Halloween Fun!

It has been a busy last few days and here are the pictures to prove it!

This first picture is of Hope after she finished the craft project at her Fall Party at school.

That night, after Joe got home from work, we carved pumpkins!  Hope couldn't wait to help clean out the guts!

This was our "Jack" this year.  Joe got this really cook pumpkin light that worked great.  We turned off the lights in the kitchen and I used my night setting to get this photo of Hope and Jack.  The light turns lots of different colors, but the red seemed to look the scariest.

Friday night Hope's school sponsored a Monster Mash party.  She dressed us as a princess and got to do all kinds of fun activities.  Here she finished up decorating a pumpkin.

Here in our town, the kids trick-0r-treat on "beggars night" which is the night before Halloween.  So that was tonight. 

We had two cute witches and a cute cow girl!

Well, I guess one witch was a little spunky!

After we got back to the house there were still kids coming to the door so the girls went out to help give out the candy.  Joe decided to put on a mask, went out the back door and snuck around to the front and jumped out of the bushes to scare the girls.  It was FUNNY!  First they screamed and then laughed because they all remembered Joe had that mask and had worn it before.  :)

Then our neighbor stopped by to scare the girls too.  One year he dressed up like an old lady and the girls thought it was really funny, so when he wasn't at the house when we stopped by the kids were bummed.  So when he got home from prowling the neighborhood, his wife sent him over.  As he came walking up the sidewalk, Hope jumped up and ran for the door.  He walked up to the twins and took the bowl of candy from them.  I tried to get them to take their picture with him, but they were too freaked out.  Then he took off the mask to show them.  They still wouldn't get close to him but laughed at him.

Then after all the treating was done, they wanted to carve a few more pumpkins, so we did that too.

Hope drew a face on one of the pumpkins she helped Grandma Deloris grow on the farm.

The twins thought it was gross cleaning out the guts, but did finally stick their hands in.

And remember the post I made the other day about my "naked dog".  Well, I found this picture of how furry he can get during the winter time.  It has been a long time since he has been this wooly, but he is a VERY furry dog.  So he went from something similar to this...

To this!

Too funny!  Before we know it he will look like the first picture again!

Well, that is all I have for tonight.  Tomorrow we are going to Night Eyes at the zoo and then Halloween events will officially be over!  I am ready to have some down time.  I am so behind on scrapbooking.  I haven't even finished the mini album I started a year ago from last years pictures.  Yikes!

Goodnight!

Darla

My pumpkin Picasso!

Earlier this week, I finally found the time to get to the grocery store.  Well they had the mini pumpkins on sale, 10 for $1.  BARGAIN!  So I picked up a few and let Hope paint them up however she wanted.

They both started out very creative, and then she kept adding layers and layers of paint.  I wasn't sure they would even be dry by Halloween.  :)

The first one actually just looked all green by the time she was done, so we decided to add some sequins to the pumpkins to give them some sparkle. 

She is such a cute pumpkin picasso!

Today, I went to her school and her class had their Fall party.  And tonight was the Monster Mash all school party.  I will share these photos when I get the chance to get them loaded.  And here in town we trick or treat the night before Halloween, so tomorrow night we will be walking around the neighborhood.  Should be nice out, so that makes it much more FUN for the grown ups too!

Good night!

Darla

So PROUD!

I just want to share how proud I am of my husband and my niece Jody.  They both work for a great company, Hy-Vee.  Every year, this company has a multiple celebration dinners throughout the different regions of Hy-Vee locations.  This year, Joe was celebrating 20 years with the company and Jody was receiving her 5 year award.

I am so proud of both of them of what they have accomplished.  I am especially proud of Joe of how dedicated he is and it has taken him far.  Here is to the next 20 years (unless we win the lottery).  :)

Jody looks so cute with her baby bump.  I am so excited to be a great-aunt again!

I have no clue when I am going to get to scrapbook next.  I am really craving to have some time at my desk, but the only desk I have had time to sit at lately is my work desk or the computer desk.  Bummer!  Well, maybe someday soon!

