Happy H"owl"oween!

It was a very happy Holloween indeed.  When the old-timers on this post said that this place is complete chaos on Halloween, they weren't joking.  It was particularly busy on one neighborhood on post, where we spent some time.  And Sina was quite the hit in her adorable little owl costume.  She was as precious as can be and received dozens of "oohs", "aahs", and "how cutes" throughout the evening.  Honestly...we lost count.  Best $15 ever spent.

This was us before heading out.

And some taken outside. 

It was quite chilly out, but she was so thrilled to be out there.  She insisted on walking most of the way on her own, weaving in and out of the crowds and on and off the sidewalks.  It was so cute to see her run out on the open street, mumbling sweet nothings to herself along the way.  She really is the cutest.  And I have to give her extra kudos because she walked quite far.  If she's exhausted, you wouldn't know because she's still running around our house at this very moment.

We didn't get too much candy (which is surprising considering the number of houses we visited), but the experience was as sweet as sweet could be.

Happy Halloween everyone!

 

Perfect Sunday!

What a weekend!  We had perfect fall weather...not too hot or cold...just perfect.  We slept in a little bit this morning and realized that we never turned our clocks back.  No worries because we weren't on any kind of schedule today.  We just took our time getting ready and had some fun in the process. 

When we finally got out of the house, we head over to the PX to see if Malu and I could get some Halloween costumes at the last minute.  All the local stores are closed on Sundays, so the PX was our only option.  No surprise...we got there and got stuck with the leftovers.  The good thing--my too-big pirate costume and Malu's executioner costume cost under $10. Everything was 50% off!

After the PX, we rode over to the library.  A friend who works there told us to stop by to make duct tape halloween bags.  Apparently, duct tape crafts are all the craze these days, so we wanted to see what all the hoop-la is about.  Who knew that duct tape comes in a million colors and you can make just about anything with it?  Sina wasn't too entertained...she had just woken up from a cat-nap.  She preferred to watch her mom, who was more into it than she needed to be.  Hey, what can I say...I'm a kid at heart!

Check out our candy corn duct tape bag!

When we got home, Sina and Malu took a much-needed nap.

Meanwhile, I got to work on Sina's Halloween treats for her daycare's Fall Harvest celebration tomorrow.  Since Sina is going to be an owl this year, I thought it'd be nice for her to give her little buddies some owl cookies!  To my disdain, I kinda hit roadblocks along the way as I tried to put these together.  I ordered candy melts online and they didn't make it in time; I ordered clear plastic bags for the cookies, but they ended up being too small; and I totally forgot to get ribbon to accent the tags I made.  So...I improvised.

Take a look at these...

Who needs a Cricut, right?  Um...I do.  After cutting only a dozen of these, my hands were in a world of pain (I think I suffer, to some degree, from carpal tunnel syndrome).  Christmas present, maybe?  Anyhow, in case you can't see, each card says "Happy H"owl" oween!".

Since the plastic bags I ordered were too small, I used ziploc bags I had onhand.  Then, I used some kitchen string as ribbon.  They didn't turn out so bad after all.

When Malu and Sina woke up (yes, it was a late afternoon nap), I had dinner ready (Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps) and we spent a few hours relaxing and playing around with our little girl.  Here she is enjoying a few clementines with Malu.

Yum!

Now, Sina is asleep and I'm enjoying the Twilight series marathon that is on TV! I'll be dragging Malu over to watch it with me.  I'll be using some ice cream to bribe him.  He can't stand these "silly vampires". 

What did I tell you?  A perfect Sunday.

I honestly can't wait for Halloween tomorrow.  I'm excited to see Sina in her cute little costume.  I'm excited to see her paint some pumpkins at school and share her owl cookies with her friends.  I'm excited to see her and her executioner daddy out there trick-or-treating.  I can't wait to share all of it with you guys.

Stay tuned for some more Halloween fun!

Trick or Treat

It was such an awesome weekend, what, with it being Baby V's first Halloween and all.  I thought I'd share some of the pictures with all of you.  We went to a party at one of our friends' houses on post, so we took all the kids around the huge neighborhood over there and made out like bandits with the candy.  Even Baby V!  And why not?  She was the cutest little butterfly ever!

Baby V and daddy.  He had his "mime" mask on backwards and threw his "costume" together on our way out the door this afternoon. 

Family picture!

Of course, mommy had to be a butterfly too!  The perfect pair!

She was such a good girl the entire time and was so enthralled by noises from all the kids whizzing past her (we carried her the entire time), scary music at people's doors, and all the blinking, orange, and black lights.  After half an hour, she zonked out in my arms and I presented her as a sleeping butterfly for about a half hour of trick-or-treating after that.  Now I'm suffering from muscle failure in my arms and am going to feel it big time tomorrow :)

I think I had more fun this Halloween night than any other in my life.  I can't wait for many more to come. 

Happy Saturday!

Last night, we celebrated Traci's birthday.  Traci is a good friend of mine--I worked with her at my last unit and she used to be a Family Readiness Support Assistant for one of our battalions.  She's married to Mr. Frank, who is shown here.  They're such a fun couple!



We met up at Carlos & Mickey's, one of the best Mexican restaurants in town.  Look at how big their margaritas are!  And we had a really yummy cupcake pumpkin cake too :)

Anyway, just thought I'd share some other pics from that night because our other friend, Melissa, took some really good ones of us!

Thanks to Leah for getting Baby V her cute Halloween bib!

Now, I'm off to bake an apple cake I was supposed to make for my cooking club yesterday and then who knows what we'll do today!

Happy Saturday all!

Happy Halloween!

I started my day out with my trusty sidekick, Anna. We took the dogs to the Garden of the Gods for a hike. It was another gorgeous day out...hardly a cloud in the sky. We just couldn't get over the fact that it is practically November and we were wearing shorts/capris out. The doggies had a great time. I struggled to get a picture of the dogs together. Lucy is actually scared of the camera (mainly it's flash; I think it reminds her of lightning), so whenever she sees or hears me pull the darn thing out, she runs for cover. So I figured the best way to do it was to catch them from behind. Now don't they just look like the best of friends? Or maybe, like me, you're just lookin' at a nice pair of dog butts!

There were tons of people out there today. Many packed picnic lunches and were snacking away as we passed by. We were so bummed that we hadn't thought of the idea. Anyway, some people were walking around with costumes, but not just people, but our furry friends! I forget the name of this dog. I just call it the dreadlock dog. This one was dressed as a chicken and I had to take a picture. I can't even see the poor thing's eyes! He's still very cute!

It's late and I'm tired, but I had a great Halloween thanks to family and friends. I didn't have tons of people over, but enough to enjoy the day and make it memorable. Of course, Anna was here to help me pass out candy to the little kiddies. Since it actually wasn't snowing out this year, the kids came out in full force. Well, not exactly. But definitely more than in all the years I've lived in Colorado because it's usually snowing by now!

I had about 40 or so kids stop in and was only able to get a picture of this rousing little group. I took the picture because Malu loves the SAW movies and that darn clown guy (or whatever the heck he is) always freaks me out!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Halloween. I'm going to hit the sack now. I can barely stay awake, which is a good thing. I need all the sleep I can get!