Picasso at Work Again!

Jocelyn's drawing skills have really blossomed in just the last couple of days.   It's amazing to see the changes from scribbles to this!
Here is Mommy and Daddy...

And Mommy, Jocelyn and Daddy...

She's mighty proud of herself too!

Trick or Treat!

Or how about just the treat!  Here's our Cutie - Abby Caddaby!

Jocelyn had a blast Trick or Treating.  It was colder than the last couple of years though, so we gave up at around 7:15, (though you would never tell from her haul!!).  But then Jocelyn had just as much fun handing out candy to the kids that knocked on our door.

Happy Halloween!

Graduation Day!

Yesterday, we took the front railing off Jocelyn's crib, added the guard rail and turned it into a toddler bed.  She will be 3 years and 9 months old tomorrow.  I suppose some would say it "took you long enough", but she never cared about climbing out, and we were in no hurry to give her the freedom!

But now she is officially a "big girl" in a "big girl bed" and as you can see, she's mighty proud of herself and loves her new bed!

Happy Graduation Day Sweet Girl!

Thoughts on Fall

It has been raining...  like...   forever.

But suddenly, the realization has hit me that Fall is here.    How can that be?   Somehow it snuck in when I wasn't paying attention.  The leaves are turning colors and starting to fall, the temperatures are dropping, and Halloween will be here in 5 days.  In a week and a half, the time will change and it will be dark before we sit down to eat dinner. 

I'm not ready.  I'm not ready to rake all those leaves.  I'm not ready for the bare, dormant world.   I'm not ready.   I'm not ready for cold and frost and scraping windows, and don't even talk to me about snow!

But I love dressing Jocelyn up in warm, fuzzy sweaters, and I love how her chilly nose feels when she snuggles with me to get warm.   I love sharing hot chocolate with her and cuddling under a soft blanket.

I can't wait to see her excitement when she gets her letter from Santa this year, and her uncontainable joy on Christmas morning.

And then...  In the coldest part of winter, we will celebrate her 4th birthday.   So hard to believe my baby will soon be 4 years old.
Could it be, that maybe that's why she came into our lives so early?  To give us the hope and belief that the world will be reborn in the Spring.

 

Meet you at the Zoo!

Yesterday, Jocelyn and I went to the Maryland Zoo with our MOMS Club.  We hadn't been there in over a year, so it was lots of fun to see her reaction to the animals.  I didn't take a lot of photos of the animals, because frankly, you can only have so many pictures of the rhinos, but I got some fun pictures of my own little monkey!

She LOVED feeding the giraffe!

And she had fun pretending to be a bird and a turtle.

And Ok, I did get some photos of these guys too. 

The weather was perfect and we had a really nice day with our friends.  Jocelyn really likes the zoo, so I guess we'll have to go back again!

Pumpkin Fun!

Last weekend we took the three girls to get pumpkins.  Jocelyn insisted on dragging around her own wagon.  This photo probably gives her more credit than she deserves, but I thought it was funny!

It took a little convincing, but I got them all to pose. 

Aren't they a cute bunch?

Then we brought the pumpkins home to carve and paint.

The finished product!

Picasso at work

Um...  Yuck...  I can only guess that Picasso had to start somewhere...

At least she had fun!

Down on the Farm

Today we went to one of our favorite places to visit in the fall...  Clark's Elioak Farm.  Jocelyn and I have been there every year since she was born, and every year, she has a great time! 

Fall 2008

Fall 2009

Fall 2010

Today we went on a hayride and found the perfect pumpkin.

Jocelyn fed the goats...

And rode on the Cow Train.

Once again, Clark's Elioak Farm doesn't disappoint!  I'm sure we'll go back "another one time" as Jocelyn says.  We can't stay away from so much outdoor fun!

Flight 93 Memorial

Our Pennsylvania trip was a lot of fun.  We enjoyed the reunion and the chance to visit family, but we added a stop on the way home that makes me appreciate all the more, the things that matter in life.

I have really wanted to visit the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA.  I have been to the Pentagon Memorial which is beautifully done, and eventually I would like to go to New York.  But I want to wait until the museum is finished there.

But there is just something about Shanksville. 

On our way home from our family visit in PA, we travelled a beautiful route through mountains and valleys and small towns, that eventually brought us to the Flight 93 Memorial. It is REALLY out in the middle of nowhere.... nothing but open land.
Sometimes when the anniversary of 9/11 comes around, or I read something about that horrific day, I feel like the heroes of Flight 93 don't get nearly the recognition they deserve.  Yes, I know nearly 3000 people died that day.   New York was by far the place of greatest loss of life and buildings, and the Pentagon is a symbol of what the U.S. stands for, but the 40 passengers and crew of Flight 93 were the only people that day, that knew what was happening in the moment, and knew the risks, and still made a choice to take control of their destiny to potentially protect others.   Ultimately, it is thought that they prevented the hijackers from flying that plane into the Capitol Building.  I can't imagine the devastation that would have been brought to our country and our government if their mission had been a success.  

The memorial is a work in progress, but there is a beautiful white marble wall, along the direction of the flight path, that shows the engraved names of each hero. 

And through the wooden gate is a view of the stone that marks the final resting place of those heroes.

I'm not sure how to describe the feeling I had being there....   pride, sadness, awe, emptiness....  I don't know.... but I felt their presence.   The presence of people I will never know, but yet we all know these people, in our own husbands, wives, children, friends....
I hope we will never forget these heroes, the sacrifices they made that day, and the loss felt by their families.

But in part, because of their heroism, I have a greater appreciation for what I have...

Family Fun

Part 2 of our PA trip...

An advantage of the location of Pat's college reunion, was the college is only a half hour from his family, so we had a long overdue chance to visit with them.

Jocelyn "played" football with cousin Jake and then they watched a little TV together.

She got to brush cousin Megan's horse Pip, and then she got to RIDE him!

She makes a mighty cute "Jockey" doesn't she??

Jocelyn tested out the theory of gravity...

But the best part, of course, is loving on Grandma!

We had a great visit with Pat's family.  We enjoyed catching up with them and Jocelyn loved having so much free room to run around.  We hope we can get back to see them again in the Spring.  
On the way home we stopped to see the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA.  I will save that for the 3rd and last entry about our trip.  It deserves a posting of it's own for sure.