Eight on Friday.

 Ramblings of what we've been up to lately....

 1. Hitting up the local pumpkin farms!

Playing in large cornboxes (is that what they are called?)...I love these things!

Climbing on hay bales...O-bubs loves these things.

Sliding...lots of sliding on this ginormous slide.

Jack-bubs loved this thing and may have shed a few tears when we had to say, "good-bye!"

But he also loves the zip line, so the tears were for this as well.

Ohhh my Jackers, he has pure excitement and enthusiasm for everything he does!

So good-byes can be hard even if it is only a slide.

2. Helping out poor little birdies, like this one...

She flew right into our window on her quest to somewhere as we were sitting right there eating dinner.

It took the little chaquita a good 10 minutes to re-orient herself.

I think the back-rubs provided by Jack did the trick!

Because after a few minutes of this, off she went up into the trees.

2. Stocking our freezer (well, not really...I only got about 5 jars from the 20 or so apples I used) with homemade applesauce.

Jack or I mean Superman, helped me core and slice the apples.

It's hard work. 

Thank goodness Superman has "big pects" as Jack likes to say.

 It was such hard work that he needed to refuel (by eating apples) while working

 and then taking a much needed two-minute rest when his work was done.

 

The Superman costume was a positive reinforcement/incentive to get Jack to stop having a certain type of accident in his pants. It worked....hallelujah!

4. Decorating for Halloween.

I did check this off my list from last weekend!
My lil' spider looks a little weak, but that's due to the fact that we have curious toddler living in this house who likes to destruct pretty much everything in his path.

5.  Baking and Cooking and lots of it!

I also checked making Martha's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares off my list. Oh.My.Goodness...these were awesome!! Make them...now!

I tried two new recipes and both were great!

1. Pioneer Woman's Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

2. Chili with Cornbread Topping

And these Chocolate Peanut Butter Pots are so darn good! Beware, you may be tempted to eat the whole batch yourself. They are so good, you will pop them in your mouth like grapes!

Dangerously delicious.

6. Making homemade Play-Doh.

 It still always surprises me how long (this was well over an hour) the boys will play with the simple things. Ahhh...makes for a good day!

Just like when Jackers cut paper for 45 minutes.

 7. Breaking down and cutting Owen's hair.

Only after a woman at our gym "swore he was a girl for the past year"! 

Really....Really!?!?!
I couldn't believe my ears!

So, I decided maybe he was ready for a trim to just clean it up a bit.

It was needed regardless of what that silly woman said.

Note to self...never ever say that to a mother.

(When in doubt-keep your mouth shut..I'm just saying)

And look-a dog triangle!

and a dancing dog.

Happy Friday!!

Five on Friday.

1. As part of 'Getting My Fall On", I decided I needed a new purse more fitting for the season. I found this cutie at Target recently, but I kept thinking it needed a little somethen-somethen.

Hmmmm?

Well ladies, then I saw the autumn bloom belt complete with an easy-peasy tutorial.  It was so cute, but I couldn't see myself wearing it as a belt. However, I thought it could be just what I needed for my purse as a pin...the perfect Fall bling (without the actual bling) to my purse.

Yep, perfect!

Ahhh...love it when my ideas work out just as I want them to!

2.  I truly think that as the mother of two boys, I will be fighting pee on the toilet seat for the.rest.of.my.life. Seriously?!?!?

3.  Jack had his very first school pictures taken recently. We practiced 'Jack Smiles', bought a new shirt and styled his hair (which he really cannot stand, because "Momma it's all crunchy, I don't like it!"). Hey, I know I may sound a bit annoying....my mother laughed at me when I told her about this. Whatever....I need to take advantage of this time that I have being able to "style" my Jackers for his school pictures. There will come a time when I will hear "Umm, no way Mom!"

Anyway, they turned out great, so here is a super blurry Blackberry picture to share with you.

4.  The boys and I ventured up to Costco today to load up on groceries. On our way home, we stopped at Passiflora, a small store that I just happened to discover recently. It's located in an old school house and they sell refurbished antique furniture and cute gifts and bobbles (as Pat calls them) or curiosities (as the owner calls them). Oh.My.Gosh. So cute! I will definitely be a returning customer, they may even come to know me by my first name. I bought a blue side table for my family room and this adorable owl hat!

