Carving Jack-o-Lanterns

Last night we carved these guys up in preparation for tonight!

Here are our lovely pumpkins!

MAJOR kudos to you if you know who these guys are.

If not, you can go HERE...and prepare to spend all day learning just how nerdy me and my husband really are (and inevitably...just how nerdy you might become as well...don't say I didn't warn you :-)

I also made some delicious Salty Sweet Pumpkin Seeds!

Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

You will need:
2 tablespoons Butter (melted)
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 pinch of salt

for every 2 cups of Pumpkin Seeds you have.

Add all ingredients in a large bowl and stir well.

Make a single layer of seeds on a large baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Happy Halloween Y'all!

November CA Kit Layouts

(click each image for a closer look)

I made these layouts using the Crop Addict November 2009 Monthly Kit.

Hurry over to the site and grab one now, it will be perfect for scrapping all those Halloween shots you'll be taking tomorrow!

Have a great day! :-)

P.S. I know the lighting in the photos is AWFUL, but it has been raining since yesterday and they were the best shots I could get!

You Capture- Autumn

So this is my "Autumn" photo...even though I'm not sure if it looks very Autumn-ish.

I mean, there are leaves on the ground, right?

So, just ignore the fact that my kiddo has on short sleeves, k?
Or, be envious...whichever. ;-)

I was frustrated that I could not get a shot of any amazing or beautiful foliage this week like so many others...but I'm always grateful to catch shots of my little man.

Sometimes, he changes faster than the leaves turn...and that makes it worth my while to take photos everyday.



Have some Autumn shots to share? Join in over at I Should Be Folding Laundry!

Thanks to Beth for hosting!

WW- Sleeping Edition

For the record, I did not stage this photo because this week was "sleeping week". I just got really lucky when I snagged this shot on Monday night.

And really, who could get a 2 year old to pretend this well anyway?

You see, Jackson has a desk in his Daddy's office so they can both "work" together. This particular evening while Daddy was grading term papers Jackson was goofing around and sitting on top of his desk. Well, obviously the little man was exhausted and before long ended up how you see him here.

I was at the grocery store when this happened and Dave said he didn't move J on purpose, because he knew I would want a photo (does my husband know me or what?). For the record, Dave told me he had only been asleep for about 10 min. when I snapped the photo.

Do you have a Wordful Wednesday Sleeping photo?

Then join in! Thanks to Angie from 7 Clown Circus for hosting!

Make Your Own:Thanksgiving Door Decoration

This is a great Thanksgiving scrapbooking project (and a good way to recycle!) that is fun and easy to do! I found this can of mixed veggies while I was cleaning out my pantry and realized it had expired.

This is what I decided to reuse the can for.

First, your are going to want to open the can and empty it's contents.
Save the lid, you'll need it later.

Wash out the can once it is empty.

Take the label off of the can and recycle it.

Use the lid as a painters dish to hold some white acrylic paint.
Use a foam brush to generously cover the outside of the can.

While the paint is still wet, sprinkle on some orange glitter.
Don't worry about being precise...it looks better if you just add it randomly.
Be sure to hold your can over a tray of some kind to catch the excess glitter.

Next, gently tap the can so that any loose glitter falls into the tray.

Next, allow the can to sit and fully dry. If you want to make sure the glitter will stay on especially well, I recommend spraying the whole can with clear lacquer after the paint has dried.

When everything is dry, use your Crop-a-Dile to punch 2 holes in the can, directly across from one another (this will be where you tie the ribbon that will make your handle).

Finally, dress up your can with some handmade embellies and silk florals. Tie on some ribbon for your handle, hang it on the door and enjoy!

(Click to see larger image)

This craft is really easy enough I think you could do it with kids, so long as you were careful with the sharp edges of the can.

These also make great gifts!

Have a good afternoon.

Resourcefulness FAIL

Most of the time, I'm pretty proud of how resourceful I can be some days. I reuse and re-purpose things quite often in our home. This helps save time, money, and usually helps the planet in some small way.

