Halloween

Happy Halloween!!! Tonight our friends the van riessen's joined us for dinner and then we dressed up the kids and took them to our church for a harvest festival. The weather was perfect and the kids were in good moods, it was quite a fun evening! After we had our fill at the harvest festival we came back to our house to pass out candy to trick or treaters, the girls loved it, I think that was Isabelle's favorite part of the night. We even took them to the neighbors house to do a little trick or treating.

Alice and Dorthy

Issy and her buddy Bethany

Freddie and Calista... She was supposed to be the white rabbit, but I didn't have the heart to put her in the costume, it is super hot and hard for her to walk in. Thanks Rose for the adorable Tinkerbell costume, she looked super cute in it and she loved being in it!

Family shot at the harvest festival

Tink

Special thanks to Auntie Jenn, who came over to be a part of getting the girls ready, she did everyone's hair including our friend Molly's and even stayed after we left to pick up our messy house. Jenn you are awesome and we totally appreciate you!!

Pumpkin Carvin'

Last night we carved pumpkins. Freddie and I gutted the pumpkins in the backyard, and I had intentions on saving the pumpkin seeds, but every time I filled the bowl, Calista would come and dump them out and laugh! I gave up... Calista enjoyed watching Daddy, she was very curious with what was going on. She finally stuck her hand in the pumpkin and immediately became disinterested in pumpkins after she touched the guts. Isabelle had fun looking through the idea books, giving us ideas on what we should carve. Our friends The Sheridan's came to join us a little later and Issy and Lexi had fun painting on a couple of the pumpkins while we carved. Melissa finally convinced me to save the seeds and helped me ward off the pumpkin seed bandit. We roasted the seeds while we were carving and enjoyed them afterwards. They were so yummy!! We just put some olive oil on them and some sea salt, yummo! It was a fun night. I love carving pumpkins! Great night, great food, great friends!

Curious Calista

Silly Issy

The pumpkin seed bandit strikes again...

Issy and Lexi painting pumpkins

Issy's painted pumpkin

Our finished pumpkins.... From left to right, Mommy's, Daddy's, Calista's & Issy's

Mommy and Issy Night Out!

Issy and Mommy at the intermission.

Our sweet friend Melanie gave us a call on Wednesday afternoon and offered us tickets to see the Disney Princesses On Ice that night. It just happened to be a free night for us. Issy was so excited she couldn't believe that we were going out, just her and I. Issy wore her Alice dress and we got ready to go and joined Melanie and some friends for a fun night. We got to sit in special box seats with a great view and lots of leg room. Definitely the Royal treatment. Isabelle had a great time, I stared at her most the night instead of the show, she was cute to watch. She waved off and on to different characters and got excited and would tell me who was who and so on. There is nothing more magical than watching your little girl so happy! It was a great night! Thanks Mel for helping us create some great memories!

Issy and her buddy Kaya

Jenni, Mel, Jen and Dee

This picture cracked me up, Freddie offered to take a photo of Issy and I before we left and as he was getting ready to take it, Miss Calista walked right into the frame and gave a big smile, she didn't want to miss out on the fun!

Pink Pancakes

Every morning I ask Isabelle what she wants for breakfast and 9 times out of 10 she says "Pink Pancakes!!" So I decided to share the recipe with you since it is a favorite in our house! Even Calista LOVES them! (and I like them too!)



Pink Pancakes from the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld.


Ingredients
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup fat free or low fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup beet, puree (that's what makes them pink)
(I puree my veggies at one time and keep them in the freezer)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup pancake mix
1/4 cup grated apple
nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
fresh fruit (optional)
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1-In a blender or food processor, combine the water, ricotta cheese, beet puree, vanilla, and cinnamon.
2-Dump the cheese mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix, you want the batter to be lumpy.
3-Coat a griddle with nonstick spray and heat to medium high. Add 1/2 tsp vegetable oil. Use 1/4 cup of batter at a time and pour out pancakes. I pour the batter into a metal cookie cutter for fun shapes, the girls love it!) When you see bubbles start to form, it is time to flip the pancake. If the bottom is too brown, turn the heat down. It should take about 1 to 2 minutes per side.
4-Serve warm, garnish with fresh fruit, and a pinch of powdered sugar. ENJOY!

Week In Review

Over the weekend we took the girls to Grandma and Grandpa G's for an overnight stay while Freddie and I went San Fransisco to volunteer at the Nike Women's Marathon. I have participated in the race the last two years but didn't get picked through the lottery system this year, so I decided I would volunteer this year. When I told Freddie he wanted to help too, I love that guy!! We had such a great time! We enjoyed a great night out the night before, thanks to my brother, who is a concierge at a great hotel in the city, he also hooked us up with a free dinner at an awesome restaurant called Farina, it was wonderful. The next morning, we got up at 4am and made our way to the finish line to start volunteering. We were assigned to pass out the finisher's t-shirts. We were apart of a great team and we had a a lot of fun. Every time I looked over to find Freddie, he had a huge smile on his face congratulating the runners as they picked up their shirts. I love that he did this with me and I love that he had a great time. I'm such a lucky girl to have such an awesome husband. The girls had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa G and Auntie Sarah and Gabe. Isabelle didn't want to leave when we got there to pick them up and Grandma G didn't want us to come pick them up. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa G, Auntie Sarah and Gabe! I didn't bring my camera so we don't have any pictures from our weekend, but we had a great time and made lots of fun memories!

