Two weeks ago Grandpa and Grandma delivered Alexa's dollhouse. Grandpa has made four dollhouses and a lighthouse now - one for each grandchild. He has been working on one or another for the past sixteen years. They are all wonderful and Alexa is thrilled with hers. What a special gift! Tonight was trick-or-treat night here and we had a great evening. I was worried about the weather but it turned out perfect. We started the preparations this afternoon by carving our pumpkins (grown in Grandpa's garden of course!). I had a great helper.
Then a quick supper of jack-0-lantern pizza.

And we headed out to hit the neighborhood. Trick-or-treat night is one of Alexa's favorite days of the year. For her it is really more about getting out to chat with the neighbors than the candy. She loves it. She was Rapunzel this year and loved the hair. We ran into Ella who is in Alexa's class at school and we walked around the neighborhood with her and her mom. We had a great time.

Then exhausted we returned home and sampled a couple candy and Alexa is now fast asleep.

By the way her joke was: Why was the baby ghost crying?

Answer: He missed his mummy!

Happy Halloween!

It is hard to believe that summer is over. We had a good one. We made a trip to Chicago to see the cousins and had a wonderful time. We took the train and water taxi downtown and visited the American Girl store. And yes Alexa now had her own American Girl doll.We took a trip to Colorado and had a fantastic time. We camped, hiked, shot our bows, rode a train, had a snowball fight and panned for gold!
Alexa enjoyed a snowcone at the Boone County Fair!

Then it was time for the first day of school. Alexa is now in the first grade.

Four years ago today I saw my first picture of Alexa. I remember the moment I got the phone call like it was yesterday but it is hard to remember life without her. She keeps me very busy.

I have had several people tell me that I have not updated my blog in a while. What can I say? I am tired!

I love to share stories and pictures of her though and here are a couple from the last few months.When Alexa announced she wanted to be a bumblebee for Halloween I was worried but I found just the right costume! She loved it-especially the stinger that attached to the back. She "stung" a few people while she was trick or treating. We had a beautiful evening and she had a great time as usual. Neighbors that we only talk to on Halloween night mentioned that they have been waiting for her. She will carry on quite a conversation with everyone and sometimes forgets to pick up a piece of candy! Next year she has already decided that she wants to be Rapunzel. (Tangled is currently her favorite movie.)

Alexa loves spending time with Mom - unless of course I am making her behave and then she wants a new family because I am the worst mom ever. She would like a mom that wouldn't make her behave. If you know of any let her know. I do think that she would miss me though. She crawls in bed with me about 6am every morning and wants to play pretend and I have to hold her hand as she goes to sleep at night.

We had some fun building a snowman this winter. Unfortunately this one only lasted one day. Alexa was very disappointed that he melted during the night!

In March we headed to Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa. The weather was perfect and we headed to the beach every day. Alexa loved it. So did mom!

Easter day was very nice and we headed outside for a few pictures. Alexa loves the flowers so we cut some and bring some inside every few days.

Alexa is doing well in school. It is hard to believe that she only has nineteen days of kindergarten left! We are already planning some summer activies and I promise I will share some!