So, the other afternoon while cleaning I realized that the vacuum filters were rather clogged and needed cleaning.

My vacuum is the kind that the filters last a long time...and so you can just wash them out several times before having to purchase new replacements, it even says so on the package.

Well, let's just say that I've taken that whole "wash several times" rule pretty far.

Back to that afternoon last week... I get the filters all cleaned and set them out on the counter to dry overnight. The next morning they were all dry (like usual) and so I loaded them back into the vacuum and set out to clean the floors upstairs.

And then it happenend.

Not even 30 seconds after I began vacuuming J's floor, I SMELLED IT!

The smell of a 1000 forgotten gym socks...oh yes folks it was HIDEOUS.

AND...the vacuum was spraying that smell EVERYWHERE in my (mostly) clean house!!!!

So yeah. I turned off the vacuum, gagged a little bit...and then sat there feeling pretty stupid.

I guess when they say you can only wash the filters several times...they mean it.


Do you have any recent cleaning horror stories? I would love to hear them. You know, so I don't feel like that big of a bonehead! :-)

Home for the Holidays Tip

Tip #1: The morning of a family gathering start a pot full of warm water on the stove and throw in some cinnamon sticks or Mulling Spices, leave the temp. around Low/Med. Be sure to check to water level often throughout the day.

This will help to get the kitchen nice and warm for all that socializing later, and will make the entire house smell delightful.

Edited to add: Abby says... "Replace water with wine and voila! Mulled wine! :) "


*****************

As the Holiday season progresses, I hope to bring you more little tips like this one. If you have a tip to share, just leave me a comment, and I will add it to the next post I do. :-)

Thanks!

Disclosure: The link above goes to Williams-Sonoma.com. I have no affiliation with them, and posted that link only to be helpful. I myself purchase their Mulling Spices with my own money on a regular basis during the Holiday Season because they are just so great.

Stick Family!

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

This was fun and easy to do! Best of all it was FREE!

Just wanted to share!

Soft Skin for the Holidays! {Giveaway}

******This giveaway is now closed*******

And the winner is:

#22 Stephanie

Congrats goes to her! :-)

Thanks to everyone for playing along!
******************************

Christmas is coming, and so is Winter weather which means icky dry skin.

But not with Skin So Soft!

This holiday your skin can look and feel great with this fun AVON Skin So Soft Original gift set! It comes with a shower gel, body wash, lotion, gelled body oil..plus that super cute travel bag!

Want to Win It?

Just leave a comment on this post (mandatory)

Want extra entries?

• Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet(1 entry)

• Put my button in your sidebar(1 entry)

• Follow my blog(1 entry)

• Subscribe to my blog via email(1 entry)

Open to the U.S. and Canada. All entries must be received by Midnight CST Oct. 30th. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced shortly there after. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours of being notified, a new winner will be drawn.

With me everyone's a Winner! Shop online with AVON and use the code FSWER during checkout and receive FREE SHIPPING on your AVON order!

Good luck!

Disclosure: I am an AVON Independent Sales Representative and I am providing the SSS gift set at my own expense. The links above go directly to my AVON website where I make a percentage of each sale.

Halloween Preview

Here's a look at what our Halloween will be like this year.

Daddy says he's just going to go as himself this year, "because that's scary enough."

:-)

What are you dressing your family as for Halloween this year?

Halloween Layout for Deni

Recently, I participated in the Autumn Blog Party at Market Mommy.

The prize that I offered was a custom made Halloween layout for the winner.

Here is what I made for Deni, who has twin 2 year old girls that will dressing as "Super Girls" for Halloween!


Congrats again Deni, enjoy your prize!

