Welcome to the world, Gwen Marie!

My cousin, Kevin, his wife, Tami, and the newly three-year-old big brother, Gabe, welcomed a new baby girl today!

Gwen Marie

9 lbs., 2 oz

We are thrilled to have a new baby cousin!!! Can't wait to meet her!

Locks of Love

Isabella has been growing her hair out for a while now with the intention of donating it to Locks of Love. The minimum donation is 10" of hair so we were glad to finally reach this milestone!

Before

Elijah did his own hair at the vanity while he and Isabella waited for Sienna to get her hair trimmed.

Isabella's turn!

Ready to cut off the braid.

Here goes nothing!!! There's no turning back now!

After!

She instantly looked so much older!!! Isabella was proud to show Mike her new haircut and she asked if she could pose for another picture with him.

She spent a lot of time brushing her hair tonight and looking at her reflection in our sliding glass doors. Thankfully, she likes her new haircut!!

Cooking and Counting With Elijah

This morning Elijah helped me make some pancakes, and he practiced counting, too!

All three of our kiddos made the same mistake when they were learning how to count. They all said ... 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 8.... I think they all do this because eleven sounds like seven, so eight comes after seven (and eleven, apparently)!

2010 Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners!

Thank you to all who participated in our pumpkin carving contest this year and to all of you who voted for your favorites!!! Every year we are impressed with all of the submissions! This year was no exception!

Congratulations to all of our winners!!

Adult Entries (with stencils)

*First Place (23 votes) "Dragon" carved by Jim S. in MA.

*Second Place (11 votes) "Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue" (Sarah Palin) carved by my brother-in-law, Nathan, in CA. Nathan mentioned that he also thought that his carving looked a bit like Harry Potter. Someone who came trick-or-treating at our house tonight suggested that it was John Lennon.

*Third Place (10 votes) "Scarycrow" carved by my mother-in-law, Jean, in PA.

*Fourth Place (8 votes) "TerrifEYEd" carved by Liz. I was disappointed to hear that many people couldn't tell what this was supposed to be!!!!!! It's a person in bed pulling the covers up to his chin with a giant scary eye looking through the window! Hence, the name, TerrifEYEd! How can you not see that?!?! Just kidding, of course! As one of my neighbors said, if you have to explain it that much, people aren't going to vote for it. I'll keep that in mind for next year!

Adult entries (no stencils)

*First Place (21 votes) "Pirate Skeleton" carved by Andy H. in Wisconsin.
*Second Place (20 votes) "Jaws" carved by Ted L. in MA. I gave Ted a hard time because I couldn't make out the shark at the bottom. I guess I shouldn't talk since noone could tell what I carved!
*Third Place (16) "Jagged Jack-o-lantern" carved by Sara L. in MA.
*Fourth Place (11 votes) "George W." (aka "The Best President Ever") carved (actually-sculpted) by Mike. He noticed George W. behind homeplate at the World Series tonight, so we had to take a picture of the former president and Mike's pumpkin. Isn't there an amazing likeness?!? :) I asked some of our trick-or-treaters if they could tell who it was. Once I told a group of teenagers that it was a former president, one of the girls guessed correctly. Another little boy guessed Luke Skywalker. A third neighbor thought it was Voldemort from Harry Potter. Mike said, "I knew I wouldn't win, but I'm the only one who did a 3-D pumpkin!" I have a feeling that we are going to need a new category next year!

Kids' Entries (with assistance)

*First Place (39 votes-a landslide!) "Spike the Spider" by Mindy with help from Eliza (age 5) in WI. Eliza helped pick out the stencil, she scooped out the pumpkin, helped transfer the stencil and helped a bit with the carving. She also thought long and hard to come up with the perfect name. They did a great job again this year!!
*Second Place (14 votes) "Panda" carved by Mark with input from Luke (age 5 1/2) in MA.
*Third Place (13 votes) "Cat in the Moon" carved by Liz with help from Sienna (age 5) in MA.
*Fourth Place (6 votes) "Mean Eater" designed by Ellie L. (age 4) in MA and carved by her mom, Sara.

