Halloween is a Scream!

We spent Halloween in Alamogordo this year and, man, what an exhausting weekend.

Since I wasn't motivated to do the group/family costume this year, Ariel was the only one who dressed up. She has her whole life to be something cute or pretty, so I was going for something less typical.

And so, Ariel was a rock star! A punk rock star, actually.

Over the course of Halloween weekend, she got to wear her costume three times. Now that's what I'm talking about.

Thursday: Eric carved the pumpkin we picked out a few days earlier. We wanted Ariel to help with the gutting process, but as soon as she touched the slimy, stringy innards, she gagged so hard, she nearly puked. Awesome. Daddy went solo on the carving this year and he did a mighty fine job.

Friday: Eric, Ariel, and I went to downtown Alamogordo for trick-or-treat. The participating businesses invite the kids to the door for their goodies and Mom and Dad get to scope out some shopping. The first stop we made, Ariel tried to say "trick-or-treat" and we did manage a thank you out of her. But after that, it was all silent staring. Well, who doesn't like the strong but silent rock star type?
loot bag #1
Saturday: We headed to "Zoo Boo" at the Alameda Park Zoo. It absolutely was a zoo that had nothing to do with the animals. The line to get in was so long, it looped back on itself. Ahhh! I entered Ariel in her first costume contest in the "Most Unique" category. There was a cute category, but that was over saturated with 110+ entrants! She didn't place, but seemed to have a good time on stage. I don't remember what costumes bet her out, but one of them for sure was an astronaut. I now have some neat ideas for future costumes. One of my personal costume highlights was a kid dressed as a toy machine. Like one of those filled with stuffed animals you have to try to get with the metal claw. Yeah, and stupid me didn't get a picture. There was a winner's light on top, money in the shoot, and an actual claw hanging from the ceiling of the box this boy was in. Costuming genius.

Saturday night: My mom and I took Ariel for another round of trick-or-treat in the mall. Our little rock star was quite content to just run around the mall looking cute. Ariel had no interest in begging for candy. Every time I took her hand for the trick-or-treat ritual, she would fuss and try to shake my hand loose. It could have been a lot more fun if we had taken naps after the zoo. But when the princess boycotts her nap, nobody sleeps.

loot bag #2

Sunday: Ariel put the stickers on her pumpkin she picked out at the pumpkin patch. We left it outside to hang with Big Jack so the passing trick or treaters could see her artistic abilities. We left the neighborhood canvas to the professionals and stayed inside with the lights off. Or so I thought.

One of my mom's friends asked if Ariel wanted to trick-or-treat with her granddaughter, Riley. I just couldn't say no to Riley, so we dressed Ariel up in a Halloween theme and set out. We went to Bethel Baptist Church for their "Trunk-or-Treat" event. This is where cars are lined up in a semi-circle, with their trunks open, full of candy. You still have to say the magic words, but you definitely get a bag full of sugar with minimal walking.
Riley as "Dora" and Ariel as "Cute"

Ariel had a great nap today, so going out was so much better. She waved or clapped her hands in thanks whenever candy was placed in her bag. But the highlight of her evening was the helium balloon she got. Despite all the candy, we probably could have got the balloon and gone home. Even though I planned on being in my pj's all day, it was nice to go out for once last Halloween hooray.

loot bag #3

Hope you all had a wonderfully scary/fun/awesome/safe Halloween!

Easter 2010

Ariel's first Easter was low key, to say the least. No basket, no eggs, no candies. But she did get dressed up in a pretty dress, complete with bonnet. A fun little hat that she hated by the way. In all fairness, it was a bit big, but who can complain about the dollar we spent on it.
And for the record, the girl loves those plastic eggs! Must be the vibrant colors.
Next year, I think we'll dye some eggs and let Ariel go on an egg hunt. She really is good at finding things (you thought were hidden).

We got some good pictures before she got completely sick of us. Enjoy!

(There will be a longer post about our Easter festivities).

Twice Baked Christmas

For Ariel's first Christmas, she had the chance to celebrate twice. Lucky girl.

