Target 75% off Halloween

What an exciting morning it has been here.  First, I have to shout it from the rooftops that my baby boy who turned 2 pooped on the potty today for the first time!  I know from just having gotten the oldest finally potty trained that I'm going to have to take a relaxed attitude, but it is nice to get that first time out of the way.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog post. LOL  After preschool drop off this morning, Logan and I went to Target.  We hit the mother load people.  Target had gone 75% off on the Halloween stuff. We got two costumes (one for $3 and one for $5) and some fun Halloween signs that were 50 cents a piece.  I figured the Halloween costumes would be great for dress up.  I also stocked up and got two bags of M&Ms.  They are great for potty training.  We got some spooky spider webs.  I also got three of those Disney Light Spinners. There was a Tinkerbell one which I'll give my niece and the boys will get the Mickey Mouse spinners. I thought they would make perfect stocking stuffers for my boys. 

So all in all it was a great shopping day at Target.  I was so tempted to buy more Halloween lights, but I know we have enough so I was trying to be good.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Elmo Cup Cakes & Halloween Weekend

So Friday was Logan's 2nd birthday.  And what a weekend it was.  He was sick, but started getting better by late in the day Friday.  His poor brother was not so lucky.  He got this mess and wasn't better until yesterday.  And it wouldn't be complete if dh and I didn't catch the crud and we were up all night Sunday night.  Fortunately we were all over our stuff in time to be able to take my oldest son to a few houses for Trick or Treating. It was a tame Halloween.  DH is still on the mend and I feel like I'm at about 95%.  I think once we get some more rest that will help. 

I wanted to share a few pictures of the Elmo cupcakes I made for Logan's party.  I saw this idea at a cupcake shop and thought I could make them too.  As cute as these were, my child wouldn't even take a bite of them.  He is more of a Chips A Hoy connoisseur.  So momma gave him two of those.  Because everyone should have something they like on their birthday.

 Crazy me with my pumpkin master's kits. I was able to get the pumpkins carved before I got sick.

My son, Sawyer was Thomas.  He was so cute and very excited about ringing doorbells.

 Sawyer had taken his costume off, but Logan is a member of Lightning McQueen's pit crew. 

This picture pretty much sums up Logan's thoughts of Halloween. He was constantly screaming and didn't want to wear his costume, hold the candy bucket. Nothing.  Hopefully next year will be better.

This was our huge pumpkin. The cat turned out really cool, I just wish I'd thought to have the pattern blown up on a copier one size bigger.  This one was actually not as hard as the other stencil.

So that is a recap of our birthday and Halloween celebrations.  Did you or your kids dress up? I'd love to hear about your Halloween celebrations. 

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Halloween Flip Flops= High Frightening Fashion

Halloween flip flops.  Do you have any?  Well, now I do.  I made these flip flops by taking ribbon and tying them to the straps.  I've made Halloween flip flops in the past and they were worn out.  This year I thought I'd change it up and get some of the pretty wired ribbon at Michael's.  I liked all of these different colors. 

So here is my latest bootiful creation.  What do you think?

I'm in the throws of Halloween preparations and tomorrow is a big day here.  My youngest son will turn the big 2!

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Fall is here and my thoughts are random like leaves falling...

Well, today is the official first day of school in our area so I feel that fall is here. I'm sad that fall has come so quickly, but also a little happy about it. I'm hoping that with our scheduling changing it will allow me to start blogging again more frequently.

I believe I've mentioned this before, but I just took over as the coordinator of my Mother's of Preschoolers (MOPS) group. If you don't know about MOPS and you have young children you have to go and find out if there is a group in your area. It is a wonderful resource for young mothers and it has been such a blessing to me. It has taken a lot of my time and a lot of work to get ready for our new year, but I know it will be worth it.

I am enjoying seeing all the great fall decorations and fashions in the stores. If you love Halloween as much as I do, you've got to go into Michael's and check out their Halloween decorations. They have some super cute things and the prices aren't bad. Two things that stuck out to me were a pack of fun wine labels that had spooky sayings on them. The other were some fun stickers that you could put on plastic cups and you could write your name on them. I believe they may have had a pirate theme. I don't know if I"ll do any type of Halloween party, but I am keeping Michael's in mind just in case.

I've also started looking at Halloween costumes for Sawyer. Logan will get to wear Sawyer's pumpkin costume. It is just too cute for him not to wear it. Sawyer is not big on things going on his head, so it should be a challenge. I saw an adorable dinosaur costume, but he wasn't thrilled with the head. So, I will keep my eyes peeled for that.

