Lions and Gorillas and Slides!

Last weekend we made the trek out to Birmingham for Mr. Hudson's 4th birthday! We had a good time, especially since the weather had a brief warm up that day. Autumn had a bit of a "read too long in the car" tummy ache so to get caught up to the birthday boy (the Memphis crew was slightly delayed by heavy rain on the way), Autumn got a ride.

We arrived in the time catch the train which tours the Birmingham Zoo. The tour guide was cool and I told Mike I thought I could totally be a tour guide, haha!

Autumn got another ride just because.

And then we all got to ride this super fun slide! I seriously need to build one in the backyard because HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE??

I thought this one was funny because of my backback and stuff all scrunched in the tube.

Mike decided to live wildly and only hold on with one hand. Living on the edge!

Lindsay got a couple of really nice shots while Mike and I were in line including this one of Autumn and Lainey being cute. It's funny, I feel like I can see a resemblance between Autumn and just about every member of our families. I guess that's not too weird since half the gym thinks Lindsay is my biological sister and not Mike's!

The zoo's gorilla was only going to be at that location for a few more days before moving to a new zoo so they had this good-bye banner set up. Autumn signed it.

And then she decided it needed a little more work.

Gorilla by Autumn. I LOVE IT.

We got to hear the lion roar. I don't think I've ever heard one in person. We had moved on to the tiger exhibit when we heard this huge rumble. Autumn, Mike and I booked it back to the lion and just watched him roar a few times and then, his point made, the lion wandered off again. I really wish I got it on video!

This one is not a lion. BUT SHE THINKS SHE IS. Sometimes, at least!

We have another round of winter weather rolling in tomorrow afternoon or evening. If you're iced or snowed in or will be, stay warm and stay safe!

ALL THE PICTURES: The Lion King, Valentine's Day AND Snow Days!

Earlier this month, my mom, Autumn and I went to see the Lion King at the Orpheum! Autumn isn't a huge fan of the movie because she thinks it's kind of scary but the show is so popular and she liked Phantom so I thought we should give it a try! The show started at 8 and, despite a nap, Miss Autumn was wilting a bit. But from the very first, she perked right up. By the intermission, she was all THIS IS AMAZING.

I asked Autumn what her favorite part was and she said, "ALL OF IT." My mom didn't get to have dinner with us like we did last time but Autumn and I had some Panera and dressed up anyway. Since the show, Autumn keeps asking when we are going again. I don't think she quite understands that it's only here for a little while and costs a little too much to see twice. She wants Mike to come so I told her we'd all go again next time it comes.

In other news, Autumn is getting her dog book fix in! Some of our friends gave Autumn a stack of books from when they were into animal books, too! Autumn has these on her bookshelf all arranged by topic and series and order she plans to read them.

Last week, I'm sure everyone knows we had SNOW DAYS. Except there wasn't really any snow. It was ice. Most of the main thoroughfares were fine after the first couple of the days but side streets and sidewalks were iced over so we only had one day of school last week. One of the ice days, Autumn and I went out and slid on the ice, made the Tiniest Snowman, and looked for animal tracks.

Molly did this during the cold.

We stayed busy by keeping up with online homework, reading, straightening, shivering, and Autumn learned to sew! We started on paper plates with a big needle and embroidery floss. She wanted to make a nine patch quilt like Laura in Little House. Autumn did a pretty good job when she remembered to not wrap stitches. She has a whole 9 patch quilt block (I don't have a photo yet!) and I think I'm going to get a charm pack of precut patches to let to her make a few more.

Oh, we also played some Warcraft! Autumn was able to drive her character on her own! I stayed nearby to make sure she was headed the right way but Autumn completed an entire quest by herself! I have it set so that she can't see anything written by anyone except our guild (which consists of Mike, Donnie, Liz, and me!) and no one can duel her or invite her to anything which is great.

And, FINALLY, I hope everyone had a fun Valentine's Day. I know a lot of people don't like it, but I enjoy it because I like holidays and excuses to celebrate. Mike did great. He got Autumn the coolest chocolate ever! He also got me chocolate and flowers AND ordered the new Laura Ingalls Wilder book, Pioneer Girl, however, it is out of stock. T_T

Autumn made a really cute Valentine mailbox featuring Peso from Octonauts. We printed a coloring page and she colored and cut it out. Then we put sparkle modge podge on it. Too fun!

On the other side, she drew her own Peso! SO CUTE I LOVE IT. After she made her box, Autumn made her own Peso costume with a black track suit, a white circle, a paper medical bag, and a paper hat. No, we don't really get bored here. :)

I'm teaching Monday nights in a late time slot and having a bit of a hard time updating the blog after class. I'm going to give Tuesday mornings a try! Until next time!

Honors Day and January Mobile Moments

Autumn had a couple of big weeks with her violin recital and then her very first honors program! They don't start doing this until second grade at her school so Autumn was super excited. And trying very hard not to talk. Here she is doing some finger exercises I gave her to help when she feels like moving around but can't!

Autumn held out just fine and afterward we had to take pictures. I just realized she looks super tired here. I wonder if she was nervous?

Lainey got to come! And, as you can see, the certificate didn't make it very long in mint condition. :)

Awwww, she's getting SO BIG. I am not ready. T_T I'm glad she got to do this. It was exciting for her. I'm not sure how this semester is going to go because she's having a bit of a tough time (harder math + dealing with boredom--we're working on it!) but I know she is a super hard worker and is going to do a great job whether or not it ends in "highest honors."

I thought I'd also wrap up some January mobile shots in addition to celebrating Autumn's honors program. January seems like it was such a long, busy month and even looking at the photos at ALL THE THINGS we did I think we were pretty packed. Hopefully this month will be a little less crazy. Autumn did some ambulance repair last month. I was cracking up when I saw her with the "lift" she set up to work on the bottom of the car.

