Halloween isn't just Halloween around here...

Today is Alex's birthday.
He's officially 16.
Can you believe it?!

I hardly can.

Yep. The only photo I got of him the entire day.
And I am pretty sure it was an accident that I even caught him on "film" at this particular moment.

Besides Alex's birthday, today was Halloween!!

Here's a sneak peak of my feature wall... decked out with candy and a skull.
It's changed a few times. Remember this?  And this?  I love what I came up with. It feels more ME!
I have a few more things to add, but there's no rush.

Here's a close up.
See on the left?! That's Nic from two years ago.
This year, he opted to be Buzz Lightyear. Again.
As in, I think he was Buzz Lightyear last year.

Here's our scary entryway, waiting for trick or treaters...

Here is the house, all spooky and ready to go.
I can't figure out where the sky went in this picture...
I swear it was there... I didn't photoshop it out.
Spooky.

Here is grandma and Abby... our official candy giver-outers. They did a great job!

What?!


What's that?!


You can't see grandma too well?!

Hold on.




Let me try something.


Just another second
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There!!


How's this?!

Better?!

Hope you all had a fantastic Halloween.

Our Great Pumpkin Adventure

I call it an adventure because I waited until the 11th hour to purchase our pumpkins.
As a result, both local stores (including Wal-Mart) were sold out.

So I took the girls and Nic on a late night adventure - and out in the middle of somewhere, we found a pumpkin patch.

With pumpkins.

So we brought them home and carved our hearts out.

Nic loves Picasa - and he made me do THIS to him.

Our First Annual Halloween Celebration

As a kid, I used to love Halloween.
The husband, not so much.
More often than not, the kids weren't dressed up, we didn't take them Trick-or-Treating, we didn't pass out candy. There's a valid reason, but it sucked just the same.

I found Alex to be the least interested as a kid.
Isabel was way more excited... and pushed the limits...
Nic? Has no idea that there's even a POSSIBILITY that people sometimes just don't celebrate  Halloween.
This kid was BORN for it. In fact, he's been planning his costume (changes) for weeks. He is adamant he shares his birthday with his big brother and the big H day. He has been shrieking "Happy Halloween" for months now... to anyone who will listen.

So, this being our FIRST Halloween in our new house, I wanted to make it special. Even if it did ruffle a few of the husband's feathers.   Thankfully, one Mr. Husband, is completely and totally smitten with one Mr. Nicolas.  =) Makes things a LOT easier. It's so hard to say "no" to Nic.

The kids and I spent all day decorating the pad. And I think we did a good job!  My parents arrived around 4:45, ready to help celebrate!  Mom got Nic dressed, I took Isa upstairs to get her all did up. Alex is too cool.

My dad took the kids down the street for a bit while we waited for the husband to come home from work. Once he arrived, just the five of us went off again, in search for scary houses and tons of candy!  My parents hung out at the house to hand out candy and hold down the fort!

I am truly blessed.

I know my husband isn't totally comfortable with holidays, but he was so great about us having our fun yesterday. And that we did. I didn't want the evening to end. We got to meet a lot of great neighbors, which was a true plus!

Here are a few pics:

At one point, Nic decided to add his Pirate hat and sword to his Buzz Lightyear costume. Unfortunately, I didn't get that on camera - but trust me, it was super cute.

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Halloween, yourselves!!

What do cookies and sunsets have in common?

Oooh! A riddle!

Orange you glad you stopped by today...? :)

The kids and I decided to make some Halloween cookies last night.  I need to put it out there first and foremost... I have never EVER made sugar cookies. Nope. Never.

And after last night, it may be a long while before I ever attempt to again. I think I am a chocolate-chip-cookie-maker type of gal.  I am sure the dough was not supposed to be falling apart as I rolled it to 1/8 of an inch.   After an agonizing 7 minutes, they were done. Thankfully, my taste-testers said they tasted ok.

Did you get that?  OK.  Not "great!" Not "These are the BOMB, mom!" Just ok. Lowercase oh. Lowercase kay. 

Wait, I just remembered, Nic did say they were the best cookies ever. Can I trust a three-year old and a smile?!  See for yourself...

I wanted to share this [below] with you. This is the view from my kitchen table each and every night. Aren't I a lucky gal?! 

Random... Or is it?

have a happy monday!

My Mind is Racing with Random Thoughts

Today is our last Sunday before the new, back-to-school Sunday night rituals begin.
Normally at this time, I would be herding the kids in to take showers, do chores, get ready for dinner, and ready for bed.

Right now, Isa is out playing with her friend Hannah, Nic is taking a nap, and Alex is about to jump on the PS3.

I cannot believe summer is over.

Due to the Monsoon Season, we have had some rain. Today it is only 83 degrees out, overcast, and breezy.
I turned off the A/C, opened up all of the windows - my house is being aired out in the middle of Summer; can you believe it?

I kind of like the sound of my vertical blinds knocking into each other when the breeze comes through the window.

The kids and I met one of my bestest girl friends and her 4 kids for lunch. She's getting married in February - so we sat down to write out some To-Do lists. I helped her come up with a theme. I love themes.

After lunch, my three and I went to Michael's.
I love this time of year, and I love Michael's during  this time of year.

Alex's birthday is coming up (one we hope to celebrate in our new home). I really want to make Cake Balls like Bakerella makes.  I decided I better start practicing. So I picked up a few supplies.

Then we ran into the Halloween aisle.

I think Halloween is my SECOND favorite holiday; the first being 4th of July.

I decided it would be fun to let the kids do a little decorating...

I bought some construction paper and stickers.

We probably won't get to it until next weekend, but for sure they will be done by the time October 31 rolls around!

It's so much fun to imagine us in the new house just in time for the holidays!

Come on Bank of America... let me know what's going on!

And finally, I will leave you with this.  Nic found his Toy Story 3 stickers.
And decided to grown a uni-brow, mustache, and goatee with them.
Oh, and he pierced his right ear.

This kid makes me laugh.