♫♪ This is Halloween, This is Halloween ♪♫

Last Halloween Mia was a princess and this year she decided she wanted to be a witch that "gets" the princess. Haha! How completely opposite. She still loves the princesses, though. It was a close competition between a witch, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty (her new favorite), but in the end her mischievous side got the better. She was a “cute” witch, but she didn’t know it. She thought her costume in its purple/green/black hues was pretty sinister looking. The fact that it was covered in moons and stars and completely adorable didn’t seem to faze her perception. We went to Christopher’s uncle’s for his annual Halloween party and Mia had a great time playing with other kiddos and going through the haunted house many, many times. After about 5 times I stopped counting. She loves being scared. Our “scary witch” also won the prize for “cutest costume” – she was so thrilled!

We spent Halloween at my brother’s, again, where we threw a small party on the back patio and had lots of goodies and a few games to keep busy until it got dark. Then the kiddos trick-or-treated it up and got just a little candy before they called it a night.

Our Gabba pumpkins :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

This was all Christopher’s doing, but I’m glad he did it. We left our problems behind, if just for a while, and spent a couple of blissful days in the magical kingdom…though I remember it being a lot more magical when I was younger. Ah, to be young. What made it magical for us this time around, though, was seeing the awe on our little girl’s face. Watching her as she saw everything for the first time and being so excited that she really ought to have spontaneously combusted - it was the best thing in the world. And we concluded that the fall is the most perfect time to go. It’s our favorite season, Halloween is our favorite holiday (I love Christmas; he doesn’t, the Grinch) and Mia was finally the right age to go and actually enjoy it now.

We spent the first day at Mickey’s Halloween Party so Mia got to don her Belle dress again and it was awesome to see all the people and characters in costumes walking around. We got to see more villains than usual, our favorites! We were in heaven. They were going around heckling everyone! Mia got to see Captain Hook, one of her favorite villains. And she loves the evil queens/witches from the princess movies, so when The Evil Queen from Snow White passed her and slightly bent down and said in an sickly-sweet, evil way, “you look beautiful, my dear” that totally made her night. She was taken back with a huge smile. It was great! Everything was decked out for fall/Halloween and there were candy stations everywhere for everyone to trick-or-treat at. And they gave out the good candy, not the cheap Smarties stuff. Some people had many, many big bags full, but we just got a bit. We were too busy having fun to stop and stand in line for candy. Mia’s very favorite ride was the Haunted Mansion. That’s what we rode the most. She’s a strange child. She likes being scared. It was revamped to represent A Nightmare before Christmas - one of our favorites. This party went late into the night and right before Mia crashed, we went into Tomorrowland where we danced it up with the characters from Toy Story. It was hilarious to see Mia go crazy with the Buzz and the Army Men! And at the end of it all, they had a special Halloween Parade for us to enjoy. It was the most fun of the two days.





 The second day, it started out raining? I mean really raining. We brought ponchos with us (see, being prepared pays off!), but we still ducked and covered exploring stores and getting Mia’s silhouette done while we waited for it to dry up a bit. And after about an hour the clouds went away and it became a warm, sunny day. We spent a lot of time in Toon Town where Mia finally go to meet Mickey Mouse - one of her goals of the trip. It was worth the extremely long wait. When she finally got her moment, she hugged him so tight and talked his ear off. Then she asked why he didn’t talk back. We weren’t prepared for this question. So we told her he must have had a sore throat. She said he should probably take some medicine then. We did it all over again, and more. Just a really nice time.

I thought Christopher was insane for picking this time in our lives to go, but we really needed it. So I guess sometimes Daddy knows best. Sometimes. ;-)

More Dance and a Trip to the Fair

I think the first recital was the ice-breaker because after that, Mia went into cheddar cheese and ham mode and completely – I don’t know – focused on doing a great job at every other performance. I thought maybe I was just being biased (because she was my child :p), but we had people come up to us after these shows and tell us and her what a great job she did. Her teacher, other teachers, even complete strangers. And I think that fueled her to keep doing her best. Why was this so surprising to us all? Because Mia is, without question, the class clown. She’ll practice and all, but just until she gets bored and then she starts goofing off and trying to make everyone laugh. I know. I’ve seen it many times. So to go from being the one who others looked to for goofing off, to being the one that others look to for the steps was a complete 180. Don’t know how she pulled it off, but they were proud Mamma moments for sure.

