It's the Holiday Season!!!

Macy begs to take pictures. All the time. Today we set up the tripod because she wanted to do it all by herself. We did one of us all together first.

Then she wanted to do the rest.

I think we have a little photographer on our hands!

Halloween

When you're 3, Halloween is a LONG day. We tried to break it up a bit by "trick-or-treating" at Sam's work and then mine. Then we went to lunch with friends. After a late nap we were ready to go trick-or-treating for real!

Macy is helping the White Rabbit play his horn. Don't get used to seeing the White Rabbit. We forgot him in all our other pictures.

Our neighbors Ashlee and Elsie. Don't look too closely at Ashlee's costume, because that is likely what I will wear next year. I've worn it before but I think it's my favorite costume my mom has made.

Saying it's hard to get a good picture of these kiddos is an understatement!

Alice and the Mad Hatter :)

The Red Queen, Mad Hatter, and Alice. It may not seem like it, but the make up was super hard to do this year. I mean, for Sam and me. Macy loved just putting on some of my make up. We also had a rough time with Sam's eyebrows. They didn't want to stay on. I told him it was because he already had bushy eyebrows :). And no matter what we did, we just couldn't get his make up to look like Johnny Depp's. We proved we aren't professionals this year!

Another one. Yep, no matter which angle I stand in, I still manage to look twice my normal size. What is with all my costumes? I seem to remember this problem last year... I think I have made an subconscious rule that says I am not allowed to wear anything flattering on Halloween!

And now we have the Cheshire Cat in this one.

Here's the close-up. Doesn't she look happy?

Macy finally figured out this year that the faster she got in and out of this wagon, the faster we could get to the next house. And it saved her from walking. Now if she could just get Elsie on the same page! Also on our trick-or-treating adventure, I was fired. I am no longer allowed to go up to the doors (or even move from my spot on the sidewalk in any way). Macy would put her hand up to me and as sternly as she could, say, "No, Mom. I can do it myself. You stay right there." Then she would eyeball me as she marched up to the door, making sure I really didn't move a muscle. Macy shouted "Trick or Treat!" as she knocked on the door, then said it again as they opened the door, and then made sure she thanked them and said Happy Halloween as she ran back to the wagon. Mom isn't cool any more. I don't think Mom ever was though.

After all that candy, maybe we should eat some super nutritious dinner at bedtime. These girls have never been happier.

Relaxing after the sugar rush, giggling at everything each other would do.

Checking out the stash. There are never enough suckers for this girl.

Making sure no one got near her property... at least until she went to bed and Mom and Dad could pick out what they wanted.

Pumpkin Carving

Have you ever had so much going on that you forget to make sure you have a meal planned for Sunday dinner... before Sunday? Well, today we forgot, and I was pleasantly surprised at what Sam came up with for dinner.

Here's our pizzas on tortillas. Seriously, they were delicious. Sam gets the Martha Stewart Award today.

We had Macy help scoop out her pumpkin this year but that didn't last long. She thought it was gross. Then we told her to draw what she wanted us to carve out on her pumpkin.

At first she drew a face, but then it became more elaborate. We started wondering how we were going to carve it out.

Here's the face/body up close.

This is serious business.

Her final product. Then it was Sam's job to try and carve that thing.

Macy has been getting into taking pictures, but I almost have a panic attack every time she touches my camera.

And here's our final creations. Macy's is my favorite. I love the spiky hair on the top, and yes those are legs coming out of the smile. Sam's is clever as always and I was a little grouchy when I was carving my pumpkin... not a surprise as to the theme of my pumpkin then.

Halloween Carnival

Our church had a "Fall Festival" that the Young Women were in charge of... shoot me. I never want to be in charge of something so huge ever again. We planned for 275 people and all I know is that I didn't see many empty seats and I was too busy to try to count. Sam and I had an argument about costumes. Well, not what we were wearing (I had that planned a year in advance!) but when we would wear them. Sam said he only dressed up once each year. I told him he had to wear the costume because I wanted to win the costume contest, and for crying out loud, I was in charge of the thing and had to be the MC.

Here's how it turned out. Sam refused to wear make up or the eyebrows. His way of rebelling. Someone pointed out (I'll keep the name confidential) that Sam looked like a pimp. They were right! See what happens when you only do half a costume?! Some people at the party didn't recognize me, which I was totally okay with. I also had to explain that Sam and I were characters from the new Alice in Wonderland and that Macy was the traditional Alice... I was also okay with that too. What I wasn't okay with was that my hat/hair was a little crooked and NO ONE told me the WHOLE night. Seriously?! I have no true friends. As it turned out, our family won the "Judge's Favorite" award. Macy was just happy to win more candy.

There's our Alice!

We had a children's costume parade across the stage, which was lined with all the pumpkins entered in the pumpkin carving contest. Here Macy is hamming it up with her friend Emma, aka Little Red Riding Hood, behind her. A big thanks to my friend Brooke, who took all the pictures of our family. Sam had the camera but the only ones that turned out were these next two...

This is Brooke's husband, Ben, and their littlest girl. He was a UFC fighter and had the coolest hair I've ever seen. It was awesome.

And I'm pretty sure there's never been a better looking Bumble Bee. Thanks for the random, yet somehow still great pictures Sam :).

Gearing Up For The Big Day

Alice's photo shoot, featuring the White Rabbit.

Macy's scared face. The neighbor's decorations were apparently too much for Macy, even in the daylight.

