Happy Halloween!!

Have A SPOOKTAKULAR Day

Pumpkin Carving!

Tonight we carved our pumpkins with Finley and Penelope.  Here are some photos of our fun night:

Pumpkin #1: Greg cleaning out the grossness of the pumpkin.  We asked Finley if she wanted to help out which is why she has her hands over her face.  She was traumatized with this last year so not too surprised.

We decided to do Mickey Mouse for pumpkin #1.

We were going to do it freehand but as you can see our rough drawings were not so good.  Mine was the one with the face while Greg's is the three circles.  We went online and Disney actually had pumpkin templates so that is what we used.

Finley helping add carve the pumpkin - she basically handed him the carving tools

Let the carving begin!!

Finley eagerly awaiting the finished product

Finishing up!!

Introducing Mickey Pumpkin as per Finley

Pumpkin #2:  We had absolutely no plan for this one - something easy so Finley suggested a kitty which we did freehand.

More helping!  She enjoyed it as long as she wasn't touching the goo.  So she used a spoon to help scoop the pumpkin guts

Penelope having fun while we carved pumpkins.  She was forced to sit in her highchair because of the construction in our kitchen

Drawing kitty on the pumpkin

While Greg was working on this pumpkin we were convinced it was going to be the worst pumpkin ever but after he finished i was like it looks like Dr. Claw's cat so that's what we went with!

Dr Claw's cat on the front step.

We actually had no candles for the pumpkins so we used both of Penelope and Finley's birthday candles so we could get some photos before tomorrow but they are not long lasting candles so I gotta hit up a dollar store to get some candles for the pumpkins....anyone where i can get the led candles??

Happy Halloween - more photos tomorrow

Finley's 3rd Birthday in Photos

Since we had her birthday party a few weeks ago, today was actually a pretty quiet day for us.  She played with her sister most of the morning and we tried to teach her how to show her age with her fingers.  We struggled a little but she gets the idea and she knows she is 3 which is fantastic

Since it is the weekend which means a kitchen under construction we went to McDonalds for lunch.  Finley ate part of Greg's hamburger, a few nuggets, french fries and some milk.  She enjoyed playing with the choo choo train and telling us about the purple, green and yellow triangles.  Everywhere is a learning opportunity! :)

Sesame Street cupcakes courtesy of Safeway.  The face's are all rings which Finley absolutely loves.  

Finley smelling the cupcakes while waiting for daddy to get off of the phone with Grandpa Don.

I love how lovingly Finley is looking at the cupcakes.  She wanted one so bad.

Wearing her Birthday Girl Badge.  She felt very proud with it on!

She opens presents before cupcakes which is ok with her because at least it is something.  We gave her most of her presents at her party but these are a few from us that we saved for her actual birthday.

A Princess Barbie!!

A bracelet making kit seeing how she loves wearing her bling

A necklace making kit!  We will be very busy!!

A present from Grandma Toot 

A Barbie Pool!!  She was quite enamoured by the Barbie Car that was shown on the box so I think Santa may bring that to her!  She was happy with the pool.

Finally getting her cupcake.  She chose to eat Big Bird.

Putting the ring on her finger...

Eating the icing

Eating more cupcake

She basically ate just the icing.  

Penelope got Abby Cadabby cupcake

She would've eaten the whole thing had I let her!

Playing with her barbies

More Barbies!

Doing one of her favourite puzzles with daddy

More playing with barbies

She just finished getting her  Halloween costume on for her bff's Halloween Birthday Party when she decided our floor needed to be swept in the bonus room!

We then left for Cailey's party.  Cailey is one of Finley's bff's and was born the day after Finley at the same hospital so I bet they were friends before we even knew it!!  We had a great time at the party and will post photos soon.  

She was so worn out that Finely was in bed shortly after 7pm tonight!  She had the most fantastic of days!

Still can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old.  Oh how time flies.

Happy Birthday Finley.  We love you so much!!!  xoxoxoxox

Finley Fun Facts For Her 3rd Birthday

In honour of Finley's THIRD birthday,  here are some things you may not know:

