Holding the World in a Paper Cup

Archive for October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Jack-O-Lantern

Carving pumpkins is a must in our family.

Even though, sometimes, deep down, I wish we could just keep one until Thanksgiving.

But like I said before, the kid rules this holiday...

So, we carve.

Do some snacking...

(ok, so I was the only one who snacked)

And then we dig out the pumpkin guts...

We do a little gun shooting....

In our woman aprons...

And we let the kid do the designing....

Chuck painstakingly cuts the design out including each individual tooth...

Then, the teeth promptly rot out of the Jack-O-Lantern's heads.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Time to trick or treat!

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Field trips are a big deal. I remember how thrilled I was when my Mom got to tag along on my kindergarten field trip to the zoo. Seeing her on the big yellow bus was such a comfort to me. I loved having the opportunity to show my Mama off.

These days, Charley has a little less enthusiasm for showing her Mama off than I did, but still occasionally introduces me proudly to her friends. "This is my Mom," she says. I say, "Hi."

When I was 10 minutes late arriving at the pumpkin patch, I found Charley in tears. She was trying hard to hold them back, but her eyes were full. She later told me she was afraid I would miss out on the fun and that I wouldn't be able to find the group. Selflessness has always been a quality of hers that makes me proud.

I think our trip must have been scheduled near the end of the harvest, because the pumpkins were sparse. But they have to thin out at some point during the season; I won't take away yelp points for that.

Belmont Farms get big points for the display of farm animals, low entry fees, and hayrides. The playground was much loved even in all its simplicity.

My kid is the only one of two, that is an entire head and a half taller than the rest.

And no, she isn't the oldest in the class.

She's just an amazon.

A sweet, selfless, amazon, child.

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Things that crack me up...

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Friday, October 28, 2011

We've got spirit, yes we do....

Master Tigress has always, always, always, had a love of big cats. Her favorite is the lion.

Of course, she loves the rest of the big cats too.

Lucky for her, her school mascot is the TIGER!

And not long ago, she had the opportunity to participate in school spirit day.

This was the reaction AFTER she saw herself.

This face makes me SO happy.

This face says, "You did good Mom."

Now, she's in character.

Oh, the roar. The roar is VERY realistic. The roar is very LOUD.

She has mastered the roar.

She received the Snazaroo face painting kit from Amazon on her recent birthday.

The kit was the perfect gift. I wish I would have thought of it years ago.

The shirt was Chuck's. Sweet.

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Boating and Beaching on the Mobjack Bay

Captain and Co-Captain

(Chuck requested the title)

The boat anchored down...

Fast Friends

After the tide came in...

The end of a beautiful day on the beach...

Playing in the water works up a girl's appetite.

On our way back to our friends' house, we circled the

New Point Comfort Lighthouse

It was built in 1805.

It's the third oldest lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay and marks the
entrance into the Mobjack Bay from the Chesapeake.

It was built by the original keeper, Elzy Burroughs.

Can you imagine?

The year is 1805...

Hey hun. I'm going to build a 63 foot lighthouse....on an island....made of sandstone.

Thomas Jefferson said it's alright.

As you can see, I couldn't get enough of it.

And get this, Elzy's wife's maiden name was Miss LightBURN.

Weird right?

At one time, Elzy's dwelling stood next to the lighthouse on a 5 acre tract.

The Bay has since claimed the land where the house once stood.

I so badly wanted to climb the spiraling stone steps to the top of the tower, but felt it wouldn't be appropriate to trespass in the company of new friends (plus I would have had to ask the Captain to pull the boat over and believed it would have been fruitless and awkward).

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A Rare Treat

Chuck and I were fortunate enough to make some friends who have a five year old daughter. These really trustworthy friends of ours invited Cherry Cuddler to SPEND THE NIGHT. This was a huge event for the whole family since Cherry Cuddler has never spent the night away from her Mama and Daddy except to stay with my mom and step dad. She had no qualms about it whatsoever. In fact, she did great. When Chuck arrived to pick her up the following morning, she was incredibly disappointed to see him. He's not used to that.

The night prior, Chuck got to do something else he's not used to doing. He got to go on a date with ME! What a treat right? RIGHT??

We spent our evening at The White Dog Inn. The White Dog Inn is located here in the quaint town of Mathews. While there are rooms available, we opted to just stay for an appetizer.