Fall Fun!

We have the only yard with maple trees (everyone else got the memo and planted evergreens) on the street. We don't just have one, we have two gigantic ones. We also have a fairly small backyard, so with warm weather and leaves piled up to our ankles, we decided it was time to get to bagging them up (despite the trees still having 40% of their leaves hanging on...). Jane wanted to join in the fun:

Then she found a cozy spot and decided that the bags of leaves were a train to New York City:

Then it was on to baking! Post nap, Jane dressed up her Cinderella jammies with a handmade apron from Grandma. I've taught her well - she even wanted to help with washing the dishes:

But all that work really tuckered out our little Kuchen, so she and daddy relaxed together, doing nothing other than, you guessed it, watching the Steelers beat up on the Bengals!

Circus!

A treat for the whole family - a trip to the circus! Jane was excited to see the tigers and acrobats...and Ringling Brothers did not disappoint us.

This was pretty much Jane's face during the whole show, so we were unsure if she actually like it. Finally at intermission she showed a bit of enthusiasm when she asked "Where did the circus people go?" When asked if she was having fun, she would nod, but not take her eyes away so as not to miss a thing...like these acrobats: Or this amazing feat - 7 motorcycles riding around this cage...Or these big elephants that were rolling over and standing on pedestals :

Or the "world's strongest man" who is lifting over 1,000 lbs right here...crazy!There was so much more, and we were often found with our jaws dropped during the show. Having never been to the circus, this experience certainly exceeded our expectations and topped off a fun birthday weekend (followed by a 3 hour nap by the Kuchen!!).

"I'm not two anymore!"

Those were Jane's words yesterday morning when we greeted her with "Happy Birthday". She was very excited to learn that she was going to stay home with mommy all day and "no school!". The morning started off with Breakfast Bagels from Aunt Bookie (aka BethAnn):This was quickly followed by a discovery - a birthday package from Nana and Papa:

Despite plans of hitting the library and park in the morning, Jane decided she would rather prefer staying home in her jammies and play all morning. This is exactly what we did: lots of puzzles, books. babies, coloring, and stickers...

Jane was SUPER excited when daddy came home and couldn't wait to show him her new puzzle from Nana and Papa - a United States floor puzzle. Jane already knows where her favorite states are: PA, OH, MI and TX!

I suggested to Jane that we go to the local sweet shop to pick out yummy birthday cupcakes. This was answered with a whimper and a request for a "firefighter cake". I couldn't refuse. So, we had to make a run to the grocery store for supplies, and thanks to our artist in residence (i.e. BethAnn), we were able to pull this together at the last minute:

Jane could hardly wait to dig into the cake. But before the eating, Jane made sure to let us know that we had to sing to her. Grandma Odom joined us on Skype for cake and presents (wish we could have teleported her some cake though Willy Wonka style!).

I think she enjoyed being the center of attention for the day...here she is just taking it all in!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kuchen! We love you lots and can't wait for all that is in store in year four!

(Oh, and Jane also got the privilege of picking out her outfit today...Halloween shirt with a Steelers' jersey over top...big surprise!).

Pumpkins, monsters, and firefighters

Having to wait two weeks to actually carve the pumpkin that Jane picked out at the patch was difficult. Needless to say, when daddy said it was time to carve, Jane dug in.

Well, not quite. She was reluctant at first, but after a bit of coaxing, she went for it. Then, there was a discussion about what shapes we should use and if our pumpkin should have a...

"Frowny Face"

or a "Happy Face".

Happy Face it was!

Jane was excited to do a test run with the candle...but was not happy that we'd have to wait a whole week until Halloween to light it again.

At school, Jane has been reading all about skeletons, ghosts, "ghoul" buses, witches...needless to say she is ready to put on her costume and get to business!

Jane helped me decorate the house...and also her baby sister!

After a newsflash to mom and dad at 8 am on Halloween that she wanted to be a firefighter (we had previously decided to be a fairy), mom had to scramble and come up with a costume. Thanks to BethAnn's artistic abilities and we were able to get this firefighter ready to fight fires!

Jane quickly picked up on the "tricks" to "treating", saying "Happy Halloween" and "thank you" at each house. Her eyes became the size of saucers each time a bowl of candy was presented to her and she was given the choice to choose one piece. Soon, she only wanted to go to houses that were decorated with ghosts, skeletons, spiderwebs, etc, declaring after each house, "Let's go this way", pointing to the next porch. Halloween is practically a national holiday in our neighborhood and it certainly did not disappoint this little fire fighter!