Norah is 2 today

If you see Norah today and ask her how old she is, she will exclaim "two!". She might also ask you to sing "Happy Bir-day". She has changed so much in the last two weeks, let alone 2 years. Just last week she started saying "No" - A LOT. And she's developed more love for "the Daddy," an answer to prayer.
We had her birthday party at The Wonder Place last Saturday. It was a huge success. We had many of Norah's dear friends come and Grandparents came too. Here are some pictures of the day.

Laura Beth, Norah, Abbie

Grandma, Vicki, Grampa

Little Picassos

Norah was more interested in eating cake than opening gifts.

LEED

I have had requests for further explanation of the test I am studying for. It is called the LEED AP exam. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The LEED Green Building Rating System was established by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) as a benchmark that allows buildings to be certified as "green". If I pass the exam I will be recognized as a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP). I have wanted to to this for a while, but haven't been able to find the time. When my boss told us that he would pay for the exam and the study materials, I couldn't pass it up. That's the good news.

The bad news is that it is a very difficult exam. It is closed book, and the current passing rate is only 34%. It gets worse. The LEED rating system is changing in 2009 (the exact date has not been disclosed) and the exam is expected to get more difficult as a result. The worst part is that if I don't pass the exam before the format changes, I will have to order new study materials at my own expense. Speaking of expense, the exam costs $300 and I only expect my boss to pay for the first test.

I can schedule the test on any day I choose, and I plan to take it in early December. If everything goes well, I will have studied about 60 hours by then. I am nervous about it because there is so much memorization required, which is not my strong suit. Please pray that I pass the test the first time, and that my relationship with Erica and Norah doesn't suffer as a result of all the time spent studying. Norah is beginning to grow out of her mommy phase, and our time together has been better than ever. She runs to me when I get home from work and always wants me around. No test is worth giving that up. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Happy 90th Birthday, Mama Sue

Finley's Grandmother (his Dad's mom) celebrated her 90th birthday in September of this year. We all dressed up and headed to the Country Club to honor her. I know I am late with this post, but I wanted to recongize Finley's kind and generous Mama Sue.

The Pumpkin Patch

I just got my daughter down for a nap, a challenge lately, and I wanted to catch up on the happenings here in the Vinson Family. I started scrapbooking yesterday and did 5 pages. I really like it. And it will work out well because Finley is studying for his LED Certification (or something like that). The certification will allow him to build Green buildings - not the color, he can already do those. After we put Norah to bed, we both sit at the kitchen table and do our projects.

I imagine that you can tell that the topic of this blog is supposed to have something to do with pumpkins, not scrapbooking or LED certification. We went to the pumpkin patch in Cabot with my Dad and Malika. Norah calls them Nana and Dow (for Granddad). Norah especially liked driving the old car, riding on the hayride and visiting the "amnals"

The Pumpkin she and Nana picked out

Norah and Dow

The Hayride

The Fair

We went to the fair on Friday night with free tickets and $25.

Parking = $5

Petting Animals = Free

Funnel Cake = $6

Norah's First Carousel Ride = $5

Norah's 2nd Carousel Ride = $5

Game and Resulting Stuffed Duck = $3

We made it home with $1 to spare!

Hobby Lobby

Norah enjoys songs with motions. Her current favorite is "The Wheels on the Bus". A few weeks ago, her favorite was "If Your Happy and You Know It". She is so cute when she puts her little pointer fingers on her cheeks and wiggles her fingers during the phrase, "if you're happy and you know it then your face will really show it" (I'm sure you can picture it).
We have gone to Hobby Lobby a few time in the last 2 weeks (first because I was considering making her birthday cake then for scrapbooking supplies). She loved it. She loved the pumpkins, the ghosts, the turkeys, etc. She even started asking to go to Hobby Lobby. I noticed that she started putting her pointer fingers to her cheeks and wiggling her fingers when she said it. I then realized she was calling it "Happy, Happy." No wonder she never wants to leave. I bet she's wondering why we don't go to Happy, Happy all the time.

