Halloween Costumes

So I have two Halloween costumes that the girls were going to wear...a hot dog, which Lexi had worn her 1st Halloween, and a tiger costume Lexi got from Gram-Eni (Eddie's Mom)...so we were like "Sweet, Halloween will be easy this year!"

But who am I to make things easy?

Halloween is one of the times I get to be creative, especially when I have

2 cute little kids!

That, and I like to have them be unique when people see them... People remember Lexi as a hot dog because we dressed up like hot dog vendors and decorated our car like a hot dog stand... but would anyone have remembered had we NOT done that?

(and served root beer)

Most likely not.

Then we dressed up like Star Wars characters last year, but this was with outfits you couldn't buy at your local Halloween store...My mom and I toiled over our outfits to go with Lexi's Yoda costume (which we did buy) and decorated our car with Ed's variety of Star Wars stuff.

(and served root beer)

This year, with my partner in crime currently out of the picture, I needed these costumes to be unique...so here it is:

Take 2 adorable girls

Add white outfits,

white scarves,

White tights,

White hats,

White shoes,

White wings,

annddd... voila!

PAPER AIRPLANES!

(geez, don't look so excited Lexi...)

(Lexi was upset here because I made her stand up so I could get a picture of the back)

They were a hit at the ward party on Wednesday

(and we made root beer)

More pictures to come!

(I just did another post before this...be sure to take a peek below)

Pumpkin Patch 2009

So this year, we went to another pumpkin patch, this time at a farm. It had snowed pretty well up there the two days prior, so the road getting there was...shall we say, less desirable. Good thing I drove my Jeep instead of Mom's van. We drove up with some friends and met others there, and all in all, had a fun time. Most of the pictures didn't turn out, but Lexi really did have fun. She especially liked the farm animals.

This was the best shot we could get of me and the girls

Using a water pump

Lexi and her friend, Ivy, on the Hay ride

and them playing in the snow

riding the kiddie train

This is what they do whenever they see each other after not seeing each other for a while...I think it had been 10 minutes?

Cute little Carissa

Feed corn box

Pony ride!!

She didn't really know what to think about it.

Feeding the animals

Lexi and I on the hay ride

We had a lot of fun, but still haven't carved the pumpkins we got. Something keeps coming up, you know how life is :-)

Yet another reason why I don't have a dog...

I can't even keep my daughter's goldfish alive...

R.I.P. Nemo II

We're trying to decide the best option from here...I mean, she didn't even notice he was gone all day...doesn't care. We'll just save the pet fish for later... and I thought this would be a fun experience for her.

There goes that plan! :-(

If you haven't read the previous post, do that first...

So my mom came upstairs to me this morning and informed me that Nemo had died...already. So now we have Nemo II in his place...

We figure at this rate, we'll be replacing him every other day...let's just hope that was a fluke.

I can tell the difference, but the real question is: will Lexi?

Let's hope not.

A Girl and Her Fish

So if you know me pretty well, you know that me buying a pet for my kids comes with the following guidelines:

- It has to be easy to care for

- It can't be a dog

- Nor can it be a cat

- Nor can it be anything that moves freely about the house

- Nor can it have any part of it that gets left behind when it's not around

- Oh, and it needs to be quiet, preferably silent

- not very expensive to care for

- and since it's for a young kid, who is pretty sensitive, easy to replace

Thus we have Nemo, Lexi's first pet:

Frankly, I'm impressed he made it home alive. I let Lexi hold him and when we had to stop at one more place before going home, she was more interested in a display than her new fish that she left him on the ground, on his side, with about and inch of water to swim in. But I saved him...whew! That was a whole 20 cents she just left laying there, mind you. What does she think we are, rich?

As far as our criteria, this little guy is perfect. He's not a dog or a cat (I hope that isn't a shock to you) nor can he leave his little fish bowl on his own... and hopefully doesn't leave until he comes to a sad end. Let's just hope that A) Lexi doesn't contribute to that by either removing him herself or knocking over his fish bowl, B) when he does, she's not around, and C) Mom is slick enough to replace him without said two year old noticing.