We are so cheesy at this house...

and a little drama.

Little Miss Naughty

If I had to describe Macy... this would sum it up. When she is sweet, she is really sweet. When she isn't, she really isn't. Oh, I could go on and on. Sam's conversation with her tonight (after the most dreadful, tantrum-ridden bedtime routine ever) tells all...

Sam: "It makes Dad sad when you are mean to Mom."

Macy: "When I yell at Mom, I love you more, and when I yell at you, I love Mom more." (pause... probably while Sam is trying to figure out how to respond) "What have you been eating?"

Sam: "Nothing."

Macy: " You smell like marshmallows."

Mother of the Year Award

Macy had a fever this week. No other symptoms, though... at first. Well, no other symptoms besides waking up six times a night and being only slightly less energetic during the day.

Fever Day 2: No preschool for Macy. She was sad. So was Mom. By late afternoon Macy seemed to be doing quite well. Her fever was all the way down to 99.6. I was supposed to be at work and we were having a big meeting that was going to be hard to miss. My original plan was to take Macy to the soccer game (the last region game of the season) to hang out with my friend Anita until I could get there. I call a couple of friends and see what their opinion is on what I should do. I end up deciding to take Macy with me to work until my meeting started, then take her to the soccer game. I left my meeting early so that Macy was only at the soccer game without me for an hour. She seemed okay when I got there (oh, did I mention that it was cold and rainy and that all the kids were cocooned in blankets?) and we sat together for the rest of the first half. Macy sat through halftime but started falling asleep (anyone who knows Macy knows that this is totally abnormal). We ended up leaving just as the second half was starting.

On the way to the car Macy starts bawling and saying "My neck! My neck!" I ask her if it is inside her neck, and then tell her that it's called her throat. Macy cried all the way home and was so worked up by the time we got there that she threw up in the yard. We got inside and I asked her what the problem was and she said, "I just need to calm down!" Her temperature was creeping upwards of 101. I decide to look at her throat, and that's when I see these red bumps all over her tonsils and roof of her mouth. Eww.

After our visit to the doctor at 9:45pm, it's determined that she has a strain of the coxsackie virus (blisters in her throat). Mom of the Year Award. I win.

Service at the Care Center

Macy had to come with me to a Young Women's activity tonight while Sam was at a game. We were in charge of a Family Home Evening at a local rehabilitation center. It was only a half hour, and we did musical numbers and sang hymns. This sounds horrible, but afterwards I told a few people that I liked Macy for a whole half hour... some days, this is quite a feat.

Macy LOVED it. She stood by me while we were in front of everyone singing hymns, and she "conducted" the songs with both hands. She put on quite the show for everyone. Then, when it was my turn to introduce myself, Macy told me she wanted to go to the microphone by herself. I knew this was either going to be really good, or really bad... but figured, why not? I had to hold Macy up in front of me so she could reach the microphone. She grabbed it with both hands and said quite clearly... "My name is Macy. My favorite color is pink. I like to go to the park... and I am three."

It was the cutest thing. It made my day (well, just being at the care center with all of those people made my day, but this was the cherry on top). When Sam got home I had Macy tell him about it. She told Sam that there were a bunch of old people, and that they were sad (I never said that to her!). When Sam asked why they were sad, she said, "Because they don't have enough customers." After a few giggles, I said, "Do you mean visitors?" Who says little ones don't understand what's going on?

Random Thoughts at FHE

This picture is compliments of Ashlee. Macy is getting so big, we can hardly believe it. Anyway, tonight we had Family Home Evening. Macy loves it. Her favorite place to go is the temple visitor's center. We probably end up going once a month, mostly because Mom and Dad need a break from it every once and a while :). So here is a random conversation I had with Macy as we were getting ready to go:

"Mom? I think you need a different name. Not Danielle."

"Well what should it be then?"

"Witch." (Imagine Sam turning to walk away so Macy can't hear him laugh.)

"Hmm. That might be kind of confusing. Aren't witches bad?"

"Well some are bad, but some are good."

"What kind of witch am I?"

"You're a mom witch."
"Are mom witches good or bad?"

"They're good."

Well as long as we've made that clear, right? After this kind of conversation I knew the visitor's center should be interesting. Macy was on one. As soon as we walk in, a sweet older sister missionary comes over to talk to Macy. She asks Macy where she is from. Macy looks at her, pauses briefly, and says "Earth." The sister missionary tells her that is the best answer she's heard all day. After listening to the audio for the Christus statue, a younger sister missionary asks a few kids what kinds of things they can do to show Jesus their love for Him. Macy immediately signs "sit" over and over. Maybe she does listen when we tell her how to be reverent.

I'm not sure how parents do it. We have entered the age of asking a million questions that we don't know how to answer... at least in her language. Most of the hard questions come when she asks things like:

"Why did Jesus die?"

"Why did they put him on the cross?"

"Did he cry?"

"Is Jesus in the temple?"

"Where is the Holy Ghost?"

And there are more where those came from. Many, many more. We are excited to see our nephew, Easton, be baptized next month. We are talking to Macy about it and she is thrilled, but she says she doesn't want to be baptized because she doesn't want to go under the water (she's not exactly a fish). Macy also keeps asking if Easton will be able to get his ears pierced after he is baptized. (I tell her she can choose to get her ears pierced when she is eight. It seems to be backfiring on me at the moment.) Ahh, kids.

3 Year Pictures are Here!