All You Need

Someone on Facebook posted this image and it was exactly what I needed to read in that moment.

All you need is less. 

This time of year is insane. It's the one time of year where we actually take the time to reflect on all we're thankful for and spend extra quality time with our family and friends while simultaneously scouring the internet and malls for killer deals on a bunch of crap none of us really even need. I don't know about you, but for me Christmastime is a bundle of happiness and love and stress and exhaustion.

Right now more than anything, I am craving simplicity. Do you ever have moments where you just want to throw away every item you own and start over? And keep things clean, and streamlined, and simple? I do. And I'm not just talking about the physical clutter. I also crave a more simple schedule and a non-existent to do list. A girl can dream, can't she? :-)

One little Christmas tradition I've decided to implement with my children this year is to fill up at least one garbage bag with toys that they want to donate to children in need. If they want to get any new toys from Santa, they must give away some old toys. I figure it will be good for them to learn about giving and it will be good for my sanity to have a little less clutter in the toy department.

Also, I'm going simple this year in my gift-giving. Luckily, we draw names for Christmas gifts in both my family and my hubby's family. This is such a blessing and a weight off everyone's shoulders! For one thing we don't have to stress about buying or preparing 50 million gifts and we don't end up with a bunch of unnecessary items that were given to us just because people felt like they "had to." It's simple. Love it.

As for gifts for my kids, that's where I struggle. I want to give them the world. I want them to wake up Christmas morning to a floor covered in gifts just so I can see the excitement in their eyes. But, they are still young and I still have time to create the tradition that I want them to grow up knowing. And what I want them to know is that it isn't about quantity and it isn't about stuff and it isn't about the gifts at all. I'm going to pull in the reigns a little this year and keep things simple. Simple, but happy.

After all, sometimes less really is more.

Image Source

Monthly DIY: Easy Instagram Photo Ornaments

So, I was laying in bed the other night brainstorming ideas for my monthly DIY project. I decided I wanted it to be something holiday oriented and since I'm obviously obsessed with Instagram (& making things with Instagram photos), this easy idea popped into my head.





I wasn't exactly sure what supplies I would end up using, but one trip to Joann's and under $10 later, I had what I needed.

Supplies:

• 3"x3"x3" foam cube (found in the floral department) - I originally wanted something smaller, but this worked 
• Six 3"x3" Instagram prints to glue on the sides of the cube (I used Microsoft Powerpoint and just arranged my images on a slide and printed it out on regular ole printer paper)
• Glue (I used tacky spray adhesive, but you can use whatever you have on hand that won't make your paper wrinkle/bubble)
• Jewelry screw eyes to hang the ornament with (if you can't find these, you may be able to get away with gluing your ribbon straight to the ornament)
• Festive Ribbon
• Optional: glitter or glitter glue for the edges - fun washi tape would also look great!

Close up of the little screw eye things I found in the jewelry aisle at Joann's (used to attach ribbon)...


What ya do:

1. Choose six Instagram prints and/or custom designs for the sides of your cube. Here's what I did that is super easy and accessible for most people: I emailed myself the Instagram photos I wanted to use from my phone. Then, I put them on a Microsoft Powerpoint slide (you could also use Word, or Photoshop - whatever is easiest for you) and re-sized them all to be 3"x3" (the same as the sides of my cubes). I also designed the red "Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas" square right inside Powerpoint. Then, I printed the page out on plain printer paper and cut out my images. Nothing fancy here! Side Note: when cutting out my images, I slightly rounded the corners - they fit better on the cube this way.

2. Glue your images to your foam cube and let dry. I used Tacky Spray Glue, but I'm sure any good quality crafter's glue would work.

3. Optional: Decorate the edges of your cube with glitter or fun tape. I used glitter glue and just rubbed it in a little with my fingers. I'm not too impressed with how it turned out. I think some good ole Elmer's glue and real glitter would coat on thicker and look better. OR, I also think that fun, festive washi tape would look awesome around the edges. Maybe next time. :-)

4. Now it's time to attach some festive ribbon to hang your ornament. If you bought some metal jeweler's screw eye hoopy things, just apply a dot of hot glue (or another type of adhesive) and poke one into the corner you want your ornament to hang from. Once that is dry, tie some ribbon to the metal loop.  I used a thinner ribbon and glued the edges together to make a loop and then I tied a bigger, sparkly ribbon around the base to make a pretty bow. No metal hoop? I'm sure you could just hot glue the ribbon right on the corner of your cube. :-)

Ta Da!





