What am I Thankful for?

The wonderful friends and family that we have.

And a beautiful daughter who will dance anywhere, anytime.

That Sofia has such adorable friends.

That I can walk 3 miles with a toddler on my shoulders.

And glorious weather to do it in.

This stunning profile.

And this cheeky grin.

That Sofia loves to help in the kitchen.

And that one of the first thing that she learns to cook is mashed potatoes.

That Sofia prefers Snoopy over any number of less desireable characters.

And that she decided that her holiday dress wasn't "too sparkley" to wear.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Grape Escape

Since Sofia came home, we have dragged her through winerys all over California and New Zealand for that matter. She has always been a good sport about it and in fact, even enjoys it I think.

We are lucky enough to have a family winery only fifteen minutes down the road from us where we like to picnic, and of course sample the product, and we visited on a beautiful autumn day.

The Ever Changing Face of Miss Sofia

Sometimes, I get home and download the snaps off my camera, and am completely caught off guard by how my girl is changing. I don't notice it in our everyday life and then whammo I am staring at a different girl.

Words of Wisdom

Now that Sofia is talking up a storm, she is coming up with all sorts of words of wisdom. Following is the converstaion that happened between myself and Sofia in the supermarket last Saturday at 7:15a.m.

Sofia: Mummy, I'm hungry (rubbing her stomach for added effect).
She had eaten breakfast by the way!
Mummy: You are, are you?
Sofia: A cookie would help.

Smart girl, I say.

I Gotcha

This was a super sweet moment between Sofia and Barclay John. They were sitting on the couch watching the Halloween episodes of Backyardigans. I think Sofia might have been a wee bit scared but she wrapped her arm around Barclay and kept saying "Don't worry Barclay, I gotcha! I gotcha!" Good thing Barclay has his girl to watch over him.

Happy Halloween

Last night we enjoyed an awesome Halloween evening with family, friends and quite possibly the cutest kiddos of all time. After last year's Halloween costume debarcle we went very simple, very easy this year and Sofia was a black kitty cat.

Sofia helping Papa blow up balloons.


The most amazing cupcakes thanks to Meg.


Daddy getting Sofia ready for her guests to arrive.


Beautiful little kitty.


Ta Dah!


Chief Jake and Sofia wasting no time at all getting stuck into the candy.


Peter, Andy, Sofia and Jake checking out all of their loot and they hadn't even been trick or treating yet.





Whiskers on and we headed out for some trick or treating. The kids handled it like pros.






Halloween was such an crazy, chaotic evening but oh so much fun. And what really made the evening was when all was said and done, and all of her friends had gone home, Sofia helped Papa hand candy out to the trick or treaters. She reached into the bowl and made sure that everyone received some with a little "there you go" as she dropped it into their bags. It was the most unbelievably cute thing you have ever seen.

Happy Halloween Sweet Kitty.