A really big day!!!

Today Libi sang the entire Alphabet Song by herself for the first time. She has been singing it for a while but she's missed letters or put them in the wrong place. As we were leaving the park from our Mom's Club meeting she began to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in her own special way. As I re-entered the car I noticed that she was changing to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" which then morphed to the "Alphabet song". She did the whole thing in the perfect order and in almost perfect tune. I was so totally excited that I called nearly everyone I know to tell them of my brilliant daughter's feat!



Secondly, Jammy made a perfectly lovely flamingo costume for Libs for Halloween. It is quite full of feathers that she becomes a fluff ball. The real problem is that her head is so beak-heavy that she can't see when she's in the costume. We have been putting the ensemble on her every day this week trying to get her ready for all of the Halloween festivities, but she has been pretty cranky about it.

Today at Nana and Pop's while we were trying to find a solution to the problem so walked right into an entry table because she couldn't see. I was beginning to think that the hat was a lost cause. I trimmed the beak and put a ball-cap inside to make it sit higher on her head-- I also told her that she'd only get candy if she wore the whole costume (shameless I know!)



At Trunk or Treat tonight, she wore the whole thing the entire time and loved it! Such a wonderful day!

What happened to Mickey?

Early last week we were sitting in the family room when Libs turned to Ron and I and said "What happened to Mickey?" We think this response was due to the fact that we had been to Disneyland to see Mickey every weekend for the four previous weekends and we didn't go that weekend. This was super shocking because Libs had never used a complete sentence before. How funny that her first involved Mickey!

On Saturday night (Oct. 18) Jammy was in town and we were watching a Barry Manilow special on PBS. Libs danced, la-la-ed, and greatly enjoyed clapping with the audience. At the end of every song she would clap and say "Yay!" Jammy told her to say "Yay Barry!" so after every subsequent song she repeated that. When the special was over and the credits were running, our darling girl looked at all of us, hands raised at her sides and said "What happened to Barry?" It was the funniest thing because it was so serious and important for her to know what happened to him.

Sunday was a busy day with Bridget's 5th Birthday and Mary's 40th Birthday.




Monday we were at Underwood Family Farms to pick pumpkins with MOPS. A really fun trip that I could never have done without Jammy! Libs was so wonderful, riding in the wagon and talking to the animals.

Date night...

Ron and I went out last night for a real, honest to goodness date night. It began with dinner at ChiChi's which was amazing. Last night they had the most amazing croutons-- I would have eaten a whole plateful of just the croutons. My darling hubby told the server how much I enjoyed them, so she brought me a big container of them. It was so funny!



After our dinner we made a quick stop at the bank where Ron was told by a woman entering the lobby at the same time he was "Don't hold me up." We weren't sure if she was talking about him taking too long to enter as she held the door for him or if his masculine physique intimidated her.

Next up was supposed to be Mops and Pops bowling at Santa Clarita Lanes. Due to some confusion on the part of the girl coordinating-- we didn't reserve a lane so there was a 2 hour wait when we arrived. It was a small group of only 3 couples so we decided to do a movie instead. The group consensus was to see Eagle Eye-- not a flick that I ever intended to see-- so we graciously declined and went off to another adventure.

If you didn't know, Canyon Country is soon to be home to a terrific shopping and dining center. It will have tons of new restaurants including a Chili's (hello chips and salsa) and the Mecca of all stores--- Target. Earlier this month the Kohl's opened and the Lowe's has been opened for well over a month-- sadly we have never made time to go check them out, until tonight!!!

We strolled through the big, gorgeous store and did a bit of Christmas/Birthday shopping. Santa and I are nearly done with all of our shopping, do Daddy is very excited! Then we made a quick stop into Lowe's for some new herbs and cable for the edger.

Our final stop was at Jack-in-the-Box for milkshakes. While we drank we watched a bit of a movie on Ron's iPhone-- is there anything that his phone won't do? Then it was back home to get hugs from Boo Boo Chicken. What a fun night!

Twilight...

OK, so I'm hooked! Yesterday I grabbed Ron's copy of Twilight at about 4:30 and by 11:30 I was done. I read until my eyes were blurry, but I simply couldn't put the darn book down. I had to stop to cook dinner and eat it, but other than that my evening was all about Bella and Edward. I still have so many questions-- I can't wait for Ron to bring home book #2 so I can get lost in that this weekend.

Libs has been really funny lately. She is singing all the time-- her favorites are "C is for Cookie" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". She sings or talks non-stop all day-long. She is always telling stories to her dolls, making them dance and singing to them-- so very adorable! Yesterday she looked at me and said "Grampy"-- when I told her that she wouldn't see him until at least Friday night so got all pouty on me. I called Grampy right away and asked him if he could come over-- so he came for some tickling Thursday night. Libs was squealing with delight when he came over-- I could hear from upstairs as I was reading.

Music class was lots of fun, despite my daughter pulling out her new favorite word every other second. "NO, NO, NO!!!!" We hear it a lot now-- even when we know the answer to our questions should be "Yes." Mommy is quite perturbed by this, but Uncle Nick reminded her that this is better than a girl who says "Yes" all the time.

Wow, what a weekend!

Yeah Mickey!!!! That chant that Libs did for almost 40 minutes to fill time in the car sums up the past few days.

Friday was our annual visit to DCA for Halloween Treat. Bob, Renia, Mom, Dad, and the Strassners all made the trek down to Anaheim for the evening event. Emma was Elizabeth-- the pirate princess-- Ben was Jack Sparrow and Libs was Nemo. They all looked really cute! It was kind of a stressful evening having 11 folks to keep track of, but we all had a good time.



