This picture should've gone with the hot chocolate post...

I thought I uploaded it. Apparently not.

Fondue Girls' Night

Once a month we have girls/guys night. This was the girls turn to watch Em & El, so we hosted Kim, Sarra & Charlene for a fondue potluck. It was so, so tasty.

Emily loved to dip--you can see cheese-coated brats on her plate. And don't worry, that band-aid on her head is on a small bonk, but it's more for Em than a real injury.

We did a white chocolate fondue for dessert with fruit, pretzels, and angel food cake.

Hot chocolate with marshmallows

In a mug the size of her head.

I remember when it was the other kid...

...who emptied her shoes late at night and crawled into the tote.

Cool (long-lost) Pumpkin Shots

Ellen

Not Emily.
Sneaky Monkey-Arms Ellen.

Box Castle

Eating is EXHAUSTING

So tired...

Or so brilliant?

Birthday cake

Sometimes I have random spurts of "creativity." And I get pictures in my head of how things will go, but they don't always end up that way. This was going to be a cool cupcake tower with a cool color-change scheme. It started leaning too much and had to become a colorful "cupcake log."

Then I made some rainbow jumbo cupcakes--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Then turned out pretty cool.

Whoops

I accidentally set this bag of chocolate chips on a still-hot burner.
I realized it after about ONE second, but it was still too late.

35 Things I Admire About Jon

In celebration of Jon's 35th birthday yesterday, I've compiled this list.
(Kim--go ahead an quit reading this so that you won't throw up on your keyboard. Leah--thanks for letting me rip off your idea.)

1. He's smart.
2. He's hysterical, and keeps me laughing (in good & bad times).
3. He likes to watch college football.
4. He's an awesome dad.
5. He is an excellent stay-at-home dad/tutor/maid/chef.
6. He has crater-like dimples.
7. He's an outstanding photographer.
8. He is a tech nerd (so I don't have to be).
9. He stresses out about things on my behalf.
10. He lets Emily paint his toes (not often, but still).
11. He breaks me out of my organized, planned little box.
12. He likes to go to the movies and eat popcorn with me.
13. He's patient. And I require patience.
14. He researches before he makes decisions.
15. He is wise, and he seeks the advice of wise counsel (and listens to it).
16. He likes cheese.
17. He likes bacon.
18. He will watch Jim Gaffigan and Gabriel Iglesias videos.
19. He's a good hugger.
20. He wears flip flops unless it's below 32 degrees.
21. He finds the best in others.
22. He finds the humor in most situations.
23. He likes to play.
24. He loves God. A lot.
25. He's humble.
26. He can build and fix a lot of things.
27. He's super creative.
28. He knows what is going on. Politics, world/national issues, current events, etc.
29. He doesn't stick to the recipe.
30. He is not afraid to disagree with the popular opinion.
31. He's a hottie. (Kim, if you kept reading this far, you deserved to puke).
32. He can recite most episodes of Dora, Blue's Clues, and many Disney movies.
33. He is safe. And keeps us safe.
34. He builds forts/castles out of old boxes.
35. He is the best teammate ever.

Birthday TV

Several of our friends & family members chipped in to get us a ginormous TV for our combined birthdays.
It's awesome.
It's huge.
It's amazing.
And the kids can't touch the screen when we push it back.
Granted, someone forgot to tell Ellen not to climb on the stand.

Sleeper

Ellen has been doing a pretty good job sleeping in her big girl bed. She has gone down for a nap on her own several times. Sometimes we discover her IN bed, other times next to it, and sometimes in between.

Halloween pics stolen from Sarah...

(Sidenote: We later discovered that Ellen had somehow opened that chocolate wrapper, and devoured ALL OF IT--I managed to rescue most of the wrapper from her mouth, much to her disappointment.)

I love this picture of the sprint:

Trick-or-Treating

We drove to a nearby neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Emily has decided that this is the coolest thing EVER. I was glad for "Big Ellen" and Isaiah who could kind of show Emily the ropes. She sprinted from house to house with them, and came back with quite a bit of (good) candy.

Halloween, part 2

The Budds came over and we made mini pizzas. Very fun.

Halloween, part 1

After carving a little, she actually said, "Oh, it got on my fingers!" And quit.

Just checked on this...

America's Funniest Home Videos

Along with recognizing the show when it comes on and being able to name the host, Tom Bergeron, she also used the word "hypothesis" in a sentence (correctly) this week.

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we headed to the local pumpkin patch, and I completely spaced posting any pictures!

Ellen's favorite part was riding in the wagon--she NEVER got out.

Yes. She IS throwing a pear at you.

(What in the world are THESE...?)

Please notice that she wore her boots to the "farm".