Dec 25, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A Christmas Miracle DID occur (okay maybe the antibiotics started kicking the strep's butt)...either way, I got my voice back! Sure it's deep and raspy...but I'll take it over literally only being able to whisper and not being able to swallow!

I hope Your Christmas has been wonderful. Despite being sick, mine's been great and will continue for one more day tomorrow with my side of the fam! I'll be nestling in to sleep here shortly but here's the happenings thus far.

For the first time since the first year we were married, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in our own home! Now that Ella is old enough to understand, we decided to being creating our own family traditions.

Christmas Eve we spent a lazy day at home. Ella helped me bake cupcakes for Jesus' Birthday (New family tradition #2). It was so sweet to hear her as she lay in bed for her nap. Here's how it went:
"Happy Birfday to Jeee-sus. Happy Birfday to Jeee-sus. Jesus have cupcake? K. Ella have cupcake too. K? K." OH. MY. GOSH. Too cute for words.
Jason and Ella went to a friends for dinner while I kept my germs away and rested.
We had our last day of advent (advent being new family tradition #1) singing, opening the calendars, lighting the last white candle and celebrating Jesus' Birthday.
See the cupcakes in the shape of a "J"?
She really liked the cupcakes!
Then Ella opened one present...that being new Christmas P.J.'s (New family tradition #3) and put them on to snuggle and read Christmas stories before bed.
Christmas Morning we turned on the lights, hit the Christmas music and spent time taking turns opening stockings and then presents. Not wanting it to be about tons of STUFF, it doesn't take us long. Jason and I each get one for each other and Ella had three. Of course Hunter is never left out! He loves his flying squirrel.
Then we brewed the coffee, Daddy cooked up a nice hot breakfast and we spent time savoring and playing with Ella's new toys. Now I can't be quite certain but I THINK Ella may have enjoyed her big present...a playhut structure with multiple "houses" and tunnels. You judge for yourself by the picture!
Oh, how we loved our own little family Christmas.
And oh, how we also love going to be with family too. So we did just that. We hit the road to Jason's side of the family where we took this lovely little picture. There's never a shortage of toys, food and fun. Ella has such a blast and often talks about "Nanny & Gammpy, Auntie Ewin, and Unca Adam"
And tomorrow it's off to celebrate with my side of the family. She'll no doubt be singing "To Gamma's house we go" in the car and she's already talked about "Auntie Den, Danie (Jen's horse), and Unca Geg". Looks like we may get snowed in by this incoming blizzard for longer than we had originally planned. Oh well. We'll see how it goes. Good thing we brought the snow gear and sled!

Hope you all are having a happy, healthy, merry Christmas!

Dec 21, 2010

The Christmas Card that Keeps On Giving!

Welp, you may think this a little lame, but in order to stay within a tight budget and give more to the needy...we've opted out of mailing Christmas cards this year. I'm sure we'll resume in the future when we have a little more to go around to all things. But this year our hearts have been pierced deeper than ever before by the plight of the needy and we simply put priority on that. We would like to share some fab pictures of our little munchkin that I took and some family pictures taken by the fabulous Barbara Tobey (you can also find her here) that would have totally made it on the card!The money we saved in different ways went to to help dig a well to provide clean water to children as well as help provide assistance to needy families in our community...see, and by you being okay with not getting a card this year...you helped make that happen!!!

Here's an idea how an amount that seems so small to us can be so BIG in the lives of others...
Between the photo cards, envelopes and stamps (a mere $25-$35),

that's enough money to provide:


  • more than $200 dollars worth of food to starving children in other countries

  • two months worth of safe shelter, food, counseling, and healthcare for an abused or exploited child

  • a month'ss worth of safe haven, food, healthcare, and education to an AIDS orphan

  • seeds, tools, hoes, watering cans and training on how to produce food for families facing famine or crop failure

  • a month of healthcare, food, trauma care and vocational training for rescued child soldiers

Think about it. Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and help someone less fortunate do the same!

Dec 13, 2010

Reading to Monkey

Today after we read books in our pre-nap routine, Ella took the book and said, "Ella sit in own rockin' chair. I read to monkey."

She then proceeded to read MANY books to Mr. Monkey AND let me take pictures! It was priceless and thus nap was pushed back a few. "Pola Beah, Pola Beah,Wha you heah?"
The way she says it is Adorable. Priceless. Beyond words.
Oh what's that? You can't see the pictures? Here. Let me give you a close up.
I went for a while without many Ella posts at all and now I think I'm making up for it. She's just so cute! She's growing so fast and doing so many things that I cannot begin to tell of them all. But she is being a little more compliant with picture taking these days so I've managed to snap a few!

