Disney on Ice

Every once in awhile I get a wild hair and do something spontaneous. This was the case this past week when I hopped online and bought tickets to see "Disney on Ice" for a show two days later after weeks and weeks of seeing the advertisements on T.V. In the past few months, Lia has discovered the Disney princesses and fallen in love. In addition, she has been fascinated with figure skating since first seeing it on our television during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. So, how could we go wrong by combining the two??? We had a grand time yesterday watching Lia watch the show. It was just one of those precious moments...especially during the princess performances when she was absolutely mesmerized by those famous characters flitting around on the ice. She kept on asking me "What else?" (a.k.a. "Who else?") after each princess/prince couple would first skate out onto the rink. What a grand way to spend the afternoon.

The Hartland fam before heading into the arena...

Lia ogling at one of the many over-stuffed kiosks full of over-priced Disney paraphernalia. This was the closest she got to any of this stuff as NONE of it went home with us!

Some of Lia's friends on ice....Snow White sliding along.

Belle and her beau.

Ariel in the air.

And finally Lia's current fav: Tink waving goodbye in the finale!!

A Falloween Fairy

When I was first pulled out our Halloween decorations over a month ago, Lia became quite fascinated with the entire holiday and has been talking about "Falloween" ever since. She has been excited for weeks to dawn her fairy costume and go trick-or-treating to cash in on that free candy. Now that all of her loot is safely home, we are regulating it with a one-candy-a-day rule while Ron and I help ourselves to it whenever her back is turned. We'll see how long it lasts....

Lia and I set out Friday afternoon before our church Halloween party to snap a few pics. I must say that she looked quite adorable in her costume. Here she is with our family of pumpkins on the front porch.

Lia admiring her personal pumpkin.

A happy fairy on our driveway.

The fairy fleeing from the camera.

We hit our ward party Friday night for some chili dinner and then an abundance of Halloween carnival games. Lia was a little freaked out at first, but eventually warmed up to the orange and black stimulation overload. First stop was the cupcake walk.

Next stop: The fishing wall.

Then onto the ring toss.

And finally the costume parade!

We finished up the evening with some trick-or-treating throughout the church.

On Halloween evening, we left our post for a few minutes to take Lia on a quick tour around our cul-de-sac.

Papa and Lia on their way from one house to another.

The cutest backsides I've ever seen...

Happy Falloween everyone!

Halloween Happenings...

The Hartland fam kicked off Halloween this past weekend by visiting our local pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins that we carved during FHE tonight. This is the first Halloween that Lia has really been able to appreciate and anticipate and she had a great time participating in all of the festivities. Here is a look at our pumpkinly adventures...

Lia posing amongst the pumpkins.

Lia selecting "the one."

Lia loading her chosen pumpkin into our wheelbarrow.

Lia running and jumping ahead of Ron while searching for his manly pumpkin.

Posing for a family pic in the house o' pumpkins.

Lia and I hard at work on my white pumpkin during FHE tonight. She was quite the faithful assistant with the spoon.

L'artiste carefully sketching out his master design.

The three happy (or not so happy) jack o' lanterns glowing brightly after the carving was complete.

Spooky Face

BOO!

Sweet Survey...

I thought that I would be all prepared this year and buy my Halloween candy weeeeeks in advance when it went on sale at my grocery store. However, what I didn't take into consideration was the many days that it would be sitting around my house unprotected from hungry bellies and wandering fingers before the big day arrived on 10-31. Woops. My oversight. As one can imagine, the bag got opened late one night when I was having a craving for "just one candy bar." Then, Ron got in on it. And, between the two of us, it was all over in a matter of days.
So, here is my question for you...is it wrong to eat your Halloween candy in advance when it was initially purchased for trick-or-treaters??
Please be brutally honest.
I can take it.

P.S. The bag o' Snickers is already half eaten at this point.

Out of the Closet.

The previous owner of our house made many changes and upgrades that I have been a fan of from the get-go. But for some unexplainable reason, the master bedroom was the most neglected room in some ways. Where every other window in the house was given new, venetian blind treatments, the master bedroom's windows remained curtainless. Make sense? I didn't think so. In addition, every other closet in the house received wire closet shelving, but the one and only walk-in closet (found in the master bedroom) was left untouched with a single particle board shelf and wooden rod hung in place. It really was quite hideous and our belongings bulged and spilled out in every irreverent way imaginable. As a result, we were looooong overdue for a closet makeover. So our resident handyman, Ron, finally found the time and the cash to make this happen. So, take a peak below!

One of many embarrassing angles found in our closet prior to the makeover. Please notice my decrepit Ikea dresser shoved in the corner. I'll have you know that I sold it for $100 this past week on Craig's List!

Some of the many piles of our clothes that ended up on our bed during all of the makeover madness.

The makeover man hard at work on "my side" of the closet.

Side #1 of the finished product: Look at all of those great shelves and rods and room to spare on my side of the closet!

Side #2 of the finished product: The fabulous cubicle organizers that Ron built and installed on the far wall allowing us to hide some of our junk in a fashionable way!

Side #3 of the finished product: Ron's side in all its glory.

A close-up of the shoe racks that we share on Ron's side. Now I can easily vacuum our closet carpet without having to move a million pairs of shoes.

The very large laundry basket I purchased as the crowning piece to this remodel. As silly as it may seem, Ron and I have been using our separate laundry baskets (brought from our single days) for these past five years. It was high time to join dirty laundry forces!!


Hallelujah for an organized closet! It just feels so much better!

Sand Castles and Such...

Yesterday, Lia and I dodged some rain showers and headed up to Federal Way where we met my brother and sis-in-law and their kiddos to attend The World Championship Sand Sculpting contest. Apparently, this sandy event happens once a year, but has never been held on domestic soil. So, lucky for us that it actually landed in a town only a few minutes away for its first U.S. appearance. We spent a fun filled hour gawking and gazing at the many different sand creations before the rain sent us running! Thanks, Rebecca, for including us in your Saturday morning excursion!

Lia and me with her cousins, Mr. B and Vivi, in front of a sculpture paying homage to our mother city. I wasn't supposed to be in this photo, but Lia refused to be put down!

The sand sculpture that impressed me the most. Look at that detail!

Lou hanging out with Mr. Elephant.

This is a close-up of a statue of a woman surrounded in a fruit. I just couldn't get over how perfect her face is. HOW do that do that?! This is sand, not stone!

As Lia and I were wandering through the "aisles," she stopped in front of this sculpture of a lady intertwined in ivy. She was absolutely mesmerized by her! I didn't realize that she had fallen behind me until I was a few sculptures down and looked over my shoulder and saw this precious sight above. Lia asked me to take a picture of her and has probably requested to see it 20 times since then.

Lia's favorite: "the lady with her hair going way up high."

And, of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a pic of at least one sandcastle! Isn't' that a beauty?!