It was pumpkin carving time at the Kaiser house yesterday evening. We each came with a pumpkin, an artistic idea and a sharp knife. Ok. So some of us came armed with just a spoon for scooping but you get the idea.
The before picture
Elise had previously picked out a small, knobby pumpkin.
Scooping seeds
Elise directed Daddy on her design idea.
Elise's pumpkin
Elise looks quite happy with her final jack-o-lantern.
Here's our finished project.... Ok. Just kidding
These are our pumpkins. Whatever one you like the best... is the one I did. Ha!
Later that evening, Daddy and Elise made pumpkin seeds.
Getting ready for the oven...
It takes a long time when you are excited about your snack! The final product was definitely worth the wait.
Now we just have to wait until tomorrow night to see our pumpkins in their full glory.
Welcome fall! Thank you for providing all your crunchy and colorful leaves to throw and to collect!
Elise collected all of these special leaves herself. Here she is smiling and showing
them off. The criteria included: large leaves, leaves with green, leaves with red,
or just leaves that were funny looking. They are all piled up on top of a
few beloved plastic animals: a sheep and a cat.
We upgraded Elise's outdoor toys to a Radioflyer tricycle. She is just learning to become an efficient peddler so we opted to get the one with a removable handle so we can provide assistance over bumpy sidewalks or up hills. After an evening of trying it out inside the house, Elise's bike was 'deemed' outdoor ready. We just love this old vintage look! So far, it's a hit and it will get a lot of use before the snow flies....
Riding our tricycle to the grocery store. Too bad there isn't
a basket to haul back the groceries.
On our way home. We almost made the entire trip... Elise wore out the last half block.
Elise has been a busy girl for the past six weeks. She's been taking an infant rescue swimming course. It is amazing what she has been learning!
Walking off stairs to swim to Cindy
The class she is taking is through ISR. Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) is a nationally recognized swimming program for infants and young children (6 months through 6 years). Drowning ranks as the leading cause of accidental death among children- #1 for children 1-3 years old. How scary is that?! I like to think that we will always be with Elise when she is around water, but accidents happen. In the event she would slip into the water, she now has the skills to save herself.
One of our first few lessons...
Before we started, Elise just knew she enjoyed the water but couldn't swim. Now she can hold her breath underwater, swim with her head down, roll onto her back to float, rest and breath; then roll back over to resume swimming until she reaches the side of the pool and crawl out. All of this she could do if she happened to slip into the water on her own.
Learning the back float.
Each lesson was one-on-one with our instructor, Cindy Favorite. We have met 5 days a week for 10 minutes each day. Did I mention we did this for six weeks?!? While it's been a time commitment, it sure was worth all the hard work.
At the end of the session, we spent a day completing the sequence wearing a life preserver, a day wearing summer clothes (with shoes), and a day wearing winter clothes. Afterall, 80% of children who fall into the water are fully clothed.
After swimming in our 'summer' clothes... shoes and all.
Elise is posing with Eliza Hebeka- who took classes after us.
Swimming in 'winter clothes'. Notice the hood and shoes.
Elise's last day of class.
To complete the class she had to hold a back float by
herself for 30 seconds. Frankly she could float for
30 minutes. Maybe she can teach me how to do this!
'One more'. Elise is into counting now and tries to bargain
how many times she does things... including bites of food, time outs, and swimming
off the steps. The other day I told her she would get a time out
if she continued what she was was doing. She responded that she would
like 'Two timeouts'. Some things are not worth negotiating Elise! Haha!
Practicing swimming to a pool bar.
Dressed after the last lesson
Good work Elise! We are proud of you!
We will return for 'refresher' classes throughout the year. This will accommodate for Elise's growth and to keep her confidence level up. In another year, as she grows and become stronger, Cindy will teach her actual swimming strokes. The four-year old who had the lesson before us looked like an Olympic swimmer! As long as Elise continues to love the water, we will continue to play with Cindy.
Ok, this is a small video I took off my phone. Sorry it's not the best and you may want to turn down the volume on your computer as I cheer (loudly) at the end! This is from one of the last swimming classes where Elise shows us that she can swim, flip to float and rest and then flip back to swimming. In the horrible event she would fall into the water, she would repeat this over and over until she finds a way out...
If you want to see professional videos, check out www.infantswim.com or www.youtube.com (search: infant rescue swim-- they have some amazing videos with little, little kids!) Please pass this information along to other families who may benefit from these classes! We now have some piece of mind! I don't mean for this last paragraph to sounds like a commercial but I honestly feel like other kids would benefit from learning these skills!!!
