Fall/Halloween

Behind.....again.

All my post are going to begin with that from here on out.  Let's just establish that and move on.

We celebrated Fall/Halloween this year in typical fashion.  We did not go do a pumpkin patch like we usually do this year - not sure why...time illuded us and before we knew it, Halloween was here and we said "oh crap...oh,well" (I think that is literally what we said. :)  But, Elaina got to do a hayride and pseudo pumpkin patch at her school so I consider that checked off the list, in my mind.  We didn't even carve pumpkins...but we did buy some the day before Halloween and deemed them our Halloween/Thanksgiving pumpkins.

Can we talk about how much more mellow I have become about that - feeling the pressure of having to to every little festive holiday/seasonal thing.  I am not all the way there but I am getting better at realizing that it's okay.  No, let's not talk about that - we don't have time.  Ha!  Get it?

Moving on....pictures...

Elaina with some of her classmates on the hayride...to her right, her good friend Madison

Madison again....

Her whole class with Mrs. Ballard

The whole class again

Then we ate lunch together that day :)

On to Halloween....Elaina was Elsa.  SHOCKING, I know.  But, it is what it is...Halloween was short lived because about an hour into it, its started to rain and what felt like the coldest wind ever started.  So, we went back to the house to have hot chocolate instead.  But, Elaina got her bucket pretty much filled up in the hour we were out so I call that a success.

We ate Jack O Lantern pizza from Papa Murphys.  Cute....and delicious

And...the obligatory "Let It Go" pose.  The wig is awesome...and by awesome, I mean HILARIOUS!

Elaina's cousins Kelsey and Liana came over....they had cute costumes too.

This was the next day....our neighbor had her b-day party and it was Frozen themed.  Perfect....another opportunity to wear the dress.  No wig.  They did face painting which is a favorite of Elaina's

Elsa and Anna showed up.  The little girl on the left is my cousin's little girl, Brooklyn, who lives next door.  I adore the way she is looking at Elsa!!

One more for good measure...

That is all for now.....Happy Fall!  Or Happy Fell, since I am so behind?

Okay, I am a dork....

Random summer catch up

So, I was cleaning off my phone and found some random pictures that I deem blog worthy and memorable (for me).  So, here are some random photos from the summer and early fall.....

Elaina's Cousin Liana stayed with us for a week before school started...fun!

One of many sleepovers Elaina had....this one with her friend, Laurel.  They made Erik and I breakfast in bed.  Very sweet (and funny to lie in bed and listen to it, too)

slightly burned waffles...and REALLY cold tea :)  Delicious

Back in early summer, I had to go to Carlsbad, NM for work.  I flew into El Paso and drove a looooooooong 2 hours to Carlsbad, NM on a 2 lane road in literally the middle of the desert.  I have never seen terrain quite like it.  I was by myself so it was a little un-nerving.  BUT, at least it was day time and it really is beautiful.  When I pulled off the side of the road to snap a few pics with my phone, the thing I will most remember is the quiet I heard.  I have never heard quiet like that.  No sounds of anything...no cars, no people, no anything.  It felt strange, in a way.

I ate some gooooooood food in Carlsbad....I mean, really super delicious authentic Mexican food.  Yum!

Elaina friend Katherine was over one day and they decide to do a candy/water stand at the bottom of our driveway.  Their sales strategy:

water (my plain old tap water) in a solo cup, without ice = $1

Candy (Elaina's old Halloween/Valentine/Easter candy = free with purchase of water

They lucked out because there was a crew at the house next door that was being built.  They all bought water.  A few people drove by to purchase.

Grand total of the day, which was about an hour and a half = $9!!!  I couldn't believe that amount.  That's pretty good.

At the end of her 1st grade year, we had a parent teacher conference with her 1st grade teacher.  Erik pulled out her pencil box from her desk to take a peek.  Can someone say OCD?  We always new she was like her daddy in regard to that.  This pencil box is so neat.  Her teacher also said that she volunteered to put all her book back in chronological order at the end of the year (without being asked).  That is SO Elaina - she likes order :)

It was a wine sort of night for me.  Elaina and I were sitting down doing some coloring at the table.  She said she wanted a class of water.  I told her to go get her a glass.  I had my back turned to the kitchen while she made her glass.

She came back with this.... ha ha ha ha!!!  Such a silly kid.  Should I be worried?

A play date with her friend Aleena in a blow up pool.  They both spent the entire time IN a large bucket inside the pool.  Crazy kids - we didn't even need the pool.  Just the bucket.

We spent a wonderful day at Dollywood with her BFF Kaitilyn.  It was a great day!

The last month of summer was spent with 2 nights a week of 2 hours cheer practice.  Here are a few of her teammates and her on the GCA rock after practice one night.

Elaina put her cousin, Celia's glasses on when were were there for a visit one weekend.  She looks so cute in them :)

We had a double rainbow after a storm one day.  This picture does not show it very well but it was amazing.  This is from our front porch.  We also have a great view to watch lightening (if you are into that sort of thing).  I like to watch lightening in the distance.  It's amazing!

Like her daddy, again....she has taken a liking to the show "How It's Made" (one of Erik favorite shows).  This is them hanging out watching it.  Good stuff.

Okay...that is about it....thanks for tuning in :)

First tooth

Elaina finally lost her first tooth.  She is a bit of late bloomer where this is concerned, however, I did not lose my first tooth until 2nd grade so....like mother, like daughter.

She has had a loose tooth for a while and has been playing it safe with it.  When she came home from school yesterday it was barley hanging on.  I left to go get my hair done and Erik sent me this picture with this caption - "notice anything missing?"  Apparently, she was standing in the bathroom and went to push it with her tongue and out it popped.  She yelled to Erik "Daddy, my tooth fell out.  It landed in the sink but I caught it before it went down the drain."  Glad that didn't happen :)

She was a pretty excited little girl.  About 2 weeks before we noticed her tooth was loose, she had a meltdown because she wanted to know when her tooth was going to come out.  She was sad because she was literally the only one of her friends (and lots of kids younger than her) who had not lost a tooth yet.  Not a huge deal, I know, but when you are 7, that is hard to understand.  I actually felt pretty bad for her but told her to be patient.  That's pretty hard to do no matter how old you are.  So, we have been waiting on this day.

Here is a close up that I the first time I saw her with it gone after cheer practice....<3 p="">

And, a picture the next morning with her tooth fairy money.  The tooth was in a bag (her doing).  She asked if she could keep it.   The bag had tooth fairy dust in it (glitter).  When I took this picture this morning, she said "mommy, you aren't going to text that to anyone are you?"  I told her no.....however, I didn't mention that it was going on the blog!  Memories...one day she will understand.  She has the best bed head - lol!

Good times....Our little girl is growing up

7 year pictures

Elaina turned 7 so that means we had her 7 year pictures made.  By the same gal that has taken her annual pics since she was 4.  She did a great job again this year.  We took them at the Cove at Concord.

Just a few of my favorites....