Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Bloggers!

Love, Cinderelly

Age 2 1/2

baby cousin

"You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

Psalm 139:14-16

The Message

two and a half

Yesterday my baby turned two and a half.

Today she is closer to three than she is to two. She's thrilled about this turn of events. I'm left wondering how just one year ago she looked like this:

Happy two and a half Baby!!

college game day at the zou!

Since Danny and I graduated from Mizzou in 2006, we haven't had a chance to return (aside from a couple of work related trips.) We've been itching to take Chica back to our old stomping grounds for a Tiger football game. Even though Chica and I had just returned home after nearly two weeks away, when we found out ESPN College Game Day was going to Columbia, we knew we couldn't miss it. In a matter of days we packed up the car and were headed back to the Promised Land. :) This is Chica picking her Daddy up after work. We wore black and gold for three days straight.

We woke up Friday morning and went to check out campus. The University of Missouri was the first school to ever celebrate Homecoming. I love how every business around town and on campus paints the windows.
We headed for the Quad where they were taping the Friday morning show (not sure what it's called.) They said it was the biggest crowd they've ever had on a Friday.

Chica got the most excited when she spotted Truman the mascot. People started to stare when she continued to yell, "Look! A giant Tiger!! It's a GIANT Tiger!!" The crew on the other side of that fence was rigging up the camera that flies over the crowd.

After watching the taping for a little while, we headed over to the Game Day bus.
One of the workers said people always want to know what's on the bus. He said that aside from a few fold out seats, it's completely empty on the inside. They only use it when it rains and the anchors need a place to go. It was still pretty fun to see.
Is it crazy I'm considering using this picture for our Christmas card this year? :) The guy who took it for us cut off some of the sign, but I love it anyways.
While we were hanging out by the empty bus, a black SUV pulled up. I thought I recognized the man in the front seat, so I turned to Dan and whispered, "Isn't that one of the anchors?" Amazingly, I was right! It was Lee Corso, the guy who predicts the winning team by putting the mascot on his head at the end of the show. As soon as he got out Danny whispered, "get his picture!" I went straight up paparazzi on the poor guy. Dan spoke to him as he passed by and Mr. Corso was really nice. As he walked away I thought about the concept of fame and Danny and I discussed the subject a while later. It was neat seeing and interacting with a "celebrity" but the moment we did, my first impression was a sense of his humanity. An interaction with a nice guy- an experience that's elevated only by retelling it.


I love Columbia in the fall.
After a fun morning we went to Chipotle, Dan's favorite restaurant in the whole world, whose nearest location is six hours away from where we live.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with my sister's family. Danny held his newest nephew for the first time.
The next day Chica and I dropped Dan off at the Quad and headed for my sister's house. Dan had a great time at Game Day. One of the anchors said it broke the record for attendance (woohoo!) and Lee Corso picked the Sooners to win (boo!)

We met up with Dan at the Homecoming parade. It's embarrassing to admit, but it was my first time to watch the parade. Apparently 9:00 on a Saturday morning was far too early to fit in my college girl schedule. (I couldn't even drag my tired self out of bed the year Sheryl Crow was the Grand Marshall.)

My, oh my how times have changed.

The toddler cousins had lunch while waiting for the parade to start.
Little Man didn't get a sandwich, but he may have been the youngest Tiger fan there.



After the parade the kids took a nap and the rest of us got ready for the cookout at my sister's house. We had a giant Truman who was a hit with the toddlers and all the Tiger fans driving by on the way to the game.
Afterwards we went to my brother's apartment to watch the game. I was wound up the entire time. While trying to explain the basics to Chica I told her the Tigers were in the yellow pants and I may have let it slip that the players in the white pants were the "bad guys." At the end of the first half I was just thrilled those "bad guys" weren't creaming us. As the clock wound down in the fourth quarter our hope for a Tigers' victory was made a reality. We picked Dan up after the game and drove home that night.

It was a fast, fun weekend that we'll never forget. M-I-Z!!!

two and a half is almost here

This week I took pictures in honor of Chica (almost) turning two and a half. I was going to wait for Dan to help me, but when the afternoon ended up being overcast with scattered showers, I decided to venture alone, once the rain had let up. It was somewhat dramatic. And wet. I tried to remain calm and not chuck my camera to the bottom of the lake like I considered doing the last time I took her pictures. She did so great. Chocolate bribes go a long way with her. :)

I loved so many of them, it was hard paring them down to the hundred you're about to see. What can I say? I'm one proud mama, and I still can't comprehend why out of all the women out there, God picked me to get to be her mother. She's my favorite almost two and a half year old in the whole, wide world.

(This is the look she's perfected over time to get her Daddy to do whatever she wants him to.)

a trip to Mizzou

A few days into our stay with my sister and her family, we decided to take a little outing to the University of Missouri campus. Tons of Chica's relatives attended Mizzou. In fact, I learned a while back that out of state tuition is waived for alumni's kids. So it seemed appropriate for her to take a trip around campus and get acquainted with all the Tiger surroundings. She'll need to know where she's going come fall of 2026. After touring the recently renovated commons area and bookstore, we headed across campus to the Quad, where the historical parts of campus are.
This was the face Chica made when she first saw the columns in the middle of the Quad. I love age 2 and a half because if you talk something up enough she'll react like this every time. :) We settled down for a picnic lunch on a bench and watched college students hustle to their classes. Our crew attracted quite a bit of attention.

She's enthusiastic when she's in black and gold.


What we didn't realize when we sat down was that we picked a bench next to Thomas Jefferson's original headstone. Three college tour groups came by, each stopping directly in front of us. The toddlers distracted some of the groups. I'm just thankful none of the backward walking guides tripped over them as they went on their way!

After lunch, we took a closer look at the columns.

Our view of Jesse Auditorium from the columns.
I hoisted her up on one of the bases. On nice days students hang out, study and nap on the columns. I don't think anyone was napping while we were there.


This is half of the quad and where the Hintons are guessing the ESPN College Game Day desk is going to be this Saturday. (Woohoo!)
After a quick restroom break, we looped back around the quad. The Thomas Jefferson statue was quite the attraction. Chica loved his shoes and his quill pen.

On the way back to the car, my sister snapped this picture of us as proof that I was there too. Because when we move Chica into the freshman dorms, they'll probably have to leave me at home. On the other hand, that might be the perfect time for me to go back for a master's degree. :)