Trick or Treating at Aunt Lisa's House

Abby and Daniel enjoyed trick or treating at Aunt Lisa's house.

Daniel left with a full garbage can!!

Carlene -- the Costume Creator Extraordinaire

Fluffy is the fifth Halloween costume that Carlene has made for Abby. Abby gets to choose anything she wants, and somehow Carlene manages to make it work year after year -- octopus, Karner Blue Butterfly, bat, narwhal and now Fluffy -- the three-headed dog from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

Pumpkin Carving

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt brought two GIANT pumpkins for Abby and Daniel. Abby carved her pumpkin today before rushing off to Korean class. Daniel was napping, so missed out on the fun! Will helped Abby get the pumpkin prepared, Abby then drew her design, and the Mama was given the task of bringing the vision to life!

You

This morning I was in my office, simply trying to finish a book (a murder mystery that was SPOOKY), when two rather cute children arrived with toys, books and bedding. I did my best to ignore them and focus on the mystery, but the following was too positively sweet to ignore:

Abby:  "Daniel, do you need anything?"

Daniel: "You."

Abby:  "What did you say?"

Daniel:  "You."

Abby:  Reaching for his hand -- "I'll always be with you."

Abby then turned to me and said, "I had to ask him a second time because I couldn't believe what he said. I thought he'd say he needed a tractor trailer, but he said 'you'."

Abby's First Swim Meet

Tonight Abby competed in her first swim meet. She swam in four events -- freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. With five swimmers in each heat, Abby placed 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, and 4th respectively! I was so stressed out when I arrived at the pool and saw how "serious" it all looked. Abby seemed oblivious to it all and had a wonderful time. We were so proud of her!

Trick or Treating at Daniel's School

Daniel also had a Halloween party at his school today. He enjoyed trick or treating and we enjoyed seeing all of the cute little costumes!

Abby's school had its annual Halloween Parade today. When Abby came down the sidewalk and saw her Grandpa and Grandma, she came running and said, "You made it!"

Let me Introduce the Garbage Man and Fluffy (the three-headed dog from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Daniel is a garbage man for Halloween and Abby is Fluffy -- the three-headed dog from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.)

Fluffy is supposed to be ferocious, but Abby's version is much sweeter and sillier!

Noni and Granddad Return to California

Sadly, another summer with Noni and Granddad has passed. Noni and Granddad started their journey back to California on October 24, 2010.

Our Second Grader (with missing teeth)

Yesterday Abby brought home her school photos. I love the missing teeth and the one big adult tooth on top!

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

A House Full of Grandparents

Last night all four of Abby and Daniel's grandparents came for dinner. Right before I snapped this photo, I said the ubiquitous, "Say Cheese." Daniel squished up his face (this is his camera smile) and yelled, "Cheeseburger!" Everyone laughed and I clicked!

Fire Station

We went to an open house at a Rochester fire station tonight. Daniel was over-the-top excited! Abby fussed about going, but ended up have a perfectly great time and didn't want to leave!

Feathers and Long Necks!

We do enjoy watching our birds. They stretch their necks out now and beg, beg, beg!

I decided that I had to move in and get photos today. I was terrified, but I did it!

And I was rewarded by seeing a full nest of FEATHERS!!!!

Not Allowed in Our Backyard

We are not allowed in our backyard. The robin parents are CRAZY protective today. But, I did get a few shots from the safety of my house. I opened the door just wide enough for the lens. These birds have me FREAKED out!

The babies are super active today and are looking much more like birds. The nest must be really crowded at this point.

Dinner is served!

Down the Hatch!

Today was the first day that we've seen their eyes open.

I love the little guy on the right! He looks like a mad scientist!

Peril, Names and Lunch

For those of you tired of my obsessed robin postings, please note that it is at great peril that I get these photos. Again today I was dive-bombed and tonight Mama or Papa got so close to my head that wings/feathers ruffled my hair!

Today we decided to name the babies. Abby, Will and I each got to name one chick. (We didn't let Daniel choose because he would likely have said, "Garbage truck.")  I named my hatchling Persephone. Abby chose Velma. And Will chose Fred.

LUNCH!

The robin parents spend most of their days now feeding their demanding triplets!

July 30th -- Feed Us Now!!

So many mouths to feed!

Cicada, anyone?

I wonder if the Mama and Papa think they are beautiful?

Papa Robin giving me the evil eye!

Our bird dog is no longer allowed in the backyard. She drools every time she sees Mama or Papa Robin.

July 29th -- Our Babies are Rather Ugly

I was determined to keep taking a photo of the babies each day -- despite the previous days' dive bombing.  So I took a deep breath and went outside. My pulse was racing and every little noise scared the bejeebers out of me, but I did it! I got my photo -- only to go inside and see that our babies are looking really ugly!  But, they are making sweet little tweeting noises, so that helped!

July 28 -- Dive Bombed

We love our robins and are really enjoying watching their development, but Mama and Papa Robin don't reallly return our love. I went out to get my daily photo of the babes, and ended up running into the house screaming after both Mama and Papa dive bombed me! Needless to say, I didn't get very good photos of the babes!

And now I'm scared to go outside! Will laughed at me and said it's like a Hitchcock film in our backyard!

TRIPLETS

Twins With a Chance of Triplets

Will came home for lunch and noticed that Papa Robin was hovering around the nest today along with Mama Robin. They both had worms in their mouths. I took a picture when both flew away and got these two photos. We hope the third egg hatches. We think they hatched today. It's so remarkable. They are already letting out teeny tiny little chirps. Oh! How perfectly wonderful.

Number Six

I picked Abby up from art camp today and she excitedly told me that she'd lost her tooth at camp. Another little girl -- Zoe, I learned -- bounced up and said she'd lost her tooth today too! Oh, what an exciting day at camp!!!

If I understood everything correctly, Abby was eating a Rice Krispie treat and decided to pull the tooth out because it was bothering her. She pulled it out and was surprised that there was no blood. She then dropped the tooth and lost it. She found it on the floor by a bean --- the art camp students were working on a bean project today.

Her teacher gave her a Dixie cup to put the tooth in and they taped it shut to ensure it wouldn't be lost again.

Abby put the tooth in a candy box that she insisted on saving for this very occasion. Will brought me a sweet little box of tasty chocolates a few months ago (just because) and Abby begged to save the box for her next tooth. We laughed at the irony of putting a tooth in a candy box, but I agreed to keep it. I'd completely forgotten about the box, and thought Abby should put the Dixie cup under her pillow, but Will remembered and the candy box was found!

Abby thinks the tooth fairy might bring her a violin or a flute, but I don't have a clue. I guess we'll just have to wait until morning and see what Abby finds under her pillow! Sweet (candy) dreams, Abby.

We Call Her Mama

We call her Mama and we are very proud and protective of her. She was building her nest right outside my office window as we returned from vacation. She was not pleased when we brought Daphne home. She seems to tolerate all of us -- even the bird dog. And we do our part to protect her.

Pink Eye Again

It's called pink eye for a reason!