Halloween 2010

Well, it's a good thing that I decided to put Ricky in his costume early and snap a picture of him since he slept through the whole thing when it came time for the real deal.  He hadn't been napping very well on Sunday, so I wasn't about to wake him up when it came time to get in costume to go trick-or-treating.  So instead, Rick and I took turns taking Mia trick-or-treating and staying home to hand out candy while Ricky slept soundly in his room.  Mia had an absolute ball this year and I know Ricky will have plenty years to come for fun with his sister on Halloween.  Plus, it was a great opportunity for some fun “alone time” with Mia for each of us.

Beautiful Snow White ready to go...

Loving every minute...





































And introducing Ricky the Hot Dog!  : )

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Halloween Eve Fun

While Rick was riding and Ricky was taking a nap, I decided that it would be a great idea to make cookies with Mia on Saturday.  Like she wasn't going to get enough sugar the following day, right?  Regardless, we had fun making them and once again I got some great pictures out of the deal.  : )









































































Decorating cookies is serious business!

Do you think there are enough sprinkles?  ; )

Later that night we carved our pumpkin.  Wait, let me rephrase that...I carved our pumpkin.  Rick was pretty uninterested and Mia was too grossed out by the guts.  Truthfully, I had a lot of fun carving but it did take a little longer than I expected. 

Our pumpkin before...

Our pumpkin after...

I have to add that although I love the way it turned out, it was by far the unscariest pumpkin I've ever carved.  Mia didn't want anything scary and when choosing a template, she wanted this friendly kitty cat.  : )

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Pumpkin Patch Pictures

Last week we visited a pumpkin patch to pick out our prize pumpkin to carve.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen since the patch was pretty pitiful.  However, we did get some great pictures - so it was all worth it in the end.  : )



Don't ask me why we didn't get in the middle of the prop like the other pictures...but hey, we did manage to get a decent family picture - which we all know is a big feat to conquer!  

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4th of July Fun

We had a very low-key 4th but still had a fun day. Rick decided to buy some fireworks at the last minute and that was definitely the highlight of the night. Actually, let me rephrase that...the highlight was watching Mia watch the fireworks. Her facial expressions are just priceless.  : )

No 4th of July is complete without having some sparkler fun...

Then they sort of exploded and Mia freaked out...it was pretty funny.  ; )

She stayed up way past her bedtime and was a beast the next day but she had a ton of fun...and so we had a ton of fun.  : )

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Mother's Day

I hate to brag but I really did have the most perfect Mother's Day.  Mia made my day by wishing me "Happy Mother's Day" first thing in the morning.  Our plans were to head to the beach for the day so we ate a quick breakfast and then packed up the car.  The weather was gorgeous - there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was actually quite windy so we never broke a sweat or really got hot for that matter.  Mia had a ball making sand castles and collecting shells on the beach.  The ocean was still a little cold to go in but we did stand by the shore and let the waves crash at our feet.  I didn't take a ton of pictures since I was in relaxation mode but here are my two favorite ones...

After a wonderful day at the beach we headed home and started preparing my Mother's Day Feast - cheese fondue, salad and lobster tails.  It was so delish!  A special thanks goes out to my sweet little girl and my awesome hubby for making my day so special.

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Easter Sunday

Mia was pleasantly surprised when she woke up on Sunday morning to see that the Easter Bunny had made a visit to our house.  We had a small egg hunt and then she opened her Easter basket filled with goodies...and by the looks of this picture, the Easter Bunny did good!

This was the best picture I could get of Mia in her Easter dress.  She stayed in the dress for a whopping 15 minutes before she changed into a t-shirt & shorts so she could play on her swing set.  So I'm very glad that I didn't buy her a new dress for Easter this year.

Oh, and for the record...those marks on her neck or not from possible strangulation marks. We don’t abuse our kid that bad. ; ) They’re from our dog leash (long story) and only look like possible strangulation marks. So please don’t call child services on Rick and I.

Moving right along...we spent a wonderful afternoon with the Huck's and had an absolutely amazing dinner.  The menu consisted of Ham, Beef Tenderloin with a caper horseradish cream, Lori's famous Hungarian potatoes, a Spinach salad and rolls.  I can honestly say that I enjoyed this meal better than Thanksgiving dinner...and that's HUGE since Thanksgiving dinner is usually my favorite meal of the year.  For dessert we had carrot cake, mini cheesecakes and cupcakes for the kids - all homemade since I really do love to bake.  I was bad and didn't take anymore pictures after our guests arrived, but I have a pretty good excuse since I was busy in the kitchen...and like I mentioned before - it was all worth it in the end!  : )

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