She sent a letter to the kiwi crate people (if you ever order a kiwi crate, use my affiliate link at passing pinwheels!). The letter was really cute and I took this picture to send along to explain who Kiri is and how we got Kiri and gave her a backstory before they named the crate mascot. The company sent her a nice postcard with a handwritten note really quickly. I was impressed and Autumn was beside herself! She's been carrying it around.

Letters and pictures are really Autumn's thing now. I guess she's always been into that but now she's turning her talents to begging. For a dog.

Desperately begging. In details. And in color.

We'll see. For not she has to make due with this little furball. And Kiri.

I think Autumn is coping okay although I get wanting something a little more friendly than Molly usually is. There's just a difference between actively playing with a dog and having to go cat fishing with a stick and a catnip ball!

Anyway, in other news, Autumn made the swim team! I'm so excited for her. She was kind of wanting a break from ballet so I encouraged her to take the chance to try out for swim. Autumn wasn't so sure but I took her to the pool to practice for a couple of weeks and she had such a great time that I knew this was the right direction. She was evaluated and made it! Autumn was so nervous before the first practice but afterward she asked, "can I come again Wednesday?" Hahaha. I said, "see, mama is right sometimes!"

And I think that wraps up January! Have a great week and we'll be back here next time!

Mobile Moments: Winter Break Edition

It's been really cold lately. I thought we were having a heat wave with temps in the 40's this week but on the way into the gym tonight, the wind was SO COLD. The **only** good thing about it being this cold with no snow is Molly sits with me voluntarily sometimes. But I can't acknowledge that she's there or she'll go away. I'll take it.

One day over winter break, Autumn and I were running errands and I had a serious craving for Chinese food plus I just couldn't deal with the idea of making lunch that day. I don't know why. It doesn't happen often and I usually don't give in. But not that day. We went to the buffet. Autumn even got to use her level 2 practice chopsticks! She also got to wear her furry dress. Elyse gave it to us because it was too big for Liana but Autumn wears a uniform to school and we had a bunch of weekends too warm for something so fuzzy. Autumn was thrilled.

Check it out! Ellie let Mike hold her at his parents' Christmas party. It was, indeed, a Christmas miracle. Do you like her dress? I made it!

I made Autumn a matching dress AND they both have red, sparkly shoes. Super fun! Except Autumn isn't wearing hers in this photo, ah well. I need to get a good photo of the dresses and post them on the pinwheel blog. Incidentally, I posted our Christmas decorations there last week!

These two monkeys had a great time together. They were SO EXCITED that first day.

BUT, this day rivals Tyler's arrival for awesomeness in Autumn Land. My friend Tamara fostered puppies for about a week and was nice enough to bring them over to play in our back yard. Autumn and the puppies cavorted...

Rolled around...

Rolled around some more...

And generally had a fabulous time that resulted in puppies and 7 year old COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED. The puppy play date didn't cure Autumn of her puppy obsession. I think it fueled it even more. She still talks about how Sporty, one of the puppies, would be so happy here at our house. :) Too funny. While she dreams about puppies, she's reading fiction books like Puppy Place and Dog Diaries and checking out nonfiction books on rescue dogs, therapy dogs, and dog breeds. I told Mike that, like it or not, we probably should consider a dog sometime. He's all NOPE. Ha!

Happy Grandparents, Grumpy Cousins, and Autumn the Instructor!

Boppa turned 89 this month!!

One of their friend's from church hosted a massive get together to celebrate. As you can see, Autumn broke out the fancy jewelry for the occasion.

Here's the problem with being a few weeks behind. See my hair? It's already different! I cut it short back in October and I really liked it. I was scared to go full pixie cut but on Friday I took the plunge. And...it's also blackish now. I still have long bangs but my hair is pretty short in the back and on the sides. So far most folks are of the opinion that it looks nice. Autumn feels like Ellie looks here. I told her not to despair because when in her short life can she remember me having the same hair for more than a few months??

Here's Kiri being cozy in Autumn's coat pocket. I love that coat. I fell in love with it at Target but just couldn't pay however much it was. So when I found it on clearance...well, you know.

I've been trying to get Mike to try a new hairstyle but it ain't happenin'! He had fun hanging out with Ellie for a bit. Her tiny little "no" is adorable and she says it all the time. Mike asks her questions she's going to say no to just to hear her. Whenever we're home and we say no, we do it in Ellie Voice!

She's so thrilled to be hugged my her overzealous cousin. SO THRILLED.

Autumn is happy to see Pd, OF COURSE. I never did find Lainey to get a photo of her with Autumn.

Over to the other side of the family, my mom and Autumn had some fun a couple Wednesdays ago. I enjoyed this picture of the two of them coloring. I think they were making cards for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. We went shopping together and had a great time.

Autumn's about to be too big for Lula pony rides. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?

My mom is kind of interested in learning to play the violin so Autumn decided to do some teaching. For some reason I was thinking this was the same night as the pony riding but while reading the preview, I realized Autumn is in a different outfit. Anyway, she was ready to teach my mom how to play, like, Jingle Bells but I suggested starting with a scale.

Fun times all around!

I usually don't advertise when I'm going to be out of town but everyone keep me in your prayers! I am heading to California to train for and then take my black belt test in Aikido. Some of you remember that I did get a black belt earlier this year in combatives. This one is for my foundational art and I've been training 10 years for this! It's a more formal and traditional test and situation in general so I'm nervous but excited. I might not get a chance to post next Monday but I'm going to try to keep Passing Pinwheels and the Aikido Facebook page up to date with my adventures.

If we don't meet in person or online between now and then, have a fantastic Thanksgiving!!