halloween

It's Fall, I'm obsessed with Pinterest, and I'm not afraid to copy a good idea from someone smarter than I am.

inspiration source

...So that's what I did.

 A lot.

inspiration source.

A whole lot.

inspiration source

These guys, however, are total originals.

Happy Halloween!

the 4th

Independence Day is such a fun and happy holiday. I just adore it. 

And, after moving to our new home, we discovered that we can see our town's fireworks display from our cove. 

Stop. It.

To quote the star of my new favorite train-wreck of a show to watch... 

It was "pearrrfect".

So - we invited a few friends and my parents to join us for an impromptu gathering at our house. 

If you know me, you know that I'm pretty much an impromptu kind of gal. 

Some of my friends are impromptu kind of folks like me, and others prefer - and need - time to plan things a little more; a fact that may have contributed to making our gathering of friends much more "intimate" than it would have been had I given my friends a bit more notice.
Noted.
 

There are those that may argue that a small gathering of friends and family does not an official "party" make, but I consider any time that I can be with the people I love a reason to celebrate. 

And decorate. 

The week before the 4th, the kiddos made rockets to hang on our chandelier (idea from alphamom)

And I brought out the cookie cutter star garland Avery made last year.

I added a little something to our mantle.

 

But as the 4th approached, it was clear that the screened-in porch could not - and should not - be ignored. It would definitely be the center of all the action, and must be pretty.

Because, as my friend Sonya says, "pretty is important."

 

 Despite all the important prettiness, it was the food that was the true the star of the show - at least until the fireworks started.

Ok - so take a quick look at the cupcakes in the next photo.

Those were the 4 cupcakes that my mom brought.
Four.
Quatro.
To be divided among approximately one million children.

In her defense, she only brought them because they were left over from another event. She brought them to our house for my kids but I decided that we should stick them on the cake plate. Because pretty is important.
Not my best idea.

Can I just say that every child there was obsessed with those cupcakes?
Obsessed.
I think we told them 100 times that they would have to wait until after dinner to even think about touching those cupcakes.
At least 100 times.
And when dinner was finally over, each child got 1/2 of one.

Mental note: make lots of cupcakes next year. And don't bring them out until AFTER dinner.

The kids played super hard outside all night. Our neighbors, cousins, and friends made quite a scene in our quiet little cove.

Avery and our neighbor - "little" chris.
Isn't he too cute?
Avery just loves bossing him around. And having him do her bidding.
Oh goodness.

 

Before the fireworks started, we made a little food craft from an idea I found online.

While Avery loved it, Charlie ignored it.

Because it involved bananas. 

I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the world he thinks is more unappetizing than bananas.

 Our little friend Carter took her work quite seriously.

 And Spencer was just...cute. As usual.

 

The finished product!

I've decided that the 4th may be my favorite holiday of the year. And I can't wait to do it again next year.

Ok, Dear, Sweet, Planning Friends: consider that your official notice.
One year in advance.

sweet hearts.

 

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, Avery and I decided to make Rice Krispie Treats for her friends at school.

Avery's been watching a lot of Food Network shows lately. Her favorites are Cake Boss and The Barefoot Contessa. She's also a big fan of The Neely's.

Recently, I left her playing games on Sprout Online. When I went to check on her a few moments later, I noticed that she had accidentally maneuvered her way to You Tube and was watching an instructional birthday cake video. When I asked her what she was watching she said, "Mom...Look at this. We've GOT to make one of these."

To which I responded with something vague and cryptic I think like, "Oh. Wow. That's really cool. We'll have to see."
What I was actually thinking was, "Riiiiiight... cause I totally want to spent 4 hours making a ridiculously detailed firetruck cake for no reason at all...I'll be sure to get right to that."

With Avery's new found culinary love in mind, you can imagine how seriously excited she was when I explained what I had in mind for her friend's Valentine Treats.

While Avery and I stirred away, Charlie decided to do his part to by providing a little background music.

 I'm not sure my ear drums will recover.
Thank goodness he's cute.
It helps.
A lot.

As all projects do, the excitement wore off after approximately 2 minutes.
It was up to mommy to finish up.

