Happy Halloween: Then and Now

Avery was only 4 weeks old on her first Halloween.  I dressed her up as a little cute pumpkin.  Her grandma Charlene and I took some pictures of her covered in Halloween candy.  She even had a baby Halloween tutu!  Here is my little pumpkin a year ago today! 

And here is my big girl now!  Wow, I can't believe how much she has changed in just a year.  It goes by so quickly.  She is the cutest ladybug ever! 

We didn't go out trick or treating tonight.  Eric has to work tonight and Avery was ready for bed at 6:30pm.  I think next year will be really fun since she'll be walking around and can actually eat some of the candy she gets.  I still got a bunch of cute pictures of her dressed up this year and she had so much fun yesterday at Austin's Halloween birthday party.

This afternoon after we went grocery shopping at Super Target, I decided to make some Halloween cookies.  Avery helped me out in the kitchen.  I think every utensil I own was someplace on the kitchen floor. 

Our yummy cookies!  I had a can of orange Halloween icing that I used on some easy Funfetti cookies. 

Avery liked them! 

We had a little scare this morning with Rolo Brown.  Eric got home from work at 6am and when he let Rolo outside he was limping pretty bad and not wanting to move around much.  Eric came into the bedroom upset and woke me up saying Rolo was hurt.  I don't think I have jumped out of bed that quickly in a long time!  Rolo was just fine when I went to bed last night.  Rolo did slip on the hard wood floor yesterday morning, but he didn't think anything of it and was acting normal all day.  Eric took him in to see the vet today so they could take a look at him.  He hurt his lower back and the muscles are really sore causing him to favor his legs when walking.  It must have been from that slip.  He was given two medications to take and can't run around or exercise for two weeks.  The medicine is making him really sleepy.  Our poor buddy. 

I just wanted to add my favorite picture of Rolo that was taken in the fall of 2009. 

Happy Halloween!!!  Hope you had a wonderful night! 

halloween birthday party

Today I got to dress Avery up in her Halloween costume.  She is the cutest little ladybug you've ever seen!  We had our friend Austin's 4th birthday party to go to.  I took a few pictures at home before we left. 

Um... wheres the candy at??

My little ladybug!! 

Little ladybug crawling around in front of the house.  She actually liked being in her costume.  I thought she was going to hate it. 

How adorable is she? 

When we got up to the party, the birthday boy was off running around and playing with his friends.  I didn't catch many pictures of him!  I did get some cute shots of Avery and her friend Kinley.  I almost got them together in this picture. 

Kinley and Alexis and Avery all smiling big for the camera!

Clapping and having fun. 

Kinley striking a pose in her cow costume.  She looked adorable in it.  I loved the tail!

Austin blowing out his candles!  He had a trick candle in there that didn't want to go out.  The cake was delicious!

The birthday boy ready to dig into some cake! 

After cake, Austin opened some of his birthday gifts.  We got him a pretty cook truck from the movie Cars.  He really liked it and Eric helped him get it all set up. 

Hope you had a very happy 4th birthday Austin!!!

bad hair day

I had to post some pictures of Avery from yesterday.  Girlfriend has a mop on her head!  Her hair is wild and crazy and always does this now.  It is too funny.  I put the headband on to keep the hair from going into her eyes.  She looks thrilled to be getting her picture taken.  Maybe she knows she is having a bad hair day! 

Have a great Sunday!  We are birthday bound later this afternoon!

fun in avery's room

Avery and I played in her room for a while this morning.  It was so cold and windy out that we skipped our walk and just stayed warm inside. 

She loves pulling everything out of the cabinets of her changing table dresser and then putting them back inside. 

Playing with her big girl chair and ladybug. 

