December Round Up

Oh, it's been a little while since I've posted, hasn't it. (Statement, not a question.) Well, my beloved Min turned 8 years old today, and we celebrated by taking her to get her ears pierced. We also got her doll Emily's ears pierced ($14 at your local American Girl store).

We also celebrated by hosting a sleepover party, complete with a penguin cake (Min's request). Tell me those hand decorated Oreos look like penguins. Don't they? Sort of? Well, Margot was happy with them.

Of course, there have been other celebrations this month. For example, Min visited Santa. And following this visit, he brought her three coveted items on Christmas morning: a sewing kit, a digital camera, and personalized writing paper. Lucky girl!

Happy Halloween 2012!

What a fantastic Halloween! We found the 'good' block in our neighborhood for trick or treating this year. And by 'good,' I mean it had all of the following: pate, alcoholic beverages for the parents, a cotton candy machine for the kids, an Obama sighting (Malia, not Barack), and people who take their yard decorations very, very seriously.

Margot gathered candy with a pack of her friends and never lost steam. She really has grown up quite a bit. The weather was perfect: chilly but not freezing.

Here are some photos from the day:

Margot and Portia, in costume.

Margot and her cowgirl pal at the school parade.

(Seriously, cotton candy!?! Way to set the bar against the measly peanut M&M!)

2012 Pumpkins

Behold, the 2012 Ruland pumpkins! Mine is the one in the middle. Margot's is on the right.

Zombie Apocalypse

Margot and her friend Leah, showing their vampire teeth at today's Fall Festival.

Tomorrow is our annual pumpkin carving contest...stay tuned!

Natitude

Last night we were fortunate enough to have tickets to see the Nationals play the Cardinals in game 5 of the division playoffs. Margot was generally excited to go to the game. She's not a baseball lover (let's face it, I'm the only baseball fan in the family) but she liked the idea of staying up late and eating treats at the stadium.

We arrived and everyone was in great spirits.

And the game was off to a great start! The Nats took an early lead and I felt confident we would be part of Washington baseball history.

And then that lead started disappearing. One run here. Two runs there. But then the Nats got an insurance run in the eighth inning. I was so sure that they'd win and I could show Margot how awesome baseball is when you're a winner. By the eighth inning, by the way, she was miserable. She was cold, and exhausted, and crabby. She wanted to go home. There was zero chance I was going to miss the end of the game. I told her about how exciting it would be to watch all the players pile onto each other when they won the game and moved onto the league playoffs. I told her how fun the Metro ride back would be - like a party! This was going to unite Washington! She'd be part of history!

And then they blew it. And I wanted to cry. And she was left wondering what all the fuss is about.

I hope I haven't ruined her chances to ever truly love baseball. There's always next year.