Hot Dog!

As Mickey Mouse would say,
"Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!"

On Friday, Mommy and I met up with Auntie Sharon, Riley, Auntie Sue and Genna in Hershey. First we ate a very yummy dinner at Red Robin - I was so good that I even got a balloon!

After dinner, we were off to the Giant Center for my very first live show!!! The mommies bought us tickets to see "Playhouse Disney Live," featuring Handy Manny, The Little Einsteins, Tigger and Pooh and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang!!

Mommy was a little nervous about how I would react at a live show - was she nuts?!? Loud music, dancing, singing, Disney characters...what kid wouldn't LOVE that?!?

Adorable Miss Riley at Red Robin.

Cutie-pie Miss Genna, patiently waiting to leave for the show.

As the curtain rose, I could hardly contain my excitement!

I tried my best to keep up with all the dance moves!

My little hands got tired from all of the clapping!

Luckily for the Little Einsteins, I was there to help them get Rocket off the ground...

Blast-Off!!

What a great show! I was very sad to see it end.

The Junior Pinks after the show.

Auntie Sharon, Auntie Sue and Mommy - thank you SO much for taking us to the show. That was the best Friday night EVER!!

Now I'm ready for the Doodlebops show next month!

CHARLOTTE'S SHOUT OUTS

PENN STATE - 36 INDIANA - 31

1. Kevin Kelly - You broke Craig Fayak's school record for career field goals with 52. I guess now we'll forgive you for those missed overtime field goals in the Orange Bowl two years ago, making us stay up half the night until you finally won it for us!

2. Jeremy Boone - With a little over a minute to play, you booted a 68 yard punt that pushed IU back to its own 5 yard line, making it impossible for them to make a comeback.

3. Maurice Evans - 6 tackle (4.5 for a loss), 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and a 55 yard fumble return...not too shabby for one road game!

4. Justin King - You recorded a career high 9 tackles - high five!

OK, boys. Next week is THE BIG ONE!!

Night game, white out, national TV - OHIO STATE! Practice harder than you ever have this week. We MUST NOT LOSE TO THE BUCKEYES!!!!!

Homecoming, Toddler Style

What a great Homecoming for Penn State and for me! My Nittany Lions whipped those crazy Badgers, and Mommy and I watched the game with Big Jim, Amy, Avery, Evan and Jess! (Daddy went to Hershey for a car show.)

Mommy told me stories of the Homecoming festivities she took part in when she was at Penn State. She told me about spending the week building and pomping floats, participating in Crazy Band dances, watching and riding in the parade, drinking "cider"...

Avery, Evan and I decided to celebrate Homecoming in our own way. Instead of making floats, we decided to make a mess. Instead of cider, we had juice, pizza and ice cream!!

While Penn State began to put the hurt on Wisconsin, Avery and I played in the basement. Evan tried to get into our playhouse, but we quickly instituted a "No Boys Allowed" policy. I have my fill of boys at school all week - I need a break from the cooties on the weekend!

OK, Evan, you might have cooties, but can you call Joe Paterno on your cool phone and tell him that we really need a win?! I have a long car ride home with Mommy tonight - it will be an unbearable ride if they lose!

Not only were we celebrating Homecoming, we were also celebrating Jessi's birthday!! (I can't say "Jess," but I can say "Jessi" really well, so that's how I refer to her now!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSI!!!

Speaking of Jessi, I was trying to be like another Jessi in my life during halftime- if you need an intern sometime, Jessi B., I'm all yours!

After our Nittany Lions finished pounding the Badgers, we decided to walk in a Homecoming parade of our own - a parade to Maggie Moo's for some ice cream!

Who needs a marching band? I created an original Homecoming chant as we walked...

3...5...9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How are we supposed to choose from all these toppings?

Can we have some of each?!?

Birthday girl Jessi helped me sample lots of different flavors before we placed our order.

Yummy in my tummy.

Here's Evan on his way to creating an ice cream hoodie.

Who needs "cider" to celebrate Homecoming?? Ice cream is SOOO much better!!!

It works for Trixie and Emmet...

I'm sure we could find more room in our bellies for cake!

We'll take this one!