Now I have two commemorative ornaments for my kiddos for 2012. We will never forget this special year. :-) Can't wait to hang them on the tree next weekend! (Bonus: Because they are made from foam, they are super light weight!)

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you make one!

Linking this post up with: Vintage Wanna Bee, Sugar Bee Crafts, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Sugar & Dots

'Tis The Season?

Welp, Thanksgiving 2012 is officially over and I guess Christmas is upon us now. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this yet. My Instagram feed has been over taken with photos of perfectly trimmed trees and Martha Stewart style fireplace mantles. While I'm usually jumping with joy over all things merry & bright right after Thanksgiving, this year I'm just not feeling ready yet. Bah humbug to me, I guess.

I did however get out ONE strand of Christmas lights after Leila asked me why we didn't have any lights on our house yet. 




I'm hoping that by next weekend (when my hubby is actually not working), I'll get in the Christmas spirit and bust out the decorations. However, the past four days off from work have been spent doing a whole lotta nothing. I hardly touched my computer and phone. I only styled my hair once. I watched a good amount of TV. And all-in-all, I felt pretty dang pathetic. I think the dreary weather and short days are bringing me down more than usual this time of year. All I want to do is sleep, sleep, sleep. Sigh.

Here are a few pics from my lazy vacation...













I'm not gonna lie, my Thanksgiving actually kinda sucked. And then Andy had to work all weekend, so it was just me and the kiddos. The highlights, however, included an early evening solo trip to Target on Black Friday where I scored some awesome deals and it was no busier than usual, staying up late catching up on the DVR with my hubby, puzzle time with Leila Jade, and early morning snuggles with my little man. Despite the crap life throws our way sometimes, I can always rely on little happy moments to pull me along.

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! I truly believe that by next weekend I will be embracing the Christmas spirit in full-force. Just gotta get back into the swing of things. :-)

100 Things I'm Thankful For

Last year I typed up a "little" list of just some of the things I was thankful for at the time. Well, now I'm going to make it a tradition by doing it again. :-)



I could probably complete this list of 100 Things I'm Thankful For solely with the names of people, but I'm not going to do that. So, there will be some clumping together of loved ones to make room for all of the other goodness in my life.

Here we go....

1. My AH-mazing friends & family (& Billy dog) - I'd be lost without you!
2. Jesus
3. Coffee
4. Photoshop
5. Free fonts (the cool chalk font above can be found HERE)
6. Inspirational words
7. Books
8. Chocolate (ok, and any other food item containing sugar)
9. The lovely ladies who save my sanity by cleaning our house every other week
10. My job
11. Financial security
12. Health insurance
13. My curling iron
14. The women who take such phenomenal care of my kiddos
15. Dora & Mickey Mouse
16. DVR
17. Leggings (& even jeggings) - please never go out of style!
18. My computer
19. My iPhone
20. The roof over my head
21. Our fireplace
22. My sanity
23. Two legs, two arms, two hands, two feet
24. Rainbows
25. Summertime
26. Socks
27. My health
28. Happy kiddos
29. Starbucks
30. Pasta
31. Clorox wipes
32. Our cars
33. The World Wide Web - I couldn't survive without it!
34. Blogland and all of you super extraordinary people out in it!
35. Kind strangers
36. Our mailman
37. Our garbage men
38. My microwaveable rice bag (keeps my footsies warm at night)
39. New pillows
40. Hawaii
41. The Ocean
42. My artistic eye
43. Freedom
44. Our soldiers
45. Our President
46. Hoodies
47. Uggs
48. Flip flops
49. Our dishwasher
50. My hubby's cooking & cleaning ability - you're one in a million, babe!
51. Leila's sensitivity & kindness
52. Landon's ability to make me laugh in any circumstance
53. My fabulous co-workers - I wouldn't have lasted as long as I have without you!
54. Vending machines
55. Spare change
56. PTO
57. Sleep
58. A full belly
59. Pen & paper
60. My camera
61. Drive-thrus
62. Laughter
63. Sight, sound, and smell
64. Pizza
65. Tea
66. Blankets
67. Living close to where I grew up
68. Animals
69. Recycling
70. Electricity
71. My college education
72. Past & future trips
73. Where I've gone and the potential for where I can go
74. Miracles
75. Google
76. Amazon
77. Being in love
78. My marriage
79. Feeling secure
80. Confidence
81. Toilets
82. Journaling
83. Art
84. TV & movies
85. Moments of peace and relaxation
86. My big, warm, super-cozy bed (which is calling my name as I type this)
87. Ice cold drinking water
88. Toothpaste & toothbrush
89. Fresh air
90. Trees
91. Our fenced in back yard
92. Nail polish
93. Music
94. The Bar Method
95. Holidays
96. You
97. The smell of baking cookies
98. My kiddos' toys
99. Turkey
100. The miracle of life

Whew! There ya have it. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday because it forces us all to think like this - to really think about what we are grateful for. We should get in the habit of doing this more often, don't ya think?

