Why, yes, my child *is* the one who stripped onstage

If you haven't been over to Passing Pinwheels in a while, be sure to visit! We're doing an adoption fundraiser called Flip Flop 2 Adopt. Click here for the fundraiser information plus the instructions on how to enter a giveaway to win a pair of flip flops! Tomorrow I'll be posting a new giveaway, too, so be sure to visit again. I'll link it here once it's live.

So, tomorrow, Miss Autumn turns five. Can you believe it?? Not only that, but she graduated from preschool on Friday. T_T I wanted to post video but it was going to take forever to load so it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. For now:


When the singing started, the kids were pretty loud so she took cover until her ears adjusted. Her class did a few songs alone and then the next class down joined them. Autumn's friend Becca ended up right in front of her so Autumn tried to shove herself next to Becca in such a way that she was behind and next to Becca at the same time.


It was pretty funny...after the singing part was over, Autumn was done. Still on stage. But done. So she took off her cap and gown right there in the middle of things. Her teacher finally noticed and helped her back into the outfit. I turned to Mike and said, "that's your daughter."


But everything was all straightened out in time for diplomas to be handed out. I hate that I didn't get any pictures of this but apparently at some point, someone's tassel attached itself to the bottom of Autumn's shoes so she dragged it down the aisle like a piece of toilet paper.


At the reception, we had to have our usual round of pictures. First, Papa.


The Nanny and Penny assault.


Boppa.


Even the mama. But by the time Uncle Stephan came around, she was done with pictures.


Autumn took a break and showed off her little graduation poster we made (I'll post pictures when we get it back) and then she made the rounds again.


We said goodbye to Ella who is moving to Fort Knox. :(


But Lexie (the girl looking at posters with Autumn above) and Autumn will both be at school all summer so they'll get to see one another again which is fun. I don't think any of the kids in her class will be going to her kindergarten. So sad. But I know one person she'll see even after Mullins!


Cathy, for those who don't know, is one of my closest and longest friends and she also worked as Autumn's teacher on occasion. How fun is that?

Ahhhh, stop growing up Autumn. :) One fun thing, though, here is one of the three Mother's Day cards Autumn made me. It's all of us at the beach! The big building is the condo we stay in. So funny.

The Not so Calm before the Storm!

Can you all believe that Autumn is going to be FIVE YEARS OLD a week from tomorrow?? I can't. Not only that, but she's graduating from preschool on Friday. Where did the time go?? I know the next two weeks are going to be action packed so I just uploaded about two weeks of photos! First up! Face painting!


This was at a block party the aikido schools did a demo for. The mats were so hot that our feet burned and the sun was so bright that we looked like we were glowing in all the photos! All I really have are pictures of Autumn and her face painting. Which is a funny thing, really. As recently as last October, Autumn disliked strangers looking at her so much, she wouldn't let anyone paint her face. So this is a testament of how much she's grown even in the last six months. Such a big girl!


Autumn's friend from church and school Ella-Maria is in town for a little while after several months in England. They had a princess play date. So cute. I have pictures of them doing this, in likely the same dresses, from almost exactly one year ago!


This week I tested my elementary students at one school and had a demonstration for the parents of the preschoolers at Autumn's school. They did such a great job that I told them they make me look like I know what I am doing! :D I haven't no idea what Autumn was doing here. As far as I know, we don't have any moves that looks like FEED ME.


Donnie got to stay with us this week, too! It was like old times getting to see him around and talk video games and life and eat chicken pot pie. All we needed was Liz! But, he was only here for a meeting so she didn't get to come along.


Autumn was totally into Donnie this trip. She thought he was absolutely hysterical and wants him to live with us now, awwwww.


Whew! And the last thing of our big week(ish) was going to the park with Josh and his mom and sister! We always have such a good time with them. Autumn loves these playhouses.


She's also been trying to climb trees wherever she goes. Josh's mom Mimi found this neat little area where they could do some climbing without it being too tough.