Dec 10, 2010

She's a Sharp One!

Last night I was finishing wrapping Christmas Presents and Ella was curious. When I showed her the three that are for her she was quite excited. The following conversations ensued.
ELLA: Ella present! My open it!
ME: No sweetie, you can't open them yet. They are Christmas presents. We have to wait until Christmas.
(Pause, Ella looking confused and me pondering how to explain that to her a little more.)
ME: You know the calendar that we open one door each day?
ELLA: Yeah.
ME: Once we open all the doors, then it will be Christmas and we can open the presents.
ELLA: (Pausing while the wheels in her head were obviously turning.) I GO OPEN DOORS ON CALENDAR!!! (she exclaims as she turns on heel and runs for the calendar)

I'm tellin' ya...this one, she's a sharp one! Oh we got the biggest kick out of that!

Also of note. When I told her it was her daddy's birthday she busted out into quite the round of "Happy Birthday to Daddy!" all on her own. She even sang it to him again when I called him on the phone. You could tell he was touched. He said he'd like to have it on video. I've yet to accomplish that task as she is only interested in seeing herself on the camera these days....not on being on the other side of it!

She also counted to ten today. I know it's just recitation, but I think it's pretty great!

Dec 8, 2010

TWO

Although her Birthday was celebrated TWICE two weeks ago
and as far as she's concerned it's come and gone,
I cannot help but take pause today because today
my little Ella is officially
TWO YEARS OLD!
Where DOES the time go?
How is my tiny infant now
speaking to me in full sentences?
Running?
Jumping?
Praying?
Singing songs?
Potty Training?
Giving up Pacifiers?
How can it be that my wee one is now the toddler peering down at other babies with delight?
I want to capture each moment, savor each one and never wish a second away...even the tough seconds :)

Happy Birthday my Sweet!
May you always ride happily off into the sunset!

Dec 2, 2010

Cold Turkey

It was all fun and games...until reality set in.

You see, since the age of one, Ella was only allowed her paci's in the crib or car. A few months ago we eliminated the car clause with not so much as a whimper. And we're finally going all in...or all out I guess, and eliminating the paci's all together. We decided to do this because she's been biting them and I'm so afraid that she'll bite a hunk off and it will choke her in her sleep. Also, even though we've always used the orthodontic ones, I just don't want anything potentially messing up her teeth. They've not yet, so better to stop while we're ahead.

You see we've been talking about this for a month now. That when she has her "Happy Birthday To You" party, she'll be 2...a big girl! She won't need paci's anymore. We'll give them to baby Addi, because only babies need pacis.

I didn't know how much she's understand. But she'd periodically bring it up and shove her pacifiers in my face saying, "I give to baby Addi!". So she's had her birthday bashes. We waited until the day after I watch another little girl and now it's go time. We made a big deal, colored a package, wrapped it up, put bows on it and shipped it off to her dear friend Baby Addi (who incidentally does not even use paci's.) She had a blast and was so excited to give them away to her!

But I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. It was about the time that I said we were getting ready for her nap that she realized her beloved paci's were long gone and that meant she wouldn't have them for nap! She shot me a glance that can only be described by the caption, "OH CRAP. They're really gone!" Then began the incessant asking, "I go get paci's!" "I need my paci!" "I go Addi's house get paci's!"

Distraction was key.
  • We made a big deal about her getting to wear her NEW pink monkey pajamas. That bought me about 10 minutes.
  • And thank goodness one of her favorite books (Papa's song) had her smiling and giggling and making all the sound effects. And all on her own she pointed to Baby Bears mouth at the end and said in a suprised tone, "Baby Bear no have paci!" So we made a huge deal about Baby bear being a big boy, and not needing a paci and still being sound asleep. That bought me another 15 min.
  • Then began the tucking in. Her pillow placed just so. She telling me where to put each specific blanket..."Dis one on piwow. Dis one nuggle (next to her to snuggle). Dis one covew up (cover he up)." This went on for quite some time with at least 8 blankets. 4 of which she specified which order they were to be laid over her! She then asked to have each stuffed animal removed from the crip, "Take dat out, take dat one out, take that one out.....". I was headed for the door with them all when she specified that she wanted them in the closet..."Put dem in dere (pointing to closet door)". That bought me another 5...maybe 10 minutes.
Thus far we're 10 minutes in. She cried for her paci for about five. Oh rip my heart out! Then she cried for her doll, which I brought her. And now she's quiet. And I'm crossing my fingers!

