Happy Halloween!

(Attention: Plenty of pictures here for all you grandparents who got mad at us for not visiting this weekend. Sheesh!)

First, a picture of Whitney, Morgan and me from Halloween, 1988 (possibly '89). Thanks, Whit!


Skylar got to go trick-or-treating for the first time tonight. We took her to a few houses in the neighborhood and she came home with a bunch of candy in her bag. She thought it was the coolest thing ever.

I mean, look at it from her perspective. Usually we tell her she can't touch things, take things, grab things, etc. But tonight everyone was saying, "Take as many candies as you want! Well, aren't you a cute little fairy? Here, eat this--it's chocolate! And take this $50. I'm feeling generous." (That last bit may or may not be an exaggeration.)

In case you didn't catch that little part about her costume, Sky was a fairy. Check it:

Thanks Jen, for loaning us this cute little fairy dress! I had grand plans of creating a quail suit for Skylar, but couldn't find the right parts. Then we almost reverted to last year's witch outfit:

Which, by the way, still fits.

But with Jen's dress and Sky's birthday wings from Leisa--ta da! A fairy!

(I know you were going to ask about the "yellow things" in her hands. She is holding cups. She loves cups. I feel fine about it.)

We've had a slow night here with only about 10 trick-or-treaters. Looks like we'll have leftover candy. Darn it...

Happy Halloween!

Sorry. I Forgot.

Yesterday I had something really funny I wanted to post. It was going to make you pee your pants, it was that funny.

I tried for about an hour, but Blogger was down.

And now I've forgotten what was so funny. Sorry! You totally missed out. (Blame Blogger.)

Save the Date: Holiday Boutique!

What: Holiday gift boutique and par-tay!

Date: Saturday, November 14th

Time: 3:00-6:00pm

Place: My house!

I'll send out an Evite closer to the event. Everyone is invited, so if you get the invite please forward it on. No pressure to buy anything, so please come and hang out!

We'll have Scentsy products and cool, unique handcrafted jewelry, just in time to stock up on holiday gifts. Hope to see you there!

Hey, Book Club!

Went to my first-ever book club meeting tonight. It was pretty great.

I mean, the book was entirely depressing (although it really gets you thinking), but the company was great! Too bad we have to wait until December for the next meeting.

I proposed a secret book club meeting in November, but it didn't go over as well as I'd hoped. Guess it's time to buckle down and read the three library books I'm supposed to return in two weeks.

So anyway, does anyone have a copy of The Magician's Nephew I could borrow?

Dress Up: The New Naked

Skylar has recently decided she likes to play dress up.

We only have a few dress-up-worthy things around the house, but she doesn't care. These wings are totally her favorite (thanks, Leisa!). She brings them to me to put on her, then she wanders into my room to look at herself in the full-body mirror.

After she smiles at herself for a while and spins in as many circles as she can before falling down, she jaunts along into the family room and plays with toys, reads her books, looks out the back door for Hero, etc.

I'm going to have to start collecting more dress up stuff. These wings are so cute!

Husbands Who Blog

There is a group of husbands out there--a tiny, baby group--who blog.

I mean they blog this type of blog. The family blog. The this-is-what-my-kid-learned-today blog.

I think Mike secretly wants to be one of these husbands, but he has too many interests that keep him busy. He has contributed about 3 posts to this blog, and I have been proud of and impressed by each one.

Husbands who blog are unexpected. A rare breed. It always throws me off. I'll read a blog post, then at the bottom it will say something like, "Posted by Mark" and I'm like, "Mark?! I read this post with Anna's voice in my head!" Then I have to re-read the post in Mark's voice so I get the full effect.

I only have a few friends whose husbands contribute to their blogs. I even have one friend whose husband writes the majority of the posts on their blog. So in their case, I'm always thrown off when I read "Posted by Ashley" at the bottom.

So do any of your husbands post on your blogs? What are your thoughts on this?

(I'm sorry, single friends, for writing a post directed to married people. You can still tell me what you think!)

The Lost Symbol

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Mike actually finished it before me. That is what happens when he reads it to me at night and I fall asleep 1/2 a page into it. (*Note: I don't recommend this as a read-me-to-sleep book. Funky dreams.)

I do, however, recommend this book as a very interesting and informative read on Freemasonry, noetic science and Washington, D.C. The book contained a lot of great American historical references and has actually embedded in me the desire to visit the nation's capital. It cast America's foundation in a much more interesting light than 7th grade history managed.

It has religious underpinnings, as do the rest of the Robert Langdon series. I thought it was a great book. I'm sure it will be seen as controversial. As were the rest of the Robert Langdon series. This Dan Brown guy sure keeps his themes going, eh?

Robert Langdon did get on my nerves a little in this book, though. I mean, really; why always so skeptical? Where was it ever written that an "intellectual" has to be relentlessly skeptical of everything? To me, that kind of skepticism just translates into closed-mindedness, a false sense of superiority and an unwillingness even to grow in knowledge, which circles back to the closed-mindedness.

In short, and in my opinion, it was a great read. If you are the defensive or easily offended type, I say you should still give it a try. Just read it as entertainment, not gospel or anti-gospel, and I think you'll get just that: entertainment.

And a little bit of mystery...

(Now you want to read it, don't you? I knew that "mystery" bait would hook you. Reel 'em in, Dan Brown!)

Family Pictures!

