Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Caldwell family!

I'll admit I'm not much of a Halloween fan so I've been dragging my feet getting costumes together for the girls, but after choosing a direction I wanted to go it came together to make one, darn cute Tinker Bell and little minion.

Livy's costume took no effort at all, which is exactly what I wanted. I just used this minion hat that I made Mia when she was a baby and put her in some overalls. Done! For Mia I had gotten this Tinker Bell outfit at Goodwill while I was in Oregon. Add some wings, tights and shoes with pom poms and it turned into the cutest thing. Not to mention Mia LOVED it!

For the shoes I just cut the pom poms off the top of some Santa Clause hats we had lying around and sewed them to some shoes she already had. It totally completed the outfit! It also worked out that Mia's hair is finally long enough to put up in a little bun.

Tonight we had a fun time taking Mia trick-or-treating. We went with a friend around the neighborhood. It was so stinking cute watching Mia and her little friend, Emma hold hands and walk up to the doors to get candy. 

Eric and I are now enjoying our night eating her "goods" now that she is in bed :)

Lastly, all Halloween things aside...Happy Nevada Day! Growing up in Nevada we always got the day of Halloween off to celebrate the day Nevada becoming a state. Most people see Nevada as a dry, ugly desert and pretty much recognize Las Vegas as it's only city, but when I think of Nevada I think of home, small towns, many adventures in the surrounding mountains/hills and family.

So to celebrate here's Nevada's state song sung by the Killers :)

Playing, Giggles and Crafts

That pretty much sums up our last couple of weeks with the girls. But here are a few updates on these cuties anyway :)

Mia is always up to something and keeps me laughing now that she is talking more. She is constantly coming up to me pretending to be someone whether it's Tinker Bell, Cinderella, a rhino, King or whoever comes to her mind. She LOVES to sing. We are always singing and dancing, especially in the car. Mia also still loves books. We go to the library every week for story time and we always come home with at least 8 books to read. Speaking of books from the library, I have been trying to get books about Halloween to prepare Mia on what is it all about. We have further prepared in going to Cornbelly's a couple times as well as doing some Halloween crafts. Today we made these cute ghosts. I just cut a ghost shape out of card stock and Mia glued on cotton balls and the eyes and mouth. Its was a fun little craft perfect for toddlers.

Mia also painted some little pumpkins that we got. She has been carrying them all over the house with her. 

Mia's favorite thing at Cornbellys was this slide and after going down a couple times on our laps she wanted to try it on her own. She's our little thrill seeker.

Livy is my little sweet pea. As was with Mia, one of my favorite things is getting Livy in the mornings when she wakes up. She is so happy to see Mia and I. Livy is also SO close to sitting up. She sat all by herself today for 5 minutes without toppling over. She also finished her first jar of baby food this week...green beans and she loved it! I can't believe she is almost 6 months old. That first year really flies by so very fast! She'll be one before I know it!

Livy has so much fun in her bouncer. She will spend a good hour or so just bouncing.

And as usual, I am still loving watching these two together. Mia is always making Livy laugh and Livy is always watching Mia play with wide eyes. You can tell she is very eager to jump in there and start playing princesses too.

Life is sweet :)

Trippin' to Oregon

So Oregon...I loved it! This trip won't have been possible without a free flight and babysitter all provided by my much loved husband. Everyone asked is Eric was nervous, but this wasn't his first time with the girls alone plus I knew they were in great hands!

My mom and I left for Oregon on a Wednesday afternoon and got to stay until Sunday. We joked that after spending the 3 days exploring we needed another day or two to hang out at the house and do some projects. As always we had way more planned that we were able to accomplish, but regardless I think we made the most of our trip! My favorite things included

1. Getting to see my sister and her cute family!

2. Taking the MAX into Portland and doing what girls do best...shop! My favorite place was our 3 hours spent at Powell's Bookstore, which is the largest new and used bookstore in the world. We would have spent longer in there expect we were buying too many books and didn't want to carry them all around Portland with us. We also had lunch at a huge block full of food carts. There were so many things to choose from and it all looked so good!

We also stopped at Voodoo Doughnuts that has been features on a couple food network TV shows. Mmmmm :)

3. Our sunny day at the coast. We were expecting a chilly day, but it couldn't have turned out more perfect. While at the coast we stopped at a lighthouse and had lunch at a restaurant looking out on the beach.

4. Tillmock Cheese Factory. If you want amazing ice cream in 30+ flavors in a delicious waffle cone then this is the place to go! SO so good! They also have a Tillmock smoke house up the street where you can buy really good jerky too. (This is where I got Eric's "thank you" gift for watching the girls and letting me have a little break.)

Sorry no pictures of this. We were too busy eating ice cream :)

5. Lastly, being able to go on this trip with my Mom. Usually she's the one watching our kids so Eric and I can go on trips so this will be something I got to share with her that I will always treasure!



Even coming back home and getting sick and Livy not sleeping well I didn't mind at all! It's amazing what a little break can do with helping you be a more patient and better mom! I can't wait to go back for Thanksgiving with Eric and the girls!

Friday's Favorite Finds #3

It's been awhile since I've done my favorite finds so I have a few good one's saved up! Check them out!...

1. Arizona Super Skinny Jeans from JcPenny's. I've never though skinny jeans were an option for me before. They never felt comfortable and I always had to go at least a size or 2 up to just get into them. My sister tipped me off about these. Not only are these the first skinny's I've tried on that are so comfortable, but I actually went down a size to have them fit better! They are also not super low rise which I love especially after having 2 kids. And lastly my most favorite parts are they come in multiple colors (I've bought 3 pairs already) and are only $19.99!

2. Our Best Bites: Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. Need I say more, expect that they are simple and am-a-zing!

3. Come to me by Goo Goo Dolls. There is something about this song that I love and might have had it on repeat for the whole time I was typing this post.

4. Girl only Vacations! So this is one of those "not really a new discovery" finds but after a trip with my mom to Oregon to hang out with my sister last week it helped me remember how much I love them! Needless to say the trip couldn't have been more perfect and it was nice to have a little break to come home and remember why I love being a mom.

Just waiting for the rest of the pictures from our trip from my sister and then I'll update everyone about Oregon :)

Have a great weekend!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I grew up having these cookies just about every fall so to me it's never officially fall until these delicious cookies are made and eaten. So after a long night and being a little under the weather the last couple of days it sounded like the perfect opportunity.

 I've decided to share this yummy recipe not only because I love it so much, but I'm starting to try and take pictures of some of my favorite recipes I make so one day I can make a cookbook with the pictures. After seeing that you can make cookbooks on Blurb it's something I've been wanting to do sometime; as ambitious as that sounds. We'll see how long it takes to do :)

So the recipe...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups shortening or butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

Blend butter and sugar. Add eggs and pumpkin. In a separate bowl shift together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon, then add to pumpkin mixture. Add chocolate chips and nuts and mix all together. Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-11 minutes.

While the cookies are cooking mix up the frosting and frost cookies when cooled.

Frosting

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 TBSP butter
1/4 cup milk
2-4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Heat sugar, butter and milk. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla until it's the consistency of frosting.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned for a post about my fun trip to Oregon last week to visit my sister!