Little Stinker!

Lucy got to attend our church's annual Trunk-or-Treat bash last night. She got to enjoy a super healthy (HA) dinner of pizza and chips followed by halloween cookies and cupcakes, carve pumpkins, and best of all ~ she got to be a SKUNK! Lucy's been pumped up about being a skunk forever now. When I began asking her what she was going to be for Halloween (3 months ago) I let her look online at pictures of every costume you could imagine. I was leaning towards the flower, or bumble bee, or princess. Oh but no! Lucy saw the skunk and would have nothing else!!! When we actually went to the store I thought she would change her mind. I was wrong. She is as strong willed as her mother. She put the costume on and wore it in the store for an hour, and cried when we made her take it off. We actually bought the costume in August and had to hide it so she wouldn't ask to put it on EVERY DAY! She loves her costume and was so thrilled when she finally got to wear it last night. And she was even more delighted that I painted her nose black like a skunk. I have to admit that I was a little worried that the costume would be too hot (since it was still 100 degrees outside when we got the thing) but man was I thankful for fleece last night! It was so cold, even in her super warm skunk costume, it didn't take long for Lucy to beg to go back in! She had a great time and we're ready for another big day of treats tomorrow! (That is after another Harvest Party today at daycare, man this Halloween stuff wears me out! I was up til 11 last night carving "Jello Jack-O-Lanterns"!)

Goofy Lucy, ready to party!

Lucy and Daddy checking out the vampire!

Lucy and this little girl stared at Mrs. Stacey's ghosts and goblins forever! They were so fascinated.

So Mommy had to be in Louisville all day yesterday and drove way too fast to make it back in time to pick up Lucy, clean out my car, was my car, change my clothes, change Lucy's clothes, and decorate a trunk. I did make time to stop at Wal Mart on my way home to pick up some 1/2 price Halloween items to decorate with. So with all 5 minutes I had to fix my trunk, this is what it looked like. Not too fancy, but not too bad either for 5 minutes, I thought.

Lucy was the mommy skunk and Lane was the baby skunk! They were so cute!

Lucy and her pumpkins . . .

Lucy loves everything about Halloween, especially her pumpkins. Here are some pics of her and Daddy carving her pumpkins and she and her inflatable pumpkins which are still in my living room because she doesn't want to take them outside. (Thanks Nana!)

First Day of Fishing!

Lucy got to try fishing for the first time last weekend. On Saturday morning she and I went to the annual Fishing Derby at Lake Liberty, where Steve got her a Spongebob fishing pole and let her go at it. Okay, so the fishing thing lasted about 5 minutes and she was ready to get in the boat and go out into the water. She was so cute looking all girly in her rainbow jacket and purple shades trying to fish with the boys. . .

Slowly But Surely

She's learning little by little, how to ride her tricycle.

Two Little Monkeys. . . .

Here are some pics of the two little monkeys jumping on the bed. They were wild after we got back to our cabin after Matt's wedding last weekend, so Nana and Steve let them run, jump, yell, and play like crazy. They had a blast, and I got there for the tail end of it and got a few pics. Lucy was so entertained by the crib, because she's never slept in one . . . unfortunately.

Family Pictures! The "Sween-Dogs"

The Sweeney clan traveled to Rough River State Resort Park last weekend for cousin Matt's wedding, and although I had to FORCE them into it Sunday morning, I managed to get everyone together (coordinating outfits and all) for a family picture. We had not had pics taken of the ENTIRE family since before Elizabeth was born so it was long overdue! Now, these will be used for nearly ALL of my Christmas gifts to all family members so I didn't post the best ones on here because I don't want to completely ruin the surprise. But I had to post a few because I knew if I didn't Beth and Lara would kill me. So here ya go sisters (and everyone else) . . . here are some of the pictures from yesterday.

By the way if you're wondering, "Sween-Dogs" is what Beth calls our family. . . . lovely name, don't ya think?


It was impossible to escape the shadows, sorry. Thanks to Cousin Jerry for snapping some family pictures with my camera so that I could be included.



These two were cracking us up all weekend.



Elizabeth took some great pictures yesterday, she gets more beautiful each time I see her (missing teeth and all!)

TT and her favorite kiddo's!!!

By the way, Matt and Betty Jo's wedding was beautiful and we were all so glad to be a part of it. They are two of the sweetest, most fun people I know and I'm thrilled to welcome Betty Jo into the family.

Happy Birthday EM!

