Dallas Zoo in November!

WOW! What a fantastic day to go to the zoo! The weather was perfect and there were hardly any people there. (Okay, 1/2 the zoo was closed to prepare for a gala, but we only had to pay 1/2 price so that was fine with us! Besides...there is no way we would have made it through the whole zoo.) Anyway, the Parker's invited the Murthy's to join them this morning at the zoo, and Laela HAPPILY accepted! I will let the pictures expain it all. But just incase you were wondering...we had a BLAST!Wouldn't this make the cutest "Juicy Juice" billboard picture? We just got a new camera lens last week and Ro was playing around when he took this picture. I don't know what kind of bird it is, but the picture turned out great!Laela rode a horse for the first time today! She did great, even at the end when the horse sneezed and she almost shivered right out of her shoes! Then I told her the horse sneezed and she said "bless you!" Little fact for you...Which of these are chicken eggs?All of them! Chicken eggs come in all colors and sizes. Interesting, huh?
Leaving the zoo today, Laela gave Liam a hug and said "Liam, I had fun at the zoo today!" Oh my. What an awesome way to spend a Saturday after this long, crazy week.

Ceramic Dog!

Here is the finished dog creation from 2 weekends ago... She said she made it with "spots like Allie Mae." Hmmm... (FYI: Not sure why we used red for our color palette. The dog is not bleeding.)

Happy Halloween!

We have been talking about Halloween for a couple of weeks now. Laela has practiced knocking and saying "Trick-or-Treat". We have discussed the part about getting one piece of candy and saying "thank-you". She has even been telling people..."I be a cat for Halloween. MEOW!" It was hysterical!Yesterday we went to visit Granna and Gramps, as well as a few other friends. Seriously, Laela loved her costume and she made the cutest cat! I couldn't help but to wonder what Halloween night would bring.

Tonight, we met some friends at their house for a little outside playtime, dinner, and then trick-or-treating. The weather was fantastic and the kids loved being outside! After playing and dinner, we got our first trick-or-treater, so the kids knew it was time! We got our gear on, took a few pictures, and we were off! Madelynn was a bee, Natalia was an octopus, and Ian was Yoda! All were very cute!Laela really did a fantastic job! Daddy walked her to the first door, but after I reminded him that we have a "big girl" he let loose a little. I think that sometimes he forgets that he does not have to hold her hand and help her with everything. Maybe it is not that he "forgets" as much as it is that he does not want her to grow up. She was so awesome tonight! Laela did not like the scary houses, but did keep asking to go to the "next house!" It was very funny. After we left our friends, Laela was still up for more trick-or-treating so we completed the evening with the house on our street. There were a ton of houses with their lights off (AKA watching the Rangers in the World Series or Sunday night football) but we found a few to close out the night.Laela's first Halloween as a Tootsie Roll was adorable and unforgettable. Laela's second Halloween as a penguin was fun, but short-lived with only covering about 5 houses. Now, Laela's 3rd Halloween, as a cat, was a BLAST! I love how this girl brightens my life everyday! I had so much fun tonight and I look forward to the fun we will have in the upcoming years!PS - Ro and Laela made a deal that she could only have 2 "candies" tonight. Well, she kept to her deal. She chose one small pack of peanut m&m's and a little bag of pretzels. I am so proud of her!

Saturday of Family Fun!

Today was a fantastic day! What I loved most is that we really didn't have any plans. We just went with it! (Keep in mind that we did not have our good camera, since we did not plan ahead. The pictures are taken with our phones, so not great...but WAY BETTER than nothing!) Okay, okay...I had a nail appointment scheduled this morning. Ro and Laela dropped me off and away they went. Laela did not seem to mind me leaving, but Allie Mae was in the car and Ro said she went nuts! Poor girl. They went to get Allie's nails trimmed while I had my nails done too. They can back a little early and Laela was loving the fact that I was getting my nails done. Oh yea! Today was the day my baby girl got her nails painted with me! She picked out a color. Seriously! Ro picked her up to see all the colors and she scanned through an entire row with her finger and came across her purplish-pinkish color. Great choice for Laela!She looked so big and patient in the chair getting her nails painted. She was really involved and wanting to know exactly what the nail lady was doing. She dried them just incase they weren't dry enough. When it was all done, she was so proud! (and so was mommy!) YEA for many mommy/daughter days to come. :)After naps and stuff, we went out on the rainy day to grab a bite to eat. After having a fun, musical dinner (Laela sang to us the entire time) we decided we would take Laela to go paint. We ended up at Color Me Mine where you can paint ceramic pottery. To our surprise (HA! HA!) Laela picked out a dog to paint. She did fantastic and I can see artist in her future! Again, so much concentration when painting!She picked brown, purple, white and red as her dog colors. I can't wait to get it back after they fire and glaze the piece. I know! You are thinking that we have already had a MAGNIFICENT day...and we have...but why end it now. We have not built a bear, so off we go to the mall! We did a little shopping for daddy, rode the carousel, and went to Build-A-Bear! Again... Laela picked out a dog. This one is so soft, fluffy and cute! She was very hesitant to help stuff the bear because the machine was loud, but once stuffed she jumped right in. Laela picked out a heart for the dog and the worker told her how to kiss it, rub it on her cheek, hold it close to her heart, and close her eyes to make a wish. Laela Grace did them all and then stuffed the heart in her doggie. Now she is all stuffed, her new heart was personalized and added...now time for a bath! Laela enjoyed bathing her (using the brush and blow dryer) so much that she had to bathe her twice! All done!
Our 8 year old, I mean 2 year old daughter was so proud of her dog and she carried her all the way through the mall and to the car.Thank goodness for Saturday!