A BEAUTIFUL day in the neighborhood!

I am so so thankful for a lovely day with no rain! We needed this! We were up and around early this morning to start some Partners Card shopping. Molly was in the mood to "look at some stores" so it was perfect timing! Molly was literally jumping with joy at Hip Hip Hooray (which is her fave store anyways- they always play Little Mermaid in the Little Room!) when she saw tons of her little friends- looked like everyone had the same idea today! So the kiddos had a big time shopping and destroying the very cramped store:) We came home and played and played outside. She has had more fun with leaf piles than I ever would have imagined!

Molly and Baby Dear frolicking in the leaves

A run-through!

SO happy!

Sweet Pumpkin

Molly loves inventing "games" to play. They all have really detailed instructions. I try my best to follow and keep up, but never seem to get it right. She came up with a game today where we had to run around the tree, through the leaf pile, do a big jump and then "move your body really fast and do the dippy". I couldn't quite figure out what exactly the "dippy" was- so needless to say I did not win this game!

How we spent our afternoon...

Splashing through puddles with magic wands

Trying not to get blown over by wind gusts

Getting buried shoulder deep in leaves

It certainly is fall down here in Texas! The weather is wonderfully (slightly!) chilly- if only the rain would stop I would be in heaven! I can NOT believe that November is just a few days away! Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it!

Fall Fun

This past week Kyle's office held their Trick or Treat party for all the kids. They get to dress up and go around to everyone's desk to collect the loot and then they have a cupcake and juice party. Molly's REAL halloween costume is Cinderella- which she has been talking about for months and months. But... we found that last years skunk costume (which she refused to wear due to the headpiece) still fit! So, we begged her to wear it to the office and she did. But- she wasn't too happy about it- she had fun but let us know that she really should have been Cinderella! So- we did manage to get a few pics of our Little Stinker, but get ready for many glamorous Cinderella shots to com!

Just arriving and ready to go!

Our carved pumpkins. Molly would have nothing to do with them "too stinky and sticky"- so Kyle and I did them while Molly ran around the yard and sang and danced for us!

Please excuse the naked belly- we stripped her down to avoid pumpkin guts!

Girls Night In

Molly admiring her loot

M&M's... a classic choice! Barbie Christmas...not so classic!

She is ready to go!

Last weekend ( slacker blogging, I know!) Kyle went to a concert with a bunch of his friends, so Molly and I treated ourself to dinner out. Then we went to Blockbuster where she could pick out a movie and candy. She deliberated long an hard on both! I feel very lucky to say that not only do I love Molly, but I really LIKE her! I love hanging out with her! The older she gets the more fun we have. She has turned into an excellent shopping and lunch buddy! One of favorite things to do when we are out and about is to go to Sonic and get a drink. After we park I let her sit up front with me ( a BIG treat in her eyes!). I order a diet cherry limeade and she gets a lemonberry slush. We sit and chat and listen to music forever. It's so fun! I hope that as Molly grows up we continue to be so close- even through the angry tween years!

M&M

Today Molly and I had the treat of having Milam come and play with us! They played SOOOOO well together. They never once fussed or argued (RARE with 2 toddlers!).They had an absolute blast- they both love to play pretend so they had a big time! They played doctor, school, baby, they took an airplane ride to the beach, they were "cleaner men" and cleaned the house, and even opened their own restaurant:) Molly had it in her head that Milam and her were going to bake cupcakes and decorate them. I wasn't sure if he would be into it, but he LOVED it! They did a great job in their bakery and made a batch of yummy cupcakes. Milam has never been so sweet and loving to Molly as he was today- she was in heaven!

Here are M&M baking in their restaurant

Milam giving Molly some love!

How CUTE is this?!?

A sweet hug

Molly's first kiss captured on film! HA!

Lane- please send your sweet boy to us again soon- it was such a fun morning!

Life with a GIRL

One thing has become clear to me teaching Sunday School to Elementary age kids at Church- I don't get boys! I just can't understand them! Living with Molly, however is second nature. We are both Girlie girls who have a flair for the dramatic. Kyle however, is not so accustomed to parenting a prissy young thing. I'm learning that as foreign as I find the constant need to tackle one another (why do boys do that?!?) Kyle is equally baffled by the world of frills. And Molly is an extreme case. I can't count how many times she has said " I wish I could get married". She talks about the wedding dress, the cake, the dance, the kiss- all of it. She gets massive crushes already: Boys in school, Disney Princes, MILAM!, and even rockstars (Hello, Caleb from Kings of Leon!) are all the objects of her affection. She is very into makeup, high heels, dresses, accessories and posing. Yesterday I had to get to Church early and left Kyle to get Molly dressed for Church. Well- I guess she threw a big dramatic fit that she couldn't leave because her "dress was ugly" and she didn't look pretty. We are really in for it when this girl hits the pre-teen years! Kyle is SUCH a sport for putting up with both of us and our diva moments and for TRYING to understand how the female brain operates!

Molly all decked out

A glimpse into Molly's world! In her room... An ironing board

A scarf, high heels, bracelet and purse

A kitchen

Ballerina Barbie, Makeup Kit, Another High Heel

I love my Little Molly Dolly and her drama.... and I love Kyle for loving us in spite of (because of even?!?) it all!

Pumpkins and Friends at The Arboretum

We all met up at the Arboretum for a picnic lunch and to play in the pumpkins. I was SO ready to get out of the house after being down with the stomach flu this week- and the fresh air was just what I needed. Molly was not into the pumpkins at all this year- she was too focused on her friends! I am SO thankful for my wonderful play group friends! I can't believe Molly met these precious children when she was 6 weeks old and now they are all big toddlers and are the very best of friends!

Doctor Milam and Nurse Molly trying to help a very ill Hannah:)

These 2 were SO cute today! Joined at the hip and just loving on each other!

One of my favorite photos EVER! How sweet are these girls?!?

Getting dirty in the hay

My only decent pumpkin shot!

My Molly Dolly

The Texas State Fair!

We LOVE the Fair! Kyle even took an afternoon off so we could be there opening afternoon! It is so fun to walk around, eat fried treats (Fletchers Corn Dogs-YUM!), see the shows, ride the rides and of course avoid creepy Carnies- ha! Molly loves the Fair because she LOVES midway rides, Kyle likes the rides and checking out all the cars, and I love the food! The Fair always marks the beginning of Fall to me and I am so excited about that!

Molly was in Heaven meeting some local Beauty Queens. She walked around and stared at her autographed photos all afternoon!

One of the MANY rides...

Molly is in there somewhere- you can see the giant bow:)!