We have halloween coming up, and I think we are going to try and carve the pumpkin tomorrow night.  Hope and I also need to make cookies tomorrow night for the Monster Mash at school on Friday night.  Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, here is another card I made a while back.

Have a good night!

Darla

It's Symmetrical!

I was amazed to here Hope tell me this last night.

When she got home from school I opened her back pack and it was FULL of colorful leaves.  She pulled a few of them out and said "Look mom, it's symmetrical".  I am constantly amazed at all the new things she is learning in school.  It is so fun to see her excited about learning all kinds of different things.

I tried a new soup recipe tonight.  It was pretty good.  Loaded Baked Potato Chowder.  I got it from the Pampered Chef website.  They actually have several recipes I can't wait to try.  I had recently gone to a party and some of the other guests were talking about the recipes available.  Good stuff.  I hadn't been to a party in years, so I got some fun new kitchen stuff to play with and some new recipes.

Well, here is a few cards to share...

Well, off to put Hope to bed.  I am going to get my new fuzzy pink robe on and snuggle up and read a few books with her.  Goodnight!

Darla

Look at my...

...naked DOG!

He stayed at a "doggie hotel" this weekend while we visited Cedar Falls and I asked them to groom him during his stay.  It is a little shorter than I expected, but he still looks very CUTE!  :)  He is usually very fluffy, so it is kind of funny seeing him this way.  Luckily, Joe does the grooming most of the time.

Since we got home, I have been doing some SERIOUS shopping at The Scrappy Gourmet.  I have been waiting for the new My Minds Eye products, and now I can't wait until the show up in my mailbox.  If you have been looking at buying the entire line of Lost & Found you can find it at TSG.  AWESOME stuff!

Ok, I am going to relax and watch the end of Brother's and Sisters.  If you haven't watched it before, you should check it out.  Love it!

Darla

Updates in progress...

Well, I am going to make an attempt to update my blog appearance sometime in the near future, so keep your fingers crossed that I get it all figured out.  :)  Now I just need to find the time to do it.  Isn't that always the case.

Anyway, need to get a few things done before the bus gets here so this will be shore.  Just a few cards to show you today that I made a while back.  Enjoy!

The first card I didn't add a sentiment, so I will just wait until I have a reason to use it!

The second one says "Hope...your day is full of happiness".  I used the new Spellbinders crown die cut. I rubbed grey ink over the embossing and then filled in the larger areas with silver Stickles.  The lines around the top of the card were just drawn with a black pen and a ruler.  Simple detail that helps pull the card together.

 I will check back in if I get the chance, but the weekend is going to be busy!

Everyone have a great weekend! 

Darla

Princess Cards

I guess I have been busy, since I haven't taken the time to post for a while.  Let's see...I was having fun with Hope, working, appointments, traveled to WI for a scrapbook retreat (more on that later), and more work!

We are SUPER busy at work and they are asking us to work OT when we can, so I have been there when I can (which isn't as often as it should be).  Well, you can only do what you can, right?

I had a REALLY good time in Wisconsin at the scrapbook retreat.  We had a really NUTTY time.  :)  See, several "outside" nuts were found inside the house, specifically in two beds under the sheets and one on the floor in a bathroom.  We also found a mouse that had met his demise in a mouse trap.  Luckily it had not been there very long.  Ewwwwwwe!

I didn't get much scrapbooking done, but we had a lot of fun drinking WINE, hanging out watching movies and catching up on our sleep.  It is always a fun time, but such a long drive home (6 hours).

I need to finish up some details on the few layouts I did get done, so when I get the chance to do those, I will be sure to post them.  I did make some cards with some of the scraps from one layout.  Here are 2 of them.

So this is like a sneak peek of two of my layouts I will share, because I used these pattern papers on the layouts.  I am sure one of these cards will be given to my own little princess for her birthday, since she loves to dress up like a princess all the time.

