Pumpkin Party

Yesterday we were invited over to Melissa's friend Milan's house for a 'Pumpkin Party'!

Each of the kids got to choose the perfect pumpkin from their pumpkin patch.

Then the parents carved the pumpkins which were to compete in the pumpkin carving contest!

Meanwhile... the little attention spans found more stimulating entertainment!

Melissa standing next to her pumpkin...

and the competition!

The whole pumpkin carving gang, and their masterpieces.

Luckily the judge realized that all of the pumpkins were special in their own way and each child received a prize book!

Next the festivities headed indoors where the kids played with Milan's cool toys and we sampled Michael's (Milan's dad) skills on their cappuccino machine.

Milan & Melissa...

The toy of the night was Milan's roller-coaster ride...

Weee, this lucky bunny got the ride of his life (over & over)!

Harvest Festival

Tonight we went as a family to our Church's Harvest Festival. Melissa was more than thrilled to finally get to wear her princess dress.

Her highness making a grand entrance...


One of the games Melissa played... the kids were given 15 seconds to put as much candy as they could into the bucket. (The older kids had their hands tied behind their back and had to use their mouths.) Melissa was so slow it was painful, by the end she had a managed to pick out only a few select pieces!

At the craft station Melissa (& I) decorated a clay pot which we later planted grass in (hopefully will it grow!)

At home again... the happy princess, her daddy and her orange balloon :)

Dumping out her bag of candies... she was speechless at first (as she didn't know that was what was in the bag)... then all she said was "Wow!" (two times). She then spent some time sorting and inspecting her loot asking what each one was.

Melissa & Pop

This past weekend Melissa had another sleep over at Nana & Pop Thomas' while we had a nice evening out. From the looks of the pictures and stories she tells, they had a great time too!


Melissa is quite the puzzle queen... she amazes us at how fast she can do her puzzles.

Cute Cousins

This Thanksgiving Melissa and cousin Xander had plenty of quality play time together... it's so neat to see them enjoy each other! Whenever Melissa would take a break from the intense playing they were doing... Xander would be on her to come and play!

A Blue Fire Truck

Today we lucked out being at Home Depot when they had a fire truck on display. They also had a craft for the kids to do, which was make-your-own-fire-truck-pencil-holder. So with the assistance of a helpful fireman, we built the truck, and then painted it (a very messy task). I didn't have my camera along with me, so I had to take these pics of a proud girl and her toy when we got back home.

Melissa wearing her cute Home Depot apron...


Posing with her little blue fire truck (its still wet... hence it staying on the ground)...

Our all blue fire truck (all the other colors were very messy, kids had mixed them together and the paint brushes had fallen in so we stuck with the one color!)

Running around in circles...

A little more posing for the camera...

Pumpkin Patch

It felt like fall today as we went on Melissa's first preschool jr. field trip to Willowview Farm's pumpkin patch.

The two cutest pumpkin heads on the farm...

Melissa in a sea of pumpkins...


All the Preschool Jr. classes running at Creative Edge were together today at the farm... and we were surprised to run into our friends from Kindermusik class... Alexis, Sydney & Melissa together again! (it was hard to get a decent photo with all three of them)

Boarding the hay ride which took us all around the farm...

Enjoying the ride....


And unfortunately my camera batteries died when we were dropped off in the pumpkin patch where Melissa got to choose her very own little pumpkin. After selecting the perfect pumpkin we rode back on the wagon to the petting zoo where Melissa got to pet and feed a variety of friendly farm animals. Lastly we all received an apple and a cup of orchard fresh apple juice, that was amazingly tasty.

Melissa's specially picked pumpkin:

Lovin' Preschool Junior

Every week Melissa looks forward to going to her Preschool Junior class that we started this fall at Creative Edge. There is a variety of activities we get to enjoy with the other mothers & tots.

Here Melissa is riding on this neat car/scooter with Kiera. The mobile moves forward when you turn the steering wheel back and forth.

Craft time is always a hit for us.
This week we were on the Thanksgiving theme...

and Melissa was pleased with her piece of completed art!

Then we move on to the painting station which has new and different types of painting instruments each week to inspire the little artists.

It is fun and messy... strangely somehow I have been the one to come home with paint on my clothes (and I don't even do any painting!)

Once free-play-time is over we have circle-time... where we sing & dance. Here the kids have selected their instruments to serenade us to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and many other favorites!

Melissa playing the keyboard with great ambition!

Next is story-time... and Melissa is eager to sit up close and take it all in.

This class we had a special treat and the parachute came out!

Our final song "Open them shut them... open them shut them..."

"put them in your lap..."

Singing her ABC's

When Melissa is comfortable in her surroundings, it is quite typical to catch her singing to herself. Her songs often are somewhat repetitive, but all the same very cute and innocent!

Today I was making dinner and she was putting together her alphabet puzzle singing to herself... something like "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, falling down, falling down... "



Once she figured out that I was videoing her, rather than just holding the camera up and not taking a picture, she wanted to see herself... and then perform for the camera. So I had her sing her ABC's... which is a song that gets a lot of airtime around the house. She has some cute 'hang-ups' in the song. The one that has stuck around the longest is her version of "L-M-N-O-P", she says "ekabeko-p". I don't know what happened this time I was videoing her... she ended up forgetting W-X-Y-Z... hmmm...