R is for Ronnebeck!

Welcome to the world Elio John Mitchell ! Elio was highly anticipated by his super excited parents all week, and finally made his appearance this morning at 12:19am! He's 8lbs and 12 oz's and 21inches long! Congratulations Amanda and Tony... he's very handsome!

I decided our pumpkin needed to be carved last night, and Aquaman decided he'd help, you know, because he's always in the middle of EVERYTHING! We went with a simple ... traditional design this year! Aquaman could NOT get enough of that pumpkin flavor... He kept lickin... and lickin... and lickin! What a silly dog! I love pumpkin carving... It's my favorite Halloween activity! It makes my heart happy! Happy Halloween!!!

Remember that 50's poodle skirt I was telling you about? The one that Shannon hand sewed? Well, Erica wore it on Friday night... she looked SO Cute... Just thought I'd share!

So, after spending all day at the RELAY Summit, I then came home and got ready for a costume party at the Santo's . It was a busy Saturday. Eric Dressed up as Guy Fieri ... Striking resemblance... huh? lol . I dressed up as a Jelly Fish... Which was probably my favorite costume ever! It was fun! Katherine was a Squirrel Ballerina... Don't ask. The Santo family dressed up as "Alice in Wonderland". I never got a picture of John or Nate, but they were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb This is Julia... she was Alice, who killed the white rabbit who took her down the hole. Twisted. And Kerri was the Chesire Cat! Amanda was the Mad Hatter (tress)... but Eric had her Hat on in this picture! We left around 12... I was super tired and ready for bed. The party was a blast as always, and John really out did himself with the Haunted house this year! Can't wait till next year!

Saturday was the 2010 Western Washington Relay for Life Summit. I didn't quite know what to expect, as I had never attended a Summit before, and up until I got to the "Relay Rookie" breakfast I didn't realize that we're the birthplace of Relay for Life and we have one of the largest Summit's in the nation. The Summit was held at the Double Tree in SeaTac which was really convenient for me, as it's only a few miles from my house. I walked in the doors of the Double Tree and took a deep breath, I was about to walk into a Summit, and I had no idea where the rest of my team was, and I knew no one. I got breakfast and then took my seat in the breakfast area, and ate with a couple girls. I finished my coffee and headed over to the "Relay Rookie" introduction session, and learned how HUGE this Summit was. There were over 600 people signed up to be at the event that morning, and over 100 volunteers helping put the Summit on. Wow, okay, so the hall tha

My Sister Shannon is a very talented lady. She is a single Mom of a 12 year old girl (going on 18). That should tell you enough … right there. But let me continue to list her talents… ~She can read an entire book in a day if it interests her ~She can cross stitch ~She can learn a project in a single day and finish it – remember when I taught you to knit? I was half way done with my first scarf, and by the end of the night she had completed hers. ~She can drink more Diet Dr. Pepper than anyone I know ~She can play rough with the boys and dollies with the girls. ~She is really quiet – unless you get her in Wal-mart “after hours” ~She can carve a mean pumpkin and construct the most creative Valentine’s day Boxes. ~She put herself through Nursing school and went to work at Madison Lutheran Hospital in Minnesota. Just this week… My sister has… ~Packed for her conference in Chicago (I hope she’s packed by now) ~Hand sewed a costume for said 12 year old daughter for her Halloween dance this w

Obama's in the HOUSE... No ... Literally, he's sleeping next door to my office building right now. Well, he's probably awake by now, I mean the leader of the free world doesn't sleep in past 5am I'm sure, but walking to work this morning proved to be a challenge since all the doors were being guarded by the Seattle Police Department and the Secret Service. Obama's here campaigning for Senator Murray to beat out Dino Rossi ... I'm not going to jump up on a soap box ant talk politics... I'm just stating the facts. This is the second time in a month the President's been in Seattle. The Democrats really REALLY want Senator Murray to win... obviously. Joe Biden and Bill Clinton have both been here on her behalf as well. Hey Dino you might have to call up the Bush duo to do some campaigning for you brother! PS: Obama ♥'s Top Pot Doughnuts... So do we! glad we got the "Presidential stamp of approval" on that one!

Sometimes a little bit goes a LONG ways. This made my week! My Dear friend Mariya sent this in the mail to make me smile, and help me have relaxing night's sleep. I can't stop smiling. Thanks M!

Despite the gross amount of Halloween that has been exploding in my house, and all over my desk at work, I haven't gotten into the "Halloween Spirit" this year as much as I have in the past. I'm not sure what to blame it on, I guess I am just kind of in a funk. It will come, in due time. Halloween is NEXT WEEK! The week of I'm always singing a different tune no matter what my feelings are during the month of October. Maybe that's why my Halloween blog disappeared off the Internet , it was my lack of spirit... Drat! Any ways, last night, I had Eric read a book with me before I went to bed – because I’m a 4 year old and sometimes like a story before I go to sleep. Last night we read “Dear Dracula” which is a story about a little boy named Sam who loves horror movies, and decides he wants to write Dracula to turn him into a Vampire. Dracula shows up on his doorstep on Halloween night and shows him “How cool” it is to be a Vampire, and in the end Sam decides i

My new guilty pleasure is watching these guys, the Pawn Stars of Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't like reality TV, I'm a total reality TV Junkie, but nothing about this show appealed to me... Till I started watching it! Here's to the boys at Gold & Silver Pawn, your show stole my attention, somehow. Lord knows. Don't judge, watch it, I dare you!