On Monday it rained all day and the girls had cabin fever! Isabelle begged me to let her go play in the rain, so I got them all bundled up and as soon as we opened the door, the rain stopped, so the girls played in the wet backyard for a very long time and had fun splashing in the puddles, while I packed up all the summer toys, (so sad) Then we went back inside to have a bath and get warmed up.

On Tuesday, Isabelle had school and then we had out friends the Smith's over for dinner, Isabelle was beside herself to have Jen and Todd over she couldn't wait. Her teacher even mentioned to me when I picked her up from school, that Jen and Todd must be very special, she mentioned them all day. So cute!

Wednesday, we went to Apple Hill to meet up with Nana and Pops and Grammy and Gramps. The girls were excited the moment we got there. Calista and Gramps picked up right where they left off, she clearly has them all wrapped around her finger. Gramps must have chased her around the entire High Hill Ranch. We walked around the grounds, enjoyed some treats, picked out apples, and looked at the fun crafts. We had lunch and walked around a bit more before packing up and heading home. We all had a great time!

Nana and Pops and the girls

Gramps and Grammy with the girls, look at the grin on Calista's face!

This picture cracked me up of Calista hugging the pumpkins.

Today, school again for Isabelle, and Mom's group for me and Calista, today was my favorite event, Fall Favorites, We all brought in a dish to share for a contest and my dessert won!! I made mini pumpkin pie bites. My friend Rose also won in the appetizer category, so fun!

Surprise!

This week both days we were getting ready to walk out the door to take Isabelle to school, we found a surprise in our front yard. Tuesday, it was one of our tree's that had fallen over in the storm. Isabelle was very sad about the tree. I wasn't so sad, it was dying, choking itself with it's roots and it needed to be cut down anyway.

This morning as we were walking out the door to go to school, there was a box on our door step. Last week at the Harvest Carnival, we saw a booth called Farm Fresh To You. We learned that there is a local company that grows organic foods and delivers them to your door. Freddie was super excited and wanted to try it out. Today we got our first box. When we signed up, they sent you info in your email of all the things they grow year round, we got to pick the things we wanted and the things we don't want. We decided to give it a try and have a box coming once a month, you can have it come every week if you wanted. In the box came a flyer, with recipes specifically for the things in our box. This box is the small box and because we signed up at the harvest carnival it only cost us $13.00. I think it is an awesome idea, and we will use everything in the box, I just want to see how cost effective it is. In our box we got, apples, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, oranges, grapes, cucumbers, peppers and a pumpkin, one of the recipes uses that entire pumpkin to make a pumpkin pie, I can't wait to try it!

School Field Trip

Isabelle and her classmates and teachers

This morning, Isabelle's preschool class went on their first field trip. We went to the Nugget Market. (LOVE the Nugget Market!) The kids had a blast!

The people at the market were so excited that we were their first field trip that we got lots of special treatment. The kids got to see how things are done in the bakery, and sample fresh donuts. They learned how to brew coffee and sampled hot chocolate. They got to learn about produce and got fresh fruit. We stopped at the seafood counter and they got to touch squid and halibut. They got to walk through the dairy refrigerators and stock shelves. We ended the tour in the deli department and they celebrated with pizza!! Isabelle didn't stop talking about it all day, and I was so excited to have the special time with her and watch her with her teachers and classmates that I hear so much about everyday.


Eathan, Gracie, Isabelle and Garrett

These are Isabelle's buddies she talks about all the time,

I was so glad to snap a pic of her with her friends.

Issy and Gracie eating their pizza

Alice and The White Rabbit

The girls are Alice (Isabelle) and the White Rabbit (Calista) for Halloween this year. Freddie and I dressed them up this evening and took them out to capture some photos. Calista was such a trooper in that warm fluffy costume, she didn't mind it at all, it just looks overwhelming to me. Isabelle loved that we were going out to take photos and helped me remember the book, Alice In Wonderland and helped me come up with some of the poses.

Alice and her cat Dinah... (Isabelle's pose idea)

The White Rabbit

Alice

This is Isabelle pretending she is growing...too funny!

DeAnna as Alice in Wonderland - 1985

Elk Grove Harvest Festival

Today we took the girls to the Elk Grove Harvest Festival. We wandered through the many booths, played some kiddie games and picked pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, we all had a great time! Calista loved the pumpkins and the hay. She found the mini pumpkins and stayed and sorted through them for a very long time, she was jabbering away having a great time! Isabelle's favorite part were the games of course, she did very well and won lots of little prizes.

Laughing at Daddy....

Sorting though the pumpkins....

Halloween Costumes

My friend Sharee posted a blog post with her kids in their Halloween costumes through the years and I thought it would be fun to do the same. I love planning out Halloween Costumes for my kids.

This year they will be going as Alice in Wonderland (Isabelle) and The White Rabbit (Calista)

Hopefully I will have time this weekend to snap some pictures of them in this years costumes, once I do I will be sure to post them for you.

Isabelle - Flower 2005 - 3 Months old

Isabelle - Indian 2006 - 1 Year Old

Isabelle - Pumpkin 2007 - 2 Years Old

Isabelle - Pirate 2008 - 3 Years Old

Calista - Black Cat 2008 - 2 Months Old