The Wizzer Davaz

With Isabelle officially being a Witch for Halloween, she knows the Wicked Witch of the West from my favorite movie. Isabelle was introduced to the Wicked Witch of the West, on a birthday card we saw in New Jersey in July when we went to Auntie Gail's house for her Surprise 70th Birthday Party. Auntie Gail had received an audible birthday card (one of those cards that plays music when you open it) with the Wicked Witch on the front.

Isabelle LOVED it and so Auntie Gail mailed it to Edgewater a few weeks after her Birthday festivities were over. We still have the card and Isabelle loves to hear the music and see the green Witch on the cover.

Isabelle learned the catch phrase of the Wicked Witch, and cackles with delight as she recites..."I'll get you my pretty, and your little DOG too...". She wanted to see the movie, even if she is still way too young.

So I took her to the Library this week to pick up a copy. I popped it in, and the black-and-white portion just bored her, and she wanted a "new" movie on. Then the tornado hit, and she ominously remembered the sand storm that we got caught in this past summer (like FOUR months ago). She was petrified to say the least.

I fast-forwarded until we got to the color portion of the movie when the Wicked Witch shows up and delivers her catch phrase. Isabelle collapsed in a puddle of tears, she was too scared. So we had to turn the movie off. Maybe next year.....

When Ed came home that afternoon, she told him, quite ceremoniously, that she does NOT like that "Wizzer.....Davaz" movie. (There was a deliberate break in the two words).

W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r

Two going on twelve, that's our daughter right now. We decided to commit to a new regime in the Siler household. We will make time for Church every weekend. We are planning on sending Isabelle to The School of the Incarnation (the only Catholic grade school in our area) in three years for Kindergarten. I've already called, and the only pre-requisites are that your Parish Priest knows your family on a first-name basis, and that you send those pretty little envelopes in each week (preferably, you "bring" them in each week).

Isabelle can already recite the "Our Father" by heart, we do so every night before bed. We also tell God what we are thankful for each night before bed. She says Grace before each meal. So, she is well on her way, but we've been remiss in attending Mass the past three years of her life.

So this weekend was our foray into regular Mass attendance. (Isabelle HAS been to Church a few times, just not recently).

Let me start by saying that Isabelle was very very very well-behaved. She understood that Church was like the Library...you cannot talk. You can whisper if you need to, but you can't talk out loud. She was very excited to recite her "Our Father" with the entire congregation, and did so on queue.

During the Mass, I was deliberately responding at the appropriate times in a louder and clearer voice than normal, while looking at Isabelle so she could understand what the parishioners "should" be saying. I didn't ask her to say anything, I just wanted her to hear and see ME responding so she started to witness how the whole Mass thing worked.

At one point, during the Penitential Rite (Lord have mercy...Christ have mercy...Lord have mercy), she was sitting on the pew, and she rolled her head back and said, "What...Ever....GOD".

Ummm, WHAT?!?!?  She had never busted out a "what...ever" (snotty, teenager style) before this day and she decides to drop one in MASS?!?!?  Ed & I were horrified, yet found ourselves chuckling. I couldn't face my fellow Church-goers for the rest of the Mass.

I just hope it was a one-time thing. Although, that just means next week will bring something "new" which could be even worse. What....ever, Isabelle!

A Haunting Halloween

This is our first Halloween that Isabelle understands what is going on. She is excited about the candy, the trick-or-treating, the hay ride around the neighborhood, and hanging out with her friends. And she is VERY excited about dressing up in her costume.

We tried to give her autonomy with her costume choice, but she waffled worse than Brett Favre about what she wanted to wear this October 31st. Her top two choices were Witch and Butterfly, with a few lower-ranked choices in between (like, Princess, Ghost, Frankenstein, Ravens Cheerleader). Ummmmm, no, have you SEEN the Ravens Cheerleaders? Yikes.

We already had Butterfly wings that I picked up for $.50 at a yard sale in Spring. Izzi's BFF, Clare, has a blue tutu that would have worked as a second piece of the costume and I would have made her some antennae from arts-and-crafts supplies around the house. But, the Witch won out. She wanted to be a Witch more than a Butterfly (scientifically measured by counting how many times she mentioned each costume choice).

So we asked around, and found a costume to borrow (from Miss Trish, our daycare provider). Her daughter is 9, and had two Witch costumes to choose from.

So, stay tuned. You will soon see a few pictures of Isabelle, the "Wicked Witch of Selby" in her black and pink costume, a home-made magic wand, a long scraggly wig, and some face paint. We can only hope this year's weather is better than last year when it was chilly and rainy.

PS: Oh, and Mommy is going to be a Witch too. Daddy will not be wearing a costume, par for the course.

