Happy Pumpkin Day Everyone!



Fall Harvest Party

Yesterday was Brady's fall harvest party in his classroom. 

The kids played BINGO with candy corn...they loved it!

I was suprised how many kids had never played BINGO before.

I was in charge of the prizes. 

I was not in charge of the cupcakes.

I had to share responsibilites with the other room moms!

I will be very sad the day classroom parties stop for me (and Brady too!)

I think I have a couple more years...so I will push that thought

to the back of my head.



I made Caramel Corn Puffs.  I found the recipe HERE.

I think I used the wrong kind of corn puffs...we don't have Kroger brand here....

but I will be on the look out for them!  They were still yummy!





Happy Halloween Weekend!



Last Minute Teacher Gift Idea



I saw this idea at the start of the school year for teachers.

 ( I feel the need to say right here that I never get my son's teacher a gift at the beginning of the  year...nor do I ever plan to!) 

The box was filled with all kinds of school supplies. 

 I thought I would just fill my case with candy

we already had at the house.  I found the plastic case at Walmart for $2.00.



The plastic case also fits nicely in a backpack....so no worries

 about your gift getting squished

 on the way to school!

  If you have a daughter...you probably don't

know what I'm talking about!  

 

Going Away and Coming Home



I went away this weekend to the mountains with girlfriends.
We played games, stayed up late laughing, went out to dinner, ate way too much, and went on a beautiful walk.  Our weather has been perfect lately.   As I walked in the woods, I thanked God for gracing us with such a beautiful season.  I like to think that He created fall to bless us before a long gray winter. 

I woke up Saturday morning to this view.





Even though I enjoyed my time away, I was anxious on Sunday morning to get home to my two favorite guys.  It was nice to know they were excited for me to get home too.  When I walked into the house, Brady was blowing up balloons with the air pump....and these were hanging in the doorways:

Yep, I think they missed me too! 

Keeping It Real



I hope that the people reading my blog never think I have "the perfect little life".  Because I don't.  Like many bloggers, I choose to write about the happy and fun things going on in our life....at least most of the time...cause who wants to read about all the negative stuff anyway?  There are a handful of blogs I read, that keep it more real, and I admire those women greatly.    Anyway, Jen at Denton Sanatorium challenged her readers to keep it real today.  So, I thought I would join in and give my readers a little dose of reality!


If I'm keeping it real today....I would tell you:


We almost missed the bus this morning.  We were running around last minute because Brady needed to watch the last hour of the Biggest Loser that we dvr'd for him last night.  Finishing Biggest Loser was also more important to him than brushing his teeth before school.  It might be time for cousin Susie to visit us again and show my son her false teeth!

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Remember the toilet paper pumpkins I made the other day?  Well...now they look like this:

We needed the toilet paper!

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So, I went to my class this morning at the gym and worked out for an hour and fifteen minutes...even though my monthly friend is due any second and I didn't feel like going.  Only to come home and eat this:

I get so disappointed in myself for making these kinds of choices.

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This has been laying in our backyard now for about a week.  I really hate when things are left out in our yard all sanford and sonish.  Drives me crazy!  But not crazy enough!  This is where my passive aggressive behavior comes in...and I want to see how long it takes before someone picks it up and puts it away.   We'll see....

And yes, you're right...our yard does need mowed!

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We had a garage sale back in May and haven't been able to use our garage since.  I always think that's a husband thing...that he should keep it clean and organized.  Anyway, the three of us tackled it together one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago and it only took us about two hours to get it to where we could actually pull our van inside.  Just in time for cold weather!  Brady asked if we could take a before and after picture.  I took a couple just to make him happy.  I  had no intentions of ever showing anyone our embarrassing mess...but since I'm keeping it real today...her it is:

Before

I am cringing....

Not perfect...but much better.

**********

Our Wednesday dinners are usually not very healthy.  I have to pick Brady up from school in order to quick get home and get dinner before his tennis clinic.  So, this is what it looks like most Wednesdays! 

Hmmmm...I must have left the carrots over on the counter...

So there you have it my friends!  I kind of actually feel a little better after this post!  Maybe I should try to keep it real more often?!



My friend Nicole posted this quote the other day on her blog...and it totally reminds me, especially when reading blogs...that none of us are perfect.  We are only showing you a tiny bit of who we really are.  Alway keep that in mind. 

