Halloween 2010

The girls could not wait to get their trick on today! After getting dolled up I made a point of getting pics before heading out. It was so cold today so shortly after taking these the coats went on!

Marissa was Athena, Goddess of Wisdom...she's into Gods & Goddesses after reading the Percy Jackson books. I think it helps that the animal that represents Athena is the owl....which Marissa LOVES! Gianna was a Movie Starlet. Let me tell you, she can get her Diva on like nobody's business!!
The girls had fun, but they were happy when we headed back home....they were tired & cold & eager to eat their candy!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween Parties/Trunk-or-Treat

Today at school the girls had their class parties, or as I like to call them CHAOS!! It's crazy, it's fun, it's HALLOWEEN...well almost!!

Stopped in Marissa's class first. If you ask her what she was she'll answer: "Athena, Goddess of Wisdom". Not "a goddess", not "Athena", but "Athena, Goddess of Wisdom"!! This girl will set you straight! LOL!

Then I headed off to Gianna's class where the kids were bouncing off the walls. Here's my little drama queen...but she likes to call herself a "Movie Starlet". If you ask she'll sign autographs...but only if you give her candy! LOL!Here she is less dramatic & so sweet looking....Parade time...in the COLD weather! It dropped 20 degrees in just ONE day...CRAZY!!!Evidence of freezing little girl....tried layering clothes underneath their costumes to keep them warm but their classrooms are SO warm so they refused to layer too much. They would much rather suffer for their beauty. LOL!Our crew, after school...Shortly after school we headed out with my sister & her kids to go "Trunk-or-Treating". Cars are lined up & there's dancing, food & trick or treating out of everyone's trunks. The kids all had fun, despite the C-O-L-D!!A lot of people decorated their trunks....This was a fun trunk...

We had so much fun today....it was the perfect kick-off to Halloween weekend!

School Kits: Pre-School Miss M

It's amazing when I set my mind on something what I can actually accomplish! To tell the truth I amazed myself this time. I am happy to finally have done something with these CK KOTM BH School Kits & Expansion Kits!! Yeah, so what if it's been sitting around here for a few years?? ;) I decided to keep the designs sorta similar & basic. I took a strip of the patterned paper that came in the expansion kit & paired it with a complimentary cardstock & used kraft as my base. I was trying to just use what came in the kits & for the most part I did but I needed to make it more "ME". So I pulled out a lot of my stash & went at it. I went a little crazier than I intended though. I used a few older QK dies that I've had for awhile as well as some Cricut cartridges. And for some strange reason I scrapped these out of order....this was the 3rd LO. Made the red "3 collage" with the "Graphically Speaking" cartridge. I was looking for something else & noticed that it could cut that. It was actually a little longer than I needed so I trimmed off the piece & used it on another LO. It took a while to cut but it was SO worth it! I like the effect & how it shows how old Marissa was & what class she was in. I'll be using that a lot!HAD to get the Celebrate with Flourish cart after seeing it on Suzanne's blog. LOVE that one! Used that for the apple LOVE how it came out!!For the journaling card I used Tags, Bags Boxes & More, which is another favorite cart that I should use more of! I used the MM Tin Alphas for numbering all the pics & then wrote out my journaling by hand. This was the last LO I did...wishing I had scrapped them in order!! ;) The crayons are from QK, don't think they're available anymore....Used the Celebrate with Flourish cart for the apples & hand cut the stems. Made 3 to tie into the age/school year theme.See the corner "3" piece? That was the piece I trimmed off the other LO. I used Accent Essentials Cartridge for the green piece as well as the journaling card (just folded in half)This was the 1st LO I made...Notice the difference?? Stuck more to the kit with this one.Any empty spots I had I used yellow patterned paper from the kit & embellished it somehow.The apple is a QK die.This was the 2nd LO I did. Those photo turns are from the expansion kit as well as the journaling page.As you can see I had some spaces to fill so I used the yellow notebook paper from the kit to dress it up a bit.Those books are made with THIS die from QK (I was crazy about those 2x2 dies when they 1st came out!)The ruler twill is not from the kit but the paper & yellow strip is from the kit. Feels good to have these done! Now I know this doesn't show what I did with the main part of the kit but to tell the truth I'm avoiding that since there's a lot I don't remember so I'm procrastinating about it. But I will get to it eventually! For now this is what I plan on doing as a "year-in-review" sort of thing. Some years might have 2 LO's per year & some might have more (I printed pics out for both girls up to last year & have a TON of pics to scrap!!), we'll see what happens. Off to tackle my next LO that I already have started on my desk...yes I'm a woman on a mission (and I promised Gianna I would do some school LO's of her too)!! Hoping I don't lose steam...crossing my fingers!

