The Halloween post posted on Halloween!!

We've gone trick or treating three times in the past 9 days, each with varying costume combinations based on my preparedness or the kids cooperation.

Our first ToT-ing was at Pickering Wharf in Salem...

(They are bears by the way)


This is from tonight...I made better bear ears for the girls (barretts) but mine look like mouse ears, oh well. It has that homemade "je ne sais quoi"

(And yes I posted this pic even though Meg's face is hidden because it makes my hair look great)

I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be a "bear face" that is coming across as a grumpy face, or maybe I'm just delusional. Oh, and Tessa did her own make up...not necessarily according to my plan...

I talked with my mom last night and she urged me to post more often on the blog. Perhaps I'll make her a deal, I'll post everytime she calls me on the phone... eh? ;)

Sadly for her I'm posting something I've already shared with her.

I wanted to make a cake for the ward halloween party (the fact that there was no scary cake contest this year, unlike the previous six years did not make it through to my consciousness- honestly people, stop messing with tradition) and stumbled across a cute idea from Martha Stewart.

I was worried that the frosting wouldn't be super white and would therefore clash with the marshmellows so I, because I'd read a blurb about it on google, decided to add one drop of blue (?!) food coloring to the frosting. The second I started mixing it together I knew I'd made an ENORMOUS mistake that I could never recover from and started moaning about the kitchen and berating myself for my stupidity.

In the midst of this drama-fest Tessa calmly says "Mom, it will look fine, lets just keep going, don't give up." Me: "Do you really think so...?" Tessa: "Yes, now come back over here and lets make the cake."

In the end it was a disaster, but a cute, rather oozy looking disaster (thats a good thing) - and since no one else showed up with a cake for the ward trunk-or-treat party - I declared myself the winner of the 2010 Scary Cake Contest!

And now for comparison's sake (and a good laugh)

Martha's Cake - -


My cake - -

Photo Catch-up Meg's Birthday

Someone just (as in 6 weeks ago) turned ONE.


Meg shares her birthday with a little boy in our ward. When his mom and I talked about doing a joint "party" I warned her I had an idea for a theme but it might be a bit girlie (as in, not trucks). She gave me carte blanche so I went ahead with my idea.

Last year the kids were born on a 90 degree day in April and all the trees blossomed at once. So the theme was "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" and I spent a good deal of my day making this...



Which as you can see had three cupcakes at the top that could be pulled off to make 2 birthday "cakes" and a pity "don't feel left out" cake for Tessa.

Which she enjoyed

Photo Catch-up - Easter

I rocked Easter. I feel upside down most days but I pulled it together for the holiday and, essentially, became my mother for the day.

I mean look at this - bunny shaped pancakes.

Plus rice kripsy treats in the shape of bird's nest and dinner on the table and the house clean in time before our dinner guests arrived. Cute little monograms for the girls baskets. A necessity so that Tessa wouldn't claim it all for herself.


It was conference weekend so no church, just home in jammies listening to inspired words on the internet. The past few years we have walked along the beach between sessions - the past few years it has been in the 50-60s and drizzly, so it seemed Sunday appropriate. When it is 75 and GORGEOUS, it seems a little less so. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the beautiful day on the beach with the new Easter Bunny kite and bubble gun. (No pictures because I made the decision to enjoy the trip, not photo-document it).

Aaron got to fulfill a childhood fantasy of drinking milk from the inside of a hollow chocolate bunny. And by fulfill a fantasy I mean, live vicariously through his daughter, like any good parent should.


Icing on the cake was Tessa's first potty training success - I told her I would let her buy a prize if she "went" (remember 3 weeks to even sit on the potty...) so of course it was on a Sunday. Luckily I had a stash of fun things in the closet, including super fun window crayons. WE. LOVE. THEM.

Meg's Baby

If you are wondering if age one is too young for a baby to appreciate getting a baby doll this video will erase all doubt.

Tessa's Birthday

Having a child old enough to anticipate her birthday is so much fun. Tessa was excited for friends to come, for them to wear birthday hats (I had to go out the night before the party to find them), for cupcakes, and of course, for presents.

I let Tessa pick her theme and it was "Pink and Purple." Gotta love simplicity!

The theme is evident in the pictures.

Sweet as can be.

Christmas? Do you still want to hear about Christmas?

A few months ago a lot of my friends celebrated a holiday called Christmas. We decided to join in on the festivities.

The week before Christmas our friend Maria let us invite ourselves to join her cookie baking extravaganza. Here is Tessa (who actually smiled after about 15 non-smiling shots) hard at work sifting flour and powdered sugar.

And her feet...