Shoes for Mama Sue

Finley's Grandmother, Mama Sue, suggested that I take pictures of Norah's shoes. She saved some of her children's shoes, but time did not treat them well. They look more like some sort of jerky than foot apparel. So here are Norah's shoes for the the season. Actually, she had these pink ones last year, too. I liked them so much I bought them again (I wonder why my child isn't so keen on change).

We actually had some like these last year too. Hmmm . . .

Well, I got these shoes on a cute little on-line retailer, http://www.thebabyhabit.com/, that ended up being in Springdale, AR. Free shipping and parents finding a way to spend more time with their kids - I'm hooked.

Frog in a Ball

Norah received this ball from her Grandma Kathy about a year ago on her first trip to Florida. Recently, she has been really bothered that a frog (a "bit") is in the ball.

Norah: Ball?

Mom: Do you want your froggy ball?

Norah: Uh-Oh

Mom: You don't want your frog ball?

Norah: Bit. Uh-Oh. Bit. Uh-Oh. Uh-Oh. (shaking head "no" emphatically). Ouch. Ouch.

I've put the ball away.

Welcome Autumn

Norah and I have new jeans.

(although I'm not putting a picture of my backside on the blog)

Her grandmother will be very proud.

The Littlest Car Washer

Norah had her first car washing experience the other day. She did really well. She didn't even put her rag on the ground once (Daddy's rule). We are going to wash cars at our church's Faith In Action Sunday, October 12th. (http://www.putyourfaithinaction.org/)

If you'd like to join us washing cars for the residents of the apartments by our church or if you'd like a FREE car wash, we'd love to have you! And Norah will make sure everyone has a VERY clean patch on their driver side doors!

Erica's Pre-Birthday

We went to the Bar and The Capital Hotel and had appetizers for dinner

We had fun taking pictures. I think Finley looks so handsome here.

A tourist from the Netherlands took this picture. He was with
a group here in the States studying the election. They
looked so chic and European. It made me want to
move to Europe - or buy a scarf.

This is the next morning. We went to the opening of the
Mosaic Templar's Building in Little Rock. Finley developed
the site, so we were invited to a breakfast. I was SO impressed
with the museum and look forward to going back. There is a
map displaying deaths of African Americans by lynching.
It was a heart-wrenching!

Downtown "Pool"

We went to the new downtown park the other day to play at the "pool." Right now, all bodies of water are pools - the river, the lake, the sprinker, the pool. She enjoys watching the syncronized sprinklers and the kids running through them. We have gone three times now, and she still spends most of her time on the sidelines. She will occasionaly touch the water, with parental coaxing. At the end of the day, we are much wetter than she is!!

Abbie is trying to lead Norah into the water.

She finds a puddle that is more to her liking.
(Finley explained the drainage flaw that created this puddle.
Suprisingly, Norah was not bothered)

Here she is at the end of our 2 hour visit. DRY!

Home alone(ish)

The weekend before last, Erica went to the lake with some friends. Norah and I were on our own for nearly 48 hours, a new record for us. Saturday was particularly eventful. Here is a brief(ish) synopsis.

On Saturday morning Jeff Killingsworth called and invited us to the zoo with his girls Laura Beth and Abbie. Admission was free that day, and Norah was very excited about going to see the animals and her friends. We arrived at the zoo and were greeted by a 389,578 razorback fans. The entrance to the zoo was blocked by a large woman with a sour face who informed me that the zoo parking lot was closed. When I inquired about the “free” zoo day she said “admission is free, but you’ve got to pay $20 for parking”. It’s worth mentioning at this point that zoo admission is normally $8 for adults and $6 for children. I hope that you don’t need a calculator to understand why I was more than a little frustrated. It didn‘t help that I didn‘t even have $20. My father has always been frustrated with me for not carrying cash, I guess I should have listened to him. After failing to bribe the parking attendant with a $25 best buy gift card, I fought traffic back across the highway and managed to slip under the yellow caution tape at an abandoned restaurant that had recently been repaved.

