Hot Chocolate...The Real Deal

 Two mugs of serious hot chocolate

 Cutest Kitchen Helper Ever!

 Taste test

 She decides she likes it!

 Mmmmmmmmmm...

 I miss this coffee shop

 Ella testing her photography skills

 

 Artsy shot of the mug

When something like this happens you know I have to document it.  I have had a bar of Ghiradelli chocolate just waiting for the right combination of...Audrey taking a nap/mama being in the mood to make something/having the rest of the ingredients on hand.  Wouldn't you know the day finally arrived!  My friend, Kara gave me the book, Apples for Jam a while back and I have used several recipes from it.  They are all very homey, made from scratch recipes.  This one did not disappoint.  Ella helped me every step of the way and we enjoyed the fruits of our labors.  We also got a little artsy with the digital camera! 

Audrey, the Spunky Third Child

Audrey is in full on 2 year old mode.  She says, "I do it myself" on many occassions.  This is one of them.  We were shopping and she wanted to do it herself.  The basket is still bigger than she is so she ended up dragging it through the store.  We cut our trip short that day!  She still managed to look pretty darn cute dragging the basket so I took her picture!

Big Man Will

Here's Will all suited up and headed for school.  It was walk/bike to school day.  For our family this means that Will rides his bike while Mike runs with him.  Kudos to daddy!

Ella in All Her Splendor...

I do love this girl!  Her expressions are priceless and she turns it on when the camera is pointed her way. 

After this I promise I'm done with Halloween...

 Getting ready to party!

 Watching the Charlie Brown Halloween Special

 This is what Audrey looks like when she's giving someone the stink eye

 The gaggle of children we trick or treated with

 Our favorite person to trick or treat

 This girl was pretty happy with her bag o' candy

A Garfield Halloween

 Our makeshift movie theater

 Patrick, Power Ranger (a.k.a. Ella), and Audrey

Audrey is wearing a "hat"

 

At some point in their lives, I think many children in this country go through a "Garfield" stage.  I know there was a time when I read the comic strip books all the time.  Will is following suit.  He has checked out several books from the library and Mike has also let him watch a Garfield cartoon that he had recorded on an old VHS.  Remember those???!!!  We still have a VCR and an old 13 inch television set that we affectionately call, "Goldie".  I can't seem to get rid of this relic.  It has something to do with the fact that I saved my money to pay for it way back when.  I think it might have taken me over a year of saving money from chores to buy it, but I digress...

 

Will wanted to share his combined love for Halloween and Garfield with his friends this October so we hosted a playdate.  Mike already had a mini man cave set up in the garage with the television and VCR.  He cleared up a nice space for the kids and we had a viewing.  It got a little crazy up in here, but we had a good time.  Someone counted 17 children at one point.  Whoa!  

Kitchen Helpers

 

 

 One of the biggest perks of being a mom is that you always have someone willing to lend a hand in the kitchen.  Ella loves helping me.  Audrey is following her lead.  This was Audrey's first time adding ingredients and stirring pancake batter.  They did a great job taking turns too.  Just had to capture this moment!

 

Pumpkin Carving Party

 Dorothy and Pirate...Arghhhhh!

 Dainty Dorothy

 Dancing, Theatrical Dorothy

 We're at a party with all of our friends and look what we're doing...my kids are book hounds!

 Love Audrey's smile

 The best group shot I could get

 My sweet pirate!

Mike's dressed as an ultramarathoner...isn't he cute?

 

 

Here are a few shots from the Pumpkin Carving party.  It was a test run of the costumes and I think they turned out pretty well.  After reading Wizard of Oz and watching the movie (minus some scary parts), Ella was set on being Dorothy.  I was going to sew it, but then found the dress for 60% off.  That saved me a lot of work!  I wish it were a bigger size, but I couldn't resist the sale!  We repurposed an old tuxedo into a pirate outfit for Will and embellished with some other pirate paraphenalia that we had.  I also found some fun pirate buttons to add to the vest to make it less tuxedo-like.  Since Audrey is obsessed with "doggies" right now she wore a hat.  I finished up a pillowcase dress to complete her outfit, but that wasn't complete until the day of Halloween (in typical Tonya style).  I decided to try the peacock outfit this time and added some feathers so you could actually tell what I was!