the little things in life

Sometimes it is the little things in life that make me so excited. I'm sure many of you will not understand this, but I found a new envelope vendor and I just got my first shipment.....they are awesome!!!

In the past, I've designed birth announcements, Christmas cards, save-the-dates, shower invites, etc. for people, but I've been on hiatus for a while now. Book covers have gotten me bored recently, so nothing will boost creativity better than ordering 800 envelopes in fantastic colors and sparkles! I am so pleased with the quality and absolutely cannot wait for our Christmas cards to come in. I just ordered them today, also from a new vendor that I am very excited about!!! Hopefully they will come in before I leave for Georgia with Connor next Thursday.

Sometimes the hardest part about being a designer is trying to pick just one design. So, I caved and ordered two. :) I do have a favorite, and I ordered 50 of that one, and just 25 of the other. I can always get more if I need them, but thanks to Facebook, I'll likely not send them to everyone I've ever met. ;)

I am going to be strong and refrain from posting the card cover of my favorite, but I just can't hold in the other one. Just know that this is the runner-up. (and this is not the picture I mentioned in the previous Ohio trip post)


They are postcard-sized with a letter printed on the back....so it is a card and an update in one. I think I'm going to put these guys in the new brown sparkle envelopes. Now, I just need to find the best way to write on dark envelopes.....suggestions?

Anyway, if any of you are still tossing around the idea for Christmas cards, I love doing them....and hey, I'm cheap. :) I need to get an etsy shop open, but for now it is just for fun!

See, the little things....I just can't stop looking at my 8 fantastic varieties of envelopes!!! ;)

(Brian is totally going to roll his eyes when he reads this.)

Quick Ohio Trip

We had such a fun time in Ohio this weekend. The weather was AMAZING. We got to watch Scott play in his last home football game at Baldwin-Wallace College. He is the punter for the Yellow Jackets. We thought it would be fun for C to dress up, so we borrowed Paetyn's "bee" costume and he was a little mascot for the game! Connor also got to play in the leaves and ride on the tractor with Grandpa. We all had fun!

Of course, you know me....I was snapping pictures the whole weekend. I am happy to say that I was able to capture a great one of Connor that will be our Christmas card picture. So, I will refrain from posting that one. :)

Here are some of my favorites. I'll likely caption later. (The kitchen is a disaster, but I just can't make myself clean it...)

Connor Escapes

I thought I had more time.

This morning when I went in to get Connor (I heard him in there "talking" and playing), I was more than a little shocked. I opened the door and found a little man in footed, fleece, jammies standing at his toybox, pulling out toys. The little rascal GOT OUT OF HIS CRIB!

The crib is on the lowest possible setting, no bumpers in the crib for him to stand on, and during his escape, he didn't make a peep. In shock, I immediately told Brian and I think it took him a few seconds to register what I was telling him. It probably sunk in more when Connor ran into our room to see daddy.

Anyway, Brian suggested not jumping to any changes. We are going to see if it was a fluke thing or if he does it again soon. If so, we'll obviously be converting his crib into a toddler bed very soon.

Perhaps the fact that I rearranged Connor's room yesterday gave him some sort of super-powers? The weird thing is that as I was moving stuff around, in my head I was thinking of how it would look best once it was converted to a full-sized bed. Perhaps I jinxed myself. I thought I'd at LEAST have another 4 months before I had to even think about it.

Another proof that he is getting so big....the kid much prefers eating with a fork. He has been doing it for a while but has really mastered his skills. When we give him a fork, far less food ends up on the floor and he is much more entertained by the whole eating process. Sounds good to me. My dad is in town for a very short time and last night we went out to eat and I didn't have a fork in the diaper bag so he got to practice with a big-boy fork....that was a little scary but he did great. :) We'll continue to stick to the plastic ones for now.

Happy Halloween!

Although the lion costume got the most votes in the poll, (thanks to those of you that voted!) we decided it would be a better gesture to go with the blue monster costume. I got it from a neighbor, and although I'm sure they didn't care, I wanted to make sure they knew we liked it, etc. It turns out they weren't even home, so it didn't matter, but the monster costume was nice and warm on a crazy cold Halloween evening!

Connor with his friend, Paetyn

Brian and I both wanted to take C trick-or-treating, but we weren't sure what to do about abandoning our own door. We ended up leaving the bowl for a few minutes. We only wanted to go to a few houses anyway, so it all turned out fine.

Monster on the loose!

Trick-or-treating in action at Stu & Marci's with neighbor, Drew.

Quick hug with my little guy in front of our neighbor's awesomely carved Elmo pumpkin

kisses for Daddy at home upon ToT completion

C got to eat dinner with the jack-o-lantern and decided to share his chicken. This is him putting it in the pumpkin's mouth...

Connor has grown so much in a year! Remember our little skunk from last year?!

Annual Halloween family picture. (M & T not pictured...too cold outside.)

