A Strawberry Cutie Pie Preview

Tomorrow will be a super busy day.  School, then ballet/tap,grab a quick bite to eat, do a quick trick-or-treat at two houses in our neighborhood and then head to church for the Fall Festival.  Whew!  I'm already tired and it's just Sunday night.  Ha!  Hallie finally tried on her costume today (she was sick last week when it arrived...so sick that she didn't even want to try it on!  Yikes!).  I decided to snap a few posed pictures of this sweet little thing in case I didn't get to tomorrow (well, I'll get "action photos" tomorrow--lol).  I've gotta say...she makes a pretty stinking cute Strawberry Shortcake! :o)  We even bought some Bath & Body Works spray today so she'll smell Strawberry Shortcake sweet!  She's super excited about that!

Can you tell who the real Strawberry is?! :o)

 

 Look at those freckles! :o)

Hallie had to put freckles on me...and take my picture.

I'm not going to lie--when I later looked in the mirror (having forgotten that she dressed me with freckles), I nearly screamed for Jonathan to come see what was wrong with me!  LOL!

(Side note: Hallie totally posed me--lol.  Oh, and this picture does sport my new haircut that I got today.)

Nonna Box!

A Nonna Box was just what Hallie needed after three days of feeling extremely under the weather!  She has been suffering from a pretty icky inner ear infection that has finally taken a turn for the better.  We took her to the doctor Wednesday afternoon, started meds (or triied to) Wednesday night, and then Hallie stayed home Thursday (and slept the entire day) and Friday (rested).  

The Nonna Box arrived Thursday afternoon and Hallie waited until I got home from school to break into the cardboard goodness!  She was so excited to open it.  I know it made her feel better. :o)  There was even a little treat (OK, two new pair of pants) for Mommy tucked inside. 

Thanks, Nonna!!  We *love* You!

No Words for This Cute Face!

Hakuna Matata

After a lovely afternoon nap, Hallie and I headed to the theater to finally see The Lion King in 3D.

We haven't really read anything about The Lion King, but Hallie has seen commercials for it and they dance to Hakuna Matata sometimes in Hallie's dance class.  It was kind of a last minute thing to even go see the movie.  I wasn't sure if I should warn Hallie about the scary parts or just take them as they came--I decided on the latter.  It was a good thing to not mention the scary parts because we just quietly chatted about things as they happened.  And some of the things that I thought she'd have questions about weren't the things she had questions about.  haha.

None of us are really crazy about 3D movies--but I must say, this movie was fantastic in 3D!  It was like the 3D movies I remember as a kid--things coming out at you at appropriate times--not ALL the time like the obnoxious 3D movies today.  Hallie and I were both quite pleased with the movie--in fact, I had forgotten just how *GOOD* The Lion King truly is.  Lots of wonderful lessons in that movie--and lots of giggles, too.  Several people around us got tickled at Hallie laughing.  And who couldn't enjoy her sweet little giggle?! :o)

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As soon as the movie was over, Hallie asked if she could see it again.  Then she added a twist: "Maybe we can go see it tomorrow so Daddy can watch it."  She's *SO* smart.

We left Daddy at home to watch the...

Fun at the Fair!

Yesterday was the last day of the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo!  We nearly missed it!  Yikes! :o)  This was Hallie's (well, mine, too) second time this week to go to the fair, only the last time she didn't get to ride any of the rides.  The first thing we saw was the pig races.  Hallie's comment, "I don't want to see the pigs race again!"  haha.

She did want to spend a little time in this cute little playhouse that she didn't get to play in on her field trip.  We actually thought we might be spending our entire night in the playhouse!

We didn't get much farther past the playhouse.  Hallie wanted to jump!  It was so cute because she can't quite make herself jump super high, so at times she was just dangling in the air, running in place, until the supervisor would come around and pull the strap down to make her bounce again. :o)

Heading down the midway!

After some fair foods, we headed straight to the ferris wheel!

Hallie planned her ferris wheel ride out--she wanted to draw/color while we were going round and round. :o)

She got to go in one of the little fun houses!  She was so excited!

The swings.  These little lovelies are located at the very end of the midway--where all the "big kid" rides are. We didn't enjoy swimming through all the teenagers, but it was SO worth it to witness the grin on this little girl.  She loves some swinging, and this fun ride did not disappoint her!

We hadn't been in the air very long when I realized I was *VERY* glad I hadn't eaten any fair food!  For if I had, you'd be seeing vomit sprawling across this picture.  Oh.  My.  Word.  I realized I'm way too old for carnival rides.  Seriously, y'all.  I was so dizzy and nauseated when we got off that I hardly caught Hallie's request to ride it again!  lol

Hallie won her very own stuffed animal playing darts!  She threw the darts right at the balloons!  With her first throw, she popped two balloons! :o)

Morning at the Zoo!

 What a treat!  Hallie got to spend a fun morning with Gramps and RahRah at the zoo.  Last night it was the fall carnival at my school and tonight it will be the Heart of Texas Fair!  What a super fun weekend for Hallie! :o)

When I asked Hallie what her favorite part of the zoo was, she quickly answered, "The toy shop!"  Oh brother.  I'm certain she loved the zoo as is evidenced in the following pictures.  That little girl loves a good toy shop, though (what little kid doesn't?!).

