Winter Spirit at Locomotive Park

Last Saturday we went to Locomotive Park for the big lighting ceremony. It wasn't too cold so it was actually kind of fun. We went back on Sunday so that we could get some pictures (way less people). And then Etta and I have gone back every single night so far. She absolutely loves it.

And I much prefer going down there around 5:00 for a little while rather than staying here and listening to her whine about various things.

I mean, it is great to get out into the fresh air and enjoy the very neat display that we have about two minutes away from our house.

A very colorful tree.



Chillin' with the penguins.



Many trees of lights.



Ringing the bell.

A Boy, His Daughter and His Dog

Reading books.



Hugs



Kisses

A Day in the Park

Yesterday was Bea. u. ti. ful. I cannot even begin to describe what a wonderful fall day it truly was. And Etta has been begging at the door to "go, go, go" pretty much every day. So. We went. And boy did we have fun!

Hurry up daddy, let's go!!



I'm climbing up!



I'm cheesy...



Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!



Life is a highway, I'mmmmmmm gonna drive it on and on...

Fast Food Friday

This is going to be a new post that I am going to try to do each Saturday.

On Friday nights Bob and I have date night. This normally includes going to Adcope to play racquetball and/or swim and then home for a "fast food dinner".

This came about last winter when we were trying to find ways to have fun and yet spend little to no extra money. We already have the membership to Adcope and they have free daycare in the evenings. Yay! We already had racquetball gear and swimming stuff. Perfect.

But to go at 5:00 on a Friday for about an hour means that there isn't much time for dinner prep when we get home. That's also about when I discovered that it is often SO MUCH EASIER to prep/make dinner while Etta is taking her afternoon nap. So on Fridays I decided to get dinner "oven ready" during the day and not have to worry about it when we got home from our date.

And even though we try to eat mostly healthy, most of the time, it is always fun to not worry about it every once in awhile. Hence the "fast food" part of the title. We don't actually BUY fast food. I absolutely DETEST waiting for very unhealthy, over-priced food, usually not tasty food. (Don't get me wrong, we do eat out - very rarely - but it really isn't "relaxing" to me...)

So yesterday I made "Hot and Sour Soup" (recipe by Nancy Nelson), Chicken Lo Mein and "Susie" egg rolls. This is the first time that I have made Chinese for Fast Food Friday, but it worked pretty nicely since all of the prepping and cutting could be done early and the cooking doesn't take very long.

I apologize for the quality of my picture. I don't have a fancy camera and I'm not very good with it. But if you zoom in you can see the tasty morsels in the Lo Mein.

My First Book fair

Last week we went up to McGhee for Etta's first book fair. She got two new books.

This is the book that Bob had "pre-approved" for our purchase. Zoom in and check out the title.



Etta really liked this book for some reason. We did not get it this go around though.

It's pajama time!

@ the local library.

Last night Etta and I joined Christine, Caleb, Noah and Jonah at the city library for pajama story time. It begins at 6:00 and lasted just under an hour with the activity.

(It seemed like the middle of the night though, because it gets dark here at about 2:00 p.m.)

As much as Etta likes to have books read to her, she much preferred to see what else was going on in the library. I figure the more that we go, the more that she will get used to it.

All in all it was a very good time. We are planning on going again - next time Santa will be there!

I am such a big girl! I can sit on the big bench with my own name tag.



Look at the 'yights'



Yeah, I've got my Auntie Christine. Boo to you!



Big boy Noah sitting up high



Group craft activity. Notice how Etta is sitting ON the table. They made bird feeders using a pine cone, Crisco and bird seed. Of course we left without me grabbing Etta's...



Using the knife to poke the Crisco.



I put her in jammies with letters and animals. Felt that was appropriate for pajama story time!



Our two favorite boys. When we got to Christine's yesterday they weren't home from pre-school yet. Etta would play for a couple of minutes and then look up and look around. "Boys?" she kept asking. She loves those boys.

Harvest Dinner

Sunday night was Harvest Dinner night at our church. There was very excellent food. Etta on the other hand, was not very excited about the food. Thankfully Jonah was there to save the day!

Here Jonah, have MORE turkey! [Christine made the comment that this picture will be included in their wedding slide show.]



And it just wouldn't be "church" if we didn't get to play together a little bit.



Domino's - under Bob's supervision



[Today when I dropped Etta off at Christine's she exclaimed, "Onah!" after she saw him when we went in. !!! Very exciting times. She has been saying "boys" for quite awhile, but I must say this is progress. And considering that Noah even called Jonah "Noah" for a long time...=)]