Greetings from the Edwards Trick-or-Treating Evening

Emily the Cowgirl

If Julia was a knight her name would have been “Julia the Sad”. She woke up from a late nap and was pretty disagreeable. We tried to talk her into a bumble bee costume and it was a no-go. Then we tried her Pumpkin Fairy costume and again it was a no. So we packed up her costume in case she changed her mind on the go. She did become a whole lot more agreeable as the trick or treating went on.

The never-worn costume.

Mommy decided she would be a Fairy Godmother if Julia wouldn’t be the fairy.

We made a loop around our street starting with a selection of neighbors including our babysitter and Grandparents. Then we visited a church Trunk ‘n Treat for dinner and more candy. And then finished by working our way back to our house visiting more neighbors. At home the girls got to eat a few pieces of candy and examine the contents of their buckets. They had so much fun getting all the candy out and sorting it. Julia picked raisins as one of her prizes to eat. She was so excited to sit by Robby and eat it.

Emily refused to smile, but this is just a selection from her candy bucket. She was happy with her loot! Despite our sad start we all had lots of fun and enjoyed visiting with neighbors and collecting candy.

We had been locked up in our house for several days this week because of sickness. We were ready to escape the house mid-week. It proved to be the perfect medicine for us.

The girls were so excited to go out. Julia was up first and ready to go before I started to get Emily ready. Emily was dragging her feet and Julia jumped in to help me motivate her. While I was contemplating turning off the TV to help the process along, I watched Julia go and get the remote to do just that. After the TV was off Julia pushed Emily to get dressed. It was so entertaining to watch their interaction. I think I learned a lot about Julia and her future role with her sister.

I had promised the girls a trip to Dollywood, but when we got there that it was the day for them to be closed that week. The girls were sad and we saw several tears from each. Luckily for us, we found an endless supply of other distractions. We filled our day with putt-putt, ice cream, shopping, and sunshine. Sunshine, laughter, and fun is the best medicine!

For Julia’s 2nd birthday we celebrated with a playdate at the pumpkin patch. Every year we go to the pumpkin patch for a playdate and it made for a fun place to celebrate a party too. All the kids dressed as pumpking fairies while we looked for pumpkins, fed sheep (and a llama), walked through a corn maze, and ate snacks and lunch. Julia had a blast! Her grin was huge and adorable as she knew we were singing Happy Birthday to her. The weather was warm and sunny and added a lot to our fun day.

All the little fairies were sweet and seemed to enjoy the day! Thanks fairies for sharing the day with us!

We were able to fit a camping weekend into our busy fall. We spent a beautiful weekend among falling temperatures and leaves. Our days were warm, but evenings cool. This spring we got a new tent and this was our first chance to use it. The old one was a little small for us since we added a fourth member of our family. This one is tall enough for Robby to stand in.

We all finished the weekend with rosy cheeks from the sunshine.

We were joined on the weekend with friends. The little people loved having friends just one campsite away. Our site was next to a playground and sunny field which made for fun play times. Elena enjoyed mothering Julia. Julia also seemed to like the attention from the big girl. The girls enjoyed a hike, throwing rocks in the river, playing at the playground, afternoon naps, getting dirty, and visiting horses. Our girls didn’t eat real well and were not interested in trying different foods. Fire roasted marshmallow were turned down by our girls, but the hot chocolate was a hit with Emily.

Our nights were near freezing, so I spent the night waking up to re-cover or pull the girls back into their sleeping bags. At some point each night both girls ended up in our sleeping bags with us because of the cold. Julia was the funniest, she woke me up, just as the sun was coming up, with the box with her extra pacifier in it. I gave her the pacifier and then she proceeded to move all of her precious sleeping things from her sleeping bag to our bag. When she was done she was slipped into a warm comfy spot to continue her slumber. When I woke up later, her sweet little face was just resting next to mine at complete peace. So sweet. No more camping this fall for us, but hopefully in the spring we can make another trip.

Emily had gone to bed with a cough and I wondered if she would be able to go to Thursday school the next morning. Sure enough she was up in the night with a fever. So, this morning, I asked Julia if she wanted to go to school by herself or stay with Mommy. Using her usual method of communicating–head nodding–she choose to go to school alone. The theme of the day was Teddy bears and they were to bring one in with them. Julia selected Minnie Mouse. There was no changing her mind either. Minnie went with her to school. I thought it would be fun to remember her day of independence with a photo of herself with Minnie. She was very brave about going alone up to the point when we went down the hall to her class. I left her in tears to find out later that she quit them quickly.

Emily and I had a fun couple of hours of just hanging out together alone. While it wasn’t the most fun list of activities, we enjoyed just being with each other. Emily visited the doctor to have her cough checked on. She asked to take her doll with her to the doctor’s office, so that she could be like her sister and take a stuffed friend with her. Emily was a big brave girl at the appointment. She had a breathing treatment administered while we were there and I thought she would like to see what she looked like with the fish mask on. She didn’t like the noise of the machine, but didn’t seem to mind the mask. Hopefully with a little rest she will be feeling back to normal very soon.

Emily measured at this appointment 41-1/2 inches tall and 32.8 lbs weight

Emily has been very captivated with the idea that she is a princess. Lately, she has taken to being Cinderella. The other night, while playing dress up with her princess dress and her ‘glass’ slippers, she asked me to dance. After we danced in a circle for a bit, she informed me that it was midnight. Then, she ran off removed one of her shoes, and told me, “Prince, you have to find my glass slipper and put it on me.” She was delighted when I picked up her shoe and first tried putting it on Mommy’s foot and then on Julia’s foot, while declaring that it was too small for Mommy and too big for her sister. Then, I asked her if I could try it on her foot. Her joy was complete when I put her slipper on her foot, and announced it a perfect fit. Needless to say, we played this game several times that evening.