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!!

Autumns first fan letter gets a response!

Autumn had a super awesome night tonight. She is obsessed with dogs right now and she is absolutely tearing through the Puppy Place Series by Ellen Miles. Autumn is so obsessed that she wrote her very first fan letter!! I am kicking myself because I cannot find the photo of the letter she wrote. I have the first draft somewhere around here but it's also someplace weird. So, for now, here's a letter she sent Donnie and Liz.

She drew herself at her desk and make hearts and circles labeled with their initials.

Dogs and giraffes...or is that one at the top a camel? "Thank you for my cloths so much! I love it! I don't no wher it is rite now. See you in December! Love's Autumn. To Dunny and Lize.

So that the kind of letter she tends to write. We did edit her fan letter a bit for spelling and to make it more coherent. Autumn also asked some questions that were answered on the website so we took those out. We sent the letter about a month ago and I didn't expect a response, much less a quick one. Autumn almost exploded from happy when she checked the mail box. "IT SAYS ELLEN MILES!!!!"

She asked how Ellen Miles got her sticker. I thought I told Autumn I put a self addressed stamped envelope in with her letter and explained what that was but I don't think she really got it until the letter came in.

SO EXCITED.

"I GOT A PICTURE!! IT'S ELLEN MILES AND ZIPPER!"

On the back the author had a little letter about how she wishes she could write detailed letters to everyone but then she'd have no time to write books. Pretty cute and definitely a good idea since I'm sure all the kids who write her wait with as much anticipation as Autumn did. Ellen Miles even wrote a little note on the bottom:

This is the cat who gets a hug:

ALL THE FUR.

Fun times, happy Autumn!

Zoo Boo, Dojo Celebrations, and Halloween!

I almost forgot to do a post this week! Ha! I was so sleepy last night I went to bed crazy early. Anyway, we had a great time with Halloween this year. We went to Zoo Boo for the first time. It was fun but I'm not sure I'm dying to go back again next year. It was just really crowded. I think these guys had a great time even if we didn't get to see everything!

I didn't take many pictures of Halloween night so I am super happy we took some at Zoo Boo! Here's my new, short hair for anyone who hasn't seen it! Autumn dressed up as Doc McStuffins!

Originally, she was going to be Elsa in the costume I made her for her birthday. But Autumn has been able to wear that a lot since her birthday and I had a feeling that there would be a ton of Elsas. I asked her if she'd like to do something different and she said she wanted to be Doc. I'll be honest, because I LOVE HALLOWEEN I tried to talk her into something more complicated but she wasn't having any of it. :) I like that she knows what she wants. 

 Look at how cute this face is! I brought ears for Lindsay and me to wear. Ellie thoroughly enjoyed the swaying ears.

These two. They loved these bees! Before we left, we got to watch a magic show and some performers doing songs from Peter Pan. The kids all enjoyed it--Autumn was especially entranced by the magic show. I have to say, it was pretty good. He did one long drawn out gag that ended in an older teen leaping across the stage into the magician's arms out of fright! 

I made my own costume! I was Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender. And not the Avatar that has blue creatures. The cartoon. Some people were super confused about why I didn't have blue skin when I told them who I was. If you want to, you can watch this starting at 4:12. I showed this to Autumn early because we're watching the series but hadn't gotten to Toph yet. Autumn was entranced and said, "I want to be Toph next year." We'll see if she sticks to it!


And here I am! I'm probably going to post something on my blog about making the costume and you can see my gauntlets. We wore costumes in Aikido the who week of Halloween and this is my Tuesday elementary age class. We also played games, did a Japanese craft, and read Zen Ghosts by Jon J. Muth. Thursday, Autumn wore her Elsa dress to ballet. She said she was glad she decided to be Doc McStuffins because out of five girls in her class there were THREE Elsas!

On Halloween day, I read Zen Ghosts to Autumn's class and brought them cookies and juice. So fun! After school, we went to the hospital to see Penny who had to work. We have seen her every year since Autumn was a baby!! This year Autumn made out like a bandit with candy, medical tape, and TWO pen lights. On the way out she marveled at how her lights and tape make her a like a real doctor.

That night, we had friends over for chili, soup, and warm drinks. Several friends stopped in to eat and say hi and then went on to other trick or treating plans but this was our trick or treat group. We met up with another family from the cove and walked with them, too.

We have Kyle and Lindsay's fire pit while they are in between houses but I think we're going to have to get our own! We put the fire pit in the driveway and handed out candy. Kids who wanted to have a roasted marshmallow got one on a GIANT SKEWER. The ones I bought were too short but our neighbors came to the rescue! Mike said the marshmallows were a big hit. Definitely a do-again. Note that Mike is studiously avoiding being photographed. He said his costume was a "sleepy papa."