 Later, we prepared Avery's Valentine cards for her friends. Her fine motor skills are really progressing these days. She worked very hard to write her name herself. For about 2 minutes.

Then... Mommy finished up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

o-h-i-o

We have a house in another state.

I like to pretend that it's my Vacation house.

Only it's not. It's totally not.

It's our house.

That we still own.

3 1/2 years after we moved out.

ugh.

We have some really great renters in our house, but we decided that it was probably time to drive on up to Ohio to meet up with them and check out the condition of the house.

So - we headed out for the excruciatingly long drive last Thursday after preschool.

 All I have to say is, "Thank you God for portable DVD players."

And Diego.

The drive was totally exhausting...as we expected. But at least nobody puked. Before this trip, we were at 2-0 with the puking-in-the-car-business. This trip makes the score 2-1... so, goody for that!

Based on my previous adventures in the puke-mobile, I thought I'd offer a word or two of traveling advice: 

Always, always, always travel with a large towel in the car.

Always.

And be ready to grab a pair of spare clothes at a moment's notice.

And a bra.

And it's a good idea to have a couple of trash bags on hand.

And try not to be in the middle of a meal at CRACKER BARREL when your kid gets sick.

Because that really stinks.

Literally.

We made it - finally - and spent the next day doing a few of the things we loved about the city where Avery was born.

We went to visit the sweet, sweet school where I taught 1st grade for a few years to say "hello" to friends. Afterward, we went shopping in our favorite outdoor mall.

Avery requested a photo by the fountain. Where she posed. Of course.

The next day, we headed out to the COUNTRY LIVING FAIR.

Don't think I didn't plan this trip around it.

Because I totally did.

 Look at these cute little guys....

 Avery and Charlie loved them.

The weather was amazing and the vendors were so great.

I've decided that I have to go again next year...but not to the one in Ohio. Because the drive is murder.

The Fair, however, was awesome.

Of course, I saw a million things I would have loved to purchase, but the checkbook (and the fact that we're on track to call this guy next month and tell him that we're DEBT FREE) kept me from owning most of them.

I did get to buy a few little things though, and had a really great time looking around.

 After the Fair, we took the kiddos to our favorite ice cream store in Columbus...

It did not disappoint.

So yummy.

That night, we met with our Renters - who are totally fantastic.

I was so nervous to see our house again.

I worried that it wouldn't look the same... worried that I would be flooded with memories of happy times...worried that I would feel sad that we can't live in it.

But everything was great.

Our house looked amazing... the Renters love living there... they have a sweet, happy family...the house is full of love...

I couldn't have been more pleased...or more grateful.

Our meeting reminded me of God's promise from His Word that He will supply all of our needs.

He always does.

He always will.

He is so good to us.

The next day, we went to our favorite breakfast place in Columbus.

It was pretty packed, so David and I had to work our buns off to keep Avery and Charlie occupied while we waited for our breakfast.

Crayons help, but never really hold them off for more than 3.5 minutes.

Usually, singing and being silly will buy us some time -

It typically costs me my pride and the little bit of coolness that I have left, but it works. 

 

Avery chose the pancakes with whipped cream on top.

With the emphasis on the whipped cream.

 Then we decided to bust out the "building blocks".

Thankfully, the food came just before the major meltdowns commenced.

Avery got her whipped cream...and LOTS of it.

All was right with the world.

Until Charlie started throwing his pancakes.

Eating out with kids is never quite as fun as you think it will be, is it?

We did some more shopping before heading home on Monday morning.

On the way home, Avery helped David clean the windows.

 She did a pretty good job.

If the whole preschool thing doesn't work out for her, she'd definitely have a back-up gig.

 We took a break for dinner at Loveless Cafe in Nashville.

I love that place.

If you're ever in Nashville, you have to go there.

 Avery and Charlie really loved the gift shop.

And the guitar shaped fly swatters.

Can you tell that daddy plays guitar?

It took us 11 hours to get back home from Columbus.

For the record: It's NOT an 11 hour drive.

I've never been so happy to get out of the car.

But nobody puked... so I'd say the trip was a huge success.