Happy Halloween

Years ago, my sister Lisa gave me a pumpkin-carving pattern for a witch riding on a broomstick. Over the years, I've tended to use patterns because if I'm left on my own, my jack-o-lanterns are truly boring. You know, the triangles for eyes and nose accompanied by a gap-toothed grin. During the years we lived in NY, our friends Shela and Ray had an annual pumpkin-carving party where freestyle or patterned carvings were equally welcome. Imagine 15-20 people sitting on the floor, carving in unison. (B.Y.O.K.) Shela sent us an email last week telling us the party has now grown to 75 people. They really know how to put on a party.

After a 2-year layoff, I got the patterns out the other night. Jeff was out of town and the little one was sound asleep. I like how this one turned out, but it made me wonder: If you use one of those fancy patterns to carve out a cat sitting on a tree branch, is it still a jack-o-lantern?

It's the Great Puppy, Charlie Brown!

Mia's preschool Halloween party was this morning. I brought her to school and stayed for a bit before heading off to work. It was amazing to see how nicely Mia behaved in a more structured environment. I was impressed. She was awfully quiet, didn't talk at all. Sarah stayed with Mia all morning, ensuring she didn't fall off the pony (yes, they had pony rides!), taking pictures, and being Mia's all-around best friend.

Sarah reports that Mia wasn't scared of the pony at all. She loved it! She happened to be the first child to ride the pony, and apparently the pony had gotten hungry on the long trip because it kept stopping to eat. Mia got a nice long ride and cried when she had to dismount. Maybe she will take after her horse-loving cousins Claire and Emily.

Pumpkin Pi

Remember last week how I posted those blurry photos of Mia romping at the local pumpkin patch? Over the weekend, Jeff found another pumpkin patch where we wouldn't be recognized. This one was set up really nicely. It was on a soccer field next to a church. Decidedly un-farmlike. On the other hand, they clearly understand their target market, because they had set up little photo-ready vignettes with hay bales, multi-colored pumpkins, split rail fencing and scarecrows. As we posed Mia for the shot, I discovered my camera battery was dead. Darn.
In the end the trip was worth it because they'd also set up a moonwalk/bounce castle. No one else was in it, so Jeff and Mia tried it out. Mia quickly tired of it, but as she and Jeff exited, I realized I have never once in my life bounced in a moonwalk. They had just come into fashion when I was a child and as I recall you paid a significant amount of money for the privilege of bouncing around. At least that is the reason my Mom gave when she said we couldn't go in the moonwalk - maybe she was more worried that we'd break our necks.
Anyway, I hopped in and had it all to myself. Totally fun.

Fun Day at the Petting Zoo

Sarah surprised me at work today with a lovely email. So, I thought it might be fun to feature Sarah as guest author. In her own words...

Hey Donna,
What a day we have had. We started off at the Berry Farm. There we pet farm animals and took a hay ride through the pumpkin patch! Mia loved the farm animals. It was hard to get her to leave. I think her favorite was the Sheep (of course). As you can see in one of the pictures she wanted to give it a kiss. I had to to warn her to be careful as there were signs that say WATCH OUT WE BITE. We walked through the pumpkin patch that barely had any pumpkins left, but Mia still had a blast.
Our next stop was Chik-Fil-A for lunch. As soon as we walked in Mia wanted to go to the play area. I reassured her we could play after lunch. We sat and ate and Mia was all smiles. She constantly waved to the customers walking in. After our tummies were full I took Mia to the play room and from there we climbed and laughed.
Our fun day continues with pumpkin carving after nap. Please enjoy the pictures.
Sarah

Much Ado About Sam

Today we depart from writing about Mia (and/or myself as Reflective Older Mother of a Toddler) to tell you about a little incident that happened to Sam last week. Sam is our 14-year-old toy poodle. She used to be black, but is graying as the years sneak up on her.
Sam has been a little under the weather lately. I’ve been hoping it’s nothing serious, maybe she’s been sneaking a few table scraps. Because of that, I’ve been putting off getting her hair cut (too traumatizing), but last Friday I decided it was time for a trip to the groomer. Sarah and Mia dropped her off in the morning on their way to the library. About noon, the groomer called to say Sam was ready to go home. We were just starting lunch, so we didn’t go to pick her up for about 40 minutes. When we got there, one of the young women groomers (hereafter called Groomer 1) looked up from the incredibly hairy shih tzu she was grooming to ask which dog we were picking up. Groomer 1 then went into the back room to get Sam. After several minutes, she returned to the grooming area sans dog and conferred with Groomer 2. They spoke in low tones which I couldn’t overhear, but I could see that they were a little flustered. Then both women disappeared into the back room. A few minutes later, they came back. Still flustered, still no dog. They conferred with the owner, then all three went into the back room. A couple minutes later, the owner came to the counter. She was visibly upset. I began to worry. Was Sam unconscious? Had she died back there?