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Imagine that each of us is an iceberg. When you look out across the ocean, you see the top 10% of the icebergs in the water. That 10% is the part that we want others to see. It is important to remember that each of us has another 90% that we're "hiding" below the surface. Never compare your 90% to someone else's 10%. It's not a fair comparison.

A Fun Halloween Swap



I particpated in a Halloween Swap over on Susan's blog.  My swap partner is Cherie.  I was so excited to get her package in the mail today!  When I opened the box, there was all this FUN stuff in it!  Cherie sent me a funny card with the sweetest note inside.  I also got Bath and Bodyworks Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Handsoap (smells so good!) and Candy Apple lotion and hand sanitizer (yum), Yankee Candle Autumn Leaves Room Spray (awesome), Yankee Candle Autumn Splendor car freshners (oh yea), Ghiradelli Dark Orange Chocolate Bar (I have it in a secret hiding place!) and two (much needed) dish towels...and one other suprise I will get to in a minute!



I really loved everything...it's almost like Cherie knows me!  I'm not a big spender...maybe because we don't often have the extra money, but also because I've never been good at buying things for myself.  The things Cherie sent me are things that I really enjoy but would not typically splurge on.  It's funny, since the fall things have come out at Bath and Body Works, I have been in that store several times...smelling all the fall goodness....and not once buying a single thing!   Believe me, I want to...but I'm really good at leaving empty handed!


And here's the last suprise that Cherie put in my box.......

Wax Lips for Brady and I!

Brady was so excited about these lips!  He even asked if he could take them to school tomorrow.  Um, no. (He would let everyone try them out....ewww!)   How sweet was Cherie to send something for Brady?!  I mean is that nice or what?!  I think I like her ALOT!

Thank you Cherie for your sweet, kind, fun, tasty, thoughtful and useful gifts!  It has been great FUN!  Thanks also to Susan for hosting this fun swap!

I would show you what I sent to Cherie...except I don't think she received her package yet in the mail.  I don't want to spoil her fun!

 

Cookies and Milk Dessert

  Cookies & Milk Dessert



You will need:

chocolate chip cookies

milk

cool whip

sprinkles













I ran out of cookies and cool whip...so my dessert didn't make it to the top of the bowl!
It was fine for just us.
But next time I will buy two things of cookies and two large containers of Cool Whip!


Note to self:  How do you expect to lose weight if you keep baking every other day?

Don't Be Scared



I haven't been feeling very creative lately.  But I am good at copying others...so just call me a copycat!  I saw these Halloween pictures HERE and thought I would give it a try. 

Here's my finished frames!

Toilet Paper Pumpkins



I saw this in a store the other day...and thought I

would copy it!  I already had all the supplies

except the fat quarters.  I found mine at Walmart

 for $1.00 each.  Total cost of project $2.00. 

It took about 3 minutes to make the two of

 them! 

 Quick, easy and cheap...you can't beat that!

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Supplies needed:









Ten On Ten:: 10.10.10

The object is to take a picture for ten consecutive

hours on the tenth of the month. 

 The purpose is to find the beauty

 in the ordinary moments in our life.

Well, after reading Gabe's and Jess' 10 on 10 post I seriously debated on posting my 10 on 10!  I mean there's are both awesome!  Their days were beautiful...and so are their pictures!  But, not posting mine would be like saying my day was not special and that I couldn't find any beauty in our ordinary day.  Tennis pretty much consumed our entire day...I know you're suprised aren't you?!  Anyway here's my ten on ten:

I woke up at 7:30am and found Brady in the livingroom watching the Japan Open Final.

By 8am he was dressed and hitting tennis balls against the garage.

My peanut butter banana smoothie.

I really need to broaden my breakfast choices!



I love this little sign I bought years ago at a craft show.



Brady talked Daddy into a lesson before his first match today.

He was on FIRE!!

Brady played a match against Brooke (his coach's daughter/ she's in 6th grade).

  She called and asked him to play this afternoon.  Brady won 6-2,  6-4.

Saw this beautful balloon on our way to the tennis club this evening.

  Brady played this girl 4 weeks ago and lost 6,1, 6-2.  Tonight he played her again and they tied 6-6.



We stopped for ice cream on our way home tonight.

Believe it or not...this is a "small" dish of ice cream!

I'm not kidding!



One quick game of YAHTZEE before bed!



So, as you can see...you don't have to have a super

exciting day to participate in ten on ten!  Just as I did last

month, I look back over my pictures are realize we spent

our entire day together...and it was a good day!