Of Halloweens Past

I have always loved Halloween. Ever since I was little girl I would obsess and get excited about all things spooky starting in September. By Oct. 1st, I had changed my mind about my costume at least 5 times...and was badgering my mom to go and buy me a pumpkin from the grocery store already! (I'm a city kid, obviously)

I would help her stuff newspaper into big pumpkin faced garbage bags for the lawn...and we would hang that crazy cottony spider web stuff in the bushes (the same kind of web that covers my front porch as you read this).

I can't really say for sure why I fell so in love with this time of year, but I'm fairly certain it was because it served as a fabulous distraction from the fact that I was usually terribly ill by October.

In case you are newer here, I'll catch you up. As a child I had very serious Asthma. A rare type, which at the time, doctors knew very little about. I spent more days in Texas Children's Hospital in elementary school than I did in my classrooms. At one point, I was even in need of a lung transplant...though that time never came thanks to a blessing from the church missionaries.

Fall and Winter were especially hard seasons to handle with my disease because my Asthma was very irritated by mold and cold air....2 things which are ever present during Fall in Texas.

I remember one Halloween in particular I had a high fever, chills, and was wheezing so loudly you could hear it from across the room. My mom told me there was no way we would go trick-or-treating...we needed to leave for the hospital right then.

I fell in the floor sobbing - she had made me the most beautiful pink tulle and satin "Ms. America" dress...complete with a sash...and now I was heartbroken I wouldn't get to wear it.

But, my mom....being the amazing person that she is, wasn't going to have me be upset.

She carried me, yes... carried my little 7 year old self, to 4 houses on our block so I could get candy before we left for the hospital. (I love you so much Mom!)

So you can imagine my deja vu, when some 16 years later I was sitting in Texas Children's Hospital on Halloween with my own child.

Jackson had nearly aspirated 4 days prior to that and they had him in the NICU there to perform tests to determine why.

We would soon learn that he had reflux. We got to go home late in the evening on Halloween...and I shot just a few photos to remember the day.

This is one of them.

I think he looks pretty good considering he'd spent that previous 4 days being poked and prodded by doctors.

Jackson's second Halloween was a little better, but he still wasn't feeling too hot since he'd had his 1 year old shots that day. You can tell that from the expression on his face.

We went trick-or-treating at the church for 30 minutes...and then went home so he could have a warm bath and some baby ibuprofen.

Later that same evening, I had a terrible asthma attack and spent the night in the ER.

********

So, needless to say after all of that, my hopes for this Halloween are very high!

We are all feeling pretty good...and I'm hoping for some awesome spooky fun!

And even if J does get sick, I still want to try and make it as fun as possible for him.

I know my Mom always did, and I'll never forget it. :-)

Crop Addict November Kit Sneak Peek!

The Crop Addict November Kit! Available Oct. 20!

November Kit Add-On.

This months kit is AWESOME! Super cute Halloween papers from Pink Paislee and Dream Street and fun embellies too!

Grab yours before they sell out!

For the love of Anthro <3

Anthropologie that is. :-)

How can I adaquately express my love for this store to you?

Umm, let's see.

Anthropologie turns my grey skies bright blue and makes life way more sunshiney (new word, k?)

And becuase my Mom is just hands down flat out awesome, I am now the owner of this, this, and this! SQUEE. Of course, those aren't the only things I got...but I'm saving the other things for some future posts, since I got some killer decorating inspiration while we were in the store.

Currently in our Anthro there are giant cardboard monograms everywhere as part of the decor. Well, as I was rounding the corner to the dressing room, I noticed this on the top shelf and had to shoot a pic! Coincidence that those are Jackson's initials? I think not. :-)

Did someone say S.A.D? Oh wait, that was me. But not now....because I swore I just saw it fly out the window. ;-)

In conclusion, my Mom is the best ever...and really knows how to help a stir crazy, stressed mama out! :-)

P.S. I have no affiliation with Anthropologie and chose to write this post on my own accord because I love their store that much! I would not, however, be opposed (at all!) to working with Anthopologie on future projects (just saying :-)!