So, that is what is going on here. I'm excited to share later this week some new things I've recently discovered and tried.

I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Creepy Crafts

I thought I'd show y'all a picture of the Halloween flip flops I made last year. I've been wearing them out since we haven't had a bad cold snap yet and I have gotten lots of compliments on them. I bought a craft book at Michael's last year that had this idea in them. They sold these cute pumpkin flops last year, but I haven't seen them this year. If you can still find black or even orange flip flops you could make a pair.

I purchased the Martha Stewart multi ribbon pack that Michael's sold last year (I think they had it this year) and I'm trying to remember but I think I cut each piece of ribbon may an inch or inch and a half. I'd recommend taking your first piece of ribbon and tying it around one of the straps and then cutting it and then using that first one as a template to keep all the others the same length. Since this ribbon pack came with about 3 or 4 different ribbons, it is nice to alternate them so you have a really full look. The orange squares with black dots are chipboard buttons by Making Memories and were scrapbooking supplies I thought might add a little more. I just sewed them on to the ribbon near the part where the straps come together.

So, if you live in an area where it hasn't gotten cold or you are a big flip flop fan, I'd highly recommend making these.

This morning is a big morning for us. I'm headed off to the ob's office to have the stitch taken out of my cervix. Then if I don't go into labor, they will induce me tomorrow (Wednesday morning). So, our new baby boy will be here on Wednesday. I will definitley be posting an update and pictures as soon as I can. Barring any issues we should be able to be home in time for Halloween. Please say a prayer for us. With everything we've been through we are excited and nervous.

Halloween Monkey Business

Happy Monday! We had a great weekend. The doctor sprung me from bed rest, so it was wonderful to get out and do some things. It was great to be out and about.

One of our little friends will be turning one on Halloween, so we attended a birthday party for her. It was Halloween themed and was so cute. They had pin the nose on the jack o lantern and pumpkin cake. They asked that everyone come in costume. Sawyer wore his monkey costume. He LOVES Curious George, so I knew this would be the perfect costume for him this year. Also, I have a feeling this might be the last year I have a say in what he wears.

We had to get my mom to get this costume for us because all of the 2T sizes in our area were sold out at all of the Toys R' Us stores. Fortunately they had it in her area. Well, when she brought it and when he tried it on a few weeks ago, she and my mother in law laughed because it has a belly on it that sticks out. And with me standing beside him it was pretty comical with me having the pregnant belly and him with the pouchy monkey belly. So, we decided to take a picture of the two of us when we got home from the birthday party. Who has the bigger belly? LOL

I hope y'all are having a great Monday!

We've fired up the lights

Happy Tuesday everyone! Well, I have reached that magical mark of 37 weeks. I am so excited. My ob didn't think I'd make it this far, so we feel so blessed. Such an answer to many prayers. We will actually have a full term baby. Such a long journey.

Tonight when dh came home he got out our Halloween decoration box and strung some pumpkin lights on the rails of our front porch. We also have these circle kind of lights that hang in two of our windows. One is a witch and the other a black cat. I bought these at the Dollar General a few years ago. This is the first Halloween that our little boy has paid any attention to this kind of thing, so it was neat to see him looking at the lights once everything was turned on.

I have to say I love seeing lights for winter holidays. Yes, we are becoming the Griswold's, especially at Christmas. We especially LOVE seeing Christmas lights and drive around many nights. I think the reason I like them so much is that with it getting dark earlier and earlier, seeing lights at my house and at others is so cheerful. It is nice to see that cheery glow in the distance.

So, do you put up Halloween lights? If so, what kind do you have?

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Pumpkin Patch

I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and the doctor has said he doesn't think I'll make it another week. So, we will have little Logan with us soon.

A few weeks ago, I noticed on my way to the doctor's this really cute display at one of the pumpkin patches on the way. I finally remembered to pack my digital camera because I just had to get a picture of this to share with you. I am a big Wizard of Oz fan, so I was excited to see the Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Lion and Scarecrow hanging out. This is a small pumpkin patch and I thought it was such a creative, eye catching way to get people's attention.

I hope this brings a smile to your face today. If you have any unique Halloween displays in your area, I'd love to see pictures. Have a great day!

Spooky Moldy Oldies

HappyTuesday everyone. What a great day. I have made it to 36 weeks in this pregnancy. God is good.

