Trick or Treat

Actually, "tri tee" is more what it sounded like. We went trick-or-treating around our subdivision with our neighbors tonight. Here we are getting ready to go:



She said "tri tee" before people ever opened the door. She tried to go into the first three houses. She was very good about saying "tank you" and "bye-bye." Several people let her have her way with their candy bowls and she would have cleaned them out of I let her. She loved putting things into her bucket - she didn't really care what. It was very frustrating to her if someone slipped something into her bucket for her.

Sophia told me she was done after we went to about twenty houses (and walked half way around our neighborhood). We even skipped some of the houses just so we could keep up with the big girls. As I carried her away from a house she just said "all done." We asked if she wanted to go to one more house and she said "no." When asked if she wanted to go home and take a bath, she said "yeah." Luckily, she agreed to stop at one more house as Franco carried her home so I could take a picture.

And that was that.

Birthday Party Fun

Saturday we had a small party to celebrate Sophia's 2nd Birthday. It was just family and a few friends, some pizza, cupcakes and presents. We had it at the house in the backyard and, for the second year in a row, lucked out on getting some truly gorgeous weather. Here are some of the highlights:

Little girls playing:



Alfie, the dog (a.k.a. the entertainment):



Birthday girl eating cake:



Mommy holding the birthday girl down to open presents:


We had a nice day and enjoyed seeing everyone. Sophia is having a great time playing with her new toys and some of the decorations from the party. She is also loving cupcake leftovers, as are we! Thank you to those who took extra... ;)

Substitute Teaching

For the first time in more than two years I took a sub job. The automated system called me in advance about a two-day job at a local elementary school (Florence Markofer) in the computer lab. Sophia stayed home with Franco and I went to work. As far as sub jobs go, this one was a piece of cake. The kids were busy and I just walked around looking over their shoulders most of the day. It wasn't even that weird to be away during the day... it felt like it did when I used to work. When I got home it felt weird, though, because I missed so much of Sophia's day.

I'll probably keep substituting occasionally on weeks when Franco is home. However, it will be at least a month before I do it again because we have a trip planned for his next week home. The trip is only a few days, but any vacation requires planning and recovery time. Disneyland here we come!

Wednesday Was Alarming!

Early Wednesday morning, around 5:00 AM, our burglar alarm went off. Franco was home and we were both sound asleep. I was so sound asleep that I barely heard the alarm. I actually woke to the sound of Franco telling me that the alarm was going off and that he wanted me to stay down. After becoming alert enough to have a thought, I wanted to run and "save" Sophia from the frightening sound and potential intruder. However, I checked the video monitor and she was still laying down with her rear in the air, asleep. I decided to leave her alone for the time being. Next I had to answer the call from the alarm monitoring company (sirens still screaming) and wait for Franco to clear the house. Scary. Once he cleared it we told the ADT people that they did not need to dispatch the police. Then we were stuck awake waiting for the adrenalin to subside. Though Sophia moved around for a few minutes (maybe a little awake?), she seemed to settle down pretty quickly.

Later in the morning, Franco reset the alarm and it went off five minutes later. It appears that there may be a short or a defective connector or something. No actual burglars, thankfully.

Another hour later he set off the alarm by opening the door to the garage. That evening we set the alarm early and I set it off going to the garage. This morning my mom set the alarm off because she isn't used to it. I won't be surprised if they send us our monthy fee back and tell us to find a new monitoring company.

Pre-Birthday Photo Shoot

This morning I dressed Sophia in her "2" shirt and drove us over to the regional park to take some pictures. I know that she isn't technically two, yet. I figured that sometimes we get good pics and sometimes we don't, so let's start a little early. The lighting was perfect because it was an overcast morning. Of course, Sophia didn't really want to sit and look at the camera. What toddler would? But, after chasing some ducks and picking up leaves, we did manage to take a few...

This picture is kinda cute, except that the background is all crooked. No, the fountain and pond are not defying gravity... I'm just that talented. :)


Now we have a beautiful blanket of leaves leading up to some distant trees. Sophia's smile is perfect. Too bad it looks like one of the trees is coming out of her head. And the cars in the distant parking lot are a little more visible than it looked like in my view finder (but still not too noticeable). Oh well, we had fun. Maybe we'll capture the perfect picture another day.

More pictures are in the gallery, if you are interested. :)

Fabulous Shelves

Here is some type lapse photography that documents our latest house project:

It only took Franco a couple of days to build these guys (with lots of interruptions) and me a few hours on our big rainy day to fill them. The cute little boxes came from IKEA. The top two shelves are only accessible with a ladder, but still make great storage. The bottom "shelf" is desk height/width, but we put our file cabinets (the black mass) under to keep them out of the way. Crazy fun stuff. We love to organize! :)

Lost and FOUND!

Remember that little pink bow? The one I thought Sophia might have eaten? Yeah, Franco found it today. It was under a rug in the kitchen. I vaguely remember her sitting on the rug while I was chopping or washing dishes... Sophia must have put it under there.

Yet another reason why I am happy that my husband is home. :)