I was pretty impressed, to be honest. Autumn has gotten brave lately. She only had a minor panic when her shoe got stuck between a couple of branches. At first I felt a little eye-rolly but I had a tough time getting her shoe unwedged!


Such a monkey!


We played in the miniature creek at the park. They had this rain area where there was a storm every half hour. The run off went into a "lake" which ran into a "river."


Exploring together...are they Dora and Boots? :D


There were stone snakes, scorpions and frogs. Josh told Autumn to be very gentle with his pet snake.


Autumn treated the water hole the "river" drained into like a hot tub. She didn't want to leave.


Fun times! And now that I am all caught up...May Madness can begin.

Oh, don't forget to visit Passing Pinwheels! Adoption Updates and International Bereaved Mother's Day.

The Filipino-Italian-American Heidi :P

A couple weeks ago, Lainey and P'd went to Austria! They weren't able to bring back much because it was a short work-related trip, pretty much everything was made in China and Lainey thought Ryan might not enjoy seeing Tyler dressed like Hansel so Miss Autumn was the lucky recipient of one Austrian-made outfit! She loved it. I could barely get a good shot of her in it because she spent the whole time twirling!
 

I braided her hair and put on her little brown boots and oh, man, she was a little Heidi. I told Lainey I could send Autumn to church in that dress every week until she outgrows it! I do think I might add some buttons to the shirt because it only had the one button at the top and no others. If the dress's corset part was a little higher, it would have been fine but the shirt kept ballooning out. Does anyone know if there's any reason I shouldn't add at least one more button?


I just liked this picture.
 

This one, too. I don't know if it was the day or the dress or what, but Autumn was a dancing and twirling machine. At one point she absolutely hurled herself into a hug at Mike after a series of pirouettes and leaps.


Autumn was supremely happy to get Lainey and P'd back from Europe. She doesn't necessarily see them during the week but apparently just the idea that she couldn't, and that she couldn't just call, caused some consternation in Autumn-world.


:) That's a happy little Heidi.


Before I sign off for the night, I thought I'd share a couple of photos from late last month that didn't make it on the blog. Have I mentioned that Autumn's big thing lately is "bein' a mama?" I feel like I have but I don't see anything about it on the front page so I'll tell you again. :D She'll get her purse or her messenger bag and fill it with stuff like a play phone, a camera, a list, and a pen and do the shopping with me (oh, I think this was on the mobile moments post a month or so ago! I remember now.). She also carries one or more of her "babies" with her to take care of them. Autumn puts the baby in the play carseat next to her carseat and then she'll buckle the baby into the cart while she pushes (I steer). Or they travel like this!


That bag is pretty flat looking in this one but it's kind of amazing the things she can fit into that little bag. At Lainey and P'd's for dinner last night, she pulled out, like, a phone, a package of paper, markers, pens, assorted tissues, a camera, two magnifying glasses, a SWEATER, and SO MUCH MORE. Seriously, it's like a magician's hat. The child is such a hoarder!


That's it for this week! Next week we'll have THE BIG GIRL ROOM OF HAPPINESS AND PINK. And don't forget to visit Passing Pinwheels! I've written a few posts since the last time I linked plus next week I'll be writing about more adoption news as well as putting up some fun stuff as we get ready for Autumn's birthday party. Can you believe she's about to be five??

Sun, sand, and faces of silliness

I was kind of thinking I had posted all the best pictures from the beach but as I went through them, I ran across this picture.


Let's enhance this a bit, shall we?


LOOK AT THAT FACE. I laughed so. hard. I have no idea what she was striding purposefully toward but I really wish I could remember what was happening for her to have that face on. :) Happily, she perked up for the photos with Mike and Me. And for this one with Nanny and Boppa.


And, look at this! With the magic of a ladder and the autoshoot on my camera, we got a great family photo! Mike is hiding a bit but we have a spot to photoshop Lauren in, haha. This reminds me I need to upload the other pictures I took and email them to the family.