I-Z-Z-I

So a few months ago, Isabelle started to "recognize" her written name (well, her nickname anyway). When she sees "Izzi" written somewhere, she says "I-Z-Z-I, that says IZZI!"

So at "school" this year the kids started working on writing their name. It took her all of three weeks to "get it" and tonight she grabbed a marker and a piece of paper. She asked us if she could write her name for us. Sure!

So in red magic marker tonight, on September 29, 2010, Isabelle Natalie Siler wrote I-Z-Z-I on a piece of paper without a model to go off of and no letters to trace. She just wrote her nickname out all by herself.

Just to remind you readers and family members......she's TWO years old. Granted, she's just a few weeks from turning three.....and already going on four. Lord, give us the strength we need!!!

As a postscript, Miss Trish has already decided to switch her school things to "Isabelle" since she will probably have to learn to use that in Kindgergarten. So at this rate, Izzi will probably be writing I-S-A-B-E-L-L-E by her third birthday. I'll let her sign her own birthday card to herself, ha ha.

Our Littlest Raven

Izzi sitting in Club Level, learning to yell DEFENSE!

On August 26, 2010, Isabelle got to see her very first Ravens game. Granted, it was a pre-season game, but Ed took her up to the game to see how she would do. She was a trooper and stuck in there until the 4th quarter. Even better, our neighbors parents were going to the game and taking their granddaughter up, so they offered to give Ed and Isabelle a ride. They even had a parking pass. Sweet! Otherwise Ed would have been hoofing it about a mile from where we park to get to the stadium. That wouldn't have been fun with a Toddler in tow.

Isn't she the BEST Ravens fan ever?!?!?

Iz met tons of people who couldn't help but comment on her enthusiastic showing. She was dressed to the nines (hate, beads, Flacco jersey, purple sneakers). She yelled DEFENSE when Daddy told her too and she did so fiercely! She even learned a little of the "Move Those Chains" chant and arm movements from Uncle Ivars (Ed sat in Club Level with Iz but they walked up to our nosebleed seats during Halftime to see our regular crew.

Our Littlest Raven fan is on-board for a lifetime of excitement, highs, and lows (like the Week 2 game against Cinci....ugh!)

Izzi with Uncle Ivars in Section 543

Find your beach

We just got home from a very long overdue and much needed vacation. We flew to Tampa last Thursday and stayed until Tuesday. On this trip, we got to go out on TWO boat rides, with Ed's Aunt Joann and Uncle Ron. Both boat outings were fantastic. The first night, they took us to this huge sandbar that was created from a storm a few years back, it's a mini-island with more seashells than we could fit on the boat. Amazing!

We also got a very nice piece of coral. Shhhhhh, not exactly sure if it's legal to take those things home, but it was up on the sand, not in the water, so we think it's OK, right?

We actually saw a pod of Dolphins playing in the Gulf of Mexico. If you look closely, you'll see the dorsal fin of a playful Bottlenose in the middle of the picture below:

When we got to the sandbar, Isabelle had a huge wide open area to just run and be FREEEEEE. She scared away all the birds for Mommy. It was a beautiful area with crystal clear warm water, no waves, and like I said, more seashells than you could possibly carry.

On the second boat ride of the week, we went to a shallow water sandbar area and anchored out with a few other boats. We got floaty things out and tied up to the boat so we didn't drift away, the current was pretty strong that night.

Isabelle is starting to love boats, just the reason to buy one in a few years when she's a bit older. This was the first visit to Tampa when we got to ride on a boat. I always love seeing a town from the waterside view, it really is a totally different perspective. We passed Kenny Rogers house one night (well, one of them anyway). But I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the mansion on the water. Below is a pic of Isabelle and Mom-Mom Susan a few minutes before sunset.

And the actual sunset on the Gulf of Mexico is below. I've seen a lot of sunsets in my lifetime, and they all leave me speechless with their beauty. But watching the sun set on the water is pretty cool for an East Coast girl. I've been fortunate enough to see a waterfront sunset in Key West, Ireland, and now Tampa. Amazing.

Fantastic vacation, but as always, way too short. We're going back to Tampa for two full weeks in February. One week to work and one week to play. Ed has a conference down there for a week, I'll work from Susan and Bill's house while they play with Isabelle. The second week will be time off from work so we can play play play! It won't be boating or beaching weather, but at least there won't be snow or sub-freezing temperatures. We can still do the zoo, children's museum, and Busch Gardens!

All aboard!

Last month we went to a 2nd birthday party for our friend Charley Mahoney. We rode the mini steam engine trains at Leakin Park over off Route 40. It was a beautiful (but hot) day and we had a nice party back at the Mahoney's house afterwards. Here is pic of Izzi and Mommy riding the mini-trains.