Tidbits From Tink...

This video was from last month, but too cute NOT to share... Enjoy!



Anything sound familiar??

Opameetal.

Tink has a new favorite breakfast.

She asks for it every morning, and I'm not going to lie... when she does, it sure puts a smile on my face!

OP-a-meet-al {or, oatmeal, for all you who do not speak Tink}.

Isn't it the best when kids say things in a funny way? Or, when they just say really funny things? Now, don't get me wrong... I understand the importance of proper language. In fact, it's my job to make sure that kids are meeting their developmental milestones, and expressive language is a huge component of that. But, it's completely normal for little ones to say things wrong when they first begin to speak. N-O-R-M-A-L.

Beyond that, there may be an instance or two where I, as Mama, lead them astray. I mean, opameetal sounds so much cuter than oatmeal, doesn't it? So I may or may not ask her to say it over and over. And I may or may not praise her for being so stinkin' cute {don't tell on me}. So, if she goes to college calling oatmeal opameetal, there will be no one but myself to blame. I'm only human.

Um, case in point... how they heck do you think the name Graycop came to be? Yeah, he's no retired law enforcement officer, I'll tell ya that much...

Some of the other cute things Tink is saying:

♥MY DO IT! {Instead of I do it}...
♥A-mee-ya {her name, especially when she sees pictures of herself}
♥{Loud Gasp} Wook! {...Look...}
♥My first! {about anything and everything... she always wants to be first or have a turn first}
♥Baby seepin'. Seepy nigh-nigh. Shhh...

Tink, you are my bowl of opameetal with brown sugar on top!

A Beautiful Day For...

Finally, the glorious fall weather has arrived! Sunday, my Dad and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and spent some time with the girls outside. We drive to one of our favorite parks, which we had nearly to ourselves, and we played, played, PLAYED!

The girls rocked it with their sunglasses:





They are such little hams!



Tink played hard. She swung. She slid. She skipped. She did it all...



Sassy took on the large rock as her challenge. She worked hard to get to the top, and was very proud of her accomplishments!



She made me a bit of a nervous wreck up there, but she was confident in her abilities. I even turned away as she leapt off with reckless abandon, but I didn't stop her. See, I'm getting better...



Then, the cutest thing happened. My Dad and I stood on the other side of the playground, allowing the girls to have their independence while keeping them in sight through one of the center structures. It's so funny to watch how they play when they think no one is watching... Sassy spent a considerable amount of time teaching Tink how to do cartwheels. SO cute...



They truly are my little sweet peas:



On the way to Winfield, my Dad taught the girls a "GO BEARS!" chant, so they were all geared up to cheer on their team from afar. However, at the park, they were with their team, both in spirit and... er... representationally?



We had to stop playing a little earlier than anticipated. Sassy slid through a rope climber and had a decent rope burn on the front of her foot and ankle, which was {of course} devastating to her. She insisted upon removing her shoe at once, sitting on the bench until Tink was rounded up, and carried for the rest of the day. Ah, my girl...



Graycop did carry her over to a little cross-bridge, where she agreed to walk to the end and back. The fall foliage was beautiful, and I just had to share that with you, too...



Graycop and his girls...



We had a yummy lunch at Neives Mexican restaurant {really good... stop there if you're ever in Winfield} and then headed home for a restful afternoon!

Let the Fun Begin...

Ni Hao Y'all will be starting 30 Days of Giveaways Thursday!



Make sure to join in the fun!! Get all the deets here!

Rest assured, my friends... we will be giving away some holiday swag here at Sweet Peas & Sassafras, too! ♥

{Choices}: Choosing the Perfect Holiday Card

Do you send holiday cards to family & friends?

We do.

It can be time consuming- choosing your card, writing hand-written messages, addressing envelopes, etc. Further more, it can prove to be stress-inducing. Choosing the "right" card, avoiding the inevitable procrastination that leads to a battle of wills time management with the post office...

Well, this year, I am taking the easy way {sorry, princess Tiana...} I am using Shutterfly for our holiday cards!

Shutterfly offers hundreds of holiday card selections. Truly, they become more and more modern and sophisticated each year. Oh, and they are very simple. You just upload your picture(s), drag and drop, and print. The best part- for a small fee, Shutterfly will address and send the cards for you. They never even have to come into your hands! Crazy? Maybe a little. Tempting? Um... yes!

Allow me to show you some of my favorites. If you can't tell, I tend to favor the more non-traditional...

The Fa LaLa:



The Kaleidoscope Noir:



The Bright Colored Lights:



The Dotty And Nice:



Which will we choose? Will it be one of these? Another option? Well, you'll just have to wait and find out. I'll guarantee one thing... thanks to Shutterfly, our cards will be beautiful! And, yours can be, too.

