happy halloween!

Finally, one of my favorite holidays is here ~ that special time for goblins and ghouls, witches and black cats, creepy spider webs, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and everywhere you look, there are little kids all dressed up... in winter coats, hats, mittens, and scarves? What??

Brrrr... it's very chilly here today! There are going to be a lot of c-c-c-c-cold trick-or-treaters tonight.... Hopefully I'll find a way to keep my kiddos warm, but still show off their amazing costumes (handmade by Christine, my extremely talented sister). Em is going as her imaginary friend, Polaris ~ an outer-space superhero. (Yes, she has quite the imagination!) Nick will be the most adorable giraffe ever, and Ben will be wearing the same elephant costume that both his brother and sister wore at his age ~ too cute! Oh, and I'll be going as Mom Zombie ~ I won't need much to complete the look... LOL! (At times like this, it would be nice to have a digital camera! But since I don't, you'll have to wait a few days to see pics....)

We carved our pumpkins last night (and B colored his with markers ~ what a mess! But he had fun, at least!) We also made lollipop ghosts to take to school, watched Corpse Bride, and roasted pumpkin seeds. :)

Tonight we'll go trick-or-treating, of course. We'll have our traditional Batwing Soup, Grilled Scream Sandwiches, and Ghost Blood for supper (aka homemade tomato soup, grilled cheese, and milk). Then we'll probably watch our favorite Halloween movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Wishing you all a BOOtiful day!

spooktacular fun

We just love October around here! The beautiful fall colors, Halloween, apple picking... what's not to love?

I've been wanting to make these cute ghosts playing ring-around-the-rosie ever since I saw the idea in FamilyFun magazine years ago. I finally got my chance this year, and Emmalie helped me create them:

At the beginning of the month, we went to our town's Pumpkinfest. We decorated pumpkins to enter in a contest there. Em's pumpkin girl won 1st place for her age group, and so did my witch! (I didn't have any other competition, though... LOL) Nick's moose did not win, but I still think it's very cute (and original!)....

While at Pumpkinfest, Nick ran in the Kiddie Run (about half a mile long), and came in 2nd place! We were all so proud!




The kids and I also entered the pumpkin pie eating contest, along with our next-door neighbor and friend, Marissa, who went to Pumpkinfest with us. Nick and Em both came in 2nd place for their age groups. Marissa and I didn't stand a chance against all the men who could devour the pie in one bite, though!




We also went apple picking near Harvard, IL this month. Our neighbor Marissa went with us, too, and we had fun despite the cold and wind:

And the fun's not done yet! We'll be carving pumpkins tonight, making caramel apples, and of course there's trick-or-treating tomorrow! :) Look for more pictures in a few days....

a scrappin' fool

I've been busy scrapping this month, trying to get caught up on Benjamin's pile of pictures so that I can have at least one child's book current! I think I've done 57 pages this month, and am almost finished through June of this year. All of my layouts are posted in the I Dream of Scrapping gallery, but I thought I'd post a few of them here, too.

The photos on this first one were taken by my sister, Christine, back in February. I just love the close-ups, and HAD to scrap them:

(By the way, I used a sketch made by my friend Jen:) for the first page above. She comes up with all kinds of awesome layout sketches, which can also be found in the IDOS gallery.)

The rest of these are from our trip back to Iowa over Memorial Day weekend, when we spent time with family:

taking the plunge!

I've been resisting this, but I don't really know why. (Maybe because I have a hard enough time keeping away from the computer as it is....) I FINALLY decided to take the plunge and start my own blog. I'm hoping that this will be a good place for me to record things I don't want to forget, share scrapbook layouts and photos with family and friends, and just have fun!

Anyone who's met me can tell you that I'm not very good at carrying on a conversation in person. I've always been shy, and get very anxious when talking with someone, even if it's someone I'm close to. Putting my thoughts down on paper (or on a computer screen, as the case may be) comes pretty easily to me, though, and all my online friends can testify that I am quite *chatty* on the boards! I guess that means this blog will be a little peek into my thoughts, and you may learn things about me here that you wouldn't otherwise.

So... welcome to my blog! Get comfy, stay awhile, and please leave a note if you'd like ~ I'd love to hear from you!