Spooktacular

This Halloween was Ellie's best by far! The day started with a fun Halloween event at church. Ellie won the prize for "cutest costume" in the preschool division. I have to agree. :) Anyway, Nana and Papa came over for their traditional Halloween visit and we all had lunch and played on the floor with Kate. Ellie anticipates their visit all morning and she loves to open the goody bag they always have waiting for her. Later, Dan and I took the girls across the street to our good friends/neighbors house. Ellie joined the other 6 kids in the playroom while we adults put together a little Halloween party for them downstairs. It turned out really cool; the "witch's brew" punch with the dry ice was a definite hit! Afterward, all the kids went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with the dads. I stayed home with Kate, put her to bed, and handed out candy the rest of the evening. We all had a great time and Ellie trick-or-treated for a REALLY long time! She had so much fun she had to come home once and dump her bucket out so she could keep going! Dan said there were all kinds of haunted houses in our neighborhood so the kids were really enjoying that part. Overall, it was a Spooktacular night!

This was the best picture I could get of the girls. Ellie was a witch and Kate was a penguin.

What would Halloween be without a bit of butternut squash? MMMMM!

The Halloween spread at the Bartlett house

Grace, Ellie, Ivy, Nick, Kate J., Caleb and Owen (Baby Kate was taking a nap!)

Kate has ecxema around her eye, nose and chin so she looks a bit tired here but still adorable! Love them legs!

Ready to go!

Kate and Me in front of our neighbor's haunted house

Happy Halloween everyone!

A Special Place

We spent the past three days visiting my mom, dad, sister and her family in Spokane. Mom and Dad's house (also affectionately known as Mema and Papa's) is a VERY special place. Obviously, it is special to me because I grew up there but it is special to Ellie (and soon Kate) because my parents do a wonderful job of making it feel that way. My mom ALWAYS decorates every nook and cranny for the holidays so the kids love to come in and seek and find all the decorations. Dad ALWAYS prepares yummy food and this visit he and Ellie made a traditional fried bread that my grandma and great grandma used to make. I spent some time with my best friend in high school, Jenny, and her two little boys. She is only home for a short time because she just had a baby (she lives in Tajikistan now!) so it was incredible that we were able to meet up at all. My sister and I were able to see a movie, Dan and I had a "date" and Ellie got to go to Nick's kindergarten class. We had the best visit with everyone and even though all the kids had a cold (even Kate!), the cousins enjoyed running around in the kids' basement (seriously it is a toy wonderland) and just being together.

Mema and Papa's Welcome

Ellie LOVES seeing all the decorations. These are just a few...

Kate drove us to Spokane. Dan had to tell her to slow down and obey the speed limit numerous times. Kate, don't you know your Daddy is a trooper? :)

Papa and Ellie making fried dough. It is SOOOOO yummy! My favorite!

Kate got lots of love from everyone

It was "E" week at Nick's school so he shared "ELLIE" for his show n' tell. It was adorable! (Ironically, the little boy in front is ALSO Ellie's cousin on the McDonald side!)

Papa took the kids to McDonald's as a special treat afterward

Thanks Mema and Papa and Sissy's Family for a GREAT visit!

Lately

Dan and I took the girls for a walk on the Foothills Trail in Orting. Of course it ends up that I get more exercise carrying Kate (she is almost 20 pounds!) than walking at any kind of a good, consistent speed! Our walk is usually punctuated with Ellie requests: Mama take my jacket off. I want to put it back on. I need a snack. Here's my garbage. Look at the caterpillar! I want to ride in the stroller. I want to face backward. Daddy carry me on your shoulders! Stop! There is a flower! I want to pick it! And it goes on and on! Thank goodness we aren't in a hurry!

Even though we are making the most of this great October weather, we spend A LOT of time at home playing on the floor. Kate is growing so much these days and we love witnessing her ever-changing skills and moods.

First time trying to figure out a cup

Everything is funny to Kate. She is a crack up!

Big sister Ellie is SO AWESOME! Kate loves that she is so silly!

I like the funny face Kate is making here :)

(mouth stained with carrot...Kate's FAVORITE food so far!)

The Big Event

That's right folks...Kate is eating REAL FOOD now. I have to say I HATE this stage...ugh the "stuff": bibs, washcloths, highchairs, baby food blenders, containers, spoons, MAJOR poopy diapers, clothing changes, impromptu baths, the list goes on. Just nursing is SO MUCH EASIER! Oh well, at least Kate is VERY happy eating her new food...like there was any doubt that this baby wouldn't like food! :) She is still happily in the 95th percentile for weight. :) We also just enjoyed a wonderful trip up to Bellingham to visit Matt and Tara and meet Miss Sonja Denton. No pics from Matt and Tara's house but here are some cute ones of our visit with the Dentons. Ellie and Riley hit it off famously of course and we had fun watching them play together. I also took Ellie to WWU to show her what "college" is in real terms. She has been asking A LOT of questions about college (she wants to be a "baby doctor" i.e. pediatrician) but cried when I tried to explain the concept of living with a roommate in a dorm (not ready to think about living without mommy and daddy and Kate. She said she will only go to college in our neighborhood and is afraid that we would forget her if she moved away. adorable.) It was the first time I have been back to WWU in 8 years but all the great memories came flooding back. It felt strange to think of Angela Ciabattari again now that I am Mommy Me! And here are a few photos at Boulevard Park...one of my fave spots in good ol' Bham.