Happy Halloween!

Andra's obsession with her monkey buddy continues... she was Curious George for Halloween! And Dave was George's best friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They make quite a cute couple, don't you think? And Dave's pretty foxey in all that yellow. :)

Andra had so much fun trick-or-treating this year! She really seemed to "get" it. Or at least the idea that you knock on people's door and get rewarded with a treat! Funny thing is...when everybody opened their door, Andra kept walking into their house! We'll have to work on that. :)

It was a pure delight watching her little eyes light up throughout the night as she discovered the fun of Halloween. You could tell she took a lot of pride in being Curious George, and she didn't want to take her costume off at the end of the night. She loved Dave's costume too...and several times over the course of the night, just looked at him and giggled. I can't say that I blame her.

Pumpkin art

I decided to get a little creative (and messy!) with our pumpkins today...so Andra created a couple masterpieces outside in the beautiful fall weather!

Seriously...Pudge has to stick his nose into everything--literally. It took him all of 4 seconds to stick his nose in the blue paint.

Andra pasted the huge blue fuzz ball on the pumpkin. I couldn't help but add the eyes!

What's more beautiful than an artist's hair blowing in the wind? It's probably just because she's my artist. :)

Cookie Monster "Junior"

Most of you know that one of Dave's favorite nicknames for me is "Cookie Monster," and I'm ashamed to say it's a nickname well earned. You see, I have no self control when it comes to homemade chocolate chip cookies. I'm not proud of it. :) I just can't help myself. I've tweaked my recipe over the years (started with Mom, tweaked during high school slumber parties with my girlfriends Crystal and Shannon, and experted by myself just recently!), and I'm pretty certain MY chocolate chip cookies are the best. Ha!

Even though Andra is Dave's spawn in looks and personality, I think she inherited something from me: my cookie monster gene. She seems to lose a little self control around them too! The other night, she randomly said she wanted a cookie, but I told her we didn't have any (we never keep cookies in the house...that self control problem again). To which she replied, "Stir it up." She was telling me she wanted to BAKE cookies! So bake we did!

I always dreamed of baking in the kitchen with my daughter (my mom taught me how to bake!), and this was really the first time we "baked" together, so it felt really special. I measured most of the ingredients, and she dumped them in the bowl...and loved every minute of it. I think there was an equal amount of flour on the counter as in the bowl, but we sure had fun together.

Helping mommy "stir it up."

Enjoying the greatest pleasure of cookie baking...licking the beaters! Being the selfless mom that I am, I let my two "kids" do the honors. (Um, yes, Pudge comes running when he hears the electric beater. He was licking the beaters long before Andra was born, so I think he has a sense of entitlement!)

I told Dave I thought this was my best batch ever, and I really think they were! It must've been that secret ingredient: having my little girl's help!

Five Years and Counting...

We celebrated our fifth anniversary over the weekend! We decided to go on our first "just the two of us" getaway since Andra's been born. It was only two nights...but the longest both of us have been away from our little gal. I was a little sad to leave her for that long, but it was SO nice to spend some time alone too!

We headed north to Chicago, stayed in a nice hotel, and had some REALLY nice meals. It was truly divine to enjoy a peaceful meal together (that I didn't have to cook!) where we could actually TALK, take our time, and really just focus on each other!

Our first night, we ate at a restaurant called Wildfire, and it was wonderful. We both enjoyed our drinks (maybe a touch too much, but we weren't driving!). Ok...it looks like I'm drinking four martinis, but those are actually mini ones...it was a martini flight...probably the equivalent of two full martinis. :) Dave thought I looked funny with all those drinks in front of me. Well, he looked pretty funny after drinking his beer too! We hardly drink, so we're equally cheap dates.

Dave surprised me on our anniversary night and took me to the top of the Hancock building to watch a fireworks show on Navy Pier. What a guy, right?

Getting to the top of the Hancock building (94th floor!) in the fastest elevator in North America!

Our first day in Chicago was a little rainy and gray, but the second day was gorgeous! Cool, but sunny and beautiful. After sleeping late, we had a delicious brunch and spent the entire day walking it off at Navy Pier and Millennium Park.

We capped off the weekend at our new favorite restaurant: Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. We discovered it on our trip to Orlando last summer when Dave ran the marathon. After falling in love with it in Orlando, we looked for the closest one to home...and it was in Chicago. We immediately decided that's where we'd eat for our anniversary! It was a little sentimental too...the Hawaiian cuisine brings back memories of our Hawaiian honeymoon!

This is where I should write something beautifully poetic about what an incredible husband Dave is, but the truth is, words can't describe him or how blessed I am to have him. I know God made us for each other, literally, and destined us to meet and fall in love. And for that, I'm eternally grateful. I'll always treasure the day I got to say "I do" and make him mine forever.

For Posterity's Sake

Because someday she'll be able to REALLY blow bubbles. But I'll still remember how cute it was when she couldn't. :)

All Aboard the Pumpkin Train!

I know I've mentioned--a lot!--that Andra loves trains. So we love taking her to the transportation museum where she gets to ride a REAL train...but even better, it's a Pumpkin Train! A short train ride takes you to a pumpkin patch with a few other little activities. I'd say Andra enjoyed herself! Her eyes always light up when she sees the "Big Choo."

It was such a beautiful fall morning, I was so glad we'd planned on doing this today.

Chasing down Dad in the maze of hay bales. (Is that what they're called? Hay bales? I don't know. I'm not exactly a country girl. Help me out, Crystal.)

Decorating our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch...

This is Andra talking to the conductor, which was hilarious. She knows that the conductor says "Alllll Aboard!" So here she is telling him "All Bored!" She was fascinated by the conductor today and couldn't take her eyes off of him...I think because he was in full 'uniform,' hat and all. She was a little in awe of him and was so excited when he stopped to chat with us.

It was such a fun day and the perfect way to spend some quality "autumn" time as a family. Really, it doesn't get much better than that for me.