The Best Part of Thanksgiving...

was being together with my sisters, especially for Little C! She adores them and we had been anticipating their arrival for several weeks.

Thanksgiving Prep

Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year, and primarily prepared by Laura (master chef). We had just a few last minute things to pick up the day before, so Corinne gladly pushed the cart while we shopped.

M's Belated Birthday

Marcey kind of missed her birthday...she really did! She was en route to Israel with my mom on her big day, but somehow it passed her by in the air when she crossed time zones. So, we celebrated with an ice cream oreo cake at our house while she was in town. A little belated, but a good excuse to celebrate!

Chuck E. Cheese

Brett has been dying to take Corinne to Chuck E. Cheese for quite some time now, so we decided that Thanksgiving would be the perfect occasion with Aunt L and Aunt M in town! It was crazy, loud, and probably very germy...but actually cleaner than I thought:) We played games, had lunch, and generally had a fantastic time. Everyone was a great sport about it, and Corinne even came home with some "prizes": a slimy frog, some plastic rings, a bracelet, and her favorite, a sucker. What great memories...perhaps it might even become a tradition?

Go Cats!

Have you heard that the UC Bearcats football team is 10-0 this season, and currently ranked #5 in the country?! Corinne made her daddy, uncles, and Grandpa Schatz proud by wearing Brett's UC hat one day. One of these days she might even make it to a game...? But for now, our season tickets are taken by the die hard fans in the family!

Alligators

Last weekend was, quite possibly, our last trip to the zoo before we head back in the dead of winter for the Festival of Lights. It was again gorgeous and presented the perfect opportunity to be outside together as a family. So I thought I would present a contrast for you in our experience with the alligators at the zoo. The top picture is Corinne -- quite leisurely -- sitting on an artificial alligator, while the bottom picture is Little C. taking in the sight of a real alligator swimming in the water. Quite different! Can you blame her?!

Traveling Companion

"Baby" has been going everywhere with us lately. (Too bad Corinne doesn't like to keep baby's clothes on her.) Corinne generally has baby do all of the things she does herself--and some of the things she'd rather not do herself. For instance, if Corinne isn't so sure about saying hello to someone new then she'll make baby wave to the new face instead. Pretty clever, eh? She came up with that on her own. Little C. also loves to tell us how baby is feeling--lately she tells us when baby is sad or happy. And she loves to pat, hug, kiss, rock, and console baby all the time. Corinne also has two other baby dolls, which she loves to also take on our many adventures. The other two have hats (that don't stay on their heads) but clothes that are (thankfully) sewn on. All three sleep with Corinne at night and in the morning Corinne will tell us "One baby is missing" when actually one is just hiding under her blanket. Ah. Corinne is just so funny!

Fall

We have endless leaves...and it's just the beginning! Over the weekend the weather was gorgeous and unseasonably warm, so we headed outside to do a quick, very haphazard raking job (I mean, what's the point when we'll just have to do it over again?)! Corinne hasn't really taken to carelessly jumping into a pile of leaves, but she'll sit and play in them. She'll even take a taste, or give a bite or two to her animal friends. But perhaps her favorite thing is to hide behind trees, darting from one to another, only to pop out and say "peek-a-boo". She's a riot lately, and talking in sentences all the time. We love that we can have conversations with her--even if they are about the silliest things! Another sign of her exploding language development: she will break out into a verse of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Jesus Loves Me" or bits and pieces of the "ABC's". Oh, and Corinne can count to 6 on her own, unsolicited. She knows 8,9, 10 also, and says those numbers together frequently, too. We're not sure why she doesn't like 7--I thought it was a lucky number!?

Sweet Treats

Corinne and I made cupcakes for a dear friend -- she helped by stirring the batter, pouring some ingredients, and then slapping (literally) some globs of icing on the cupcakes for me to spread. Then I let Little C. try some of the finished product. My little taste-tester thoroughly enjoyed it! It all started with just a lick...and she was hooked.

Our Little Lamb

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! Corinne really got into trick or treating, and loved watching all of the older kids in their costumes. She even got to eat some candy and stay up late (thanks, daylight savings). She was actually too tall for her lamb costume, but we made it work for one night. Never mind the snaps that kept coming undone during the evening! The pictures below tell some of the story from tonight. In her short life Corinne has gotten to know a lot of the neighborhood kids and was waving to one, in particular, here.

This was Corinne's "smile" for the camera before heading out.

And she never looked back!

Little C. knew just what to do with the "desserts" in her pumpkin purse. She wasted no time in picking out her first piece. Another highlight of the evening for C. was seeing the full moon up in the sky. She LOVES the moon and stars!

After conquering many steps and steep driveways, Corinne came back to home base to enjoy a second piece of candy...a sucker.

A chair, a sucker and people watching. Corinne was quite content! And example #1 of the too-small Halloween costume.

Our pumpkins worked nicely for taking a rest as well! Still working on the sucker...

Whew! What a night! This is post-trick or treating, and pre-bedtime. By this time Little C. was getting a little silly while Pop Pop and Lynn were visiting!