So, have any of you typed up Thankful lists?  If not, you should! I would love to see what rocks your world - feel free to send links my way!

Wishing you and your families a very, VERY, very happy Thanksgiving! XOXO

Full Plate

No, I'm not talking about the plate full of amazingness that I'm going to be stuffing my face with in a couple of days. (Although, I can't wait for that!) I'm talking about the full plate that is my life right now.

A schedule full of work & life to-dos. The list is never ending.
A head full of Christmas ideas, blog posts, thoughts on the new year & turning 29.
A heart full of thanksgiving, yet heavy with sadness.

Life is funny (in a not-so-funny way most of the time). It seems like I always find myself stretched to the max around this time of year. The days seem so much shorter and I feel like I'm losing time to get stuff done. I am so jacked up on holiday happiness and excitement (& maybe a few too many peppermint mochas) that my level of focus is almost non-existent. My work load in the office seems to triple while my attention span seizes to exist. The irony in life strikes when the happiest time of the year comes crashing down with family circumstances beyond my control. All I want to do is curl up by the fire with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book. But in reality, I'm lucky if I get to push aside the growing pile of laundry on the couch and veg out to a half an hour of crap TV.

There are chores to do.
Papers to file.
Kids to feed.
A dog to walk.
Gifts to buy.
Prayers to say.
People to meet with.
Parties to plan.
Dreams to do.

And not enough minutes in the day.

But ya know what? This week is Thanksgiving! And I'm going to give LOTS of thanks and I'm going to relax! I'm going to take some much needed deep breaths. I'm planning another 100 Things I'm Thankful For post for Wednesday and that'll be it from me for this week. You should join me!



Side Note: The above pic was taken last weekend at Sears. I know that last time we got pics there I said I would NEVER pay for department store photos again, but I bought a killer Groupon deal. Needless to say, now I promise that we will NOT be returning to Sears for pics. Ever! Awful experience and this was the only decent photo.

Another Side Note: The winner of the $50 credit to MailPix.com is CLAIRE! YAY! YAY! YAY! I'll be emailing ya, girl. Thanks for entering!

Friday's Letters + More About Me

HAPPY FRIDAY! YAY YAY YAY!!!

Dear Friday: I heart you. Besties forever!

Dear Leila Jade: Can't wait to take you to Disney Princesses on Ice TOMORROW! You don't even know what's coming. :-) Love you!

Dear little Lando-pie: You started saying "Uh Oh" this week and it is just about the cutest thing ever. But, when ya gonna start walking boy? Love you!

Dear Andy: You never cease to amaze me. I fall more and more in love with you each and every day.

Dear Chelsey: Your Christmas card photo made my week! Sooooo funny! You are TOO dang creative! Pass some of those creative juices my way, please.

Dear teeth: Why have you failed me yet again? I'm too dang old to keep getting cavities! But, I guess it really isn't your fault. Stupid sweet tooth.

Dear candy: Go away!!!! If I can't see you, I won't eat you!

Dear weekend: You're gonna be swell! Gymnastics, Disney On Ice, time with the hubby, family photos, hometown visit. I love you already.

Dear Rhonda: I'm sorry I'm a party pooper and I don't really wanna participate in the little blog post tagging game. BUT, I will answer the questions! (see below) Sorry, I'm lame.


Find me on the Instagram @dreamstodo ~ I'd love to stalk ya back!

And now for some randomness about me!

1. What is your worst quality?

Laziness. It's the one thing that really holds me back from getting things done. My laziness leads to procrastination, a messy house, too much sleep. But, I think I'm getting better! I don't watch nearly as much TV as I used to!

2. When do you decorate for Christmas?

I start getting stuff out the day after Thanksgiving and not a day earlier.

3. Is there a song lyric you live and die by?

Not really, but the first song chorus that just popped into my head was Cyndi Lauper's "Girls just wanna have fun, they just wanna, they just wanna..." HA!