Of everything to make this little pet for Lexi, the fish was the least expensive. The rocks= $1.60; The plant= $1.75; The distilled water= $.78, A net to put the fishy in (and remove him when the time comes)= $1.80, Fishy food= $2.00.

And the good thing: Should Nemo die before 90 days, he's free to replace! (I also conveniently asked the guy at Walmart to give me a very "common" looking fish)

Lexi loves her fish. We even watched Finding Nemo that night to celebrate. And I caught him watching too. almost longing to join them...sad he has to stay in such a small space, but happy to please my two year old.

So there you have it, our first pet, Nemo. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are many of you out there who love your pets, be they a dog, cat, guinea pig, snake... that's just not my thing. I figure I spend enough energy on kids; I don't need another thing to stress about. One day, I may let my kids get a turtle, but that too will be a while until my kids won't need me to care for it, for them. For now, a $.20 goldfish is good enough. :-)

Mini Fondant Cake

So my mom was working on a wedding cake today, so I decided to use some of her leftover cake scraps (those small humps on the top when you bake them) and make my own little mini version of a wedding cake. I took 3 round cookie cutters and cut 4 layers in each size, did the frosting, and when my mom was done with all her fondant she needed, I used it to cover my little mini version. I was impressed with myself, if I do say so. Maybe I'll conquer a full size cake one day. I figured it can't hurt to learn some cake decorating while I'm here, since more than likely I will be far away from mom for all my cake needs in the future.

Simple Buttercream cake - Check!

Fondant Cake - Check!

We'll see what else I can learn these next few months!

(If you think this looks good, you should see my master teacher! And she's always teaching herself new things too!)

See how small it was!

(It is a little crooked because the layers were not completely flat. Eh...it gives it character!)

From Fondue Party to Raking Leaves

While Grandpa was at the priesthood session, the girls had a fondue party!

Lexi liked the chocolate but didn't eat much of the fruit.

In an effort to get to hear some of the conference talks, I had some coloring out for Lexi to do. It lasted about 30 minutes, and she was back to her wild toddler self.

(Notice the barrier she's made with the papers and crayons?)

This morning, Lexi and Grandpa went out and raked the leaves:

Finally Catching My Breath... :-)

(literally... just read...)

So I've been in the process of moving all our things either to storage or my parents' house for the next 6 months (give or take). This makes for the 4th time we've moved in 3 years time... into our studio apt. in Monument when we got married, to our one bedroom back in Colorado Springs, to our 2 bedroom apartment in the same ward, to here: my parents' house again. And each time, it seems that it takes longer and longer to move. or pack. or clean. But we are pretty much done now. Just don't bother me in about 6 months :-)

The girls are transitioning rather well. Lexi watched A Goofy Movie like 10 times in less than a week, but it got me some time to get things done and pack. We just plugged in a small TV/VCR combo for her, without realizing we left all our VHS tapes at the folks' house...so midway, I had them bring some other videos over since I was getting tired of the same background noise. She also kept busy with her new hobby: Fort building. These are just three instances I got pictures of, but every day, we are barricaded at least a dozen times. Poor Grandma has had to be a victim to her little "fun" many times this past week.

And it's so much fun at Grandma's cuz there's new things to use to block people! Oh Fun!

Lexi also got a hold of the Build-a-Bear we had made Eddie, and look who else fits the glasses:

Ed left on Monday (Sept. 21st) for Air Force BMT and from my brief phone conversations and an email from the senior missionaries over his base, he seems to be doing well. We went to the Denver Aquarium just before dropping him off at the hotel for the night, and Lexi didn't freak out when we left without him...until we got home and she realized we didn't bring him with us. But she's been doing okay. She'll ask where he is on occasion, but I know she'll be so happy to see him in 7 weeks. Here's a pic I got from the missionaries:

Since he's been gone, I had the help of great friends to get everything done, much faster than had I had to do it all myself. Even got my home teacher out of a boring mtg ;-)!

With all this packing and moving, I didn't get much rest or eat as well, so after I was all done and ready to relax a bit, we all got colds. So now we're dealing with that, but today my congestion is good enough that I can breath again!