Delightful Quote of the Day

Quote #1:

One of the funniest and grossed moments of my life happened just now... My 2 year old Jonah just snuck up behind me while I was laying on the couch and put a banana peel right on my FACE while screaming "Rrraaaaaarr, its an octopus!"

Quote #2:


Jonah starts kissing me with big, opened mouth slobbery kisses. He keeps kissing me and kissing me until I can't stop laughing. He then abruptly stops, looks at me and says, "You're not a frog." This is a reference to his favorite movie "The Princess and Frog" or what he likes to call "Tiana." I do LOVE those slobbery kisses! 

It's Getting Spooky Around Here...

 Happy Halloween! This is one of my most favorite times of the year. I just love all things spooky, then add in carnivals and pumpkin carving and pumpkin breads and cakes...it is just too fun. In previous years, my Halloween decorations definitely didn't reflect my love of this holiday. They were cheap, mismatched, and just plain boring. This year, I found all the Halloween stuff I wanted for the house and the yard and the bill added up to around...gulp...$400! Now that is scary! So, I set out to see if I could do a lot of it on the cheap. And I think I did pretty good!

 The mantle consists of these less expensive items:
2 black vases- Ikea for $2 each
Candlesticks- Savers for $2 each
Vases, spider web, frame, black cheese cloth and rave- Dollar Tree for $1 each
Moss- WalMart for $3
Pumpkins- grocery store for less than $5
Bunting banner- Pottery Barn for $25

The only craft/DIY is the date sign. I found an outdated piece of art with an oval frame from Savers (a thrift store) and painted the whole thing with chalkboard spray paint, and then wrote the date with a chalk pen.

Here are some other fun finds around our house this Halloween:

Two adorable plates from Target for $1.79 each that I attached to the wall with Command Strips.

A ghost pillow from Target for $10 with four ghosts- one for each member of the family!

And the outside of the house is all spooked out too! Take a peek...

Delightful Quote of the Day

Quote #1

I am sweeping the floor. Annalise walks around scanning the different dust piles. She picks up a piece of cereal out of the dust pile! Mortified I yell:

Me:        "Don't eat that! That's trash!"
Annalise:  Puts the cereal in her mouth..."Mmmm, I like to eat trash..." rubs her tummy "trash is gooooood."

Quote #2

Annalise:  "Mommy, you are such a good Mommy. You talk to me about my problems and my feelings."

Awww, love to hear stuff like that!

Jonah's Bug Birthday!

My little Jonah has turned 2! We celebrated by throwing a bug birthday party. When springtime made it's appearance earlier this year, I noticed Jonah loved watching the ants and other creep crawly things scurry across the ground outside, and it got me thinking he would love a bug themed birthday! Here is how it turned out:

The dessert table

Cupcakes popping out of little terracotta pots painted in the
party colors with craft paint 

Dirt Cake made with rice krispies treats formed into a mound, frosted with chocolate frosting
and covered in Oreo crumbs

After a bit to eat, we started the activities! First worm wrangling. The kids all donned their worm wrangling hats and searched for worms in a box of dirt:

Then the kids went on a bug hunt for plastic bugs hid around the yard. They were each equipped with a bug kit for the task:

Next came presents and cake:

We ended the night with a release of about 500 ladybugs! They crawled all over us and most of us absolutely loved it (with the exception of Jonah who liked to look more than touch!)

And of course, every party needs a hiccup right? Well after all the guest left, my kids found the bubble machine I had bought for the party. I totally forgot about it. Dang! It was SO fun, too bad we couldn't have shared it with the other kids!

Umm, Annalise- I think that's for snowflakes, not bubbles!

We had a great time celebrating my Little Guy's big day and loved all the people we got to share it with (who aren't pictured here because who likes their picture posted on the internet without their permission).

Happy Birthday Jonah! We love you!

Party Supply Sources:

Party Decoration Printables- totfulmemories at Etsy

Terracotta pots- Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004L0DU7U/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00

Vases and cake stands- spray painted glass items I had on hand from Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree

Live worms and ladybugs- bought from local plant nursery

Plastic bugs- Dollar Tree

Hats- Dollar Tree

Bug Kits- Dollar Tree

Bubble Machine- Wal-Mart

Cupcakes and Sugar Cookies- baked with love by Me!

New Mom Gift After New Baby

I have been searching for a fun, thoughtful, reasonably priced gift I could bring to New Mom's in my neighborhood or circle of friends after they have a baby. It feels like Moms get so many new things for the baby, but hardly anything just for them.

I came up with this gift bag in the theme of a prescription (the way the pharmacy always gives you your meds in a white bag with instructions stapled to the front). The paper stapled to the bag is in the form of a prescription pad. The bag includes- a bag of microwave popcorn, a bar of really good chocolate, bath salts, suckers and a onesie for the baby.

I blurred out the personal info on the bag, but here is a close up with the personal info taken out:

The great thing is you can make up a bunch of bags at once with all the elements except the "Rx pad" info. Then there is no stress trying to find a gift for a New Mom you care about when the time comes. A meal or freezer meal makes a great addition too!

Delightful Quote of the Day

While driving in the car in total silence...

Annalise:     "Mommy, I want to be a giant."
Me:            "You do? Why's that?"
Annalise     "Because giants have magic beans and grow big bean-stocks and live in the clouds."

At first, I was totally amused, but on second thought, that actually does sound kinda nice :)

Cupcakes for Kaleb

About a month ago I heard the story about a 9 year old boy in our community who was fighting a long battle with cancer. He is so brave and his story moved me so much that I wanted to be a part of of a fundraiser held for him last weekend. So I did what I do best, made cupcakes!

About a year and a half ago I started a small catering company doing cupcakes and cookies for events. I loved it and business was rolling in, but my kids were very small (18 months and newborn) and they would cry when I would bring out the mixer because they knew Mommy would be occupied for awhile. I knew I couldn't be the best Mom I could be while doing this so I made the painful decision to quit.

When I heard about Kaleb, I wanted to do something and since everyone loves cupcakes, I made some and brought them to the fundraiser. His favorite colors are navy, white and orange. I had so much fun making these for Kaleb and think he is an amazing kid!