her friend S showed up to help cook,



both in in the pretend kitchen, and in the real one!



Dinner finally made it onto the table about two hours after predicted.



And we got to celebrate with the whole family, as well as some close friends.

All four kiddos (friends and cousin) did really well, especially considering all the waiting and general holiday mayhem.



The over the weekend, we went to a model train show with the grandparents.



Sabine and Grandpa did some good train bonding.



Grandpa even got to run some of HIS trains and show them off, and Sabine thought it was pretty neat to go under the yellow line. Pretty special.



Another highlight was a layout with an old witch flying around. We watched that one a long time.



We've been staying busy and having fun, as always. Sabine is growing and talking more and more. She's solidly in 3T clothing now. We did go to both the doctor and the dentist recently. She was in the 40th percentile for weight and 50th for height. She sat in the dentist chair for the first time, and did really well for her cleaning. Maybe not so coincidentally, her favorite games to play now are doctor and dentist.

Hope you are all enjoying this season too!

Done with Diapers! (And Other Goings-On)

As you may have guessed from the title, the big news around here is that Sabine appears to be completely done with diapers! She's been potty-trained for a while now, at least in the daytime, but we had her wearing a diaper to sleep at night, thinking it was helping her sleep all night long. Out of nowhere last week, she started waking up dry in the morning. One night she even woke up in the middle of the night to call me in to take her to the bathroom. It was a hassle getting her diaper off and on again, and we realized that it was kind of silly to be wearing diapers if she was going to wake up if she needed to go to the bathroom. So it's been underwear since then, no looking back! HOORAY!

In other news, we made it up to Grand Lake the other weekend with some of our good friends (and, conveniently, neighbors) where Sabine got to bundle up in her winter gear for the first time. She is...well-padded.

 

We hiked to a little waterfall



Got a few pictures



Caught a few snowflakes



 And spent the rest of the weekend being cozy, watching movies, and sampling local hot chocolate.



Back at home, we made cloud dough for the first time. It was a hit!

 

7 cups flour + 1 cup baby oil = oodles of time for mommy to make dinner while Sabine enjoys herself.





Sabine is also logging a lot of hours on her new easel/chalk board from Nana.



Sabine also got a new doll baby from Great Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch for her birthday



And Day/Daisy (the name is still settling) has become an important member of the Sabine doll/stuffed animal clan.



On Tuesday Sabine got to help mommy with our civic duty

And then we spent an afternoon in Boulder being silly.


Otherwise, we've just been enjoying this fall with friends, both indoors



and out



I don't think this weather is going to last much longer, but it certainly has been lovely while it's here!

Witchy Halloween

We had a great Halloween, including all the traditional preparations. I have a ton of pictures, so without further ado:



We made it back to Cottonwood Farms to get our pumpkin this year. If you'd like to compare photos, HERE is a link to last year, to see how much she's grown.


Playing in the hay bale maze


Practicing being "an old witch!"






and just enjoying the day in general!

We carved her pumpkin last weekend, and Sabine helped scoop out the seeds, although she wasn't as keen on eating them after they were roasted. Oh well, more for mommy!







On Tuesday, the day before Halloween, we had a little photo shoot with some of our good friends, to get the kids together in costume. Hopefully this becomes an annual tradition!





On Halloween day, Sabine was ready to go. We managed to squeeze in a nap, even though she hasn't had one all week, to buy us a little more time for the evening.



Our families joined us, and cousin E dressed up as a flying monkey, they make a good pair, even if they didn't want to cooperate for a posed picture!



It was more fun to run/crawl around on the sidewalk and pull little cousins around by their wings.


(note the purple hair, a very key part of the costume)



We met up with the neighbors, and the big kids helped wrangle the littler ones for another group shot.



But the best part of the whole day, I think, was the flying broomstick rides, courtesy of Grandpa. Grandpas bring the magic of Halloween to a new level!








(Snuggling between grandmothers isn't all bad, either.)

We managed to trick-or-treat through a bunch of the neighborhood before some of the scarier decorations ended the evening. So we came home to have a quick dinner with all of the family, and then, of course, to sample the loot.


'Twas good.







Happy Halloween!