Costumes!

Here's a photo of the kids on Wednesday night. If you can't tell, Elsie is dressed up as a pink poodle :) I bought tons of candy to hand out at the door and we only had about 3 kids come. What am I going to do with all the extra candy?!!!

The Kitty Litter Cake is Back!!!

Is that kitty litter on my kitchen table?

Back in 2001 I came across a recipe for Kitty Litter Cake and decided to make it for Mike's Halloween work potluck. Although not many people wanted to actually eat the cake, it turned out to be a big hit!

I decided to make it again this year since he is now at a different company. The cake is assembled using two box cakes, pudding, Nilla Wafer crumbs, green food coloring, and...Tootsie Rolls (microwaved and shaped just right). Julie also suggested using some honey to make the cake even more realistic (a very nice touch).

Believe it or not, the cake is actually quite tasty!

Sunny, leafy day!

Today was a beautiful, sunny day! It's probably the only sun we've seen in about a month due to an unusually rainy October. I decided to head out on a "treasure" walk with the kids while I had the chance. While I headed upstairs to change into shorts (it was that warm!) I sent Weston and Grace out to the playroom to pack their backpacks for our walk. When I came down Grace had on her purse (an old early-90's purse I had in high school), her sun hat that's about 2 sizes too small, her hot pink plastic sunglasses, a stuffed dog, and a pink plastic bottle (apparently for the dog?). Weston had on his John Deere t-shirt, jeans, camo backpack, blue plastic sunglasses and his Mariner's hat. They were quite the pair to go on a walk with! I managed to talk Grace out of bringing the dog and the bottle and we set out! It wasn't long before we were finding all sorts of treasures; rocks, leaves, tree seeds, nuts, etc. About halfway through our walk we came across a yard full of yellow leaves. The kids were thrilled to run and kick the leaves (0n the street and the very edge of the yard....I don't let them run through strangers' yards). Eventually, our leaf playing turned into leaf throwing and then into a full blown leaf fight! I did draw the line though at not throwing leaves all over the baby. Elsie couldn't stop belly-laughing at all the leaves flying through the air. I couldn't help but thank the Lord that I got to enjoy my kids in that moment. How fun to participate with them in their delight!

New Sister

Here's a photo of our new sister (and aunt to the kids). We are so happy Eric found such a nice girl to marry. She was a beautiful bride.

More Wedding Photos!

Here's a few more wedding photos. Weston was the ring "police" (bearer). He did very well at his job. He stuck his pillow out in front of him and had a big, cheesy smile as he went down the aisle. When Mike told him to go back up the aisle after the ceremony he kept turning around and saying, "May I ask why"? Apparently he had forgotten that part from the rehearsal.

Eric and Christi's Wedding

Here's a few photos of Eric and Christi's wedding! The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was so much fun. Sorry, Eric, for the next photo of you and Christi. It's the only photo I got of you two together. :)
The reception was held in an old mansion in Spokane and the guests went from room to room for their food and drinks. There were stations set up with the food (fruit and veggies in the library, potatoes in the dining room, etc. ) You can see that Christi is holding a martini glass filled with mashed potatoes. There was a mashed potato bar with martini glasses so that guests could walk around and visit while they ate. Fun idea!
I think the mansion was built in 1902 and has been kept up very well.

Elsie the Fireball

Here's a new photo of Elsie at 8 and a half months. She is army crawling everywhere and is working on pulling up. She's been a little cranky lately because of a new top tooth coming in. She a bit more of a fireball than the other two. ;)
We are heading to Spokane tomorrow for Eric and Christi's wedding (Mike's younger brother and his fiance). Weston is going to be the ring-bearer so I'll have to post some photos of him in his tux when I get a chance. We're praying the trip goes well as it feels like a long drive. It will be fun to have a sister-in-law in the family!

Mmmmm yummy!

I decided to get artistic one morning and took a photo of my coffee. I think photography is not in my future career plans.

Bob Undies!

I caught Weston washing his hands in his Bob the Builder undies. Won't be much longer until I can't post photos like this on the blog. He is starting to insist on his "privacy" more and more.

Farewell to Moses!

Well, the time came to say "goodbye" to our beloved schnauzer, Moses. After lots of thinking, Mike and I decided that it was too much time, money, effort, etc to keep caring for a dog in addition to 3 young kids. We found a schnauzer rescue organization and decided to give him up for adoption :) Mike dropped Moses off to one of their foster homes (I know, sounds silly) and the foster "mom" liked Moses so much that she decided to keep him. He is now happily living in his new home. We don't miss having a dog, but we do miss Moses, if that makes any sense. Weston cried a lot when Moses first left but got over it pretty quickly. Grace didn't even notice he was gone until she was eating dinner later that night and wanted him to come lick her hand off. She's been pretty unaffected by his absence :) I've probably been taking it the hardest as he was my first "child". We had him for over 6 years so I was used to him always being there. We know it was the right decision and good timing as we currently have all mud for a yard and his vet bills were getting a little spendy. I'm sure many of our guests are going to miss his presence and loud yipping :)