Trick or Treat!

Well all four of my kids are dressed and off to trick or treat. Rachel & Caleb's dad came by to join us walking around with the kids. So I decided why not let David & Larry take the four of them out & I would stay home for trick or treaters. I am so excited to be able to stay here, cook dinner, sit on the computer, & check out all the costumes as the kids come by for candy.

I just love Halloween!

Here are some shots of the kids before they went out.

Caleb as predator & Connor as a skeleton

Rachel as Medusa & Kailey as a Princess

all four of my little monsters ready to go out for candy!

David brought his camera so hopefully he will get some more great shots of them as they spook around the neighborhood.

We have had about a dozen little kids so far. The costumes have been really great so far. We had one kid dressed as a skydiver with his open parachute dragging behind....really cute. We had a great pirate Jack Sparrow too. Can't wait to see what else comes by.

Hope you all have a great Halloween!

Carving out some good times!

Well we spent the night carving & decorating pumpkins. It was fun & the kids were really into it.
Kailey, Caleb, & Rachel used these plastic pieces that stick into the pumpkins to make some really funny faces.

Then Rachel & I carved out this one...


I think they all came out great.

I just need to vent a bit at the end of this post. If you look back a few posts you will see these great tombstones that Rachel made as decorations for the front yard. She put so much thought & work into them. Well yesterday some little boy walking through the neighborhood deliberately broke one of them into pieces. My daughter Kailey saw him doing it. His grandmother was walking with him and was unable to stop him soon enough. I just was so upset that someone would do something like that. I was able to fix it with a hot glue gun. Rachel took it well & says it just looks more authentic like a cracked piece of stone. I am still a bit upset. Kailey didn't know who he was or I may have been tempted to go talk to his parents. I just can't imagine letting my child get away with that kind of behavior. I feel she should have made him come over & at least apologize. Just my opinion.

Just one more day...

& it is Halloween!!

I am just so excited. It is one of my favorite holidays. I have more fun than my kids I think.

Today I was blog strolling when I wandered over to Cheryl Wray's blog. Definitely go check out her blog...there is some really fun stuff over there. She had such a cute comment & share for Halloween that i just had to post it here.

So...how about joining in some quick Halloween Fun for our comment-and-share-time today. If you are so inclined, answer these in my comments section or let us know that you're posting the answers on your own blog.

* Are you dressing up this Halloween? (I always at least put on a witches hat or something to take the kids out.)

* If you have kids, are they dressing up? (Yep...I will have Medusa, a princess, a scary skeleton, & predator...check back after tomorrow for those photos!)

* Do you have memories of a specific costume from your childhood? (My mom always made me such cool stuff when I was little. it was all pretty great. I remember in high school a group of us girls got dressed up as the seven dwarfs & we got this big football player to be Snow White... it was really funny!)

* If you could have any candy put in your Halloween basket, what would it be? (I always love the tootsie pops & clark bars...yum!!)

* Fill in the blank: "Trick or treat ___________________." (I really only know the silly smell my feet one...lol...but I would love to hear what others you all come up with!)

Hope you are having a great day & have fun getting ready for tomorrow!!

Boo!

Well we finally finished up our decorating for Halloween. We pulled out all the boxes from the basement & figured out what we wanted out there. It took about 2 hours to get everything all set up.

Here is our front door.

The little ghost & the rock have motion detectors & make noises & things when you get to the door.

Our spooky skeleton trying to escape his grave

Our little ghost who flies through the air when he hears a noise

Ray up in the tree after helping to tie the string for our flying ghost buddy

It is always so much trouble decorating for Halloween. I always think to myself, "why do I do this every year??" Then when I am done & the kids come out & ooh & ahh & say, "how cool!" I remember why I do go through all the trouble.

Plus this year I had a big helper. Rachel was really into the Halloween spirit this year. You can tell she is totally my kid.

Getting Ready For Fall

It has been such a strange fall season for me. It just doesn't seem right to be pumpkin picking, going on hay rides, & decorating for Halloween when it is 80 degrees out. So I have been putting off all of our fall traditions waiting for cooler days.