Okay, so I know you're going to LOVE me for posting this on here, but I had to do it. Em was always the biggest priss when we were little, and we often joked that she and Beth should be sisters and Natalie and I should be sisters (we were switched at birth!). But it's true, Natalie and I would have rather been digging in the dirt rather than playing school and twirling baton. Emily and I were very different when we were little, and we had our "little" fights (mostly due to my temper) when we were together. But for some reason we always cried to visit one another. And although those fights were common, the fun times we had playing, laughing, joking definitely outweigh any arguments. As we grew up we grew closer and found a pretty strong bond through cheerleading, beauty pageants, and school activities. Now here we are, mothers and working gals. I hope that Stella and Lucy-Kate can one day look back on their memories together and smile. Happy Birthday to my dear cousin!!! I love you!!!

Do you see the resemblance? Stella is as cute in her Mommy's baton costumes as she was years ago! Stella, now we gotta work on getting you a rockin' outfit like the one your mommy is wearing in the picture above!!! Can you help us out with that Nan Jen???

Baby Stella goes to the potty!

Okay I am not a supermom! I was convinced I could do this potty training thing in 3 days this past weekend. Well, not so much. I tried as soon as we got home Friday afternoon, I tried just putting the training panties on and that resulted in pee all over my couch. So then we tried going to the potty every 10 minutes, that resulted in much frustration. So now we're trying the "take the baby potty" technique where Lucy can take her babies potty, then they get treats, in hopes that Lucy will see this happening and want to do it herself. LAst night was the first trip to the potty for one of her many Baby Stella's. (Every girl baby is Stella by the way). I followed Lucy into the bathroom where she first almost dropped Baby Stella into the REAL potty. Then put her on her own potty, pulled up a stool and sat right in front of her and proceeded to tell Stella to "go tinkle" like I say to her. Lucy was very proud of Baby Stella and wanted me to take her picture (no really, she told me to take a picture!) So here is Mommy Lucy and Baby Stella in their best potty pose!

I was off work yesterday so Lucy and I spent a great day together. We went to Wee Disciples (the playgroup at our church) in the morning and spent the afternoon playing, napping, snacking . . . oh yeah, and being a fairy princess. She got a LOVELY Dora Fairy Princess outfit at the dollar store and just insisted that she wear it. By the way, it didn't come off until bathtime last night at 8:00. Here are a few pictures of the beautiful princess:


For once, she was more than happy to pose for a pic.


Every princess needs a snack. Lucy got to have her cheese and crackers on the front porch yesterday with her pumpkins Rosie and Bic (if you're wondering about those names, just see the previous post about it).

Go Big Blue!

We broke open a box of hand-me-downs from cousin Lizzy yesterday and Lucy was thrilled to find her very first UK cheerleader outfit ~ a must-have for any Kentucky girl's wardrobe. I was equally thrilled to find tons of like-new clothese for fall and winter!!! Woo hoo!!! Thanks Cousin Lizzy, we love you!!!

Rosie and Bic, Sittin' In A Tree!

Lucy got a pumpkin last weekend from MeMe and Papa and HAD to make it a girl pumpkin. So I drew a face on it, and even added curly hair like Lucy and a beautiful hairbow (cause we all know I love the hairbows, ha ha Jen and Em). She then named it Rosie (the same name as her pink elephant). And yesterday Lucy got a new pumpkin at BearWallow and it had to be a boy to go with her girl. As I sat at the kitchen table drawing a boy face on the pumpkin, Ryan and Lucy sat across from me and discussed names for the boy. Ryan suggested names like Joe or Jack or Bill . . . Lucy said "Bic". Ryan and I both said "BIC?" and she insisted that yes indeed, this boy pumpkin was Bic. So I introduce to you, Rosie and Bic. The perfectly plump pumpkin pair.

Dear Lord help us if we have another child and decide to let Lucy choose the name.

BearWallow

Lucy and I went on a field trip with Kid's Team yesterday to BearWallow Farm. Lucy got to see chicks, ducks, roosters, turkeys, pigs, bunnies, donkeys, and even got to feed some goats and sheep. She was so excited! We went on a hike in the woods where she was certain we crossed Dora's bridge (under which the Grumpy Old Troll lives, she said) and take a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and pick our very own pumpkin. On the wagon ride as we pulled into the field full of pumpkins Lucy looked at me and said in a little sweet voice "Mommy, I get baby pumpkin? See 'dat baby pumpkin cryin' for me?" It was so sweet! So she came home with another baby pumpkin to match the one MeMe and Papa got her last weekend. She was thrilled!


Lucy & me with the "big giant pider" as Lucy says. She just knew it was Charlotte.


Lucy with her baby pumpkin . . . hairbow and all.



She didn't really know about the billy goats at first.




If we'd only had a smile this would have been a beautiful fall shot!





Lucy and the Kid's Team group ready for the day!