Festival of Trees

Every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, we head to the Festival of Trees at the Timonium Fairgrounds.  The event is a benefit for Kennedy Kreiger Institute in Baltimore, and we certainly don't mind supporting them, but we go because it is just SO MUCH FUN!!  This year Aunty joined us for the festivities.

There is a carousel ride...

The Pony Ride...

The Fun Games...

The Model Trains...

Don't Forget the Mini Golf!  (And yes this is evidence that my child cheats!!)

And YEAH!  The Santa photo!!

It's Official!

It's official... as of yesterday, Jocelyn is potty training.  I started this adventure with much hesitation and apprehension.  Potty training is not a one or two day, one or two week hurdle.  It's a long term, from here on out, "where's the nearest potty?"..., I hate public restrooms!..., "Do you have to go potty Sweetie?"..., did I bring a change of clothes?..., "Please, please use the potty before we go"..., no turning back, excursion, not for the faint of heart! 

I finally found some time in our busy social calendar to just stay home, next to the potty and extra clothes, with no where to go, and (bonus!) hubby is taking time off for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend!  Lucky him!   Yeah!  I don't have to do it alone.

So far, Jocelyn has been happy to sit on the potty, with a bit of success with the end "result", as long as the stickers keep coming.  We have stickers on the bathroom cabinet, stickers on paper, stickers on her!  Stickers everywhere!  But she's willing to sit because of them, so I can't complain. 

This really is an odd process I must say.  I have Jocelyn in pullups for right now.  I think she needs to see / feel some progress before I bring out the training pants, and frankly, so do I!  So every 1/2 hour to an hour, I bribe her to come to the bathroom and sit on the potty hoping for some magical bodily function to produce something I can cheer about.  I get to sit on the floor in the doorway of our 1/2 bath, (which I must mention is about the size of a milk crate!) and wait for said miracle, all while we play with stickers and read books. 

All kidding aside though, I admit, while I sit in the bathroom doorway, and watch my sweet little one play with her stickers, and smile at me from her plastic throne, I have realized the milestone we are crossing, and I see my baby growing up in front of me, and I'm so proud of her!  And when she's all done sitting, with or without success, I have to hug her and tell her I love her... 
and just hope that in a couple weeks when she goes into training pants, I remember that while I'm cleaning the sofa!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Thanksgiving artwork...  A Turkey Headband and A Handprint turkey!  These are keepers for sure!

Yum! Sundae!

                                                                  

 Today was a yummy day!  We met some of our MOMS Club friends for a Friendly's Ice Cream Tour and Sundae making!  We brought some of Jocelyn's soy ice cream with us so she could join in the fun.  Jocelyn's sundae of course had her favorite, those M&M guys, as she calls them!



Love the apron!



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Jocelyn was very happy to see her friend Ayaka!

More Fun With Leaves!

I can't say that I am the most creative minded person when it comes to art activities, but once in a while I have a strike of genius and come up with something good.  Since there is a wealth of leaves in our yard, (as previously mentioned) I decided to let Jocelyn paint with them.  We used regular paint to coat the leaves and pressed them onto colored construction paper.  What messy fun!

The Arteest!



The painting materials



The end result

And while we were having so much fun inside the house, Pat had a fun painting project of his own going on...  refinishing the swing on our deck!

Leaves!

The leaves are falling!  I mean...  THE LEAVES ARE FALLING!!! 

One of the greatest things about our back yard is the wonderful large trees that bring lots of shade during the summer.  However, we are cussing those same trees about this time of year when all those leaves come down.  My sister found a group of high schoolers that were raking leaves this past weekend to earn money for their investment club.  We took advantage of young, energetic people for the first round, but there will be an even deeper second round of leaves coming any minute now that us old tired people will have to deal with.

In the meantime, the group left a couple leaf piles for Jocelyn to enjoy.  This is the first year she really appreciated leaf pile jumping and she did it with finesse!!



At least when it was time to clean up the pile, she was happy to help rake!

Hanging out with Auntie is SO MUCH FUN!!

Pat and I were joking that since we had help with raking the first round of leaves on Saturday, the rest of the leaves were sure to drop on Sunday after all the helpers were all gone.  Sure enough, look what I came out to this morning!!!



Friendship

Jocelyn and I spend a lot of time with other kids and Mommies.  Between Mom's Groups, My Gym, and other activities, Jocelyn interacts a lot with other kids.  But I think she has found her first real friend! I don't know at what age kids are supposed to go from parallel play to interactive play, but Jocelyn and her friend Ayaka are certainly playing together and it's so much fun to watch!!  Ayaka is a few months younger than Jocelyn, but I think that works for them quite well.  Jocelyn looks forward to playing with Ayaka and talks about her all afternoon when their playtime is over.
I must say I am enjoying getting to know Ayaka's mother too.  We seem to have very similar ways of raising our girls, and I enjoy her company.  Sounds like a win-win for all of us!

Gymnastics

I don't generally like to overload Jocelyn with too many classes, especially now that she is doing My Gym, but she has really enjoyed going to Columbia Gymnastics for Mom's Group sessions, so I decided to let her do a 6 week program through Howard County.  Today was the first day.
She was very excited about putting on her leotard...

And she loved sliding into the foam block pit...



But as usual, her favorite activity is jumping...

And here is the video to prove it!

Uncle Scott and Aunt Rachel come for a visit

Pat's brother Scott and his wife Rachel came to visit this past weekend.  While they were here, we actually took the opportunity to play tourist in our own back yard, AND have some adult time.  Aunty Lorraine was nice enough to babysit Jocelyn, and on Saturday night we went to the Baltimore Inner Harbor, and Sunday afternoon, we went into Annapolis.  I felt some serious guilt leaving Jocelyn so much, but I doubt she missed me with all the fun she and Aunty were having, and honestly?...  It felt really good to go out with adults and spend some time with my hubby. 

The Brothers Hanging Out In Annapolis



Constellation in Baltimore



Harbor in Annapolis


But in case you're wondering, there was still plenty of time for fun with Jocelyn.  Nothing like the "Ants go Marching" to get a parade going with Aunty Lorraine, Jocelyn, Daddy, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Scott!!  And of course, she had loads of fun Trick-or-Treating, as I've mentioned.



I don't know when we will get to see Scott and Rachel again, Indiana is so far away!!  We hope it will be soon, because we really enjoyed their company in so many ways!!

Trick-or-Treat!!

What a fun time Jocelyn had Trick-or-Treating this Halloween!!  Uncle Scott and Aunt Rachel were here, so they joined us on the trip around the neighborhood, and not only did we love having their company, but they were nice enough to take photos and help to carry the extra loot!!  Jocelyn stayed out just shy of the whole two hours and became a pro at saying "Trick-or-Treat!" and "Thank you!"...   Quickly followed by "It's another one house!!" 

Our neighborhood really gets into the fun.  We had plenty of houses to visit and lots of people in character, just a few of which are pictured above, SpongeBob, and the Mad Scientist, along with witches, cats, and the like.  Jocelyn loved her Funshine Care Bear costume and actually let me put a little makeup on her face.  This is the first year that she had any interest in the mountain of candy she came home with.  Her newest discovery?  Lol'pops!!  My favorites are the small toys some people give out instead of candy.  Jocelyn got a cute cat puppet this year. What great fun we had!  I just hope I won't have trouble getting Jocelyn to accept that this fun won't come again for another year!