It's the Great Pumpkin, Carrington Lynn

Each year I enjoy watching Charlie Brown's Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas special on TV. My step dad, Greg, loves The Peanut's so I'm sure it's rubbed off on me. This blog is Charlie Brown inspired but Sims certified.

Tonight the great pumpkin rose out of the pumpkin patch and flew to the Sims' house for the official carving. To kick it off, Carrington wrote a letter last weekend to the Great Pumpkin about the upcoming carving and Halloween night. It said..."Dear Great Pumpkin, I'm looking forward to Halloween night and getting lots of presents." Can you help her? Carrington and Daddy started in the "Great Pumpkin Patch" searching for the "Greatest" pumpkin alive. They didn't have to wait all night to find the Great Pumpkin, it's pretty easy when you only have five to pick from.

We brought the pumpkin inside and set-up the sculpting station. Wait, who are we kidding! There is zero artistic ability between Aaron and I. So, it was more like the pumpkin mutilation station. Aaron sketched out a face on newspaper and then went to work. He carved out the top and I cleaned out the pumpkin. The great pumpkin was suppose to have two eyes, with eyeballs, a nose and a smile with four teeth. As you will see, the knife don't follow on the black lines and we ended up with two eyes, minus the eye balls and a big smile, with four...oh wait, no three teeth. At first, we had a snaggle tooth but it fell off and we were left with only three. Linus said it best..."You didn't tell me you were going to kill it."

Carrington was only slightly amused by the carving and even less amused by having her picture taken with the finished wreck-o-latern. She was about to turn into that scary looking pumpkin because the clock was way best bed time. Aaron said, "you've heard about a woman's scorn, well that's nothing compared to the fury of a woman's scorn who has been cheated out of bed time."

As usual, Aaron and I had more fun than Carrington. Give it a few years and Carrington will be begging for these traditions and Aaron and I will be trying wiggle out of them. For now, we look forward to Halloween night when we take Carrington trick or treating. I don't think we have to worry about her sitting in the Great Pumpkin patch all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin. She has a serious sweet tooth that will motivate her to go door to door; saying, "Trick or Treat". Hopefully she will not get any Rocks!

Oyster Festival

We finally made it to a Fall festival last Sunday! I've been itching to go to an area festival - they are advertised every weekend and look like a lot of family fun. It wasn't an apple, pumpkin or Halloween festival but a "true to the coast", Oyster Festival. Our family loves oysters and we usually have one or two roasts, each year, at the house. We got started early this year by meeting up with Aunt Melissa and cousins for some tasty N.C. oysters. Before leaving the house I asked Aaron if Carrington could sample her first oyster. His response, "absolutely not". That was a strong enough answer to not ask again when we got there.

It was unseasonably cool over the weekend and on Sunday it was only in the 50's with a cool breeze blowing off the ocean. Cool weather is great for oyster eating but not so fun for an 11 month old. Before she was officially a frozen ice pop, we decided (ok, maybe more I decided) to see if Carrington has a "live on the edge" streak. So...

Aaron took her down the big, bad, blow up slide. Climbing to the top - no problem,

sitting at the top waiting to go down - no fear of heights,

sliding down at the speed of lightning - thrill of a life time, coming to an abrupt stop - either mad as a hornet that it ended so quickly or scared to death of the entire experience.

I'll pretend it was the first because it was a lot of fun for me to watch and made for some great pictures. After that she wanted nothing more than to stay bundled up in her blanket.

We had a great time with family, eating oysters, playing games and looking at the crafts!

On Sale at the Supermarket!

It took a lot of coupons to get her but she was worth every penny!

11 months old

Carrington,

If I had to describe your life right now using one word, it would be ...ADVENTUROUS! You either give mama and dada a new adventure to experience daily or you are taking them arm, feet and even sometimes head first on your own.

At ten months old, I thought you were at the Olympic gold medal tier in baby crawling but now you have shattered your own record. The speed at which you can get around is exhausting! It's especially kicked into high gear when you want to do something, you know you shouldn't. Your desire to get "there", - Bear's water bowl, up the stairs, on top of the fire place hearth, etc - an accomplish the mission quickly, before mama and dada figure out what you are doing, is entertaining! You take on these adventures as quietly as possible so we don't bust you before satisfaction is met. Really, what I know you seek is for us to catch you in the act. When you are "caught" the big smile and squeal you let out is contagious! Because you are so quick at crawling, you have little interest in taking your first steps. Mama and dada try and practice getting you to take steps on your own. But, we get no where! Instead, you fall to your knees and take off quickly in order to get away from us. Your desire to do everything on your own will lead to you making a solo entrance into the room, walking gracefully, and squealing...Here I Am, Look At What I Can Do!

Drinking from a bottle continues to present an adventurous challenge for anyone willing to try and feed you. Needless to say, you have little use for that task! Eating yummy table food on the other hand is something you enjoy with great satisfaction. You've definitely expanded your tastes and we continue daily to introduce new delicious foods - cookies, chips, pasta with cream sauce, pumpkin cheesecake - just about anything out of the "fifth" food group. All kidding aside, you are a great eater and love veggies and fruits as much as junk food (which you don't get as often as I make it sound).

You've sprouted a third tooth! It came in on the top but not in the "typical" spot. Instead of being a middle tooth, it's on the side! Now, if we can only get you to sprout some new hair! It's going to be gorgeous, just taking it's time to come in. For now, your beautifully pierced ears will have to help distinguish you as a little girl. See the blog for that adventure!

You continue to experience new adventures on the road. Last weekend you spent the first weekend away from mama and dada. You stayed with Aunt Meredith and Uncle Brett while we went to a wedding. I know you had a great time and tried new things with your aunt and uncle that mama and dada don't want to know about. When we got back on Sunday, you had tripled in size and looked more beautiful than ever!

Sugarbean, as you quickly approach your first birthday, I can't help but notice your adventurous spirit! It provides a lot of fun moments for all those around you. I heard song lyrics recently that I think are appropriate..."Be strong in the Lord and never give up hope, you're going to do great things, I already know. God's got his hand on you so don't live life in fear." Sugarbean, you've got many adventures ahead - know that God, dada and mama will always have your hand!

We love you,

Mama and Dada

(Sorry, not many pictures. She moves to fast!)