The Basement is Finished!!

Our basement is finally completed and we couldn't be happier about it! It's been crazy around here the past few weeks, what with all of our stuff that used to be in the basement now scattered throughout the house, mostly in the family room. I can't wait to get re-organized! 

Now the basement is truly a room I will enjoy spending time in; it is no longer a dungeon that makes me feel dirty. Scootie won't be scared of it and we don't feel bad making guests sleep there anymore!  Now we just need to get it all set up again. 

Wise Owl's Halloween Parade

Hannah's parade was this morning. She dressed up as Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty. Notice the same veil that Shiloah wore yesterday, and yet another ratty dress-up dress. But, boy did Hannah feel beautiful! She WAS Aurora, she didn't just wear a costume and pretend to be Aurora. No, she became another person entirely. "No, Mommy, I am Aurora. You forgot." Instead of smiling and waving like the other kids, she acted quite demure, tilting her head slightly to the side and making a very dramatic expression on her face while every so slightly swishing her dress from side to side. It was very sweet.

You may also notice that she is the smallest person in her class -- there's even one student who weighs almost 20 pounds more than her and is a whole head taller than her! We are so proud of our sweet little girl!

Busy Bee's Halloween Parade

Shiloah was the ratty kid today. She just really wanted to wear this little ratty dress-up dress and a veil. It's her favorite thing and she felt so beautiful in it! Her official title for Halloween was "A Princess Bride," but in reality it was just a bunch of priss all together in one outfit. But, because her outfit was so moderate, she was able to wear the dress for the rest of the day. None of the other kids could say that! All that we cared about was that she felt beautiful. We were so proud of our little sweetie.

Our neighborhood

We live in a really unique area of Roanoke. It's inside the city limits, yet feels like a neighborhood and has a wonderful market area that we can walk to. There are two grocery stores, lots of restaurants, a dance theatre (where Hannah takes ballet), a pharmacy and several playgrounds. We love it! We take lots of walks, and now that it's Halloween, there are lots of fun houses to look at. The best one is the house with the witch that got stuck on the door. A close second is the house with the big giant inflatable spiders on the roof.

The basement

We are in the process of having our basement renovated. Here are the before pics. We can't wait to post the afters! Right now we're waiting on the City Inspectors to come and look at to give us the go ahead for the next portion.

Cookies

Shiloah and I made some cookies together the other day. She helped by rolling them in the sugar -- to which I would sing, "Let me see you sugar roll!" (to the tune of "Tootsie Roll") She liked that. It was actually quite helpful, she did a really good job! I didn't even have to correct or supplement her work. And she was so proud of herself. Now if she would just poop on the potty.

My little assistant

This is Norah's newest favorite thing to do. It is also the main reason why I stock my cabinets with Vinegar spray and push the other things way in the back.

She also has taken to walking by holding onto the back of my pants right around my knees. She likes to walk when I walk, which means I have to walk very slowly. It is very cute and sweet, just not very efficient.