4. Is there a spice or ingredient that you add to every single thing you cook?

I tend to use a lot of Italian blend seasoning. If we're out of that, I go for the basil. Love me some Italian!

5. What kind of car do you drive?

Well, I still have the very first car I got when I was 16 - a 1996 Acura Integra! She was sexy back in the day! So, when I don't have the kids I still drive that. Otherwise, we have a 2010 Honda CRV.

6. Are you a crier?

Totally depends on the day (& time of the month). Ha! I will say that I haven't had a good hard cry for quite a while.

7. What’s your favorite room in your home?

Our living room. Big windows, lots of light, great furniture. Love it.

8. Do you go to church every Sunday?

No. But, I do have a great relationship with God. I should write a post about this sometime.

9. Do you use mason jars for more than decoration?

I don't use mason jars at all. In all honesty, I don't think they're that special. But, when we have some left over from my mom's freezer jam, I'll use them to store things in.

10. What do you do for a living?

I work in the sales and marketing department for a local TV station. I put together a lot of presentations, I play with TV ratings, I make things look pretty, I do some stuff with the website. It sounds super exciting, but it's not really. :-)

11. Would you be friends with the person you were 10 years ago?

Heck yeah! I really haven't changed too much since I was 18. Besides the kids and adult stuff. I went through my crazy years REALLY young, so by the time I was in college I was pretty mature and not too different from the person I am today.

Thanks for the FUN questions, Rhonda! :-) Have a great weekend, everyone!

PS - If you haven't yet, please enter my $50 MailPix.com Giveaway! It's super easy to enter and there are hardly any entries, so you have a great chance of actually winning this one. Thanks!

Linking this post up with Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds.

First Snow

Last weekend, fall made way for winter here.





The first snow is always exciting. It signals that we're just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the holidays. It makes scarf & boot wearing not only fashionably appropriate, but also essential. And the best part is the sparkle it ignites in children's eyes.





Okay, now for a funny story. These photos were taken after the first innocent sprinkling of snow. The next day, Monday, we got a few inches more. I woke up to big fluffy flakes falling from the sky and instead of my normal feelings of dread for the treacherous driving conditions and bone chilling cold, I felt down right jolly. I was singing Christmas songs while getting ready for work (usually a big NO NO for me - not until after Thanksgiving!) because I just felt that excited about winter and Christmas and all things cozy and happy. So, I get in our car feeling good and proceed to drive down our street very carefully, aware that we had failed to put our snow tires on yet. A few blocks later, I found myself sliding sideways down the hill. Luckily, I regained control and was able to park the car on the side of the street. And even more luckily, it was a day that the hubby was home with the kids and they weren't with me.

Anyway, I ended up walking 4 blocks back home up hill to get our other car (the better one). Of course Andy couldn't find his keys to come get me and take me to work - HA!. I walked home cursing the snow and winter the whole way, while the wet falling flakes ruined my perfectly curled hair. I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation by the time I got to work nearly a half an hour late. :-)



Snow, glorious snow.

For fun, I looked up my "First Snow" post from last year and Landon was just a newborn and Leila was still so little! I feel like I just wrote that post - time just flies! Check it out HERE.

Comparison to Compassion

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." ~ Dalai Lama

This blog post came to me in the shower this morning (where a lot of my deep thoughts come from - ha!). I was thinking about how one of my biggest stumbling blocks and barriers in life is the issue of comparing myself to others. We all do it and I know I'm not alone, but it still isn't easy to admit. I mean, in today's world how can you NOT compare what you have or what you don't have to other people? Is this just an American thing? Was it an issue for our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents when they were growing up? Or is it just us? Today?

I hate that I do it. I hate that I see someone with something I want and think that they are better than me. It totally brings me down! Because the truth is, they aren't better than me and I'm not better than them. We are all just people trying to make it in the world. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. And the one thing we could all use a little more of is compassion.

So I thought, what if we could turn our thoughts of COMPARISON into thoughts of COMPASSION? Instead of taking a judgemental view on others and ourselves, we take a compassionate view. For example, say I'm envying the work-from-home blogging mom who runs her own business and seems to have the perfect life (totally a stretch, right? ha!). Well, instead of feeling envious of her and sorry for myself, I need to CHOOSE to be compassionate. I'm sure that momma has her days when she feels like she can barely hold it all together - days when she's busting at the seams and thinks she could snap. Days that are exactly like the days that I have. The days that we ALL have.