Feeding the fish...this is one of my favorite parts of the zoo!

At the orangutan exhibit--they had ropes for the kids to swing on just like the orangutans!  I can imagine Hallie *loved* this!

Two monkeys. :o)

RahRah said she took this picture for me--I just love meerkats. :o)

A snack break in the tree house.

Hallie & Gramps

RahRah & Hallie

Hallie in her canopied wagon! :o)

Thanks, Gramps and RahRah!!

Fall Carnival

This past week has been FULL for me.  Lots of this and lots of that.  Yesterday I was at school from 7:30-8:00...with the exception of a 30 minute block of time where I met with Hallie's teacher and heard lots of good things about my sweet little angel. :o)  Thankfully my time at school last night was spent having fun with my little girl at our Fall Carnival.  The first thing Hallie wanted to do was get her hair painted!  We had lots of tickets to spend, and Hallie didn't have any trouble doing that. 

Pink, sparkly hair!

Hallie wanted a beautiful cupcake and a butterfly painted to match her princess-like hair!

After a hotdog and some nachos with Daddy, we went to Mrs. B's Book Sale for some good books!

Fishing for candy! :o)

This reminds me of the booth my mom always had at the fall festival at her school. 

Hallie on the train ride with one of my cute little firsties!

Hallie with all her lollipops from the Lollipop Tree Pull.  Yes...she spent probably $6 trying to win a prize...a lollipop with a red dot on the bottom.  I felt horribly for her.  She'd pull a pop and get nothing.  The next kid would go up and get a dot.  She'd try again and get nothing.  Three girls went up and all pulled a pop with a dot.  She kept trying and trying with no success!  The carnival was over at 7:30 and it was 7:25...the lady seemed oblivious to the fact that she might help a 4 year old's feelings by just letting her have one of the prizes that weren't even worth the 50 cents it was costing to pull a pop.  Finally...after another loser pop, and a very sad look on Hallie's face, the lady gave her a prize.  haha.  Hallie got a *beautiful* butterfly necklace (that I happen to know was left over from a fundraiser from last year!  lol).

Here's Hallie-Lou waiting her turn for the cake walk. 

It was a super fun night at the "carnibal" (according to Hallie). :o)  Afterward, we met Gramps and RahRah for yogurt!  A perfect beginning to a weekend!

Never Say Never

After Hallie's field trip, I said I'd never go on another field trip again.  Not because I don't love my sweet little cutie-patootie.  No.  But you know when teachers sometimes say that a child acts worse when his/her parent is with them?  Well, that's totally Hallie.  Oh brother.  I had a good time, and I think Hallie did, too...but she did not hold back with her stubbornness on this particular day.  Still, looking back at the pictures, I don't know that I could never go on another field trip again.  She had a blast and I loved being able to capture those moments with her.  The downside to the field trip--about an hour and a half after we were there, it turned dark gray and the bottom fell out.  It rained and rained and rained!  Thankfully we were under the tent petting the cute little animals.  But then there were all sorts of mud puddles that I had to keep Hallie out of (sorry--but if she'd have had on her rainboots, I wouldn't have cared!).  And the rain cancelled their plans for a picnic at the park...and Hallie was twelve kinds of unhappy because of that.  But, she was excited to go back to school, and let's be honest...I was thrilled to watch some mindless TV for the rest of the afternoon (well, before picking Hallie up at school and having to go to a "mandatory insurance meeting" at school).  Evidently, God knew I needed some down time and sent the rain...otherwise I wouldn't have had much down time at all. :o)

We started our field trip with Swifty Swine. :o)

These little piggies were just too cute!  They were racing to get an Oreo cookie!  Ha!  I don't blame them!

Waiting for Rainforest Adventures...obviously, Hallie was more interested in a snack.  She must have be3en savoring hers because I gave some to the little boys beside her, and they seem to be empty.  Haha.

I wish this could have lasted longer...but the skies were starting to get dark and it was so chilly...so the guy had to rush through the presentation.

A monkey...

An anteater...

Hallie would rather play in the dirt.  Lol.

And the beautiful bengal tiger...all the "Auburn Tigers" were asleep!  LOL!

Petting zoo!

There were about 30 kids in this petting zoo.  I think the llama was in shock.  He didn't even spit at anyone!

There's a Pirate Dog show (lol) at the fair...but it was pouring rain on their pirate ship, so the guy brought the dogs under the tent.  Here they are sword fighting!  Hilarious!

The kids got to pet one of the sweet sword fighters after the "show". :o)

The kids got to go through the cattle barn (?) and see all the cows that were there for show.  I had no idea that cows had huge humps of fat on their necks!  

Hallie and one of her little friends were getting a little too close to Baby Cow, so she stood up and protected her baby. :o)

The little girl had a fun day!  Can't wait to go to the fair and enjoy some rides!

And let's be honest--I can't wait for Hallie's next field trip.  By then, I won't remember this one. :o)