We arrived at the zoo after a ½ mile walk past the empty parking lot. I was sure that the Killingsworths had bailed on the whole thing at this point, but the two of us still had a good time. The best part was the lion exhibit. There was only a plexiglass wall that separated us from a couple of very large lions. I watched Norah walk over towards a full grown lioness that was standing only inches away from the glass. After staring at one another for a few moments, Norah then put her hands on the glass and gave the lion a kiss. It was awesome.

Despite having a great time at the zoo, Norah was disappointed about not getting to see her friends, so I was determined to keep the second half of my promise. I called Jeff and agreed to let him plan the evening, thinking that if his girls were having fun, Norah would be too. With great power comes great responsibility. He took us to Chuck E. Cheese. Holy crap, I am never going there again. I cannot find the words to describe how horrible is was. When we finally escaped, Jeff took us to Chili’s. Keep in mind it was Saturday night. Two dads, three kids, one recipe for disaster. After Abbey threw up, Jeff announced that we were leaving for Tunica. Next time, I am planning the evening. Norah and I both agree that it’s very good to have Mommy back.

Norah returned to Mother's Day Out this week. She is going 2 days a week, 10 hours total. I am having to talk myself into taking her, just like I did last year. I love having 10 hours to run errands (without my sweet toddler) and clean the house, but I have a tendency to feel guilty for various reasons (the money and the time away from Norah mostly). But I always come to the same conclusions. First and most importantly, I am a better wife and mother when I have some time to reorganize and restore. And second, Norah likes it. She walked right in her classroom and started doing a puzzle. So, I will choose to enjoy this time and pray that God blesses Norah's time away from "Baba."

Labor Day

Erica, Norah, and I just got back from Disney, OK. Never heard of it? I hadn't either. It is a small town on Grand Lake where uncle Kevin and aunt Henri bought a lake house a few years ago. Almost the whole family (Kevin, Henri, Sam, Jake, Joe, Gramps, Grams, Mom, Peter, and us) spent the weekend swimming, tubing, eating and having fun. The best part was that "the boys" (Sam, Jake, and Joe) were wonderfully sweet to Norah and she had a great time playing with them. I miss them already, and can't wait to go back. Norah is still recovering...

Feeding the Duck

This morning, Norah was playing outside. She picked up her duck watering can and said, "quack, quack, eat." She opened the door, walked to Kya's food and began "feeding" the duck. I convinced her to feed the duck food from her kitchen (you know ducks love grapes and onions, right?).

We bought her this cute little kitchen a couple of month ago. She was just taking the food out and putting it back in until the Killingsworths came over. LB and Abbie showed her how to "cook" and bring her creations to us for approval. She will bring us a bowl and spoon, try to put the spoon in our mouths, and saw "mmm." I am excited to see her beginning imaginary play.

Mommy's Helper

Norah caught me cleaning the toilets last week. She loved the big brush I was using, and I let her help. Since then, she has been wanting to clean the toilets - leisurely. I eventually started telling her that we could not clean the toilets whenever she wanted. Well this morning, I was putting on my make-up. And Norah walked past me and to the toilet. She proceeded to "clean" the toilet with her hairbrush. How do you clean a hairbrush after that?

Aloha

I keep this bowl of leis on the coffee table in the "formal living room", a.k.a. Norah's play room. She loves bringing them for me to put on, though she will not put them on herself because they are itchy.

When Finley came home for lunch yesterday, Norah met him at the door with a lei. She put it around his neck, like he was entering Honolulu, instead of our entry. She continued to bring him all the leis. And when she ran out of flowers, he got a cat, a dog and a bear. Gosh, she is sweet!

Picasa

NORAH.NORAH.NORAH.NORAH

I have always loved those Andy Warhol pictures of Marilyn Monroe in a variety of colors. And thanks to computer programing, Mr. Warhol's genuis has been brought into my living room. Finley's been asking me to try Picasa for months, at least. I have, and I'm hooked.

Blackberry Picking

We went to Cabot at the end of June to visit my Dad while gathering some fresh blackberries and vegetables. Norah got some training in blackberry picking.

She loves being outdoors and really enjoyed looking around Dad and Malika's garden.

Granddad taught Norah to pick the black ones not the red ones.

She got the hang of it!

And Finley taught Norah to eat while picking.