Aunt Jill, Come On Down!!

This past weekend, we traded in our horse and buggy for a car so that we could make the six hour trip to Worcester, MA. My awesome Aunt Jill had her bridal shower on Saturday, so we left on Friday to spend the weekend with our New England family.

Aunt Janelle organized a really fun shower with a Price is Right theme. I was too little to go, but I heard that everyone had fun playing games and winning prizes.

While Mommy was at the shower, Daddy took me to Jill's house to hang with the boys. We had "man food and beer" for lunch. That's all I'm allowed to tell Mommy about what we did. As much of a girlie girl as I am, I have to admit I had a great time with Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Emar, Uncle Randy and the boys.

Friday night, we all hung out at Aunt Jill and Uncle Emar's house. They have a great game that (I think) is called Dance, Dance Revolution.

Uncle Emar had to show me how to play. All you have to do is stomp on the mat the way the TV tells you to while loud dance music plays. That game is genius!

You can compete against other people to see who is the best dancer. Sorry, Grandma, you have no chance against Charlotte, the Dancing Queen!

I also spent some quality time on Friday night with Uncle Randy. He wanted to prepare me for the 'man food and beer' that would be coming the next day.

Saturday came, so Daddy whisked me off to the Man Show while Mommy stayed at the shower. Aunt Jill did a really good job playing Plinko.

Look at all the great prizes she won just for winning Plinko!

Grandma played "Cornhole In One...Or Two." She was really good at it - Daddy would have been proud. She won a pink ribbon rubber duckie and gave it to me!! Thanks, Grandma!

After the shower ended, Daddy brought me back to Aunt Janelle's.

This was me after spending the entire afternoon with boys. The photo says it all.

After recovering from my boy coma, I decided to try my hand at Plinko. Uncle Emar once again showed me how to play.

I was a fast learner. I am a pro at Plinko. Watch out, Bob Barker, here I come!

My prize for winning Plinko??

Lily!!

I also was able to spend a lot of quality time with my aunts. Aunt Jill was so nice to read a book to me. She didn't even mind when I pointed to the same animals over and over.

Aunt Janelle read one of my favorite books to me - Where Is Baby's Belly Button? Even though Aunt Janelle is a doctor, I had to help her a little with the parts of the body in the book. Maybe I can help you study for your anatomy exams, Aunt Janelle!

I had a BLAST visitng everyone this weekend, but man, was it tiring! I think I'll use my Plinko prize as a pillow and take a nap!

Thanks for letting us stay at your place Aunt Janelle and Uncle Randy! And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, Aunt Janelle. I hope your birthday next week is lots of fun!

The Plain Truth

When people hear that I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they always jokingly ask if I'm Amish. I normally deny it, but it is time to come out with my secret. The plain truth is that I am, in fact, Amish.

We are called the Plain People, but our life is far from plain. We are hard workers, and there is a lot to be done on a normal day on our farm. Here is a glimpse into my life as an Amish girl.

The first example of our hard life is our mode of transportation. We take a horse and buggy wherever we go. While much slower than your motorized vehicles, it can be a fun way to travel. Just don't speed by us too fast on the roads - it scares the horses!

Our morning begins by milking the cows. Avery and I get up at the very early hour of 8am to milk Bessie. We work together so we can quickly get the milk back to the house - Fruit Loops aren't as tasty without fresh milk!

In case you're wondering, we buy our Fruit Loops and other groceries where everyone else does - Target! There happens to be one right next to our farm!

After milking Bessie, I make sure the Serta Sheep gets her exercise by taking a ride with her around the farm.

Next it's off to feed to goats.

After I feed each of them, they need to be groomed. Brushing them through the fence offers extra conditioning for their fur.

Even the play equipment needs to be maintained. Here I am (in the window), checking the safety of the slide and playhouse.

About a minute after this photo, Daddy put me on his lap and down the slide we went. This was the daily safety check. Daddy scraped his knee on the top of the slide the whole ride, so we shut it down immediately. Safety first on our farm.

After morning chores, it's off to school. We go to school up to the eighth grade, and all ages are taught in the same school house. The teacher says I sit in the front because I'm one of the youngest students, but I think it's really because I'm the smartest!

