Box of Tricks

Much of Sunday morning was spent in a big box from Grammi and FaFa's gift for Boone. The kids took turns hiding in the box and pulling each other all around the house in it. There was also a good bit of girl time to be had in the box with lots of story telling and reading.

I'm not sure how I lucked into capturing this shot, but it is one of my all-time favorites!

Piper was so nice to share all of her dressup stuff with Marci, and they had a ball getting all gussied up in two of her gowns.

Osten disappeared after a while, and this is how I found him. I think he was quite impressed with Piper's book collection!

Udderly Entertained

The Columbia zoo has a little bit of everything to offer. Marci even got to milk a cow!

Boone kept right up with the big kids, but he also spent some quality time on Mommy's hip and later on Daddy's shoulders. What a little trooper!

The outdoor carousel was a huge hit!

Whee!! Boone rode, too, but somehow I didn't end up with a picture of him. How in the world did that happen??!!

Clickety Clack

We covered quite a bit of ground walking around the zoo. The girls were especially cute parading around in their click-click shoes and princess gowns.

Osten was so proud of his Captain America costume, and I was relieved that the shield I made for him met with his approval. (Whew!)

Here's Aurora and Captain America waiting in line at one of the trick-or-treat booths.

Wardrobe malfunction! Out of nowhere, Marci plopped down in the dirt to empty some dirt from her click-click shoes. We were shocked that she was able to clickety-clack her way through the zoo all night without changing into more comfortable shoes. What stamina!

Boo in the Zoo

We got an early start to Halloween this year at Boo in the Zoo in Columbia. It was an after-hours event at the zoo with trick-or-treating and lots of other Halloween activities. Superman (who also celebrated his Halloween birthday a weekend early with us), Cinderella, Captain America and Aurora had a great time.

Here's a closer look at three of our little trick-or-treaters. The littlest one quickly tired of the photo shoot and wandered off to find bigger and better things.

This was Osten and Marci's first trip to the zoo. We spent a good bit of time at the elephant exhibit and couldn't pass up a photo with the elephant statue nearby.

Giddyup!

New School

Marci started a new school this year. Here she is on her first day.

She picked out her outfit all by herself. She was particularly excited to be wearing her favorite Aurora shirt. She also announced that she wanted me to fix her hair in three pony tails (WHAT?), but since two is Mommy's limit that had to do!

Such a big girl! She pulled that door open all by herself . . .

. . . and just walked right in! Her new princess backpack was an especially big deal!

Pre-kindergarten

It's hard to believe that our first-born is in pre-K and in his last year at the school where he has been since he was 14 weeks old. My, how time flies!

He has also officially entered the awkward smile phase, which of course makes him all the cuter to me!

He picked out his outfit by himself, and he was especially excited to wear his new school shirt. And by the way, the sandals he's wearing had a rough summer. After months of sand and sweat, we mistook their stench for dog poop in the car one afternoon. Needless to say, we bypassed Goodwill and put those puppies on the fast-track to the landfill.

Teamwork ~ Revisited

And perhaps my personal favorite is the shot of the group stretch!

Teamwork ~ Encore

In what is hands down their best collaborative feat to date, I stumbled upon this mountain of harmonious handiwork in Marci's room this summer. (Yes, I'm a wee bit behind on blogging!)

To say they were proud of the result of their combined efforts is to greatly underestimate their sheer delight.

Putting on a few finishing touches while Mommy's busy playing with her camera.

A masterpiece! And most definitely an original!

Teamwork

The best thing about kids getting older? Watching them learn to entertain themselves. Oh, the ingenuity of the young!

Working hard or hardly working? It's a tough call!

Cookie cutters and play-doh toys are interchangeable. Who knew??!!

Is there anything better than a lazy Saturday-morning couch fort??!!

Three-Year Stats

Here are Marci's three-year stats:

Height: 37 inches (47%)

Weight: 34.5 lbs. (81%)

She grew 2 1/2 inches and gained 4 1/2 pounds this past year. Way to grow, Marci!

Happy Birthday, Marci!

Seeing is believing, and yet it's still hard to believe that Marci is three years old! We debated about having a birthday party for her this year, but she was so excited about celebrating her birthday that we couldn't let her down. She picked out her invitations (princess, of course!) and carried the extra ones around in her purse for weeks while persistently asking about the arrival of her big day.

The past year has had its ups and downs with potty-training and little-girl dramatics at the top of the list! Marci has a willfulness that gives me nearly equal bouts of pride and frustration. While I deeply admire her persistence, her tenacity can be a bit challenging to parent at times, but I think Daddy and I are starting to get the hang of it. After a battle of wills that seemed to endure for eternity while we were in its midst, Marci is now fully potty-trained. It was truly a family project, and Osten was ever-ready to offer demonstrations and encouragement.

We are so proud of Marci. Even at three, she is kind, confident, inquisitive, persistent, sassy, brave, determined, funny and intelligent. Her laughter is one of my most favorite sounds in the whole world especially when she is being tickled under her neck. She likes to sing and read books in her bed. She loves the color pink, Annie, Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, purses, kitty cats and princesses. Aurora is her favorite. She will try just about anything especially if it's something her older brother can already do. She loves to swing and is working really hard to learn how to pump her legs. (By the way, is there anything cuter than a child learning to pump their legs on a swing? I never realized how much coordination was required!) In the past year, her vocabulary has exploded so much that it's hard to remember a time when she wasn't able to have full conversations with us. It's been especially fun to watch the bond between her and Osten strengthen this year. I love to listen to their conversations when we're in the car or other times when we're at home and they forget that I'm in the room. Marci is such a blessing to our family, and even when we have difficult days, I never forget how lucky we are to be her parents. Happy 3rd Birthday, Marci. We can't wait to see all of the surprises, adventures and achievements the next year has in store for you! We love you . . . so, so, so, so, SUPER much!

Sister Side-Kick

Osten appears to be not the only one who is enjoying soccer these days.

Marci keeps herself pretty entertained on the sidelines!

Pilates, anyone?

And here she is thowing the ball back into play . . . to herself. Go Marci, go!