I know I'm coddling her, but this is s tough transition...probably just as tough on me as it is on her. Be strong! I keep telling myself. Be strong! Wish us well!

Nov 29, 2010

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

I love Christmas. There are no two ways about it. I love the whole season. In our home, we strive to make it a season of peacefulness, reflection, gratitude and giving. I love nothing more than to have greenery throughout the house, candles glowing, white lights twinkling, yumminess baking and a manger scene in every nook and cranny! Even after 4 days away, two thanksgiving, two birthdays and our whole family getting sick, I couldn't help but bust out the decorations!
Last night was the first night of advent. Sure, it's still a bit lost on Ella, but she does love to light the candles and open the door to the advent calendar. And her most requested song these days is "baby jesus song." (Born in Bethlehem by Third Day)Ella aslo really enjoys playing with the manger scenes and can often be heard saying, "I pay (play) baby jesus". This is our "giving basket" filled with homemade applebutter to give away during the season. We'll involve Ella and teach her about giving by letting her hand them out.
This year, as in every other, our pennies are pinched. But once again, we feel so blessed and provided for in every way! Spiritually, emotionally, socially, and materially! Praise God! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have a banister to drape garland down! I've always wanted one! This is the biggest tree we've ever gotten! Our celings are 9 ft. high if that gives you some perspective. Oh how I wish I could send the smell of fresh pine right through cyberspace into your home! And we have a hearth to decorate! A hearth with a cozy roaring fire beneath it. We ar so fortunate and I am grateful every second of every day...realizing that none of it is mine. It is on lend from the Great Providor and I am just it's steward for a short time.

Nov 23, 2010

A Thankful Heart

Our (many) bags are packed and we're ready to go! After a lovely accountability time with two of my fave ladies, this little family is hitting the road for Thanksgiving. We're visiting some friends we don't get to see often, stopping at Nanny's house for two days and then off to Gamma's house for another few. Although traveling can wear us out, we're excited to kick off this Holiday season and we're going to focus on all the fun things about raod trips!

This time of year more than any other has me focusing on all the things I am grateful for. Although life is not without stresses and struggles at times, the stresses and struggles I deal with PALE in comparison to 99% of the world. My heart is content....no full....no bursting with gratitude for all that I am blessed with. It leaves me humbled thinking, why me? Why was I born into my family, in this country, with this health, with all the opportunities I've been afforded all my life? Why have I been so blessed with this husband, this daughter, this church, these friends, this home? I won't sit here and ponderm that too long. I'll just thank God for it, and do all that I can do to use what I've been given to help others.

My heart is so thankful. And we are being intentional in cultivating a thankful heart in our little love. When I asked Ella what she wants to thank God for this is what she said:
Gamma's house
dis food
ducks
kitties
a mountin
mamadaddy
happy birfday you
bebies

I have no words for what that does to my heart. No words! What are you thankful for!?

Nov 22, 2010

How Are You Keeping Christ In Christmas?

It saddens me just how much Christmas has become about presents and all things material. Every fiber of my being desires to keep Christ at the center of our family's Christmas. After all, that is what Christmas is all about, the one most precious gift that is the exact opposite of material. The birth of our Savior who made the ultimate sacrifice so we could have the ultimate gift...unconditional love, grace, forgiveness, eternal life. That gift will not break, will not go out of style, and will never be outgrown.

If you want ONE great way to keep Christ at the center of your Christmas I suggest ADVENT.

Advent means "coming". For the entire month leading up to Christmas you prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth, His first coming. There is a spirit of anticipation, excitement and longing.

Here is what we plan to do to make it toddler friendly: Each night we're going to light the appropriate candle, read a small snippet out of this family advent book my mom got us, and open one window on the advent calendar.

(PS: Thanks to some routine we've put in place after reading Toddlerwise and having our family doctor encourage us to do family devotions, we now have have a two year old that says "Voshon Time!" with joy after each meal, prays and generally listents quite well while we do the daily bread each night)

Here are some other things we plan to do to keep Christ at the center of our Christmas:

  • Sheild ourselves from commercialism by keeping the TV off and recycling store flyers and catalogues as soon as they come.
  • Continually talk about the true meaning of Christmas...for kiddos...how Christmas is Jesus' Birthday and make Him a birthday cake!
  • Put out all of our manger scenes but keep the baby Jesus' out of them. On Christmas morning make a big deal over "Baby Jesus was born today!!!" and go put all the baby Jesus' into their manger scenes to symbolize this.
This is the first year that I've been coming up with ideas to keep Christ in Christmas tailored to a toddler because last year Ella was too young to understand. However, this year she is SO aware and we're loving it and being intentional from the very beginning. I want many, many more ideas than I already have!

