Back-log Blog: October 2011

Here's the 3rd harvest family photo (missing 2009) Here are the previous ones to compare!

I love cutout photo for some reason. In this photo, I realized later, Claira is making the same face Ellia made in her 1st cutout photo.

Ellia and Claira loved dancing to the music at Oak Glen Farms. Even though the apple season ended really early this year, it was still a fun and beautiful day!

Ellia having a "Gone With The Wind" moment.

On this day the girls and I and Jimmy stopped off at the pumpkin patch in Long Beach that we've been going to for years and years now. I remember the first time we went it felt so exciting because it was the first time Ellia was really experiencing Halloween festivities and it was fun to see her discovering it.


Jimmy and I took Ellia and Claira to their school friend's 5th birthday party. It was lots of fun: Taco truck, Shaved Ice, Margaritas, Horse Shoes (me & jimmy heated match), Badmitten (me & jimmy lighthearted match), Pinatas...and face painting! Ellia looked really cool in the Batman design she chose.
Here's a shot of Ellia's first time getting her face painted!

And Claira chose the exact opposite of her sister: The "Spah-ka-lee" Look. This is her first time having her face painted and she absolutely loved it. She didn't even want to take it off.

Ellia's Batman makeup was almost impossible to remove! Even my eye-makeup remover didn't really make a dent. That's why, a day later in her Halloween photos she kinda looks like she's wearing eye liner. Cuz she is. And here she is practicing for future high school Drama Class:And here is my party girl. Still in her makeup, still in her sparkly fancy shoes... I hope this photo isn't a sign of what's to come in college!!

Happy Halloween 2011!!

We walked the streets with 2 of Ellia's longest running school friends. They don't go to her current school but she's gone to school with them ever since she started daycare at 18 months! Ellia was pretty excited that 'we' were going to make her costume this year. She was very helpful in standing for me to measure her. She'd be coloring with Claira and I'd say "Can you come over one more time Ellia?" and she'd toss her crayon down and tell Claira: "I'll be right back Claira, I have to work on my Halloween costume." I pretty much made it in 2 or 3 separate days. And it was very cheap. The only thing I had to buy were the Dryer Ducting, Silver Spray Paint and the $2 Goodwill GI Joe black jumpsuit to wear underneath. (which, of course, she was more excited about than the robot costume...of course) I used: Milk jug, stickers, coil from calendar, silver windshield reflector, bottle caps, 7UP liter bottle, egg carton, LED tap lights, glow sticks, calculator & nuts and bolts. You name, I saved it.
Thanks go out to Kristine (for drinking the milk), Veronica (for the coil idea), Mom & Dad (silver windshield reflector & laminated Candy-Bot signs), Jimmy (silver windshield reflector engineering into robot body shape)


Claira is now a total pro at Trick or Treating. She had a great time & of course was only walking the streets to earn lollipops of all kinds. Once she scored one she was all set. Leading up to Halloween we were comparing whether to be Minnie Mouse or Snow White. Every time someone asked what she was going to be she'd always say "Mickey Mouse."


This little impromptu invention has proven to be really cool. I wanted Ellia to have something hard to write/draw on when sitting in her car seat. But I didn't want it to be too hard and dangerous & I wanted it to hold everything in one place for her. Enter 3-ring binder filled with different sorts of papers & a zip bag in front for markers, pencils and crayons. She loves her little car seat desk. And I love that I have an efficient means of child labor for creating birthday cards while on the way to kids parties!