The Latest of Hallie's Antics

Hallie really likes to watch me cook. She pulls up her little stool and observes everything very carefully and is thrilled when she occasionally gets to mix ingredients for me. The other day I came into the kitchen to find that Hallie was stirring up a little concoction of peaches and toast and left-over eggs on the stove...yummy!

A few Saturdays ago Chris and I were getting all ready to go to the temple and Hallie immediately asked if we were going to Church and if she was going to nursery! "No," I told here, "Mom and Dad are going to the temple and Hallie is going to Aunt Caitlin's" Her reply was "Hallie go to the temple too!!" Hmmm, I couldn't very well tell her that she couldn't go to the temple so I told her that we would take her later that day, as we were going up to Salt Lake in the afternoon. She then ran to her room and found her dress and stockings so that she could go to the temple. I guess she talked about going to the temple the whole time she was with Caitlin and Grant.

She was very pleased when we got there, but disappointed she was not allowed to play in the water- it was freezing!

Here's my thrilling news; Hallie is potty trained. Whoo-whoo, as she likes to say! All it took was some good ol' fashioned bribery and a week indoors with little else to do!

A few Tootsie-pops and a fancy sound-making puzzle and Hallie is a full-fledged, potty using, underwear sporting girl. She now only requires a marshmallow or Tic-Tac to be satisfied...we'll seen how long it lasts!

Yup, we love her.

So this is Hallie sporting the new dress I made for her out of an old t-shirt and some kitty fabric. I found the pattern on this site and I'm pretty much obsessed with making things from it. So far I've also done their wipes cover(just in time to not have use for it any more) and Kleenex box cover which you can see in the background.

Hallie insisted on wearing the Canada socks she got from Grandma Regehr for the picture. She likes the dress fine. The socks, on the other hand (or foot perhaps), she loves! I'm pretty sure they didn't come off for about a week and, once washed, they went right back on!

Hmmm, this looked rather suspicious...

...and then I saw this. Lovely.

As you can see we keep...busy. And entertained to say the very least.

I am not the most organized person around. But some days I feel like I'm living like this:

When I really want to be living like this:

Note all the books in that first picture; that would be Chris and his English major's doing...the rest of course is all me. I don't think I'm a real "hoarder" but I do have a hard time getting rid of things sometimes. I mean really. How many spatulas do I need in my kitchen...I think I have 5. By the end of today I'm determined to only have 1.

Chris and I have decided to live more simply, and considering we're probably going to move 100 times over the next 10 years (maybe not that much, but we do anticipate a few moves) we really want to cut down on all the stuff we don't need/use.

I went to a class by a couple of professional organizers who said that we use 20% of our stuff 80% of the time. I feel like I've been sucked into the consumerist vortex! Let the purging begin!

It's January?!

This is mostly the Hallie Chronicles, I know, but she's cuter than me and Chris so be glad she's the star of this post.

Hallie made a good haul this Christmas. Though I'd have to say that her favorite thing has been those snowman pj's. She hardly ever takes them off!

One of the best parts of this year's Christmas holiday was getting to know Chris' new niece, Emery. Hallie was in LOVE with that baby!

Hallie's Birthday is the 26th, so we decided to celebrate by pretending it's spring. This year we did a bug themed birthday party. Complete with edible grasshopper, ladybugs, bumble bees, butterflies, and (of course) ants on a log!

Hallie also had fun learning about Santa Clause, just in time for the holidays.

Projects Part I: "The Crusier"

It's done!!! Okay so not quite. My bike still needs a few new nuts and blots, new handle grips, and maybe even a basket to finish it off....but for the most part it's done.

At the start of September I started working on a 1958(ish) Schwinn Hollywood bicycle that belonged to my friend Marjorie (I should post more on her later...) anyway, I didn't get a good 'before' shot (the first picture is the same model...just to give you an idea...only imagine it dirtier, super rusted out, and covered in cobwebs.)

Tadaaa!

I yam what I yam!

If there's anything that Chris and I love more than a good yam; it's a good yam in the shape of one of our internal organs! I loved that yam.

Speaking of autumnal vegetables...we carved pumpkins! On the 6th of November. We got a little busy before Halloween and just didn't get around to it. Hallie was very unimpressed with the innards, and even looks like she might hurl just looking at them. She liked it being on her arm even less; I'm pretty sure she started crying right after these pictures were taken.

Hallieween

Hallie loves her monkey costume from Halloween and insists she wear it every time she sees it; as a result it spends most of its time hidden in the back of her closet. She was very pleased with it and learned just in time to say trick-or-treat. At one of the first houses we went to Hallie knocked, said her "trickatreat" and the lady held out a bowl of candy for her to choose one; not being very experienced at this point, Hallie reached into her bag, pulled out a candy, and put it in the bowl! After letting her eat some of the candy she'd collected, however, this did not happen again.

Pre and post-candy faces. (Note the much happier post-candy face)

Hallie loved showing off her tail to everyone!

While Hallie's costume was pretty obvious mine was, apparently, not so much. 10 points to anyone who can guess correctly...here are some of the clues taken from guesses I got that night...

A. Miss Hannigan

B. Mae West

C. Madame Medusa

D. A woman posing as drag queen....long story

If you guessed C. Madame Medusa, then you're right, and this is why we're friends! There were several people who just haven't even seen that movie (The Rescuers) which is really tragic. Medusa is my very favorite Disney villain. "Madame Medusa's Pawnshop Boutique!" Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the classic Medusa pose; removing the eyelashes!!!




Hope you all had a Happy Halloween, filled with lots of diamonds...I mean candy!

Favorite Things

A few random pictures of some of the things Hallie likes.
Pockets, gloves, hats, and clothing in general.
ICE and GRANDMA! There was a period of time when Hallie would not go to bed without asking for an ice cube. She also really likes freezies, slurpees, and icecream!

Cameras. Hallie figured out how to turn on and use the camera the other day, we ended up with about a dozen pictures like this- thank goodness for the digital!Dresses! I was making this dress, and although it's about 2 sizes too big, she insisted on wearing it all day once it was done.

Water, water, water! Hallie would've played on this bridge forever had we let her. She's a really good little swimmer and love blowing bubbles in the water...she recently figured out how to blow bubbles in her chocolate milk (see video below.)
Music, playing with her friend Josh, and playing music with Josh (see video below.)

MESSES! After breakfast one morning I heard Hallie shouting from the kitchen, "Gicky, Gickeee!" She was indeed a "sticky" mess. Lucky for me she only dumped the syrup onto the plate, and a bit on her pjs. Hallie is a very proficient mess maker.