Getting ready...

E's school carnival is Saturday evening,

and our house smells like a candy store!

Must.not.eat.all.of.the.caramel.corn.before.Saturday!

(These are headed to the Divine Design store at the carnival.

I am going to hide them from myself so I don't eat them all! YUM!)

Costume day at school...

As part of Halloween week, E's class and the 3 year old preschoolers at her school got to wear costumes to school today. (Well, they didn't wear them all day...they didn't wear them to chapel or for recess, but they had them on for most of the morning). E opted to wear a hula girl getup this year - something we've had in our "costume stash"....she actually wore it last year, too. I decided not to dress her in something with wings, to save her teacher that hassle....but most of what we have HAS wings - fairy, bumblebee, ladybug, etc etc....but thankfully, this was also in the stash!)

This year, E's morning was filled with a princess, two cheerleaders, "Fastman", a soccer super star and more! E still doesn't quite understand why they didn't wear costumes to church chapel (Mommy, don't you think God will like my hula girl outfit?" I told her, yes, I am sure He would, but we were trying to be respectful AND to not be a distraction to the entire rest of the school, since the pre-K class sits in the front row!)

I am proud of E's pretty hairdo. The lei from last year's outfit was always pretty short, so we replaced it with a new, longer, matching lei (thank you, dollar store!) and used the too-short lei to adorn her bun in her hair - pretty!

My daughter's heart....

E had a big disappointment after school yesterday. Nothing earth-shaking, but there was a misunderstanding about whether or not a friend was going to come over to play after school (little friend's mommy's doctor's appointment didn't run long after all, so little friend didn't need me to pick her up after school...her mommy got her as per usual...) but E was crushed that something didn't work out that she was hoping for. Being tired from her school day, a little down with a runny nose, and being sad and disappointed, E cried all the way home.

I tried to explain the big word disappointment to E. It's sometimes hard to understand when you are 35, let alone four. While E was sobbing, she told me, "Mommy, but my heart is so sad! It hurts so much!"

I finally dried E's tears, got her some lunch, entertained her with silly stories and got her ready to go to afternoon preschool story time at our local library. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, my sweet girl looked at me and said, "Mommy, my heart does not hurt any more; it is happy again, it feels so much better!" I asked her what made the difference. And my sweet girl said, "Because you love me so much....you love me no matter what, and that made everything better!"

I know I will never be able to fix all of my sweet girl's hurts - especially not with a peanut butter sandwich, a hug and a promise of a trip to the library....But I do know that I love her so much that it hurts me when she's hurting. I am thankful she shared a glimpse of her heart with me yesterday. It was a special mommy moment.

Second annual Pops and Pumpkins...

Yes, more pumpkins! (Can you ever have too many?)

Last night, Hubby and E enjoyed E's school's second annual

Pops and Pumpkins decorating event. So much fun!

(See last year's photos here.)

10th anniversary weekend getaway

We knew we wanted to do something special to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our budget is tight, and our plan was simple - getaway for a night somewhere close by that feels like it's far away! (To accomplish this little getaway, E spent the night with my parents for the first time...incidentally, she did great, slept the whole night and asked Gramma if she could stay at her house all week. I don't think she had a problem sleeping away from home!!!)

Hubby and I booked a night in this wonderful bed and breakfast. We used to do B&B weekends all the time, pre-E....staying in charming little towns, touring the old downtown areas and exploring all the local haunts. This little getaway brought back memories of all of those little trips.

I loved having quiet meals with my sweet hubby... where I did not have to pour milk, cut food or reprimand. And it was just such a nice, quiet, simple getaway. The package we booked included a wine tasting tour...something we adore. We had such a great time and met a neat young couple from Louisiana celebrating their first wedding anniversary. We were at such different places in our lives, but had such fun with them.

Can you get over the gorgeousness of this house and the grounds? I would love to have something this lovely someday! I adore old houses with all of their character. The porch and porch swing at this home made me swoon - so lovely! And the gardens were nothing short of amazing. Tons of little nooks and crannies with benches, seats, water features, statues and more!

And the wine tasting! Divine! We really liked this tasting room, enjoyed a wonderful dinner at this place, and were amazed at the beauty of this spot.

Even thought we're back to reality, school schedules, work stresses and home chores, I will always treasure the memory of this sweet little perfect getaway with hubby. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate 10 years of marriage with my man!

It's beginning to look a lot like Autumn...

a special E-decorated pumpkin

E's ever expanding collection of ourdoor nature items

New growth from some "seeds" E planted

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere!

...Did I mention everywhere?

10th Annivesary dinner recap...

...homemade lasange

...a good bottle of wine

...molten chocolate cake

...a dozen red roses

...life is good!

(More celebrating coming up next weekend! Woo hoo!)

Yes, we went to the pumpkin patch, again...

...with dear friends from church.

A wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

More pumpkin fun with a friend...

...a few more photos of E's fun with Emma.

Happy 10th Anniversary...

...to my sweet husband!

(Ten years....TEN?! Where does the time go?

Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful husband and the blessing of marriage!)

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

This morning, E's class took a field trip to a local farm, which features a special pumpkin patch every fall. I remember going to this same farm for a field trip when I was E's age - such fun! It was a beautiful morning and the kids had a total blast! Hooray for fall!