Owner: I’m so sorry, this has never happened before.
Me: (eyes widen)
Owner: We sent Sam home with someone else. A little old man.
Me (laughing largely out of relief that my unspoken fear wasn't realized): Obviously, a little old man with bad eyesight.
Owner (grabs phone and starts looking for a phone number): I’m so so sorry. I’ll take care of this personally. The little old man doesn’t live too far away. (Dials phone, no answer.)
Me: We have to leave, someone is supposed to be at my house in a few minutes. Before I go, can I look at the dog that is left?
Owner (dubiously): OK.
Groomer 2: (puzzled look)
Owner: Go get the other dog. She wants to see it.
Groomer 2 (dubiously): OK

Groomer 2 goes to the back room and returns with Sam, who has orange and black bows in her hair.

Me: That is my dog. You didn’t make a mistake.
Groomer 2: No, it’s not your dog.
Me: Yes it is. That’s Sam.
Groomer 2: Ma'am, we didn’t put bows in Sam’s hair.
Me: (I avoid asking, “Why didn’t you give her any bows?”) No, that’s Sam. Here, let me look at her teeth. (Looks at teeth.) OK, unless you cleaned my dog’s teeth today, that is not my dog.
Groomer 2: I know.
Owner: We’ll find Sam, I promise you. I’m sooo soooo sorry. This has never happened before.
Me: That’s OK, obviously they must look a lot alike. (To myself: Oh, it’s worth it just to be able to tell this story.)

P.S. Sam was recovered about an hour later, and seems none the worse for the wear.

Toes

Mia loves playing with her feet.


Exhibit A: One of the first photos we ever took of Mia, back in the hotel in Nanchang. We'd been warned that in the orphanage they are so bundled up that they rarely get to see their toes. We were told we should expect Mia to exhibit an unusually strong fascination with her own extremities.


Exhibit B: One year later, Mia likes standing on her worktable while one of her adults traces the outline of her feet.

Birthday Party Preparations

I've been getting ready for Mia's birthday party, which is in 2 weeks. The theme is Dogs. Just dogs, not "licensed character dogs" like Blue of Blue's Clues or Scooby Doo or even Clifford the Big Red Dog. Mia is too young to have real friends yet, but last week, I sent e-mail invitations to a few of our friends who have toddlers. (e-mail invitations. Remember the days when I used to make handmade cards? Let's just say this is yet another area where I've lowered my standards.) This weekend I've been making the party favors. (Making the party favors. Perhaps there is hope for me after all.) It all started when I had this great idea that we'd have the party at our house. Instead of renting some inflatable moon castle or a petting zoo, we would feature a craft activity. Most people give out little goodie bags for party favors, wouldn't it be cool if the guests decorated T-shirts with fabric paint? (2-year-olds with fabric paint. I know, it sounds ridiculous now that I've put it in writing.) Pretty quickly I concluded that was a bit ambitious for 2-year-olds. Instead, we're going to have some physical play time in Mia's backyard (playroom if raining) followed by lunch. I've been making the party favors myself. Last night, I showed Jeff the prototype. It wasn't quite perfect, but Jeff assured me that is part of the charm. He even took a picture of me working on the party favors, saying it will make Mia happy to see the effort I put into her 2nd birthday party. Now, that's my idea of a supportive husband!
Oh, and the cake. After discovering that the local bakeries can't make a cake with a plain old dog on it, only licensed character cakes with features like mandatory blue frosting (eeeuuw), I went on the web and got a pattern for making a dog cake. For about a day, I decided that was a super idea, then I realized it would take 3-4 hours and would look quite amateurish because while I am a competent baker I am an untested cake decorator. I think I'll save that pattern for another day. Like when Mia is old enough to appreciate it and/or at least help me. It's off to the grocery store to put in an order for a sheet cake that has "Happy Birthday, Mia" written on it.
I'm beginning to see why people opt for the "write a check to the kid-friendly entertainment restaurant" theme party.