Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Halloween

I never posted our Halloween pictures so here they are.  I have never been a huge lover of Halloween but because my husband and child are, I have tried to embrace Halloween and we pretty much go all out now.  This year, we went to my parents Halloween party the weekend before (I think I will one day get the picture from that, we'll see) which Avynlee loved.  On Halloween, I made Avs a Halloween breakfast and took her to a special Halloween story time and the West Jordan library where she also go to trick or treat.  We trick or treated at Grandma Jo's bank too.  That night, we trick or treated in my parents' neighborhood, had clam chowder and pumpkin pie (like very year) with the Grandparents Chipman, then trick or treated in Adam's parents' neighborhood with Bree and Lyv.  We had so much fun.  Avs has asked at least once a day since if she can go trick-or-treating.  Poor girl has to wait a whole year!

Can you see the two jack-o-lanterns and the Mickey?  I died them orange for the festivities.

This year we were characters from Monsters, Inc.  (Remember last year?)  I have really enjoyed making our costumes within a theme.  Matchy and lame?  Maybe.  But I still love and will do it as long as my family lets me.  This year, Avynlee wanted to be a monster.  She didn't seem to care what kind so I suggested this and she loved it and pretty much thought the whole thing was her idea.  Win win.  I am Mike, Adam is Sully, and Avs is Boo in her monster costume.  We loved them and were much warmer than last year.

I had big plans to carve a bunch of pumpkins.  I only made it through 3 though.  Avynlee chose two patterns and Adam chose one.  I didn't get around to carving mine.  We got all of these bad boys from other people.  Sweet!  Our realtor gave us three big ones, Mary Jo gave us a big one and a gourd, Avys got the medium sized one from Ruby's party, and Kyle and Gloria gave us all the babies.

Avynlee's Hello Kitty witch and her melted crayon gourd.  I thought melting crayons onto her gourd would be a fun toddler activity, having never tried it.  It isn't.  It is super hot and hot wax kind of blows everywhere.  I did most of it and she watched.  Then she was sad because, "Gourdy all dirty now!"  At least I tried.

Avynlee became a huge fan of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" and would watch it often.  She also chose the Linus with the pumpkin pattern.

This is the dire wolf Adam chose.  It turned out pretty cool.
All in all, Halloween was a blast.  We are still prying candy out of Avynlee's hands on a regular basis and reminding her that Halloween is over.  I am already getting excited for next year since we'll have a new house to decorate (and therefore new decorations to make/obtain) and a new theme to decide to dress up as.

House Progress

These are a bit old but I wanted to post them anyway so we could look back and see the progression of our house.  The first two were taken October 27th after the hardy board was painted and the garage door installed.  The rest were taken November 2nd.  A lot has changed since these were taken and we will actually have our final walk through in two days.  We are hoping to close next week and get our keys and move in the day before Thanksgiving.
 
Our new house
Some of the trim paint dripped down onto the bricks
Exterior lights
I really love the round doorbell...kind of a lame thing to love, but I do.
The tile surround for the fireplace
Dining nook - we added the bay window in place of a windowless wall...best decision ever.
Kitchen cabinets - I really love these
Laundry Room and garage door
Cabinet knobs
Railing
Entryway
Stairs to the basement
Master shower is tiled
Master bathtub is tiled
Bathroom cabinets
Av's bathroom
Av's closet
Great room
Kitchen flooirng
View from nook
Avs loving on the laundry room floor - she loves it in there and chills in there every time we visit the house...silly girl.    



Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Family Photos

My favorite friend, Carlye, took our family pictures again this year.  I think they turned out so great!  I love them all.