Pumpkin Picking 2010

Today was a beautiful, warm day for pumpkin picking...not that I dressed right for it but it was beautiful none the less! It's been cool one day, warm the next & super chilly the next. You just don't know how to dress right now...yeah, yeah I know dress in layers! ;) That just means more laundry for me but that's a different post.

We've taken the girls to this same pumpkin patch since Marissa was a baby. It might not the greatest place (the hayride to pick your "own" pumpkin is on the cheesy side), but it's tradition. For me traditions are important. Growing up we didn't have many traditions. We never went pumpkin picking or apple picking. My Dad would just bring a pumpkin home & we'd carve it. One pumpkin for the family. That's it. I'm not complaining, it's just the way it was. We let the girls each choose their own pumpkins & they have fun with it. Some years we carve it & some we don't...we're still working on that tradition! ;)

If the girls had it their way they'd bring these babies home....Marissa was more reasonable & found something easier to handle. Gianna fell in love with these "wart-y" pumpkins, which are cool but not something really carve-able. BTW--This is the cheesy smile I've been getting from her lately.She finally found something more reasonable too...and smiled better for me too. ;) I know this pic isn't the best but I just wanted to point out Marissa's blue streak in her hair (just over her shoulder). Seems like "all the girls have them" in school & she wanted it in the worst way. I had no problem with it since it's just an extension that comes out in a couple months, but I had to convince Joe. Luckily he was ok with it & Marissa is now a happy girl. Gianna was bummed that we wouldn't let her get one too but we figured 6 isn't old enough. Is it me or are the kids growing up TOO fast?? I've gotten pictures of the girls in front of this measuring stick every year...might see a LO in that....Luckily, someone offered to take a family pic for us & I'm in a couple pics as well. ;)
It was another Fun Fall day!! The girls are super excited about Halloween now. They've got their costumes ready & are ready to trick or treat!! Love this time of year!

Apple Picking 2010

This past weekend was gorgeous!! It was a warm Fall weekend & we headed out to go apple picking. We've gone to this orchard for the past 3 years now. It's about 40 mins from us & even though I made sure the girls had their Nintendo DSi's they still managed to go a little nuts towards the last 15 mins. As you get closer the traffic clogs up since there are so many farms around the area & on a day that beautiful there are gonna be lots of people with the same idea.

As you walk into the fields you can just smell the apples! It's so pretty seeing all the trees lined up with a ring of fallen apples around the bottom.Of course the trees towards the front of the orchard are bare so to get apples you need to hike over towards the middle to find some trees with apples. Once you get far enough out there the apples are plentiful. I love how they look all clustered on the branches.We each got our own bag to collect them in. Marissa knows what to look for & gets some yummy apples.Gianna likes to taste them first to make sure they're ok. ;) And even though she's still missing about 4 teeth (both top & bottom) she managed to make a good dent in her apple.Everybody has an apple to munch on.Even me....Gianna had a bad habit of picking the teeny tiny apples that weren't ready yet....guess they just fit better in her hands. ;)Marissa cracked me up with this...I even got Marissa to take a pic of Joe & I....The girls just HAD to get a few golden delicious apples in their bags as well so before we left they got a few more apples for their bags.

It was a fun trip...but since it was later than we anticipated we couldn't squeeze in pumpkin picking as well like we had planned. We'll just save that for next weekend!

My Wish List....

These are on my Wish List.

You know Christmas is coming!

So is my birthday in March...on the 5th.

Or just for no reason at all!!

This might even come in handy for Thanksgiving! I've been wanting this since it came out but kept holding back. Mentioned it to Joe several times but I don't think it registered (that's ok--he registers lots of other hints I toss his way!!).

Do I need a special occasion to make these? Did you see the owls??? CUTENESS!! This came out pretty recently & all I've got to say is I've GOT to try making these....maybe not the more elaborate ones but c'mon...those CUPCAKES!! I'm all over that!! And yes I'm aware that both of these are involving food....can ya tell I'm hungry?? ;)