A Spooktacular Fairy Tale

Once upon a time in a far away land there lived two sisters...

They were lovely and fair...

But they were lonely for love...

Then one day two strapping young men showed up in their Kingdom...

"Hubba, Hubba!" thought the sisters, and they were instantly smitten by their charming ways...

They eldest was married right away...

She couldn't wait to start a family with her handsome Prince Charming and soon they had a daughter...

She was a beautiful warrior who dedicated herself daily to a transformation from ordinary girl...

To the one her people knew as Mulan...

She was the most beautiful maiden in all the land...

And she was a happy child who only wished for one thing, a pair of pets to call her very own.  The wish seemed simple and so her parents, who adored her, bought for her one tiny white dog...

And an itty bitty black kitty to call her very own...

The princess was overjoyed!  But, she was also a bit perplexed...

There was something strange about this little kitty...

No matter how hard the princess tried to play with her she was only interested in doing one thing...

She would spend every minute of every day...

Admiring herself in front of the royal mirror...

It was perplexing indeed until they realized the solution, a cat nap for the kitty!

And from that day forward the lived happily ever after!  

H A P P Y  H A L L O W E E N

Lately...

Lately we've had plenty of the "norm" going on.  Like Saturday morning Soccer...

Trips to the Kiddie Park...

Emerson striking a funny pose...

Or two... 

Or three (as in "show me your muscles")...

And an after school play date (where Emme was the lucky beneficiary of a makeover)...

But we've also been happy for some things that are a little outside the norm.  Like weather cold enough for boots and a jacket...

And an afternoon spent carving pumpkins...

My heart is also feeling especially happy after an unexpected visit from one of my best friends over the weekend...

With Cayce around it's always double the fun...

Lately life has been good.  As in entertaining imaginary friends (their names are Claire and Emily just in case you were wondering)...

Saturday morning modeling sessions (fan optional)...

And managing the terrible two's (patience not optional)...

With the cooler weather and things like candy, turkey and santa on the horizon it officially feels like fall...

Which officially makes me happy.

Common Ground

I think it's safe to say I've discovered the one thing than I'm quite certain all parents have in common.  It's easily seen in schools, on Saturday morning Soccer fields, and even moments where you witness a simple act of good manners.  It's a little thing called pride.  

It's as if the minute you welcome a new baby into your family you also accept the fact that you will become their biggest fan.  

Through the years that may look a little different.  It begins with things like the first time you get to brag about your newborn sleeping through the night and progresses quickly to things like first steps and first words.  

Let's be fair these may seem like minor accomplishments and not necessarily something that perfect strangers or even friends for that matter can muster up a pat on the back for.  But that's the amazing thing about parenthood, there's nothing quite like that feeling you get when you witness your child succeeding.  

Lately we've had plenty of reasons to cheer and make a big deal out of things that other people could probably care less about (let's face it that also comes with the parental territory).  Take for instance Carter's recent accomplishment of learning to ride a bike.  She was motivated by the upcoming bike rodeo at school and with only a week to master two wheels there were moments when Nate and I exchanged knowing glances.  You know the one that says, "I'm pretty sure there's no way this is going to happen."  There was a lot of driveway practice going on...

And let's face it there were also quite a few tears.  She's determined and hard on herself and sometimes that can be a tough combination.  But as we did a trial run on the course the night before I couldn't have been prouder of how far she had come...

I knew there might be a few rough moments i.e. weaving through some bright orange cones but she had done it (she even managed to master the multi task of ringing her bell and riding at the same time :)...

The morning of the rodeo she was ready and so was her cheering squad...

It was the moment of truth and I'll admit I held my breath just a little...

Off she went and she was cool...

Calm...

And Collected...

Maybe even just a tad confident...

And yes...

She knocked over a cone (or two)...

But it was one of those moments that parents know well...a common ground we all share...I couldn't have been more proud of her...

And you know what?  I've realized something else about this whole pride thing.  There have been times where I've been overly concerned that I might come across the wrong way.  That I might cheer just a little too loudly or that I might appear just a bit too proud.  But you know what the cool part is?  If the system works the way it's supposed to every kid has their own "proud parent".  Every kid has their own biggest fan.  That realization freed me up a bit.  I now find it easier to cheer loud for a scored goal (like the other night when Carter scored not one but two against a team of boys during a scrimmage)...

I realize that proud feeling inside me that's just dying to come out is something they desperately need to see (and hear if I give it total freedom in the form of a cheer and maybe even a fist pump)...

After all I'm their mom...

If I'm not proud of them who will be...

And don't worry I'll be happy to cheer for your little person too.  Because the cool thing about pride is once you give it a little freedom there is plenty left over for everyone!