Party Favor Pumpkins

Source: marthastewart.com via Nicolette on Pinterest

I pinned these little paper pumpkins a little while back. They looked so cute and fun. I thought they would be fun to make for Tess's class.

Tess helped fill the pumpkin circles with lots of different goodies from the Dollar Store.

We ran out of crepe paper, so I used the next closest thing to my set up. Three ply napkins. Being the super thrifty person that I am Because I didn't want to waist good napkins, I peeled apart the three ply and had three thin tissues ready to wrap goodies.

You really couldn't tell a difference.

The floral tape was a little tricky for me. I called my sister, who took a floral design class, and she told me not to over handle the tape. It losses it's stick if you touch it too much.

Our results were not too shabby if you ask me. I'm sure all the kindergarteners will so appreciate of our handy work. Ha Ha.

Party Prep

I am the room parent for Tessie's kindergarten class.

The Kinder Halloween party is the Friday.

I am consumed, mind and body, with party prep.

Let's hope I survive. This is only the first party of the year!

Digging for rocks

Thank you for all the well wishes and sweet treats everyone sent for my birthday. It was a fabulous day filled with really great food. I feel so loved. It was so great, I might just need to start celebrating my half birthday!

Topaz Mountain

Today we are heading out to the desert to look for geodes. The kids are so excited. Last weekend we visited Topaz Mountain and sifted for topaz crystals. We are into some serious rockhounding. I hope we find some good stuff, for the kids!

Have a great weekend friends. Talk to ya later.

That's right...

Today is my birthday. The kids have the day off from school and we slept in till 8:03 AM. What a treat!

Lovely note from Davis.

Birthday photos to document my youthful looks. Haha.

And presents from my Mom. I'm thinking the peanut butter cups need to be used for some giant cookies.

Today will be spent eating Mexican food for lunch, a trip to the craft store, and dinner with family.

Have a great day friends.

Our Pirate Turned 3

Collin is officially three as of Sunday the sixteenth.

The pirate party was a success.

I kept things simple and loved how everything turned out.

My cake efforts were successful too. I realized the key to making a cake look nice is good frosting.

A nice buttercream frosting goes on so much better than the store bought stuff.

This cake was chocolate with peanut butter frosting between the layers, and a vanilla butter cream topped it off.

In my quest to keep things simple, I opted to use the party favors as part of the table decor. Collin picked out eye patches, gold doubloons and pirate mints. He really calls the coins doubloons. I think it's from this show.

I wasn't sure the cake would be enough dessert to feed all of our family, so I made chocolate chip brownie cupcakes too. Two brownie mixes makes 24 cupcakes. Bake them at 350˚ for around 20 minutes.  I kept my eye on them and waited for the tops to crackle a little. It important to me that they stayed on the softer side.

The pirate ship flags and sails were from Cottage Industrialist. Totally worth the time to cut them out. It was actually pretty fast.

There was no hesitation when it came to blowing out the candles. This kid had the best day ever. He was so happy and excited all day. It was fun to be a part of the excitement.

Decorations don't need to be complicated. It's amazing how festive a room can feel with some streamers and balloons. I hung the decorations the night before his birthday so when he woke up it was all ready to enjoy.

Hooray for birthdays.

Now all I have to do is find a way to make potty training this exciting!

Back to normalish

Well, the big kids are in school. Collin and I are picking up the house while watch Disney cartoons. Mike went back to work today, and we are moving forward again. It's amazing how time can stand still, but the world is still moving around you.

Our family has a lot of fun things coming up, and I am hoping they can help mend our hearts a little.

My sister in law's birthday is this Saturday, and Collin's third birthday is Sunday. Originally I was going to a small family dinner party for Collin. In lieu of recent events, I think we need a reason to have a happy and cheerful gathering.

Collin has requested a pirate party. I've been looking around the web and found some cute things I thought I would share with you.

picture via Hostess with the Mostess

I'm not super gifted in the cake making department. This little polkadot cake hits me as very doable.

printables from Cottage Industrialist

For some reason printables always add so much to the party. Cottage Industrialist  has a whole party set free for personal  use.

party favors from HomeSpun Threads

It's always fun to get a goodie bag at a party. These pirate booty bags might just fit the bill.

I will share all the details and photos after it's all pulled together. I'm going for simple and thrifty with a lot of wow. Is it possible? I will let you know what I find out.

heaven to earth and back

 Yesterday it rained most of the day. Mike and I were at his parents house, and I had a feeling the rain would turn to snow at our house.

Yesterday we were gathered around my father in law to tell him how much we loved him.

Yesterday our sweet Corey Dad returned to his Heavenly Father greeted by his parents and my Dad, along with lots of other loved one that have gone on before.

The rain reflected my sadness, but also felt comforting. 

My Dad passed away eleven years and six months ago. Mike's dad was just like him. They were both hard workers, soft spoken, and they loved their Savior Jesus Christ.

For the last ten years I have loved Corey Dad like my Dad. It is sad to have him gone, but comforting to know his spirit is still with us.

Five years ago we moved into our house. We knew the snow would come, and we knew there would be a lot of it.

For the last five years I would get a phone call anytime the mountain looked snowy. Mike's dad would call to check on me. He knew his daughter in law was a fish out of water up there in the snowy mountains.

I looked forward to those phone calls. I loved joking with him about what I was baking to stay warm.

This morning the snow reminded me of all those conversations. I won't be getting phone calls anymore when the snow comes, but I will remember Corey Dad and how he's still thinking of me.

I love you Dads.

A little something

The kids are always excited to decorate for halloween. One year, Davis decided to forget saving money for a hamster, and spend his cash on some halloween decorations at the dollar store.

You may be thinking I am a heartless mom. How could I let my child spend his money on holiday decor instead of a pet he didn't have, but already named Jonathan? Easy, I feel no remorse. And halloween is my favorite holiday.

Here are a couple of pictures of what we have going so far. We have many spiders and cobwebs in the basement waiting to find their place for the month, but they will have to wait till I have more time.

Life is pretty busy right now. I think this will be a year of costumes from the dress ups and halloween boxes. Do what you gotta do and remember your priorities. Spending time with family is more important than the best homemade costume.

I'm not trying to preach, just reminding myself. 

My mod pumpkin

I pinned these mod pumpkins on my halloween pinterest board.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw them. Making something like that was not an option. It had to be done. 

I picked up some small pie pumpkins and the grocery store and pulled out my paints. Nothing too difficult at this point.

My paint colors were uninspiring, so I decided to mix my own. I actually enjoy mixing paint. It's the kid in my that likes to make a mess.

I'm happy with the way the pumpkin turned out. I think the color looks really great with the orange. It was a little hard to get a crisp line. I pulled the tape off and it wasn't perfect. I just touched it up with my steadiest hand and called it good.

There are lots of other non-carving, pumpkin decorating ideas. Here are a few others I like...
Small pumpkin display, Sharpie art pumpkin, Mummy pumpkin.