Happy Halloween!!

Chris had to work late, so Uncle Matt came over to help take us around.  Elia and Gianna were sort of star struck at first, just staring at the homeowners as they asked questions or told them how pretty they looked.  Then, they got the hang of it!  They started saying trick or treat each time and after much encouraging, thank you after they received their candy.  I was worried some of the more decorated houses would scare them, but the spookier the better for Elia!  Oooo mommy, lets go to this spooky house she kept saying.  Love that girl.  After a while, they didn't even want Uncle Matt or I to come up to the house with them.  So each time, as they turned up a walkway, Elia would turn around and say, "mom, you don't have to come with us!"  Every. time.  It was cute but also sad that she is so independent.
Our neighborhood has always had some crazy decorations, but this year there weren't as many houses near us that were full of zombies and skeletons etc.  There was one house we went to that gave out glow necklaces, and that was super fun, not to mention practical.  Another house was handing out adult beverages to the adults!  They will be on our permanent rotation, I must say!  Here are some highlight pictures of the night:

Started the night out with Books for Treats.  An annual favorite!

We practiced first, going over to our next door neighbors while it was still light out.  Ms. Kay (our nd neighbor) bought them each a huge lollipop, just for the girls!  So sweet.

Elia figured out no hands!

Once we got home, we only got 3 trick or treaters!  The girls thought it was super fun to hand out candy.  They went to bed pretty late, but it was well worth it.  They had so much fun!

I have to savor this moment, however fleeting it may be.

Yesterday was rough.  After I picked the girls up from daycare we had to go to the grocery store.  Since I only needed 2 things, I told the girls we were just going to walk through the store and that we didn't need a cart.  For some reason, this set Elia off and she started fussing and whining very loudly that we needed a cart, and I threatened time out to her.  She continued to fuss, so I put her in time out, in the store.  As soon as I put her in time out, she started one of those awful toddler tantrums that you hope your child will never have in public.  It was awful- she threw herself on the floor, kicking and screaming.  So I just picked her up and took her straight to the car and straight home.  After she was settled down she was fine, but I was not about to go back into that store.
At dinner, I literally had to force feed her pizza becasue she didn't want to eat.  Seriously, who in their life has ever force fed a child pizza?  So that was a battle tha I barely won.  Then, I took the girls to the library for the evening storytime at our library.  It is such a great program- they do songs and lots of books and even a craft.  We look forward to it every week since we used to go during the week when I was home with them.  I warned Elia with threats of time out, going home, etc. to be a good girl while we were there.  Which she was, until it was time to go.  I was checking out books and I asked her to sit on the floor and look at her books while I checked out.  She started screaming the floor is too dirty mama!  And you know that even a speaking voice at the library is heard all over, and she was screaming so it was even worse.  I pleaded with Gianna to help her sister read her book quietly.  Elia quieted down immediately and so I finished checking out in peace.  When I finished I found them like this:

  

All of my anger and exhaustion melted away at that minute.  How sweet is that?  Fleeting though- we had another battle this very moring about washing her hands.  I think this might be the terrible twos!

The Week Before Christmas

 We had so much fun getting ready for Christmas.  We made cookies, did the advent calendar, made crayons for cousins, drove around our neighborhood looking at lights etc. etc.  The Wednesday before Christmas our library had Santa there, so we got our obligatory picture.  Gianna had to be bribed again, but Elia was super excited about it.

On Christmas Eve I took Gianna and Elia out separately to buy gifts for each other.  Gianna picked out some hair clips for Elia and Elia picked out a Snowman tray.  Elia has her own Santa tray, which she called her Santa board and so when she saw the Snowman tray she got really excited that she could give her sister a Snowman board.

All wrapped!





Trying out all the toys first.  She was really excited to bring her own purse with money in it.

 This is what our tree looked like Christmas Eve- this isn't even Santa's gifts!

Good Weekend

Not too exciting of a weekend over here... its been a while since we have done nothing, so it was good. I got my first paycheck on Friday, and that was SUPER exciting. We celebrated by buying us some bikes. Now, if you are an avid mcrowles blog reader you might be asking yourself, wait, don't they already own bikes? I swear there have been posts involving bike rides! Well, we were holding them for our friends who were doing a Peace Corps trip for the past 2 years in Fiji. They wanted them back so we sent them a few months ago. And now that the weather is nice, we want to get biking again! We bought a 2-kid trailer a few years ago before Elia was a twinkle in our eyes, so the 4 of us can get around. Daddy took them on a ride while I stayed home and cleaned the. whole. house. Chris worked Sunday night so I took the girls to the library, Wendy's, and the park. Fun was had by all. (except for Chris when he had to work) So that was our weekend. Next weekend is going to be so great with Easter, and we are going to Dollar Days at the Horse track. Here are some pics from the weekend!

Riding in style.

At the library. Elia took apart a puzzle and put a piece on each stool.

At the park. Elia thinks she is so cool when she is on the big girl swing.

St. Louis in August

Our (well my) main reason for going to St. Louis was to put on a shower for Colleen. That was Saturday night, and it was sooo fun. It was St. Louis themed, so we got lots of different food from vendors in St. Louis. Colleen is the cutest bride to be ever. I took no pictures (as usual) but here is a pic of the cute invite Shannon and Megan put together.

Chris' main reason for going to StL was to see the Giants play the Cardinals. Too bad they lost both games Chris went to! He took Gianna on Sunday.

The weather was seriously amazing the week we were there. I met my friend Angela at 2 different parks with her little one, and we went to the park down the street from my house quite a few times. That is cousin Austin looking cute.

We went to the zoo on Monday. It is probably about a mile from Shannon and Tom's house. So we parked a little ways away (for free) and walked across the highway to get there. We got there around 4:30, and the attendant let us in with the warning that the zoo closes at 5! It was the perfect amount of time and there weren't that many people there so there were no crowds to push through. Elia called everything from the hippo to the elephant "dog". Pretty cute. We actually didn't get outta there until 5:30, no one told us to leave!

Elia looked at the map to tell us where to go.

One morning we went to the library I always went to as a child. They completely gutted and remodeled it recently, and it is gorgeous. They had really cute chairs too! Grandma had tons of fun reading to the girls. They have been obsessed with reading lately, especially Elia!

My mom and I and the girls went to the Central West End for a morning to get a feel for all the wedding festivities. Gianna is calling it the Wedding Contest these days. We practiced walking down the New Cathedral's aisle (that church is freaking beautiful) and got to see where the reception is and the hotel block. Colleen's wedding is going to be so hip being in that area! We took a few pictures outside the cathedral, since you aren't allowed to take them in the cathedral.

My last day there we celebrated Aunt Colleen's birthday. We spent that last day outside as much as possible. Can't wait to go back for the wedding in December!