Well this weekend wasn't exactly the perfect fall weather, but at least it was a bit more like what I have pictured in my head. So Saturday afternoon we went & bought pumpkins.

Caleb, Connor, Rachel, & Kailey posing for a great fall photo
Caleb on a quest for the "perfect" pumpkin

Rachel trying to look like one of the pumpkins...always with the bangs in her face

Connor finds a unique shaped pumpkin

Kailey peeking over the pumpkins

Later that evening after a yummy meal at Famous Dave's we went back to the farm for the Haunted Trail. It was so much fun. The kids were clinging to us as we walked the 1/2 mile through the trial built into the corn field. They had all these people dressed up, fog machines, sound effects, & spooky decorations. It was really well done. The kids are still talking about it. It is funny even though I knew things would be coming out at me I still screamed!!

Yesterday, Rachel had an idea to make our own tombstones & create a graveyard in the front of our house. So we headed over to Michael's with about $15 in supplies this is what Rachel came up with. She is really proud of her work. We will definitely be making more of these in the future. They were so fun to make.

Now we just need to pull out the rest of our Halloween & fall decorations.

A "Moo Moo" Here & A "Moo Moo" There...

Everywhere a "Moo Moo"

One of the many photos Rachel took on her new camera. She has a pretty good eye.

Rachel on the hay ride to see the cows.

OK so sorry I am being a bit silly, but in my defense, I am still tired out from yesterday. I was a chaperone for The Lewis School trip to the Norz-Hill Farm. It was really fun but definitely a really long day.

The kids got a tour of the farm & then brought out to a field to pick pumpkins & gourds. The kids really had a blast. After the tour & pucpkins we were supposed to just eat our bagged lunches & head back to the school. But the farmer gave us a special treat & allowed us to go into the corn maze. I not so sure that was such a great idea to give 80 kids an opportunity to loose themselves in the corn maze right before we needed to get into cars & head back to the school. Although I guess it all turned out OK in the end. We did make it back safe & sound with all of the students that we came with.

Watch out....I've been tagged!!

I was tagged by Willow! Definitely go check out her blog. She does some amazing funky art & scrapbook stuff so be sure to check her out!

OK, so the deal is I need to tag 7 people as well & write down 7 facts about myself...I think I can handle that.
Here are the rules...you know how much I love rules...lol...

RULES
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs

7 facts about myself....

1. I hum when I am really happy & don't even realize I am doing it. A bit odd I know.
2. I traveled around China for a little over 3 weeks on a peace & ending hunger mission when I was 15 years old.
3. I have two tattoos & would like to get more.
4. I secretly love listening to Kid Rock music. The nastier it is the better...lol.
5. I drive a hybrid car & care about the environment. My husband affectionately refers to me as his "crunchy granola wife"
6. I like ketchup on my eggs...I know yuck!
7. My great grandfather designed the Empire State Building.

Well now you know some random facts about me....can't wait to hear about some of you...

So, I now tag.....

1. Angela
2. Carla
3. Nancy
4. Niki
5. Staci
6. Jana
7. Gabi

If you get a chance...check out these ladies blogs...you will find some fun & inspirational stuff there.

Wow....glad that is done.
Have a fabulous day!! And.... Have you visited scrapdragons today??

Challenge Me

No scrap time for me today. I have too much cleaning & I need to go grocery shopping in a major way. We are out of bread, milk, & oh no...toilet paper!!

Although I do have a few layouts I did for challenges that I thought I would post today. They are nothing special, but were fun to make & I have a few more pages to add to my album...yippee!!!

This first one I did for Scrapdragons Challenge #6. This is a fun one, so if you are looking for something to get the mojo flowing be sure to go check it out.

I know the prize for this Scrapdragon challenge is particularly yummy...so don't miss out. Plus the winner for challenge #5 will be announced in a few days so be sure to pop in!

This second one is for a manufacturer challenge over at Crop Addict. If you are a Rusty Pickle fan (& really who isn't) & you have some of their product on hand...you may want to give this one a shot. It may even be worth going shopping for some new Rusty Pickle...come on you know you want to.

