October Mishmash

Whew, although October is over for some reason it felt busy - maybe because of harvest time? I canned apple pie filling on my own and was invited to a group canning session with my friends the next week. We did applesauce and had two boilers, two puree machines, and a camp stove on the back porch with the water baths. It didn't take long at all and was a lot of fun. I'm grateful to have good friends in this ward (April, Emma, & Jodi).

Then I went to my MIL's super crafty Saturday and made a Christmas countdown calendar which was fun. When we walked in Ellie saw a table display of hair bows. She was in awe. She was nearly drooling. I asked the lady in charge about it and she said it was make & take so if I wanted to do it I could. The first reason I felt ok saying yes is that hair bows are no longer the trendy thing! yay! I think I was the only one at the table all day. Everyone was over at the trendy bracelet watch table (I refuse to participate in said trend or any others, until 5 years have passed hence and it's no longer considered cool). The other reason I said yes is I made Ellie swear on her LIFE that if I made some for her and she wore them during the day she could NOT take them out. For four years I've barely been able to comb this girls hair let alone cutesy it up. We left with TONS of bows for only $20, it was a sweet deal.
And boy, oh boy, are Darik and I in trouble. On a shopping trip to ROSS with Ellie I discovered a fetish that she apparently was born with: shoes. And not clearance $5 shoes like her mommy. Three-inch-high heels and knee-high boots. Yep. I had to bribe her to get her out of the shoe section. Now she's drooling on accessories and shoes, what's next??! Here she is modeling her outfit of choice one morning: Ariel PJs + mommy's high heeled boots.I have such a cute wacky four-year old! My favorite of all these pics? The one in the middle on the left. To me she looks happy, healthy, and confident. Ready to handle anything that comes her way. And that is all that I could ever wish for for my only child (or any child).
This last pic is kinda lame but Ellie wanted me to take a picture of our pumpkin house. She loved having the decorations up and was so sad when I took them down. I don't know if y'all remember from last year about how I'm such a scrooge? Well, miracle of miracles I'm actually looking forward to the holidays this year. I'm actually enjoying decorating for the holidays! This may have to do with my reduction in children, but I think it has just as much to do with Ellie getting older. It is SO much more fun when your kid 'gets' the holidays. Not the simplistic toddler way, but in the way they know so much and still believe in the magic? I know these next 4 years are going to fly by so I'm gonna buckle down on put on the BEST holidays of my life, starting now.

p.s. the last tiny pics are of one of the things I'm grateful for: coupon shopping. We were able to donate over 6 bags of food and over 100 canned goods without even batting an eyelash. It felt great.