All Things Elise & Alina: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween 2011!!

The two cutest Halloween pumpkins ever!

The littlest pumpkin

Mini Halloween photoshoot - Elise had fun posing

The sweet expressions of our little 2 1/2-month-old doll Alina

We love this sweet and smiley girl

Another baby pumpkin costume photo - because she's just irresistably cute!

October is my absolute favorite time of year. The weather begins to cool; the leaves start to change colors and dust the ground; pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns are everywhere; dressing-up becomes a family affair; the pumpkin patch beckons; haunted houses and costume parties galore; horror movies fill the tube; the kids get excited about dressing up for sweets and treats; and, perhaps best of all, the calm before the crazy storm of insanity known as Christmas shopping. This year, we immersed ourselves in plenty of fun Halloween celebrations. Over the next couple weeks, I plan to post up photos of the girls adorable costumes and recaps from our Halloween weekend extravaganza. Stay tuned for photos from Night of 1000 Pumpkins; Elise's first pre-school Halloween party; and good old fashioned trick-or-treating fun. For now, I will leave you with some cute pre-Halloween photos of the girls and some of our spooky decor; all in celebration of All Hallows' Eve!

Spooky Halloween decorations

More fun and frightening Halloween decor

This year's corner Halloween display - Elise helped arrange it!

Halloween candle and spooky lunatic Living Dead Doll Sybil

Halloween house and melting hand candle - all Elise approved

Elise found her evil pig-tailed twin Living Dead Doll! It's her favorite

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Field Trip to The Pumpkin Farm - Citrus Heights

Fall family photo - love it!!

The Pumpkin Farm - Citrus Heights

Gourds, maize, pumpkins and vibrant sunflowers

Elise enjoying the views from the hayride

Beautiful Celosia - red velvet flowers

The Pumpkin Farm scarecrows!

Colorful maize and little pumpkins

A few of the friendly animals; Elise loved the goats

The Pumpkin Farm corn maze

Daddy and the littlest pumpkin!

Perfect day at the pumpkin patch

Sunflowers, pumpkins and adorable kiddos

Pumpkin patch cuties

The Pumpkin Farm Express Train

"Seriously mom!?! I'm DONE...feed me already!"

Elise had a great time on her first field trip!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Happy October Birthday to Mama!

Dad and the birthday mama before our evening out

The amazing and delicious Halloween birthday cake

Novelty zombie cake - awesomely creepy

Daddy surprised mama with TWO birthday celebrations this year! A fun surprise dinner with friends on Friday evening, and a nice family outing and dinner on Sunday. This year, mama was spoiled with two great birthday cakes; both inspired by my love of all things Halloween. One being a novelty cake with my likeness transformed into an undead zombie and appropriately titled, "The Death of Youth" ahaha (I'm not quite sure how I will top this for dad's birthday next year, but mark my words, I'm already devising clever plans). The other was an incredibly cool and delicious Halloween birthday cake complete with pumpkins, bats, candy corn, a spooky old tree and October moon. The cake was pumpkin flavored with a divine cinammon spice frosting filling. It was excellent! In fact, I'm considering breaking into the cake shop and stealing the recipe because it really was THAT GOOD.

For our family outing, daddy took us to Old Sacramento to surprise me with, of all things, an old style family photograph! The thought to do this had never crossed my mind, but I will admit that the photo turned out to be fun. I'm grateful that dad has a good sense of humor and got us all into the spirit of Halloween early by getting dressed up. Elise loved playing dress up and was all smiles, meanwhile newborn Alina lived up to her nickname of "dollbaby", as she sat still and looked cute for all the photos (she always does!). Elise had more fun later in the evening when all our family got together for dinner, and she got to see her little cousins. They chased each other around the house squealing with delight. This year really was the perfect birthday celebration. The company of friends and family is all the fullfillment I need; the surprises along the way were an added bonus. Thanks daddy for all your hardwork, planning and love; you made this birthday unforgettably fun!