After one of Mia’s dance performances at the fair, we made a night of it and unleashed the crazy monster for a night of fun. I rode a couple of rides with her, but it was mostly Daddy who went all out and there was no stopping until every ride was ridden…at least twice. And although I was just the pack mule carrying all of the food, drinks and goodies as we went along, this was by far the most fun we’ve had at the fair.

We also went home with three fish that the two crazies won. Just what I wanted, three more mouths to feed. Yay! I kid. They’re very pretty (still alive!) and there’s a small, medium and large. Mia appropriately named them Daddy, Mommy and Baby. ^_^

Mia's Music

I've always wanted to post the music that Mia's currently rocking out to, but always forget or never get around to it.

Well, here's to change...and remembering things.

She's loving this song right now.  I mean loving.  She watches the video (yes, this is the official video :p) every chance she gets and listens to the song while doing whatever.  Doing homework, taking a bath, eating breakfast.  Constantly.  :)

We need to talk

Mommy, I want to talk about the kiss.

The kiss?

Yeah.  You kissed Daddy...and we need to talk about it.

Okay.

I know it’s really important, but you kiss Daddy too many times.

Oh really?  You saw me kiss Daddy, huh?

Yeah.  I saw you lots and lots of times.

Well, I’m very sorry.  Am I not supposed to kiss Daddy?

Well, I think you should get my makeup ring and marry Daddy.

I am married to Daddy.

You are?  Why?

Because I love him.

Oh, okay.  I love him too.

I know you do.

We all love each other!

Yes, we do.  :)

The Greatest Show on Earth

Well, that's maybe an overstatement, but it was pretty darn good.  The animals were amazing and by far the best part.  Mia wanted her Becca to go with her, so come she did!

We got to mingle with the circus folk before the show started, so Mia played with the clowns.

Trying on the clown clothes :)



What kind of life would this be without some random dancing...

 Show of hands.  Who had a good time?

No, Mia.  I didn't say let's see your derp face.

Let's try that again.  Who had a great time?!

Yep.  :)

A step down from lemonade

You know the saying, "If life throws you lemons..."?  Well, I don't mind lemons.  I welcome lemons.  Sure they're tart, but they are edible, after all.

What if life just keeps throwing you piles of poo?  Yes, poo.  Not so welcoming.  And I ain't eatin' that.

At the end of August, my husband was in a nasty car accident.  He rolled our truck a few times, landed on top of a parked car and came out with only a small gash on his elbow.  And he wasn't wearing his seatbelt.  How is that possible?  After looking at the scene, no one understood how.  It was like something out of a movie.  He's very fortunate.  He had a guardian angel with him, for sure.  And while we joke around with him about what a shit magnet he is, he's also very lucky.  Ironic, yes. 

While we were in those moments of madness, we didn't realize Mia had picked up on what we were talking about.  I never said out loud what had happened because I didn't want to upset her.  But I'm assuming she heard key words like "rolled the truck", "ambulance", "hospital".  I suppose we just don't give little ones enough credit sometimes.  They are intelligent little sponges, after all.  Just moments after we found out and were rushing to get to the scene, she was very upset and crying and asking if Daddy was hurt.  Total heartbreak.  So I assured her that he was okay.  And sure enough, one ambulance ride and two hospitals later, we saw for ourselves that he was fine.  Banged up, but fine.

Mia's very sad about our truck.  We all are.  We loved it and it was a good, reliable truck.  She was asking why we weren't driving it anymore and we told her because it was too hurt and crunched up in the accident.  She wanted to know all the details.

"Did truck die?"

"Yes, baby, it did."

"Did it fall over?"

"Uh...yeah, it fell over."

"Did it close its eyes?"

"..........yes, it did."

Then she went very quiet after this.  We thought she was just taking it all in until we heard whimpering from the backseat.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"I MISS TRUUUUUCK!"

Wow.  Guess the truck really meant a lot to her.  Damn that Disney for ever making movies about talking cars with personalities and feelings...and eyes.  Poor Daddy.  Poor Mia.  Poor truck.  :(

You know you've been gone for a while when...