Colorado: We celebrated with Eric's family the Sunday before Christmas, as we were headed to my parent's house on Monday. We had a very tasty meal, courtesy of my Rachel Ray cookbook (I love this girl)! It was a radicchio salad, which I didn't care for and a gnocchi, chicken sausage dish with a blushing cream sauce. For dessert, we had Holiday Parfitinis, (scoop strawberry ice cream, creme de menthe over top, a healthy squirt of canned whipped topping and a cherry, garnish with pirouette cookies) delish!

Ariel, of course, made out like a bandit. Some of her highlights were a reindeer beanie, clothes, a Vtech laptop (she really enjoys slamming the lid shut) and some requested books. Eric got me a pancake griddle that makes smiley face pancakes. It sounds silly, but together we put away a small country's portion of pancakes. I got Eric a pair of Mario Bros. pj's to go with the Super Mario Bros Wii game we got. We enjoyed our day and Ariel went all day with no fussing, even though she only had a 15 min nap all day! No, she didn't sleep all night either.

the loot opening gifts first laptop

New Mexico: We made to to good ol' Alamogordo late Monday night and enjoy the laid back pace that is the southwest. Eric managed to maintain his running regimen (over achiever) and I tried to sleep as much as I could. Christmas day was a bit hectic, as my sister flew in from Florida that morning and Ariel took a super late nap. We opened presents about 2 pm. Laugh, it's funny. We ate the traditional fare of glazed ham, potatoes, mac 'n cheese, and green bean casserole. My mom made her beautiful ribbon jello, which is always on of my personal favorites and her Indiana rolls, which Eric could have single-handedly eaten. Present highlights were lottery tickets (Eric won $70 plus 3 tickets), cupcake cookbook (the things you can do with cupcakes nowadays), and step/start walk 'n ride. I was able to catch up with some friends from high school as well during this visit.

shake it or eat it santa arrived Vicki lends an elfing hand

What a way to close out the year. I hope that 2010 has more wonderful memories in store for us.

Gotta Catch 'Em All!

As everyone knows, the All-Stars do enjoy dressing up for Halloween. Since the addition of the team's shortstop, the costumes this year had to be a very special team costume. After kicking around a few not so good ideas, we decided on "Pokemon." It's kind of a shame to do this now, as most people have gotten out of the Pokemon craze. The younger kids don't even know what it is. *Sigh*

Pictures are posted early as we participated in the Pet Palace Pet Costume contest. Last year, Eric and Pazu won 4th place for the Red Koopa Troopa and Luigi group costume. This year, we shooting for gold. Pazu and Ariel will be Pikachu, and electric mouse Pokemon. Eric will be Professor Elm, a Pokemon scientist. I'll be going as May, a Pokemon trainer and coordinator. Who wouldn't fall in love with a matching set of Pikachus?
Well, it appears that cute and adorable would not be enough to win this year. The competition was stiff and as we walked in and scoped out the other costumes, we knew we had a snowball's chance in Haiti. The Aurora Sentinel (a local newspaper) was there to document the event through pictures. That's where these links are coming from. I hope they don't mind I borrowed them.
http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7ebbcaba274808613.jpg

Our costume didn't place this year, but we lost fair and square.
Fourth place went to a long haired Chihuahua dressed as "Strawberry Shortcake" (striped tights and everything). http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7ea3c83a874476261.jpg

Third place was the winner from last year. He and his Lab were the "GhostBusters" (jumpsuits, hoses and all). http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7e9dc314121858515.jpg

Second place was my personal favorite-superhero Green Arrow with his sidekick (a cat), the Hairball Breathing Dragon http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae5c84165b98366052221.jpg
. I give props to this guy. He showed up in spandex green tights and totally rocked it.
The winner was a couple of cocker spaniel mixes dressed at Peter Pan and Wendy (the owners were Tinker Bell and Captain Hook). http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7ed85edc662037135.jpg
Like I said, competition was tough, but we had a great time. People are so creative with Halloween costumes.
So we're thinking about costumes for next year. Yeah, we're not competitive or anything. I'm going for the "Wow" factor. We are accepting ideas if you have any.

