Tea Parties and Beauty School

Well, I think we're all unpacked now! The girls were helpful in their own ways! ;-)

This week we've been enjoying some perfect Fall weather in the backyard. We have been playing Tea Party every day. Here is a picture of Paprika with Devon's eldest daughter. These two really do go together like peas and carrots.





Ginger also loves playing Tea Party. It can keep her occupied for awhile. I took pictures, of course!









In other news...

During Ginger's nap today I decided to make a change. I cut my hair! What?! I know. Like 7 inches.

I managed to snap a "Before" photo- this is right when I got out of the shower, without make-up on...can't believe I'm posting this for the whole world to see! Haha.

Before:


I didn't mean to cut so much. I was planning on getting my hair cut for real next week (you know, at a salon), and I thought I would just play around with it and then the person next week could fix it.

But, being as I am not in the habit of cutting my own hair, I pulled the hair really taut and cut it- not realizing that it would spring, bounce, and curl up about 4 inches higher than I thought!

Oh well!

During:


So, here is the "After"- I hadn't "done" anything to it- just let it dry on it's own (which, let's face it, is about all that's ever happening with my hair these days!)

After:



I know this might shock you, but this is not the first time I've cut hair. I did it to myself when I was 5 years old (with the left-handed scissors, no less...and I'm right-handed). I also cut Mr. Mustard's hair for him every six months or so. You would think I would have gotten this out of my system by now!



I think next I am going to color my hair, which is really just a bad idea waiting to happen. (It's like giving a young child a book of matches). But, hey, I'm feeling adventurous, and looking for a challenge! Stay tuned...

Purple Butterfly at the Carnival!

Today was the Halloween Carnival/Party at Paprika's school! She got to wear her much-anticipated Purple Butterfly Costume- the one she has been waiting to wear for a month now!



Mr. Mustard had to work today (usually it's his day off)- so I took Paprika and Ginger both to school and helped out in the classroom.



Of course, it was right smack-dab in the middle of Ginger's naptime, but she was a good sport about the whole thing! I dressed her in her Halloween pajamas instead of her costume so that she could take a nap the second we got home! :-)



They did Halloween crafts, carnival games, and even had a little parade. Paprika was behind this Storm Trooper during the Parade, and he kept throwing his head back and hitting her in the face (accidentally). She just kinda shrugged it off and still had a happy attitude. When you're 4 years old and it's Halloween, there's not a whole lot that can get in the way of your happiness!

It's Getting Spooky!

We've been getting in the mood for Halloween around here. We took a different tactic on decorating pumpkins this year, and I have to say, I think we all liked it better!



We made a Halloween Graham Cracker House...



and had loads of fun decorating it.



Paprika had to make sure everything was just so.



Ta-Da!!!



Even at Paprika's school, they are getting in the Halloween spirit this week. Today they read Halloween stories during circle time...



Earlier, they made their own spiders and ghosts.




They are also working on identifying "feelings" at school. So, the teacher asked them to make a ghost with a "feeling"- all of the other kids decided to make "Happy" ghosts. But not Paprika! Her ghost is "Jealous!" She thought it was the funniest thing- a jealous ghost. I think it's probably because she's never been jealous...she doesn't even know what it means. I think she just likes the way it sounds- like Jelly! (That's her ghost in the center- the busiest one, and of course, the one that's all purple!)

Rewind!

I realized that I never really blogged about our week in Indiana. I took very few photos when I was there, and then when I got home, I realized that my camera was set to super low quality, so all the photos I did take turned out horrible!

Needless to say, when we were there, my mind wasn't on taking photos at all. We arrived on Saturday night, and I spent every day over at my Grandma's house. I got sick from the plane (very sick), and then passed on my cold to Ginger (who also got very sick).

My Grandpa's funeral was last Wednesday, and I was so sick for it, I almost couldn't go (but of course I went)! I spent a lot of time visiting my mom's side of the family when I was in Indy, but of course, we were all sad and grieving over my Grandpa. I also got together with my dad and his side of the family a few times. That was wonderful, too. We talked a lot about Steven, and that was very healing. On top of that, my step-dad, Eric, started chemo/radiation for his cancer this past Monday (stage 4 colon cancer)...so that was on everyone's mind, as well.