And so, Halloween is over and I am sad. But we had a blast and got to celebrate over several days so I suppose I can't complain. I haven't been able to bring myself to take down our wreath. IT'S JUST TOO CUTE.

Mansfield Trip, Part 1

Ok, I still don't have Mike's photos from our trip to Missouri so this will be a two parter! Next week I'll probably post Halloween pictures sooooo we'll see when part 2 goes up! Anyway, we went to Mansfield, MO, for a couple of days over Fall Break to go to the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. I have a suggestion to everyone: go on a festival weekend or it's pretty dead. There are 3 restaurants near the Weaver Inn where we stayed. Two were pretty decent, one was downright awful. Mike and I took pictures of each other taking pictures at the Mexican restaurant.

We were there on a rainy weekend so we didn't get to do as much trail walking as we expected. To fill the time, we went out to Whispering Oaks Winery and tried a couple of wines. We bought both of them because they were great but I don't think they were expecting any visitors. There were tours and cheese advertised buuuut there were, in fact, no tours and no cheese. They did tell us we could go look at the grape vines, though. So we did. 

We also hit this little roadside park. I googled it to make sure it wasn't a known ax murderer hang out because, well, I do stuff like that. There was a murder there last year but it was premeditated and the perpetrators were caught so we took the chance and hung out. Mike and Autumn had fun going through the rock piles.

And we all posed at the cute waterfall. There is a picture of me somewhere buuuut guess who has it? Yup. It'll be in the next batch. The colors weren't quite changing yet. It was still too warm. I can imagine the area will be even more beautiful when it's fully fall which is why it's too bad not much more happens there during this season. Mike and I went to Asheville, NC, for our honeymoon 12 years ago this same weekend and they make a living off their color season. I assumed, incorrectly, that the museum town would do something similar.

Mike had to hang off rocks for a photo op!

I'll write more about the museum next time but for now I'll just tell you that we weren't allowed to take photos at the museum and it was raining while we were there so we couldn't get any outside. But during a break in the rain, we went over to the Mansfield Cemetery and found the Wilder and Lane graves. Autumn was really impressed that Laura's daughter Rose was also a writer. On the back of Rose's grave there is a quote from Thomas Paine: “An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot. Neither the channel nor the Rhine will arrest its progress. It will march on the horizon of the world and it will conquer.” We wandered around the graveyard and looked at the graves dating way back to when the area was first settled. Pretty crazy and sometimes very sad.

After the museum and the cemetery, we had lunch at the bad restaurant and then went over to a cute used book store that had three kitties living inside! This kitty did NOT want Autumn to read this book about dogs!

We stayed at the Weaver Inn which was probably the nicest place in town! The room was pretty cozy if a bit loud. If we ever go back, I want an upstairs room to get away from the traffic noise! Autumn was nice and snug during rest time on Saturday. Best thing about the stay? Freshly baked cookies every afternoon!

I have a few more photos to share but I'll hang on to them until I have some more photos from Mike's stash. Next week: Halloween! The week after? Probably more trip pics. :D

Mobile Moments: Violins, Memories, and Molly is Weird Part 5002

So, I totally forgot to get Mike to share his album of our trip sooooo you get THIS. AUTUMN PLAYING THE VIOLIN.


Sunday was pretty fun. We got to skype Uncle Brad and he and Autumn played a Twinkle Twinkle duet. I should have recorded it but I did get a photo! I know a lot of people aren't fans of social media, technology, and other advances but, personally? I love it.

Last week we had Autumn as Fancy Nancy. This week we have mismatch day! Autumn got to participate for reaching her AR goal, yay! There are things I miss about Autumn over the years as she has grown up way too rapidly. One of the big things is when she had that cute cartoon sounding voice. I think another thing I'll miss is when she doesn't play dress up all the time. But then...maybe she'll be like me and wear a costume every chance she gets!

Okay, I have to post this video that's on my youtube page of Autumn and her cartoon voice.


Sigh. Anyway, we got pie Saturday. Autumn ROLLED through her piece. It was kind of amazing. I almost didn't get her a piece of her own but, holy cow, I am glad I did. I wouldn't have gotten any! This child eats as much as I do and I eat a LOT. If you are ever in the Germantown area, be sure to stop by Pie Folks. It's good stuff!

Other than eating and skyping and violining, Autumn is still doing her kiwi crate every month (um, if you're ever tempted to buy a subscription or a crate, go to my other blog and click the banner!). This crate was pretty fun. She made a hobby horse! I have no idea where it went but before we even started, Autumn lost one of the ears. She named the horse Holy after our friend's cat. The cat has a damaged ear so they named her Holyfield. Recently, I explained to Autumn, at her request, the reason behind the name. "So there was this boxer named Mike Tyson and he was CRAZY and there was this other boxer named Evander Holyfield. Well, one day..."