So GO... check them out. Place your order soon- you'll thank me when it's one less thing you have to cross off your mile-long to-do list!

Bonus: Are you a blogger? Do you ♥ Shutterfly like I do? Well, then what are you waiting for? Click here!

WIR: Basti Fantasti and More...

Whew. Busy, busy week.

We had an out-of-town guest pop in for a last minute visit. Of of my best.friends.EVER, Bastian, just returned to the States Oct. 27th from Germany. He's originally from Germany, but moved to TX midway through high school to play football. He played football for Iowa State, which is how we met, and became fast friends. You may recall our trip to Dallas last November for his and Nicole's American wedding...

Anyway, Bastian tagged along as we continued to uphold our regular schedule. He went with us to Sassy's dance class Monday evening. The girls dentist appointments Tuesday morning. Preschool drop-off and pick-up. And so on and so forth. I found it hard at times to balance everything. It's so much different once you have children. But, that's material suitable for an entire post of it's own, and maybe one day I will sort through all of that...

We did get to enjoy a wonderful steak dinner at Outback Tuesday night. Bastian and my dad went to Hell Bomb and got new tattoos. Had lunch at Luciano's Wednesday while the girls were at MDO. Held Grins & Squiggles Wednesday evening. Worked Thursday. Bastian left Friday morning.

Phew. Did I say that already??

Here are a few pictures from his visit:



Bastian set up a "quarter hunt" in the front yard with two rolls of quarters. the girls had a ball hunting for quarters and then placing them in their piggy banks!









Bastian & Nicole- we are super glad you guys are back in the States, and we can't wait to see more of you!

Rethinking My Disdain for The Force...

Remember this?

And then this?

I'll tell you- I didn't have such high hopes after the photo shoot. I was not going to be surprised if Tink was looking away in every.single.picture.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when Jenna shared this little preview...

So far, I like what I see. Cute {real} expressions. Pretty colors. ♥

Now if only one little itty-bitty family picture could be usable...

Rock the Bote

As you know, yesterday was voting day.

I chose to go cast my vote while Tink was sleeping {at home with Nana} before I picked Sassy up from preschool {the voting location is right across the street from the school}...

I stuck me "I Voted" sticker on my sweater and headed off to wait for Sassypants.

Well, of course Sassy had one million and one questions, and I tried to explain what voting was the best I could.

Later in the evening, after Ty came home from work and Tink had her PAT visit with Miss Debbie, we were set to drove up to Wichita to have dinner at Outback with my parents, and our out-of-town guest- my buddy, Bastian, who is spending the week with us after returning to The States for awhile from Germany. {Yeah.}

Tyler still hadn't voted, so he asked if we could swing by the church on our way so he could run in and vote.

I said sure.

Then, I started thinking about it, and thought it would be an educational opportunity for Sassy to go inside with him and witness the process. After a brief conversation, he agreed, and we asked Sassy if she would like to go in with Daddy to see what voting was like.

She was very excited.

We pulled into our parking space, and Ty went around to the side of the car to help Sassy out of her car seat. That's when Tink chimed in...

In the sweetest little voice ever on the face of the earth, Tink said, "I bote too, Daddy? I bote, too?" Be still my heart. Like there was any chance in the world that either of us were going to say no to that.

So, Tyler {what a trooper} lugged both girls inside with him to vote. 18 minutes later, the three of them emerged, all sporting their "I Voted" stickers proudly.

I ♥ my family.

Halloween Hullabaloo 2010

I know, I know... it's November! Halloween is over. I feel compelled, however, as this blog has taken place of scrapbooking religiously or keeping any sort of baby book (not that I was ever successful at that anyway) to share our Halloween stories and pictures.

So, in the interest of limiting the torture to a very small amount, I am cramming Halloween 2010 into one giant post (well, besides this one)...

Hang with me, won't you?

Our meetup's Boo Bash, October 17th:



Prior to the R Family's Annual Halloween Bash, October 23rd. Sassy (per usual sequence) decided that she didn't want to be the purple unicorn this time. So, she threw together her own costume, utilizing items from her closet and the dress-up bin. I must say, I was rather impressed. I ♥ this girl's style!




I spent the week prior to Halloween weekend slaving over a hot stove with my thinking cap on, coming up with fun Halloween-themed lunches. On the menu this day: bat sandwiches, monster bones, and goblin eyeballs. It is a-mazing how well children will eat when you call things goblin eyeballs. Just sayin'...



Next, it was PAT Move'N'Groove, Halloween Edition. Always a fun one. Notice Sassy was back to the unicorn.



Sassy's classroom party was Friday afternoon. To conclude Red Ribbon Week, each of the kids was allowed to dress up as their favorite storybook character. I don't remember schools ever being anti-Halloween before... do you? But, for the FALL party, they were able to dress up. Sassy brought in Goldilicious, which features a unicorn.