Professor Elm

May

Pikachu

Happy Father's Day

Since I haven't had time to go shopping for Eric's first father's day, I improvised. I bought a frilly, pink sundress for Ariel. Because Eric likes to see his girls dressed up, this was her gift to her daddy. I know it sounds lame, but it's the thought that counts and Eric just beams when he shows Ariel (and her outfits) off.

We started our day off with Coffee for Dad at a local coffee shop. It was a nice quiet morning and Eric and I enjoyed ourselves while Ariel caught a cat nap. Maybe we'll make this a tradition of ours.

After church, we drove up to Eric's parents house and had a nice afternoon of food and conversation. Jesse grilled the steaks and I made dessert (a lemon pound cake). Don't ask what time I had to do this. I honestly don't remember.

The grill master Pretty girls

We had a good day, but we may go to the reservoir and have a picnic lunch next year.

The Triduum (Easter and its Holy Days)

This year, Eric and I decided to switch things up for Easter. This year we were going to participate in the Triduum. In the Catholic church, it is the three holy days of Easter: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday actually melds into Easter Sunday.

Anyway, Thursday was the washing of the feet. As Jesus washed his disciples feet, we were invited to do the same with each other, as we are servants to our community. I had never been to service like this, so I just wanted to watch. It was pretty amazing to see all the friends and family go up together to do as Jesus did. I kinda regret not doing it now. But I hadn't shaved or clipped my toenails, so I wasn't feeling so comfortable with people touching my pregnant feet.

Friday was there was the Stations of the Cross in the park, which I had to miss because I was at work. The main part of service was the Passion of Jesus, which began with his arrest in the garden until his death on the cross. Our priest is a musical genius and wrote an entire composition for the reading. It was about an hour, but my goodness! I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole church. It was so beautifully written with all the intricate harmonies and melodies. But the main theme song was what got me. At the end, a single female choir member sang a solo and then a children's choir echoed her. Talking about haunting and moving. It was fabulous especially with the choir we have.

Saturday marked the Easter Vigil. We got up early for morning prayer to prepare our hearts for the evening service. We started outside were there was a blessing of the Easter candle. then the congregation moved into a darkened church to symbolize a world without Jesus. Each church member had a candle and we lit the church with only the light of Christ. There were a handful of readings and once we reached the point where Jesus had conquered death, all the lights flickered on and the choir erupted in this awesome song of praise and Hallelujah.

While the Triduum was tiring, I'm so glad we were able to participate this year. What a wonderful experience. It was very special to share it with my husband.

Halloween 2008

The late nights are over and the eye strain has run its course. Now to unveil for the first time the Halloween costumes of 2008! This year we nod to the greatest (and original) game alive -

The Super Mario Brothers.

Pazu as a Red Koopa Troopa

Eric as Luigi

Nicole as Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool)

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Costumes of Halloween Past

Halloween is quickly approaching and Eric and I find that we turn into little kids when it comes to picking out a costume (at least we haven't resorted back to trick-or-treating). For the past few years, I have been using my newly discovered sewing talents to make Halloween costumes for Eric, Pazu and myself. Here is a quick review of what we've been over the years.

2006- Robin Hood and Maid Marion

I made both these costumes from scratch using fabric, a pattern and sewing machine.

After looking at these pictures, I got the notion in my head that the Maid Marion dress made me look quite overweight. So, I went to the thrift store and bought a velvet dress for like $7. I added a satin cowl and drapes and instantly became a Greek goddess. (I know, I cheated. I got two costumes this year).

2007- A Journey through History

Pazu-Purple Wizard (medieval period)

Eric as Young George Washington-1757 (he was often mistaken for Mozart)

Nicole as a Geisha-Japan 1922

So we were invited to a Star Trek party this year and went as holograms from the Holideck. I made this Star Trek cupcakes which were a big hit!

What we will be for 2008?