...upon your return, your blog log-in is totally different since the last time you were on.

Guilt.

I'm glad I write my stories out fresh in Word while I'm away or else I'd forget...everything.  So.  I've missed you Blogger.  Let's get postin'!

Learning to Swim

Mia finished her swim lessons a couple weeks ago, now, and with great success!  Very comforting for us.  She had a little swim partner, Holly, and they became fast friends.  Their instructor was wonderful with them.  If I do say so myself, she was the best instructor out of them all.  Mia learned to identify lifeguards, hold her breath under water, float on her back all by herself, back paddle, retrieve toys from the bottom of the pool (shallow water, of course), bob/doggy-paddle to the edge of the pool in shallow water by herself, and started learning how to fully doggy-paddle without assistance. 

Her instructor said she did very well because of her no-fear attitude, and she even gave her partner more confidence and helped her to be less scared.  We're very proud of her!  She did so well that next year she'll be ready for the Level I class and I think she'll then learn to swim all by herself.  Can't come soon enough!

Princess Party

Mia and her friends enjoyed some pampered princess playtime the other day at our local princess play place.

Lots of P's.

The girls got to pick out their favorite dress and shoes, pick out their jewelry and make their own tiaras.

Then they had their hair done, got their faces painted, read stories, colored and played with puzzles.  All princess themed, of course.

And then came the dancing.  Or I should say freeze dancing.  When the music stopped, they had to strike their best princess poses. 

Did I mention it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen?   >_<

The girls had a lot of fun and felt like real princesses with the royal treatment. 

Of course, the word princess is used pretty loosely when it comes to Mia.  Because when you're donning Rambo combat boots under your princess dress...somehow it loses its effect, ya know?

Oh, well.  She'll always be my little Warrior Princess :o)

Things she says...

“I’m gonna go to college!”  (…does she even know what college is?)

“Mommy, who’s gonna fix the cracks on the moon?”

“Are you serious?  Are you really serious?  You’re killin’ me!”

(*unexplained crash*)  "Mia?”   “It wasn’t me! It was the fireworks!”

“You can’t talk to me like that!  I’m a nice girl.”

(*calling out from the bathroom*)  “Mo-om!  I wiped my own bu-utt!  I did a pretty good jo-ob!”

“This is a really, really, hard, hard, hard, hard time.”  (translation: I’m tired and ready to go to sleep)

“Oh, my gammit!”  (thank you so much, Fred movie -_-)

Dance Recital



Her invitation

 Miss Mia had her first recital this past Tuesday.  And I have to say that we weren't sure what to expect, as the child can be unpredictable at times.  But she did great at dress rehersal, and she did a fantastic job on rehersal night.  We did just a little makeup because she's not a grown woman and I refuse to be one of those moms.  But she felt very special and beautiful.  We took some pictures before sending her off to wait with her class and she was being quite the little poser.

                                    Then, as usual, it turned goofy...

They were the 10th act to go on, but she held up very well.  No wardrobe malfunctions or ripped tights to speak of.  When they walked out on stage and I saw that sweet smile on her face (and, as usual, no fear), I could have cried.  I was so proud of her and I was so proud to be her Mommy.  And she hadn't even started dancing yet!  The dancing was very good, too.  She had really buckled down in the past two weeks to better learn her routine and all the girls did a great job.  She did keep looking around at everything, though, but you can't blame her.  It must have been such an experience for her - the stage, the lights, all the people staring at them!

And then the funniest part of it all...Mia stopped dancing at one point towards the end because she spotted me in the audience since we were only three rows back.  She did a delayed double-take (I think because she saw my camera's focus light and knew it was mine), and she just stopped and waved and said, "Hi, Mommy!"  Then she turned to her friend Lily to her right and said matter-of-factly, "That's my mom!", then continued her dance.  Everybody was laughing!  It was the funniest moment and one we'll always remember.  I'm glad we got it on video.



She saw her Mamma :o)

                                                    <= The video

She got a bouquet of flowers from her Grandma and Papa and felt like a little star.  Then afterwards, she was treated to ice cream by her Mimi.  A good ending to a wonderful night.



Ladies and Gentlemen....Blue Steel!