Compassion literally means "to suffer together with." It sounds a little depressing, but it is one of the most comforting things to know - to know that others can relate to our pain, our stress, our heartache, our strife. We are all in this crazy race together and we need to lean on each other instead of judging and comparing each other.

Okay, well I think that's enough of my deep, rambling thoughts for today. :-)

MailPix: Turning Images Into Memories (oh yes!)

Nowadays, most of us take a million photos that get lost on our computers and in our Facebook & Instagram feeds - we don't even know what those photos look like off of a screen! But there's just something special about flipping through a book of photos or seeing a special memory framed and hanging on the wall. I think that's why I am totally digging the new, and extremely AWESOME, Mailpix.com.



MailPix is an online photo printing shop where you can order pretty much anything you would want with your favorite photo on it, whether it's a canvas, coffee mug, blanket, calendar, ornament, photo book, t-shirt, or one of a bazillion other personalized products. And my absolute FAVORITE thing about MailPix??? If you log in through Facebook, your account will automatically sync with all of your Facebook pics so no extra photo uploading is required! And even better??? You can sink your Instagram feed and order square prints straight from MailPix!

Some of my Instagram prints from MailPix...


I ordered the 5x5 prints & they turned out great!


Instagram prints make the perfect fridge decor...


I also ordered this 8x10 canvas of my favorite poppy photo that the hubby took - it turned out GREAT!



And, MailPix also helped me take some of my favorite "trash the dress" wedding photos and FINALLY (only took me 4 years) get them out of my computer and on to our bedroom wall...





You don't even know how happy I am about this. :-)

I will also be ordering my Christmas cards through MailPix.com this year (once we actually figure out a photo to use!)... they have lots of great designs to choose from and the option to use your own design if you like to get creative, like me, in Photoshop. Score!

You can find MailPix all over the world wide web. Check em out!
Website: MailPix.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MailPix
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mailpix
Blog: http://www.mailpixblog.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/mailpix/
(& I highly recommend keeping tabs on their Deals Page!)

So, guess what? MailPix will be giving away a $50 credit to one of you lovely readers! That's $50 that you can spend on a photo canvas, photo book, photo blanket, or even your family holiday cards! Just enter via the widget below. I'll be picking a winner on Monday, November 19th.

Good Luck! :-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: I was offered free products in return for this review. All opinions are my own - MailPix really does rock my world!

Let em fly.

One of the hardest things for me to come to terms with as a parent is the realization that I won't be able to protect my children from all the hurt there is in the world. I won't always be there to defend them when their feelings get hurt, to cover their ears when harsh words fly, or to shield them from emotional pain.

Leila is only three, but she's already coming into an age where her peers can be mean and hurt her feelings - even if it is completely innocent and unintentional. The other day I got a glimpse of how hard it is going to be for me to watch her grow up - for me to stand aside and let her learn some life lessons on her own.

We were at her cousin's 3rd birthday party last weekend when Leila came running to me in tears. She was sobbing so hard that I couldn't understand her words. When I finally got her to calm down, she told me that the other kids were holding the door shut and not letting her in the bedroom. The deep hurt she was feeling, from being left out, made my heart hit the floor. I know that feeling. I remember it from when I was little. No one likes to be shut out. I held her close to me and told her they were probably just doing it to be silly and then I distracted her with some cake or something and she was fine.

Later on in the evening I was just standing aside in the playroom, watching the kiddos run around. Her cousin and his little best friend were chasing each other back and forth and Leila was trying to get in on the action saying, "Hey guys, do you wanna play with me, too?" She just kept following them around and repeating that while they continued to laugh and run around and ignore her. She probably repeated that same question 5 or 6 times before giving up and finding a toy to play with on her own. For some reason this just made me so sad. I wanted to butt in and ask the boys to play with Leila. But, I didn't. I knew that I wouldn't always be able to intervene - that I had to start stepping back and letting her fly solo a little.

Eventually, they all started running around together and all was well. Something about that evening just opened the floodgates of my mind to all of the things I won't be able to protect my kiddos from. All I can do, all any of us parents can do, is be there to catch them - there to embrace them and tell them everything will be okay when they do get hurt. We can't avoid the inevitable. They've gotta spread their wings and fly on their own, and it starts young. I guess I'm just not quite ready for this yet.

Wise Words Wednesday: Give & Take

"Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life. ~ Alan Lakein

As you become and adult, and even more so when you become a parent, life morphs into a careful game of time management. It's all about finding the balance between work and play while taking care of your family and yourself. This requires a little bit of give and take.