(As a side note - while preparing this post I got to feeling very excited for Christmas, only 9 more months. I also feel very embarrassed that I am posting about this in March - get it together Emily.)


Behold - The Christmas Tree



Christmas Morning

7:30 am

8:15 am - Discovering Meg's short attention span and playing with Santa toys.

9:00am (after breakfast)


11:00am (after Meg's first nap)


1:45 pm (after Meg's second nap) - looking for creative ways to open MORE presents.

Finally we finished opening most of the presents at 3:00pm.
(Tessa still had two gifts that, by that time, she refused to open so we put away for her Birthday.)

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this slow posting...

Hannah

I'm skipping over all Christmas good times for the moment to post pictures of Baby Hannah's visit to MA.

Laura and Connel are crazy. They took at 10+ hour drive with a newborn. Laura asked (via txt) if they could come for New Years only 5 days before them came. I thought about it for about .217 seconds. YES!

This kiddo grew up over the weekend while we had a baby in the house.

Tessa got older as well - holding, talking to and helping Baby Hannah.

She even helped her find some friends.

Auntie brought these matching shirts.

As you can see, Tessa made good friends with Uncle Connel.

A nice family snapshot taken at the JFK Library/Museum.

This is after we told Tessa to look at the camera.

Classic self timed photo with camera perched on the stroller...everybody squeeze in!

Thanks for coming...I hope the drive home wasn't too bad. (See that stormy weather behind them? That is what they are driving home in as I type.)

Excuses excuses

If you are interested in what took a big chunk of my free time in November, check out this article.

A magical Christmas-tical tour: Homes, historic sites open for holiday visits - Salem, MA - Salem Gazette

I'll be honest, all I did was layout the tour guide book. Then, once that was done I got to enjoy the tour with Aaron's parents. This is the major fundraiser for the non-profit historic preservation advocacy group I work for, so its success is pretty important to me!

Then once that was done I had to get ready for Christmas itself. Maybe someday I'll post about that!

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Halloween

I'm just going to forgo internet anonymity and brag about living in the town that is the 3rd best place in the U.S. to celebrate Halloween (behind San Fransisco and city I've forgotten). You see, while other people (100,000 - I'm serious) are schlepping around in polyester costumes, looking for parking, wondering where to eat, etc. I LIVE HERE. I have a place to park, I have a legitimate right to trick-or-treating on a street with significant architectural history (i.e. the MANSIONS of federal era ship captains!), and I know that hands down "Passage to India" is THE place to eat.

But enough about how cool I am. I know that the real reason you are here is to see pictures of the girls.

Halloween in my town starts off with a Halloween parade on the first Thursday of the month. Tessa's costume was a work in progress the whole month. For the parade she had her fairy skirt to wear.

Meg's costume, a craigslist special, was much easier and oh so snuggly.

AUGH! Slap me. This kid is so cute!

Daddy is a butterfly (and fairy) hunter. He bagged a big one Saturday night.

When it came down to the ACTUAL trick or treat night (as opposed to the downtown retailers trick or treating, or the ward trunk or treating) Tessa was ready and Boo-yah! Look at that load of candy she collected.

Independence Day/Dependence Night

We were so thrilled to go to a big barbecue (complete with tiki-torches) on the Fourth of July. I was nervous about how Tessa would do - sometimes she does wonderfully in groups and sometimes, not so well. Luckily two of her best friends, Melanie and Alyssa where there. They played with her while I was stuffing my face full of delicious shrimp and the dessert buffet and quickly she turned into a standard run around ragamuffin.

Tessa with Melanie and Alyssa at the Lake

After eating everyone headed to the fireworks by the lake. Every year we've been in MA we go to our town's fireworks - which we LOVE - but this year decided to go to the fireworks in the town our friends live (do you love my vague "internet safety speak"?). But I am out-of-shape/lazy and didn't want to walk, so we drove to get a little closer, which in the end, really didn't do us that much good (as you'll soon see).



We had fun waiting for the fireworks. But when the show started poor Tessa hid under the blanket saying "No farkles, no farkles," and eventually fell asleep.


Then we headed back to our car and the 30 minute drive home.

Then the car didn't start.

Then we had to hitch a ride with friends who had come to the barbecue and lived close to us, including calling back a family that had already it the highway. I'll be honest, I was/am so embarrassed, as if our family hasn't needed enough help this year. So much for Independence Day.

Then the next day Super Dusty came to the rescue (as usual - see mishap and related endorsement #4) and our car started.

Then the next week we took the car to the shop where, after 5 diagnostic checks and 50 successful startups, the mechanic couldn't find a thing wrong with it.

Then we renewed our AAA membership.