Nothing much is really going on today.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!  It is almost Halloween! 

daddy is under my spell

I started this post yesterday and never finished!  I got distracted by BBQ chicken and bacon pizza for dinner, chocolate cupcakes for dessert, playing online and emailing, and watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead.  I got sucked into this very fabulous scary and suspenseful show that I would normally never watch, but Eric got me hooked.  Here are a few pictures of Avery from yesterday in one of her bazillion Halloween outfits she has.  Her shirt says Daddy Is Under My Spell.  I just love the Halloween leggings!  She loves her mini pumpkin. 

Hope you had a good evening! 

follow up picture

Follow up picture from our spaghetti dinner tonight. 

tp, sketti, and smell goods

Well, the update for today is Avery found the TP. 

And tonight is spaghetti and meatballs night. 

Oh, and these are my new addiction.  I LOVE the Bath and Body Works Wallflowers!  The scent I have in the house right now is Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin.  It is just perfect for fall.  I have four of these around the house and they are all the nightlight kind.  I want four more....

Happy Tuesday!

playing and ghetto dryer

We spent the day at home.  Well, except for our nice long morning walk.  We did lots of playing and picture taking.  I just love what her shirt said today!

Just hanging out and playing in the playroom. 

Cute close up of my sweet baby girl.  She doesn't look like a baby anymore.  She looks way too much like a toddler now and it kind of makes me sad.  She is growing up so fast. 

Rolo Brown joined us for some playtime. 

Standing up and pushing her baby stroller unassisted.  This was the first time she has done this so we got really excited!  She loves pushing the musical bear on the stroller. 

I thought I would share what my dryer looks like right now.  The knob totally broke off!  I have no idea how it happened. 

So the only way to make the dryer work, is to turn the skinny knob that is sticking out with some pliers!  Here is my ghetto set up to make it work. 

Tonight we had some tasty chicken tacos for dinner.  Avery took a pretty late afternoon nap so I know she'll be up a little later this evening.  Now if she would only sleep in for me in the mornings! 

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Monday!

Italian Hunter's Stew

2 lbs lean beef stew meat, cut into 1 ½” cubes

1 T flour

3 T cooking oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 lg onions, quartered

1 c beef broth

2 T seasoned salt

1 t chili powder

1 t dried oregano

1 t dried rosemary

2 cans (14 ½ oz each) Italian stewed tomatoes

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

½ c minced fresh parsley (you can use dried)

3 med carrots, cut into 1” pieces

8 oz mostaccioli or penne pasta, cooked and drained

1/3 c shredded parmesan cheese

Toss meat with flour; brown on all sides in oil in a 5 qt dutch oven.  Add garlic and onions; sauté until tender.  Stir in broth, seasoned salt, chili powder, oregano and rosemary.  Cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley and carrots.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until meat and carrots are tender.  Stir in maraconi; heat through.  Sprinkle with cheese (I do that in each individual bowl, not in the big pot).  Yield 8-10 servings

Enjoy!  

pumpkins and stew

It has been a long time since Eric has been home with us on a Friday and Saturday!  We got up this morning and went for a nice walk through the neighborhood, had breakfast, got Avery down for a nap, and started preparing our food for dinner.  Dinner is Italian Hunter's Stew and we cooked it in the crock pot all day.  This house has smelled amazing all day! 

This afternoon we headed over to a local church that had a good sized pumpkin patch.  We wanted to take Avery over for some pictures and to pick out a few small pumpkins to decorate the kitchen table. 

Eric showing Avery a small pumpkin. 

She is more interested in watching the kids run around and play.  Next year she'll get to run and around and play with them! 

Avery and I with the sun in our eyes. 

Sitting in the dirt and checking things out.  Her pants got so dirty that we stripped her before putting her in the car. 

We put a bunch of small pumpkins in her lap and she didn't seem to mind.  She liked playing in the dirt. 

Sitting on top of a big pumpkin with the help of Eric. 

And she was clearly over it in this picture.  She hated the hay!  HA! 

Our three little pumpkins on the kitchen table all ready for fall! 

The Italian Hunter's Stew.  Recipe to follow. 

We are spending the evening catching up on this afternoons Nebraska Huskers game.  Have a great Saturday night!