Thanks for inviting us to your house for the game, Dixon family. We had a great time!!

CHARLOTTE'S SHOUT OUTS
Wisconsin 7 Penn State 38

1. JoePa - You get a shout out not only for the win, but for getting out of your car this week and yelling at a woman for being a bad driver. If only everyone in the world was as good of a driver as you (and Daddy) are...

2. Terrell Golden - You had 5 catches today for 83 yards. You had 6 catches all of last season, so congratulations on the breakout performance!

3. Evan Royster - What a great touchdown run on a fourth down play. See, JoePa doesn't always make the conservative call!

4. Maurice Evans - You only had 3 tackles today, but all of them were for losses and two of them were sacks!

5. Anthony Scirotto - You ended a second quarter Wisconsin drive with an awesome leaping intersection - way to go !

6. Sean Lee - You picked up the fumble on the first play from scrimmage by PJ Hill to set the tone for the game. We needed that great start!

Overall, it was a very entertaining game to watch. At least that's what Mommy tells me - I was too busy celebrating Homecoming with my friends to really notice!!

I-Owe-A Lot to Iowa

It's about time!! For the past two weeks, I rarely got to practice my touchdown signal while we were ahead on the scoreboard. Today, thanks to the Hawkeyes, I was able to practice my signal a few times, all while leading.

This was the first game that Mommy, Daddy and I were able to watch a PSU game together at home. The stupid Big Ten Network didn't get their greedy hands on this game, so our whole family enjoyed an afternoon of Penn State football in the comforts of our own home.

I wore my "Little Person, Big Fan" t-shirt, hoping it would bring the team good luck. Looks like it worked!

As usual, my boys got off to a slow start. Kinlaw fumbled AGAIN, stopping a great first offensive drive. Morelli looked inconsistent AGAIN. For a quarter and a half, I squeezed the life out of Miss Nittany in frustration.

Right before the first half ended, my Nittany Lions starting showing some promise, so I was able to plant some happy, wet kisses onto Miss Nittany.





When the game ended, I called Nana and Joepa (who were at the game) on my new Minnie cellphone. I wanted to share my excitement of the win.














Because I was so excited about finally winning a game, I couldn't help but jump for joy. Since Ally's moonbounce wasn't available, I used our couch instead.




During halftime, Mommy decided to let me decorate the Halloween sugar cookies she had just baked. I put on my favorite apron and went to work.

I chose to decorate the kitty cat cookie, to nobody's surprise. I was very diligent about my artwork, and I took my time to make sure it looked perfect.


After spending all that time decorating the cookie, it only took me a few seconds to lick off my masterpiece.



Daddy noticed that I was playing with cookies, so he couldn't resist coming out into the kitchen to show off his inner Bob Ross. He thought his artwork was so tasty that he ate TWO masterpieces.















CHARLOTTE'S SHOUT OUTS

Due to Mommy's crazy work schedule and Penn State's two losses, my shout-outs have been neglected. If only I knew how to type, I wouldn't have to rely on Mommy to publish my thoughts for me!

PENN STATE 27 IOWA 7

1. Rodney Kinlaw - Even though you did have a huge fumble at the beginning of the game, you redeemed yourself by running for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Since Austin Scott was suspended for being a bad boy, you were the starting running back, and you did quite well!

2. Kevin Kelly - You made a 53 yard field goal right before half time to give PSU a 13-0 lead. What a great way to give PSU momentum leading into the half!


3. Evan Royster - At first, Mommy thought they were calling you "Oyster." She had never heard of you until today, but it's unlikely she'll forget you after today's performance. You ran for 86 yards before you left the game with an injury. I hope you're not hurt too badly!

NON SHOUT OUT

1. Chris Bell - What were you thinking when you dropped that pass in the end zone? I would have caught that pass, and I'm not even three feet tall, with hands that are smaller than your ears.

Next week, Wisconsin comes to the Beav. Illinois beat them today, so we might have a shot. Get some rest this week, boys. We need to beat those Badgers!!

Ill Over Illinois

Wouldn't you know it? One of the few free moments that Mommy has had all week to update my blog and unveil my Shout-Outs, and Blogger won't upload any of her photos.