5. This weekend, I think I am going to attempt:

1. Martha's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares 

     2. To make these super cute pumpkin-spiders.

     3. To sew together a coffee cozy...wouldn't these be awesome Christmas presents.


     4. Make a fun scarecrow (or Scarescrow as Jack calls them.) complete with a pumpkin (or pancake as Owen call them) head with Pat and the boys.


    5. Make myself a ruffled camera strap. I really want one for myself and to be able to make it for myself is even better!


  6. Oh and stock my freezer with applesauce.


Who am I kidding? Sheesh!

Lots O'Art!

I am currently in the process of giving our playroom an organizational makeover. You might be thinking makeover-schmakeover, kids still make it a very messy space by the end of the day. I do agree, but now everything will have its own labeled home so clean up is more effective and I stay just a little more sane. 

Task One: Organize Artwork

With Jackers in school now, we have a lot (a lot) of artwork flowing into our house. It's great and I love it! I love seeing Jack's creative mind at work, finally! Arts and crafts have never been big on Jack's list of to-do's. His top three daily to-do's usually consist of running, jumping off the furniture, and climbing on anything he can. Arts and crafts get an "ehhhh, maybe?" Well, times are a changing around here and this Momma is loving it. 

With all this artwork coming home, I needed a place to display it other than the refrigerator. I found these signs (under my bed, of all places) that I bought years ago and was no longer using.

 I sanded them down.

Hired a painter.

My painter painted them white with a little help from his Momma.

He did a great job when he wasn't being distracted my moths, caterpillars, and grasshoppers.

I distressed the wood and sprayed it with a clear coating spray. 

I then applied the vinyl that I had ordered from Wonderfully Wordy.

Ta-Da!

Yes, I do realize we need to get working on some art for Owen's side!

 Now the hanger system underneath, I saw this idea somewhere out in blogland, but after searching (and searching) I cannot find or even remember which specific blog I found this idea from.

It's consists of three simple things:

1. wire

2. small screw eyes

3. clothespins

*I bought a kit at Target that contains different types of picture hangers, it included both the wire and small screw eyes.

So

very

simple!

I love it!

Jack likes looking at his art and he likes talking about 'the history' of each piece.

Makes my little man proud....and me too!

And just cuz...

A Laundry Room Redo.

My laundry room was in such need of a face-lift or as I like to say, it needed to be girlified.

It was the only room that still had its builder's bright white walls and it was just an absolute disorganized mess.  I am forever doing the laundry and so I was really yearning for a calm, lovely space to do this laundry in. 

Thankfully, I have the best husband who is always willing to help me make my ideas a reality. There are so many awesome ideas out in blogland that offer inspiration for these ideas. This space was inspired by this laundry room and this laundry room.

My laundry room before...what a gross mess!

And my laundry room after....ahhhh, what a lovely space.

I now can be found smiling (well, somewhat smiling) on my 29th load of laundry instead of grumbling.

1. We painted the walls Sea Haze by Benjamin Moore. This color looks blue in these pictures, but it is actually a sage green-gray color.

2. We put up wainscoting with chair rail that we painted good ole' Valspar white.

3. We replaced the metal shelf with a wood shelf Pat made that we painted white.

4. Pat also made the laundry basket shelf that was inspired by these risers. Risers would not work in this space because our washer sits in a drain basket that is nailed to the floor. But, I really-really like how the shelving turned out anyway.This helps to keep this tiny, awkward shaped room tidy and organized. We painted them that same white and I added the vinyl letters. This happened to be my first vinyl project...what a great invention that vinyl is! Note to self: Need a Cricut.

5. Hidden around the corner is our DIY drying rack. We made this Ballard-inspired laundry room drying rack by following this tutorial. I love it! It's so great to have a drying rack specifically located where we actually do our laundry instead hanging these clothes on the chair in our bedroom or over the shower curtain rod in our bathroom.

