the patch......part 3 (the end)

The last of our pumpkin patch visits came on Monday evening. We let the kids browse the pumpkins (again), run in the hay maze (again), and pose in front of the scarecrow (again). And somehow, they managed to have a great time (again)! I was determined to get at least one family shot and a few shots of the kiddos in something other than a costume or a school uniform, and both goals were accomplished = a successful evening at the pumpkin patch.

We continued our week-long Halloween celebration last night with "Spooky Story Time." We turned out all the lights in the house, lit a bunch of candles in the living room, cozied up on the couch, and read stories from our Fall basket. Then, the kids took turns telling "ghost stories" (which mainly consisted of them yelling "BOO!!" every five seconds in an attempt to get the other one to laugh). It was a total hit!! It was super simple to pull off, but the kids thought it was special, and Grant has already asked if we can have "Smooky" Halloween Story Time again tonight :)

around the house

Here's a little glimpse at just a few of the things sprucing up our home this time of year:

A wire basket by the fireplace holds all of our Halloween and Fall books

Here's what you see walking up to our front door

A few pumpkins line the hutch in the kitchen

Our Halloween countdown calendar hangs on the pantry door

Halloween photos from years past are framed in the living room

and it just wouldn't be Halloween without a bowl of candy corn!!

the patch.......part 2

On Friday, it was her turn for a little pumpkin patch party. She was looking forward to it the entire week, and could hardly sleep the night before!

And let me just pause here to say that I use the words "pumpkin patch" very loosely here. The pumpkin patch in our sweet little town is actually a sad patch of grass with some pumpkins on crates, a scarecrow for photo ops and a hay maze........but the kids absolutely love it, and they have absolutely no idea that somewhere out there there are pumpkin patches with hay rides, apple orchards, warm cider, and real live pumpkins growing out of the ground!!

Maybe next year, we will venture a little farther out in search of something a little more Fall-like, but for now, the temperature is 90 degrees, and this little pumpkin patch suits them just fine :)

I should also note here that Miss Sienna was in no mood for picture taking at the Patch. She posed for a few shots (after some serious bribing), but she was much more interested in running around and having fun with her friends (the nerve, right!!). So I got my fix by taking shots of pumpkins, gourds and mums :)

the patch....part 1

This morning, Grant had his first official pre-school party complete with cupcakes, costumes, and a make-shift pumpkin patch just perfect for Woody and his friends. He started out a bit shy, but after a few minutes, he was hamming it up for the camera, and picking out a pumpkin just his size. Sometimes this kid sure can give us a run for our money, but man do I love that boy!!!

Halloween mini book

I just finished a Halloween mini book with photos from 2009......better late than never, right? I kept it super duper simple by using a pre-made book, a little patterned paper and some cute velvet stickers,

making super fast, super easy pages (and digging into the Halloween sticker stash),

adding in a few pocket pages to hold the "extra" photos,

and finishing it off with a little ribbon and some bling!!

It was fast, it was easy, and it turned out pretty cute.......which just happens to be my new criteria for all things crafty :) Now it sits in our living room where little hands can look through it as many times as they wish during the month of October!!

sleepover at gaga's house

Last Friday, we had a Fall-Fun baking party and sleepover at Gaga's house. We decorated cookies and cupcakes, ate snacks and pizza, wore matching pajamas, wrestled, played, told stories, watched movies and slept on comfy quilts in Gaga's playroom........well, everyone that is except Grant, who went home with Daddy at the end of the night to sleep in his own cozy little bed :)

The kids has an absolute blast!! They love being with their cousins, they love going to their Gaga's house, they love eating sweets......and I love that they are making wonderful memories!

the delete button

So after reading this post over the weekend about editing/deleting photos off of our computers, I decided I needed to get busy!! This is a topic I actually think about quite a lot...........the vast amount of photos I take, the amount that I still need to have printed, the number of photo albums I have filled, etc... And the question I keep coming back to is, "How many photos do I really need in order to tell the stories I want to tell?" There may be instances when I need to keep 30 photos of the exact same pose, but most of the time, when I keep that many photos on my hard drive, or worse yet, put that many in an album, I am actually decreasing the value of that story.

There will never be enough time in the day to scrapbook all of our stories, and that is exactly as it should be. I want to spend most of my time being in the moment and only some of my time recording them. But, even when I simply put photos straight into a photo album, I want those albums to tell a story as well. I want there to be just enough photos to capture the memory, but not so many that it becomes boring or redundant. And for me, that means I need to get a little more comfortable with the delete button on my computer.

That means that starting today:
1. When I upload new photos to my computer, I am going to be ruthless in deciding which photos to keep and which to send to the trash bin.
2. Once I have decided on the "keepers," I will give those photos an Event name.
3. I am going to upload new photos at least once a month to Costco, have them printed, and immediately place them in a photo album (I will keep out the "best of the best" if there is a story I want to scrapbook........not necessarily the best quality photos, but the ones that will best tell the story)
4. As for the older photos, I am taking a little time each day to start at the beginning, and delete at least 40 photos.

