Just goofing off

Quick try tonight for some pictures to use for RJ's birthday invitations. So hard for me to believe he will be 6 soon. He has decided on a rock star theme for his birthday. After running around with the family checking items off our to-do list we took some quick pictures for a practice round.

Not sure if any of these will actually make the cut, but we'll see.

And, of course, little sister wanted to get in on the fun...

It's Beginning to feel...

Let me just say that I like to decorate. Not sure how good I am at it, but I still like to do it. I have collected lots of Christmas 'stuff' over the past few years. Even purged a little last year and am sure to do it again this year, like maybe tonight, because I'm tired of all the boxes of 'stuff.' We had a little meltdown with our beautiful pre-lit tree last year. So the original lights don't work.

No big deal.

So I thought. I actually put up and took down our tree lights three times over the weekend. And I don't mean the simple go around in-a-circle put the lights on. I mean weaving the lights on the branches in and out so that each and every branch has lights on it.

Oh, yes! (3 times!!)

It seems that I was overloading our lights... I would get close to the top or even finished and the lights would just go out. Then plugged into a regular outlet they would work. Ahhh! So my brilliant husband helped me separate the lights into two sections so we now have two plugs for our tree. Hey, they work... I'm fine with that. At one point over the weekend, my 5 yr old son was begging Daddy not to mess with them because mommy would lay on the floor again. (A weak moment after lights #2 when RJ thought Christmas would be ruined because mommy couldn't get the lights to work.)

So finally, after all that fun (?!) and a whole weekend later, we now have our tree up and glowing! Check it out... now onto the rest of the house.

Trying new things...

I usually like to try new things. Change is good I believe. So moving things around my house and rearranging or redecorating is not new to me. Every once and a while I like to shake things up a bit and put a new spin on things. So I'm trying something new with a photo I took during the summer. It is probably on my list of top 5 pictures I've taken of the kids. I recently ordered a wall mural made from my photo at 4 foot long by 3 foot wide! Really doesn't sound all that big I guess, well, it did not to me until I started actually measuring for myself! I'm super excited and can't wait for it to get here so we can add it to our wall. This is the picture that I believe deserved something bigger than just a frame and a nail.

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween weekend! The kids loved trick-or-treating! The fun started on Friday afternoon when we pulled in the garage. RJ and daddy were waiting in ambush mode for us. They got me good. Payton was safe tucked away in the car.

Saturday we made some treats for the annual Pressley Halloween Party. RJ helped me make these goodies.

(oreo balls with mini choc chips as eyes for ghosts) Our friends live in a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating so we tackled that first while it was still a little light outside. Then we had some wonderful, warm eats!

Sunday we finished off the weekend with a trunk-or-treat at the kids daycare. The kids were super excited about getting to go trick-or-treating two times! Enjoying the fun hayride!Okay, I think the fun had worn off by now...

Halloween Inspiration

Just a few images of the things rolling through my mind this week:


These just look sinful! As one of those strange people who adore candy corns, I have put this one on my must try list. You can find the recipe at BakedBree.com. I'm definitely going to try these out for our halloween party on Saturday.
Spooky Brownie Bites
Bake a pan of brownies and let cool on a rack. When cool enough to handle, turn upside down and spill onto waxed paper. Cut the hard outer edge of brownies off and discard (if you have the willpower - I ate ours, he he).
With a large round scoop, spoon scoops of brownie out of the soft inside. Use your fingers to shape into a ball while pushing the crustier parts into the center.
After all the brownie is formed into balls, roll them into colored sugar or sprinkles. Store in a sealed container in the fridge. These can be made up to three days in advance, and they are still soft and yummy!


Halloween decor ideas(for next year!!)

Jamberry Nails - really loving this blog right now and all her fun ideas! I'm definitely going to try this one. Going to check first to see if any salons in my area do it for you - first.

Halloween costumes for our family: RJ - dinosaur, Payton - kitty cat, myself - Erin Andrews. (we are dressed up at school today- I've got the microphone and name tag, but left the blonde wig at home.)

Carve it up!

Time to carve our pumpkin! The kids were excited and helped me with ideas for our pumpkin face. RJ even had the great idea to plant the pumpkin seeds to see if we will grow our own pumpkins. (I think he would love living on a farm!) So I put Roby in charge of the camera to get some 'action' shots. He did a pretty good job I thought!!

Pizza night and some practice

The kids got to make their own pizza last night. I really like to have the kids help me in the kitchen. They really enjoy doing any hands on stuff and if that includes cracking open eggs or making pizza they are all for it! We didn't even have to ask them to finish their dinner... (for once.) They were more than ready to try their creation.

(Practice shots... keeping the pizza focused while also getting the kids in the background.)