The Rules of Trick-or-Treat

Thank you all for your sweet comments on the passing of my grandpa on Saturday. All of your prayers and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I know Halloween was a week ago, but I never got around to posting any pictures until now, so hopefully you don't mind some Halloween pictures and a little rant :)

(we never did get one where both of them were looking at the camera)

This is the first time my husband and I took the kids trick-or-treating so I guess you could call us amateurs, but as someone who trick-or-treated until I was 14 (yes, I just admitted that - I like candy!) I like to think I know how this Halloween thing works.

When I trick-or-treated, I followed a few simple rules:

1. Trick-or-treating begins when it starts to get dark.
2. If you plan on giving out candy, put your porch light on. Extra points for people who put their garage lights on too.
3. If you have your porch light on, I will ring your doorbell and ask for candy.
4. If your porch lights are on and I ring your doorbell, don't act surprised that my I am there and offer me a banana in place of candy.

We took the kids around for an hour and they barely got any candy and most people with their lights on said they didn't have any candy for her. I guess maybe Halloween isn't what I remember as a kid. My brother and I would go out as soon as we possibly could, then trick-or-treat until the last minute. The houses with their porch lights on meant "I have candy, come and get it!" Garage lights alone were iffy, those were probably the people hiding in their living room snickering as poor children rang their doorbells in hopes of candy. And if you were one of the people who left out a bowl of candy, I applaud you.

Near the end, my dad would drive us a few miles down the road where the mansions were and we would get full-sized candy bars. We would come back with several bags full of candy and when we got home, we would dump it all on the floor and sort them into categories: Chocolate, Hard Candies, Gross Candy For Mom and Dad (Dum Dums, Tootsie Rolls, etc.) Then for the next year, we would ration our candy out each day until it was next Halloween.

It was still fun, but I guess I'm a little sad that Halloween isn't what I remember. Or maybe I just went to the wrong neighborhood?

Guest posting on The Dating Divas

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! I just wanted to pop in and tell you that I guest posted on The Dating Divas yesterday and shared my tutorial for the Necklace Tee! Sorry for the late notice :)

The Necklace Tee was actually one of the first projects I did when I really started to get into craft blogging more. I had seen these kind of shirts for adults and thought, "Hey, I could totally do that!" Those kind of projects are my favorite kind! They're the ones where you can grab a handful of supplies that you already have on hand, sit down for half an hour, and whip out an awesome project. It's even no-sew - well almost, just a little hand sewing for the ribbon bows. 

So come check me out at The Dating Divas and say hi! And while you're there, check out all the great dates the Divas have put together to bring you and your better half closer together.

Life is precious

Yesterday I lost someone very special to me: my grandpa.

My family has known for awhile that his health was declining, but death is never easy, even when it's expected.

Actually, it came as somewhat of a shock to me on a day that was otherwise typical and ordinary. I got a call from my mom at the end of the work day He was admitted to the hospital due to poor health and the doctors thought that it was probably time for the family to gather to say goodbye. A couple short hours later, he had passed.

We called him "Pappy,"  and he has always been a fun-loving kind of guy, even mischievous at times. He was always making jokes and, even though he had diabetes, I would always catch him sneaking ice cream when my grandma wasn't watching. Maybe that's where I inherited my sweet tooth.

One of the things I was worried about over the past year as his health continued to decline even more was that he might never meet my son. He lived in Ohio, so I saw him only on the holidays when the whole family would get together. He met my daughter on her first Thanksgiving, but since our move to Tennessee, my son had been born and he hadn't had the chance to meet him yet.

This past July, we made a stop in Ohio on the way to visit my husband's family and Pappy got to meet my son for the first time.

While both of my children are still too young to remember, I'm so glad that we made that trip so Pappy could hold both of his great grandchildren.

Even though I know you're in a better place, I'll miss you, Pappy.

Guest posting at Tatertots & Jello!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm guest posting over at Tatertots and Jello today!!

I whipped up something a little fall-ish to celebrate my favorite season - and as an added bonus, I actually got to use up some of my button hoard.

Can we all take a moment of silence in honor of the fact that I actually got a holiday-themed project up before the actual holiday is a week from being over? And can we all just pretend for a moment that fall is actually a holiday?

Awesome, glad we got that all straightened out.


So anyway, head on over to Tatertots and Jello and check out my Fall Button Tree Shirt tutorial. And while you're at it, show some love! Because all you need is love. But comments are nice too :)

You guys are pretty stinkin' wonderful

I just wanted to take a minute and talk about how awesome you guys are. No, really!

I really started to get more into blogging this past February and man has it been an exciting journey. Some days, I'm tired or I question if people even want to read my ramblings at all, and then I get an awesome email in my inbox telling me that you were inspired by one of my projects or one of my goofy stories, and it encourages me to continue. While I've never met most of you in person (except of course my husband who started following my blog at the beginning because that's pretty much a requirement of being married to me I think), I've been amazed at how encouraging and uplifting the craft community is.

I don't have the best pictures or the best projects, I don't post every day, I'm terrible at staying up with all of the trends out there in blogland, I have an inbox full of 39 emails that I haven't responded to yet (yes, I counted, and I'm sorry if you're one of the 39!), and I have no sponsors offering awesome giveaways. Yet you guys still read my blog and send me sweet emails and comments.


