HaLLoWeeN 2010

(Warning: This is a long post! Prepare yourself now)
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, probably because it's just so much fun. Also, my Mom has always been into Halloween and we laugh that she has more Halloween decorations than Christmas ones. Anyways, I have also developed a love for this fantastic holiday. We did small family activities, the classic trick-or-treating, and also our annual Halloween party so this post will be done in parts.

Pumpkin Carving and Caramel Apples

So we love carving pumpkins and making caramel apples and we do this pretty much every year with this year being no exception. I did caramel apples a little different this year because I wanted to be able to decorate them with heavier candies. So I read online about how to make sure the caramel doesn't slide off the apples, such as boiling the wax off the apples, (yes apples have wax on them to make them look more appealing. You should try dipping your apples in boiling water for 15 seconds and wipe off the wax. They look very different afterwards!) cooling the apples, letting the melted caramel sit for awhile, etc.  At first I thought it had worked, but we discovered the caramel still slid off the apples if they were left out of the fridge for too long and became a gooey messy pile. They still tasted delicious though!
     Carving pumpkins was fun as well. Lydia liked dipping her spoon in the pumpkin imitating us scraping the guts out. I carved three in the time it took Brigham to carve his one, but in his defense, I did very simple shapes so that Lydia could point them out and help me. Brigham took his time deciding on his angry cat face. We had a pumpkin for Brigham, me, Lydia, and even baby Ammon. It was a fun family night!

Costumes
Last year I swore I wouldn't make our costumes ever again because it was so time consuming, but I was roped into it again and I realized I probably will be every year. We usually plan our costume theme around what Lydia is each year. This time we borrowed her Tinkerbell costume from a friend at work. She LOVED it. She was so happy with how she looked.  So with Lydia as Tink, Brigham as Peter Pan and me as Wendy, we were ready for Neverland. I sewed Brigham's hat out of felt, and created the rest of his costume and mine from DI. It wasn't too bad, just a lot of time searching for the right pieces. Total spent was around $25 for all three costumes.

Yes I am a pregnant-looking Wendy.

Trick-or-Treating
Trick-or-treating for the first time with my own child was pretty exciting for me. This year was strange, however, as it was pouring rain the entire night. Every time it would let up a little and we would attempt to leave, it would start pouring again. Finally we just said, it's now or never. So, with rain pouring down, we went to six houses. Sounds small, but by time we were done, Lydia's bucket was half full! Apparently everyone on our street gives out full size candy bars!

 Lydia definitely wasn't thrilled with the rain and whined about her legs getting wet . . . that is until the first person put candy in her bucket. Then she was the happiest camper ever! She would not give up her bucket after we were done and I think she wouldn't have minded going all night long. If she could open candy she would have eaten her whole bucket that night. Luckily she just dumps it out, attempts to open a piece, and then puts it back in her bucket when she realizes she can't and moves on to the next piece.

Halloween Party!
Throwing a Halloween party each year is kind of our thing. We love to do it and it's usually a blast. This year was interesting because most of our friends have babies now. This, I learned, calls for adjustments. Also, I wasn't as impressed with my game selection this year. However, it was fun to have everyone over and dressed up! One of the games was to create a scary Halloween scene out of objects I had prepared for each team in a box. Ironically, the teams pretty much built the same scene! I loved this game because it was creepy-cool :) Here are the two scenes side by side, click on the picture for the full effect.

We also played a game where you have to suck up candy using only a straw into a cup while the other team tries to answer Halloween trivia correctly. This game was a little crazy!

 People had great costumes, such as ninja's, cowboys, Mario and Luigi, Ken and Barbie, etc.

We had scary treats, other fun games, and good times with friends. Thanks to everyone that came, it was a blast!

Recovering from being super sick previously that week, I'm impressed with how well everything went and how much we did for Halloween. It was another great year :)

Silly Girl

Lydia is now almost twenty months. She's a giant ball of fun and also challenging in ways that I didn't expect. It's a pain trying to get her to eat anything that's not sweet and she's learned how to bite, pinch, and yell no. She also is into the whole tantrum thing, which I cannot stand. However, as we are working with all of this, I also get her kisses, new words, and silly personality.  Here are a few moments of her silliness captured.

We brought home 3-D glasses from a movie and Lydia loves to have us put them on her. She'll keep them on for a good time. Here she is with her Uncle Kyle displaying her glasses.

Here is a great shot of how she generally sleeps.... with her butt straight up in the air. Believe it or not, she is sound asleep. She usually takes all her naps this way and no matter how I start her out, this is how she ends up.

I just can't imagine how it's comfortable, but she seems to prefer being up on her knees, butt in the air, and arms folded beneath her. She's so silly, I've tried to straighten her out once she's asleep but she usually navigates back to the same position.

Inspired

So I just read a blog by my sister-in-law, Caitlin, who is going to be improving her cooking skills by cooking all the recipes from a cookbook she picked out. I think the idea is so awesome and I would love to do something like that. My other sister-in-law is very crafty and she's always working on cute projects that make my attempts at decorating look like an equivalent to a five-year-old's paper covered in stickers. They are both so cute and wifey and I'm just . . . . . . bossy. They both have inspired me to want improve or become good at something too!

The problem is, I don't know what to do. I need a project to work on! I've always wanted to become good at sewing but I don't even know where to start, and I know that sewing can become pretty pricey. Trying to save up for a baby on the way and losing my half of our income puts me on a pretty strict budget. Can you take on sewing without breaking the bank? Christmas is coming up so it would be neat if I could make homemade presents for everyone.

Or should I take on creative writing? digital scrapbooking? candy making? canning? an herb garden? Sigh, who knows. I thought about just trying to be a better mom but I need to take on something that helps release my sudden creative drive that hits me in the fall time.

I'm going to come up with something, so . . . suggestions?  Whether it's on how to sew on a budget or a new project to take on, I'm welcome to new ideas!

18 months!

I can't believe my baby is already one and a half! Everyone tells me how she looks like a little girl now and she really does! Here are some things I want to remember about her at this age . . 

She's learning how to talk and knows how to fold her arms, say amen, book, more, dad, hot, ball, banana....etc.  One of my personal favorites is when she blesses you when you sneeze. 

She can also point to every body part on cue. 

Besides Baby Einstein videos, she has no interest in TV but is completely obsessed with books.

Lydia knows how to buzz like a bee and bark like a dog.

She is a little devil at church so hopefully nursery will be a nice relief for momma now.

She is very shy and becomes more shy by the day!

Already, Lydia loves shoes, clothes, jewelry, and getting her hair done.

She makes an "aaaah" sound when you take off her shoes.

This is Lydia's cheese face she pulls when you ask her to smile. Haha, her famous nose scrunch.

Snack time is her favorite, and Lydia is known for being a good eater (as long as it's sweet). Strawberries and  banana's are her favorite.

Lydia is the sweetest, most adorable girl in the whole world!