Sunday, October 31, 2010

nemo, buzz, and goofy!













Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope you and your little ghosts and goblins had very nice evening trick-or-treating! Our family certainly did!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

happy halloween!




Only one more day until the ghosts and goblins come out to play!

These are little Halloween treat bags I am giving the boys tomorrow morning when they wake up since it is Halloween. I plan to do pumpkin muffins too! These little bags are from Perideau Designs and are like the ones I did for Bryson's dino party. I, again, LOVED the way they turned out! The perfect size for just a couple of special Halloween treats from mom and dad!

treats


I know, I have said it before... but I LOVE Halloween and the fall season!

I worked on treats this week for some friends and family and teachers at the boys' schools. I was pretty pleased with the outcome and thought I would share. Just to give you some ideas for next year!

These are Oreo balls, or Oreo truffle balls. I am sure you have heard about them or seen the recipe online. If not, then you MUST run to the grocery for Oreos and make them today! My neighbor made these a couple of years ago and my entire family devoured them in about a day. You can find the recipe here.

I decided, with the help of my little nine year old!, to turn ours into pumpkins for a Halloween treat. So, instead of dipping in Almond Bark or chocolate, we dipped in orange colored candy discs. Then, we took a piece of green Twizzler, cut and attached it a stem! Could not have been easier! And, once all packaged up, turned out pretty cute! One other idea is that you could dip them in the orange and then leave the lollipop stick in (but the ball upside down) and then tie a green ribbon to the stick to give the "look" of a stem. Great idea for kids to enjoy.

happy 3rd birthday to max!



Just wanted to say a very special happy birthday to my little nephew - Max! We shared his special day with him today... yes, he was almost born on Halloween! FYI..... if he had been born on Halloween my parents would have had a grandchild with an April Fool's birthday, a grandchild with a Friday the thirteenth birthday and a grandchild with a Halloween birthday! What are the odds of that!?!) Anyway.... Happy Birthday Max! We love you.

And, a happy belated FIRST birthday to his little brother, Miller! Miller, I did not mean to forget your day, but I did forget my camera that day!

PS, in the above photo check out the "anticipation" on Max and Noah's face just before he blows out his candles! Love it!

halloween cards arrived!


I forgot to post this when they actually arrived! But, anyway.... here they are. I love the way they turned out this year! And all the credit goes to Mango Ink! If you have not ever perused through their site, you should! They do all kinds of photo cards for almost every occasion and are super to work with on any custom design you can dream up!

Friday, October 29, 2010

pumpkins and a party!

As I mentioned, the day after Bryson's birthday bash, we hosted our annual pumpkin carving party in our backyard! Yes, we truly are crazy. But, it was worth it to watch the little "ghosts and goblins" enjoying themselves in the backyard on an absolutely perfect Fall afternoon.

The invites went out a couple of weeks ago to neighbors and friends. This year, I again used Dani at Daninotes to create a very simple, modern design that I tied to mini pumpkins and delivered to each guest. Loved the way it turned out. Thank you again Dani!

The "tradition" is that we gather in the backyard, spread out and carve up our pumpkins. Some spooky, some friendly, some cute and some "kooky!!" It is always fun for me to see what each family comes up for their design. I have often thought maybe, as the kids grow older, we could start a "contest" for the pumpkin carving. It would be fun to award prizes in different categories. But, for now, with so many little fingers and toes running around, we keep the actual carving to the older monsters!

After some spooky treats, which this year consisted of chocolate dipped giant marshmallows, choco covered rice krispy treats, spooky lollipops, a candy corn looking veggie display, pumpkin cupcakes, pretzels, and witches brew, we enjoyed the old fashioned bobbing for apples! This seems to always be a favorite, a bit more for the boys, but a favor nonetheless. This year we also threw in a "ring the ghost" game. We made ghosts and stuck them in the ground so the kids could use rings to "hook" them like horseshoes. I think next year I may add pumpkin bowling!!!


























Already planning and looking forward to next year's pumpkins!

What design did you carve on your fmaily pumpkin this year???????

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

the dino party























This past weekend was "party weekend" for our family! Like I mentioned, not only did we have Bryson's birthday party, but also our annual pumpkin carving party too! I think I did this to myself last year as well..... what was I thinking again this year??!!

Bryson requested several months ago to have a "T-Rex" party to celebrate his fifth birthday. Obviously, I could not say no to that! He has "planned" his party with me almost every step of the way. And, when I suggested we have it at the Museum at the Dino Trail, he was elated!

Our invitation asked our guests to join us on the "Dino Trail" at 2pm. We gathered about 15 children (various ages) and ventured into dino land! I really thought the trail would last about 10 minutes with younger children. After all, it is just life size replicas of the dinos. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the kids loved this, and the older kids actually read the signs and the information to the younger non-reading ones! It was very sweet. Following the trail, the kids headed over to the fossil dig to find treasures and bones, while I slipped away to set up the party room!

Then, it was "birthday celebration" time for Bryson! Cake, ice cream, cupcakes, goodie bags, singing, presents and lots of laughter! The perfect party!!

So, here are a few pics (ok...lots!) from the Bryson's big day!

Happy Birthday my little Bryson!!! We love you!!!



***a few party details.... Bryson's cake turned out exactly as I had hoped! It was perfect! I used the same cake person that I have often used and was so pleased - again! Her name is Jackie Treschl and her bakery is called the Sweet Spot.

The party goodie bags ( Bryson's pictured above ) were probably my favorite detail of this party!!! They turned out super cute and the kids loved that each one had their name printed on it! I can thank Bridgett at Perideau Designs for these! She was super to work with on the custom dino design! These party bags are custom printed muslin bags with your choice of a graphic and then each guest's name! Such a special and personal detail!

And, those sweet little dino sugar cookies are from and Etsy shop called SugarcoatedCookies. I was so worried about ordering delicate iced sugar cookies through the mail, but they arrived in mint condition!

Finally, although it is what actually "started" everything... the invite and paper goods! I can thank Dani at Daninotes for all of her help on those! She, also, worked with me on a custom dino photo invite that Bryson and I loved! From there, she did the tags for the cookies and round stickers with dinos and number fives on them. I used those stickers to embellish the napkins at each place setting. (Not my original plan, but it worked great!)

I "heart" party details!