This is Big Jimmy Stoltzfus. He's in his 30s, but only now finishing the eighth grade.

He's excited because now that he is finished school, he can go on rumspringa. Rumspringa is an Amish traditional rite of passage where adolescents (or Big Jimmy) are released from the church and school for months or years to decide if they want to be baptized as Amish.

To celebrate Big Jimmy Stoltzfus's journey into rumspringa, we went to the playground on the farm and ignored our chores for a full hour.

To continue the celebration, we loaded onto the buggy to go to market. We had to get some shoo-fly pie and whoopie pie (Big Jimmy's favorite) for his party.

While life on the farm can be difficult, we still manage to have fun on days like today. Thanks for spending the day with us, Big Jimmy and the whole Stoltzfus clan (Amy, Avery and Evan.) We had a blast!

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After we got back from market, we received word (through messenger, of course, since we have no phones) that Mommy's cousin Ted and his wife Ellen welcomed their second son into the world last week. His name is Kyle Matthew. He is adorable!! We are excited to welcome him into the family - now we have another set of hands to help with the farm chores! :)

Kyle Matthew

Born Sunday, April 22

Charlotte's Shout Outs, Blue/White Edition

What an AWESOME weekend!!

I am SO excited to be able to bring you the spring edition of "Charlotte's Shout Outs" live from State College! I haven't been to a game since I was ten weeks old, so this is my first live Penn State Football Shout Out. Oh, and since I didn't actually watch any of the game because I was having so much fun, there are no shout outs that involve football or football players, unlike previous shout out posts.

We packed a lot into one day, so this will be a long shout out. Sit back, relax and enjoy!


1. Nana and Joepa - Thank you SO much for loaning us your Explorer so we could all fit in one car and enjoy the ride together. Mommy and I loved sitting in the 'way back' - can you see the top of my head behind Evan??
It was a very comfortable trip, and we were able to fit all of our stuff. My favorite part of the ride was when I would say, "Aaaaaaaaamy," and Amy turned around to say hi (and stopping at Mickey D's on the way home for sundaes was pretty cool, too!)

2. The people at the State College McDonald's - While Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Amy, Uncle Big Jim and Auntie Jess are sad that you renovated their once late night french fry hangout into a modern, bistro-like restaurant with flat screen TVs, Evan, Avery and I had a great time filling our bellies with your yummy Happy Meals. A special shout out goes to the assistant manager who went to East Jibip to find high chairs for us. I can't imagine why a college McDonald's wouldn't have high chairs readily available!


3. The thousands of crazy college students who were tailgating - You provided us with great entertainment while we made the long walk to the stadium. A lot of you were walking around like I do after I've done a thousand spins in my living room. Some of you even fell down while you were walking - I do that too!! I didn't know that I'd still be stumbling around when I was a college student, I thought it was just a toddler phase!

4. The Cow Bell Guy - Thanks for coming close to our section so that I could see you. Daddy lifted me up so I could clap my hands with everybody while you drummed out your special song. Now I have a new reason to bang on things around the house - I want to join you someday as the Cow Bell Girl!


5. The Penn State Blue Band - Your wonderful music kept me dancing in the bleachers the whole game. You even inspired me to dance "the worm" during your incredible rendition of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer."









6. The bleachers - Avery, Evan and I stood for most of the game, but it was nice to have you to sit on and refuel for the next Blue Band song.


7. Doug Allen, local TV weatherman - You promised that it would be a beautiful day for a football game, and you were right! It was a gorgeous spring day - thank you for finally making winter go away!

8. Beaver Stadium - Thank you for being such a cool place to watch a football game. You're big enough to hold 110,000 of my closest friends, and you provided me with a great dance floor today. You're the best! Leave it to Beaver!


9. JoePa statue - Thanks for standing still while Uncle Big Jim took our photo with you. You were so impressive that I couldn't take my eyes off of you, even when Uncle Big Jim was making silly noises trying to get my attention.


10. Pigs next to the Tavern - Thanks for letting us pet you and try to climb you. We really needed to get some energy out after watching Uncle Big Jim shop for HOURS. He was trying to look for the ONE piece of Penn State clothing he doesn't yet own :)


11. Avery - Thanks so much for sleeping over on Friday and Saturday. I always have a blast when we're together. You're such a good friend. Thanks for always making sure I have something to drink.
I had a great time with you, too, Evan, but you're a boy and boys have cooties. That's why you didn't get your own "Shout Out."