Last week a Bar Method studio opened up down the street from my work (you may remember that I talked a little about it here).  I purchased a 45 day unlimited class pass and I've taken 4 classes so far. And guess what? I love LOVE love it! (Crossing off another Dream To Do right now!) If you have the opportunity to try out a Bar Method class, I highly recommend it. They are a little bit spendy, but SO worth it. I swear my bum is already firmer and more "lifted." :-)

So, in order to fit some fitness into my life I've had to make some sacrifices. I'm taking the classes on my lunch breaks - a time when I normally blog or run errands or tidy up the house. Because of this, our pile of laundry is out of control (but, isn't it always?) and my blogging and blog reading has fallen behind a little. I'm staying up a little bit later at night and getting less sleep to make up for this. But, I still feel great and know that my body is screaming THANK YOU to me.

Every day I feel like I'm getting closer to mastering the art of time management in my life. It is all about experimenting and finding a balance that works for you and your family. Your schedule doesn't have to be consistent, it just has to work.

Away

It's amazing what even just a couple of days away can do for you. On Friday, I took the day off work to enjoy a long weekend getaway to Seattle to celebrate my hubby's 28th birthday and my nephew's 3rd. (Of course the PNW blogger meet-up just happened to be taking place in Portland this weekend when I actually could have made it for once if it had been in Seattle! Oh, life!)

Our weekend consisted of a one-night splurge in a fancy downtown hotel, the Cheesecake Factory, overcast Seattle skies, Pike's Place Market, laughter with old and new friends, happy kiddos, lots of good food and wine, screaming & squeeling 3-year-olds, cake, love, and rest. My little family of four soaked up our time together as if our life depended on it. And it felt SO good.







One night on our little trip I experienced something I haven't done in a long time. We were at the hotel and I had just gotten the kids to fall asleep. Andy was out with some friends (I urged him to go... at least one of us should be able to go have some fun). I was trapped 25 floors above a bustling city in a quiet, dark room with nothing to do. I didn't have a book to read and I didn't want to turn on the TV since Leila is such a light sleeper. So, it was just me and my thoughts. Sure, I could have played on my phone, but for once I didn't feel like it. I literally laid in the dark on the bed for a good hour just letting my mind drift. What's funny is that I kept getting waves of guilt - surely I should be doing something! But then I would remind myself that I'm on vacation, that I deserve this time, that there is NOTHING wrong with doing NOTHING every once in a while. And then I fell asleep. A little after 9pm.











Long story short, we had a wonderful time with some much needed relaxation and reconnecting with family and friends. And now a bitter taste is in my mouth from returning to reality. It's fun to run away every once in a while, even if it's just for a couple of days. :-)

High Five For Friday: Halloween Style

What a week! A great week, but a VERY crazy, busy one for me. Since I've been pretty much absent from blogland and social media the last few days, it's time for me to rehash my fabulous Halloween!



1.  My work Halloween party with my kiddos. For the past few years my work besties and I have organized a pretty badass Halloween party for all of the kids. This year was no exception. We had games and goodies and it was a blast! Andy had to work and couldn't make it, so it was a little exhausting for me, but fun.

2.  Leila's first appearance on broadcast TV! If you didn't know, I work for a local TV station and our party was winding down right as the 5pm news was coming on. So, our awesome weather guy grabbed  a group of the kids for a live shot in front of the green screen. Leila was so cute (and clueless) in it!

3.  80's attire.  My favorite gals & I decided to "dress our decade" for Halloween. Turns out we're all from the 80's, so 80's it was! And let me tell you, something about the bright colors and big hair just puts a smile on my face. I mean how could people NOT be happy during that decade?

4.  80's makeup. I mean, come on. Check out my eye shadow! So much fun. :-)

5. Living vicariously through my loves.  The best thing about Halloween this year was definitely the excitement in my babies' eyes. Particularly Leila. Last year was her first year of starting to understand the whole Halloween thing and this year she was SO into it! Loved every second of it. My little bumble bee and her monster brother.



And let's not forget about Trick-or-Treating! Such a blast this year! We went with some friends who also have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, so Leila & Landon each had a buddy. Leila and Mia were SO cute going door to door and loved every second of it. AND, the weather this year was AMAZING! Super warm (for our area) and dry.

I hope you all had a wonderful (& safe) Halloween and an awesome week! I don't know about you, but I'm ready to sleep for about 4 days straight! Oh, if only....

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk today!