Riley Book Drive

For my second birthday, I started doing an annual book drive for Riley Children's Hospital. That first year, I donated 500 books to the library there in memory of a little friend, Robert, who lost his battle with ALL Leukemia at the young age of 7.

When I had my third birthday, I did the drive again, but didn't have too many books given to me. Mommy & I decided to hang on to those books and collect more for a larger donation at a later date.

For my fourth birthday, and leading up to it, we ended up collecting a nice amount of books. There was a bit of a delay on our drop off but the hospital was grateful, none the less, with our arrival this week. :O)

This is me outside the hospital Tuesday.

We didn't count the books this time, but we FILLED a flat-bed dolly cart with boxes and bags of books. The man from the library explained to us that the books that they do not need for the actual library shelves will be put on carts throughout the hospital as a part of the Half Pint Library. The families in the hospital are welcome to take books from the carts for FREE, encouraging literacy.

Now that's COOL!!! :O)




Mommy didn't blog when I was 2, so here are some flashback photos for you. :O)



This is me in front of the hospital in 2006.





Here's another one.
Wasn't I cute. :o)



This is the pile of books that I donated the first time.

I donated about this many this time too. YEA!!!

This photo was actually in the paper.



FYI: I plan on doing this again. If and when you have some new or gently used books, I'll happily take them off your hands for the "sick kids". It seems like such a great thing go do, and a great way to honor Robert's memory.

P.S.

Don't you think I've grown a LOT!!! Mommy keeps saying that I'm "growing like a weed" and that she wants to put a brick on my head to keep me little. heeheehee I think she's silly. :o)

A funny photo

My Grammie got me this egghead smasher. I guess you can use it for scrambled eggs and other things fun to smash.
I helped mommy make mashed potatoes and I had fun smashing them more at dinner. :o)

Thanks Grammie!!!
Oh, did you know that I licked chicken feet. LOL!!!

How else do you think I got the potatoes off. :O) heeheehee

(and yes, it was movie night. for movie nights, we eat on the living room floor. ;o)

Dipped Pretzels

My Auntie Missy made pretzels like this and I thought they looked like fun.

I was right. :o) Look what I did with my own 2 hands!!!

I had to test one for quality assurance.

They're GOOD!!! ;o)

When I got done, mama let me lick the spoon. YEAH!!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...................don't you want some. :O)


Maybe if you're good, I'll make you some for Christmas. ;o)

Shadow's Doughnut

We went to the petstore and got Shadow a toy that he's not supposed to be able to break.

Well, he's giving it his all to break it, let me tell you. lol

By the checkout, I spotted these doggie biscuit doughnuts. I wanted to get him one as a welcome home present. Here I am giving it to him.

Hmmmm.....he's checking it out.

YEA!!! I think he likes it. :O)

YUMMY!!!!!!!!! lol

My little Jade has relocated to the upstairs since Shadow's arrival. Despite several introductions, they have decided to not be the best of friends. :o/

When mommy was at the goodwill store, she found this tent. Jade has decided that she LOVES hiding out in her new tent. Of course, she didn't love it until mama put it in her suitcase. lol Silly cat. :o)


I love my pets. :o)

Leaf pile

The trees are looking BEAUTIFUL around here. The weather has still been amazingly warm, but the leaves are definately on their way to amazing. Before dinner tonight, I decided that I'd like to jump into a huge pile. I helped daddy rake them up.

WOO HOO....Here I go.

CHEESE from the leaf pile. :o)

I'm piling them back up for another leap.

WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Here's Shadow looking in the pile for me. ;o)

He found me. :O)

HAPPY FALL!!! :o)

Fall Festival

There was a Fall Festival at a local school, so we decided to go.
Upon our arrival, I found this HUGE Jelly Belly walking around. lol

One of the games was this crazy wind blowing machine. I was supposed to catch these tickets as they were blowing crazy in the wind. That was HARD!!! lol

I also got my hair painted. YEA!!! That was exciting for me. ;o) It's purple & orange, but the purple didn't really show.