So PLEASE comment and tell me the ways your family keeps Christ in Christmas!

Nov 20, 2010

FIRST 5k!

I sure didn't break any land speed records, but I accomplished my goal: Finish 5k. Don't walk. I actually ran it 2 minutes faster than I'd ever run it in training. I also took second place in my age group! (No. I will not tell you how many people were in my age group, but it was more than 2! I'll go to my grave with the secret! You'll never know!...unless you look up the results on Coolrunning.com but whatev!)

All of that, and I'd only run once in the last month! I feel pretty darn good 'bout that!

You see the Oct. 30th race that I was diligently training for was canceled!!! I found out like 3 days before the race. I was quite disappointed and promptly sat my bum on my couch and ate cookies...Then I got sick...then I got better...then I contemplated finding another race...then I ate some more cookies while watching America's Next Top Model...then I found a race and signed up for it....then I got sick...then I got better....then I ran once...then I went to the race this morning.

Here's my super expert race report:
-I was really stinkin' nervous. I peed aproximately 100,000 times in the 1/2 hour before the race.
-It was a low key race. The gun went off and so did I.
-I started at what felt like my normal pace. I passed some people. I liked that.
-At probably the 1/2 mile mark I thought, "Whoah Nelly, simmer down. I don't think you can keep this up for another 2 1/2 miles."
-One woman I had passed, then passed me. I didn't like that.
-I saw a deer run through the woods. It was pretty.
-There were no mile markers. I had never seen the course before. I had no idea how far I'd gone and I was kind of hurtin'.
-I decided to try to keep pace with the woman ahead of me in a turqoise shirt. That was helpful.
-I got to a point where I was pretty sure I had not long to go and thought. "Oh wow, it's almost over. That was fast. I'll pick it up a little."
-Right at the finish line my hubby and little lady were cheering me on. That was the best!
-I finished in 33:18 and felt totally great and thought, "I probably could have run faster. Yay me!"
-Then Ella ran into my arms. That was THE best.
-Then she ran in circles and said, "I runnin'! Mama do it too!" And then I ran in circles with Ella. That was THE best best!

I'd like to also give the hugest shout out to my friend Krissy who ran today as well and accomplished her goal! We started this together and we saw it through to the end! I think I was more excited when I saw her cresting over the last hill than I was when I saw the finish line myself! There was hugging. There were tears. It was fabulous. I'm hooked! So which race are we running next Krissy!?
Here's some photos!
Me, super duper nervous, putting on a corny happy face before walking out the door!And they're off!Woo Hoo! Coming down the home stretch being cheered on by my two loves! Smiling for the camera. (Thanks for the great pictures hon!)And finishing! Yay!Here's Krissy coming down the homestretch. Here's Krissy when we told her the finish line was just around the corner! I do believe she yelled an explative and took off like lightning! Love it!And here we are. Happy, accomplished, and with ribbons none the less!Did I mention Krissy really likes ribbons!?

Nov 18, 2010

Man Shopping

(DISCLAIMER: Please don't think I'm not grateful for the wonderful hubby I have. I am!!! But you just have to laugh about things in life because they're true...and funny! I have permission to share...so laugh along!)

No, I'm not talking about shopping for a man.
For this post Grocery shopping shall be defined as: When I go grocery shopping.
And Man Shopping shall be defined as: When Jason goes shopping...for anything...that I've asked him to get.

Ladies, you know what I'm talking about don't you?

Have you ever noticed how a grocery store has the inate power to strike fear into the minds of otherwise brilliant men, rendering them helpless and paralyzed to accurately follow even the most detailed list? I mean, this must literally be what men see as they stand in the aisles.

Seriously. There's GOT to be some force field around every store that sells groceries, or some weird 3rd dimension that only men fall into when they cross the threshhold through those automatic sliding doors. That's the only explanation I can think of for my husband's inability to read, obtain and come home with the items I put down on a list. The man is an engineer. He's responsible for writing the instructions on how to fix our Navy's Submarines....ya know, those silly old contraptions that take thousands of our armed forces gazillions of feet under the ocean waters to keep our nation safe. And yet...when the man goes grocery shopping.....

