PSF: Stamps

Hosted by Cecily and Emily

Sophie asked me if she could play with her new stamps the other day.

Why did I assume postage stamps?

And why did I think it would have been OK to waste postage stamps--since obviously I didn't ask or even think to go check?

OH WELL--the money saved in potentially ruining a book of stamps was much better spent on soap and water and the three showers it took before the stamps finally cleaned up off her skin.

Eat, Drink, and Be Scary!

This is all a part of the big Flippin' for a Flip giveaway over at 7 Clown Circus. Today the carnival is at Better in Bulk, and she wants to see everyone's devilish desserts and things.

Usually I would clean up in a post like this. Holiday treats are MY cup of tea--however, this year there are just too many circumstances that having ultimately used up all of my creative baking juices. So there is only one other thing to do this year...........................

Enjoy the Candy!

Plain and simple.

With my Halloween mojo MIA this year--we are enjoying the obvious--and not trying to push to hard to 'get it all in' like I tend to do. Life certainly seems a bit sweeter anyway!

Happy All Hallows Eve!

OH and there is one more thing......NO such thing as 'leftovers' when it comes to me and candy. We indulge all day long on the greatest candy day of the year, and then DO NOT leave it around the house. Seriously, I would weigh 400 pounds! We wait until Thanksgiving to kick off the next round of holidays and let those games begin.

I sooooooooooo love this time of year.

PSF: Say Cheese!

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

He did! I can't wait to hear how it sounds, but it sure does look beautiful to me.

What do you think? Is he going to be a redhead? Or is that just my over-editing skills?

Writers Workshop: Show and Tell

If you want to join in the fun go HERE to learn about the giveaway and this weeks' carnivals. Today's is being hosted by Mama Kat over at Mama's Losin' It.

2.) Show and Tell using your favorite Halloween home decor.

This is a pic of the outside decor from last year. These are undoubtedly my favorite decorations for a couple of reasons. First, Sophie and I had a total blast shopping for them and decorating the house. We both thought it was just the coolest thing ever--WAY better than our outside Christmas decor. Spending that kind of "FUN" time with Sophie is my favorite thing in the world and I am so glad I got a picture to help me remember. Second, I am a huge fan of twinkling lights and giant blow up things. There is something very innocent and cute about them--not to mention easy to put up. I am a HUGE child at heart and I think these decorations tells everyone passing by that children live here. What do you think?

Oh, and the dog's ears crack me up too! It was SUPER windy that night--he was standing still! The ghost was just about to blow over when I snapped this pic.

Posts of Halloweens Past

7 Clown Circus is one awesome place to visit these days! To find out why go here. If you already know why, read on...oh and to help my lucky stars with the powers that be (the random generator) for the end of the week, I am truly Flipping for the Flip!!

"Ghosts of Halloween's Past"

These first two pictures are from Sophie's first 'real' Halloween where she was old enough to participate in the festivites. She was a very tall one year old--but TONS of fun and she loved every moment! The top pic is noticeably at a pumpkin patch the one underneath is at Sophie's first scarecrow festival.

In these two pictures Sophie is only 2! I can't believe how enormous she looks to me and how teeny tiny she is compared to now! Above she was wearing her fave Halloween dress for her cousins birthday party at our old house, and below was Sophie's first Halloween where she actually went trick-or-treating. She was Stephanie from Lazytown.

Underneath was last year's Dorothy costume and I have so many 'ghosts' popping out right now I'm actually getting sad! Sophie was only 3 in this last picture, but to me she looks like a kindergarten kid for sure! I wonder how old she'll look this year! I did have a little extra time to go back through some of my posts of my Halloween's past and found a couple of funny/educational/eye-opening ones from last year. Feel free to read on if interested.

Click if you like SPIDERS

Click if you like BLOOD

Click if you like LIFE LESSONS and the real reason that "Ghost" of Dorothy above haunts me.

Creepy Crawly Craft Carnival

Hosted by Mayhem and Moxie as part of a Flipping for a FLIP giveaway week over at the awesome Angie's 7 Clown Circus.

OK, here goes:

I'm crafting challenged--or a person with crafting disabilities--or whatever the PC term is right now. Basically--I'm NO Martha Stewart.

As much as I love to see all of the sparkly, glittery, gluey, puffy-painted adorable delights created by tiny hands--I have to admit that when it comes to creativity--God must have simply left that out of my Mom DNA.

BUT!

I can follow directions.

So thank God for crafts like this:

These crafts come in kits! Not only are all of the pieces there, but there is a wonderful box with directions and pictures and everything you need to create a perfectly pre-fabricated craft that when finished makes you feel like you just painted the Sistine Chapel! Albeit--a color-by-numbers version of said chapel maybe, but still, these awesome little foam-rubber kits do wonders for my craft-esteem and are available at most craft stores I've been brave enough to walk in to. I love them!

In addition to following directions from pre-made kits I can also copy-cat! That's right--if I see a picture in a magazine I can re-create it.

I'm so talented, right?

Actually, with this craft, I did have to dig deep for a little creativity because I didn't have a stand to put the bouquet in--the craft was simply to take Sophie on a walk to collect pretty leaves. That was easy and fun too. Then all we have to do was assemble a bundle with some pipe cleaners around the stems and stand them up for some beautiful, homemade, fall leaf centerpieces.

The 'standing-up' got tricky because I only have giant vases for real flowers, not teeny-tiny ones for leaf flowers. So, I got out last years leftover play-doh Easter eggs and simply took half an egg with half the play-doh on top and stuck the stems in. It totally worked for almost 2 hours--which gave us enough time to enjoy a delightful dinner--before I promptly threw them in the garbage.

