the big 30

Happy 30th b-day sweetie!! My Honey is the big ThReE-OoO! And Im not far behind him. I remember thinking thirty was old. But it's not old..Right?!?!? haha.
Kate, Charlotte and I spent the day getting things ready to make daddys birthday extra special. Kate was soo excited to help make daddy's cake..and she did a great job! Maybe we have a little chef in the making! Kate was also busy..painting daddy a picture frame and coloring the wrapping on his presents. And she wanted to sing happy b-day to daddy all day long! All our preparations payed off...Eric said this was his best birthday EVER! He would probably say that..even if it wasn't. But we were happy it was a good special birthday for him.
WE love you sweetie! You are the best. I look forward to spending many, MANY more birthdays with you! XOXO

Halloweentown

The other day Kate said to me..."mom, we need to make Halloweentown"..meaning..she wanted to put up our Halloween decorations. I have always loved holidays...so having children to decorate and do holiday themed crafts/baking with is the best! My mom always made holidays extra special when I was growing up. I remember how much I loved helping my mom decorate for holidays...so I can't wait to carry on that tradition with my kids! Kate loved helping. She really liked the skeleton hands...although she thought it was funny to poke the cat with them. She really loved hanging the decorations on the sliding glass door. When we were all finished...she said.."whew...I had a great day!" I thought..me too, sweetie. me too! It really was a fun filled day...dance class, play date..and decorating! Can't get much better than that!

Happy Halloween..from our house to yours! Hope it's a month filled with festive fun..tricks and treats!

Meet MR.BONES

All finished....Kate thought the cats for the windows were awesome...Glad I got them on clearance last year.

Getting into the costume box

How to make a moms day

Tonight as we were eating dinner..Kate casually announced "This is the best food ever!". Wow..that's a quick way to make a moms day. And the funny thing is....it wasn't a meal I was expecting her to love. I had made Apricot dijon pork tenderloin, rosemary roasted potatoes and green beans. Haha...who knew she had such an adult palate. Kate really is a good eater and generally isn't too picky. She also loves her veggies! Today she was at my moms for a play date with Nanny..and she actually asked my mom for broccoli for lunch! She has also really loved cucumbers and spinach leaves lately. Im thankful she is such a good eater!

First day of Sunday school...and the giant cookie!

When I inquired about sunday school at church...they said since she was almost 3..she could start once she was potty trained. After working hard to getting potty training down..Kate was able to start sunday school! She was soo excited to go. She was by far the youngest and smallest in her class..but she loved it.

After church..we decided to have a family outing and take a nice Sunday drive on the Alpine Loop. The leaves were beautiful..but I think we missed the peak by a week or two. Kate was pretty tolerant of all the driving..so when we stopped to walk around...we decided Kate deserved a treat. She picked a M&M cookie. It was one of the biggest cookies I have ever seen!! It was huge! Kate was thrilled...and would have gobbled the whole thing down if we had let her. Even half of the cookie was way more cookie than we would normally let her have...so needless to say..she was a little wound up when we got home!

We even saw a moose!

One GIANT cookie

Still munchin on her cookie

And..still...working on that cookie...she would not put it down!

Chef Kate

Kate's favorite thing to do this week is...cook! She has always loved helping me actually cook..but this last week, she has really taken to pretend cooking. It all started when I was in a hurry to get dinner ready..and Kate was right under my feet wanting my attention. So to get her out of the kitchen..so I could get dinner in the oven...I pulled out a bunch of bowls and utensils and told her to make mommy a cake. It worked like a charm! Not only was she entertained enough so I could get dinner ready..but it has held her intrest all week. All day she says.."mom..let's cook!". Some of our dishes have been, pizza, cookies, pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, Dora and Elmo cakes, pancakes...the list could go on and on. Kate's little friend Ava gave her an apron for her last birthday..she has worn it several times helping me make cookies..but now she loves to wear it as she "cooks"!

I love that Kate is getting in to imagination play...it's so fun to see what she comes up with!

