Too cute for words

Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo

Today we attended our first princess dress-up birthday party. We did go shopping for an appropriate costume, but Aurora wasn't even mildly interested in the dresses. She does love tutus and wings, so we decided she'd be a fairy. Well, at first she was a dragonfly, but it was pretty easy to convince her she was Tinkerbell.

She had a great time playing, eating cupcakes, and playing some more. There were some boys dressed as super heros, so it wasn't ALL princesses...

But it was mostly princesses! She actually didn't seem to be paying much attention to the other girl's outfits, but she loved her party favors and wanted to read (and sleep with) her Cinderella book tonight. I'm sure this won't be her last princess party, but I'm not entirely convinced she'll get sucked into it...

Of course, if she decides her 3rd birthday party needs to be princess themed, we will make it so. And we'll be sure to invite Aly and her sister!

Happy Hour

Last night we were invited to Happy Hour at Lance's house. It was employee + spouse only, so in order to attend we had to get a babysitter, which is not easy to find for 5pm on a Monday. I decided to ask Aurora's teacher Katie if she could just take Aurora home after school, and she said yes! So, we dropped off the car seat and garage clicker and carpooled to work.

By 5pm we were sipping margaritas in Lance's backyard... and at 5:30pm we got a call from Katie saying that the garage clicker wasn't working. It was working when we left the house, but I accidentally dropped it in the parking lot when we were heading in to daycare. Turns out Chuck had removed the spare key from under the mat, so they were indeed locked out. It was pretty hot outside, so Katie asked if she could take Aurora somewhere. I suggested Chick-fil-A, which was a great solution - dinner and a play area that Aurora loves.

They actually stayed there for over an hour and a half, but we still left the party a little early so that we could get Aurora in the house and off to bed at her usual time. We did have enough time to grab some food, chat with friends, and play peek-a-boo with Max Armstrong before taking off, which made for a pretty good evening.

Chuck, Amber, Kim and Kristal

This is potentially the only photo taken the whole time - nobody else was taking pictures, but I had to get one shot in for the blog, right?

Food and Entertainment

Yesterday we went out for breakfast and dinner, and Aurora found ways to be exceedingly silly during both.

First, she bit a little hole in a tortilla started telling us "say cheese!", pretending it was a camera. As soon as she bit the second hole, she was Swiper from Dora. She insisted I say "Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping, Swiper NO swiping!" so that she could respond with her best "Oh, Maaaan!"

Here's Aurora:

And here's Swiper:

At dinner she tried to clean my head with the cloth napkin, as if we were in the bathtub. The napkin soon became a head scarf and she said "I'm LISA!!!" I knew at once she was Lisa from Corduroy, as I read that book pretty much everyday.

Here's Aurora:

And here's Lisa:

Not EXACTLY photo recreations like my mom has on her blog, but pretty close! We should probably just make her sit and eat nicely when we go out, but for the most part, I must say I enjoy the entertainment she brings to the table.

eBay

I've been having trouble thinking of things to blog about this week - partly because I've already posted so much about Aurora's school that I figure you might be getting tired of hearing about that, and partly because I've been busy doing other things online - buying and selling on eBay!

I'd been taking a break from eBay pretty much all year, but in the last few weeks I've had co-workers asking me if I could sell their designer jeans, bags, shirts, etc. I wanted to post Aurora's Halloween costume from last year anyway, so I figured why not? Now I'm suddenly going through one of my phases where I just walk around the house digging around in closets looking for more to sell... hey, getting bids on your auction is exciting!

Here's the adorable costume I'm selling from last year. Aurora still can't sit through the Wizard of Oz, but "Over the Rainbow" is absolutely her favorite song.

And here's what I bought her for Halloween this year. The great thing about eBay is that you have tons of selection, and sometimes people throw in extras. I got her a costume and 2 outfits for a great price!

These arrived on our doorstep yesterday and I think the black pants are my favorite. Aurora saw the tiger and got SO excited. She said "Is that my TIGER?!? I want to wear my TIGER!!!"and then gave me some pretty weak little "rawr"s. We'll have to practice her ROAR's between now and Halloween!

A is for...

This week was all about the letter A. Aurora actually learned how to write an A all by herself (thought it looks a little like an H), and on Friday her class had an "A" show and tell day. Of course, we sent her to school dressed accordingly...

A is also for Autumn! Okay, so it won't be autumn for a few more weeks, but it is September and we've had a few days with slightly cooler temps and rain, which is why Aurora's wearing her cool boots in this picture.

A is for Antibiotics and Advil, which I am now taking - thanks to last week's cold becoming a sinus infection. I've had a pretty miserable week and weekend, but hopefully the antibiotics will kick it soon.

And, A is for Activities. Aurora misses her friends and all their school activities over the weekends, so even with my sinus infection, we've been making time to get out for family fun. Here we are enjoying some music at the Hill Country Galleria, after a day of shopping.

As far as long weekends go, this one probably won't make the list as best or most memorable, but that's okay. Friday we snuck a half day from work while Aurora was in school and went to the movies, which was really nice. What will we do with our Monday off... who knows? I'm sure we'll find something Awesome.

