Anna's 8 & A New Calling

I'm so far behind on our blog but I've been living in a candy-induced euphoria this past little while that it doesn't seem to be bothering me much. I can say this about Alabama...they sure are a social bunch! We have been party-going, candy-eating, costume-wearing maniacs for the last week. And loving every minute of it.

The highlight this week was Anna's 8th birthday. I showed up at her school and delivered cupcakes to her class (chocolate self-filled cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a gumball), we went to Bass Pro Shop for dinner and gator meat (I kid you not...that's what she picked), and opened her presents. Anna is such a wonderful little girl. My favorite thing about Anna right now is her willingness to always be a helper. It doesn't matter what you need done, if you ask her, she will do it. She is so kind and patient with Josh...she is a wonderful sister and daughter. She is a delight and we are so happy to have her as part of our family. She has decided to be baptized and we will be doing it over Thanksgiving while the Grandmas are here.

(This is Anna at about 2 and a half years. Notice she's holding a much healthier looking bunny.)

My days of attending Sunday school and relief society are over! Again. I was called about 3 weeks ago to be a primary worker...teaching the CTR 4s (4-5 year olds). I pretty flattered because they gave me another little person class, so I must not have too badly screwed up the 2 years of Sunbeams I taught in Washington. You know, it really is the place to be. I love these kids already and it helps my testimony grow every time I teach these precious little ones.

One last thing. I found this great Halloween snack mix here and thought it was a great alternative to candy for my primary children this year. I love the Halloween colors!

Have a great week everyone!

Loot

The only thing better than "trunk-or-treating" is stealing your kids' Halloween bounty after they go to bed.

Nice.

Pumpkin Patch & Josh Love

Today was awesome. I got to go to the pumpkin patch with Joshua's preschool class! We went on a hayride, picked out a pumpkin, went on bouncy slides (okay, I just watched...those things were TALL), played in hay and had a treat. Such a beautiful, perfect day...lots of sunshine and just cool enough for jackets. And it was fun, FUN to spend some time with Josh.
On our way up to the pumpkin patch, it was just Josh and I in the car. Out of the blue, he says, "I so love you, Mommy." (As an aside, I'm sure he does, but I think the excitement of going to the pumpkin patch probably had something to do with the outburst). I answered him back, like I always do,

Me: "I so love you, Josh."

Josh: "No, I love you more."

Me: "No, I love YOU more."

Josh: "Mommy, I love you to infinity and beyond."

That's what my dad would always say to us. Coming out of Josh's sweet little mouth, it was music to my ears. And I know a grandpa who must be whispering it in Josh's ear while he sleeps...

Giveaway at Beautiful Nest

I am a true believer in Gooseberry Patch. LOVE their recipes and cute Holiday ideas. So I was quick to jump on the giveaway bandwagon when I saw that Jenni over at Beautiful Nest is giving two lucky readers a copy of Gooseberry Patch's Christmas recipes/idea booklet.

So go here. If you win, send it to me. Got it? GO NOW.

Have a good day!

Trick or Treat Pillow *LOVE*

About two weeks ago, I came across the cutest idea while blog-hopping. These trick or treat pillows are made with painting drop cloth canvas, stencils and spray paint. Seriously. I got a little obsessed and made a set for myself and have been churning around ideas in my mind for other ways to use this same technique. Here is Jessica's tutorial on how to make these darling pillows. Since I don't have a Cricut, I used Martha Stewart adhesive stencil paper (from Michael's), traced and then cut out the letters to make my own stencil. A little more work, but they are so cute and a great addition to Halloween at our house!

I also finally used this great orange Aber-crombie & Fitch wool sweater I found at Goodwill and felted to make this sweet little pumpkin pillow. I loved the cream pattern along the bottom of the sweater...

Have a great week!!

How to Give a Mom a Heart Attack 101

While I was out running some errands this morning, I got an automated phone call from Anna's school. It simply said that she was absent today and would I kindly send in a written excuse explaining the reason for her absence when she comes back. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that I put Anna on the bus myself this morning. And if she wasn't at school, where was she??

I ran to the car and drove down to the school, trying not to panic. I calmly walked into the office and told them why I was there...that my daughter was marked absent, but I had put her on the bus this morning. First, they wouldn't say a word until they had seen my ID card and made sure that I was on the "authorized" list of people that were allowed information about Anna. The list that I personally filled out. Then they called down to her classroom and talked to her teacher (but they wouldn't let me talk to her) and she confirmed that Anna was in class...her bus had just arrived late and they has already recorded attendance for the day. I only felt marginally better. I kind of got short with the secretaries and told them I WASN'T LEAVING UNTIL I ACTUALLY SAW HER. So they called Anna's teacher back and told her to send Anna down to the office. About 20 seconds later, Anna comes bounding around the corner and into the office. I couldn't get her in my arms quickly enough. I quickly told her what had happened and why I was worried.

She looked up at me with her brown eyes and said, "Hey mom, can I have some gum?"

I'd have given her about anything right then. Thank goodness she only wanted gum.

Treats!

These are some of the Halloween goodies I made for a little "soiree" last night (more to come...). Skeleton cookies. How cute are these?? I don't remember how I got there, but Family Fun magazine had this darling idea on their website. I love how they used cookie cutters that just about everyone already has in their collection in a new way. They made their cookies out of gingerbread but we decided to do sugar cookies with black frosting and white bones. Spooky!

Dripping with Halloween Fun!

**UPDATED!!** If you don't want to buy labels, Martha Stewart does have some printable labels on her website here! A couple are specifically for gin and vodka (YIKES!), but there are a couple that would work for visiting teaching gifts. She also has some cute candy labels here. I {heart} Martha. Seriously.**

I was at Michael's a couple weeks ago and found these great Martha Stewart beverage labels in their Halloween section of paper crafts and KNEW they were just what I needed for October visiting teaching!! I think there are 12 labels in the package for about $10 and I used a off 40% coupon. They are even cheaper here. Then I went shopping for some great glass bottles. There were quite a few cream soda bottle options (no alcohol, no caffeine) but I needed a smooth bottle without too much embossed lettering in the glass. I found these Virgil's brand bottles that were perfect...just used some Goo-Gone on the bottle labels, peeled them off, and washed the bottles. But the key was to find an awesome color cream soda. And since to wanted to use the cyanide and blood labels, I used black cherry flavor...it looks an awful lot like blood.

Add a tag ("Hope your Halloween is dripping with fun!") with a spider punch and some webbing and off we go!

I {heart} Alabama!

Just another reason I love the South.

The stuff THEY think is junk, I think is awesome.

I went to an antique and flea market in downtown Prattville on Friday after I dropped Josh off at school, really with no expectations. Oh.My.Gosh. This is just one of the treasures I picked up. A little antique green weathered bench. For $18.

Junk? I think not.