A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Going for a Walk!

A Glorious Wisconsin Sunset

Fish Fry and Football

          We had an especially fun and eventful weekend thanks to our generous friends, Fred and Kathy. On Friday evening we went to the Lakefront Brewery for some yummy fried fish and polka dancing. It was a blast hanging out with our friends and having an opportunity to do the chicken dance together. Afterwards, we headed over to Kopps with everyone to get a scoop of their famous custard. That is the best way to top off any evening. 

           On Saturday morning we dropped off Lydia with some friends and headed to Madison on a double-decker bus with about half the ward for the big BYU-Wisconsin game. This was the longest that I've been apart from Lydia, and it was really strange yet exciting. In fact, it was quite liberating being able to socialize with adults all day and sit back and enjoy the game. What a great day - despite the BYU loss... That was kinda a downer. At least Austin called the outcome of the game a week before and he felt good about that. There really is no shame in losing to the badgers since they're such a great team. We were high up in the stadium and it was pretty chilly. I couldn't feel my legs by the end of the game. Thankfully, we were able to grab a hot chocolate from McDonalds before re-boarding the bus and heading home. I'm so glad we were able to go. It was an awesome day!

A Bookcase for our Bookworm

Grandpa reading Lydia her favorite book :)

              Today I put together a bookshelf all by myself - I am superwoman! I know it's really not too impressive to be able to follow directions and mimic assembly pictures, but somehow I feel empowered for doing something that's normally out of my comfort zone. It was high time we got Lydia her own bookcase. The top shelf in the closet hasn't quite been cutting it lately. This is definitely a step up.

            Lydia already loves her new bookshelf and spent the evening swimming through a sea of books that she had scattered all over the floor. Her favorite rediscovery was "The Many Faces of Lydia Marie," which is the baby photo book I put together for her about a year ago. We read that at least ten times before bed, and then Lydia curled up with her massive teddy bear and read it to him in her nonsensical baby talk. Oh how I love my little bookworm!

Lydia's new favorite reading buddy

Kiddie Car Mat

            Austin's thrilled that Lydia is already showing an interest in cars. In fact, she loves to watch "Top Gear" with her daddy and 'car' was one of her first words. I thought it would be fun to make Lydia her own personalized car mat with specific locations that she could drive to. Although I am no artist, this was pretty simple and I really enjoyed putting my own little community together. It was just a matter of buying a sheet of duck cloth and sharpies/fabric paints and sketching out the roads and buildings. Lydia and the kids in nursery love playing with it. Mission accomplished!

A Hectic yet Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

          This has been a fun, memorable, but stressful Halloween. Lydia was in the process of getting in four new canines, and that does not typically make for a good day. She refused to go down for a nap and was whiny and hysterical all afternoon. My arms and nerves were worn out by the time we were supposed to go to the medical school for the Halloween trick-or-treat party. 

I'm so glad I decided to bring Lydia despite her crankiness. She transformed back into the happy and sweet little girl I know. It didn't take long for her to get the hang of trick-or-treating this time around, and she willingly went from office to office carefully selecting her candy and putting it in her spider bag. We even managed to get her in the habit of signing "thank you" to people. She clutched her bag of candy to her chest while at the party and spent most of the evening sorting through her goodies.

I was very proud of Lydia for taking a good half hour to brush her teeth after eating all that candy. She was pretty excited to use the new toothbrush I got her.

And of course, no Halloween is complete until you do the Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance with Austin.

We had a small Halloween party at our apartment after Lydia was in bed. I attempted to make donuts, but I kinda killed the yeast. Austin stopped me just as I was about to throw away the dough and give up. He convinced me to at least try frying them first to see if they tasted good. Although they weren't much to look at, Austin was right and they did taste pretty yummy. It was fun having our friends and neighbors over for donuts and cider. All in all, it was a pretty good Halloween!

Oh how I love my sweet neighbors! And yes, in our household it's considered common courtesy to serve baby lotion with our cider and donuts.