I'm pretty sure Sophie didn't even notice. At least she didn't say anything!

Now, for some of my favorite stuff. I've plugged PICNIK on my blog before and I just have to say if you want some fun way to kill a million hours--go head over there to 'play' with your pictures. This website is one of my favorites--I've already spent mega tons of time over there. This year they have created some really fun ways to spook-up your photographs--

This is so totally gruesome, and I can't think of a better (or any other) place than my blog to post these pictures. I love the look on little Sammy's face--and took total advantage of it to really make Sophie look as scary as possible.

Here's another one:

Funny little look on his face made turning him into a Shrek look alike very easy!

EWWW--Gross isn't it?
I can't imagine when or where I would actually use these pictures, but I think someday this will be really fun for my kids to play tricks on people.

Gotta love Halloween though. I know I do!

But, I recently mentioned on Angie's comments that my Halloween mojo is missing.

Unfortunately this year, the only thing I seem to be loving is the candy. In honor of this carnival Sophie and I attempted a new kit craft yesterday, and well, I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

The look on Sophie's face here tells it all.

Forget it! Let's just play with the glue!
So, we crashed and burned this year with the Halloween crafts. THANK GOD for the candy! And the giant tin of popcorn! And drinking water out of the sparkly glass to make it fun. Yeah-we were really rockin' the house yesterday! Maybe next year I'll find my spooky spirit and make up for my lack of ghoulish glitz this year.

OK, I'm done for today. If nothing else though, blogging this week is totally fun!!!!!!If you to join in the Crafty Carnival fun--go here. If you want to join in for a chance to FLIP with Angie and the rest of her gang go here. At least I can 'fake' my enthusiasm for this holiday by blogging a lot--AND I bump up my chances for winning a new camera--now that's something to celebrate!

PSF: H.A.N.D.S.

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

H.A.N.D.S.

They way I see them: Honoring And Nurturing my Darling Sam!

They way Sophie sees them: Helping A New Dear Sibling

They way Sam sees them: Hooray! Another Nummy DinDin! Scrumptious!

This is what I call "Hands On" parenting.

PSF: An Introduction

Hosted by Cecily and Angie

Finally, without further ado, here he is::::::: Samuel, Sam, Peanut, Sammy, Little Monkey (Sophie is little Mouse), Sammikins, or SweetPea--we haven't officially decided on the fun nickname. For now, he is my little man--and I just love to snuggle and cuddle with those cheeks!

WELCOME HOME BABY SAM!

PSF: The New Big Sister

Hosted by Cecily and Linds

I have been missing from the blog action for quite some time now. Before this little blog of mine changes in a big way, I thought I would jump back into PSF's with a little tribute to the one who started all of my blogging.

Therefore, in honor of my first favorite person in the world, before I officially introduce my other favorite person in the world, I thought I would tell a photo story with photos.

I have just a couple of comments of course--to help the story along.

Sophie about 10 days before her new job begins.

This was Sophie last night making sure we all still new who's the boss.

While waiting to meet Sam when he was still in the hospital, Sophie practiced with one of his new teddy bears. She LOVES her new title as big sister.

Instant best friends for life!

I have been absolutely blessed and amazed at the amount of love pouring out of this little girl. I admit I was nervous about her reaction to our new peanut, but Sophie has proven -once again- that she truly is the best little girl in the world--by being the best big sister in the world! So even though everything is turning to baby blue--Sophie is our shining star who will forever remind us that PINK is her signature color!

PSF: Spell Check--Mastercard style

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets from CostCo: $9.99

ABC Tator Tots: $4.29

Princess Crown Plate: $2.00

"MOMMY! You spelled ME!!!!!"

Making Sophie's night while her daddy was out of town: PRICELESS

WordFUL Wednesday:: Food Network Challenge

Dessert for the gestationally diabetic

Last night after complaining to Sophie about my sugar-free jello dessert instead of the big giant bucket of sherbet I wanted.......

Sophie: Here's dessert Mommy --tadpole tails, snake, frogs, and shrimp. Taste the shrimp Mommy, it has blueberries in it.

I like blueberries.

Sophie: Oh, and here Mommy, have some Mickey Mouse Milk with cinnamon.

Mouse milk? Now that's just plain weird!

Personally I think she was just being nice so she could take over the laptop--she'd been trying all night and is digging the webcam!

Click below for more WordFUL Wednesdays brought to you by Angie!

Pssst.......

There's a buzz in the air and it's not the bees--it's the WII's!







Jumpstart is coming out with a brand new game for the Nintendo Wii called Pet Rescue and they are going to send out some pre-release copies soon. For more information click here to go to Jumpstarts blog entry about the new game, or click below for the blogs homepage and browse through all the Jumpstart has to offer. You won't be sorry--it's one cool website!

PSF: Happiness is......

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Happiness is .....

Red-Eyed Tree Frogs! Especially when you can eat them and they have names like Cha-Cha!

We had taken Sophie to the Rainforest Cafe down in the big city (Chicago) a few weeks ago, and she was so excited to see the real-life version of these frogs wandering the restaurant while we lunched. His name is Cha-Cha and Sophie talked about him for days! THEN we saw this yummy Jello-O creation in the June issue of Your Big Backyard so of course she wouldn't stop bugging me until we made them.

**AHHHHH** So this is what normal feels like--it's been so long for me, I was starting to forget!

Sophie enjoyed it too! It was one happy day.