Halloween Festivities

It's Monday afternoon and Rosie is still experiencing a Halloween Hangover. Spiked blood sugar coupled with the time change has not made a happy 2 year old these last few days. Rosie had an absolute great time on Friday and Saturday. Friday we went to visit Ron at a camp event. Rosie wore her butterfly costume that her Auntie Gayle bought her. Saturday she wore her butterfly costume for most of the day until it was time to trick or treat. She changed into a cow costume for the actual trick or treating. I was worried that she would be too cold in her butterfly outfit. Rosie totally got into trick or treating. It was hilarious watching her march up to the door and confidently shout, "Trick or Treat!!" when the door was opened. She always followed this up with, "Thank you so much!" as she walked away. Ron and I were in awe of her independence. 

Rosie was the sweetest butterfly- she adored this costume and refused to take it off!

"No one told me that trick or treating means I get to walk around and collect candy all night!"

This was the first sweet treat of the evening.... I think it was about 4:30......

The cutest cow and rancher I've ever seen!

Rosie got to trick or treat with some of her favorite kids, the Paschalls. The older kids kindly mentored her in the art of trick or treating for the first few houses. After that, She and Brenner were on there way and holding their own like the rest of them!

Rosie and Brenner started out in the wagon, but quickly realized that they could cover way more ground on foot.

This was the crew of kids that we went with... as you can see, it was total chaos!

"Hey! Look what you got, Brenner!"

Carrie and me.... and a quickly fading Mickey Mouse and cow.

Rosie and Brenner checking out their loot.

Autumnal Nesting

Rosie and I have had a wonderful time ushering in Autumn. Over the last few weeks we've done numerous crafts and made a few treats. Take a look at our creations:

I can't take all of the credit. My sister turned me on to this great blog site that is totally devoted to crafts for toddlers. So, if you're brave, check out http://www.notimeforflashcards.com

We started out with this cute bat

Then we moved on to creating an acorn using rice and cereal

We made a collage pumpkin (mom helped quite a bit with the eyes, nose and mouth)

We made Caramel Apples

(This was before Rosie realized that we were going to dip them in caramel first)

Our favorite craft, by far, has been this ghost. We mixed shaving cream and glue together and got this icky sticky mess that was an absolute joy to explore. Rosie had a great time making her ghost, but an even better time smearing it on her bod. It dried really well, and the ghost turned out adorable.

And, we made cookies. I take it back. I made cookies. We decorated them. Wait, I take it back, again. I decorated cookies with the things I thought people might like to eat on a cookie...like mini M&Ms. Rosie ate the mini M&Ms and  decorated her cookie with a few other tasty items lying around. We saved that extra special one for daddy.

P.S I dress my daughter.. I swear. With the extra messy crafts, we saved a shirt from having to be Cloroxed.

Big Baby!

So my doctor thinks that our Little Peanut is less of a Peanut and maybe more of a Pumpkin..... Translation: She's quite large... apparently. I'm doing my best not to take offense. She made it quite clear that my weight is fine, but given the size of the Little Pumpkin... and remembering the weight of the Older Pumpkin (Rosie tipped in at 8.15), we've been put on a low carb, low sugar regime. Yes, folks! A diet!

So, I have gone from:

To:

I thought I would take a minute to share with you 1 of our favorite easy high protein loves:

Chris' Fiesta Meatloaf

(this is a favorite Welch recipe with a new Eckert twist)

1 Lb. extra lean ground turkey

1/4 c. diced onions

2/3 c. chili sauce (dump 1/3 c. in the mix and 1/3 c. on top)

1 egg

1/2 c. diced mushrooms

1/4 c diced tomatoes

1/4 c colored pepper (I like the orange ones for the color)

1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese

2t chili powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

Throw it all in a bowl and mix well. Use your hands- it's the best way to mix meatloaf.

Put the loaf in a greased loaf pan and pour the remaining 1/3 c. chili sauce on top.

Place in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes

Ole!

5 Blissful Years!

On Friday, October 16th, we celebrated 5 years of marriage.  Let me just take a moment to tell you that I have the most incredible, loving, caring, wise, hilarious, creative, generous and handsome husband in the world. He surprised me on Friday with the promise to build me a REAL raised bed garden in our backyard. I've been growing my tomatoes, lettuce,  peppers and herbs in pots for the last years, and I'm finally going to have a little piece of land to nurture my "crops." What a gift! 

Here is a picture of us on our wedding day. Look at us! We're babies! I know it was only 5 years ago, but it seems like a whole lot of time has passed. We were totally rookies (and I guess we still are in some ways). We were tanned and taut and headed blissfully (and naively) into our first years together. It has been an amazing 5 years. We have learned so much about each other and ourselves. I'm so very blessed and lucky to be married to Ron. There certainly is JOY in the Journey.  

October 16, 2004

October 16, 2009

After adding a mortgage, car payments, demanding jobs, and Rosie to the mix :)

We were anxiously awaiting the birth of Henry Hunt, so we decided to do a fun family outing rather than get a babysitter for the evening, just in case we had to head up to Pasadena at a moment's notice. We decided to take Rosie to Disneyland since our annual passes run out soon.  Here are some pictures from our night together, celebrating 5 years of marriage.