A Happy Halloween Weekend

We certainly had a very fun, very eventful Halloween weekend!

The fun started for us on Thursday when our close family friends, Scott and Melanie, came to visit.

The girls were so well-behaved and happy when we went out to eat. 

Hallie wanted to share all her food with Melanie and wanted to sit on her lap as much as possible.

When we got home that night, the girls went down to bed easily and the adults got to talk for hours.

When I was little my parents used to stay up late with Scott and Melanie and talk for hours too!

  

 On Friday morning, Hallie and I went to the farmer's market to pick out mini pumpkins and gourds.  Hallie posed happily in her outfit for the day.  She was Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.  She has quite the dress-up collection so this is a common occurance.

After Hallie and I shopped, we retrieved Daddy and Clairey from home and went out for lunch.  We chose Red Robin.  It was a great choice because boy did we have a blast.  We discovered "Bottomless Root Beer Floats" on the menu and had endless fun.  Claire and I finished our float before Hallie and Daddy did.  I kid you not, Claire sucked in more float than me.  She was in sugar heaven.

French fries were a hit with this kid too!

Hallie discovered she could make her face deplorably messy.

And we all had a hearty laugh when we looked in the viewfinder to see Hallie's face being cleaned.

BEST PICTURE EVER?  Quite possibly.

It didn't stop her from going for more.

And Mommy and Clairey looked on and giggled.

After lunch, we window shopped at the mall and Toys R Us. 

We made it home with enough time to give Hallie a shower and get her ready for her special night with Grandma Judy.  She got to be Grandma's special guest at her church Halloween party and Trunk or Treat.

I told Hallie she could be anything from her dress-up box for Halloween this year. 

So, on Friday she chose Sleeping Beauty.

Hallie left our house ecstatic and came back even more ecstatic.  She didn't go to sleep for at least an hour after we put her to bed.  Each time we checked on her she told us about the costumes she saw and the candy she ate.  She was wired! 

After our family pictures on Saturday, we went out to lunch as a family at Qdoba. It was kids eat free day, so we took advantage of that deal. After the meal we did a quick trip to another mall (obviously our favorite family outing) and then got ready for the Trunk-or-Treat at our church. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is an important part of our religious beliefs.  We don't go shopping or out to eat on Sundays so we elected not to trick-or-treat on that day either.  But, we definitely got our fill Saturday! Claire went the entire day without taking a nap! She refused to in the morning when we put her down and just kept going and going with the excitement of the afternoon. Needless to say, she crashed for the night at about 6:15!

Claire and Hallie pose with our good friends Lilly and Adi.

On Sunday we went to church.  After church, Chris and Hallie carved our pumpkin while I baked a Graveyard cake for our dessert that night.  Then our friends Ann and Jared had us over for dinner.  After dinner, we returned home and turned on some spooky Halloween music.  Our girls helped us hand out candy.  They were just as excited about giving away the candy as they would have been getting it!

Hallie changed into her swimsuit during quiet time.  She told us it made her look like a "sunshiney yellow pumpkin."  Hence her carving a pumpkin . . . in October . . . in her bathing suit.

The Graveyard Cake.  We do this every year.  This year both cake and frosting were from scratch.  I honestly think I prefer the boxed cake better.  But you can't beat homemade frosting.

Eagerly anticipating the Trick or Treaters!

They squealed with delight whenever our doorbell rang.

After that weekend of fun we are definitely Halloweened out! 

On to a month of gratitude . . . and much lower key celebrating.

Cozy Halloween Decorations

Turns out orange and blue aren't frightening together . . .

Doesn't Claire make a lovely addition to the decor?

Easter Facts

Quick Facts- Easter 2010:

• Hallie woke up to find a big, fat, fluffy . . . Easter cold.
• The Easter Bunny shops at Dollar Tree and the Dollar Spot at Target.
• Things that cost a dollar sometimes fly over better than the book that costs ten times that.
• Claire will flap her arms and legs like a spring duck taking flight just to get another bite of a yellow bunny Peep.
• You can watch The Princess and the Frog twice in twenty-four hours.
• Sunglasses will stay on Claire for approximately three seconds.
• If Hallie says for three days straight that the Easter bunny is going to bring her M&Ms, Daddy will go to the store late Saturday night to help the Easter bunny fulfill that wish.
• Claire will quickly learn to open eggs given the opportunity.

Egg Dying

I love dying eggs. Totally one of my favorite holiday traditions! It beats pulling stringy pulp out of a pumpkin or wrapping lights endlessly around scratchy branches. Yes, it's messy but as long as you put some plastic down underneath, you're covered. We colored our eggs on Saturday afternoon.
Hallie and I also painted the egg carton. What fun! That kid loves paint. Correction: All kids love paint. Note to self: next time you and Hal are having a rough time getting along, log an hour in "paint therapy." I think that should cure it.

protecting her egg

Easter Food

I like to make food. I like to take pictures of my food. A friend told me recently that I must be really good at baking because I take lots of pictures of what I do. Ha! It actually it still amazes me that I can cook-- so I have to document it for proof! Also, documenting it will help my family remember the fun we had making things. I try to keep cooking and baking really low-stress. There's no use going through lots of time and trouble cooking if it was a miserable process. In contrast, by keeping it a light-hearted time of togetherness it is a fun event. It becomes one of my favorite traditions with my daughters and they are still wee babies. Now that I have philosophized about food, here are some pictures of what we made this Easter.

Now that we've had our little discussion about how I like to make stuff. Let it be known that Mom H. purchased the ham from Honey Baked Ham. It was delicious and I am really happy I didn't have to make it! Also, the easter egg bread wreath was disgusting and dry. I totally should have used my normal roll recipe. Yes, baking is fun but that junk took me way too long to taste that weak. Remind me that next year so I don't try it again.