Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween. We carved pumpkins and decorated on Saturday and Sunday (a little late, I know). I also finished Kaelie's costume on Sunday. We left a little late to go trick-or-treating, but we still got plenty of candy. One lady liked their costumes so much she gave them both full sized candy bars (hurray!!!). We also got to see some close friends which is always fun. It was truly a great holiday. Besides Marty being sick, poor guy.

I bought this decorative pumpkin and put the button 'Boo' on it with a hot glue gun

Marty and I cut out all 24 of these Mickey Mouse faced bats and Marty hung them up.

I also cut out some monsters (4 total)

A friend of mine told me her mom decorates fake trees for fall, so I decided to decorate our fake tree for Halloween. Why not? They already sell all the stuff you need. Orange lights, glow-in-the-dark garland with bats on it, spider webbing, and a huge fake spider for the top.

Our Pumpkins:

I carved the two on the left and Marty did the one on the right. The one on the far left is Jack Skellington from 'The Nightmare before Christmas.' Then a cat and Marty's scary face pumpkin. I did the cat for Ize. We were going to do Minnie Mouse but after I did the Jack pumpkin, I decided something easy would be better.

The girls were Snow White and Dopey:

I thought they looked awesome. I just loved how cute they looked together.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday too.

Some New Things

For my birthday we got a new puppy and a new couch.

We got the puppy from an old friend of mine. He is a 6 month old Shih-tzu. My friend named him Henrie. We renamed him Wally. We needed a name the girls could say. My mom suggested Adam because our other dog's name is Eve. Marty suggested Wally because on the movie Wall-E, his friend's name is Eve. We knew Ize could say the name because she really likes the movie. So it was decided.

This is what he looked like when we got him:

This is him after a hair cut:

I know it doesn't seem logical to give a dog a hair cut this late in the year, but he needed it. He couldn't really see, he always had pee all over his stomach, and constantly had things like twigs and leaves caught all over. He seems really happy and energetic about it. He is running everywhere. He is so cute and loves to snuggle. Unfortunately, he'll have to wear a sweater to go outside as it gets colder out.

On the Saturday before my birthday we went and got a new couch. I have been anticipating this event since we got the house. We have a long and narrow living room, which is perfect for a sectional. I also desired the seating space that would come with buying one. We went to one store and didn't find anything we liked. Then we went to another and walked right in and found it. I love it. Seriously I couldn't love a couch more. It's comfortable and perfect for our space. It's also a great color. We had to spend more to add two more seats in the middle, but it was way worth it.

Panoramic view

We are making some other changes around here. When we do I will definitely post about it.

Another 'new' thing: Ize and Kae took their first and possibly last bath together. It was really late Saturday night and they both needed a bath. Marty was laying down and it didn't seem possible to give them individual ones all by myself, so the result was a shared bath. It actually went well. Kaelie had a lot of fun. She laughed and splashed. Ize didn't have as much fun, but she didn't cry so it was a success.

I also took some pictures of the girls at the front door. We were watching dad as he got home from work and brought stuff in. They looked so cute so I had to take pictures.

Silly Ize

Now for some random pictures of the girls from the past few weeks

We are really excited for Halloween. Izebelle is going as Snow White and Kaelie will be Dopey. I can't wait. We bought Ize's costume and I am making Kae's. Kaelie will also sport the pumpkin costume for a little while on Halloween. It's a good thing Ize has the Snow White costume because we are going to Disneyland in a few weeks. We are getting everything set up and I am pretty sure Marty and I are way more excited than the girls. If they were older they would probably be more excited. I just can't wait to see their faces. I especially can't wait to see Ize's when she sees all the characters from the shows she watches (especially Mickey and Minnie). It will be priceless.

I hope you all have a great week and Happy Halloween!

Family Visits and Birthday Cake

A lot has happened in the past 6 weeks. Cara and Darr came to visit for Labor Day weekend and my mom's 55th birthday. We hung out, went to the zoo, had a bbq for my mom's birthday, and took advantage of some shopping deals that weekend. We had a great time and so did the kids. It went by too fast.

Sisters!

Marty's family came out for a visit about 2.5 weeks later. We had a lot of fun. We went to the zoo with them too, we hung out, and had a mini celebration of our upcoming birthdays. We really enjoyed our time together. It was the first time Kaelie got to meet her grandpa and uncle.

Birthday Apple Pie. One candle for each upcoming birthday (Randy, Kae, and me)

Ize is telling Marty to stop because he can't sit there

I love pictures where one person seems way more excited than the other(s).

Both girls got quality time with their Uncle Jeff, which is good because we are planning on him coming and staying with us the beginning of next year.

It's been one year since we took Izebelle to the zoo for the first time.

Here's a picture from 9/2010:

Here's a picture from 9/2011:

She's really grown the past year!

I turned 25 on October 16th. I really can't believe that.

Ize helping me blow out the candle

Marty being silly

Ize being silly

It was a great weekend. I really enjoyed being with my family. On Saturday, we had lunch together, went shopping and hung out. On Sunday, we had cake and enjoyed the day together.