On the edge . . .

. . . of our seat (and step) as we watched Ohio State take home the big win in overtime. 27 to 24! Much like her daddy, Vanessa couldn't handle the anticipation.

A Grand Cultivation

Grandma is good to help with growing a literate flower -- story hour is like food and water for the bloom . . .

Morning Delight

Finally . . . almost two weeks later and we're finally really enjoying the treats Vanessa labored so hard for. We had colds last week and then we kind of forgot the stash we hid. (Don't let me fool you -- we had a piece here and there, and Vanessa had other treats to finish first.)

After having a prompt and somewhat light dinner last evening (and after putting Vanessa to bed,) Mommy and Daddy remembered the candy and plunged right in. Of course we had to do the cautionary inspection of it all, and do what guardians just have to do -- eat every ounce that might be a choking hazard, with a few extra splurges, like chocolate, in between. However, we were good to keep from devouring all the things Vanessa might enjoy. She loves Whoppers, and we don't, so it's perfect teamwork.

I happened to leave a Twizzler out with the intention to give it to Vanessa after breakfast this morning . . . but oops . . . it was left in plain view. So she had a Twizzler first for breakfast. She took it down in less than a minute.

TRICK OR TREAT

And while speaking of the hard work it took to fill Vanessa's pumpkin three-quarters of the way full -- here are Vanessa and the Slivka kids preparing to head out. For those not in the area -- we get two hours of walking door to door. Two hours is not necessary with little ones like this. Vanessa ran for almost the entire first hour. Then she asked to ride in the stroller to rest and to hide under the canopy to dig through her bucket. (She was pretty sly.) We ended back at the Slivka's homestead and passed out treats for the last 50 minutes.

The task was easy when you had audiences like this. Vanessa was great and put on quite a performance. She'd say, "Trick 'r treat . . ." And she always followed it with a slight bow and "Thank you sooooo much . . . " She was a hoot.

It appears the hip costume colors for 2009 are black and white. It wasn't planned like that. Megan is the penguin.

Joel

Cousin Joel turned 5 the other day and we were able to celebrate today. Joel is quite a character. His eyes and smiles make any heart melt. He's often very soft and sweet. He's so gentle with little ones. He takes his role as big brother very seriously. He chose an Increbibles birthday cake, likes Transformers, most Superheroes, and G.I. Joe. He's a performer too. He sings and dances but has a bashful side, so it's hard to catch him in those moments. He also has an interest in playing football one day. And you can tell he has characteristics of a teacher, and he can be so helpful.

Close friends to Joel brought a moon bounce. How perfect! The kids had a blast. They took turns -- little kids and then big kids. And they all got several turns.

We didn't get pictures of the big kids bouncing since Vanessa took lots of distracting between turns. When one turn was over, Daddy had to climb in and pull her out. So no, Adam didn't count as a big kid. But now that I think about it -- why didn't us old kids get turns?! :) (Joel's daddy, Phil, took his turn "napping" on it when the air was turned off. I almost had proof.)

Vanessa decided after her daddy pulled her out that she didn't want to wait so she was going to run away. She literally began running down the sidewalk, away from the house. I decided to let her keep going as I followed. I had even decided to let her run around the block, but when we got halfway, she spotted the swing in their backyard, so she made a quick B line for it. All in all, a good distraction till the next turn. If you ever wondered how to exhaust Vanessa -- give her unlimited access to a moon bounce. :)

Knife-Wielding Daddy

Perhaps Vanessa had reason to be concerned for Pumpkin since Daddy was going at him with a knife like that. A couple times, for just a short moment, Vanessa became quite concerned as Daddy began to carve. She exclaimed at one point, "Oh no, Pumpkin?! Hurt Pumpkin!" It was one of those moments where it was cute she was so concerned but we didn't want to mock her sincerity, so we turned away until we could handle explaining in an appropriate manner that Pumpkin couldn't feel a thing. And I went on to reassure her that she is right in that knives do cut and can hurt us.

Vanessa didn't really like reaching in to pull the guts out. However, she did enjoy scooping the stuff out with a spoon.

She ended up really happy with Jack-O'-Lantern. (She tried blowing out his "happy cake" candle.) She even kissed him.