Anti-Vampire Tacos

Before I move on to the subject of Hailey's pre-school conference, I thought I might lighten my mood a bit with a few of the more recent Hailey stories.

No Vampire Halloween

Let's start with Halloween. I completely forgot in my last post to mention what Hailey wore this year for a Halloween costume. For a long time, she was insistent on being a vampire...until she sat on my lap while I was surfing the web for kids costumes. That is when we ran into this beauty of an outfit....

Spider Girl!

It was the essential blend of kick-butt action hero mixed with sweet pink girliness that defines my daughter perfectly *note the black shoes which I believe are on the wrong feet*. This was the first year she really understood what Halloween was about...candy. In fact, one of the first houses we went to, she didn't yell "Trick-or Treat"...she jumped up and down and said "Candy, Candy, Candy". Yep, that's my girl...gets right to the heart of things. It has been decided that her favorite types of candy are: suckers, (and if they have gum inside them...all the better), red licorice and "Eh-Ems" (M&M's in Hailey-speak).

Vampire Boyfriend

Shortly after Halloween, our next story took place. This involves her continuing obsession with our friend's' 15 year old son...Conner. One evening, Hailey and I were relaxing on the couch with her magnetic drawing board. As she so often does...she asked me to draw a picture of her and Conner. This time, Conner was dressed as a vampire and Hailey as Spider Girl....with hearts all around them. As she took over possession of the board - in order to color in Conner's vampire cape - she announced to me that Conner is her boyfriend. I laughed a little at that statement. She paid no attention to me and again told herself that Conner was indeed her boyfriend. When I continued to laugh...she stopped drawing, looked me square in the eye and with the most serious expression I have seen on her face said to me.... "OH...he WILL be mine!" I almost fell off the couch I was laughing so hard. I suppose it is good to have goals in life.

Our last story...oddly enough...also involves vampires. Hmmm...

Anti-Vampire Taco
I mentioned in my last post that our former daycare provider, Jamie, just had her own baby. After her birth, I signed up to deliver a meal to them for their first week. I decided to make a chicken broccoli braid (a la Pampered Chef). Nathan and I were making 2 of them (one for us as well) when Hailey pulled up a stool to help. She didn't quite understand the braiding of the bread, so she asked if we were making a taco...sure...rather than try to explain what we were really doing, we went with it and told her - "Yep its a taco".

She leaned in for a closer look... then announced that it 'was stinky'. I told her "Oh, that's the garlic you smell"... to which Nathan responded "Hailey, garlic keeps away vampires!" This made Hailey very happy and she declared the meal was now a "No Vampire Taco!" ...thus, the Anti-Vampire Taco was born!

Once we finished the braid for Seth and Jamie, I put a note with cooking instructions on it and put it in the freezer. After the second one was done being braided, Hailey decided she needed to put a note on our taco as well. I found a post-it-note and pencil and Hailey dictated the words as she was 'writing'....

"Dear Family -
This is a no vampire taco.

Which is good.

Mom, I love you.

Dad, have a good day.

-Love Hailey.

The vampires are running away now."

Take THAT vampires!! There will be NO vampires in our house - except for Conner of course.

Moving Past Autumn Already...

It's been a while since my last post...a long while....

OK... so I haven't posted anything for almost 3 months. HEY! They were 3 really busy months!

My personal time has freed up a bit, so let me catch you all up to date on all things Hailey and beyond.

First of all, Nathan got a new job... well... kind of a new job. Same company, just a 'forced, lateral job shift'. So, this past summer/fall have been a little tense. We really didn't know what was coming. While we were pretty confident he would keep his job...we didn't know for sure. Life is now on firmer ground. The whole family is still getting used to a new schedule, but things are less chaotic and we are finding our rhythm again.

For myself... things have been moving along much as they ever have. I worked with my former high school's marching band again this fall, but I have signed off on doing winter guard for them permanently. Last year was just too stressful. I have decided to start taking better care of myself and (with Nathan's job change) I need to be home more for my family. A quick back problem and short prescription for physical therapy confirmed that I need to focus a little more on my health for my family and myself.

In other news.....Nathan and I hosted our first official 'family holiday' at our home. In the past, we have had guests over for birthday parties and pumpkin carvings. However, this was the first time that we fed more than just a few people in a traditional sit down meal. Being the fearless souls that we are, our first try at a holiday meal was....*drumroll*... Thanksgiving! All of the Yosts were there, the meal was good, the company was great and I think a tradition may have been born. I did learn a few things..

#1. Having the timer for the turkey go off and no one has arrived yet is very stressful (i.e. put the turkey in an hour later).

#2. While olives are not a big hit with the Yost family, mixed nuts are.

#3. Hailey loves canned cranberry jelly.

Speaking of my little Hailey Bug...

When I last left you, Hailey was headed off to pre-school for the first time...you may be wondering how that is coming along. I can honestly say that I am very happy with the choice we made, and I have certainly made peace with my baby moving on to a more structured school environment.

We all still miss Jamie a lot, but earlier this month, she gave birth to her own baby girl. Now she has a little 'Lizzy Bug' of her own!! We couldn't be happier for her and Seth, no couple deserves a family more, they are going to be great parents.

Back to Hailey...

I'd like to say she is thriving at pre-school, but that wouldn't be 100% honest. What I can say is that she is definitely growing and learning. She can now write the first letter in her name, and I have seen her attempting the second one. At home, we have been trying to support what she is learning at school. We work with her pen/pencil skills by doing mazes with her at night.

Her memory is improving as well - she can recall her day with much more clarity and with a larger vocabulary. The problems we had with her colors are a thing of the past... plus she has learned so much about the world around her (the other day she announced that her favorite dinosaur was a 'ceretops' - and that it had 'bunny ears').

School has been teaching her so much more than just her ABC's. It has been wonderful to read about the things she has learned and to see it reflected in her behaviours. She gets music classes, she is keeping a journal...and...we just signed her up for ballet classes that take place during her school day (which, much to her mother's happiness, she is enjoying).

However, Hailey is having her struggles as well...socially. I just had my very first parent/teacher conference (no...I did not get called in specifically) and my little girl has issues she needs to sort out. I will discuss this topic further in my next blog entry...my feelings are too lengthy to tack on to this already long post. All I will say is that even at the age of 4, we are now fully immersed in the 'girl social culture' that I fear we will be caught in for a long...long...time.

There...you are pretty much caught up with all the 'goings-on' of the past several months in my household. Now you will be better prepared for the upcoming topics of parent/teacher talks, dinosaur ballerinas and anti-vampire tacos.

I bet you can't wait.....