Halloween 2010

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year. Normally I am not sure if scouting for candy while dressed in fun costumes is a Sunday activity but since we were doing it as a family, I decided it was OK and God would be fine with it.
I dressed the girls in the cute costumes again and I decided that I would dress up too - I had forgotten that a couple of years ago, I had gotten a costume at Target after Halloween for really cheap and I found it in the closet and decided to wear it. Thus I became a snow queen for the night. The girls were thrilled that Mommy joined in the fun with them.Lorne stayed at home to give candy to those who came to our door and we headed out for a couple of hours and the girls got tons of candy. Everyone raved about how cute they were and I got a couple of compliments too!After we got home, I let the girls eat their fill of candy and changed them into their oh so cute Halloween PJs. It was a nice night and we had fun.

Pumpkin Carving

For the last 9 years, we have had a Pumpkin Carving party with our friends and family and always have a great turnout and lots of fun. It seems that this year everyone had something better to do and no one came to our party except for my parents. We decided we would have fun anyway and hope that people will come next year.We decorated the house and ordered pizza for dinner and got ready to carve our pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. Everyone except Ava carved a pumpkin and Abuela helped Jasmine with hers.
Our pumpkins came out great and it was fun to light them up and line them up outside and see the fruits of our labors.

Natalia's Pirate Paaaaaarrrrrty

See Natalia turn 30. See Natalia get diagnosed with Eye Cancer. See Natalia fight the cancer through treatments. See Natalia beat the cancer. See Natalia turn 31 and celebrate Pirate Style.
Earlier this year my cousin Natalia was diagnosed and treated for a rare form of cancer - eye cancer. It was shocking and scary but she hung in there and is now in remission. She told us all that if she got through it she would celebrate her 31st birthday pirate style (get it? eye patch?)
She had a great party in DC that we were invited to and she asked that we all dress as pirates. It was super fun and I had fun being able to have a fun night with my husband sans kids.Natalia was super happy and she glowed. It was awesome to be there to celebrate her and her life. She is one of the most vibrant and happy people I know and I am in awe of her.
As a special gift to her, I designed and made her a cake that fit the occasion. She loved it and everyone at the bar was asking where it came from. Some people thought it came from Duff's shop. I laughed and was happy to have been able to do that for her.It was also fun to be there with my uncle and aunt and cousin Fernando. When we showed up we realized that my uncle and aunt had bought the same costumes as Lorne and myself. It was hilarious!All in all, it was a fun night to celebrate Natalia!

Ward Trunk or Treat

We attended the ward trunk or treat and this was the first time the girls got to put on their Halloween costumes. Goodness gracious how cute they were! They were excited for round one of candy gathering and they made many rounds in the church parking lot. All the kids looked great and we were dressed up because we would be attending the cousin's pirate party later that evening (more on that in a separate post). Lorne looked amazing in his Pirate costume - he rarely dresses up so the girls thought it was great!

Kindergarten Fall Party

I love to go and help in Jasmine's class at school and I am grateful for a flexible work schedule that allows me to do that. We were asked to plan and execute a fall party with the class and my assignment was to help the kids decorate cookies. It was fun - the kids had a blast and at the end I was exhausted. I do not think I could ever be a kindergarten teacher and have to do that day in and day out - I am so thankful that Jasmine has such a nice and patient teacher!

Girl's Scrapbooking Weekend

Twice a year as you all know I get to spend a weekend scrapbooking with Cindy. We work hard, eat snacks and enjoy each others company. Lately we have been going to Annapolis and this was our third time at this hotel. We had fun and got a lot done. Looking forward to our next one in February!

More Fall Fun - Belvedere Plantation

I am a sucker for those fall farm festivals and I drag the family with me to any fun and interesting one I can find. Thankfully, they seem not to mind! Belvedere is one that we go almost every year and we love it because we get to ride out into the pumpkin patch and pick our own pumpkins.They also have a lot of activities and thing to do with the kids that they can enjoy. My favorite thing there is the apple cider slushies they make. I look forward to drinking one every year and this year I got greedy and drank two!The girls had a great time and we tried to do as many things as possible. It was warm for October and so being outside was nice.On our way home from all the fun, we took the scenic route - this is also something I love doing. I prefer to see more stuff when we take a nice long drive and if we have the time I always ask to take the long and scenic rout. This time on our way home, we passed by a sign for George Washington's birthplace. It was late in the day and it was closed but we decided we will have to come and check it out next time.