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I am hitting the pause button on the blog this week. I may pop in - just depends - but I have way too much to get done this week and not enough time to get it done, thus, my reason for pushing "pause."

I have a wonderful discount, holiday items, and some thankful inspiration I will be sharing with you next week - so be sure to check back in - not to mention our halloween festivities to document (for the family's pleasure of course).

So have a great week and I will see you next Monday - November 1st! Can't wait!

Friday's Find

It seems that lately Friday has been the day where I share a little somethin that catches my eye out in the cyber world. Today it is these wooden pumpkins. There are so many things I love in this shop - the chickens and eggs, the fall leaves, and especially these pumpkins. I believe I am obsessed with pumpkins at the moment - can't you tell. This soon will pass - besides, the holidays are just right around the corner. You can find these little gems here.

Speaking of the upcoming holidays I am getting just a little excited about the season. Get ready for a nice little discount headed your way as well as the launch of my holidays cards. I have added a few new things this year so I hope you will be excited. I will hold off until after the halloween festivities so be sure to check back November 1st!

Happy Weekend!

Halloween Crafts

The kids and I have been busy at work with our Halloween crafts this season. It has been fun to watch them get excited as we color, decorate, and cut out our various projects.



Paper Dolls: This cute little printable was offered by Sarah over at Sarah Jane Studios last year and I downloaded it with the full intention of using it. It just didn't happen and I was excited when I happened upon it in some of my files recently. Charlotte has thoroughly enjoyed dressing her doll in its various costumes - so much so that we are on our second doll (because the first got messed up).

Hanging Bats: These were fun and I stole the idea from Sarah - from the same site as the paper dolls. I cut these out and let the kids color the backs of them. They are hanging in our kitchen window - the reason for the bad photo. Next year I would love to do this one again, but instead of using the window I think I am going to hang them from one of the chandeliers and use a little glitter on them - don't you think that sounds like fun!



Halloween Cards: My kiddos are so young and there are so many things they just aren't old enough to do, but coloring is always a sure thing and they love to color special pictures for all the people they love. I decided to take some of my halloween notecards from the Trick or Treat line and have them color them specifically for several of our family members. I believe they had fun making pictures for their grandparents - and Charlotte was particularly thrilled with coloring something for her cousin Adeline.

Hoping you find a little inspiration to try your own halloween crafts - and make a few memories in the process.

Big Boy Shoes

Showing off his new shoes

Getting ready to run FAST!

Can you see the blur? He is running REALLY fast! :)

Douglass Charles has been wearing shoes for quite a while now, but he has a new obsession with them. The child will have nothing on but insist on wearing his shoes. He believes they make him run oh so fast, and so I very willingly oblidge him.

He is changing so much and my baby boy is growing up all too quickly. Last week, while working on our Halloween crafts, I discovered the child could count to ten. Seriously! I was quite surprised seeing as I have done nothing to work with him on this.

He is also talking up a storm - he repeats almost anything Charlotte asks him to say - which she loves. He has discovered the word "mine" and "why" and uses them both quite frequently.

He adores the outdoors and still - much to my delight - loves his mommy! :) Another favorite phrase of his is "Hold You!" with arms outstretched for me. This is sweet until I need to fix dinner, fold laundry, help Charlotte and he shows his temper because he is told no.

My absolute favorite thing he is doing now - pretending like he is swinging a bat and then running, almost sliding, into his imaginary base. This all occurred after watching Doug's softball team. Doug and I are thrilled that he is not only interested in sports, but obviously watching close enough to know sort of what to do. It is too cute!

It truly is so fun to see life through my little man's eyes!

Last Week!

This is the last week to order from my Trick or Treat Collection. I must admit, it has been SO MUCH FUN! I may offer a few printables next week for those of you - like me - who will be doing their halloween bags/treats/notes at the last minute. What do you think? Would you like that option?