6.  The laundry room sign...oh how happy I was when I found this! I had originally seen the following in the Ballard's catalog:

And I wanted it bad..really bad. 

However, with a price of $129, I just couldn't justify it.

Well whatta know, I think within two weeks this free printable caught my eye!

$1.49 for Kinko's Printing + $2.00 Restore Frame = Perfection.

Thank you kind blogger who created this freebie and many others.

I feel like the frame needs some cute, fabric rosettes.

In time.

Oh, and the color of the sign looks blah, but it's not.

7. Before this redo our ironing board and iron were being stored/used in our closet.

Again to keep with the laundry organization theme, I wanted these to be stored/used in the laundry room. Please ignore my ugly cover....in time. 

I saw this excellent and so cute idea for an ironing board hanger, just what we needed.

I followed her tutorial and ordered the vinyl from her vinyl shop.

How cute is that?

8. I added some pics of the family because if this cute room can't make me smile on my 30th load of laundry, I know these pics will!

Close up of the shelving...

-Shelf made out of MDF

-Vinyl letters from an ABC kit from Hobby Lobby at 50% off (maybe $12.00)

-Laundry baskets from Target at $4.99/basket

Just to keep it real.....
Our washer/dyer are almost 7 years old, we bought them when we moved into our first house after we were married. They have moved with us to 3 different States. The dryer knob broke off, probably 2 years ago and I have been using this random bracket or a pliers to turn the dryer on for these 2 entire years!

9. Next up, I decorated it with a bunch of stuff I found around my house. Truly, I had the window (Craig's List purchase), the wreath was a Target purchase last Fall, and the tin ceiling tiles (which I painted) were from this great store in Woodbury, MN called The Whimsical Place (miss that store...A LOT) that I had bought probably 3 years ago. Lastly, the rug is from Target and I love it!

I truly think my laundry room redo will be complete when it has a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

But, I am tired of shopping for one and scouring Craig's List so I need to move on, at least for now.

In time.

Voila!

Now it's super late and I should already be sleeping, but if you are looking to make some super-duper cute pumpkins for your Fall Decor...check this out! Lots of great ideas!

The Great Pumpkin Search of '10.

It's that time of year when we start getting our Fall on around here!

You know what that means....pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins.

We headed out this past Sunday for The Myers Family Great Pumpkin Search.

It just happened to be the perfect day for our mission as it was sunny with the right amount of chill in the air. The boys understood our goal (hmm, Jack did) and they were ready to have some fun.

Okay boys, here we go!

Wait Momma, look! What is that over there?

It's big and orange all over?

Yep, just what we came looking for, lots of pumpkins.

No mommy, not pumpkins.....that man all dressed in orange.

Ohhh...
That's Gene The Pumpkin Man, of course!

We visited him last year.

Isn't that orange get-up just a bit blinding?

But yes, it is festive.

After we gathered up all of our pumpkins and gourds, we worked our way towards Gene to pay for them. Jack was the keeper of the pumpkin-filled wagon the entire time. As we got closer to Gene, Pat told Jack to make him an offer he couldn't refuse. Well, (and who knew Jack understood what Pat was saying?) Jack walked right up to him, slammed the wagon handle to the ground and said, "Gene, ten bucks!" This gave The Pumpkin Man a good chuckle as he told us, "I have now heard everything!"

I was not able to take as many pictures as I was hoping. O-Man's new pastime is throwing things to the ground while yelling, "Dump!" You know, to hear the sound it makes as it breaks to pieces! 

So not fun for his Momma!

There was more of this, 

"Owen, careful"

"Owen, watch out"

"Owen, No..no..NO"

"Owen, safe..be safe"

"Owen, no not in your mouth...icky poo-poo"

than taking pictures. *sigh*

Just a couple of us...

and a dead mole.

The dead mole was very fascinating for the boys to look at.

We had to pry them away to continue on with our mission.

Ewww...so gross, but kinda cute at the same time.

Kinda.

Anyway,

this post wouldn't be complete without a flashback picture of my babies.

October 2010

October 2009

Hope you all have found your perfect pumpkins!