Random pics and more Halloween decor fun!

This past Friday was Breast Cancer Awareness at Logan's school.  They encouraged all of the kids to wear something pink in honor of one of their teachers who is a survivor.  Logan had no problem being in pink, but I really wanted him to understand the reason behind it.  I did my best to explain it to my 5-year-old, but it is difficult when you take a sensitive subject like cancer and add on the word breast to the conversation.  I wish I could have taken a picture of the look on his face.  Anyway, I have volunteered to take pictures of all the events for their yearbook.  So, I made sure to get one of his class all wearing pink! 

He has made some great friends this year!  They are a great group of kids!

I also caught this...

I guess this is Luke's new buddy while Logan is at school!

Luke also helped me out with some more Halloween decorating.  This idea was another Pinterest find! 

This site has a ton of pumpkins made out of all kinds of stuff!

Luke and I added some small gourds for the centerpiece! 

For the other cute pumpkin ideas, go to the following: http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2011/09/50-different-pumpkin-crafts-for-fall.html

Great Wolf!

We did a little something different this year in lieu of a birthday party for the boys.  And, let me tell you how excited I was that I did not have to plan a party!  I know that sounds a bit pathetic, but birthday parties stress me out, and they end up costing way more than we originally planned.  So, we pulled up pics of the Great Wolf Lodge online and showed the boys.  Then we gave them a choice to go there or have a party.  Our evil-genius plan worked, and they chose Great Wolf.  If you have never heard of Great Wolf or never been to one, it is really something to see.  It is a huge hotel with an indoor water park, arcade, spa, game room, and spa.  They could not make it more kid/family friendly, and I think it is really reasonably priced compared to two birthday parties back to back.  Plus, it is nice to get away as a family and relax which for me means someone else does the cooking and cleaning!  Here are the highlights!!

We picked this particular weekend because it was decked out for Halloween! 

I want a fireplace like this! They played a movie here after dinner, The Addams Family!

Just a glimpse of the indoor water park.  They have one slide that, honestly, was the scariest water ride I have ever been on!  Luke was not tall enough to ride it, so Logan and I tried it out.  It rendered him speechless which should tell you everything about it!

They have themed rooms, and we chose the "cave" room as the boys called it.  And, no, we did not all pile onto these bunks.  This was just for the boys!

They also got to do a bit of trick or treating! Just in case you are wondering, Luke also has on wolf ears that they gave him at dinner.  They don't really go with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfit, but he didn't care!

In the evening, they have this interactive singing thing and story time at the clock in the lobby.  Very cute!

We realized at dinner that Luke had on two different flip flops.  We asked him if he knew, and he told us he wanted it that way.  Never mind that it is the end of October and my kid is still wearing flip flops!

After breakfast, they have a  "wolf walk" where they take the kids around the lobby and point out different animals that live in the wild. Then they give a little educational information and let them make an origami wolf.

And, we never have family pics taken for obvious reasons.  This was the best we could get out of all four that morning!

Cruisin'

I finally got away this past weekend for a little girl time!  We took a quick little jaunt to the Bahamas via Norweigen Cruise Lines, or rather NCL which my friend refers to it as because this was like her 10th cruise!  Anyway, we were both excited about relaxing and sleeping in and just not doing anything productive.  We managed to relax and eat a lot, but we did not get a lot of sleep.  Taking a Friday to Sunday cruise requires that you spend a lot of time fitting everything in.  So, we shopped and shopped some more (and I am not even a big shopper, but it is more fun on vacation). We saw at least two shows a day and we managed to eat as much as we could fit in.  I will say that there is something to the art of sitting down to eat and really taking your time.  Of course this is easy when you aren't trying to fit lunch into a 20 minute time frame or get up every 2 seconds to serve someone or chase a child.  I actually enjoyed my food and probably ate more than I should have!  And, of course, there was talking.  We did more of that than anything and managed to stay up until 2 or 3 every morning...we put the 20 year olds to shame, but of course when we went to bed it was not considered passing out ( I will also note here that it took me about 2 days once I returned to recover from lack of sleep).  Anyway, now that I have done a couple of cruises, I have to say I am a huge fan! If you have never done one, I would highly recommend it.  You would be surprised at all there is to do and see some of which includes some fabulous people watching and interesting outfits!  Just a side note, I packed as lightly as I could so I would not have to check luggage.  I did not bring my big camera, so these are from my exciting new IPhone which I really don't know how to use very well.  Sorry for lack of quality.

A pic of our ship!  I am still amazed that something like this can float!

View from the upper deck!

The Bahamas!  It is still hurricane season there, so we had some rain on and off.  It didn't bother us!