Oh, and speaking of cats, if you were wondering how Molly is doing, she has a new hobby. She found the unpaired sock basket. So now we find socks in random places all over the house. The strange thing is that we have never actually seen her carrying the socks. I don't know when she does it or why. It's kinda funny and weird. One day last week we came home to Molly standing over an entire pile. Maybe it's like how some cats bring chipmunks? Molly brings SOCKS.

Fancy Nancy and Her First Aikido Demo

A couple weeks ago, we had our first Aikido demo that featured some of our elementary age students! Aren't they adorable??

Autumn's partner, who is also an orange belt (none of my yellow belts could make it), had to temporarily move to Florida because his dad is undergoing a certain kind of cancer treatment. So, I let the white belts work together on some of the more simple moves and then I let Autumn do her thing with me. Here she is doing shihonage which is a throw.

And ikkyo which ends in a pin! Look at that serious face! She did super well and my mouth is open all weird like that because I was narrating, haha. I feel really bad for people who have to watch me teach because still shots of me always look crazy.

At the end, Autumn and Ella demonstrated an exercise we do at the end of class. Going...

Going...

Gone! I CANNOT STAND HOW ADORABLE HER FEET ARE. I know. It's weird. And normally feet are kind of gross to me but something about Autumn in seiza just tickles me.

Anyway, changing gears...they had dress like your favorite book character day at school earlier this month!! We did some going around about it but Autumn settled on Fancy Nancy. She wanted to be Elsa or Anna but I told her no, unless she wanted to be the Snow Queen because Frozen was a movie first. I felt kind of bad because when we got to school, guess what we saw? Like 10 Elsas. And a Lego Movie character. Sooo, yeah. I told her never to tell any of the Elsas I said this but that I mainly wanted her to do something more creative than throwing on her Elsa dress.

I'd say she was creative! We pulled everything in this costume from home except for the wig which I got really cheap at Target. We put a handkerchief over her hair because the wig was itchy. It did the trick and Autumn wore the wig all day. It was awesome. I had a good time, too, obviously. But it wasn't just Autumn's costume, I got to take pictures of all the kids and they were so fun! Costumes are the best. Speaking of, I still don't know what I want to be for Halloween. Maybe I'll be Fancy Nancy...I bet I can find some stuff...

A Night with the Phantom! Or, Autumn's First Girls Night Out

Today is our fashion issue! Autumn and I went shopping last week which **never** happens but it was picture day and everything was either too small or didn't fit the dress code. Autumn absolutely fell in love with this hat. I didn't have the heart to tell her no so we got it and a couple of outfits to match with picture day and our trip to Phantom of the Opera in mind. I love this outfit so much! I just wish she could have worn the hat in her pictures. Too fun.

It was a little warm on Saturday for the dress but there was no way Autumn wasn't going to wear the hat. She has worn it every day since Wednesday, except for today!

Mike and I went to Phantom some time ago so this time around it was just my mom, Autumn, and me. Autumn was pretty pumped. She kept grinning and saying it was her first real girls night. I figured since this was our first time and will be a rare event so we did dinner, dessert, and the whole nine yards. We went to The Beauty Shop Restaurant in Midtown. It was good! I'd definitely go back.

At the Orpheum! We were stopped by several people who told us how cute Autumn's outfit was! She's not a huge fan of that kind of attention. Once she had on cat eye glasses and took them off because too many people were looking at her. Apparently Autumn likes the hat so much that she didn't want to take it off despite the staring.

After I bought the tickets, I was concerned that I made a terrible mistake. Autumn hates movies. She's even scared of Frozen even though she loves it! But, she has watched the 25th anniversary Phantom, loves listening to Broadway on Pandora and is all classical with her ballet and violin plus I just want her to like theater so I have someone to go with (Mike only goes occasionally!). Thinking about her issues with noise and potentially scary parts, I got tickets in the top balcony on the front row. It worked out really well because we could see right down on the stage and it was far enough away to not be freaky. Plus she could see the violins playing and she was amazed. She kept saying wow throughout the whole show!

Autumn jumped once or twice but never got scared or covered her ears which I'm going to take to mean that all my preparation via YouTube videos of potentially scary parts worked. She even danced along with Masquerade! It was awesome and I wish I could have gotten video of it. Afterward, Autumn told me it was better than a movie. We all had a great time. It was my mom's first time to see Phantom, too, by the way. I think I like the old version a little better--more of a spectacle, *possibly* slightly less campy but that could be me--but it was still super fun and the new, rotating stage is fascinating. I'd love to see how it works up close. Saturday went so well that I'm kind of almost thinking maybe Autumn would enjoy seeing The Lion King in the spring. We'll see!! Oh, and check this out. Autumn never falls asleep in the car but her very first girl's night tired her right out. :)