 

And a random pic of Charlotte

NO idea what is going on with the spacing...looks fine when Im composing the post..but as soon as it posts..the spacing is all crazy...any ideas?? The new blogger editor stinks!

FALL is in the AIR

Just another trip up the canyon to enjoy the nice weather and fall leaves. We took one of the hikes off the boardwalk this time. Kate was a trooper! She hiked almost a mile each way...we almost made it to the lake..but Kate was getting tired and Charlotte had a major poop...and, I of coarse left the diapers in the car. It was also..way hotter than we expected and I ended up having to strip Charlotte down to her diaper she was so hot. I think she liked being mostly naki in the fresh mountain air though. She was happy as could be.

Kate found a stick when we first arrived and proceeded to carry it for the entire hike. It took a bit of convinsing that the stick needed to stay in the mountains when it was time to leave. I would have let her take it home if it wasn't so big. On a side note..having Kate potty trained is great...having to take her in nasty public restrooms..is NOT! ICK!!
Thanks for joining us Travis and Lacee..we had a great time!

Rockin' the pink backpack!

5 yrs ...

...and going STRONG! Way to go Mom! You are such an incredibly strong, beautiful woman!

I love you so much.

At the annual breast cancer luncheon with my mamma

Lovin' the new tutu

How to catch a FLY

How do you celebrate your baby turning 6wks??? Take her on her first overnight adventure of coarse! My mom and Bob were staying at a friends cabin and invited us up for the night. I can never pass up an opportunity for fun..especially when it involves the mountains and cabins! So I packed up my girls..along with all the baby and kid gear for one night, and we were off. Once we checked out the cabin..we wanted to get some fresh air and enjoy the fall leaves, so we headed to our favorite boardwalk for an afternoon stroll. Daddy, meet us back at the cabin for dinner.

Kate loved "Bobby's cabin" and was busy checking out every nook and craney. She was especially fascinated by the bear rug and moose head mounted to the wall. Kate played her first game of twister...oh how I wish I would have gotten a pic or video clip...she was hilarious! Charlotte had fun too and was wide awake all evening.

The best part of the night was watching Nanny and Kate try to catch a fly. So how do you catch a fly...nanny style??? With a broom and a mop...how else??? After almost bringing down the cabin...and knocking off light fixtures...Kate and Nanny finally caught the fly!

So Charlotte's first night away from home..did not go so well. She was up most of the night and finally ended up sleeping on my chest. It's a good thing my mamma made a good breakfast or I might have been a little more crabby in the morning. Thanks mom..we had a great time!

Enjoying our favorite boardwalk

6 Wks OLD!

Catching FLYS

 A much needed breakfast after a LONG night!

Sorry..I know the spacing is all messed up in this post..but I can't figure out how to fix it!

A quick visit

A quick visit with our family friend...or my second mama when I was little..

Thanks Karna for spoiling Kate with the adorable tutu! She wants to wear it constantly!

Love You!

A FAIRly fun evening

A few weeks ago, We took our girls to the fair. It was Kate's first time to the fair..and she loved it! It was incredibly hot and crowded. Not to mention way overpriced..but Kate got to ride her first pony and was beyond thrilled. I thought she might get scared..but she got right on and grinned from ear to ear! Of coarse..she had to ride the merry-go-round. And what's a trip to the fair without going down the huge slide in potato sacks?? I had to laugh because the whole way down the slide, Kate had the most terrified look on her face..but as soon as she got to the bottom she wanted to go again.
I think the highlight was the only thing at the fair that was free. It was a little hands-on farm experience for kids. It was adorable.
As with most of our outings...Charlotte snoozed the whole time. She loves to sleep!

The Daddies

Cute little farmers

Scooping up the corn

Feeding the cows


Planting her carrot seed

Harvesting her carrot (boy things grow fast at this farm..hehe)


Time to ride a tractor

Cruisin'

Kate and Daddy...the look on her face was priceless!