Pumpkin Bowling

Tomorrow we are going to our bi-weekly playgroup and we're having a "harvest festival". I said I'd bring stuff along for pumpkin bowling. I just lined some clear plastic cups with orange construction paper and colored on faces with permanent marker. We'll use mini-pumpkins for the bowling balls. It should be fun!

Handmade Happy Fall Y'all

It's windy outside...I would say it's considered "blustery". I am seeing leaves changing colors (finally!) and dropping from the trees. Favorite time of year, love it, love it!! I'm making small changes inside to reflect the big changes I'm seeing outside. Cute fall touches, makes it feel fun and festive. Here are some "handmade" decorations we're using this year.

Tray Sheik

I had this silver frame that was really nice and HEAVY, but the backing was broken. I was going to buy a easel for it. Cleaning out my room this past weekend, I came across that frame and while dusting it off I had an idea. I took a inspirational quote off my wall that was in a frame I didn't really like and put the matted quote into the broken picture frame.

Now I have a "tray" for the top of my dresser. I was going to buy a tray, but now I don't have to! Once again, didn't cost me a dime.

Givin' It Style

I got this cute little plaque from a local shop, love the saying! It was under $10, and while it was cute as is I wanted to give it a bit more substance. I took an old frame I was no longer using and popped out the glass. I then covered the cardboard backer in cute scrapbook paper and replaced it in the frame. Added a nail in the center, hung the plaque and viola! Don't you think it adds more character? And it cost nothing additional, just used stuff I already had.

Harvesting Pumpkins

Some pictures from our annual trip to the harvest festival to pick out our pumpkins. I always try to get some cute pictures of the kids, fall is my favorite season and it's a fun way to kick it off. However this year the kids wern't particularly cooperative, but there is still a few cute shots. I think the picture of DD with the trees in the background is my favorite.

Enjoy Them

They are growing...fast. Oldest is six, middle is four and youngest is 2. I've been realizing lately that this time is going quickly. I have them all the time, I take it for granted. I see them everyday all day, so sometimes it takes me longer to realize they are bigger. That face is looking older. That voice is changing just a bit. More words are being added to the vocabulary. When all three of them are together and I can see those little stair stepped heads it really is starting to dawn on me. I'm gonna miss it when it's gone. Yes, even the fighting. The crying. The "give it back!!!". I'm going to miss the cuddling on the couch with book after book. Hearing, "Mommy pick me up, Mommy play with me, Mommy cuddle with me, Mommy hug me". Soon enough I'm gonna drive them nuts and they won't want to be in the same room with me, let alone hug me. I am SO blessed, beyond belief that I am able to spend so much time with them. It's not a burden...it's a blessing and I am realizing how much it is true.

Kid's Kooky Questions

DS#1 is six. He knows that Christmas is around the bend. The "Gimme Gimme's" are starting to rear their ugly, greedy little heads. We try and instill the value of "Giving is better than recieving", but when your six those are hard words to swallow. Case in point, my son's question to me today. "Mom, when you go to prison and we lose our house and they send me to live in a poor country, can I get a Christmas child shoebox then?" "No", was my reply. "Why not?!?" he asks, totally shocked that I said no. "Because, I don't plan on going to prison." Where do they come up with this stuff?

For anyone interested, "Operation Christmas Child" is an awesome relief program that delivers shoeboxes full of treats to underprivillaged children around the globe. You can find out more about them here: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

Rockin' Rummage Sale

Last weekend my Momma came up to visit me for the weekend. We hit my "sale of the year" as I like to call it. A local church puts on a huge rummage sale every year, and it's my secondhand nirvana. I've found SO many awesome things there, I can't even begin to recall them all. This year was no exception. Tables filled with doohickeys, dust collectors, greeting cards by the stack for 50 cents each and junk as far as the eye could see.

I bought the cutest NWT (new with tags for those of you "not in the know") bumblebee jacket that DS#2 will use for his "happy harvest" costume for 50 cents. Gymboree complete outfits for my daughter for $1. Easy Spirit leather dress pumps for me for $1. Work casual dress shirts for my hubby in his hard to find size for 50 cents each. Curriculum for the kids for 50 cents a piece, including this gem http://www.schoolmadesimple.com/tour/pages/ready2.htm for 50 cents (that would have cost me a minimum of $20 plus shipping).

Much more than that was bought that day, I won't bore you with all the details. I spent $25 in all and came home with several full bags. Digging through piles and groupings and piles, pulling out treasures for my family. Thank you Lord for placing items there that met our needs. Thank you for rummage sales, and for the churches and organizations that run them.