Because it wouldn't be Fall unless I got sick again

Hey there.

I'm here to report that I'm so close to finishing J's Mural that it is NOT EVEN FUNNY, and also that I have come down with some kind of cold (which really isn't funny either).

So the fine details and finishing touches (OCD Alert) will have to wait until I can breathe through my nose again.

Also, I feel like I haven't been taking enough photos lately...I need to do something about that.

Finally, my mom totally fixed me up 2 days ago with a girly lunch and an afternoon shopping spree at my favorite store, let's just say that afternoon was divine....more about it tomorrow. :-)

Rememeber when I was painting J's room?

You know, way back in *cough* *cough* July.

Yes well, since then I've been on trips to Chicago and Las Vegas, planned 1 birthday party and 1 baby shower, had the Swine Flu, took care of my family while they had the regular flu and cleaned vomit out of my car 4 times.

I've been busy.

But, I'm finally working on finishing THIS project. Yep, I cracked open my cans of BEHR paint today and got to work...I promised myself that Jackson's Ocean Mural will be complete by Thursday come hail or high water!

So, I just wanted to pop in and say be looking for those "after" pictures of mine very soon.

I also wanted to say the HUGEST thank you EVER to BEHR....who have been so patient and understanding with me. They were also nice enough to provide the paint for Jackson's room in exchange for several posts just like this one. Thanks BEHR, you guys rock!

Back to painting now, see you guys tomorrow.

P.S. I was not paid to write this post. Paint provided by BEHR.

This Month...

This Month...

The Thing I've Been Working On The Most: Scrapbooking as usual. Keeping the house nice and neat.

TV Show Worth Watching: We don't have T.V. in our home, but I usually watch Project Runway online when they post a new episode.

Something Seasonal I'm Loving: The cooler air and the fact that we're headed to the Pumpkin Patch soon!

My Favorite Blog Entry From This Month: Tonight, tonight

Blog I Am Always Visiting: Elaine - I can't get enough of her really. She's downright awesome, and who can resist all the new baby girl photos? ;-)

Movie I’ve Seen (In or Out of a theater): I watched Twilight on DVD the other night. It was ok.

What I'm Most Looking Forward To Next Month: Breaking out the Christmas Decorations! Woohoo!

I'm not tagging anybody (we've all got enough to do, right?) but if you wanna play along go ahead. :-)

Have a nice afternoon!

Rain, rain go away!

For the last 2 weeks here it has been a drizzly nasty mess. I can't complain too much, it has finally gotten cooler, with temps in the 50's...but gosh this rain can really drag you down!

Gray sky for more than 2 days in a row really starts to work on me (I think I might have a touch of SAD *seasonal affective disorder*).

Anyway, an exciting thing about the cooler weather was that I got Jackson some ADORABLE new Fall/Winter clothes (thanks Mom!).

I just wanted to show all the outfits off here. They are all from Gymboree with the exception of one shirt which is from Janie and Jack (squee)...but the best part is I got them all at the local consignment shop for around $150 (thanks again Mom, you rock)! We also got a cute Gymboree jacket and a nice set of PJ's but the didn't fit in the photo.

I really do love a great deal!

Found any great deals yourself lately?

Yes, I'm still alive...

I know. I vanished and then didn't post for a few days. Nothing major really happened to cause that either.

I was just generally worn out after last weekend, which was the online crop at Crop Addict, and also because I spent that weekend at my SIL's house so we could scrap together while the crop was going on. The second night we were there Jackson decided to wake up at 3:30 am and play (because, you know, when you are 2 that seems like an AWESOME idea).

So yeah, it was a long weekend, I came home very tired...to a messy house and so for a couple of days I just laid low. And then the last 2 days I've been cleaning.

As of this afternoon I'm happy to report that everything is clean again (yay!) and all I have to do this weekend is laundry.

Here are the layouts I made last weekend.

(click each layout to enlarge)

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!