Needless to say, we were all pooped after such a long day, but on Sunday morning Avery and I woke up energized. Uncle Big Jim popped in his new Blue Band CD, so we grabbed the PSU shopping bags and danced our little blue and white hearts out - enjoy the video!

Thank you SO much for spending the weekend with us, Dixon family. We had a blast!

Stay tuned - soon Mommy will publish a post about what we did on Sunday. Here's a hint - it involved baby goats, buggies and rumspringa.

I also need to give a big birthday shout out to Uncle Rick, whose b-day was on the 19th. I hope you had a great day!!

Rest In Peace, Bucky

My heart is very heavy today. We recently learned that our good friends Susie and Adam have lost their beloved golden retriever, Bucky, to cancer last week. He was only seven years old, and it was very sudden.

I was lucky to have met Bucky a few months ago. He was so gentle and loving with me. He let me give him all the hugs and kisses that I wanted! He was very soft - I loved putting my arms around him. He was the sweetest "da dawg" (my word for dog) I have ever met.

He wasn't just a sweet, loyal companion to Susie. He came into her life in 1999 as she was starting her dog obedience school, Training Tails. Together, Susie and Bucky built up a very successful and in-demand dog training business. Bucky and Susie were always together.

I do believe that all dogs go to heaven. Bucky, I hope you are up there running free, ears back, tongue out, tail wagging, free of pain and watching over Susie and Adam. You'll be missed.

Season of the Arm Sock

As you all know, one of my jobs (aside from being the cutest toddler on the planet) involves fashion design. Previous lines of mine have included snow hat with pajama ensembles, off the shoulder jammies, black belts used as headbands, and snow boots for indoor wear.

Mommy discovered my newest line today when she came to get me from my nap (I do my best work in the crib.)

Why should socks only be used on our feet? They can look just as chic on our arms and hands. Anyone call pull off this look - just be sure to color coordinate them with your outfit.

I am officially declaring this the Season of the Arm Sock.

Unfortunately, Mommy didn't have the camera available for the avant garde design I created last night in my sleep. When she walked in my room to check on me, she was floored by what she saw - I was lying flat on my back, showing off a jammie that was unzipped all the way to my ankle, revealing my belly and a diaper with the tape unfastened on each side. Why should a girl be so constricted by footed jammies and a diaper while she sleeps?

I'm a little upset with Daddy, though. Apparently he wasn't as moved by my creation when he came to look- he immediately put my diaper back together and zipped my jammies all the way to the top (without waking me to tell me he was destroying my masterpiece!) I guess he just doesn't appreciate my artistic vision.

Party In Disguise

Today we hopped on Noah's Ark during the deluge and made our way to New Jersey to help my boyfriend Evan celebrate his first birthday. Isn't he handsome in the new Penn State hat that I picked out for him?

It was a great party - Auntie Amy and Uncle Big Jim served a delicious lunch, and Auntie Amy impressed everyone with her yummy cake and cookies.

The most fun part of the party was dressing up and playing with all of Evan's and Avery's toys. Everyone tried out different disguises and pretended to be someone else for a while. Take a look!



Evan - AKA "Nittany Homey" or "Little E"

















Avery - AKA "Cinderella"




Me - AKA "Belle"





Me - AKA "Belle, admiring her magic, light-up shoes"





Evan - AKA "Paul Revere", warning everyone "The Buckeyes are coming, the Buckeyes are coming!!"



Me - AKA "Charlotte Chopin"



Me - AKA "Charlotte Hendrix"

Daddy - AKA "Daddy Clapton"



Me - AKA "Girl who is so tired that she can barely stay awake sharing cake with Jess"

Thank you SO much for inviting me to your party, Evan. I can't wait for you and Avery to go to the Blue White game with me next week!! The sleepover will be so much fun!!

PS - Mommy says she is sorry for the bad quality photos. She forgot to check the camera settings before she starting taking shots - she needs some lessons from Jessi!! :)