I feel lighter already..........

eight confessions on the eighth

1. It's been less than a month since the hubby and I spent our anniversary weekend in Austin (see photo above), yet I feel like I am already in need of another vacation :)
2. I check facebook status updates on my phone entirely too many times throughout the day!
3. My children's dinner last night consisted of a thawed out Uncrsutable, canned peaches and cheesy broccoli (they didn't touch the broccoli).
4. I really want to see that movie with Josh Duhmel and Izzy from Grey's Anatomy...I think it starts today?
5. I started reading "Shepherding a Child's Heart" a couple nights ago, and it has totally and completely overwhelmed me.......I feel like I need a few parenting do-overs!
6. We are completely failing at the whole potty training thing with Grant.
7. I think organization is my drug of choice :) I get positively giddy over clean, organized spaces with room to breath......
8. I secretly enjoy the mandatory 30 minute waiting period after getting my allergy shots each week. Thirty minutes to just sit, relax, read a book, do nothing = bliss!

10 on Tuesday

1. On Sunday morning, we were up a few hours before we had to start getting ready for church, so we used that time to listen to music on the back porch, chow down on cinnamon rolls, and snap a few photos. I love Sunday mornings!

2. After getting the kids to school, and realizing on more than one occasion that I have left something behind (special sippy cup with milk, extra water bottle, nap blanket left in the dryer, etc..), I have decided that today I will make a large check list of all necessary items for school and post it on the back door!

3. I am at a bit of a crossroads with my scrapbooking process....thinking about which albums my children will take with them when they leave home, which albums will stay with me, whether I want to do separate "school" albums or just include those pages in their regular albums, etc.... Lots to think about, and I am realizing that my children will most likely not want to rent a separate U-haul just to take their scrapbooks with them to college....... must come up with a good solution now!! I am in love with how this mama is doing it: You must click on the link on her page and look at the entire photobook!!

4. Today is my nephew's 6th Birthday.....Happy Birthday Kaleb!!

5. A week or so ago, I posted about how I was planning to take a photo each day of something I was grateful for, and then post it on facebook........I gave up after only posting 2 photos because it just felt weird? I kept wondering whether it was annoying and whether anyone really cares what I'm grateful for. Is that weird??

6. I am so looking forward to this today!!

7. How have I never read this book? I thought I owned it, but after digging through my "parenting" section this morning, it looks like I am going to have to order it. Let's just say.......I am in need of this book right about now :)

8. You must check out the 31 days of change blogging series!! Lots going on including taking better photos, living with less, decorating for Fall, setting a cute table......all the things I love :)

9. Today, I am planning on printing out a 5x7 of the kiddos in their Halloween costumes from the past 4 years, and framing them for the living room as part of our Halloween decor.

10. I have made it a new goal to post at least 3 times a week to my blog. I love writing. I love blogging. I love documenting our family's journey, posting photos that inspire me, sharing tips that I have found to be helpful.....and I love getting feedback from my readers, so let me know what you like, what you want to see more of......or just say a quick hello!!

enjoying the little things

I talk a lot on this blog (and in real life) about keeping things simple, being in the moment, enjoying the small things, etc.... but in reality, those are concepts that are easier said than done. In reality, I often find myself being everywhere BUT in the moment. Instead, I am usually doing one thing and thinking about doing another. I am "playing" with the kids while looking up something on the iPad. I am looking at inspirational blogs, compiling lots of great ideas, and then feeling frustrated that I don't follow through. I am taking great photos of the kids and at the same time, thinking about how many thousands of photos are already on my hard drive that may never find their way into a photo album, blog post or scrapbook. I often lay down at night and replay the day's events, thinking of missed opportunities, ways I could have been kinder, lessons I could have reinforced, friends I could have called, moments I could have savored. Like all of us, I am a work in progress. I look for ways to be a better mother, a better wife, a better friend, a better Christian.......but sometimes, it can all become just a little too much, and I have a burning desire to just take a deep breath and be grateful for where I am today, right here, right now.

This weekend, I sat outside while the kids played in the front yard, and it felt so good to just be with them, to put away everything else, and just watch them and enjoy them. This is what really matters..........sometimes I forget.

Nate Berkus says.....

that your home should tell the story of your life, of who your are.

I heard Nate say that on the radio on my way home from work the other day, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I believe in that philosophy, and I have tried hard to make sure that our home is a reflection of the people that live there.......that our home tells the story of where we are on our journey in this life.

That means, that there is a bulletin board filled with photos of the people that we love in the kitchen, that there is art work taped on the kid's doors, that there is blue marker all over the walls in the playroom, that there are dolls and trucks and soccer balls and paperwork and legal pads and chore charts and Anthropologie bags and Target receipts and books and shoes strewn about. It means that there are dishes in the sink and clothes in the washing machine pretty much every single day. It means there are craft projects in various stages of completion. It means that on most days, I have to let the kids simply have fun and resist the urge to yell at them....er, gently remind them to clean up after themselves every twenty minutes. It also means that the boxes of decorations come down out of the attic for each change of season and each holiday to be celebrated.

Our mantel is complete just in time for the first day of October!