Pinterest 3.0

Three years qualifies something as tradition, doesn't it? We love this fall tradition that we started with a group of our friends. For the last few years, we've gathered for a Pinterest party at our house. We pick a theme and everyone brings a dish or two that they've found on Pinterest to share! It's been a great way to actually make some of the things we've pinned and a great reason to get us all together one more time before the end of the year.

This year, our theme was tailgate food. The table was full of game day goodies. We had Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, Walking Tacos, Bacon Cheeseburger bombs, Loaded Mashed Potato Cups, Caprese Dip, Queso and a nice big green salad to go with it. Then, we enjoyed some Donut kebobs and Caramel Apple Cupcakes for dessert.

There is something so sweet about being friends with people for almost fifteen years and watching our families gel and grow together. We love these guys so much! It's fun to see the way the group has  grown and changed over the years: 

Pinterest 1.0 - Ella was only a couple of months old and Levi couldn't walk yet.
Pinterest 2.0- Alana and Jamie were newlyweds. We were all at their wedding just a couple of weeks earlier.
Pinterest 3.0- Justin and Amber's appearance as Mr. and Mrs. (Their wedding was a couple of weeks ago.) Not sure what took us so long, but this year we included Matt, Kate and their little girl, Amelia, which added an extra level of fun. Levi, Abby and Ella went from babies to big kids playing together. They ran around like best buds the whole time. And of course, we can't forget Oliver.

Abby loves Miss Kate

Oliver making friends.

Ella (2), Levi (2), Abby (4)

Alana and Jamie

I love that the same guy who used to make it his workday goal to jump out and scare me or create fake rats out of duct tape to freak me out is the guy sitting in my girls' princess tent playing camping while the kids throw him a pretend birthday party. 

Next up...Pinterest 4.0!

Ella's First Trip to the Dentist

It was time for Ella's first trip to the dentist. Abby prepped Ella the night before, so when Ella arrived at the office the next morning she was totally pumped up for the visit. Not everyone's big sister loves the dentist, but Ella's does! So, Ella showed up fully loaded with information. She knew what toys were fun in the waiting room and that the dental hygienist always wears a cookie monster shirt. She knew that she should ask for birthday cake flavored toothpaste during her cleaning and she knew to pick out the good stuff from the prize bin at the end. Most importantly, she was excited about it.

first red cup of the season! The holidays are here!

The hygienist kept saying she couldn't believe how Ella was acting like a five year old. They couldn't believe she was so willing to sit there by herself and have her teeth checked out! She did a great job and proudly left the office like a big girl carrying her bag of goodies.



We celebrated with a special trip to the library afterward before we had to pick Abby up from school.

 

Later that week, Abby had her appointment. Both girls celebrated their dentist week by getting the privilege of taking their picture with the giant toothbrush and mirror. Success!

 

Life Lately

Have I mentioned we have the laziest puppy in history? He is also the most snuggly puppy. We wouldn't change him for a minute, but let's be clear...this boy can sleep. He wants to be snuggled in as close as possible to a human body and preferably under as many layers of covers as he can. At night, he sleeps with Abby, but most mornings before the sun comes up, he comes to my side of the bed and wakes me up. For most dogs, this would mean that he wants to go out. For Oliver, this means he wants to get in bed with us. I let him up and he burrows in for another round of deep sleep where he stays long after we both get out of bed. Joe has to literally convince Oliver to get up, so he can take him out before work some mornings. He really is the sweetest little baby puppy.

Two little girls who weren't feeling well + daylight savings time + that totally non spooky Curious George Halloween episode that Abby keeps having dreams about = a full bed. This is not a norm for us, which is why it's pretty hysterical.

This night, Abby came in first. We were so exhausted that we let her crawl in at the end of the bed. Being the faithful puppy lover that she is (even at 3 a.m.), she carried Ollie in and plopped him on the bed because she didn't want to leave him alone. Two hours later, Ella woke up super early for the day (thanks time change!) and the only way to convince her that it wasn't time to wake up yet was by putting her in bed with us. Before I knew it, my alarm was going off and I was falling off the bed. This is the picture I snapped when I got out of the shower:

 

Don't worry. Ollie is holding down the fort! Where did Joe and I even fit?

Abby's school hosted a literacy night last week. The event celebrated the author, Eric Carle, and all of his books. The students had spent the weeks leading up to the event reading his books and making beautiful themed artwork to decorate the halls of the school. Abby came home each day sharing fun facts she learned about the author and listing off his books titles we have yet to read. One afternoon, she went through her entire bookshelf to find all of the books we owned by him. Abby has loved many of his books since before she was big enough to remember. I've loved many of his books since Kindergarten myself. To say she is excited about Eric Carle is an understatement.