Saturday Jammy, Libs and I went to Disneyland for a few hours so Libs could again see her man-- Mickey. We waited back in Toontown to see him for about 20 minutes, but it was totally worth it! We had lots of time to hug, kiss and high-five him. In the evening we went to Nana and Pop's house for pizza and cupcakes which Libs loved getting all over herself!



Sunday we had an early breakfast at IHOP to say goodbye to everyone and then we hung out at home. It was nice to have some down time.

This week should be reasonably calm. Libs is singing much more now-- her favorite song of the moment is "Twinkle, twinkle little star" so funny to hear her sing it!

A Diamond is Forever!!!

Last night Ron and I went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Neil Diamond. He still looks and sounds amazing! It was his best concert yet-- another couple who had been to many of his concerts echoed that thought as we were walking out of the bowl.

He played such an amazing mix of old and new-- over 2 hours of music. Of course he did the classics: Holly Holy, Beautiful Noise, Play Me, Love on the Rocks, I Am I Said, Forever in Blue Jeans, Solitary Man and the crowd sing-along favorite, Sweet Caroline! He also did some songs that were obscure to the non-Neil obsessed fans. Of course I was able to sing along, but many folks used this time to rest from dancing.

He did a few songs from his latest album, Home Before Dawn, and his other newest album, 12 Songs. My favorite was seeing "Hell Yeah" live. This song is what I believe he wants his eulogy to be. It talks about his life and if the choices he made were worth it, if he is happy and he responds "Hell Yeah!" I hope when I'm his age-- which is 67 for those who were wondering-- that I'll be as happy with the choices I've made!

The thing I love most about live music is the feeling you get when you and 18,000 of your closest friends all sing to the same song. It is the sense of camaraderie-- regardless of gender, race, religion, politics-- that makes me want to sing even louder than I was before. Love, love, love my Neil!!!

Welcome back!

OK, so I am going to make a renewed effort to blog again on a daily basis. Much has been going on here lately, so there is lots to write about.

Libi, Jammy and I all traveled to Pennsylvania in mid-September. Libs makes a great little traveler, but I get frustrated easily. There is so much to pack/carry when you travel with a 20 month old and Mommy ends up with most of it (no matter where we go-- the zoo, the grocery store, or 3000 miles away!)

We were very lucky to get to spend lots of time with family while we were there. We visited Great-Grandmom almost every day-- Libi loved the bicycle she traveled in (grown-up folks call it a wheel chair.) My mother points out that I too called them bicycles when I was about Libs age.

Elmo also lives in Pennsylvania at a great place called Sesame Place. I went there many, many years ago and loved it almost as much as my Elmo-obsessed daughter did. We spent two days seeing Elmo, Zoey, Big Bird, the Count, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert. Libs completely overcame her character fear here-- now we have to drag her away from them.

My favorite moment of the whole trip came when Mom and I were showing Libs some geese that live near my grandmothers nursing home: We asked Libi what ducks say and she answered "Quack", then what to geese say and she said "Honk, we saw some pigeons fly by and I asked her what they say, expecting to hear something like "Tweet" or "Honk" or "Quack" since we hadn't practiced this one and you know what she said? "Hi Ernie!" I guess we have been watching way too much Sesame Street if all pigeons in the world say "Hi Ernie!"

One day we drove up to Easton to go to the Crayola factory. Mom's cousin Flo joined us for the visit-- I don't believe I had ever met her before, but we had a really nice time. I just saw an episode of John and Kate Plus 8 where they went to the factory and let me tell you I am thrilled that I didn't have 8 kids to worry about there. Libs had a great time coloring, dancing in the shadow room, and playing in the tot area. I kept her far away from the clay, paint and markers-- in that respect I am an up-tight mom like Kate, I don't like LouLou to get dirty!

We got home and had a few days of "rest"-- lunch with Nana and Pop, music class, MOPS, Pioneer Club-- then it was off to San Diego.

Libs and I drove down alone to catch my folks while they were there. We met some of my parents NAHB friends and had dinner with Sonny and Jan. On Saturday we again met up with Elmo and had a special breakfast with him at Sea World. I think Dad enjoyed seeing her reaction to the characters. We spent the morning looking at fish, seeing the Shamu show and exploring the Bay of Play. After they left in the early afternoon Libs took a short nap while I sat in the penguin encounter-- it is air-conditioned and dark, perfect for naptime!!! We spent much of the day in Bay of Play-- I think we saw Elmo 5 times in the photo spot. Ron came in on the train that evening-- thank goodness!

Sunday we visited the San Diego Zoo. Libs amazed us with her stamina as she stayed awake for hours and hours watching the animals. Sadly she fell asleep before the panda bears, but Ron and I enjoyed them for her. Sunday night we went and stood in a terribly long line for an OK BBQ meal. It is supposed to the be the best BBQ in San Diego, but I only gave it a 4 out of 10. Ron seemed to enjoy it much more, but he's usually so easy going with food.

Monday we left San Diego and made a stop at Disneyland. It was a nice half-way stop for us to get out and play. Libs got to ride Nemo again-- it was Ron's first time and despite waiting a half an hour, I think he enjoyed it. We also made the pilgrimage back to Mickey's Movie Barn to visit the man. Libs must see him every time she goes to the park, so we wait in line now. We had dinner at Mrs. Knott's-- I must have my chicken and biscuits every so often.

Tuesday was a lazy day at home-- which we really needed. Ron went back to work today, sadly his Fall Break was only 2 days.