Autumn was pretty done with the whole posing thing...


but I convinced her to try to take a good picture with Lula. You saw the good one in the last post but here's one of the outtakes:


Here's another fun one! Lainey got Tyler and Autumn an Easter pinata and it was hilarious. We didn't have anything to hang it on. Or anything to hit it with. So, we improvised. They used a vacuum extension as a bat and Mike held the pinata at the end of a broom handle. I like his self-protection pose. Note Lindsay guarding the TV. Miss Autumn has a great swing although it is, oddly, left-handed. She eats and writes with her right hand but bats and kicks with her left side.


Since we're on quirkiness, I found out that Autumn thinks seaweed is beautiful. Her words, not mine! She gathered a bunch on one beach walk so she could "decorate and make the condo beautiful."


I've never been a beach person but I have to say that watching Autumn have such a blast in the sun and sand is turning me into one. I mean, how can I resist these kinds of smiles:
\

And this sad face when it was time to leave?


On the way home, Autumn told us she wants "to stay at the beach for one zero zero weeks." Awwwwww. We'll be back soon, I hope!

Memory Lane, New and Old

Remember this?

July 2009

Those days are OVER. Without any prompting, Autumn started swimming (with her floatie jacket) from the shore to Mike and back. I mean, I was pretty shocked.


I'm doing a short post a couple of days early because I have a big aikido thing happening this weekend and I'm almost certain I won't have time to do a decent post. I am hoping I won't be tooooooo tired/broken by the end of this so everyone say a prayer, haha. I'm not anticipating getting hurt so much as just, well, doing aikido for like 10 hours.


Anyway, I  have a few really good pictures from the beach and I'll definitely get to them. It was a great weekend. My mom got to come! Autumn was sooo happy about it!


And although Ryan and Leah initially didn't think they would make it, they joined us, too. Autumn was ridiculously happy. We were going to surprise her but as soon as she woke up she goes, "MAMA. I HEAR TYLER'S DAD."


Autumn had nearly all her favorite people in one place so I had a happy little camper. I think I am going to frame this photo.


 I regret that I don't have any of Autumn in the hot tub because although she did enjoy herself in the sand and the water, the hot tub was her location of choice for the entire weekend. Smart kid!

I guess that's all from me for now! I'm sorry for the briefness and lack of creativity but it's time to rest up before the big weekend! :D

happy Easter, friends, click here to read more.

In Which Autumn is a Muppet, a Porcelancer, and a Chef.

Ok, remember this picture of Autumn? It's from April 2008 so she was about 11 months old. So, yes, she's always been...unique.

You know how my friend Matt has done a few drawings of Autumn? Well, check this out:

I laughed so hard when I saw this. Autumn did, too. She giggled and told Mike he had to see the silly picture of her when she was a baby. Matt did some other pictures but I want to save those for their own post. The Porcelancer rides again! Oh, man. I can't wait. I have to at least post this one.

I love it!

Ahem. /stops squeeing at the cute.

So, to continue my post from last week, Mike and Autumn have a new papa/monkey pastime.


They have been making protein bars together! They actually taste pretty good for something that looks like, well, you saw the picture. It's a fun opportunity for them to do something messy yet healthy together. Autumn is bad about getting everything she touches in her hair so when I realized how messy it was going to be, I halted preparations and tied back her hair. I also put her apron on her.


Sigh. I think it's time to make her a new apron because she's about to outgrow this one. I already have to make her some new headbands because they don't tie around her head easily anymore. Back to the cooking:


They have made the bars two or three times, I think, and Autumn gets excited every time. It's a huge pain to clean off her hands, though. I suggested that Mike use some gloves. He got me some boxes of gloves from Costco to use for certain cooking jobs. I have raging eczema so it's been a huge help (especially when juicing lemons, oh, boy, does that hurt) plus it makes cleanup from messy, messy jobs so much easier (we won't talk about how I've only used 1/4 of a box!).


This is the finished product, by the way. When it's rolled in flax seed and then flattened, it's not quite so horrifying looking!


So cute.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter! Travel safely, for those who are traveling.

(Visit passing pinwheels! Click here to see the new stuff in the Etsy shop plus some other projects!)