An extra hour of sleep...maybe not.

I was pretty excited about the extra hour of sleep that we were going to get last night....until Katelyn woke up at 5:30. After some coaxing she laid back down and was relatively quiet until 7, but then she was definitely ready to get up. So we were ready EARLY for church today (that's a first). We went outside for a few minutes before we left and of course I had to snap a few pictures. I know this is my girl. I make the same crinkled up brow when I'm concentrating on something. :)

All ready to go to church and play with her friends!

She heard an airplane and was pretty interested in that...

"Mom, are you almost done?"

I went to Half Price Books and got a book for $1 and then went over to Starbucks and read my book with a pumpkin spice latte. Ahhhh...I'm all ready for the week now.

And for those of you who were mad at me for not posting often enough...have I caught up yet?

Trick or Treat

Just when you thought she couldn't get any cuter...here comes Snow White. She was so adorable tonight. She was so excited to go trick or treating...

What a pretty princess!

She had the gig down pat. Ring door bell. People answer door. "Trick or treaty. Get some candy. Thank you. Happy Hawwoween!" She said it every time and you can tell by the look on this lady's face that people ate it up! She got a handful of candy at each house and her pumpkin was full to overflowing by the time we got around the big block.

I love this girl. I really, really, really do.

I was so proud of her tonight. She was so big and interacted so well with people. She used her best manners and flashed the biggest smiles.

Halloween is super fun with a little one!!!

Happy Halloween!

Today was a FUN day. We got up kind of late...watched cartoons (I drank coffee and read the paper.) I carved the pumpkin and then Katelyn painted it.

She's very focused when she paints.

Here's our finished pumpkin!!! I think it's perfect.

This is a girl after my own heart. She's surrounded by books. She pulled out every last one of them and then sat there so nice while reading to herself.

Katelyn in mommy's shoes. Yes, she's two going on sixteen. I know.....sigh.

Happy Halloween!

So many leaves....

We got to the church today and Katelyn was instantly excited about all the leaves that had fallen from the tree outside the door. Of course she had to go run and play in them. Fortunately, I had my camera with me to take some pictures of the after school program kids. All of the colors were perfect and it was a warm sunny day!!

Yippie!!!

She was doing leaf angels....

Here's a picture from this morning....

All day long she's been saying, "Go trick or treat. Knock on door. Get some candy. Thank you." (We've been practicing for tomorrow.) :)

A perfect fall day

It was sunny and in the 60's today. A beautiful fall day for sure. After church today I mowed the lawn while Katelyn took a nap. I was happy for an excuse to be outside. It will most likely be the last time I'll mow for the season. The colors this fall are just beautiful. Lots of bright oranges and reds. The bushes in the front of the house are more beautiful than ever. It will be sad to see the leaves actually fall.

Katelyn and I took a walk and collected some leaves before dinner tonight. Then our neighbor came over and brought dinner and we all ate together. Loveliness!!

Sweet picture of Kateybug on the front porch. Katelyn's been fabulous this week. She's gotten over the separation anxiety issues and we're back to normal. She's been super happy and lots of fun. Delightful is a good word to describe her this week. I just soaked it all up!!

She's sitting...a rare moment indeed.

She really likes to ring the door bell and say, "Ding dong. Ding dong."

We didn't do anything extraordinary today...just an average day...but it was nice...very nice.

Play date!

My friend had a class to take yesterday and her husband had to work so Katelyn and I got to play with their daughter N. N is 10 months older than Katelyn and they had a great time together. We painted, did sticker art, read books, danced, made english muffin pizzas and created many plastic meals from Katelyn's little kitchen. :)

Of course the little pizzas were a hit. Katelyn tried to eat the toppings as she was making hers and then she was really upset when I took it away to put it in the oven. My kid's not real patient when it comes to food...But she was happy when it came out of the oven!

N. was pretty happy herself. :0

Katelyn...that is so gross. (But really funny.) - Don't tell her I was laughing.

Plastic food is delicious...and fat free...calorie free. Eat all you want.

It was amazing to see how much will happen in the next 10 months. N. is three years old and I just can't believe that Katelyn is not far behind. We had a fun girl day!!

Great slow cooker recipe

I am trying to use up some of the food I have in the freezer and pantry. I'm a stockpiler and my cabinets and freezer are out of control. I was trying to clean and do laundry this afternoon so I looked up a slow cooker recipe for pork chops. This recipe for pork chops and rice in the slow cooker is excellent. It was really good and I'll definitely make it again.

Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Pork-Chops-and-Rice/Detail.aspx

The only changes I made were to use a whole cup of brown rice (make sure it's regular rice not minute rice). I made my own beef broth with about 12 oz of water and a couple of beef boullion cubes on the stove.

About 15-20 minutes of prep...throw it in the crock pot on high for 4 hours. Perfect. Would be great on a chilly Sunday after church!!

I love using the crock pot! Some days it's the only way we eat a nice, healthy home cooked meal instead of running through a drive thru.