Happy Thanksgiving!

David and I were just saying how truly blessed our life is and how thankful we are for our beautiful daughter and our wonderful family and friends. We had a busy, but fantastic day and ate so much! We are so thankful that we are able to be with most of our family at the holidays (we miss the ones we don't see, though!) and that Ally will grow up with such love and support around her. Thanks to everyone who filled our bellies today. A Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!
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(Will post a few pics later...)

Trick-or-Treat

We had our first (now to be annual) Trick-or-Treat party last night and it was so much fun. We had quite the crew of Ally, Dylan, Ryan, Alyssa and Jillian all out on the streets collecting candy! All the kids were wonderful (no complaining, fussing, fighting, etc.) and even the littles made it to at least 20 houses. We weren't even planning on taking them, except to a few neighbors, but they were in to it and ready to go so we forged on.
Ally would not let go of her candy bucket, to the point that I thought we might have to let her take it to bed with her (and then steal it away after she fell asleep). She had a great time and ate too much candy!
David got his fill of scaring all the kids in the neighborhood (he is really quite good and funny when he does it) and we had lots of laughs and ate yummy pizza and snacks.
What a fun night!
Trick-or-Treat!!

Are You Going to Take a Picture of That?

Our conversation tonight:

Me: Ok, Ally has her Halloween party tomorrow at daycare. Her costume is all ready to take and is hanging on the door.

Him (as he looks towards the door): Are you going to take a picture of THAT?? I guess I need to get used to this kind of stuff (he loves the pink that has invaded our home in the past year and a half).

Me: You know I am and yes, you do...


Happy Halloween!

As Seasons Change, So Does Our Book Basket!

I have decided to "steal" an idea from my Aunt Carey (thanks, Carey!) and start a seasonal/holiday book basket for Ally (and future little Truitts, wherever they may be).

Ally LOVES books, can't get enough of them and we have a giant pile of them that we keep in a large basket on the floor, so she can get to them (pretty much all board books at this stage in life, though). We read everyday day, multiple times a day. She really does love books.

Over the years (long before I had Allyson), I gathered a very nice collection of books, some signed by the authors (thanks, Mom!), some hardbacks, some older books from relatives...my children will always have plenty of books, which I am thrilled about. Ally also received many very nice books at one of my baby showers.

We don't let Ally "play" with some of the nice books yet, because they have more delicate pages and I don't want them to get all ripped up, but we do read them to her and she loves them.

My aunt keeps a basket on the bakers rack in her kitchen and in it she displays books for her kids to read about the current season or holiday. I love this idea, because not only will Ally get to learn something about the different times of the year, but this is a good way to display a lot of the really nice books we have that we usually keep tucked away on a shelf away from toddler fingers. I put the basket on the table next to our couch, so the books are handy when we want to read one to Allyson, but still out of her constant reach, so they stay nice and neat. As she gets older, the idea will be for Ally to be able to read the books in the basket as she pleases and put them back when she is done. I will change the books out as the seasons/holidays change. It also makes a nice decoration (especially once I get some festive ribbon to add to the handle of the basket).

Here is our Autumn/Halloween selection currently being displayed and a picture of Ally checking out the books:

Welcome Fall!

Making Applesauce

Ally was up bright and early this morning (like 6am bright and early...UGH!), so I decided to make applesauce with the apples we picked yesterday and have Ally "help" me. She did a GREAT job...such a good helper and she REALLY enjoyed eating the finished product. I love that she is getting old enough to start doing little crafty projects with me. So fun! :-)

First, I peeled and sliced the apples and put them in the crock pot (I used a variety of apples).

Next, I put the ingredients (sugar, cinnamon and water) in little bowls that were easy for Allyson to pick up.
Then I put Ally up on a chair at the table and let her pour each ingredient on top of the apples. She did a great job and only needed help with the sugar (She was close to the edge of the dish and started pouring backwards...only minimal amounts of sugar was lost.). She is really into pouring things or throwing things away, so this was right up her alley!

Next, it was time to stir up the apples and get them all coated with sugar and cinnamon. Ally liked being in charge of the wooden spoon!

Once the apples were all stirred up, I put the lid on and turned the crock pot to let it do it's magic!

Several hours later, this is what we had! Yum!

Ally's favorite part was testing her work at the end of the day. She is getting better with using a spoon, although you can see from the pictures that some ended up on her shirt and pants. Oh, well, it was the end of the day. :-)

Ally liked the applesauce so much that when David tried to take it away from her to give her a bath, she started crying and stayed mad at him until bedtime! Must have been some good applesauce, 'cause that girl loves her Daddy! So much fun for this little girl and her mommy!

Pigeon Roost Farm

Today we went to a WONDERFUL place called Pigeon Roost Farm. It was a lot of fun for the kids and adults and a great day to spend with family. I have never seen so many pumpkins! We had excellent weather. The skies were beautiful and the air was crisp. Perfect fall day. I highly recommend this place, if you have never been. It is a bout 30 minutes east of Columbus and a nice little roadtrip. It is the perfect fall fun!

Caution: Crazy mom (aka: Me) yielding camera took a TON of pictures, so don't be alarmed by the length of this post! I love fall pictures...the colors are amazing. Enjoy!