Boo boo

Monday I picked up Aurora from school and she had a band aid across her face. I don't think you can tell from this picture, but it was basically covering scratches that covered her whole cheek!

The crazy thing is, Aurora really seemed happy about it. I asked her how she got her boo boo, and she said "Running and jumping and playing!" I guess the big kid playground is just very exciting and has some great sloping areas to run up and down. Her teacher said she didn't cry or tell anybody, they just noticed it, cleaned her up and gave her a band aid.

The funniest thing was the next morning when she first saw her face in the mirror, after the band aid was gone and it had scabbed up, she said "Oh no! My boo boo hurts!" It didn't hurt. Now it's almost gone (if only she'd stop scratching the scabs). Little kids seriously have bionic healing powers.

I wanted to show you her face, but decided I'd just take a picture of her showing off a little art project that they posted on the wall and holding a worksheet. These days when I ask her about her favorite part of the day, she doesn't just say "Friends" anymore - she says "The Zebra Class!"

Blah

Not much to update you on today. I woke up sick Friday morning and have been feeling pretty miserable the last few days. It's basically a cold and I'm getting better, but it was not the most fun weekend of all time. Aurora went to bed sick on Thursday night, and she definitely had her cranky moments this weekend so I don't think she was feeling 100% either. As bad as we felt, I feel the worst for Chuck for having to put up with us all weekend!!!

We had a few plans that just didn't happen, but made the best of it and still enjoyed eating out and spending time together. Here's hoping for less blah tomorrow and a better week to come!

They wear cute hats.

The Splits

Making the split from the Fish room to the Zebras was actually a bigger change than I expected. The kids don't bring sippy cups anymore, they use real cups! We no longer get daily reports telling us what they did, now we get a weekly schedule telling us what they'll be learning. Instead of just doing art projects, Aurora's starting to do worksheets, tracing letters and numbers and matching. And possibly the biggest change is that they're going out to the big playground instead of the baby playground!

She's definitely happy and loves her friends and teachers, but it's been an adjustment. She's been extremely energetic and emotional in the evenings, which I think is a result of being overtired.

Back to school has affected more than just Aurora's schedule. Our light summer traffic is gone and my week has been completely absorbed with getting our new fall interns lined up. Soon the days will be getting shorter, the weather will be getting cooler, and another year will come to an end! But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I called this post the splits, and I meant it...

My Favorite Part

This weekend flew by, which is pretty incredible considering it was 3-day weekend for me and Aurora. It started with some shopping and a trip to a new bouncy house, and just got better from there.

Yesterday evening just as the weather was cooling down, we went to the Hill Country Galleria for some ice cream and live music. There were kids running around everywhere, which meant it really was fun for the whole family. On the way home, we had a conversation that went something like this:

Aurora: We had a fun night! Mommy, what was your favorite part? Was it the music?

Me: Yes!

Aurora: Daddy, what was your favorite part? Was it the ice cream?

Chuck: Yeah.

Me: Definitely - Aurora what was your favorite part?

Aurora: Running around!!!

She sure has us figured out. 

Today we went to a waterfront park for a couple of hours and hung out with friends. We played in the dirt, hula-hooped, and enjoyed the last of our long weekend.

I'm not sure exactly which part of the weekend was actually my favorite part. I guess it was a combination of everything! Spending time with these two does make me happy...

Farewell Fish

After a couple of very busy weeks (and months) at work, things seem to be calming down and it couldn't come at a better time. Today Aurora's class had a 'Farewell Fish' party and parents were invited! I couldn't help it - I just had to leave work early and help her celebrate and say goodbye to her teachers and friends. Not that she's going far, but it's still a big deal - she's moving up from a toddler to a "young pre-school" class. How did that happen!?

When I arrived, they were taking group photos of the Fish and Zebra classes together. I think Aurora noticed me:

The kids got goodie bags, snacks, and some cool party favors:

It turns out Aurora is going to be separated from Seth and Adelina, who are both going to the Dolphin room. She'll still be with her friends Alex and Presley (above) as well as several new friends.

Tomorrow's a teacher workshop day, and I'm actually taking Aurora to work with me to help lead a tour for a group of cancer survivors. We'll also shop at Costco and stop at the library. It should be a nice long weekend with my girl!

The Library

Lately it has been too hot to take walks, too hot to go to the park, and too boring to go straight home after work and school. So, at least once a week we've been going to the library.

To me, the funniest thing is always what Aurora says when we first walk in. I mean, until we get back to the kid's area, we're supposed to be quiet, but as soon as we walk in the door Aurora says something silly like "Ooooh, it's cold in here!". Once she said "The lie-berry is not scary, the lie-berry is FUN!". Everybody whole heartedly agreed with that statement. Anyway, our library has a great kid's area and she just loves it.

I've decided to start borrowing kid's movies from the library, too. Aurora's been asking for Shrek and Buzz & Woody lately, and I think she might be ready for some classics like Mary Poppins and the Wizard of Oz. We also like to check out CD's and do puzzles. But, mostly she's into the books. She loves reading at school, at home, in the car, anywhere really. A few weekends ago I tried taking her to see some live kid's music, and she insisted on reading the whole time...

Ahhh well, I tried! Guess we'll just have to stick with the library.