All the products are Rusty Pickle except for the Bazzill cardstock & the microbead swirls. I just love those corrugated letters...I so need to have more of them!

What is a CROP Hunger Walk?

Well a CROP Hunger walk is a community of people walking together to take a stand against hunger in our world. Together we raise awareness and funds for international relief and development, as well as local hunger-fighting.

There is a local CROP walk sponsored every October by my Rotary Club. I have been one of the main organizers of this event for the last four years. It is so much work & every year with all the work leading up to & the day of the walk I am thinking..."Is this really all worth it?"

Well the answer is definitely, "YES!!"

I am proud to say that not including some pledges that still have yet to come in, we collected close to $5000 today for CWS/CROP! I am confident as the rest of the money rolls in we will have $6000 plus. Not only that we collected so much food to donate to the local food banks & soup kitchens.

I think the best part is watching all the young kids involved. They are so proud turning in the sponsor money they have collected. They love feeling part of something bigger than they are & the feeling of doing something that makes a difference.

For those of you that read my blog that helped with this event, "THANK YOU!!!!" You know we could not do this alone.

So rest up & then get ready to start planning next years walk.

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A little reminder....
You have until midnight EST tomorrow to upload your entries for Scrapdragons Challenge #5!!

You've Been Boo'd!!!

We were Boo'd last night!! The girls were so excited. So we got busy right away & Boo'd two of our neighbors.

So What’s a Boo you ask? It’s when neighbors secretly leave one another anonymous goody bags on their doorsteps in celebration of the holiday. Once you have been Boo'd there is a poem with instructions and then you are expected to go out & secretly Boo other neighbors, but not the houses with a boo sign or ghost on the door— as they have already been hit. The idea is to spread the cheer throughout the neighborhood. We had never heard of being Boo’d before we got boo'd this year. My kids were totally drawn into the mystery of it.

Here is what the poem looked like...

Here is a similar poem if the picture is too hard to read...

The air is cool, the season fall,
Soon Halloween will come to all ghosts and goblins,spooks galore &
Tricky witches at your door.
The spooks are after things to do,
In fact a spook brought this to you!!!
The treats that came with this short note,
Are yours to keep, enjoy them both.
The excitement comes when friends like you,
Will copy it &; make it two,
We'll all have smiles upon our faces,
No one will know who "BOO"ed whoses places!!
Just two short days to work your spell,
Keep it secret ,hide it well.
Please join the fun, the seasons here.
Just spread these "BOO's"; Halloween cheer.

Include a sheet of paper that says: You have been BOOED!
Please keep it going by following these directions:
Enjoy your treat Place the BOO sign on your front door or visible in a window
Within 2 days, make 2 copies of this note, make 2 treats &
2 BOO signs Secretly deliver to 2 neighbors/friends without a BOO.
Keep an eye on nearby front doors to see how far and fast it spreads by Halloween."

Here is what our little goodie bag looked like...

The kids could not wait to get into the fun so we ran right over to the local drug store & grabbed some plastic pumpkins for $1.99 & filled them with treats, the poem, & "I've been boo'd" ghost signs for the new people to hang in their windows.

This is such a fun idea. Now the kids are carefully watching the neighbors to watch the boo signs pop up & see the Halloween cheer spread.

If you want to start this in your neighborhood...check out this link...You Have Been Boo'd!!

Don't forget there is still time to complete challenge #5 over at Scrapdragons...so click here & go check it out!!

A Little Design Team Fun...

I popped into my local scrapbooking store, Scrapbooking Moments in Time, last week just to see what new goodies were in. I was busy checking out all the yummy goodness & quickly filling up a basket when the store got the news that one of their Design Team members had to step down. So I just happened to be in the right place at the right time & the remaining three kits were handed to me. So I will have the fun for the next month designing items for their Time Out Kit club.

I love it because I will be all done by mid November.

Here are some projects that I made using the first kit. The cube is one of those puzzle cubes that you keep flipping around to create new images. That was quite the project. it would make a great gift, but I am not sure I have the patience to do that again.