Maybe Blogger knew that the only photos Mommy got of me from Saturday would be of a sad faced, confused Nittany Lion Cub wondering what was happening to her beloved Nittany Lions.

The Shout-Outs will have to wait until Blogger decides to work again. Sorry for the delay! Stay tuned...

Seriously.

So much for our great feeling.

Michigan beat us again. Seriously.

The last time Penn State beat Michigan, Mommy still wasn't of legal drinking age. That was a long, long time ago.

Why can't we beat Michigan? They lost to Appalachian State. Appalachian State. Seriously.

I was having the time of my life in the moon bounce at Ally's birthday party when Mommy broke the news to me that we lost. Again. I was so disturbed that I stopped jumping and had to sit and wonder how JoePa could let this happen again.


Later that evening, as I got into my jammies before leaving Ally's house, I became so upset that I buried my face in shame in Bailey's tail.

Michigan is just like the ear infection I picked up the other day - they both hurt, they both make me want to cry, and they both give me nightmares.

At least the antibiotics will defeat my ear infection. I can't say the same for Penn State defeating Michigan.

Mommy and I are so distaught that we can't bring ourselves to do shout-outs this week. There really aren't any shout-outs to give. And Mommy is just too exhausted to go back and look up stats and photos for the last two games we missed. We apologize to the shout-out fans, but you'll have to wait until next week before we start those up again.



I may sound like I'm really depressed. I would be completely down in the dumps today if it weren't for the fact that I went to the greatest birthday party ever!

My good friend Ally turns 5 soon, and to celebrate, her Mommy and Daddy threw a huge celebration. Here is the birthday girl blowing out the candles.

It had to have been an incredible party to take my mind off of the fact that we were spanked by Michigan. Again. Seriously.



While my beloved Nittany Lions were being embarrassed in the Big House, I was having an incredible time in a different kind of big house.

Presenting...the most fun toy ever. Ever.

Ally's parents rented a princess moon bounce for the party. I can say with certainty that Ally, her friends and I were enjoying ourselves a lot more in this house than the Penn State football players and fans in the Big House.




I could barely contain my excitement before I entered the moon bounce for the first time. I almost missed finding the entrance because I was so excited. Daddy had to point out the opening to me!



Upon entering, I immediately knew what to do. I jumped and jumped like I was a kangaroo on a sugar high.







I felt as though I were floating on air. I couldn't stop. It was like there were springs on my feet. I jumped and jumped and jumped...


...and then I fell.

I was a bit stunned. I didn't expect to fall. I thought I was invincible.

Then I realized that when a Penn State player falls, he gets back up immediately. Even when he's pushed over by a stinky Wolverine, he gets back up. So get back up is what I did.



Then I jumped and jumped some more.



The next time that I fell I wasn't so stunned. I managed to wave at Daddy while I was lying on my back. Maybe falling on the moon bounce isn't so bad after all!


Daddy even came into the moon bounce to jump with me. I was so happy that Daddy came in to play with me, but he does need to work on his jumping height. He didn't catch quite enough air between his feet and the moon bounce.



Daddy even took the opportunity in the moon bounce to show me how the Penn State defense should have tackled Mike Hart every play.



After literally bouncing my pigtails off, Daddy brought out the cupcakes to give us all some needed energy.

I worked up an appetite in the moon bounce. These luscious cupcakes ought to give me the energy boost I need to go back and bounce for a few more hours.

I tried sticking out my tongue to boo the Michigan football team, but Mommy told me that wasn't nice. I disguised my second attempt at sticking my tongue out at the Wolverines by pretending to clean off the icing on my face. Mommy never suspected that I was showing my disgust with the maize and blue.

Thank you SO much for inviting me to your amazing birthday party, Ally. Only an event like this could have kept my mind off of our devastating loss today.

The moon bounce was SO MUCH FUN, the food and cupcakes were yummy and the necklaces you gave me to take home are beautiful. Seriously!! I'm glad that you had a fun day, too. Happy Birthday!!!

Go State!! Beat the Wolverines!!!

Mommy and I have a great feeling about today's game. It's our time to beat Michigan!! Enjoy this video that Mommy found to get you pumped up for the game.

