All Hollows' Eve

The day after Halloween, and we are recuperating.  Macie has already had several meltdowns and it is only 10:00. I am trying to decide what to do with all the candy since my kids think it should be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and for 24 hour snacking.  

This was the first year that Chloe really lasted from start until finish.  She filled her pumpkin up to the brim with candy, heaven help me.  Macie was a typical 2 year old and tuckered out pretty quickly.  Although I don't know why, since I basically carried her the entire time. 

We did a lot of Halloween yesterday.  In the morning we went to Music Makers, just Macie and I, where we had a nice little party for a group of really cute toddlers.

In the afternoon I went to Chloe's class and played some Halloween songs for them on my guitar.  Chloe wanted me to come in and play for her class. (I love Chloe).  Her class was so polite and cute.  Her teacher is great at rewarding the kids and likes parties, so she gets an A+ in my book.  I really love her teacher.  

This year Macie was Minnie Mouse, like every other 2 year old girl I know.  

and Chloe wanted to be Ariel again.  I searched far and wide for a costume and in the end, I forked over too much cash for an overpriced costume from the Disney store.  But she looked really pretty.  And she wore her Ariel necklace that sings her famous "Aaaaaaaaa"  (you know what I mean).  I replaced the batteries right before, and the stupid thing died by the end of the night.  I think that is a crime.  Battery operated toys are my nemesis.

 I wish you could see my purple tights!

 "Chloe was Minnie Mouse, like every other two year girl I know." -Melissa Mortensen
And by the way, these little girl are only 3 months apart.

It was a great day.

Suede and Scissors

1. I am obsessed with shoes.  2. I am obsessed with suede. 3. I got a pair of orange suede shoes a couple weeks ago, and I must have been being punished for my shoe vanity, because somehow my brand new orange suede shoes ended up with fresh chocolate milk stains, even though they were sitting by my front door away from any chocolate milk carrying individuals.
I obsessively cleaned them for more than an hour.  The more I cleaned them the worse I made the stains.
I realized that 12 years ago I bought a suede cleaning kit, and  remembered that I probably still had it somewhere at my Dad's house. And I found it!
And then a miracle happened, my orange suede shoes returned to their pristine condition, and my OCD tendencies were pacified.
Well with that miracle, I started to think of the other shoes in my closet that could be brought back to their prime.
I have a pair of purple faux suede shoes.  I decided to try my suede cleaning kit on them.
It worked, sort of.
But then I decided I would just give them a full on bath, and being that they were faux suede, I could do anything I wanted with them without ruining them.
As I was cleaning them I saw a tag, and was astounded to read "genuine leather."
All these years I had been mistreating my purple suede shoes, thinking they were just some cheap Target knock off.
Well that sent my OCD tendencies into overdrive, and I decided I had better dry my genuine leather shoes FAST.
So I got out my blow dryer.
While I was tending to my shoes, unbeknownst to me, Macie had grabbed a pair of scissors and had started cutting the back of my hair.
When I saw chunks of my hair on the ground I started screaming.
Macie ran away in tears saying "I sawee."
And once again, I think I was being punished for my shoe vanity.
Luckily I don't think she cut off enough for it to be noticeable.
And how could I be mad at a little person who just thought she was helping me be "bootifoe" and "pitty" ?

 This made me chuckle. I saw that Chloe had placed this drawing on my front window.  I can't remember when she drew it, but awhile back, she made a booklet full of drawings for each of the different holidays.  I guess she found the folder and the drawing and decided to put it out.  I love it.

 I was also very happy today because my girls let me style them the way I wanted.  And Chloe actually wore my favorite dress of all time.

I bought this Minnie Dress on Craigslist for 5 dollars.  Macie has worn it every single day.  I am pretty positive it will not survive for Halloween. 

Fall Break

This past week Chloe had Fall break.  so I got her all to myself for a whole week! I was sad to send her back to school this morning.  I tried to make the most out of her week off and we did something fun every day.  

We went to the park and had a picnic. (Which I forgot it still isn't really "Fall" here.  The park was over 90 degrees.)

We saw Monster University.

We went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. 

And we went to Flagstaff for a day to get a taste of Fall.

Although it was more of a taste of winter.

It snowed right before we got there.

But it was still beautiful and we enjoyed the crisp weather.

We took a ride up the ski lift.

 And I wore my very best clothes for Robyn.  Right, Robyn?  Robyn is a true friend. I know that she was still be seen with me even when I wear my black unitard.  Or pajamas out in public.

 Even Chelsey had a good time.

 Also,

We have a new member of the family! She's Big! She's Quiet! She's pretty!  We couldn't be happier with our new addition!
(Our old washing machine stopped spinning.  So it was time to join the throngs and invest in a front loader.  we still aren't sure how it gets our clothes cleaned, it looks like it only uses about 3 cups of water. It also doubles as entertainment. Don and I like to grab chairs and watch it do it's thing.)

I wish I could find the note Chloe wrote me last week.  She heard me talking to my friend about throwing a Halloween party.  I didn't realize she was listening.  I see her hide behind my chair and hand me a little note that said something like, "I heard you talking about a Halloween party.  Can I help? I am a good decorator."
Of course it was written in Chloe spelling.  I love how much Chloe loves parties and decorating.  Who does she remind me of?  ; )

 This is now officially a Mommy Blog: Here is Macie using the Potty for the first time.  Somehow Macie convinced Macie to try using the potty, and she actually did.  This has not been repeated.  Perhaps I just need to pay Chloe to potty train her.

General Conference was this weekend.  This is my girls during conference. No clue why Macie is wearing floaties.

 I think Macie has put her shoes on wrong so many times that she is convinced that is the way they are supposed to look now.  If I try to put them on right, she tells me I put them on wrong and switches them back.

Chloe lost a tooth.  Read the letters to figure out what happened.

(By the way, I was Chloe's scribe.  Yes, my handwriting is really that bad.)

I am so glad the tooth fairy complimented her name, since the night before Chloe told me that kids were teasing her about her name.  That tooth fairy is so on top of things. Except for laundry. And dishes.