Leaves

We spent last Sunday raking leaves and generally cleaning up the yard (I said it was a busy few days). Audrey was a great help, although she made it a little difficult to focus on raking for too long (climbing the stairs, etc.). Overall it was a pretty good day...she was introduced to a giant black fuzzy caterpillar (which she tried to stomp on), helped to rake a few leaves, jumped in a few leaf piles, and got to scamper around for most of the day. These 65 degree late November days are really brutal. Here's some of the action...

Audrey 1, FSU 0

While Theresa took a trip to target Friday morning, I was able to seize one of the very few opportunities I've had so far in Audrey's life to dress her and take full advantage. This was the first time we've had her in the proper attire for gameday (courtesy of Aunt Nikki), and the result couldn't have worked out any better. She seems to like alligators, she's done the 'chomp' once or twice, and even signaled a couple of touchdowns on Saturday....all good signs. We'll try to make it two for two this Saturday afternoon...maybe I'll try to teach her to say "Tebow" this week.

Tree Trimmin'

We had a busy couple of days after Thanksgiving getting into full Christmas gear. Theresa and Audrey did a little shopping on Friday afternoon while I set up the tree, and Audrey had a great time helping to get the tree in ornament-ized Friday night. She's spent the last few days absolutely fascinated by the tree, and we've been lucky so far in that she hasn't been trying to tear down every ornament yet. She's particularly fond of the outside lights - we even got a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' out of her Saturday night when she saw them for the first time. She and Santa are already relatively familiar, to the point that she's managed to produce a couple of "ho-ho-ho's" for us.

Thanksgiving

Audrey's 2nd Thanksgiving celebration in 2009 went off without a hitch...she continued to show a love of holiday food, especially sweet potato cupcakes. She also had a great time hanging out with her cousins Parker and Sophie...we've included a picture of them gossiping under the ficus. A sign of things to come....

Pre-Thanksgiving

We were all up in York last weekend for pre-thanksgiving Thanksgiving at Aunt Meredith and Uncle Jereme's house. We crashed at their place and got to spend some serious quality time witht them and cousins Kollin and Brady. They couldn't have been better with Audrey, spent a good deal of time playing with her and generally spending time together. It was a great time for Audrey to spend time with her whole York family, and might have been the first time she'd seent the Tates since over the summer. She really liked Thanksgiving dinner...turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry, and seemed especially fond of the stuffing.

Audrey also got to make a trip down to the farm to see Aunt Kristen and Uncle Matt's horse, Cleo. She was a little intimidated by the horses, especially the really big ones, but warmed up a little more the more time she spent around them. Luckily there were about five dogs that hang around the barn, so she had plenty of distractions.

Grammy & Grampy

Grammy, Grampy and GG all came for a visit the Sunday before last. Audrey loved spending time at the park with everyone...she's especially fond of the swings, but even got into teeter-totting this time around. This was great quality time for Audrey in advance of pre-thanksgiving thanksgiving this weekend.

Weekend in the Woods

We spent last weekend with some friends right outside of Shenandoah National Park. Audrey got to hang out with Parker and their friend Hunter again, take a couple walks in the woods, and check out some wildlife (a couple deer and a black bear). She definitely seemed to enjoy herself out in the woods, although she wanted to walk a little more than she could, due to rocks, roots, etc. Here are some pics of the goings-on.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween weekend started with a party at the neighbor's house Friday night, when even Mommy and Daddy got involved. We didn't want Audrey to get sick of her Supergirl costume, so we decided to mix it up for the party. Unfortunately we don't keep gold foil on hand, so she had to go as a silver medalist instead.

Our first trick or treating experience went off without a hitch. Well, except for the fact that she stopped wanting to walk about halfway through, even though she was able to muster enough energy to get up people's stairs by herself. Cousin Parker and Audrey's friend Hunter all joined in on the fun. It was a little chaotic, but still a lot of fun. Bad news is that Audrey really loves Haloween candy, and has been pretty much obsessed with it since last night (she must take after her father).

Halloween Parade

Last weekend was Audrey's 2nd annual Burke Station Square Halloween parade. She liked checking out all of the other little kids, and even though she got tired of her costume after about 45 mins., we think she still had a lot of fun. And Uncle Bugsy, Nikki, and Nonna even tagged along. Unfortunately Theresa got stuck behind the camera.

Little Miss Fix-It

We've noticed Audrey is pretty fascinated with screwdrivers (and trucks...I wonder how this is going to work out for us). Every time I have to change batteries in a toy, or do anything else screwdriver related, she can't help but get involved. I was fooling around with this wireless speaker we have at our house, and she was a big help. She even got screwdriver head on screw a couple time, but she still needs to work on turning her wrists. Still plenty of time for that though. Now I just need to teach her to mow, weedwack and clean the gutters, and I'll be all set.

Haircut - Part II

We didn't really get good pics of the finished product after her first haircut, but Theresa managed to snap this one late last week. We had been comparing her to Randy Quaid's amish character in Kingpin before, but at least this helps a picture to the description. (She also happens to be standing on a chair in this picture - one of her new-found skills).