I was surfing the net and remembered something cool I'd seen in the stores bbr (before bed rest). Wilton has these really neat silicone molds you can buy and make mini cakes with them. I love this pumpkin mold because you could easily use it for Halloween and for Thanksgiving. I think these would be so cute. I'm guessing you could even make pumpkin bread in them. I just love this shape. The nice thing about this size is it is just the right size for a nice dessert, especially after having a heavy fall meal.

Here is another cute mold that has spiders and spider webs. I found the pictures for both of these on the Wilton cake decorating website. I believe Target and Wal Mart sell things like this in their seasonal sections. I have seen little cake/cup cake decorating supplies at Wal Mart. Usually you can find stuff like this, cup cake liners, sprinkles, etc.

So, do you plan on making any tasty, tempting treats for Halloween? Hey we all can't be Martha so grab a box of cake mix and have some fun. No one says they have to be home made. Well, maybe you can say they are home made if you make them in your home. LOL

A tip I'd recommend if you are interested in making something quick and easy is use a cake mix as the base, but add to it. I love getting carrot cake mix and adding coconut, pecans, and golden raisins. I'm guessing you could probably get any cake mix and add some pumpkin fillling to it to get that seasonal taste.

As always, I'd love to hear some feedback if you decide to make some tasty treats for your little ghosts and goblins.

Fall Make Over

Well, I thought in honor of fall and Halloween, I'd pick out a different template to get my blog a face lift. So, I hope you are enjoying this pumpkin orange color. I was fortunte enough to find out about this cool place to get them called Aqua Poppy. There is a button near the bottom of the blog if you are interested.

I love thinking about Halloween and doing fun food and drinks. In years past, I've done punch and had a hand floating in it. If you haven't seen how to do it before, all you do is get a plastic glove and fill it with water. Use a rubber band or some string to tie up the end. Place in the freezer over night. Once the water is frozen you can cut up the glove and it will be in the shape of a hand. I saw this year's ago on Martha Stewart's Halloween special. Which by the way I saw recently again on the Fine Living Network.

I do a search for fun Halloween treats and thought this recipe looked really cute for a Boo Beverage and thought I'd share it with you today. The ingredients make it sound like something that would be good if you were doing a brunch. Oh, a Boo Brunch. How cute would that be? Pumpkin pancakes. You can see where this is going. LOL

This is from the Allrecipes website. Don't you just love this picture of it?

Boo Beverage

INGREDIENTS
2 cups orange juice
2 cups milk
2 pints orange sherbet
4 ripe bananas
2 cups whipped topping
18 miniature chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
In four batches, process the orange juice, milk, sherbet and bananas in a blender until smooth. Pour into glasses. Cut a hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; fill with whipped topping. Pipe a ghost shape on top of each beverage. Position chocolate chips for eyes.

I'd love to hear if you are planning a Halloween party and if so what good things you plan on doing.

More Boo for You!

Happy Friday everyone! I am still hanging in there. It is hard to believe we are almost to 36 weeks. I am hoping this will be a quiet weekend. I have had some contractions over the last few days and checked in with my obs office this morning. They said if I have more than 6 in an hour to call. Fortunately I haven't had anything like that.

I am tired of the bed rest and hope the ob will ease up on that next week. I'll see what the doctor says next Wednesday.

Since I haven't been able to go anywhere, I've been wracking my brain to think of things to share with you for Fabulous Favorite Friday. And, I decided today might be a good day to share with two books that are big hits here at my house. The first is a book my little boy was given last year called Biscuit's Pet & Play Halloween. Biscuit is a puppy and it talks about him going out on Halloween. The cool thing about this book is that it has different things on each page for a child to touch. The first page has a furry cat and then the other pages have things like a scarecrow's scratchy straw, etc.

My sister's sister in law has been helping keep my son while I've been on bed rest, and she was so kind to bring this book as a present this week. My son LOVES Curious George and when she saw this book at Target she picked it up for him.

I love how this book has different tabs on the sides and it shows George participating in a number of different Halloween things including a Halloween party. My son has loved flipping through this book. I love the illustrations and have always been a Curious George fan too.

So, those are my two picks for this week. I hope y'all have a great weekend!

Let's talk Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to decorate and do fun things to get ready. It is nice that Halloween is at the end of the month so you can start to do things on October 1st.

Of course this year I haven't been able to do the decorating I wanted because of being on bed rest, but I have been able to work on a few cards this weekend.