Kids' Entries (without assistance)

*First Place (24 votes) "Maggie the Dog" designed and carved by Isabella P. (age 7) in MA. This pumpkin was inspired by our neighbor's golden retriever, Maggie!
*Second Place (15 votes) "Insane Maniac" designed and carved by Collin L. (age 7 1/2) in MA.
*Third Place (14 votes) "Peace and Love" designed and carved by Maddie S. (age 6 1/2) in MA.
*Fourth Place (6 votes) "Vampire" Although this is technically Elijah's (age 2 1/2) pumpkin, Isabella designed and carved it for him-as she is known to do every year. He did help scoop out the seeds, though!

The following pumpkins are listed in no particular order, but I wanted to give credit to all of the talented carvers!

"Cat on a Branch" (MK) carved by my cousin, Megan, in CA
"Cat on a Branch" (TS) carved by Tanya S. in MA
"Tinkerbell" carved by Travis H. in MT
"Vampire Bat" carved by Eric L. in MA
"Bat" carved mostly by John F. (age 7) with help from his dad, Mark.
"Roly Poly" carved by Mindy in WI with help from Eliza for Eliza's brother, Ian (age 3).
"Scary" carved by Sarah H. in WI with help from Noah (age 7) and Caden (almost 5).
"Spider" carved by Jim S. with help from Ben (age 4 1/2) in MA.
"Alien Explosion" designed and carved by Calvin L. (age 6 1/2) in MA.
"One Tooth" designed and carved by Madi H. (age 7) in MT.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Carving Contest 2010

It's time to vote for your favorite pumpkins!! This year there are four categories. I'll try to clarify the criteria for each category.

Adults (with stencils)-Pumpkins carved with the direct use of a stencil (taped onto the pumpkin) from a book or from the internet.

Adults (without stencils)-These original designs were either drawn free hand on a piece of paper or directly onto the pumpkin. The carving could also be based on a picture from a book or the internet but had to be drawn or carved without the direct use of a stencil.

Kids (with adult assistance)-Pumpkins carved with the child's input but with adult assistance with carving.

Kids (with no adult assistance)-These pumpkins were designed and carved totally by the child.

All of the entries are pictured below by category. Please vote for one design in each category. Each member of your family may vote for every category. You may either vote in the polls on the right, leave a comment on this post, or e-mail me your family's votes.

If you'd like to check out our carving contests from previous years, click on these links:
2007
2008-Entries 2008-Results
2009-Adult Entries 2009-Child Entries 2009-Results

Adult Entries (with stencils)

Cat on a Branch (MK) Cat on a Branch (TS)

Dragon Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue
Scarycrow

TerrifEYEd

Tinkerbell

Vampire Bat

Adult Entries (no stencils)

George W.

Jagged Jack-o-lantern
Jaws

Pirate Skeleton

Kids' Entries (with assistance)

Bat

Cat in the Moon

Mean Eater
Panda

Roly Poly

Scary

Spider

Spike the Spider

Kids' Entries (with no assistance)

Alien Explosion

Insane Maniac
Maggie the Dog

One Tooth

Peace and Love

Vampire

Sienna quotes

Here a couple recent funny quotes by Sienna:

Sienna: I wish I had glasses.
Liz: Why, because you have a hard time seeing things?
Sienna: No, they look good on people with brown hair!

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A couple weeks ago we were driving and Sienna said this out of the blue:

Sienna: I wonder what my kids' dad's name will be.
Liz: What do you think it'll be? (thinking that she'd name someone that she knows now)
Sienna: Bob...and he'll have a brother named Petro. (OK.....)

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Sienna and I have spent a lot of time together this past week because she was home sick with a fever for the entire week! What a way to start Kindergarten! Now I'm sick with a similar flu/stomach bug. What fun! At least Sienna keeps me laughing!