I've been slacking. I feel fine about it.

Last weekend we had family pictures taken at my parents' house. Everyone was in town for my Mom's birthday, so my dad hired Leisa's friend Whitney to take a bunch of family pictures. It has been a while since we've done this and it was great!

Here are a few of my favorites. There are hundreds of shots, so this is just a peek:

The end!

"Screw 'Em!"

McKay just linked this video to me. It is so great.

This kid seriously rocks.

Sky's 1st Birthday (in Pictures)

Alright. Picture time!

Skylar's birthday started yesterday, when Mike and I decided we couldn't wait for her to get her present. What did she get? A fun inflatable ball pit!

This is what Sky thought of it ("cool!"):

While we were inflating it, she checked the box for more. But there wasn't any more:


And here she is playing in her new ball pit!
Behold, these awesome plastic balls:

She was having so much fun in there, we had to give it a go:

So that was yesterday. After a great night's sleep, this morning was playtime! She's into putting blankets and random other objects on her head:


Sky and Mommy:


I finally got around to getting her dressed. Look at her cute big girl clothes! She ran around the house for a while. This is her chasing me, desperate to get the camera:

Next she played with toys in her little cupboard:

Then it was back to that blanket for some peek-a-boo fun:

And, of course, more playing in the ball pit. She really likes the blue ones, apparently:

Finally, when Daddy got home from work it was time for cake!! Here is Sky's tiny birthday cake, just for her:

And here she is enjoying it! Her initiation into toddlerhood:

Such a fun day for Sky and for us! She had a few friends over to help eat the bigger cake I made and had a good time running around the family room with the boys. Her sugar rush eventually wore off and she is now sleeping like a baby.

Even though she's a big girl now.

Happy birthday, Sky Baby!!

Happy Birthday, Skylar!!!

Skylar is 1 today! What? Seriously?!

Yes. Seriously!

She got her first-ever birthday card from Great Grandma Laney a couple of days ago. I gave it to her and she has been carrying it around all weekend!

Can't believe it, but it's true. I have some pictures to post, but my computer is currently possessed so I'll have to wait for Mike to come home and fix it tonight. (Built-in technicians are the best.) That will work best anyway, since we'll have some fun birthday cake pictures to post tonight as well!

For now, the monthly review:

• Sky now runs. She has left walking in the dust. She says, "walking is for babies."
• Her favorite toys right now are a stuffed gorilla, a wooden spoon, anything that will fit on her head and her new ball pit (birthday present from Mommy and Daddy)!
• She continues to chase the cat around. The cat continues to evade her.
• Her newest thing is to bring us our shoes whenever she wants to go somewhere. If we ignore the shoes, she brings another pair. Then another. She is incredibly persistent.
• Skylar is a dancing queen! She LOVES So You Think You Can Dance. She dances to anything, including hymns at church and commercial jingles.
• She only wants to eat what we are eating. (Completely offended if we try to give her baby food.)
• Recently, she has been very cuddly and snuggly. We are loving it! She has never been a snuggly baby, so it is really fun to have her walk up and give us hugs and kisses and snuggles. So sweet.
• I've been teaching her some basic ASL so she can tell me what she wants without either of us freaking out. She can sign "eat" and "sleep" so far. We're working on "milk," "juice," "thank you" and "more."
• She's still a mama's girl. Sorry, Mike.
• Her only word is still "Hi!" She says "mama" and "dada" but I'm not convinced she's saying it to us. I think she just likes those sounds a lot. She also meows at the cat and says "ooh ooh ee ee" at her gorilla.
• Her favorite thing in the world is when Mike chases her around. She has a fake scared scream and runs to me to save her from the daddy monster. She just cracks up the whole time and we get a good little family workout. We (Mike and I) also get lots of bruises crawling around on the tile.

This is such a fun age. Skylar learns something new every day, it's so cool. She is turning into a big girl! She didn't even ask if that was okay. I guess it is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SKYLAR!! We love you!

Good Eats, with Kylie!

This weekend I got my cool new Deep Covered Baker. (Thanks, Pampered Chef!)

This little beauty got me all excited and basically turned me into a domestic housewife. Cool, right? That's what I thought.

After making my tiny peach pies on Thursday/Friday, I was on a baking/cooking roll and my new bakeware couldn't have come at a better time. Plus it just got all cold outside so I'm not afraid to heat up the kitchen.

And by cold, I mean it is snowing on the mountain. I can see it from my back door.

So, Saturday we had this for dinner:


It is Mike's new favorite. A lovely cheese tortellini in a homemade garlic alfredo sauce, tossed with ham and spinach and peppered with...you guessed it: pepper. Really. It was scrumptious, Fay! (Try to name that movie before my mom does!)

And tonight we had this:

Penne al fresco paired with Italian garlic bread bites. Penne pasta, grilled chicken and homegrown basil (picked from our garden) tossed together with a fresh grape tomato sauce (YES, TOMATOES!) to create a mouthwatering and colorful array of deliciousness.

And of course, peach pies a la mode for dessert!

What did you eat this weekend?

Tiny Peach Pies

I spent some time yesterday making tiny peach pies. They turned out great and were simply delectable.

That's right. Delectable.

How cute is that little pie? You know you want to eat it. I know you want to eat it. Too bad I already ate it.

If you really want one I'll make one for you. You have no idea how impressed you'll be.