What can I say, when it rains, it pours!

But, even though the visit was very sad and hard in many ways, we did find ways to make silver linings on the rain clouds overhead.

I got to take lots of long drives during Ginger's naptime (she had a way of only falling asleep for a nap in the car, so I just went with it). I got to admire the gorgeous Indiana Fall Foilage, something we don't really see in California!



Despite the fact that it was really hard to fly 2000 miles by myself with a 1 year old and a 4 year old, we ended up having a lot of fun on the plane.



Ginger of course wanted to make sure Boo (Paprika's doll) stayed hydrated! In general, Ginger and Paprika were both wonderful...except when Ginger decided to jump up and down on top of the tray tables during our first flight from LA to Houston. Oops!


And Paprika wanted to play hide and seek underneath the airplane seats!



By the time we were headed home, they were both old pros at flying. Ginger enjoyed the in-flight entertainment, and Paprika read the SkyMall catalog for about 5 hours. She was making up stories about all the products in SkyMall. Who knew it could be so entertaining?!



We spent a lot of time with my dad, who acted as our nanny for the week! He and his wife, Nancy, really stepped up to the plate and helped us out a lot!



I also got to visit with Ann three times - two nights out for dinner just us - and one night with all the kids together. Paprika calls Ann's kids "her cousins" - and they had a magical night playing together!





In between visiting with family, we spent a lot of time improvising...with all of our toys back in California, we had to make do. And if there is anything Paprika knows how to do, it is improvise and make do! Her favorite thing to do was to load Ginger into "the wagon" (the cooler we found in my Aunt Jane's garage) and fill it up with "snacks" for all of Paprika's dollies. Don't worry, the beer cans stayed closed! Ginger really enjoyed riding along!

Girl's Night!

We have had a busy couple of days here. Yesterday my friends Lauren, Devon, and Devon's girls came to our house. Lauren was visiting from Florida, and it was our first time meeting in person, even though I've known her (through our blogs) for almost two years now...

It was GREAT! We had a wonderful girl's sleepover, went out for a very fun night on the town, ate junk food, and stayed up all night talking!

I have pictures of our fun visit to upload...but that will have to wait till later. The house is very busy right now. Today was Paprika's first day back at preschool, Ginger is tearing the house apart, and Mr. Mustard just got home from work. Time for dinner and a glass of wine!

Back From A Long Trip

We just got back into LA a few hours ago and I am logging onto the internet for the first time in nine days. It has been an emotional and very hard trip. My Grandpa passed away a week and a day ago, just ten hours before our flight arrived in Indy. I missed the chance to say goodbye to him. I know he knows how much I love him and how much he means to me.

It has been a very hard week, to say the least. I miss my Grandpa so very much, and I hope I can be a support to my Grandma and the rest of our family. He is so deeply missed and we love him so very much.

These are photos I took of Ginger a few weeks ago. I haven't had moment yet to upload ay new photos (I really didn't take many during our time in Indy anyway). I am posting these photos for my Grandma, because I know she reads my blog every day (hi Grandma!) and I want to put a smile on her face, if even only for a few moments. I love you, Grandma!

More later...it's been a very long day of travel.

xoxo,
Erika

From The Side

From the side, these two look so much alike at this age. The above picture is from 2008, Paprika at 17 months or so. The below picture is Ginger a few weeks ago at 15 months.



I am packing up today, getting ready to head to Indiana to see my Grandpa. I wish this was a social visit when I could visit old friends- but unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be that kind of trip.

Mr. Mustard is staying in LA for work, and so I will be travelling with both girls by myself. I am having anxiety about the cross-country trek (3 planes and a layover). I imagine that flying with Ginger is going to be like trying to hold a 25 pound wild raccoon on my lap for 12 hours straight. Hopefully it will go as smoothly as it can?! Fingers crossed.