Did you know that Eric Carle made his book illustrations using tissue paper? Or that he was born in Syracuse? Abby taught me that too! :)  The best is that every time we read a book now, she wants to know the author's name. I love seeing her knowledge and love for books continue to increase more and more.

Abby and I made a special evening out of it. We both needed some quality time with each other. We had dinner together at the place of her choice...(drumroll please)...Panera. We chatted and chatted until it was time for us to head to the school. She's my little buddy! Sometimes we have such good conversation that I forget I'm hanging out with my four year old.  At one point, when I looked up at her, I was struck by how mature she looked.

I love this sweet girl!

Literacy Night was a ton of fun. We spent time with Abby's classmates, participated in a bunch of activities together and finished off the night with some Eric Carle inspired treats.

Abby's artwork

The beautiful Hungry Little Caterpillar cake

One another note...
One night, Ella couldn't fall asleep and was eating up the quality time with mommy and daddy on the couch. She picked up one of our phones and started asking us to Facetime everybody. This girl was ready for the spotlight. Thankfully, we got a hold of a few family members that night.

Bookworms: Fall 2014 edition

Our most favorite fall book finds:

1. Exploring Grace Together : 40 Devotionals for the Family by Jessica Thompson
We've been enjoying this as a family in the morning or with Abby before bed. It's a great devotional for the whole family filled with beautiful stories and scripture that points to who God is and His grace in our lives.

2. Mix It Up by Herve Tullet 

3. Peanut Butter & Cupcake by Terry Border
**Both girls have been reciting the catchy rhymes from this book everyday, even though we had to return it to the library weeks ago (after renewing it twice). They love it!**

 4. Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett

5. Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan

 

 6.  How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara

Halloween 2014

As Halloween approached this year, there was really no question what our girls wanted to be. For months, Abby walked around saying, "I'm Elsa" and Ella was right behind her reminding the world, "I'm Anna"! It didn't matter that Elsa was the most popular girl costume this year, these were the perfectly predictable costumes for our girls. And because we already owned Elsa and Anna dresses, I went the extra mile and got them the cute wigs to go with their costumes. I knew the wigs would be added to their dress up bin and loved and loved far beyond this one night event.

The anticipation was almost too much for them to handle throughout the day as I laid their costumes on my bed and had them wait to put them on until after lunch.

so pretty

After lunch, when I realized rest time was NOT going to happen because the excitement was buzzing, I got the girls dressed to go outside for pictures. The wigs put the costumes over the top in the most fun way! It was adorable. Joe and I couldn't look at them without smiling! Even when they were crumbling fast and whining miserably from exhaustion, something about those long braided wigs made me laugh instead of lose my patience.

"Elsa! Is that you?"

sisters and Olaf

Letting it go!

waving to all the neighbors

They took their parts very seriously and their months of character study paid off! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1anjeZBGYw

We had big plans to dress Oliver up with a pair of antlers as Sven, the reindeer in Frozen, but he was still recovering from his surgery. If you look closely, you can see how he felt to be left out of all the fun!

Climbing the ice palace steps to go find her sister!

Look at that sad little Sven!

As I mentioned, the emotional meltdown only continued to get worse. I knew if we had any chance of enjoying the evening I needed to get these girls to close their eyes for a few minutes and rest. Starbucks was also having a sweet coffee deal that day. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. I loaded these Norwegian princesses into the car and made my way to the Starbucks drive thru. Nothing like a Friday afternoon treat for mom! The girls insisted we have a Frozen sing-a-long on the way and before Anna ever found out if Elsa wanted to build a snowman, my littles were snoring back there. Perfect! I enjoyed my latte and listened to the new Taylor Swift CD on the way home of (sorry not sorry. I love it.), while my girls geared up for a night full of neighborhood fun, friends and candy!

Ella even made the transition into her bed for another hour of sleep!

For the second year in a row, the Torns, joined us for dinner and trick-or-treating. I made Chicken Cheddar Corn Chowder, garlic bread and salad. Last year, Isaac was still in little pumpkin in his mom's belly and this year, Ella insisted he try on her Anna wig! If only we knew what he was thinking...

Sheriff Callie, Anna, Rapunzel and Elsa

Of course, Ella has no memory of last year. She was still so small. So, this year, as she followed the lead of the big girls, it was sweet to watch her excitement as she was given a treat at each house. She would hold up traffic at each door as she peered into her bucket checking out what she got. Then, she would run over to us and yell, "For me!!"  As the big kids ran on to the next house, Ella was trying to keep up all by herself. She didn't want help from the grownups and she DID NOT want to be carried. She would just yell, "Wait for Ella!" and get there as quickly as she could.

It was a great night connecting with neighbors, having fun and enjoying friends!