Congratulations to the winners (I couldn’t resist and picked two!) Erika and Gicel from my Rosy Rings giveaway!  I already emailed both of you ladies and can’t wait to get your candles in the mail.  Everyone else: thank you for entering!  I hope you get to check out these wonderful candles for yourselves.

[I actually wrote this post yesterday but it seems to have vanished into cyberspace.  If anyone got it via subscription, sorry for the redundancy!]

Although we had discussed otherwise, Erik and I decided at the very last minute yesterday that we’d dress Olive up after all.  On Thursday night, I had drawn a nose and whiskers on Olive’s face with black eyeliner just for fun and we couldn’t believe how excited she was about her ‘transformation.’  I love that at this age, everything is magical.  In between weekday errands Friday morning, I made a pit stop at a pretty desolate costume store, expecting to just grab some black cat ears and go with the proven (and cheap) winner from the night before.  But, I spotted a solid contender (close to Olive’s size!) on the picked-over racks: Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  The sales associate gave me 25% off and it was a done deal.  When I brought the costume home to Olive, she lit up with pure delight!  “Mama, I’m Pinkie Pie!  I’m not a baby, I’m a pony!  Neigh!  Neigh!”

We took our little pony out for a bit of trick or treating around 5p and I’m glad we went early.  We beat most of the crowds, snapped some cute pics in the fleeting light, and had gathered enough candy so that by the time the rain starting coming POURING  down on us, we were ready to go without regret!  Our sprint back to the car in the deluge was one I’ll never forget.  We all got soaked to the bone, even with two large umbrellas in tow.  It was hilarious!!  With the land so thirsty for rain, I don’t think anyone could complain about the 1.5″ inches we received last night.

We got home and quickly changed into our PJs before feasting on take out and watching Wall-E together.  🙂  It ended up being a really laid back and cozy evening as a family.  I’m glad we made the game time decision to dress Olive up; these photos make me smile so big and capture a key part of her personality these days.  Pinkie Pie’s effervescent spirit sure reminds me of my Olive !

In other news… I’m not sure if any of you have noticed, but my website and blog have been down and/or really buggy for the past week.  Long story short, I needed to switch hosting companies after a big server migration debacle.  We’re still ironing out little kinks but should be back to 100% early this week.  If you sent an email in the past 48 hours and it bounced back, please re-send.  Thank you for your patience; you know I love hearing from all of you: clients, readers, family, friends!

Enjoy your Sunday (Fall back? Don’t mind if I do!) and I’ll see you soon!

PS // Grateful November Day 1: I’m grateful for the rain we received this weekend.  We need it so desperately and I have to admit, I think I could almost hear the state’s collective sigh of relief as the floodgates opened last night.  It was refreshing, it was beautiful, and it left the skies so wonderfully clear today.  I even spotted a rainbow in the hills this morning.  🙂  Grateful for a God who reminds us of His provision in spectacular ways like a band of colors stretched across the sky.