Autumn IS Ming-Ming the Wonder Pet!

I'm cheating a little tonight!! Head over to Passing Pinwheels this week to see Autumn's costume for Halloween and a tutorial on how I made the wings. Click!!

Bats at the Beach and other stories...

Guess where we went for fall break! We had a great few days at the beach. It was weird because usually when we go to Mike's parents' condo, we're there with, well, everyone. But this time it was just the three of us. We enjoyed ourselves. We didn't get bored or anything which was nice.


We brought some board games, books, and art supplies. And, um, the player we use to watch Netflix on our tv, ha! We did a LOT of swimming in the pool. I did Autumn's swim team practice stuff with her and it was really hard! I can't believe she does that for 45 minutes. We also, of course, did a beach walk almost every day.


And, when it wasn't raining or super windy so that the sand hurt when it hit us, the water was great. I'm not usually a big "let's get in the water!" person but even I waded in. Autumn swam, pranced, danced, and fought with the waves. She and Mike were pretty cute out at the edge of the shallow water looking for this yellow and orange fish that they see every trip.


We even had some entertainment one afternoon. Mike spotted this girl on the beach doing meditative yoga or praying or something. The birds scattered a bit by the time I got my camera but the birds had been in a half circle around her so it was like some kind of strange ocean service or class.


Seriously, she went through an entire series of poses over about an hour, holding each pose for at least 10 minutes! The birds just chilled out and watched!


There was another interesting visitor. At first, I thought this was a pile of butterflies. I've never seen a bat at the beach but here was this little dude! Autumn decided she is a girl and named her Sleepy because she slept all afternoon on the ceiling of the balcony. Funny enough, when I was looking at the online library for books on bats to read to Autumn, I found a fiction book called Bats at the Beach. It was such a cute book! And strangely appropriate. We read it together almost every night.


We also went to a park about 10 minutes away. I made a list of a few free places we could go but this is the only thing we ended up doing. I'm so glad we did because it was really great! The whole thing was made of reclaimed materials like tires and buckets. We all played on the structures.


The balance thing Mike was on above was tough to cross! Way tougher than it should have been. Autumn had a good time with just about everything but I had to drag her away from the drum buckets.


This could be the least flattering photo I have ever posted of myself. Or in the top 10.


The entire time we were there, the sky was amazing. How beautiful is this? I haven't edited any of these at all, either.


From one of our sunset walks. Amazing.


Can you tell Autumn loved being at the beach? :)

A Kiwi Tale: Introducing Kiri Kiwi

Once upon a time, there was a happy and imaginative little girl who loved the kiwi from her Kiwi Crate boxes very, very much.


So, not long after school started, the little girl wrote a letter. She wrote the letter to the kiwi!


At the bottom, she drew her very best family picture. The little girl drew her kitty cat Molly, but far away because Molly doesn't like people. She also drew her papa and her mama, but she mixed up the names so her mama was a little too tiny but it's okay. The little girl also added the one she wanted to join her family: Kiwi.

"From Autumn. Will you come over to haos we will have a pladat to gever. We will have a grat tie plaey to gedr. You will haf to come tomorow aftr soole."

She did her best to write a good, polite note. The little girl wrote it all by herself, hoping that Kiwi would see how hard she worked. She really wanted Kiwi to come for a play date. And, maybe, if Kiwi liked it at her house, they could play together for longer than one day!


The little girl gave her letter to her mama to mail to Kiwi. Her mama warned her that Kiwi might not be able to come or that her letter might take a very long time to get to New Zealand where kiwis are from. They even looked for New Zealand on the globe! And it was very, very far away. But every day, she kept hoping and hoping and one day...


The little girl's mama sent her on a scavenger hunt to find a surprise that came in the mail. When the little girl saw the holes in the box...she started to get so excited. There was a note. Kiwi (which must be a last name because she now knows he is really named Steve) sent his friend Kiri! Kiri came all the way to stay with the little girl!


And, ever since then, they have had so many wonderful adventures. They played hide and seek with the little girl's grandfather.


Kiri and the little girl basked in the sun, reading books on the balcony at the beach.


They practiced their sentences and spelling together.


And Kiri even gets to ride in the baby carrier on trips around the house sometimes!


The little girl is so happy to have Kiri. To make sure she really, really never wants to leave, the little girl made Kiri and super comfy bed in a hat with very soft clothes.

Kiri is a fun friend to have. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Visitors!

Well, today was supposed to be Kiri's debut but I completely forgot to take pictures of the things that Autumn doesn't know I have so it'll have to wait until next week when I can get the photos under the radar. She wrote a letter to the Kiwi Crate people asking if Kiwi would stay with her--I didn't send it but she did get a kiwi to keep. Stay tuned for the story. :) (btw, I applied to become a Kiwi Crate affiliate, in the meantime, if you end up trying kiwi crate, let me know because I have a coupon you can use!)

So, until next week, check out some Autumn teaching Ellie aikido. She had Ellie by the arms and was doing the rowing exercise with her, hahaha.

We've had some visitors over the last couple of weeks. First up were Tara and the almost brand new William, who was born in May! Autumn loves her some babies so, of course, she was all over Will. I don't know what this face was about though, hahaha.


He has awesome hair that doesn't look too unlike what Autumn's hair looked like when she was his age. Actually, looking at old photos of Autumn, they really looked like they could be cousins or something.


