Trick or Treat!

Since the Fall Festival was kind of a bust, we were hoping Ellery would have fun trick or treating tonight. 

I had Ellery practice ringing the doorbell and saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You!" this afternoon.  She LOVED it.  I even brought out our bag of candy and gave her some candy in her bucket.

Our first stop was the home of a family member that lives in our neighborhood. 

She had a blast going to the few houses on our street.  For a while I stood in the driveway holding Walt and watching them walk around, but then I had enough and went inside to make dinner.

I loved that when she came in Cary and I got to teach her the standard post trick or treating practices:

#1- Sit on the floor and dump out your candy.

#2-Be in shock and amazement at all the good stuff you now have in your lap! (like that needs to be taught)

#3-Sort out your candy

#4-Count how many pieces you got and eat some.

This child is addicted to candy. No joke. Every 30 minutes she asks for it. When she goes to bed she is already asks for a "treat" when she gets up in morning. I'm not sure what we'll do about it but it's insane. 

Should I be concerned that my 2-1/2 year old lined up her candy so perfectly on the floor?  Cary and I walked away for 1 minute, turned around and we saw this picture.  What the heck?

No pictures of Walt because he was super tired and not dressed up.  He'll be in better spirits next year. :)

Dinner...just because

I saw this recipe last week.  My thought, "ooh orange soup looks like something that might be fun for dinner on Halloween!"

I also had 90% of the ingredients in house.

This afternoon I ran out to the store and bought the butternut squash and 1/2 and 1/2.  On my way home I realized that I forgot to get chicken stock.  "OHHH STINK!!"  How frustrating is that?

So I raided my pantry.  What could I use as a substitute? 

Beef bullion cube?.  Noo, I think that might be too strong.

Liptons onion soup?  Hmmm....not so sure.

Knorr veggie soup mix?  Maybe.....

Then I saw a big can of Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup.  Huh...That's an idea.

So I drained the can of all it's liquid, added a cup and a half of water and used it!

I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for that pantry creativity.

Unfortunately I'm the only person in the house that liked the soup.  It's very delicious and I choose to believe that it's too complex for my daughter (well, would a toddler really eat orange soup anyway?) and my husband has a rougher palette (or so I would like to believe).  A veggie soup (or meal for that matter) doesn't work for him.  Oh well, I had 2 bowls and didn't feel guilty!

Let me end on this note, once I made homemade croutons I doubt I will buy them again at the store.  That was one aspect of Cary's dinner he DID enjoy.

Fall Festival

Last night was the Fall Festival at our church. 

Walt was "Mini Me" to Daddy.

Ellery was a fairy.

She had to wear leg warmers because it was cold and rainy.

Pretty yucky outside to be honest.  A bit too yucky for us.

We lasted about 30 minutes.  It took Ellery less than 5 minutes to start shaking.  

She wouldn't play any games and we just came home.

Hopefully Monday night wont be as bad and she can get a little bit of candy!

The Best Moment

The best moment of my week:

The HOT bath after running 12 miles in the cold, pouring rain.  The quiet room (Walt was napping, Cary & Ellery were in the basement) and the runners high.

Seriously...the BEST moment.

Reset

Someone please press my "Reset" button.

And while you're at it, set me back to 2003, when I was young and fun.

Thanks....

Music

I just turned on some music for us to listen to this morning and Veggie Tales came on.

Ellery said, "I want some Jesus music." 

I found some children's worship music.  I think we BOTH need to hear it.

5 Months

This picture cracks me up!

(Tough Mudder is a race Cary participated in this past weekend)

I'm actually reminded of a time when Ellery was a baby and we would take the sweat bands that go on your wrist and put them on her arm.  It was just something funny we did.  The thing was the wrist band was the size of her entire forearm and people thought she had a broken arm.

Little Man's personality is just shining through!

He L-O-V-E-S to drool

He LOVES his sister, when she dances I put him on my knee and he just giggles

He LOVES flirberts on his belly

He LOVES bath time

He LOVES to wiggle himself off of his play matte or turn himself around 180 degrees, next thing I know he's half way under the chair or trying to chew on the hardwood floors!

I ADORE his fat little legs; and his little bum...so cute! Oh, I can't forget about the unbelievably soft spot on the back of his neck, right under his hair line, I don't think I've ever felt skin so wonderfully snuggly.

Walt wakes up once a night for feeding and other times I just pop the binky back in and he's good to go.

He's so good at playing by himself on the floor or in the exersaucer but there are times of the day that he just needs some attention and nothing but being in the middle of our chaotic action will make him happy.

I did give him his first little hair cut this past weekend.  He had little patches of hair above his ears that were just flying all over the place and it was driving me crazy.  The top of his head does need a little trim but I'll wait on that.

Oh yes, he's still my little boyfriend.  

We were in Florida last weekend visiting my grandparents and at 4 AM I would bring him into bed with Ellery and I.  I LOVED having his warm little body curled up next to mine.  This is a stark contrast to Ellery who made it very clear she did NOT want to snuggle with me.  She wanted to snuggle with "Bear."

Love, love, looove my Little Mister!

Classic Toddler Quote

The scene:
Eating lunch this afternoon.

Ellery:  "Daddy....

are those your Christmas socks?"

Daddy: "Oh.  Why because they are red and green? Yes, they are my Christmas socks."

One Day..

One day I will be able to watch a TV show with out having to press "Mute" because a baby is crying or a toddler has a million questions.

One day I will be able to sleep past 6 AM.

One day I will sleep 9 hours straight.

One day I will not have to stop in middle of some project to clean messy hands, remove a bib and clean up dirty dishes or wipe a bottom.

One day I will not have to repeat myself a million times to get a dog or child to do what I ask.  (okay this is not likely to ever happen but a girl can hope).

One day Cary and I will wake up and randomly decide to go for a walk around the neighborhood, with out any children or responsibilities for the day.  

I know these "One Days.." will come too soon and I'll miss and wish for these small moments back.

But in the mean time I'll just continue to devour chocolate chunk cookies to help me survive the adorable chaos that are my days... :)