Pre-Halloween Trick or Treating

We drove to Moberly tonight to Trick or Treat my parents and Grandma Kaser. It gave Ella a little taste of what tomorrow will be like, and she had fun! Barbie and our little ladybug were very cute.

Grandpa and Nana were glad to see their girls!

Nana insisted I sneak in a photo. It's a rare thing!

Gracie quickly shed her wig and enjoyed posing with the pumpkins Grandpa and Nana gave them.

Ella looks a little sour, but she had a good time at Nana Kaser's. Nana has good toys to play with!

Grandpa was warned that he shouldn't put Gracie's wig on, and now he knows what his punishment is. Public ridicule!

Gracie's Kindergarten Halloween Party

Gracie was so excited for her class party today. She is Barbie, but obviously didn't wear her wig. She took it to school but decided she didn't want to wear it I guess.

Gracie's teacher, Miss Gott made a really good Indian.

Gracie and her classmates all dressed up. I didn't get to be there since I had to work today, but Brent took a few pics for me so I could see what everyone looked like.

Pumpkin Carving

Gracie and Ella both picked pumpkins from the grocery store this year since it never worked out to go to a patch. (You can't imagine how badly that bothers me!) Anyway, Ella was very intrigued by the carving process. Unfortunately, she tried to move the pumpkin from her bench and cracked his face as he hit the ground, but we lit him anyway.

She kept getting as close as possible and looking in his shining eyes.

Gracie was equally excited about the pumpkin which she named Ariel.

Both girls could have watched Ariel burn for a long time. It's the little things that bring so much amusement!

Old Pics From the Summer

My cousin Jill has a nice camera and took some sweet pics of Ella at our family reunion last summer. I just realized I don't think I ever posted them. Or, maybe I did and I just wanted to remember how sweet she looked with those baby cheeks since they are all but gone now.

Our Girls Weekend at the Lake

Once a year my mom and I go to the Lake of the Ozarks for a shopping weekend. It was part of the agreement that I could marry Brent. He had to agree that our trip could continue, and so far it has. Through the years it has been modified, but the trip still occurs. First Gracie was allowed to come. Then she got big enough to not enjoy riding in a stroller all day while we shopped, so Dad was invited to come along and entertain Gracie. Now that Ella is in the picture, Dad's role of entertainment is even more vital.

We always seem to eat one meal at Steak 'N Shake.

Ella's idea of shopping was constantly hiding under the racks of clothing. She made some friends with fellow shoppers who would spy her in the racks and play peek-a-boo.

Ella made many pretend pots of coffee for Grandpa and Nana in the hotel. It kept her busy long past bedtime.

Our trip is only successful since Miner Mike's is right across from the mall. Gracie and Grandpa are professionals at the games at Miner Mike's and always get a big stash of tickets. Ella will learn from the best!

Messy Night

Parents As Teachers had a group meeting tonight so we headed out for Messy Night. It was a fun experience for the kids to touch messy things, taste messy things and just get really messy. They had bowls of things with different textures, tastes and smells that the kids could experiment with. Ella was playing with Kool-Aid play-doh in this picture. It wasn't edible, but I think she tried it anyway.

Gracie enjoyed painting with pudding, molding an oatmeal mixture into different shapes and eating the edible snacks. I got some good ideas from this meeting and hope to try them at home sometime.

Pumpkin Patch???

The kids from Little Lambs at church went to LaPlata to what we thought was a pumpkin patch. Well, it turns out, there is no patch. They had a few activities for the kids, but it was a muddy mess, cold and no pumpkin patch kind of turned it into a bad experience. Brent took the girls because I was needed at church, and he thought it was still fun.

Gracie rolling down the haystack!

Kalyn and Gracie got to play together for a while at the "patch."

Silly Ella

I was getting Ella dressed and ready this morning and she looked so cute that I thought I'd try to get some pics. This silly girl decided to pull out some goofy faces and refused to pose. I finally set her up on the bathroom counter and decided to just get a picture of her cute new flower hair clips that our friend Alisha made. They matched the flower on her sweater perfectly, but of course, Ella wouldn't cooperate for that either. I'm so jealous of people who have children that pose perfectly for a simple little picture!

Even though she can be 100% ornery, I wouldn't trade Ella for anything.

Going Bonkers!!!

Brent had to supervise a cross country meet today in Quincy. We all went and I took the girls to Bonkers. Ella had a good time going down the small slide. It really goes fast!!!

Gracie didn't spend much time in the little kid's play area, but she liked the slide too.

Poor Ella was teething really bad this weekend, and she couldn't enjoy herself for long due to the pain. She would try to play and then would realize she was hurting and would cry for a while. It's a wonder she didn't get sick from putting her hands in her mouth after playing in that germ-infested play area.

Again...more teething!

I wonder how many calories kids burn while playing at Bonkers. When it was time to go, Gracie was rosy cheeked and too hot to put her coat on, so it must be a good workout!

Our friends Vian, Alisha, Gabe, Gavin and Gracie came to Bonkers also. Alisha has 3 adorable children and I got zero pictures of them. I think I was too preoccupied with Ella and her teething problems. Thanks for coming over guys. It was really great to see you and let the kids play together!

Homecoming Parade

Today was Macon's Homecoming Parade. It was pretty chilly while we were waiting for the parade to start, but you'll notice Ella wouldn't wear her hat or gloves. She even pulled her hood off. She's a strong-willed little girl, and it kills me at times.

Gracie's friend Lauren was on this float. I almost missed it going by us, but Gracie spotted her on the back with her mom, Niki.

One of my coworkers families put this float together in support of our troops. It has a plane they somehow connected that appears to be floating above their float. It was pretty neat and the kids liked it.

Emma, our neighbor and Gracie's friend, was in the parade passing out candy for the Catholic school she attends.

Jake and Gracie were comparing who had the most candy. They were good sharers and tried to even things out a little.

Jake and Gracie used to go to Tri-County together last year, but since he goes to Macon for kindergarten and Gracie goes to Atlanta, they don't see each other anymore. It was fun that he stood with Gracie for the parade.