Oh, and just a side note, the little card pictured surprised me - truly a favorite amongst my customers. Just goes to show, you never know what may tickle one's fancy!:)

Pumpkin Patch

Family Photo

A couple picture - because we always forget to take one

Me saying "Forget it" when the kiddos wouldn't cooperate

An okay picture of me and the kids

Adeline showing off her little pumpkin

Charlotte riding on the hayride

Feeding the goats - they had pigs and chickens too and was the favorite activity of the kids'

Trying to get a pumpkin picture with all three kids

The happy couple - Sarah and Rob

One of the highlights of my sister's visit was taking the kids to a pumpkin patch. This one was right down the road from our house and pretty much free - they had a few games, animals to pet and feed, pumpkins to pick, and a hay ride that didn't cost us anything. They only thing we paid for was our 15 pound pumpkin we picked in the "patch." One day I would love to hit a large patch with a corn maze and the works, but his was perfect for the little kiddos.

We also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Roby - my sister, Sarah's boyfriend - who got the stamp of approval from all of us - including the kids (He is a smart guy. He came armed with M&M's for all the little tykes). As always the visit was too short, but we had a wonderful time together. Seriously, I don't know that I have laughed that hard in quite some time. :)

Smurfs

My sister-in-law, Mary Catherine, took these photos of the girls this weekend. Can't you just see the love between these two? They truly are kindred spirits.

I don't know if you can tell, but both of their faces have a blue cast to them. They were playing contentedly (for a while) with chalk on our back patio and then decided to use the chalk as makeup. Needless to say it was all over them - faces, hands, clothes. Charlotte looks quite like a ragamuffin in these pictures, but I love the funny expressions she is making in these. Shows her quirky and sweet personality.

Also, I know I am a little biased, but these two are some of the cutest little "smurfs" I have seen. Don't you think? :)

What Happens When...

Mommy leaves her two kiddos with cupcake goodness to snap a few photos of her products while the light is good - this mess! I am guessing the kids had fun, don't you?

Weekend photos coming soon. Hope you enjoy these in the meantime. :)

Twins?

Whew! I am tired from a very fun, wonderful and full weekend. I had half my family here to meet Sarah's boyfriend, Rob. Sarah and Rob flew in from Houston on Friday night and left yesterday. We went pumpkin picking on Saturday, adults only dinner and drinks that night, rested and watched football on Sunday, mall shopping Monday, and then to the airport. Not to mention that I cooked like it was Thanksgiving. We ate ourselves silly. :) So, please pardon me while I get my house back in order and get my photos downloaded and edited. I am hoping to have more highlights in a couple of days.

I couldn't let the week get away without posting something. This one is of Sarah and me. She has always been a blonde and decided to "come over to the dark side" right before she came. We get the twin comment when she is a blonde, but oh my do we look more alike with the same haircolor. :) Don't really mind getting that question - seeing as I am five years her senior.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Pumpkins

I must admit, I truly wish I had enough time to make one of these beauties this October. I love these little velvet pumpkins and this little shop offers a PDF pattern for a small fee. My poor home would probably be covered in them. Unfortunately, there are way too many sewing projects that need to be done for me to start a new one - like monogramming fall clothes and Christmas outfits (oh, how I need to really start those). Maybe next year, right? If you want to take a stab at it you can find them here and please let me know if you make one. I want to know how wonderful they are.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I am so excited about ours - my little sis is coming with her serious boyfriend - along with some more of my siblings, my sis-in-law, and my niece - for the long weekend. I am stoked!

Happy Friday!