This card I made by stamping the pumpkin and the Boo message onto paper. I love this ribbon. It came in a pack of ribbons I got last year in the scrapbooking section of Target.

When I make cards, I usually keep them pretty simple because I haven't graduated to the level of some card makers who can put lots of details and layers in their cards. But, I'm working on it.

If you are interested in trying to make some cards, but don't want to invest a lot of money or you want to do a cheap project with your kids,

check out Michael's crafts. The pumpkin stamp and boo stamp on the first card, and then the skull and cross bones stamp on the second card are all wooden stamps I bought for $1 at Michael's. The brand is called Studio G. They usually have these stamps for various holidays, not just Halloween.

Even if you buy Halloween cards at the store, these stamps are fun to let kids stamp on the outside of the envelopes.

The top card is actually going to be a topper for a treat bag. I'll try to post a picture of one of the finished treat bags when I put it together. Who doesn't love some good treats?

Check back tomorrow for more Halloween chatting. I've got my next doctor's appointment in the morning, so my next post might not happen until the afternoon. We've reached another milestone today, 35 weeks!

Fabulous Favorite Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Another week down and we are marching forward towards week 35 of this pregnancy. We got a good report from the ob on Wednesday. I'm still on bed rest, but I'm hopeful that if I can make it two more weeks to 36 weeks the doctor will ease up on that. He said we are taking this week by week. When they did my ultrasound on Wednesday, they were pleased with how the stitch in my cervix is holding up and the baby was responding well and the amount of fluid was good too. He is weighing approximately 5 pounds 3 ounces, so his weight was good to. Getting that good news at the appointment has really lifted my spirits. After 3 weeks of being on bed rest and house arrest, it is good to hear that what I've been doing is working. Hopefully this little guy will hang on a little bit longer.

And now for my Fabulous Favorite Friday picks. Before I went on bed rest, I saw this soda in the store and we were finally able to find it in diet (have to do that because of the gestational diabetes). But it comes in regular and diet. It is Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. I LOVE this soda. I can tell that I would like it in the regular, even though I've been drinking the diet. The diet reminds me of how Diet Dr.Pepper tastes the closest to regular Dr. Pepper.

Apparently Pepsi has this out as a seasonal soda. I highly recommend this soda. I can see this being one where it would be great as a mixed drink (think Sandra Lee and her cocktail time).

So, if you are looking for something new to try, check out Sierra Mist Free Cranberry Splash.




My second Fabulous Friday pick are these slippers from Target. I LOVE these slippers. My sweet sister sent these to me. Aren't they cute for Halloween? Before I went on bed rest, I saw them and I know they have different designs too.

Last year for Christmas my sister got me a pair for Christmas pair and I have loved them. They stretch so it is a one size fits all and they run $4.99. Also, the bottom of these say Meow that is made of a material that will keep you from slipping around in them.

If you saw my previous post this week about Booing, these would be really cute to put in a Boo bag. Or, if you plan on doing Elfing for Christmas, keep your eye out for the Christmas ones. They'd also make a great stocking stuffer for someone.


Have a great weekend. If you get either this soda or these slippers, I'd love to hear that you did and see what you think about them.

Do you Boo?

I am so excited that tomorrow begins Booing in my neighborhood. What is booing you ask? Well, we started this in my neighborhood a few years ago. There is a cute little poem and sign that you print up. Then you make up goody bags with treats and put the sign and poem/directions in the bags. You sneak over to your neighbors house at night and leave the goodies on the door. Then, they put up their "I've been Boo'd" sign so that other neighbors won't Boo them again. It is just like a chain letter and hopefully keeps spreading to everyone before Halloween gets here. It is best to start it on the first day of the month to let it have a chance to spread. Also, you have to factor in folks taking a few days to get their Boo bags together. There is also one for Christmas called Elfing. I"ll post on that closer to the end of Thanksgiving.

Just in case I went on bed rest, I had picked up some Boo goodies a few weeks ago. So, we are all set to still participate. It is so much fun to wake up and see a Boo bag on your front door. They have started selling Boo kits at Target and Hallmark in the last year. So, if you are interested, you can buy premade things, but I think it is fun to make up your own. We usually do candy and then find little toys for the Halloween bags. The Target dollar spot can be a great place to find these too.

If you do Booing, I'd love to hear from you what you do and what kind of goodies you put in your Boo bags.

Happy Haunting!