Too Beautiful for the End of October (30th)

We enjoyed 70 degree weather at the park after preschool on Thursday! Clare enjoyed it immensely and shed some tears when we had to leave.


Clare and her good friend Seigo

Jungle Gym girl (who made a new friend named Olivia).

Clare and her good friend Sarah Ann (aka Sasi....pronounced "saucy").

Okay, there's the goofy smile again.

Clare's Preschool Halloween party (pics)

There are videos in the other entry....here are some pics:

Clowning around with Greta and Sarah Ann.

Singing....doesn't everyone look thrilled?

The whole class of ghouls and boils!

Next to their "mural" they made. Clare's pumpking is 2 over from her shoulder.

Clare, retired Tabloid Reporter, turned Paleontologist

Clare has now retired from her National Enquirer job to be a paleontologist with the prestigious Smithsonian Museums. Her fascination (aka obsession) and love of dinosaurs has earned her this career, with, according to her, no formal education. A neighbor and friend, Chad, asked Clare if she was going to be a paleontologist when she grew up. Her reply was, "I already am one." Okay, start paying rent!

Preschool Halloween Party, Thursday, October 30th

Clare was so excited for her Halloween party at school, I thought she was going to burst! The parents were invited to the first 15 minutes where the kids sang songs and paraded around in their costumes! After we left, they played games, and read stories. It was a good time had by all. Below are videos of Clare singing. The girl in the Tigger costume is Clare's good friend Sarah Ann (who has a hard time being away from mom, as you will soon see in the video), and next to Sarah Ann is Clare's other good friend Greta. Hope you can access these video clips.

Haunted Halloween Gingerbread House!

We found a Halloween gingerbread house kit and decided it would be a great Halloween activity (especially since I thought the weather would be cold and drizzly---but it has proved me wrong YAY). We had lots of fun putting this together, and she stayed interested in it from beginning to end! Please disregard the silly smiles and goofy faces; for some reason, it's the "it" thing to do in pictures when you're 3 years old!

"You gotta put lots of frosting on so that it sticks together. You see, mom, it's like glue."

Random spots for decorations.

TA-DA!!!

As I mentioned, please disregard the silly faces.

Blankie the Biohazard

If you know Clare, you know her blankie is her best friend. It goes everywhere, has been left places and we've driven back miles to retrieve it, it was with her during her surgery, and according to her she "can't sleep without it". So, wrestling it from her (or more effectively, gingerly prying it out of her clutches while she's asleep) is a difficult thing to do. However, it got to the point where a bath was a necessity; I was afraid the bubonic plague would wreak havoc on St Louis if this thing did not get washed. Who knows what this blankie was holding.....I decided against calling St Louis Hazmat team and I took the matter into my own hands.

Blankie is in shambles and has to be hand-washed in the tub. As you can see, it looks like Blankie is swimming in Lake Erie, but that's the color the water turns after being scrubbed. Hey, I kind of like that shade of beige for the living room.

The trail of....I'm afraid to even imagine....left in the bottom of the tub after the water drained.

Borders Bookstore Halloween Party, Sat. October 25th

On the afternoon of Saturday, October 25th, we took Clare to our local Borders Bookstore for their Halloween party. Clare loves to read and loves to spend a lot of time in here, so we decided to spend our afternoon there at the party.
Showing off her ferocious dragon stance!

Letting everyone know that even though she's a dragon, she's a nice one.

Color time! She can't get enough of art projects and the fact that they had coloring time, well, she was tickled pink! She made friends with the other kids and talked to them the entire time they were coloring.

So happy to be there!

As the kids were coloring, the party leaders were telling cute ghost stories and they asked the kids if they had any. Clare said, "oh, I do" and got right up in front of them and told a story. This is it, pretty much verbatim: "Once upon a time, there was a dragon. He was cold and found a house to go into to. It was a haunted house. There were ghosts and bats and witches and bats and vampires. They were trying to scare the dragon, but the dragon went 'BOO' and scared them all out of the haunted house." Everyone clapped, and of course, her mother was bowled over with pride.

Doing the suave dragon strut as they showed off their costumes.

Clare won the costume contest (for her age group) and won a Halloween book!

She also got to get a cookie and a drink in the cafe afterwards. Ahhhh, the sweet taste of reward for hard work at the end of the day!

Trick or Trinket, Saturday, October 25th

On Saturday morning, Clare and I went to Trick or Trinket, a party put on by GatewayFEAST (Food allergy/Eczema/Asthma Support Team in which I am a member). Since Clare has a severe peanut allergy, and since peanuts and peanut products seem to be ubiquitous these days, it's difficult finding safe candy for her to eat. So, this party was food-free so that kids with all kinds of food allergies could get trinkets instead of candy. As the group says, "Halloween is scary enough without having to worry about their allergies!" Clare had a great time playing the games, meeting new friends, and watching the storytelling magician!

Bean Bag Toss

Halloween Twister--difficult for an uncoordinated 3 year old. (Difficult for even her thirty-something mother!)

Working that glue stick feverishly!

Hmmmmmm, what do I pick next? (If you can't tell, she's a dragon. The costume is super-warm, so she gets hot in it quickly. So, you'll see pictures of her with it 1/2 on and 1/2 off.)

Clare: Tabloid Gossip Columnist

Just for the record. My three year old is a rumor-spreader. The National Enquirer has just offered her a high paying position with them, and unfortunately, she'll be good at it. So, to dispel some of the rumors you may see or hear, please read further.

Clare is not getting a sister, Tallulah, soon. If you come up to rub my belly, there'll be nothing there other than beer and nachos. Sorry for the disappointment.
-and-
We are not getting (or even remotely planning on getting) a dog named Buttercup.

I'll update you when further rumors become available.

...and Present!

It is an unbelievably gorgeous October day! October 2008 (3.5 yrs)

Clare is always looking for art projects to do. She decided her jack-o-lanterns would look better if they were painted first!
Trying really hard not to smile as she knows mom has the camera pointed at her.
She is a little sprite with disheveled hair and all!

Octobers Past.....

October 2005 (7 months)
October 2006 (20 months)

October 2007 (2.5 years)
See next blog for pictures taken 2008!

Clare's the Boss

If anyone is unfamiliar with Clare, she is a very headstrong, very determined, very persistent, and VERY bossy little girl; all of these I see as qualities. I was playing with her this morning, and she was being quite bossy. Finding that I wasn't doing anything her way, I said to her, "Clare, I don't think that I want to play with you if you're going to be bossy." Her reply was, "I'm not being bossy, I'm just telling you how to do it the right way."

Kitchen Re-painting - September 08

The "new" kitchen
The teal cabinets, ugly border is the "old" kitchen done by the former owners.

My wonderful, patient, and kind parents took a week out of their lives to come to St Louis to help me paint the kitchen. What a job!!!! It took 5 whole days to complete, and it wasn't without its challenges; mostly coming from a certain 3.5 year old in the house. The teal cabinets are the old kitchen.....the white ones with the black under the chair-rail is the new!

Welcome to the WinrightFamilyPortrait "blog"

Hi family and friends,
I feel like I have been inundating you with pictures and updates, but it's SO difficult living so far from all of you. Although, I do get requests from most of you for pictures and updates, this blog (aka "web log") is a way for me to update information, give stories, Clare anecdotes, pictures, etc. without loading up your email inbox with lengthy messages and pictures. So, feel free to check it as often or as little as you want. Everytime I give an update on this blog, I'll send (those on my list) a "Blog updated" notice to your email inbox. Then, at your leisure, check to see what's new.

Love you all!
TLC