And Halloween wouldn't be complete without cool glow-in-the-dark, festive, jammies. Too bad I couldn't get the kid to look at the camera for the life of me. Oh well...pretty cute anyway.

Pumpkin Patch

We found a neat little local pumpkin patch on Thursday afternoon after Brian got home from work. The weather was a little dreary, it has been past the time for pumpkins on our porch.

Of course, we couldn't stop at just one. We got a whole "family". Brian picked out a big, daddy-sized pumpkin. I got a mommy-sized one. We selected a baby pumpkin for Connor (he just ran around and was more fascinated with the cool, rugged, old wagon than all the pumpkins). Mitsy and Toonces are represented by 2 pie pumpkins. Looking back, I should have gotten the striped ones for them...oh well, next year.

Here are pictures of our outing. I'll take a picture of the front of the house with all the mums and our pumpkin family tomorrow.

Providence Lake Block Party

Ok, I must say that we live in one of the best neighborhoods ever. We just had our first annual block party. It was so close to Halloween that the kids got to dress up for a costume parade and there was a pumpkin contest as well.

When we moved in, I think we were the 13th house, and now there are 17 or 18. Phase 2 is just opening up and I really think it is just going to get more and more fun as more people join in the mix.

So, as I'm sure most of you are aware by now, Connor has a few costumes to choose from for Halloween. I found 4 costumes at various garage sales and they are so cute and different it was tough to decide what he should be. We went with the lion costume for the party since it would keep him pretty warm. And, hey it is just so darn cute on him! The family that I got it from said that several of their kids wore it for a few years...even up to age 6 or 7 I think. So, you'll likely be seeing this costume again. If anything, what a great costume to play dress up!

Ok, back to the party. The pumpkin carving contest. I was SO IMPRESSED with all the entries. We are really going to have to step it up for our entry next year. The winner this year was our new neighbors and their "Neighborhood Watchdog". How cute is this?!

Soon after everyone arrived, the kids got to participate in the costume parade/hay ride. Don hooked up his trailer and filled it with hay benches and all the kids had a blast. Of course some of us big "kids" needed to go also to make sure our munchkins were safe. We ended up serving as the barrier to keep kiddos from venturing too close to the back. Babies in back! After everyone got off, Connor darted right back to the trailor. I think he would have stayed there all night. On the second ride, I let him walk around on his own and he made it to the front. Don said he looked back and saw him chewing on the wood of the trailor while looking out. Nice.

Holly and I organized kids games for the little ones. I think everyone had a good time. There was a little something for every age.



Don and Linda planned a whole Olympics of adult games with medals for the winners and everything. Holy cow, how creative. I didn't play because I was chasing the lion, but I think Brian had a good time. Some of the events: javelin (throwing pixie sticks), Bird shot put (throwing a frozen turkey onto a mat with numbered spaces), bowling (knocking over 10 cans of green beans with actual bowling balls), toilet toss (like horseshoes, but with toilet lids with a notch cut out), and there were others too, but I didn't get to see it all.

Of course there was a ton of food. I made a carrot cake the shape of a pumpkin by bakin it in two bundt pans and putting them together. We are still eating it...well, I am. Connor found some very good chocolate balls that he enjoyed a great deal. He stole one off another kid's plate, so I replaced that one and just let him have it. Needless to say, it looks like he enjoyed it!



After everyone ate and it was dark, we had a big bon fire and all huddled around. The fire was near the playset and Connor had a wonderful time diving down the slide head first. I guess he just trusts that we'll catch him! Don and Linda also contributed some super cool jack-o-latern hot air lanterns that ooed and aahed the kids and adults alike. Everyone agreed that it felt like about 11:00 pm, but it was only 8:00! I think everyone was pooped and home by around 9. We had such a good time and I'm already looking forward to next year. The only sad part about the party is that it is also kind of a farewell for a few months as we all prepare to hibernate in our houses during the winter. We just really need to be diligent and set up our playdates so we don't go nuts!

Here is a slide show of more pics from the party.

Another trip to Klackle Orchard with Leslie & Mary

Miscellaneous at Home

"Halo Sleepsack for Early Walkers" Great concept, horrible sizing. This is the XL, 18 month size. I think it will still fit him when he is 10.
It is just like the infant sleepsack except with little places for feet.

He wanted to do his own hair....so I let him.
Then he took the brush downstairs.

Mowing the grass with daddy. It was chilly, but C was bundled up
and lasted the whole time. The cut the front and back together. :)

I think this is a cool picture.
One of their favorite things to do together: flips on the couch/bed/wherever it is soft.

This is what happens to little boys....Connor gets more than his fair share. He fell out of his police car. That is what happens when he chooses to go out the window instead of using the door like a civilized baby! He ended up with a significant scab and now a little scar, but I'm sure it will fade.

Connor in his Elmo jammies and slippers!

Here is his elephant costume. It was another garage sale find and is one of the possibilites for Halloween. It was just too funny to see him dressed as an elephant in his little police car. :)