I love doing design team projects. So many times it gets you making something outside of your comfort zone. The products or featured techniques are not always your thing & you are forced to stretch yourself. I just love that!! Plus who doesn't like free products to play with?!?!

Rhian you have been scrapjacked!!!

That is right I just scrapjacked a layout by Rhian for the latest challenge over at Scrapjacked.

Her style really caught my eye & I thought it would be fun to play a bit.

I used fabric, ink, paint, sandpaper (check it outwith the flourishes stamped in paint), micro beads, staples, & all kinds of other stuff. Totally fun & not my usual type of work.

Thanks for the inspiration!! It didn't quite turn out how I though it would, but I still kind of like it.

Want a Mojo Boost?!?!

Then come check out Scrapdragon!

As most of you know my , Gabi and I started our own challenge blog just a few months ago. We hit the ground running on August 1st. We have been running contests every 2 weeks awarding some really great prizes for the winners!! We have provided some of the prizes personally & have also had some fabulous & generous sponsors.

Make sure you go check out our latest contest! You'll really want to enter... because as Gabi has said, "the prize is yummy, yummy, yummy!!!"

Even if you are not into entering contests be sure to check out the site. I am sure you will find loads of inspiration. We have had so many talented people participating.

Hope to see you over there!!

Calgon, Take Me Away!!!

OK so some of you may be too young to know that commercial, but hey it is how I am feeling right about now.

So for those of you who don't know let me explain & for those of you who do it may bring back some memories. So saying "Calgon, take me away" implies that you wish to be removed from an overwhelmingly stressful day. It's a reference to an old Calgon television ad campaign from the mid 80's. It would depict a stressed out house wife, kids screaming & making a mess, maybe a muddy dog running through the house, & at the same time dinner is ruined. What is a poor girl to do?!?! At the moment where one more nasty thing happens & she is on the verge of some kind of breakdown...she looks skyward & says/pleads..."Calgon, take me away"...and "poof" you now see her relaxing in a sweet smelling bath with Calgon products.

I just feel like today was one of those days I could use a Calgon moment. It is already after 11PM & I still have only completed about one quarter of what I had hoped to get done. It was one of those days where it seemed if anything could go wrong it did go wrong. Everything I was doing took twice as long as I expected. Also it was one of those days where every few minutes your brain went nutty realizing that there were about ten things that you had forgotten that needed to get done yesterday.

The truth is it is really just catch up from being sick last week. So much did not get done because I just wasn't up for it and of course my fabulous hubby David was on a business trip & wasn't really around to help out. I am behind on cleaning, birthday gifts I wanted to make, & numerous other things.

So my plan for tomorrow, so I don''t have another day in need of the Calgon genie, is to make a list & prioritize it. Sometimes that is all I need to do to get away form the drama of it all. It is funny how just writing about it, the stress is just leaving my body.

One high point for today was I won the September Monthly DT Challenge over at Crop Addict. It really made up for a lot of today when I read that earlier this evening. I have been having a blast over on their site. They have really cool kits, a friendly message board, & a rockin' gallery.

Well, if you made it this far down my post, thanks for listening to me ramble on.

Have a great night!

Oh & a little message for my mom....
ahem..ahem....la la la la....Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Mom, Happy Birthday to you!!

Mojo Survivor!!

OK I have just embarked on a new adventure. I decided to enter the Scrappin' Mojo Survivor contest...click here... to see the message board & read all about it.

Basically it is going to be a four week contest. They will have one challenge each week and I will be creating one project for each challenge. They have different points awarded for different things & I think there DT is also doing some voting as well. I thought it would be fun to try it out. I have never really done one of these kind of progressive challenges before.

So here was my layout for Challenge #1

We were to create a layout, any size Use at least two pictures, any sizes. The theme "Love" (interpret this as you wish) Include bling of some sort on your layout:

Sorry about the wonky scan...it really isn't messed up in real life. I have had two kids with strep throat & I am recovering myself. So my energy level & my patience for my scanner are a bit low.

Thanks for looking.

Also...go check out scrapdragons...challenge #5 is posted!!