Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween, Elliot was a garden gnome. It is seriously the cutest costume I've ever seen! Our church had a trunk or treat, so we headed over there. This was E's 1st time going around to each car. Of course I had to hold her or else she would have taken off. She is starting to run & that is a little scary! She would immediately grab the candy in her bucket & put it in her mouth, wrapper & all.

In case you can't tell, she is sitting on a fairytale pumpkin. I thought it went with her costume quite well.

Munching on some Nerds.

E & A are great friends.

Love this picture.

And this one too!

Bruiser

Elliot experienced her 1st head injury just in time for Halloween. We were at Target & the seat belt on the basket I got was broken. Instead of switching it out, I decided to keep going...big mistake. She kept trying to stand up & after repeatedly sitting her back down, I decided to put her in the main part of the basket with the groceries. Well she decided to lean over the edge & did a front flip right out of the basket & onto the floor. She landed flat on her back & thank goodness we were in the carpeted section. I immediately picked her up, which thinking about it now I shouldn't have done in case there were injuries. After calming her down I noticed a huge goose egg on her head. She must have hit the metal part of the basket on the way down. That started to worry me because it was about a 4 ft fall, so I called Lane & his response was to take her to the ER & get a CT. Instead I called her doctor & spoke with one of the nurses. She said just to watch her over the next 48 hours. She's acting completely fine, but I still feel horrible. She's getting the princess treatment for the rest of the day.

Sorry the pictures are so dark. When I used the flash, it was too bright. I tried to get a few angles, but feel like they don't do it justice.

Hot Wheels

What started out as a tune up turned into a trade in. We originally took our moped in to get a few things fixed & then the owner told Lane to take this other one for a spin. And all of a sudden we were talking deals. So now we have a bigger & better one. The bike itself is a really good brand (Kymco) & will last a lot longer than our other one. And let's not forget the little bucket on the back (LOL)! It has bigger tires & can go up to 65 mph. Our old one only got up to 30 mph. Lane uses it to drive to school & back, so I feel a little better now that people won't have to go around him because he's going too slow. I guess if he wanted, he could go on the highway, but I'm not allowing that.

Shrek

Thursday night Lane & I went to see Shrek The Musical. When we first heard it was coming to town we really wanted to go see it, but we were skeptical. Then once I saw on my friend's blog that she loved it, that sealed the deal & I bought tickets the next day. I'm so glad I did. I thought it was so entertaining. Never a slow moment. Lots of funny parts. And I thought the set was really good. Here's a picture before it started.

My favorite actors were the Donkey & Lord Farquaad. They did such a fantastic job. If I had to change one thing, it would probably be the music. I liked all the songs, but there's none that stuck in my head. For example, I still remember the song "Popular" from the musical Wicked, and I saw that 4 years ago. That's the signs of a great show. With that said, I still loved Shrek & would recommend it to everyone!

Making History

Woohoo! The Rangers just clinched their spot in the World Series for the 1st time ever! I started crying & am not ashamed. I immediately texted my friends who occasionally get tickets begging for an extra if they have one. That goes for anyone who reads this as well. I will drive down to go!

My Little Cheerleader

Cheering for her favorite football team!

Amy gave Elliot Kinsley's old Cowboy's uniform. Even though it's a little big on her right now, I still think she looks cute!

Elliot's 1 yr Photos

I have been looking forward to getting Elliot's 1 year pictures taken, so I went to my go to girl Missy. I have known her pretty much forever & she has always had amazing creative skills. She also took my maternity pictures & managed to NOT make me look like a whale. She had her work cut out for her because Elliot decided she wasn't going to smile as much & she would not sit still. I guess that's typical. By the end of the shoot, I was all sweaty from jumping around like a crazy person trying to keep her happy. I have to say I was a little worried of what the results would be. Of course I worried for nothing because I LOVED them all! The colors were brilliant & she really captured Elliot's different expressions, which I love. I forced myself to only post a few of my favorites, but you can check out the entire shoot here. The password is blankenship. If you live in the DFW area or plan to visit, contact Missy!

Man vs Food Stake Out

Lane had a 2 hour meeting (stupid right?) in Austin today. Instead of him having to wake up at 4am & drive there & back in 1 day, we decided to make a little trip out of it & go down Friday. We are Man vs Food fanatics, so I looked up the website & found all the places he's been in Austin. I think we made it to them all except for 1. Here's what we thought...

The Salt Lick
Grade: B+
This was really good. The meats were awesome. The only reason we didn't give it an "A" was because the bread was just ok & you have to pay extra for bbq sauce. What?! That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Although the bbq sauce was pretty good, I still like Spring Creek's better (it's tough to beat).

Fran's Hamburgers
Grade: A
A good burger. The ingredients were fresh & tasty. Lane got the jalapeno burger & said there were at least 3 jalapenos on it. I chose the hickory burger & it was great.

Hey cupcake
Grade: A+
We got the "Pumpkinator" cupcake. It was so delicious! The cream cheese icing with graham cracker crumbs really made it. And I loved the fact that it wasn't a rinky dink size. I would say it's a little larger than the norm.

Big Top Candy Shop
Grade: hard to say
Of course this adorable old timey candy shop has every candy imaginable & even a soda fountain. But I was there for the chocolate covered bacon. That's what Adam (Man vs Food) got, so I was going with his choice. I liked the fact that it had a thick coat of chocolate on the bacon, however I prefer mine cooked a little crispier. It definitely wasn't bad. But I really wouldn't get it again.

The truck happened to be out, so I made Lane & E pose for a picture.

We went up to Mt. Bonnell. I love this place. The view from the top is so pretty. Elliot had a great time walking around at the top.

And that's the end of our adventures.

How many times can I post about the zoo?

Apparently a lot. I've made one every time I've gone, so I figure why stop now? Thursday was THE perfect day to be outdoors. It never got hot once. We don't have a zoo membership, so months go by in between visits. And of course each time we go, she is more interested, so that's fun. I met up with my aunt, cousin & her kids. We had so much fun. Elliot really enjoyed interacting with Landon & Emerson.

In the petting zoo, they have these brushes you can brush the animals hair with. When I gave one to Elliot, she immediately started brushing her OWN hair. Lovely.

I always seem to catch her when her eyes are closed, but I still like this picture.

There's Landon & Allison.

And there goes Emerson & my Aunt Donna.

Maybe next year I'll break down & buy the zoo membership.

Girly Things

I made Elliot & myself little bags with our initials on them the other day. I thought she might like a little purse & I needed some type of bag to carry to church on Sundays. I teach girls ages 12-18 & feel like I'm always carrying around tons of stuff for that, not to mention things for Elliot & myself. I like the font of her letter way better than mine, but I couldn't find a stencil large enough for my bag, so that explains the janky looking "J". But whatever. It will do the job. The way I got the fancy circle was by using a doily. I just spray glued the back of it onto the bag & used a sponge brush to paint on top of it. Then I removed the doily & was left with a cool looking outline.