HALLOWEEN

It is definitely safe to say that Halloween has become more fun now that I'm a mom. Of course I loved Halloween as a child and a teenager, but after high school I haven't done much. This year we were able to celebrate on five separate occasions. Thursday morning Ella and I went to our neighborhood preschool for a costume party. Our block has 7 houses (one of which is the model). Four of us participate in a weekly "preschool" of sorts. We rotate having the kids over at our house for an hour each Thursday to play, sing, read, study simple subjects, and eat snacks. It has been a really fun way to get to know our neighbors and make new friends. The boys are all 3 and capable of much more than Ella, but she still enjoys it.

Ian, Morgan, Miles, and Ella

Ella loved dancing to the Halloween music.

The kids had a cake walk, but once Ella saw the cookies she stopped playing and wouldn't take her eyes off of them!

The boys were patient and decorated their cookies, but Ella quickly ate hers and then snacked on the candy she was given to decorate with.

After preschool we had lunch and then Ella went down for her nap. When she woke up we went up to Camp Williams where Gustavo works for another party. This was her first experience trick or treating. We've been trying to teach her how to say "trick or treat" but she just smiles and sweetly says "treat." We figured that was good enough. Once we got to the different offices and Ella had the opportunity, she just took candy and said "thank you." At least she had good manners. At first she refused to let go of her candy to place it in her bag. Once she had 3 pieces Gustavo was able to convince her that it was all still her candy and that it was going to be easier if she put it in the bag. Each office was decorated with scary Halloween things so Ella learned the word "spooky." Every time we passed something she would point and say "spooky."

Friday night we went to a friend's "Dinner in Disguise" party. As a family we dressed up as characters from Peter Pan. Ella was Tinkerbell, I was Wendy, and Gustavo was a pirate.

The party was at Adobe, formerly Omniture. The building was really nice and had this adorable chair. Ella loved sitting/swinging in it, but I wasn't able to get any good pictures.

Saturday night we had big plans to go trick or treating around our block, but we got rained out so Ella ate treats from our candy bowl before we headed down to spend some time with my parents, Emily, and Max (the other kids were all out trick or treating).

On Halloween after church we lounged around and then headed up to Yolanda's house to eat her award winning chili and spend time with Gustavo's family. We've had a great time celebrating with friends and family this weekend.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween Dinner Party

jogging partner

This summer Ella has become my running partner. She's usually in her pajamas, but yesterday when I finally took pictures we went out an hour or so after waking up in hopes that it would be warmer. I'm not really a runner. I just want to be healthy so each week we run about 18 miles. Yes, that is what I run in a WEEK, not on Saturdays for my long run like the rest of you!
My sweet friend and co-worker let me use her old jogging stroller at the end of last year when I was sharing my workout dilemma with her. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to exercise each day with Ella and didn't want to invest in a stroller without knowing she would enjoy it (in case you don't know yet, she is a pretty picky girl.) After I told Kathy how much Ella enjoyed it, she gave it to me. Kathy's baby is in fourth grade so she hasn't needed it for awhile. We are so grateful for it. It is perfect because we will be able to use it for a long time since it is a double stroller.
I'm bummed that the winter is coming so soon and that we won't be able to run outside much longer. I am trying to get geared up to run at the rec center track a few days a week and to do exercise DVDs some evenings. Have you tried the Jillian Michaels workouts? Oh my goodness, they are tough! My friend let me borrow three of her DVDs and they are definitely the hardest workout I've ever done at home (okay, probably the hardest workout I've ever done period.) You should try them!

I had to include this picture because I feel like these days Ella is always pulling funny faces.

ksl finds

I am definitely in project mode. I needed to find a chair for the new desk so I searched thrift stores, yard sales, and consignment shops on Saturday and didn't find anything I loved so I looked on KSL. I found a few things I liked (one that I loved, but it was already sold) and decided to get this chair. I put a quick coat of paint on it to brighten it and then my sister Emily helped me make this chair cover with some fabric I had from a previous project that I never got around to. All together the chair and pad were $23.
While searching for the desk chair I found these bar stools that I love. I got both of them for only $25. It was perfect because my brother-in-law, Shevin, works right by the warehouse these stools were at in Salt Lake so he picked them up for me on his lunch break. I sold the 3 bar stools we used in our old house for $20 so I feel like I only spent $28 for the new bar stools and the desk chair!