*has never had her hair cut
*goes to bed at 8pm
*loves the songs rolling in the deep and tgif.  She changes her voice to "sound" like Adele and Katy Perry.  It makes me laugh every single time.
*never been in a vehicle driven by anyone other than me or Greg
*loves milk
*Can say nearly 200 words.  Getting better at putting sentences together.  Still waiting to be evaluated by a slp.
*loves tiaras, wands, rings, necklaces, wings, bracelets and tutu's
*loves tape measures, screw drivers and hammers
*hates having her hair washed
*won't sit in a stroller
*loves to play with her friends
*can say her abc's and count to 20
*knows a square, circle, heart, diamond shapes
*knows the colours pink, blue, green, orange, red and purple but struggles with brown, black and grey
*has never stayed away from me overnight except when I was in the hospital when Penelope was born.
*Loves all things Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street, Toy Story and Strawberry Shortcake
*prefers to carry her own basket in the stores - especially the ones that have wheels and can be pulled around
*likes to "help" push the cart or stroller
*insists on carrying bags when shopping in a mall - even if they are heavy, in which case she'll carry for 3 steps and say no mommy u take it
*loves playing with her stuffed animals and dolls and can be seen carrying them in her baby carrier, stroller or cart.
*she "shops" around the house, putting random objects in her shopping cart
*she loves hiking in the mountains and can hike about 5k before needing to be carried in the backpack
*loves to help daddy set up the tent and look for animals in the wild
*have to carry a potty while hiking because she won't pee in the bushes. I swear people think we are crazy!
*loves listening and singing to Taylor Swift, PitBull, Simple Plan, Taio Cruise, JLo, Adele, Lady Antebellum and Lady Gaga
*Loves to wear shoes
*loves headbands and pony tails
*knows the following animals and their sounds: cows, horses, monkeys, wolves, coyotes, bears, buffalo, moose, dog, cat, duck, bird, mouse, tiger, lion, sheep + pig
*knows elephants and giraffes but not their sounds
*loves to read books
*loves to vacuum and sweep when i do it with her little own toys
*loves quincy and luci and most dogs
*loves sidewalk chalk
*hates finger paint
*loves painting with a brush
*loves stickers and crayons
*loves to sit and make art at her art desk and at her easel
*loves to play with her kitchen and all things associated with it.  I get all kinds of fun treats made for me!
*loves playing outside on her jungle gym,  her playhouse, her tricycle, her coupe, her basketball net and bowling.  She LOVES swings and slides
*likes to help pull dandelions
*loves the zoo and the library
*loves playing with little people
*hates potatoes
*loves pancakes, french toast, pizza, green beans, carrots, bananas, strawberries, peanut butter, chicken catalina, pears, cheese and grilled cheese
*loves to eat muffins and oatmeal for breakfast
*loves to help bake
*she is daytime potty trained and only wears pullups at night
*loves her cousins
*has never had ketchup
*loves pickles on her burger
*loves to play the piano
*has to sleep with her beloved pink blanket and her posse which contains kitty, kitty cat, flower girl bear, monkey, elmo, minnie, another monkey, abby cadabby, jessie and strawberry shortcake.  These friends also travel with us near and far
*She loves doing her dinosaur puzzle and her buffalo with her daddy
*loves to do puzzles and games
*she cheats at Hungry Hippos
*broke the bottom 2 drawers in her dresser.  They had to be glued together and re-screwed.
*She ripped her curtain rod and curtains off the wall
*she ripped all of the chair railing on her walls off.  Not even kidding.  Thankfully no damage to her walls
*loves to wear sunglasses, bling and her coach bag
*loves dancing
*loves her sister

Hope you enjoyed getting to know our little 3 year old!

Mommy + Me Questions

A few months ago a friend and fellow blogger asked her son a few questions on his 3rd birthday and posted his answers. I thought it was pretty cool so i thoughti would do a similar thing and do it each year on her birthday until she decides she's too cool but i will still make her!
 I found the questions on everybody's favorite site Pinterest

 1. What is your name? PINEY
2. How old are you? Tfree (hard to spell how she actually says it)
3. Who is your best friend? Buzz (toy story)
4. What is your favorite animal? Cow. Cow goes moooooooooo
5. What do you want to be when you are all grown up? Strawberry (shortcake. Probably because she was playing with her Strawberry Shortcake doll)
6. What is your favorite movie? Jessie (toy story)
 7. What is your favorite book? Fox (in socks)
8. What makes you happy? Milk
9. What makes you sad? No mommy no
10. What is your most favorite food to eat? Watermelon (she actually hates watermelon but for some reason one of her favorite play foods)
11. What games do you like to play? Buffalo (wooden puzzle from yellowstone), puzzles + hungy hips (hungry hippos)

I was actually worried about doing this with Finley as I am concerned about speech language development but I think she did really good and she cracked me up.

Can't wait to do this next year!

Happy 3rd Birthday Finley!!!

Here is our first of a few birthday posts for our sweet little girl Finley on her 3rd birthday!!

As per birthday tradition here is Finley each morning on Oct 29th since 2008

Birthday #3

Birthday #2

Birthday #1

Day of Birth

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Finley and I recently made some pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies which are a perfect fall cookie.  Although in all seriousness, I eat pumpkin year round.  I LOVE it!!

Here are some photos:

Finley with her apron on.  I actually have the matching adult version of this apron!

Penelope sitting in her high chair while we baked.  The main floor is not safe for Penelope to crawl on so she has to be strapped in.  Food is the only thing that makes her happy while in here!

Watching the batter mix up....

Getting ready to add the flour 

Time to add and then she was done with baking...

I got to use my cookie scoop that I recently bought off eBay.  It arrived on Monday and I was eager to use it.  How I survived without it for so long, I have no idea.  I love, love, love it.  It cost me about $5 or $6 online compared to $23 at Crate and Barrel.  It is made by Wilton so it is decent quality.  Everybody go buy one.  NOW!!

Getting ready to go in the oven..

The finished product.  These cookies went perfect with my killer pumpkin muffins which were the afternoon snack for my girls and their friends.

Here is the link to the cookies: Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and if you are interested in my killer pumpkin muffins here is the link