Tuesday, bless his heart, Jason volunteered to shop while I went and got an (8 month overdue) haircut. I gave him a list. It had details. For heaven's sake it had details! The flippin' list took me just as long to write as it would have taken me to actually go and shop myself. It specified flavors, sizes, name brand or store brand...dang, I even drew pictures of the tough stuff! And still...still THIS happens...here's just a small sampling:

-I wrote 1 peach or nectarine
-He came home with 6 tangerines...(of which we already have an entire bag in the fridge.)

-I wrote fruitables - VERY BERRY (because that's the only kind Ella likes)
-He came home with fruitables a kind she won't drink. (he insisted I did not specify until I showed him the list and he was like, "Oh. Yup. There it is. Very Berry. In bold.")

-I wrote ORGANIC whole milk 1/2 gallon (because that's the kind a size Ella and the little girl I babysit drink)
-He came home with one pint regular whole milk (he had not even an veiled defense or explanation to offer on that one)

-I wrote 3 pkgs active dry yeast (I even drew a picture of what the packages look like and wrote "each pkg. has three sections. I need 3 pgks")
-He came home with one package because "it's got three sections! I thought that was three!"

-I wrote Bread Flour (And had an entire conversation about this one before he left because I KNEW he'd come home with regular flour)
-He came home with NOTHING (He insists the grocery store - where I buy my bread flour every month - does NOT carry bread flour)

-I wrote Some Hearty Bread to eat with soups and dinners (woe to me for not giving some more specific instruction or diagram for that one)
-He came home with THREE different kinds because he says he didn' t know what I meant.

And that my friens is the difference between Grocery Shopping and Man Shopping.

Nov 15, 2010

My Worst Nightmare

Well folks, it finally happened....my worst nightmare came true. We had a potluck (the TRUE kind where nobody tells anyone else what they're brining) and...you might want to sit down for this...every single person brought ORANGE JELL-O. Seriously. I'm still a little traumatized. Trying to recover from the horror.

Actually, it was a joke...on me. And quite funny when I actually picked up on it. You see, my fabulous husband planned a little birthday lunch get-together yesterday afternoon...unbenonced to me (I figured it out 'bout an hour before hand). As our friends started arriving one by one, they each put a bowl of orange jell-o on the counter. In my head I was totally thinking, "Oh my gosh this is a disaster! How in the world would everybody bring the SAME thing!? And orange Jell-o no less!?" But on the outside I was all smiles and, "Oh my gosh, you brought some too!? That's so funny." Until it finally dawned on me that this was just a cruel trick! Yeah, it's a bit of an inside joke, but suffice it to say that I'm a Type A personality and the mere thought of an unplanned pot luck sends me right into hyperventalation...and my friends all know it!

Really it was a wonderful afternoon. I felt very loved by my husband for planning the whole thing and very loved by everyone coming. We had a lovely lunch and then dug into a 3 layer german chocolate cake (my fave) made from scratch (frosting AND cake) by my fab. hubby.

Then we got to turn the spotlight on some of our friends and bless them with a gift...which if you ask me...was the best part of the whole day!

Nov 10, 2010

Feed Him!

When I first started dating Jason and found out he hunted, I was all, "Oh my gosh I can't believe you kill Bambie's mom! I'm not sure I can be with such a heartless human." But after looking into the matter, thinking critically about it, and having many a conversation with my boss (Ron) at the time, I hath changed my views. Now I'm all, "You getcha deah yet?"

I could still never pull the trigger myself...but once someone's already done the dirty work I'm good to go. In fact back in college, still working at the country store under Ron's tutilage, I was known to slap a buck knife in my back pocket, jump up on the back of any old pick-up, slit beneath the hocks, tag 'em and string 'em up to weigh 'em. And now that I've got a stud of a hubby who'll shoot 'em for me, I've learned a few good venison recipes along the way.

This afternoon was the first time Jason's has had time to hunt. He got home at 3pm and went right out. I prayed that he would get one. At 3:39 I heard one shot ring out. "Oh I hope that was Jason!" I thought.

Then Jason busted through the door at 4:45pm today and exclaimed, "40 minutes in and my hunting season is over!" Sure enough, the 3:39 shot was his. Thus endeth Jason's 4 year deer drought. And there couldn't be a better year for it. We don't hunt for trophy, we hunt for meat and we could really use it right now.

