I ran across this blog post featuring fun Halloween-themed meal ideas. Pretty cool....but I think my regular cooking is scary enough.

I love candles. Love them, love them, love them. But with two small children in the house and a husband who complains that most of my candles stink, I rarely get the enjoyment and relaxation of burning candles in the house. This Fall I bought a new scent for our house - and guess what? Mark didn't complain about the smell! He actually liked it! So since that rarely happens, I deemed it blog-worthy. My new favorite Fall candle scent?

What a fabulous day! My baby boy turned two-years-old today! He is such a sweetheart - and I absolutely can't believe he's two! When you ask him how old he is now, he still sometimes says "1" but he holds both index fingers forward, pointing them at you while he says it. Adorable. He had so much fun opening his gifts this morning...and again tonight when Grandma & Grandpa came over for dinner/cake. He LOVED the rubber "nake" his sister Lauren picked out for him, adored the Hot Wheels and the Tonka garbage truck from Grandma & Grandpa. He also received a bike/helmet and a cool ESPN baseball bat/ball toy. Oh - and a small dino. All of his favorite things!

I also decided to make his cake this year..and I'm happy to report it turned out ok. Grant really liked that it was a train - so I was so happy I made the extra effort. He is such a funny little boy. SO active, SO loving and SO tender - I just love him so much!

THEN...this afternoon while the kids napped, Mark ran an errand. He returned with THIS! Can you believe how sweet he is?! I had been trying to learn to applique with the machine my Mom gave me...but it wasn't working. I thought it was my lack of skill (a good bet) but it turns out it had several problems, including the timing, a broken doo-hickey and something else..anyway - not worth fixing. Now maybe I can get back on-track chasing my dream of opening my own Etsy store and making a little extra money!

I'm anxious to get through volunteering at preschool tomorrow and dr. appointments for everyone on Tuesday so I can sit down and figure out my new machine! So excited!

Oh, and Saturday night was Bailey's first Homecoming dance, which I am not allowed to talk about. She looked BEAUTIFUL! I am not supposed to post any pictures.. Oops.

Who ARE these mothers?! And can I please get the name of the perscription they are taking? Wow. These are SANDWICHES, people! SANDWICHES!

I was going to order a birthday cake for Grant today while I was birthday-shopping....but then I stumbled on this at Wal-Mart and I was hooked.

I have little faith in my ability to pull it off, but it never stops me from trying. I THINK if I fail horribly I'll still have time to order a cake. Cross your fingers!

But as excited as I am to make Grant's "choo-choo" cake for his 2nd birthday, I am bummed that I didn't see this idea before now. Have you ever seen anything so cute in your whole life?! It makes me want to be that person that throws a party for no particular reason...just so I can make this stuff! What do you think? Play date extraordinaire? Maybe this winter when I'm going stir-crazy in the house. We'll see. Thanks to Hostess With The Mostess for sharing such cute ideas on her blog!

Hola! It's the weekend and there's LOTS to do! Mark & Bailey are headed off to the Latino Festival where Spongebob is making an appearance. Or is that Spongeroberto? I guess Dora and Diego were used in the past and that pretty much takes care of Latino cartoon characters I guess. I'm not sure if it is required for Bailey's Spanish class or extra credit - but either way, they're going.

Meanwhile, on the homefront, I will be taking the kids with me to run errands (on a Saturday - yuck!). I'll be stopping HERE to see what Cricut cartridges they still have left (all on sale for $39.99 - that's half-off folks!) Then off to THIS STORE for some fabric. Holy cow! I sound like I am actually domestic or something! I'm not...but I'm determined to find something I can make that doesn't require sewing, knitting or anything else involving skill. I want to open my own shop on HERE and make some money! It's a long-shot....but I'm going to try. Then it's off to the dreaded Wal-Mart for a few groceries and new pillows. I am having heart palpitations just thinking about that place on a Saturday! God be with me! And finally I have a couple returns to make HERE and HERE.

Then it will be time to come home and clean. I can't avoid it any longer this week. Vacuuming, counter-cleaning (I know they are under there somewhere), bathrooms (ugh - Wal-Mart AND Bathrooms in the same day?!) and the kitchen floor....and of course, laundry.

I also HAVE to spend some time thinking through G's 2nd birthday too. It is in 8 days! My baby will be TWO! So, how to combine choo-choos, dinos, sharks and snakes (all of his favorite things) into a party theme. Hmmm.
It's a big agenda with 2 kids....wish me luck!

A childhood and college friend of mine posted this Youtube video of herself painting. It's kinda fun knowing someone so talented! Here it is....Laurie Maves Art...

Happy Labor Day! We enjoyed our long weekend at home this year. Lots of relaxation, playing with the kids, selecting a new chair/ottoman from the furniture store (I chose a stripe...and I'm worried to death that I'm not going to like it when I see it on an actual chair instead of just the sample fabric. Crossing my fingers though!)

I enjoyed a lunch alone with my husband, several trips to Menards...where I did NOT save big money, painted the mud room "smoky purple," avoided laundry and other much-needed cleaning, worked my last scheduled shift in the nursery (moving to the sub list - yea!) and then took the kiddles on an impromptu photo shoot. I'm definitely NOT a professional, but I don't think I did too bad with my little digital camera. I'm now really wanting a bigger/better one though because there were a lot of good shots I missed. I want a camera that lets you hold down the button and it will click, click, click away without a delay in-between shots.

Here's a slideshow of all the pics I took...they aren't all good...but all-in-all...not too bad I think.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I really hope Grant's phase of throwing things away ends soon. I looked in there today and found a couple crayons and dog toys. I wonder how many things have been thrown away without us even noticing? Of course he never throws actual GARBAGE in there...always things like toys, remotes, phones, pens....ugh. Now...where did I put those keys....

Big to-do list this weekend! The weather is supposed to be nice again, so I want to take advantage and get out there and get to work! I have plants to move and plants to throw away (oops..guess watering them daily helps). I also want to paint the mud room (that little B**** Maggie...she's chewed the wall TWICE now! The second time JUST as my drywall mud was almost dry). I want to repair driveway/sidewalk cracks, fix the holes I made yesterday in Lauren's wall while I was installing her curtain rod. It is NOT a job for one person, people. I should have waited for help...but a girl can only wait so many days for help before she goes crazy and tries to do it herself! I also need to clean out the van, catch up on laundry, clean up the basement, get a shade/blind/something hung over the kitchen window...that afternoon sun drives me NUTS while I"m trying to make dinner.

I also hope to do something fun with the fam...but not sure what or where or when.

Hope all of you (yep - all 3 of you) have a great Labor Day weekend!!!