Amelia 18 Months

Amelia had her 18-mo appointment yesterday. She seems to be on the same growing track as Jack. A little bit small - but proportional. She weighed in at a whopping 21.5 lbs and is 30.5 inches tall. Looking back at Jack's records, it's the same. She is a really good eater, so I'm not really too concerned about it.

She's a real talker! She parrots, or try to parrot, nearly everything we say. And does a pretty darn good job making the word out. She loves saying animal names or their noises. I love how she meows. It's a really deep meow, like an alley cat. I'll have to get a video of it. Last night she spend nearly a half hour doing the same farm animal puzzle with me. I think she likes that it makes noises when she gets them in the right place.

Here is a photo of her trying to use a spoon this morning with her cereal. She did a really good job, so I guess I should start letting her feed herself at each meal. Oh, the mess that will come with that!

Ellie Turns 6!

High School Musical gifts from me

A baby doll set from a friend

Gabrielle Nicole Shepherd turns 6! And still as busy and a handful as the day she started crawling! Ellie has really started getting into High School Musical - and so we did a Dance Party with her friends this year. We don't have a great space in our house for dancing - so we did the party at one of the community buildings here in town. It works out well, and I don't have to clean house! We played musical chairs, limbo, and some other dancing games. She didn't have a lot of friends able to come, but I'm pretty sure she still had a great time.

Ellie is doing very well at school. We had a parent-teacher conference last week (she actually didn't have school the day of her birthday, lucky dog!) Academically she's doing great. She's also still seeing a speech therapist at school to help her with a few sounds and a slight lisp that she needs to work on. But she's still Ellie, and sometimes has problems following all the rules. Hmmm .... I wonder where she gets that?! So we are trying to work on those social/emotional issues.

Pampered Chef goes YouTube

Need to know how to carve a turkey? What about how to correctly use a Santoku knife? The Pampered Chef has instructional videos now on YouTube ... how cool is that?! Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/PamperedChefVideo

Ellie's New Haircut

Ellie turns 6 next week - and so we went to have a big girl haircut done! We've been growing her bangs out all summer - and so I wanted to try and get them blended a bit during this last stretch of growing out. She wanted it cut shorter (which I'm sure her dad will be thrilled - easier to 'do' in the morning), and we ended up taking at least 4-5 inches off. It's very cute and she really likes it a lot.

More Photos of costumes

Trick or Treating went well in Roland. Jack & Amelia only made it up and down Nicki's short street. But that was all the candy they probably needed. Jack LOVED getting some makeup on - and making him look a little more like a pirate. He also had a stick-on goatee and mustache, but he opted not for those. Probably itchy - I don't blame him!

I took the big girls to another street after dropping the little ones at Nicki's house. They were busy getting ready for the Haunted Maze and party. One house that I took the girls to had a cute idea. The homeowner was dressed as a pirate, and he came out and had the girls spin a wheel before they could take the candy. On the wheel was "Trick" or "Treat" - depending on where the spinner landed, that's what you did. Ellie spun treat - and got to take some treats. Lilah spun trick - so she had to do a trick before she got her treats. I helped her, and she decided to bark like the dog she was. I thought it was a great idea to get the kids more involved in the process.

Ellie was adorable in her Cheetah girl outfit. And she's the most photogenic, as you can see. She was very proud of her costume and thought she looked very pretty.

Amelia was a very good chicken. Her little legs couldn't keep up with the big girls - but there wasn't any crying or being scared. She actually really liked all the kids dressed up. Even the scary ones.

Lilah was her dog, Sydney - a hand-made costume by Grandma Barb. It has now become a tradition that Gma Barb makes her a costume each year. Very special! Her and Ellie made a good pair. Cat & Dog!

Lilah planned a big Halloween party for her friends, which included transforming the garage and 1/2 the house into a haunted maze for them to go thru. Nicki, the vampire, met the kids outside as they came to the house - and led them around back to enter. I was inside playing spooky music on the piano - dressed like a scary lady (last years costume). A neighbor was in the kitchen telling the kids where to stand so they could see themselves on TV. At that moment, Billy jumped out and scared them - and it was all on video! Nate was behind the scenes making sure kids got thru and scaring them thru the walls.

There were a few kids that didn't want to go thru - and others that went thru dozens of times. Overall, very fun - but I'm sure Nicki & Nate are pretty tired today! The party was complete with best costume prizes (Jack won best boy), The movie, Monster House on projector screen in the yard, and themed snacks. I'm sure they'll all be asking Lilah for an ancore next year.

Scaring the Neighbor Girl

Ok, so Billy really likes to scare little kids. He's not mean about it - and does take thought into their ages and such. But he loves to scare our neighbor girl, Lauren, who is 10. A year or so ago, he came out of her backyard wearing coveralls and revving up his large chainsaw at 10:00 at night.

This year, he decided to go a little simpler. We had some leaves in the yard and he's been waiting for the opportunity to hide in them and scare her. Halloween is the perfect day for that! Here she is and her friend walking home from just getting off the bus. After the screams (and my laughing!), you hear her yell, "What is your deal!?" Yeah, what is his deal?