Ella could see we were all excited and started jumping up and down. We told her, "Daddy got a deer!" To which she exclaimed, "I go see it!" Having already raised a child who loves fishing and hikes mountains on her own, we wanted to add this to her list of outdoorswoman extrordinair qualitities. We bundled up, grabbed a flashlight and headed outside. She looked at it for a second with no big to do and then said, "I go back."

Later in the house, Ella continued to jump around and say, "I saw daddy's deer!" I asked her what we were going to do with it. She thought long and hard and then said, "Put it in the trailer!" I told her it was already in the trailer and asked again what we were going to do with it. Again, she thought long and hard and said, "I go feed him apples!"

Well, bummer sweetie. It's not like Auntie Jen's horse. We can't feed him anymore, but he can feed us!

Nov 8, 2010

Please Help. Really. DO SOMETHING!

What if this was YOUR child?...What if this was Ella? What if this wasYOUR grandchild?
What if this wasYOUR nephew?
Wouldn't you be SCREAMING for HELP?
Wouldn't you be sacrificing EVERYTHING to make her well?
THIS IS.
THIS IS someone's CHILD,
Someone's GRANDCHILD,
Someone's NIECE or NEPHEW.

ARE YOU HELPING?

  • How much money do you spend on going out to eat?
  • How much do you spend on coffee?
  • How much money do you spend on entertainment?
  • How much money do you spend on more clothes, more shoes, more jewelry?
  • How much money do you spend on Christmas presents for people that really NEED nothing?
  • How much money do you spend on toys for a child that has so many they don't know what to do with them all?

Do you spend more on those things than you do on saving these children's lives? If you do, there is something wrong. I have been just as guilty as the next person of this. However, through a book I have been reading and a series my church has been doing...my heart has been broken. My eyes have been opened. And my life is changing as a result.



27,000 children die EVERY DAY
from preventable causes like hunger, lack of clean water and preventable diseases.


Americans spent 5 BILLION dollars on halloweeen this year. That is 1 billion more than the annual budget of the Red Cross. That is 2 billion more than the annual budget of the Salvation Army.With our wealth and disposable income (Yes, even in this financially hard time in the U.S.), American's alone could END world hunger.
HOW MUCH WILL WE SPEND ON CHRISTMAS WHILE CHILDREN ALL OVER THE WORLD STARVE AND DIE?



YOU CAN HELP. HERE'S JUST A FEW WAYS.

Find a cause. Find a reputable organization. Get involved. GIVE!


World Vision is just ONE organization you can go through to help. But they are amazing. They are not just putting a band aid on the problem. Through them, you can
sponsor a child and provide them with food, water, healthcare, and education,
give livestock to families and teach them how to use them to provide for their families,
give small business loans so that people can use their talents and work their way out of poverty
Help free CHILDREN from their bondage as sex slaves.
PLEASE DON'T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE.
I am not even kidding. If every single person who was going to buy me a Christmas gift, instead sponsors a child, gives to end world hunger, buys a goat for a family, and just simply writes in a card what they did and gives it to me open on Christmas morning, that would bring me the MOST joy of any gift. Please. I need nothing!

Oct 31, 2010

Trunk or Treat with Our Little Cowgirl

This is our church's 3rd annual Trunk or Treat. We have 75 cars, bounce house/slide/rockwall, treasure hunt inside, a singing/skit show and fireworks at the end. I think last year we had 4,000 people come through. It rocks. Here's the trunk we did this year with our friends Dave and Megan.
Here's our little cowgirl sans hat.
She was NOT happy about wearing the hat. (There is a lone little tear trickling down her right eye.)
So doing the very responsible parent thing, we bribed her with m&m's and smarties to wear it for the pictures. (Her trusty steed a.k.a. our golden retriever was also interested in said bribes. Although he didn't cooperate nearly as well as Ella did for the photos!)
It didn't take her long to figure out that this whole Halloween/Costume thing involves candy. Now she's all in!
And here she is all bundled (leggings under her jeans, three layers on top, hat and mittens!) at the actuall trunk or treat because it was stinkin' cold!

She was a little overwhelmed by all the trunks, people and noises. She would squeek a barely audible a "trick or treat" and "thank-you". And near the end she was very tired and very torn. She would ask to "go back to car go home" and in the next breath, with droopy eyes say, "more trick or treat. More candy in pumkin." We didn't stay for the fireworks. By the time I got her tucked in at 7:45 (45min past her normal bed time) she was one tuckered little cowgirl!

Happy Halloween! Hope yours was as fun as ours!