The best birthday present ever!!

Every year when it gets close to my mom's birthday, my dad always asks us girls what he should get for her. We are usually warned by our mother to let our dad figure it out for himself and to not tell him what he should get, but this year was an exception. Mom told me if dad asked then to tell him she want a "Silhouette" craft machine. It is pretty simliar to the Cricut, but you dont need cartridges and it hooks right up to your computer. So a couple weeks before Mom's birthday I got a phone call from Becca, she was on her other phone with Dad and he wanted to know what to get for mom (surprise). I relayed the request for a silhouette and the next week guess what mom got for her birthday? Today we finally got a chance to get it out and learn how to use it. It is super easy to use and I was able to get these super cute blocks done! I used a 2x4 and 2x6 cut into random heights, painted them and decopodged the cut letters onto them-super easy!! They sit nicely in my kitchen window!!





I know it wasnt MY birthday present, but I still think its the best present ever!!!!

Halloween Weekend!!

Halloween is a super fun time of year! I remember when I was growing up, my dad loved Halloween and had so much fun decorating the yard and house. He has scary music playing and all kinds of scary decorations. Halloween brings out the kid in everyone! Sophie was a ladybug, Maggie was Jesse from Toy story and G was Woody from Toy story. I wore my trusty cat ears and tail that I have had since college!






We started our Halloween festivities on Thursday night at my friend Laci's house. She did an awesome job with yummy food, fun games for the kids and even a little hay ride!




Saturday night, we had the Halloween Carnival at my church followed by Trunk or Treat. Since I am the activities chairperson, I was consumed with this carnival! I have been working on games, prizes, etc forever!!! Lots of stress came with this activity, expecially since I have 2 little ones and I was in a continuing education course Friday and Saturday from 830 to 430, but the turn out was amazing and I got lots and lots of postive feedback! Mom won best costume in the adult category!




I was amazed at how many people jumped in and helped out when I need them and clean up went super fast!! We were home before 9pm, which is amazing and I am sure all the parents with little one appreciate that it wasnt a late night (espcially with church and 9am the next day!!)Anyhow! It was a great time and the girls were soooo good! We had a photo booth for family pictures. The sister who took the pictures did an amazing job, well she is a professional!



On Sunday night, my sister Becca and my nephew Seth came in for Trick or Treating around the neighborhood. We were going to skip, especially since it was Sunday and Maggie was sick and running a fever since Saturday night, but I called my sister and found out that my nephew was super disapointed. For unforseen reasons, they were not able to make it to the carnival and he really wanted to come in and see the girls and go trick or treating! Of course, free candy can perk up anyone-even a 3 year old with a fever.

We ended our Halloween celebrations on Monday night with a new tradition from the Mexican culture. Gerson taught us about Dia de los Muertos. Mom and dad came over and shared funny stories about loved ones who had already passed on. Gerson shared about his grandfather. He shared that his grandpa had gone blind and they(probably him and his brother) would hide in their grandpa's room to scare him. His grandpa would start swinging his cane around trying to hit them and then they would start singing the pinata song!Boys!! We ended the night with some yummy sweet bread Gerson had picked at the local Mexican market.



It was a long, mostly fun weekend and we cant wait until next year!!!!