So thank you for reading and supporting me, you guys rock! If I was a big, famous blogger, I would give you each a Silhouette or something equally as awesome. Unfortunately, all I can offer is a big ol' cyber hug. And for those of you who don't like to be touched, high five!


While I may never meet any of you in person, I really appreciate you. You make me want to continue blogging and sharing my life with you. Thanks for caring :)

And on a completely unrelated, somewhat random side note, I'm psyched to tell you that I'm going to be guest posting over at Tatertots and Jello tomorrow!! 

I keep pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming. Here's a little sneak peek at what I'm sharing:

Ooh, how very vague and unhelpful of me!

I got into the fall spirit with this project - fall is my favorite! (I channeled a little Elf there haha)

Anyway, I hope you'll come visit and check out my project and leave lots of sweet comments so I don't look like a complete loser or anything ;)

Blog Swap with The Dating Divas

Today, I'm doing a blog swap with The Dating Divas! Their website is full of all sorts of great ideas for date nights, crafts, and ways to connect with your family. They make it easy to plan fun events, and even include free printables and great suggestions for those of us who want to plan a great date night, but can't quite connect the dots. But I'll let Cami tell you more!

Hi!  My name is Cami, and I am one of The Dating Divas!  We are a site dedicated to strengthening marriages through actually dating your spouse!  What a crazy concept right?!  Ha, ha!  Our site includes anything from date ideas to family ideas, crafts, romantic ideas, etc.  It's awesome!  So, without further ado please enjoy this AMAZING and cute idea that my fellow diva Lisa M. put together!

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Can I just tell you that I love my neighborhood! It is soo full of energy and life. Especially since there are many kids the same age of my own which means my older girls always have a friend close by to have a play date with. It's a common thing for them to receive an invitation to a birthday party often. Not only do they love the idea of a party, but getting the invitation is half the fun! A letter with their name on it.....it doesn't get much better than that for a 8- and 9-year-old! So it was no surprise to get an envelope addressed to Maddy and McKenna on our doorstep. The difference was that this invite was not for just any old birthday party. This was a very special card, inviting them to bring Dom and enjoy a "Daddy - Daughter" Day at the park. YAY! I think I may have been equally excited about this idea even though I was the one staying home to care for the younger kidlets.

Come to find out that this idea was thought up by a 7-year-old herself. My friend's daughter asked her mom if she could plan this date. Before her mom could say yes, she had already schemed the whole thing up in her head!! What makes this invite even more unique is that it was put together with glue by the master-mind of this whole event! You would never know that a 7-year-old was so talented! Check out this snazzy little card:

This is such a simple and inexpensive way to bond with the kids we love the most. Not too mention bringing our friends out for the occasion. I was just tickled to see the pics of Dom and the girls playin' it up at the local elementary school park (....bottom pic).

It is so hard for Dads to find time to play with the kids. They are soo busy with work much of the time and we all know they need their downtime too. So for a dad to make time to bond with his kiddos is priceless!

How special is it for Dads to make memories with their kids that mean so much!

A big THANKS to Madison for hosting this fabulous Date! Even if it is impossible for your hubby and kids to get to a park......why not have a "Daddy-Daughter" Date at home!! What better way to show your kids that you love them then by "dating" them this Valentine's season. Love is in the air!

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Thanks for blog swapping with me, Cami! Make sure you go visit The Dating Divas for more great tips and themed events made to bring your family together!

A Halloween confession

Halloween is 2 days away! I'm all about a holiday that gives me permission to eat a pound of candy without regret. This Halloween is especially exciting for me because I'm taking the kids trick-or-treating for the first time.

Since I was stuck in the hospital on bed rest last year while I was pregnant with Connor, I never got to take Haley trick-or-treating, instead I laid in bed and watched Man vs. Food and ate a whole bag of candy myself (I had a favorite nurse who kept me supplied - it's good to have connections.) This year though, it's on.

For Halloween this year, I made an iPhone costume for Connor, which turned out to be a ton of fun to make. Then, I had to figure out what to do with Haley. She's been obsessed with Rapunzel, so I considered making her a Rapunzel dress but the more I thought about it, the less excited I got. There are so many talented bloggers I've seen who made adorable Rapunzel dresses (here, here and here are just a few great ones) but it just looked like so much work.

After working all day, I come home and want to just lay on the couch, but there's dinner to make and kids to bathe and so really, I wasn't looking forward to sewing on tiny rick rack and puff sleeves. And I felt a little...guilty.

As a craft blogger, I feel pressure to make everything rather than buying stuff from a store. I feel the need to sew every costume, to blog about all my meals, and to make each and every birthday completely handmade complete with little tags and color coded food.

But you know what, who says I have to?

It's OK to buy stuff from stores, that's why there there! It's OK that I didn't make 1, nope not 1 Halloween decoration! It's OK that I didn't throw a Halloween party with themed food. And I'm completely OK with buying my daughter's costume from the Disney store (well actually my in-laws bought it for her, which I'm VERY OK with ;)

So here's Haley in her 100%-not-handmade-Rapunzel-costume. And it's even taken with my iPhone.

I told her, "If you smile I'll give you chocolate!" What a little ham :)