Today was filled with giggles and pictures! Megan (above) and Amanda (below) needed to snazz up their dating site profiles and decided letting me take pictures of them was the way to go. I took about 200 pictures of each girl, and these are two of my (many) favorite. We started off at Kerry Park on Queen Anne, and then we stopped for a costume change, and some fresh baked bread at Amanda's parent's house, and then headed to a Queen Anne park to finish up. I had a ton of fun taking these girls' pictures, and I hope they love them as much as I do. Megan and I finished up with lunch at Calamity Janes in SoDo and then she was off to finish painting the trim in her room, and I came home and baked a cake (for some yummy cake balls - see later post) and Eric and I grabbed a Pizza at Proletariat and some Ice Cream at Full tilt for a spontaneous date night! It was a fun, FILLED day... I am off to bed ... I am sleepy! **Something NEW: shooting 2 separate photo shoots at a time

Eric, Aquaman and I headed to Bo's after work to get our pumpkins! It's my favorite time of year (duh) and I love buying 10 pumpkins, at Bo's you can get as many as you want, because they're a GREAT price! That, and we support Bo because we never ever ever want his stand to go away! So, with Aquaman suited up in his Pumpkin shirt and we headed to Bo's! We picked out our pumpkins and then took the annual Pumpkin Patch Photo! 2008 Click HERE ! 2009 Click Here! I love my little Pumpkin Dog! Here's our Loot! We got 8 total! Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

Things that made me happy today... My Locks of Love Certificate ... which means... they got my pony tail in the mail! Beautiful fall weather... *Sigh I ♥ you Seattle! And squishy, beautiful, baby goodness... I ♥ You Aubrey :) and your momma too!

Momma Heidi was right... she is just perfect! ♥

-My best friend Heidi is a Mommy. I understand it happened last night, but I still don’t know when we grew up and started marrying boys and having babies, by “we” I mean her. -Three and a half hours on the phone with your Mom can be the biggest uplift you’ll ever have in life. Mom and I got on the phone the other day, and kept talking, and talking and talking. It was the best way to spend an evening! Thanks Mom… I love you. -I’m not sure what I’d do without my Husband who helps me pray every night. He’s pretty wonderful. -Halloween has not taken over my world this year as it has done in the past few years, I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, I just can’t fully “Dive IN” like I normally do. Maybe it’s my lack of Hocus Pocusing. -Is pocusing a word? Nope! -I think the greatest snack in the world are the Savory Thin Mini Crackers from Trader Joes, bet you can’t eat just one! -I signed up for the Relay Summit in Sea Tac for the weekend of the 23rd. I’m pretty excited/nervous to attend! I’m

Aubrey Dede Alikpokou was born at 8:29pm on October 11th 2010. She weighs 8lbs and 8oz, and she’s 21.5 inches long! Baby and Mom (Heidi) are doing great after a long day of labor and a c-section. Congratulations to the Happy Family!

Aaaah Monday, this morning I woke with a little less spring in my step than yesterday, and was looking forward to a cup of coffee to accompany me on my bus travels for the day. Eric and I were "Sold" on Via on Saturday morning during our coffee and breakfast run, so I knew I had some Vanilla Via to help my sleepy eyes. The allure of Starbucks Coffee right away in the morning was just what my step needed to get that "Spring" back. However, a few sips later I found myself cursing Via ... this is where it rolls. Dear Starbucks, Who's idea was it to sell "instant" coffee that tastes like mud? I was expecting add water and voila vanilla latte in a cup, I expected too much, Obviously. Additionally, IF I DID perhaps LIKE Via, why is it that there's literally only ONE cup of water to a packet of coffee, really? how many of your faithful consumers only drink ONE CUP of coffee??? No one, that's who. I think I'll stick to the barrista made goodness

Last night Eric and I went with a group of 75 Grace Lutheran Youth to Maris Farms in Buckley. It's a good 40 minute bus ride from the church and it's the most magical Halloween place in the world. Okay, well, maybe not the world, but it's pretty amazing for Washington, and I love our tradition of going to Maris Farms! We normally go at night, with the youth, I'd love to return to get a pumpkin during the day or check out the corn maze when It's not pitch dark outside! Last night we had 7-12 grade youth and we gave them a choice of either the Corn Maze or the Haunted Woods. I went with a group of boys through the Haunted Woods! I never pass up on an opportunity to go through the Haunted Woods! As soon as we arrived at the farm, there was a guy dressed up in a scary costume on stilts so he could reach right into the bus windows and scare the kids on the bus. The Haunted Woods wasn't as spooky as it could have been going through it was 3 fearless boys and one