If you have never been to the Bahamas, they have really great shopping.  I mean they have all of the really expensive shops such as Fendi, Coach, Rolex etc.  I am sure there is some kind of price difference compared to the states, but when you are looking at some of these stores, it is difficult to justify $800 for a purse anywhere.  They also have the nice "middle of the line" shops for regular shopping, too, along with the market shopping where you can always get the fabulous fakes.  It is not illegal like it is in Chinatown in New york, so you don't have to worry about police raids.  I woudn't know anything about that. That is just what I hear!

Ok, so let me explain before you start to draw your own conclusions!  One of the late night shows was a game show in which the audience formed teams.  The guy in charge basically called out different things for each team to do on stage.  They had everything from a man who could do the splits to a woman with an unusual tatoo.  One challenge was for a man to come to stage with a thong on his head.  So, this one woman stands up and literally whips her undies off (she was wearing a dress, so nothing showed btw) and yanked them down on her husband's (or let's hope it was her husband) head and pushes him onto the stage.  I don't think I have ever seen anything like it.  In the meantime, all the other men run down to the stage with a flip flop on their heads.  I suppose that poor woman will never live that down!  So, the last challenge was for one man from each team to strip to undies, wear a bra, high heals, lipstick and carry a purse down to the stage.  I am not sure that any of them remembered this the next day especially the one in the black undies with matching bra!  It was interesting to see what they would do for points, and the prize was a special bookmark which they all cheered about like they had won the lottery!  It was some great laughs for us, though!!

Thanks, Sheri! I had a great time, and I think an Italian cruise is calling for next year! I bet the shopping there is pretty good!!

Special treat!

I was invited to have lunch with my favorite Kindergartner! Thanks for having me today, buddy!! I love you!

More Halloween decor!

I found another cute project on Pinterest!  I loved this because I did not have to purchase anything to make it. I just used some scrap material, and I already had stuffing. Plus, it only took about an hour!  I am very pleased with the result, and may have to do a lot more of them...

The tutorial suggested yarn for the sectioning, but I had some thin ribbon that was easy to thread in my giant needle!  You can find the tutorial here: http://thompsonfamily.typepad.com/thompson_familylife/2009/11/fabric-pumpkin-tutorial.html

Brothers!

Just wanted to share some pics of brotherly love!

Yesterday, I asked Logan to take Luke upstairs and get the bath water started for him.  I came up a few minutes later to check on the situation.  Not only was he in the bath, but Logan had just finished washing Luke's hair and was in the process of washing his feet.  I stood there and watched this for a bit and listened to the conversation.  Logan was calmly asking Luke to raise his arms and feet and telling him to move closer so he could reach him.  I was torn about watching or running to get the camera, but I decided I better capture this so I could have evidence when they are older. It was too cute. He even got Luke's towel, PJ's and cleaned up the bathroom after!  These are the precious moments that melt my heart!

I may frame this one!

As I have mentioned, Luke is Logan's number 1 fan.  I gave him the camera at Logan's last game.  He captured this action shot of his big brother!

This is another pic of Logan taken by Luke.  He may have a future in photography! 

They can really be wonderful to each other when they are not throwing punches!

Halloween decor!

Luke's recovery has given us the chance to bond over Halloween decorations!  We started off with a Haunted Gingerbread House!  This was fun but super messy!  I found the kit at Michael's if you want to give it a go!

I don't think it is fair that they use professional cake decorators to prepare one for the cover picture. It really makes me feel inadequate when it does not look the same :-)

The grass which is made from coconut is supposed to be green...I left it in the oven a bit too long.  I think it gives it a more spooky feel anyway!

I also worked on a Halloween wreath.  I actually found something like it on Pinterest. If you have not discovered Pinterest, let me warn you now!  It is kind of addicting. Thanks to Ginger for opening that can for me! So, the idea is that you use a shape punch with newspaper.  I went to Michael's to price the punch and was not willing to pay $30 for one. So, I decided I would try coffee filters.  I was pretty happy with how well they worked.  I just used a pencil to shape them and hot glued them to the foam wreath.  Very easy, just takes time.  I was then going to spray paint the whole thing black, but I decided to try for the old look by burning the edges...it got a bit out of control in some areas, and I ended up having to place it in the sink with pouring water.  Just so you know, coffee filters catch on fire very quickly!  They also dry quickly, so it still worked out.  If you attempt this, just take it outside, go slowly and do small sections at a time.  Anyway, I then glued some plastic spiders to it and hung it on the door!  I am pretty happy with how it turned out considering I almost burned down the kitchen! 

If you are interested in the original tutorial, go to the following address: http://www.themerrymagpievintage.com/2010/08/crafty-stuff-paper-bag-wreath.html 

This is a cute blog, btw! 

Happy Halloween decorating!

Here is to 50 more!!

So many things I could say about this picture!  You had hair, and I could get into that dress! 

  I loved spending the day with you and the boys even if it was nursing Luke through post-surgery and taking Logan to a birthday party.  That is our life together, and I would not change a thing!  Thanks for hanging out with me for the last 7 years, and I hope you are ready for 50 more!

I love you!