Potato, Cheddar, & Broccoli Soup

Photo credit: www.foodnetwork.com

One of the things I LOVE about the company we use for our Farmers Market Baskets are the recipes she sends us. This one was included when we had - you guessed it - a lot of potatoes and broccoli. It is truly delicious and very inexpensive to make. I have made it several times over the last year and I am sure will be making it again as the temperatures get cooler. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Potato, Cheddar, & Broccoli Soup
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 head of broccoli cut up
6 Cups chicken broth (I do 4 cups and 2 cups of water - you really can't tell a difference if you use Sharp Cheddar Cheese)
3 bay leaves (optional)
2 medium carrots diced
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. Pepper
½ tsp. finely minced garlic
1 Cup Cheddar cheese (I use Sharp or Extra Sharp)
½ Cup Sour Cream
Garnish with diced green onions if desired.
Cover the potatoes and broccoli with the chicken broth in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add bay leaves (optional). Cook until the potatoes are tender. Using a wire whisk or potato masher, mash the potatoes and broccoli as much as possible (finished product should be fairly smooth with just a few lumps of potato). Add carrots and seasonings and simmer for 30 minutes. Add grated cheese and sour cream and stir until smooth and cheese is dissolved.

Time's a Passin'

I got a glimpse of my Charlotte the other day and realized time is a passin' way too quickly. I snapped this picture of her and it wasn't until I looked back at the image that my breath caught in my throat. I thought, "Look how tall she is, so grown, pigtails - which she requests everyday now - and opinions." Where has the time gone?

It is hard, sometimes, as a mother to truly be present, to notice the small changes in one's child, to see their growth, their personality, their present world. Motherhood is busy, the tasks never completely done and sometimes I get so caught up that I catch myself wondering where the time has gone.

Sad that snapping a picture and looking back at the image was what got my attention, but sometimes it is difficult to see the growth through the playful blurr that is my life. With several friend's grieving the loss of their little ones, friends mourning their empty wombs, and friends watching their sweet babies struggling to keep the life that is theirs today, I realize I take my time with my two so much for granted... and time's a passin'.

Here's hoping I look through that lense just a little more often.

Sweet Autumn

On a table in my foyer

Glitter pumpkins - I just love them with my autumn berries on the mantle

Another view of the mantle

On the kitchen table - the kids have also been bringing me leaves from outdoors that have fallen to the ground as presents - I proudly display my little gifts with the jeweled fruit

This glitter pumpkin was happliy displayed on our bar in the dining room until the kids decided it would be much more fun to play with it - resulting in glitter all over my floors, so I moved it to the built in shelves between the foyer and living room

There is no question, Autumn is my most favorite time of year - the cooler temps and changing colors. I just love this time of year.

I seriously had to hold myself off from decorating until the end of September. I wanted to pull out my fall decor earlier in that month, but our 90 degree temps at the time held me off (not to mention these will stay up until we start decorating for Christmas). Thankfully we got a little cool snap over a week ago and up they went.

I plan on making a few crafts with the kids over the next few weeks to put on display and allow them to get into the spirit of the harvest holidays approaching - this month will be halloween, next Thanksgiving. I can't wait to find little ways to celebrate the season together.

So how do you like to decorate your home for the fall months - spooky halloween, harvest decor, or none at all? Are their any fun crafts you are going to do or want to do for the holiday? I would love to know!

Art Box

One of Charlotte's friends from church recently celebrated his fourth birthday. Jaden was gracious and invited both of the children and we were excited to be asked to celebrate.

If you are like me I am always in a dilemna over birthday gifts - lets face it, my notecards may get mom excited, but not a kid. So I set out to make our normal gift a little more exciting.

We recently found out that Jaden enjoys painting. He is also the middle child of three boys, so I designed a little box that would be ALL for him, while still including my signature gift.

I decorated a stationery box (I have a ton of these - I wonder why), picked up a few paints (with his mom's permission) from the local drugstore and decided to label everything - so it was specific to him. I also included the labels with "Jaden's Stuff" on them so he could "tag" anything that was his (not his brothers'). Obviously I couldn't go without including some thank you notes for him to use for his art "fans." I was pretty pleased with the result and think Master Jaden was too.

I, like so many of you, am on a tight budget and little extras like birthday presents can get expensive. Honestly, I personally feel that any gift can be fantastic - especially if it is created specifically with that person or child in mind - and you don't have to break the bank to do it.