#tbt Ayla and Super Kody--Halloween 2009

Lazy afternoon...

I'm currently 75% done editing my last photo session of the year!!!  Which means I'm going to have a lot more time to post on this blog! Yay! :) These pictures are from last month...just a bunch of random ones I took one afternoon after Aubree's nap.  #1--Ayla looks like she's 13-years old sitting there playing on my phone.  Crazy.  And #2--all of Aubree's different facial expressions are freaking awesome.  She's hilarious.

I love this. :)

Costumes for Preschool and Dance Class

Ayla had a Mother Goose Party at preschool today.  All the kids had to dress up as nursery rhyme characters...sooo we worked with what we had and Ayla went as Little Bo Peep.  I wasn't the only one who sent her daughter to school in a little dress holding a stuffed lamb. :)  I know the kids have fun and love to dress up no matter what the costume...but why can't we just have a nice little harmless Halloween party and let them wear their actual costumes?  Either way, she was a cute Little Bo Peep...any excuse to wear a pretty dress makes her happy. :)

When I went to pick up Ayla, her teacher had everyone lined up ready for pictures! :)

And for costume #2, she went to dance class as a butterfly--wings from her Halloween costume and hot pink pipe cleaner antennae in her pigtails. :)

At the end of her class, we got to watch them perform two dances--a tap dance to "Monster Mash" and a short ballet dance.  Dean was able to get off work in time to go as well...I'm so excited he got to see her dance.  I've been telling him how well she has been doing.  She's come a long ways since last summer when she was completely frozen during her performance.  I was wondering if she would dance this time.  She usually gets so shy in front of us.  We sat right in front of her and she did SO WELL!!!!  She danced every step of both dances!  I am so proud of her!  I really hope she continues to enjoy and learn at these classes.  I think it's been great for her--she's become more confident and less shy.  I can't wait until her actual recital in May! (I took videos while she danced, so I don't have any pictures.)

Her wings must have been hard to dance in...they were off when we went in to watch her dance.

Pumpkin Carving and Painting

This past Sunday was so nice out so we decided to carve and paint our pumpkins outside.  Unfortunately, the only paint I had was Crayola Washable Finger Paint.  It seemed like it was going to be fine until it rained all day today.  Turns out, the paint really is washable. :)  All of the pictures were taken in probably a matter of ten minutes.  By the end, the girls were running around the yard playing while Marla and I were carving pumpkins.  

Aubree's masterpiece. :) And also her little mini pumpkin that I finally had to put outside because she wouldn't stop chucking it all over the house.

Mine is on the left--I decided to go pretty generic this year.  In the past, I always tried making these fancy, crazy faces and would end up cursing myself mid-carve.  Ayla drew the face on the right and Marla carved it for her and then she painted it. :)

Our little egg carton Halloween friends

Nebraska City

We went to Nebraska City last weekend...it was a gorgeous day for it and I was soo excited to go because we didn't have time to do it last year.  We did the usual--walked around Arbor Lodge and took a few pictures and then headed over to the Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure.  Usually by the time we go, all of the leaves have started to turn, but not the case this year.  I was a little disappointed because it's normally sooo pretty with all of the different colors.  Still fun though. :)  When we went a couple of years ago, Aubree was still tiny so she spent most of her time in the stroller.  It was fun to see her running around and exploring this year. :)  Unfortunately, she had a cold so she was a bit out of it, but I think she still had a good time.

 I know the next few pictures pretty much look the same, but I couldn't help but post all of them.  We're working on teaching Aubree how to smile for pictures, but the more suggestions we throw her way, the worse it gets.  It's hilarious.  

Had to pause for a booger-sucker session. :)

This one cracks me up. :)

She found a teeny-tiny pumpkin in the corn maze!

She thought she was so cool sitting by herself on the hay rack.

Somebody had a little too much fun.  When we got in the car, she stated that she did not want to sleep.  Not more than a couple minutes later, she said, "Actually, I do" and passed out pretty quickly. :)