And, last week, we had a visit from Donnie and Liz!! We hadn't seen them in forever but we still play Warcraft together and talk to them in game a lot so it was like they had never left. I made mini chicken pot pies for lunch and then Autumn roped them into a game of CandyLand. Donnie should have gone out to buy a lottery ticket because he won every game except the last one!


Donnie and Liz also got the Autumn's Room Magical Mystery Tour. You can see Autumn's bed full of treasures and pillows. You can also see her bucket which was still there just in case because on Friday she had a "cough so much I'm throwing up" night. She's better now! But we do have an appointment with the allergist next week.


Isn't this funny? Autumn and Liz have really similar hair! I was sitting behind the two of them laughing at how the back of their heads look so much alike. We really enjoyed getting to hang out with them again; it was like old times! After they left, Autumn sighed and said, "I wish they could stay forever." Awwwww.


In case you're interested, I'm posting almost every day at Passing Pinwheels. It's the Capture Your Grief project. My friend Tamara wrote today's post. The last few days have been interesting and at least one of the posts was a lot of fun...I wrote about how we chose Garrett's name via instant messenger, hahaha.

No...energy...must post...pictures /collapse

So, in case anyone is wondering, it is chilly and rainy and so I am cold and unmotivated, haha. Donnie and Liz came over (pics later!) because they were in town for a short visit. I made mini chicken pot pies and an ice cream sandwich dessert. I ATE TOO MUCH. Then we had too much fun and cake at our friend Aurora's third birthday party. Mike was laughing at me and said I was "so pretty" in my Halloween socks, pink sweats, black shirt, and blue robe. I WILL GET MY REVENGE. But, later, after the naproxen kicks in. In the meantime, I wish I could just do this.


I haven't been a bum all week. I made stuff. I'll post the moss garden, the update of Autumn's fairy garden, and the cart I redid on the Pinwheel blog later but here's the Minnie Mouse tutu I made Aurora. Lindsay gave me the idea and I am happy with how it turned out!


And here's the birthday girl with her brother Josh and Autumn. Yay for Minnie Mouse!


I also made Autumn's cape for Halloween. She's going to be Ming Ming from Wonder Pets! I also have a yellow outfit and orange leggings to complete the look. I think we'll sew a boa to a shirt for the wings. TOO FUN. If you've never seen Wonder Pets they are so adorable. Mike and I even sing the Teamwork song even when Autumn isn't around, hahaha. The hat, by the way, is from when Autumn was Amelia Earhart!


I got to have lunch with Autumn. I tried to surprise her but Autumn caught me out. I filled her lunch bag with just stuff and let her teacher know what I had done. Unfortunately, Autumn decided her lunch felt or sounded weird so she looked in it. Her teacher tried to cover and say that she'd buy Autumn's lunch but Autumn was all, "mama is going to come todaaaaayyyyy!"


Happy girl with chocolate soy milk on her chin.


Oh, and here's that other tooth fairy drawing! It's pretty awesome. And I did get some pixie dust BUT Autumn is in here so a picture will have to wait. I have no idea when the tooth is going to finally go. It got loose and then decided it was loose enough for now.


This is my favorite part. Autumn is dreaming about the tooth fairy while the tooth fairy is flying in! Love it!


Next week, I think I'll introduce you to someone new! Kiri the Kiwi! Some of you have seen/met her but it's a fun story. :)

A couple of weeks of miscellany

Autumn has a loose tooth. Mike and I are freaking out because teeth are gross. To both of us. WHAT WILL WE DO. One thing we did do is order some rainbow tooth fairy dust. She's been writing letters to the tooth fairy letting her know that instead of money, she wants pixie dust. Autumn actually drew a better one but it's on her desk in her room and I don't want to go in there and potentially wake her up. Although she usually sleeps like a stone so it's really that I'm lazy.


Oh! Autumn started swim team! I didn't post last week because it was my birthday and I decided to take the night off, haha. But, she has been amazing!! Seriously, even Mike is impressed and he's pretty much never impressed. I take her one night and Mike takes her the other night. I got this one this past week. They had to swim with a weight forward, kicking their legs, with one hand straight up. SO CUTE.


I wasn't sure she was going to make it to the first day. Autumn came down with a fever two Sundays ago. I should have known something was wrong when she woke up and started crying because she couldn't sleep. Poor thing was like fire in the morning when I woke up. She missed two days of school with the fever but only looked **really** pitiful like this for one day. Usually even when she's sick she's all bouncing and silly but, no.


In other news, a friend of mine from kali back in the day took Autumn and me on a tour of Brussel's Bonsai in Olive Branch. He had an easy to care for bonsai that someone had given to him and gave it to Autumn! We had a great time. The bonsai were amazing and, frankly, I had no idea there were things like BONSAI FORESTS. Autumn fell for a couple of bonsai and I told her that if this bonsai stays alive until her birthday, I'd buy her one that flowered.


And, to wrap up, have a happy day picture. :) Autumn is very happy about the first day of Autumn. Unfortunately, the lighting was really harsh so you get an Autumn in sepia.


NEXT WEEK: Kiri the Kiwi!!

Honey the Not a Real Puppy joins in the adventure

Meet Honey! Honey joined the family two weeks ago, just in time to catch the end of the book Beauty which Autumn and I have been reading together for months now.


Honey goes everywhere with Autumn, including into the booster seat while Autumn is in school. Just to make sure she stays safe.


Honey watched while Autumn worked on her rain stick and is there for whatever adventures Autumn goes on.


Honey even had a birthday on Labor Day, complete with an indoor picnic and gifts!


And so, Honey joins the Ménagerie de Autumn. :)