Goodbye truck, hello family car!

This is a fun shot of our new car. I was driving when Jeff took this picture.

From one of my favorite authors:

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. C. S. Lewis

Uncle Scotty and Aunt Kristy visit!

When Scott and Kristy came up to visit us last week, we had fun showing them around and taking them to some of our favorite places. But possibly the most fun was when the weather cleared and we went to Battle Point Park. We all took turns chasing Charlie around the massive playground and keeping her from joining the ducks in the pond, but the funniest moment was when she spotted a flock of geese in the field and decided she wanted to touch them. She slowly walked toward them, and they slowly walked away, so she sped up and began to run, but they still kept just out of reach. She finally split three of the geese from the flock and focused on reaching their tailfeathers, and almost succeeded before I stepped in. We were all laughing so hard watching her "herd" the geese!

Precious Moment

The other night while I was rocking Charlie before bed, I asked her "Are you ready to get in your bed?" Usually she says no, but she answered "Your bed." As I laid her down in her crib without a fight, I said, "Thank you for being such a big girl." She said, "You're welcome, mama." I pulled her blankets up over her and crept out of the room, tears in my eyes that my little baby is old enough to understand me and be so sweet!

Daddy Push-Ups

Charlie discovered a new game: climbing onto Jeff and holding on as he does his push-ups and sit-ups. She laughs until she falls off, and he gets a better workout for the resistance!

Charlie has candy!!!

It was a big day for our little monkey! Not only did she trick-or-treat for the first time, but she also had candy, specifically, a lollypop and half a Tootsie Roll (which was still in the wrapper). I took her downtown, where they had closed down the main street for the trick-or-treaters, and we went from store to store, picking up candy. Then we went to our friends' neighborhood and Charlie did the house to house thing with her friend Isaac. She actually even said trick-or-treat a few times, but seemed to have more fun picking up rocks and pinecones off the ground than asking people for candy. By about 9:30, she was stretched out on the Ziemba's couch, looking a little buzzed but definitely happy!