See my face too. I got a ladybug on my cheek.

Well, I also thought that you should know..........I now do pedicures. :o) Please call for your appointment.

Grammie was thrilled with hers that I did for her. :O) *grins*

Rockin'!

Shadow's first bath

Shadow needed a bath.
Thankfully, this weekend was BEAUTIFUL and 84!!! We scrubbed him up in the driveway and I thought it was great fun. :O)

My watering pail came in handy for wetting him down and rinsing him later. ;o)

Refilling my pail. (check out Shadow in the background. doesn't he look thrilled. lol)

Scrub Scrub buddy.
I liked washing his tail. heeheehee He looks funny. :O)


We scrubbed him up GOOD!!!

Time for the rinse.
Does he look like ET?! Hiding under the towel. lol What a ham.

Brushing him after he was all clean.

(and what they say is true..........Santa is ALWAYS watching. ;o)

He's such a good boy. Look how curious he was. Didn't mind the bath at all.

My doggie smells GOOD now. :o)

I got a DOG!!!!! :o)

Mama and I have been going to the Humane Society visiting with dogs since January. We started doing this because I really love dogs, but I was also a bit intimidated around them. We took items to donate & spent time visiting with dogs in the little rooms.

We went to a different shelter and met this dog, Mayter. He was SOOOOOOOOOOO sweet and we really liked him. So much, that we went back 3 times to visit and play with him. :o)

Can I have him...........PLEASE!!!

On our second visit, we took him this toy. I think he liked it, he was smiling. :o)

Ok, so on visit 3, (with daddy's permission ;o) we decided to take him home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o) Can you tell that I'm a happy little girl??? heeheehee This is me in the van on the way home with Mayter in the back. :O)

We have discovered that Mayter is camera shy. lol He does NOT like to look at the camera. :O)

Today we took him in for his vet appointment, to make sure that he's a healthy boy and to get his booster shots. We weren't sure how he would handle the ride in the van, since when we picked him up we used the crate, but apparently he was pretty content. This is him, napping in the front seat, on his way to his appointment. hahaha

Oh, just in case you were wondering....his vet visit went well. He got a thumbs up on his health check. She believes him to be 1 to 1 1/2 yrs. old and most likely Golden Retriever/Lab/Mutt mix. :o)

Well as you can see, we're pretty happy to have found eachother. :O)

We're also considering changing his name. Mama wants to name him Mayer (after John Mayer, and so it sounds similar to Mayter, so he won't be too confused) I want to name him Shadow because mommy can't go ANYWHERE without him following her. heehee

Forget the trees, hug a homeless pet. ;o)

ADOPT a shelter pet today!!!!!

I love you "Mayter" "Mayer" "Shadow" "Doggie" :o)

Carving pumpkins

I just couldn't stand it.

I have pumpkins at my house, I *HAD* to carve them!!!!! :o)

Daddy was in complete agreement, so to carving we went. ;o)

(mommy would like me to add that she thinks they'll be mush by Halloween, but that she's glad to have her pumpkin seeds early. ;o) lol

Anyway, I went in elbow deep, baby!! heeheehee

GAH!! AHhhh!! LOL!! This feels weird!!!

I think I've found something.........

Ta Da! :o) Lookie what I found in there. :o)

So, once it was gutted, I sat patiently and marked off my whole unicorn stencil. I didn't want any help either. ;o)

Daddy did the carving, from my hard work. Look what it turned out to be!!! SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a big kick out of playing with the seeds. I squished them with my hands for a while, added water to clean them for mommy & just enjoyed pretending to cook. :o)

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever told you that I'm a NUT!!! LOL!
I decided to put this stadium seat on myself and walk around the house like a goofball. hahaha

What do you think?? heeheehee

Have a silly day. ;o)