Happy Halloween!

What a fun day! It was cold but dry, thankfully. We attended a party at a park this morning. Willa played a lot and Jia made tons of elaborate art projects.

This evening we trick-or-treated with our neighbor kids like usual. I could not believe how fast the kids were this year! They ran at top speed from house to house, literally jumping over retaining walls to get to the next house. I was amazed there were no injuries. Willa did fall early on but she sprang back up. A few houses later, Joe realized that Willa had no shoes on! Apparently her boots fell off when she biffed, and she just kept on trucking!

At the end of the evening we attended a fun party at our neighbors' house. There were more treats, cocoa with marshmallow ghosts and a warm fire.

Jia informed us that she received "a million hundred" pieces of candy from trick-or-treating. That's pretty accurate.

One of the candies Jia got was a gummy "bloody" foot. Apparently it traumatized Willa because when she went to bed tonight, she kept saying, "People no bite my toes! No bite my toes!" Poor kid!

Jia drew her face on her pumpkin, a happy one, and we carved it. Willa wanted a surprised one.


Hope you had a good Halloween too!

A Joe-ism and more

Jia on H1N1 (A kid in her class has it): "I don't want to get H1N1. I'll take good care of my body: I'll brush my teeth, I'll take my vitamins, I'll drink lots of water, I'll drink my milk, I'll drink my juice, and I'll grow big and tall. And I'll take a bath sometimes! So I won't get H1N1!"

Joe, looking at a book Jia wrote on: "I'm not crazy about her writing on the book, but her penmanship is quite good."

Jia, on Willa's outfit: "But if Willa wears that, she'll be cuter than me!" (I'm sensing future issues here...)

I had a blanket of Willa's and had pinned it for sewing, and Jia said: "Is that Willa's blanket you're sewing? But it will make her sad! It will poke her!"

At dinner we always give one reason why we're thankful, and recently Jia said: "I'm thankful that there are no mean creatures like fire-breathing dragons that live near us!"

Joe [hugging Willa]: "Willa, you're a good egg."
Willa: "No Baba! Me not egg! Me Willa!"

Jia [marveling at Joe's strength]: "Baba! Your muscles are like your superpower!"

Candy, candy and more candy (already)

We had a great time attending an outdoor trick-or-treating fest with friends today. We've attended each year and this year the weather was great!


Jia loved checking out a firetruck.



And I loved that when people asked Willa what she was for Halloween, she said, "A Flam-Bingo!"

(To answer the questions in the comments to the last post, the teacher recommended turning the question back to Jia and asking her what she thinks is the answer. Sometimes effective, sometimes not!)

It's not just me!

I've always felt like Jia asks a lot of questions. It wears me out sometimes. I've wondered how other parents managed. Now I know she does it more than other kids! Jia's four preschool teachers and her Sunday school teacher have all now separately said, "Jia really asks a LOT of questions." Then they always cheerfully say, "Better than the opposite!" (And one of them actually came up with strategies on how to deal with it.)

Considering that the average four-year-old asks over 400 questions a day, and Jia is apparently above-average in this category, no wonder I'm mentally exhausted at the end of a day! Then we add Willa who constantly asks, "What this? What doing? Why? Why? Why?" and it fries my brain!

More Jia and Willa-isms

Jia, queen of small talk, sat down to lunch recently, looked at me and said, "So how do you like having daughters?"

Willa and I went on a long errand. It involved about an hour's worth of driving. During the whole time, Willa sang "Happy Birthday" to everything she saw along the way. "Happy Birthday to Cars! Happy Birthday to Grass! Happy Birthday to Stroller!" She eventually changed to singing about what was in the car: "Happy Birthday to Library Books!" "Happy Birthday to New Bowls!," and then about body parts: "Happy Birthday to Mama's Head! Happy Birthday to My Head!" And I have to say, it did not get boring for me! It was too stinking cute!

Speaking of the birthday song, Joe has added his own cymbal-crashing sound to the birthday song when he sings it: "Happy Birthday to You! Pssscht! Happy Birthday to You! Pssscht!" Now Willa does it that way too! I keep telling Joe that he has to stop because Willa is going to sound like a fool at future birthday parties, but to no avail. It is pretty funny when she does it though...

Jia wanted to wear a necklace that was missing its clasp. She hunted through her hair items and found a small hair clip and used it to clip the ends of the necklace together. I said, "Jia! What a smart solution!" She replied, "My brain WORKS!"

Joe arrived home from work and as Jia and Willa ran out to meet him, Jia yelled, "Baba, there are two womens here waiting for you!"

We were waiting in line for ice cream and it was taking a while. Jia had been very patient but she eventually had enough. She marched to the counter and said to the clerk, "Excuse me, I really need some ice cream please!" (I have to say, I love this. It was way past bedtime, she had been perfect at dinner out and while we shopped for housewares, no crabbiness or whining. She just needed her ice cream! It was the perfect combination of being polite and assertive. But of course, the wrong timing. The customer ahead of us commented, "Well, at least she was polite about it!")

I was driving Jia and our neighbor Katarina (also 4) to school today and this is their conversation in the car:
K: [Points to a house on our block.] A ghost lives there!
J: How do you know that?
K: Kevin told me.
J: Is it real or pretend?
K: Real!
J: Does it say "Boo"?
K: No, it says "Booo-Ooo" because it wants to be scary!
J: Does it wear a sheet over its head?
K: Yes, a white one.
J: Does it come out of the house or stay in it?
K: It comes out only on Halloween, at midnight, when it's really dark!
J: I never want to go in there!
K: Me neither! I don't even want to drive by it on the way to school!

I just love being privy to these little conversations! Carpooling is the best!

What's a flamingo doing in the snow?

Our girls are dressing as a (small) flock of flamingos for Halloween. I rented their costumes this year. The costumes were brand new so that was extra nice. They love them! And I think they're a riot!

(click to enlarge)


Their costumes are warm too. Especially important because it already looks like this outside!

Last month, we booked a trip to Florida for later this winter. I think we'll be needing it! The girls were beyond ecstatic to see the snow and ran out to play (and eat it) right away.


We had our family over today to decorate cookies. Jia did a bang-up job making them, and we had a blast decorating them! Along with hot apple cider with whipped cream and yummy brunch food, it was a perfect, toasty morning!

Fall Fun!

We've had a blast this fall making a scarecrow, creating leaf critters, mid-air apple bobbing and visiting our favorite orchard. Joe missed the orchard visit because he was at a Twins game (and my dad saw him on t.v.!) so we hope to head back again yet this fall if we can squeeze it in. Here are some pics.

(Click to enlarge.)