More pumpkins and a little ladybug

Elsie's costume has a cute little hood with bug antenna on it, but she hates it and won't keep it on her head. So I had to settle for trying to make her hair look like little bug ears.

We met up with Parker and Brandon and went trick or treating at the office of Alan's summer job. Once Elsie figured out that everyone was giving her candy to put in her bucket, she had a good time. My favorite moment is when Elsie saw one guy in a scary skull mask. All the other kids were hanging back and shying away, but Elsie marched right up to him with a big "Hi!" and then stood there jabbering away to him.
Brandon is still a new walker, so Elsie loved holding his hand and helping him walk.

We finally gutted and carved our last pumpkins. Here's Alan's creation...

And this one is mine.

Is it sad how excited I am about this?

For the first time in our marriage we have a real vacuum. We've been making due with a little dust buster, which in our old apartment worked alright because the carpet was really really thin. Sadly, it hasn't worked so well at our new place. We've talked about getting a new vacuum for a while now, so yesterday while Elsie and I were taking a nap Alan snuck out and bought one. He had been reading reviews and watching for sales, and he was able to pick this baby up for a nice 75% off the original price. Yeah, my husband is awesome.
At least Elsie is excited about it as well. We gave her the old little vacuum and she followed behind me as we gave our apartment a thorough cleaning.

Sigh

I knew it would happen eventually, but I was kinda hoping we could at least make it through Halloween...

New Title

With the coming addition, I need a new title for my blog. Any suggestions?

The Temple Song

I said how Elsie loves the temple edition of the Ensign? Well, on the last page there is a primary song that we have dubbed the 'temple song'. It's not really the temple song, it doesn't even mention temples, but Elsie loves to sing it. Kyle and Shelina came over tonight and Elsie favored them with a rendition of her song. Most of the time she adds more real words in the mix like 'daddy, temple, Moroni' and such, but she was playing to her audience who got a kick out of her holding the long deep note at the end. What a kid.

What to do on a rainy Saturday...

Make scones! I had a new recipe to try out and they turned out pretty good. I got my recipe from here, and made a few modifications. I didn't have heavy whipping cream so I used some of Elsie's whole milk, used regular salted butter and just omitted the salt, and skipped brushing the tops with more egg and milk and just sprinkled them with a little more sugar. I also mixed in some white chocolate chips. Smudge on a little lemon curd and cool whip and they are so tasty!

I am SuperMom

I just got a kool-aid spill out of one of Elsie's cutest shirts. It was a shirt with a lot of white. And it was pink kool-aid. I rock.

Pumpkins

Or at least the start of them. We still have a few more yet to carve. Elsie liked helping for the most part. She didn't really get the whole concept that the guts go from the pumpkin into the bowl, but not from the bowl back into the pumpkin.
All that work and only one seed to show for it. Kind of reminds me of a certain home video of my brother Andrew...

This is my first finished carving and the only one that got fully carved tonight. Can you tell what it is? Elsie has loved the most recent issue of the Ensign with all it's pictures, so I carved this one for her.

What do you get...

...when you go shopping and the guy in the bakery gives Elsie a huge sugar cookie?

A major sugar crash at bedtime.

New Hair

Elsie has braids today

Alan got his haircut this morning...

And mine was cut yesterday.

...And there's the baby

Such a helper

Elsie decided to 'help' me make enchilada's last night. Alan was extremely helpful with the situation as he chose to sit back and laugh and take pictures of everything. Thanks a bunch, Alan.

Cooking the chicken

Elsie swiped a tortilla to eat. After a few bites, she then tried to put it in the baking dish with the rest of them.

Mmm, baby hands in enchilada sauce...

Sprinkling on the cheese...

And taking a few bites for herself.

Biker Chick

Popcorn Popping

Watching the rain with Grandpa

My parents came into town this weekend to spend some time with us and go to conference. I have some pictures from this weekend that might come up in another post, but for now here's a few videos of Elsie and my dad watching the big rainstorm that hit our apartment.

This next one was taken this morning. My parents bought Elsie a little bike when they were here (thanks again!), and the first thing Elsie did this morning was climb on her bike and ride it around the apartment.