Happy 4th Birthday, Audrey!

To our spunky, bright, passionate, dramatic firstborn....Happy Bird-day (as pronounced by Kate)!  Four years ago, you brought such joy and love into our lives and made us parents.  It is hard to believe how quickly these four years have gone.  We love looking at the world through your eyes and are amazed at how much you have learned and grown to understand during this past year.  Your passion for life sometimes brings out dramatic moments, but your tender heart shows through daily as well.  We love you, Audrey Ann!

Here are Audrey's interview answers for her four-year-old interview:

Favorite Food: Pizza and Breadsticks
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs
Favorite Thing to Learn: Painting and coloring
Favorite Color: Pink and purple
Best Friend: Kate
Favorite Game to Play: Old Maid
Favorite Books to Read: Pete the Cat and the Groovy Sunglasses
Favorite TV Show: Daniel Tiger
Favorite Holiday: Summer
Things I Do Well: Painting
Favorite Place to Go: Pool
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Go out to eat
Favorite Thing about House:  Deer go close to it
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Play in snow
Favorite Chore: Playing with Dad's tractor
Least Favorite Chore:  Picking up
Favorite Song:  Watch Me (Whip/Nae/Nae)
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Princess
Place I Want to Visit:  Restaurant
Favorite Part of Each Day:  Going to Dana’s
Favorite Drink:  Spicy Water
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Soccer
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Draw a princess
Best Part of Your Family:  Kate

A Tale of Two Girls...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Friday night's snow brought mixed emotions for the two girls in our household.  Audrey woke up extremely excited to go out and play, and she pulled on her snow stuff very quickly after breakfast.  Kate took her time eating, finished watching her episode of Daniel Tiger, and then decided she would go out and see what this snow was all about.

Once out there, Audrey had a blast making snow angels, riding on her sled, tromping through the snow, and attempting to make a snowman.  Kate, on the other hand, hardly moved.  She didn't like her mittens, snow pants, boots, or attempting to walk in the snow.  She kept thinking she was going to fall off the sled, and she barely smiled the whole time she was outside.  She is going to be forced to like winter play because we're not giving up that easily!

Even though I'm not ready for snow to be on the ground yet, it sure was a beautiful way to wake up Saturday morning!  The best part of the whole experience is that Jeremy got to use his tractor to clear the driveway--whoo hoo!  Once done clearing, he also used it to pull Audrey around on her sled.  Kate just sat on the seat with Dad and still continued not to smile.

Now it all can melt for a couple more weeks!

Charlie's House

During these extremely windy conditions, Charlie (the outdoor cat who came with the house), has been grateful to be able to curl up inside her new house.  Since Grandpa Ihde has a soft spot for girls who love kitties, he quickly threw together this awesome little house.  Charlie crawled right inside that first night and has been in there ever since.  For being an outdoor kitty, she really lives in the lap of luxury!  Mila and Belle have been slightly jealous of Charlie's comfortable conditions, but they don't realize how chilly it's been outside!

Even without a flash, my sneaky picture woke Charlie up that first night.

Leaves

Out at our new house, we have encountered many, many, many more leaves than in our old house with no trees! :)  A couple weekends ago, Audrey so wanted to jump into a pile of leaves, so together, the three ladies worked on creating a pile.  As usual, the girls quickly lost interest in the process, but I did the best I could.  Finally, we made a pile big enough to jump in, and the girls had fun. We love our big yard and beautiful fall weather!

At first, both girls were eager to help rake!  It quickly dwindled.

What a beautiful sunset!

Audrey was dismayed that Kate wouldn't smile.

She thought a silly face might help.

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving this year was much more adult-led than planned for.  Initially, Audrey was very excited and even spent time during the day drawing out her carving plans.  Once the process commenced, though, Audrey's level of help went up and down, but Kate's level of interest was very small throughout the whole process, as it took longer than they anticipated.  Plus, Kate was not interested in touching the inside of the pumpkin at all.  In the end, though, we had two beautifully carved pumpkins, and no one had to wear a garbage bag!  A win-win for the two little ladies.

Dad initially had help from Audrey when scooping out the insides.

Dad then started to draw Kate's design on her pumpkin.

Kate played hide-and-seek with Belle.

Audrey started to work on her design.

Kate built with blocks.

Audrey and Dad planned out how her witch was going to look.

The end result!  Audrey thought one of her gourds would make a perfect nose in Kate's pumpkin.

!

Happy Halloween!

Last night two excited little girls traveled throughout town, trying to show off cute costumes and gather candy.  Audrey understands all about holidays and special occasions now, which makes her so fun to experience the moments with!

Audrey dressed as Elsa from Frozen.  We jumped on the Frozen bandwagon a little later than the rest of the world, and this is the first year Audrey was allowed to choose her own costume.  Since 98% of all her clothes are hand-me-downs, we decided to actually order her a handmade dress from Etsy.  She loved it and will probably continue to wear it for dress up throughout the year!  She grew more and more confident about ringing doorbells and thanking people for candy as our adventure went on, and she was very happy with her loot at the end of the night!

Kate was not given a choice in her costume, and luckily, she made the cutest little Olaf we saw all night.  It was cold enough she kept her costume hat on for warmth, and she also said, "Trick or treat" and "Thank you" as we traveled to the different homes.  She has been super excited for all the little suckers she was given, and she quickly becomes a sticky mess while she is eating them!

Our fun (cold) night was capped off by warm chili at home and cuddles in bed.  It was a perfect Halloween, and Audrey just asked tonight when it would be Halloween again! :)

Audrey thought her Frozen-themed snow boots made the most sense for her footwear.  I didn't argue because they were warm!