Each class sits outside their classroom in a line, and they parade up and down the halls, one at a time, to show off their costumes, holding their storybooks. Very cute.

I, being the terrible mama busy mama that I am, barely had time to run home from work and grab the treats before the parade, so I left my camera at home. Sad face. I did, however, use my phone to capture a glimpse of the treats we brought to share... these adorable "witches broomsticks" and spider ring cheese and crackers!

After the parade, we ate snacks, made a couple of crafts, and played the Hooky Spooky (like Hokey Pokey... get it??). It was so much fun!



Friday evening was Sassy's dance Halloween party. I had planned to take Tink to her My Gym party first, and then Sassy to her dance party, but Tink was still not feeling 100% from those darned ear infections, so Sassy, Nana, and I had a ladies night. And, since Sassy was totally tired of her unicorn costume from the first party of the day, she went with option #2 again. Yes, it's exhausting for me, too...




Saturday, we Ty finally got around to decorating pumpkins. We took the easy peasy road this Halloween...



Saturday evening, our rec center had a little Halloween party for the kids. Naturally, I took the chance to get a few shots of the girls before we left the house, full-costume.





With $2 admission, we just had to check it out, and they did a really great job! Number one on my list of high-fives for the rec center was the fact that they gave out very little candy. It was mostly the trinkety stuff, which can be a pain in and of itself, but way better than sugar, sugar, sugar! Thanks!



Finally, it was Halloween morning... Sassy spent some time with Nana watching the Monster High special on TV while Tink helped Mommy and Daddy grocery shop. But first, I had to get a few shots of her playing monster with Ty...





After lunch, the girls coerced me into helping them enter the pet costume contest at Atwoods. I was all set to dress Charlie up as a banana split and Bumper as a bunch of grapes. But, Sassy had other ideas...

So, we found ourselves transporting a fabulously adorned dwarf frog tank over to Atwoods to enter the "under 10 lbs" category.

Yeah.



The girls, Ribbit, and Hopkins won "honorable mention" in their (rather large) category. To my knowledge, they were the only non-canines to win a prize. Sassy was SO SO proud of our accomplishment. As soon as we returned home, she rushed over to share the news with our neighbor, Tom. Then, she insisted that I take a picture of Ribbit & Hopkins in their witch costume (complete with window gel-cling broom and pet bat) and the bag of dog treats we won as a prize. HA!



Finally, it was Halloween evening. Time to get all dressed up and head downtown for the business trick-or-treat and the trunk-or-treat around the park. The girls had a blast. I had purchased myself a small mask, and we even made Ty an impromptu nerd (not so much of a stretch...) My Mom got all decked out, as well...



We ran into LMB (a flapper) and LuLu (Pocahontas)...



And, we tricked...



...and we treated...



Graycop met us down there after work, where we finished up...




We headed home, emptied our buckets, and ventured out around our cul-de-sac and down the street. Finally, Sassy and Graycop sat outside waiting to hand out candy while Tink helped Ty and I make a special Halloween feast...



We had monster bones, mummy bites, caterpillar chicken, buttered scary-toni, and trees from the haunted forest. YUM!

Phew. What a Halloween season. I'm now welcoming November with open arms!

Half.

Today is Sassy's half birthday.

Today my Sassy girl is four-and-a-half.

Six short months until five...

Wow.

So, instead of the Halloween wrap-up post that will inevitably come to fruition, today we will enjoy some Sassy says...

Favorite Color: Pink & Yellow & Purple

Favorite Book: Alice in Wonderland

Favorite Song: Don't Stop Believin' {true story}

Favorite Movie: Sleeping Beauty

Favorite TV Show: Ni Hao Kai Lan

Favorite Food: Steak

Favorite Fruit: Grapes

Favorite Vegetable: Broccoli {proud to say that's actually true this time}

Favorite Animal: Polar Bear

Favorite Thing to Do: Play Outside

Favorite Place to Go: Art Class

Favorite Outfit: The One I'm Wearing {purple & green plaid shirt dress, green leggings, green hair bow}

Favorite Shoes: Nike Tennis Shoes

Favorite Toy: Monster High Dolls

Favorite Stuffed Animal: Snuggle Bear {the original}

Favorite Restaurant: Playa Azul {aka Daddy's birthday restaurant}

Favorite treasure: Gold

Favorite Charm on Charm Bracelet: Donut

Favorite Place You've Visited: Chicago & Cape Cod

Best Friend: LMB, LuLu, both K's from school

Favorite Season: Winter

Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving

Thing You Want Most for Christmas: Rapunzel Barbie

We ♥ you, Sassy! Here's to a wonderful next 6 months...