The local Lutheran church hosted a community fall festival this past Sunday. Since we are lucky to live in town, it was only a few blocks walk. The weather was perfect!
At the festival they had a free barbecue, horse drawn wagon, pumpkin painting, games, bouncy house and face painting. A friendly church member, Jerry, painted on Elise's face. There were dozens of Halloween/fall choices to pick but Elise picked a spider. If you recall, she loves spiders.
Getting our face painted
I wonder if Elise was the only toddler to request having a large
tarantula painted on her face? She sure looks happy
with the final result!
My favorite picture of the day
Elise modeling her new 'sunglasses' she won playing games at the
festival. She's in her pajamas under the red heat light in her bathroom...
hence the red glow. Gotta love old homes!
Here are the same 'sunglasses' worn in the previous picture. Wait! I guess
they aren't sunglasses at all but rather a plastic pumpkin box! Ironically
a spider ring was hidden inside. How appropriate!
People ask me if Elise still sleeps with that big plastic spider. The answer is 'Yes'. She refers to her as Betty Web (ironically named after Jeff's Aunt Betty Webb... but with 2 b's!). Unfortunately she's lost 2 legs within the past year but we love her just the same.
Elise has officially been on her first vacation- flew on her first airplane- stayed in her first hotel- and attended her first wedding... all thanks to her Uncle Kevin and her new Aunt Rachel and new cousin Amelie.
On the Thursday before the big festivity, we boarded our Delta flight in Detroit- bound for Baltimore. Elise wasn't interested in sitting near the window but found all the new (and old) books that mommy had packed to be the most fun. Of course the snacks helped too (Daddy had bought a cookie as a treat). After a trip to the bathroom, complete with turbulence while Elise was sitting on the potty and I was smashed against the door (praying I wouldn't touch anything... yep, germ-phobe!), we landed.
Right now everyone is sizing us up and saying' I hope they don't sit by us!'
This is a dark picture but truly, Elise read by herself almost the entire flight!
Yes, we didn't exactly nap while in town but our little girl did well under the circumstances. We now can laugh (well, almost) that on the one day she did fall deep asleep during naptime, a fire alarm went off in the hotel and we had to evacuate. Of course by the time we trucked down the stairs, we learned it was only a false alarm.
Elise and I at the Inner Harbor
Our first wedding festivity was the rehearsal dinner thrown by Nana and Pops at the Dogwood. While we enjoyed Beef Short Ribs and Catfish, Elise snacked on Chicken fingers and mac n'cheese. Yummy menu. But, Elise thought the pears (used as the gift-- 'The perfect pair') were the best. She ate three..
Elise checking out her new outfit before leaving
Here we are minus one pigtail.
Grandma, Elise and Grandpa
Nana's toast for the couple-- 'It's about the small, everyday stuff that makes a relationship'. How true!
Jeff, thanks for pouring my coffee every morning :)
Nana and Elise
Amelie with her mustache
Jeff and Uncle Kevin. Nice mustaches! So handsome.
Grandpa, Uncle Rik, and Uncle Steve
The next day was the wedding day! The ceremony was beautiful and we were able to keep Elise quiet with Nana's ipad... Desperate times call for desperate matters! I can't say that I am happy we had to bring along electronics to make it through the ceremony but a toddler doesn't really understand the concept of 'No talking'. Right before the ceremony started, Elise shouted 'More music!' when the pianist took a break between songs. So, that's when we knew we had to take matters into our own hands.
Look at the shock on Elise's face when I said there isn't any talking during the ceremony!
The new Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Nilsson
But, not to worry, the reception was the place for Elise to get out some of her energy... and enjoy the music. Enjoy the music she did! The girl danced for over 3-hours (no exaggeration!!!) straight on the dance floor. While she refused to eat her dinner (dancing calls!!), we weren't too worried as she filled up on popcorn and snacks beforehand. We kept her hydrated by bringing her water on the dance floor. Did I mention she likes to dance?!?
Pre-dancing popcorn snack with Daddy
Nana and Pops
Uncle Steve, Aunt Dawn, Alexis, and Stephen
The head table
Brother and Sis
Here we are wondering if Elise will really
dance all night long!
Us cousins
Rachel, Kevin, Pops, Me, and Nana
Just a dancing blur
Early on in the evening... before the sweater came off
and Elise turned into a 'sweat head'.
After a late night of dancing, we headed back to the hotel for a good nights rest. When Elise woke the next morning, her first words were 'More dancing'. What fun we had!
There was something stinky on the plane ride home
The tiny dancer heading home
Finally home. Not looking too bad even though we skipped a nap. Little did
we know but Elise would sleep 13-14 hours a night for the next
