Trick or Treat - Halloween Fun!

Just a few shots of the Stupsky's annual pumpkin carving! Teagan was able to show Nolan the ropes this year!!

BOO!!

Then the big day finally came! Teagan and friends took on the neighborhood and collected all the sugar they possibly could! Nolan was just a spectator this year - but watch out next year!

Then our little devil came back and handed out candy to the big kids who were still trekking through the neighborhood!

Missy Pissy Pond

For the past 11 years Ryan and I have lived within miles of the Mississippi River. First, near St. Louis, MO on the Illinois side of the river and then now in Minnesota - just a mere mile from our home. We usually pay no attention to it but today as we drove across the bridge on our way home we pointed out the Mighty Mississippi to Teagan. What a great learning experience for a child - living near the banks of a very historic river.

We pointed out that the River is now flowing again - no ice; winter is O-V-E-R!! Teagan gasped and said "Mommy, what was that?! I just saw something in the Missy Pissy Pond!"

I'm not sure what she saw - it took all my might not to break into hysterical laughter! Maybe tomorrow, if we head that way, I'll take a closer look to see what she saw in the Missy Pissy Pond!!

One word makes a big difference...

While in Marquette over Christmas we had the opportunity to enjoy an evening at Teagan's Great Grandma (GG) and Great Grandpa's house for dinner. It was a full-house with 9 of us there to enjoy a wonderful ham dinner (my favorite)! This was the first time, in a very long time that Teagan had visited GG's and she found it rather fascinating to explore the house that Poppy grew up in. By far she enjoyed the laundry chute in the bathroom and tossed down rolls of toilet paper and towels to unsuspecting people below. While she enjoyed this the rest of us enjoyed the hilarious-ness that ensued over dinner.

As a good mom should, I made Teagan's plate so all the food was perfectly placed and the perfect temperature by the time she made it to the table. Because of this, Teagan was able to get the first bite of dinner before any of us were even sitting down. As I pulled out my chair to sit beside her I hear her say something that sounds a lot like;

"This tastes like crap!"

What?!?!

She doesn't know that word?! Don't get me wrong I know kids pick up words from all over the place but I'm really confident she doesn't know it and even if she did, it's so unlikely that she would use it correctly in a sentence the first time she tests her new vocabulary on us!!

I was horrified but the looks on the rest of the faces varied from puzzled to 'I'm really trying hard not to laugh'. Meanwhile I am searching her plate to see what I would have given her that she didn't like. I spotted the unlikely cultprit - a spoonful of Ranch dressing. It was then that it dawned on me and I said "What did you say?" and she repeated it again…

"This tastes like Kraft"

Ohhhhh--- now it makes sense! For months I was throwing away bottles of Ranch dressing because she said it tasted bad and then one day she says "Mommy, can you ask Ms. Theresa (daycare) what kind she buys- I really like hers!" Turns out little miss finicky will only eat Hidden Valley Ranch Lite and don't try to pull a fast one on her - she knows the difference.

So all through dinner we're having this conversation about Ranch dressing. GG thinks it was Hidden Valley - but she threw the bottle away after she put the dressing into the serving dish. Teagan politely asks "What color was the top - because Kraft is blue and Hidden Valley is green - I only like the green." So now, we're all really curious and after dinner GG pulls the bottle, with it's blue top, out of the garbage and shows Teagan. This little 4-year old Ranch conniseur smiles and says "See, I told you it was Kraft".

Morale of the story - speak your words clearly and never try to tell Teagan she's wrong about Ranch dressing.

30 is the new 80

So yesterday we're sitting at the dinner table and Ryan just has to remind me that I have a birthday coming up! Teagan didn't miss a beat when she asks "Mommy, how many will you be?" To which I respond - 25 - definitely a lie, but it's only a small doesn't hurt anyone kind of lie. This is where it gets really interesting...

Teagan proceeds to tell me "how many" I'll be in the next few consecutive years:

"Then you'll be 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - " she pauses, takes a deep breath and says "Oh, and then you'll be thirty and that's how old a grandma is..."

I'm dumbfounded but Ryan seems to think this is the funniest thing and he's very proud of his daughter for being so innocently funny yet clueless to the fact that I've spent the past several years of my (and her) life over the 'old' age of 30.

As I leave the table I begin to wonder if the small, doesn't hurt anyone kind of lie worked to my advantage. I'm thinking not, but it did provide some dinner time fodder, at my expense.

Next stop - The 30 year old home!!