We're off to Ally's birthday party, and then we'll be watching our Nittany Lions beat Michigan after a few hours of cake and moonbouncing. We'll report back tomorrow!!

We Are...!!!!

P.S. - Thanks for the get-well message, Drew. I plan on taking advantage of some of your tips. My ear is feeling much better thanks to the YUMMY bubble-gum medicine the doctor gave me!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Have you missed me?!?

Sorry we haven't posted in a few weeks - Mommy says we've been busier than a one-armed paper hanger!

Don't get too excited - this is going to be a quick post. I know that I've neglected my Penn State Shout Outs - I'll do a triple-game shout out this weekend. We are still celebrating the win over Notre Dame from two weeks ago, so Mommy needs time to gather stats and photos from the past few weeks.

Speaking of photos, there aren't many new ones of me, so this picture from the first PSU game will have to do for now. I know that Mommy is very busy now that school has started, but she really needs to start taking more photos of me again. I'm too cute not to be photographed!!


The one photo that Mommy did take of me recently was when I came home from school with this intricate and beautiful hair style. My teachers Vicky and Janelle are so excited to have a girl in the class (along with 8 boys!!) that they love to play with my gorgeous, silky locks. Mommy doesn't understand how I sit still for them to play with my hair, but she doesn't know that they let me sit in their lap on my favorite rocking chair while they play with it!

School is going VERY well for me. I love going on walks to the duck pond to feed the ducks, I really enjoy our art projects, I behave very well and I nap everyday. I always get good reports at the end of each day.

The biggest news - I pooped on the potty at school last week!! Mommy and Daddy were so proud of me!!!

Stay tuned for the shout-out post this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to add some great shout-outs for a big defeat of Michigan!!!!

Are You Ready For Some Football?!

When I woke up on Saturday, I was SO excited to hear that I would be wearing my Penn State cheerleading outfit. That only meant one thing - Penn State Football was back!!! I did my happy dance all morning to mark the occasion!!

As happy as I was, Mommy crushed my enthusiasm when she told me that I couldn't watch the game. She said our evil cable company wouldn't carry the Big Ten Network, so the game wouldn't be on TV. She and Daddy drove out to Delaware to watch the game in a bar with Sean and Jessi. Mommy said I'm not old enough to go to a bar. I was terribly upset until I heard that Gramma was coming over to spend the day with me. As long as I got to wear my uniform, I was still happy!


Even though I didn't see the game, Mommy filled me in well enough when she returned so that I could begin my annual "Charlotte's Shout Outs." I know you all missed them.

I am proud to present the first edition of "Charlotte's Shout Outs" for the 2007 season. I have a good feeling about this season!!!!











Charlotte's Shout Outs - Week One

Florida International vs Penn State

1. JoePa - This was your first game coaching on the sideline since you broke your leg last year. 80 years young and still going strong!! You'll still be the coach when I'm a student at Penn State!

2. Anthony Morelli - You were quite inconsistent last year, but everyone has high expectations for you this year. You started off well by breaking the PSU first half passing record with 231 yards. Keep up the great work!!

3. Galen Hall - You are the offensive coordinator PSU has needed. Seven different players caught a TD pass or ran one in for a score. Now that is some great play-calling!

4. Jared Odrick - You tipped FIU's field goal attempt and preserved the shut out. Yay!



5. Jordan Norwood - You had 5 receptions for 92 yards. That's a lot of yards per reception!

Non PSU Shout-Out

Appalachian State - You did what Penn State hasn't been able to do in 12 years. You beat Michigan!! In the Big House, no less. We are very proud of you, but we'd like you to teach our Nittany Lions how you did it!!

Just in case you weren't already pumped up for Penn State football, here's a video to get you in the mood!!

Blog Note: This is Mommy's and my first official week of school. Mommy's students start coming on Wednesday AND she is preparing for the big RV trip to Penn State this weekend, so it will be a very busy week. It might be awhile before my blog is updated again, but there will be a "Charlotte's Shout Outs" for the Notre Dame game. It just might not be timely. Keep checking back, though! We'll return soon!!!