Happy Halloween

Man, that art degree sure does come in handy.

Here's the post that the grandparents have been waiting for. The girls had an absolute blast! They said "Trick-or-Treat" and "thank you" to each person. Kate didn't want to put any candy in her bag, she wanted to hold it all in her hands. Kendall cracked me up by warning me when we past every single drain thing on the road, "DON'T fall in that hole!!" or she commented on the house. "Oh, I like their blue house" or "I like their building" or "I haven't seen this one before".

Please note that this photo of Kendall cracks me up like you wouldn't believe.

This neighborhood is fabulous for trick or treating, they hand out the full size candy bars (sometimes more then one) AND we even got multiple 'tear and share' bags. Good deal. After a couple of houses I instructed Kendall on which ones were the 'good' ones so that she would pick those (ahem, Recees Peanut Butter Cups--KING SIZE!!!) There were also great things like organic fruit roll ups, Juicy Juice boxes, pretzels and whole grain goldfish. Perfection.

Finally, on the way back to the house Kendall asked me if when we got home if we could eat ALL of the candy.

At one point when I was carrying the elephant around the neighborhood Kendall asked me why she and Kate were getting so big. I told her that they were just growing up. She said, "It's because God lives in my heart" :) Christian preschool tuition officially well spent.

Movin' On Up: Furniture Addition

Look what I got today!! So excited. Now we can accessorize and hang stuff on the walls.

Formal living sofa. I LOVE this fabric. There was a huge wall of fabrics to choose from and I went directly to this one. Today I was looking through my binder of decorating ideas and found a page I had ripped out because I liked the pillows on it and they had fabric very similar to this. I'm thinking that once we get something on the walls and a rug on the floor the cream couch and off white walls wont be so obviously similar. I want to get an over sized basket to put the extra pillows in. Also, the back cushions are actually the same fabric as the couch but we also got pillow covers (shown) in the accent fabric.

Funky print chair for Family room, same chair as the 'great brown chair' but just different fabric. We will choose our accent color from here. Either the blue or green but seeing it in the room I'm leaning towards the green. I would show you a picture of the entire room except for two things 1)I want to wait until we have added wall stuff and accessories and 2) our red love seat that is going in the basement is currently pushed against the fireplace until Brian gets home to help me carry it to Man Cave in the basement. The softest fabric on a sofa that you can possibly imagine. I want to wrap up in it and sleep. It is actually a gray green color but looks more gray in this space. The cushions are so firm and perfect....LOVE it.

I have always struggled with decorating mantles and now I have TWO to arrange. At the old house I planned on arranging an assortment of black frames with matted b/w photos in them and I think that I want to hang them on the wall instead and use a more traditional mantel arrangement. Anyone have any ideas bookmarked that they can share? At one point I had found a website that you could browse different decorated rooms....but I don't remember what it was.

Note to all recent visitors. You now have to come back to see the furniture, ha. Give me a few weeks to get some accessories though.

This One....

...is 3.5 years old.

...thinks that 37 degrees and snow is not a reason to stay inside

...thinks that 6am is an acceptable wake up call

...comes into my room and plasters herself to my side to "snuggle" at that 6am wake up call.

...makes up songs all day to the tune of Twinkle Little Star or newly learned songs from school.

...realizes if she says a word incorrectly and will work on it non-stop trying to get it right.

...laughs at herself when she falls or trips.

...is having a little trouble obeying the first time I say something.

...has a slight obsession with Dora and her sister's cheeks.

...has astounded her teacher with her coloring skills.

...asks for just about everything when we're in a store (I bet my mom would say this is payback).

...is the 'big girl' but she is still such a little baby--even though her haircut makes her look 15.

Little Love

This one.

She is 20.5 months old.

She loves milk or as she calls it "Me-yul".

She isn't a fan of being kissed by her lovey big sister, possibly because she gets tackled for kisses most of the time.

She uses the word 'Mommy' for a lot of things: me, of course, and anytime she wants something..."mommy, mommy, mommy..."

She calls all Sesame Street characters Elmo.

She has a bit of a fascination with shoes. She wants them on if she sees them unless she is in the car then they have to come off immediately.

My two favorite words that she says is "Whoa" and "Kay"

She is a good sleeper.

When she wakes up she just plays in her bed quietly until I come get her.

She is badly in need of a haircut (she has a bit of a mullet)

Unlike her sister at this age she can't be trusted with crayons because they go into her mouth and she can't be trusted with books because she rips them.

In other news, this made me a little sad but also happy to be so missed.

Crafty and Furniture

We had a pretty rough day here. Kate had all her shots yesterday and today she wasn't feeling well so was especially grumpy. Kendall just took her cue from Kate and decided that she would be the same way. They didn't play nicely together at all and we just seem to have the longest day ever.

On a more positive note:

Our furniture is scheduled to arrive on Thursday....whooo hooooo, unbelievably excited! And I'm really looking forward to having Lorie and Dani here too!

Loving this messy desk right now. I've said it before but I love a messy desk because it means that I've found time to be crafty and make something. If you read the Ali Edwards blog you have heard about her December Daily project (see hers by clicking on the link in the right sidebar). The idea is to make a simple album with one page for each day of the month of December and then at the end of each day slap a photo and some journaling on that page. You can capture a month of blessings and time with family fairly easily...especially if you have your own photo printer...hint hint (to my hunky hubby).

Here is what I have so far. Its a transparent album (Scrapworks size 8x8). Let me know if you have a question about any one specific product and I'll try to figure out what it is. I usually don't keep that information which is one of the main reasons I don't submit my stuff for publications (well, that and an aversion to rejection, ha).

Fun Fun Fun and some not so fun.

Jenn and Justin weren't here for very long but we were able to cram a lot of fun in during their visit. Kendall loves them so much and Kate was really quick to go to both of them too! They are so great with the girls, reading, play-dohing, and carving pumpkins. They brought wine and juice from their winery visit--so yummy.

On Sunday Gram, Lin, Jill and Jeff all came over for a nice visit. Kendall always had fun goofing off with her Uncle Jeff and they were all such easy company--they brought all the food with them!!! It was great to sit around and chat with all of them.

On Friday Lorie and Dani arrive for a visit, I seriously can not wait. I love having all these visitors!

The not so fun part is that Kate had her 18 month shots (delayed because of the move) and both girls got their flu shots today. I get mine tomorrow. It was an exhausting doctors visit. The girls are both napping now (hopefully for a long time) and I am doing nothing productive! I need a little break :)

The B-I-B-L-E

Kendall had a little show at school today. Kate and I went to watch all the singing. They were adorable and Kate was enthralled. Yes, I gave Kate her paci, it was the best way to ensure silence during the performance although even that didn't stop the "Den-DALL" yelling that occured.

Just Living

We're just busy living life here. My awesome friend, Karin, came for a visit this week. I just got home from dropping her off at the airport. We had so much fun checking out little shops around here, watching girl movies, and being crafty (pictures to come later). I miss having her close by!

I picked up this fabulous fabric while she was here but I have to decide what to do with it! I don't want to put it away since I like to look at it so much, it is just sitting out on my desk for awhile.

Kendall had Occupation Day at school yesterday. Our dress up clothes run from Princess to Fairy Princess so the pickins were slim. Karin had the fabulous idea of mail carrier so I made a fast little patch for her sweater and a bag and she was good to go with a bunch of envelopes.

Jenn and Justin (or to us, "The Fuji's")are coming tomorrow, we can't wait. Kendall loves them so much and is really looking forward to seeing them. We don't have big plans, we are just going to grill food and drink wine (they are going to a bunch of wineries before they get here) and hang out together. They are one of my favorite couples in the 'whole wide world' so I can't wait for them to get here :)

Well, better get back to cleaning up before the little ladies wake up!