Speaking of dressing up, Hope has been wanting to wear her fancy "church" dresses to school.  So I have been letting her wear them.  I figure she might as well get some good out of them, and she really does love to dress up.  Most of the ones she has been wearing have been well worn anyway, so if it gets ruined at school we have gotten our good out of them.  Luckily, she has come home looking pretty good each day, and the dresses have just gone in the wash like normal.  We did inform her she had to wear regular clothes tomorrow since she has PE class.  :)

Ok, I know it isn't Halloween yet, but has anyone started Christmas shopping?  For once, I have actually been watching the ads each week and picking up a few things I know Hope has had on her list for quite some time.  So I am getting a head start on the busy shopping season.  Her birthday is also right after Christmas, so I always have to buy for both because if I don't, the shelves are pretty bare.

Alright, that is all I have for tonight!  I will try and get back in the groove of making posts again!  

Later!

Darla

Halloween Pumpkins

Here is just a little halloween decorating we have done so far.

I bought the Stampin Up Halloween decor elements (like rub-ons) and added them to the white pumpkins.  This one I added a fall colored flower, and some purple jewels to jazz it up.

Here are three of them.  I have another medium sized pumpkin with another spider on it.

Also behind the pumpkins are Hope's American Girl dolls.  Grandma Deloris made each of her dolls halloween costumes.  Aren't they cute?  

I know she is in the process of making outfits for the dolls for each of the Disney Princesses too.  Hope (& the twins) are going to love them!

Hope you had a great weekend!  

Darla

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch!

Wow, did we have FUN today at the Center Grove Orchard & Pumpkin Patch.  If you live in Central Iowa, I really recommend it.  There was a lot of great stuff to do there.

First we ate so we would have lots of energy to do all this...

This was called the jumpingpillow.  It was REALLY cool.  They even talked me into going in with them and I got a pretty good workout!

Next up...the Super Slide.  They are at the very top, getting ready to slide down.

And here are the smiling faces toward the bottom.

Then we did the apple slingshot.  Yep, you slingshot apples into a field full of targets.  Ally hit the bullseye on one of the bales of hay.  Way to go Ally!

Then we took a hay ride.  It took us out to a corn maze (which we skipped) and then on to the pumpkin patch where you could wonder around to find a pumpkin.

Hope found this gigantic one she wanted to take home, but we couldn't get it back.  So we decided to just get one already picked back at the orchard so we wouldn't have to carry it all over.

This was called the Corn Pool.  Basically, it was a big pit area filled with corn.  I took my shoes off to get closer and take pictures.  I didn't expect it to be so deep because the kids were just sinking down to the ankles.  Well, I sank down to almost my knees.

Then we went to feed the animals.  The horses were really gentle, and the other horse came over and gave me a kiss right after I took this picture.  I had no clue it was even back there, so of course I jumped. :)

Grandma Deloris joined us for the patch visit too.

Well, everyone has showered off all the dirt and I am heading to bed early for once.

Darla

Just cards for today!

Well, nothing funny has happened yet today, but Hope isn't home from school yet so there is still time.  :)

So I will just share some cards.  I promise they shouldn't be duplicate of what I have already posted in the past.  I realized, the one I posted last time had already been posted.  Oh well.

The first card uses Pink Paislee flip note and some tulle and rubons.

This is the inside of the card.  

And here is a Mother's Day card I created using Fancy Pants scraps.

I haven't been scrapping much since I finished up my Christmas project for The Scrappy Gourmet.  I also started reading the new Nicolas Sparks Book, "Safe Harbor".  I love a good love story and I always enjoy his books, even though they are sometimes predictable.  In waiting, I also have the new Janet Evonovich book, "Wicked Appetite".  I also like her books a lot too, part mystery and part humor.  Good stuff!

Well, I am off to read a little bit before Hope gets off the bus.  I can't wait to hear what kind of adventures she had today.  Later!

Darla

More Funny...kind of

I am so glad that Hope is innocently honest sometimes about things she tells me.

When she got off the bus, she was eating her snack and she told me that she has to sit in the front seat behind the bus driver.  Then she keeps telling me that she got in trouble for showing someone in another seat (on Monday) that she was scary.  I am assuming she was doing her "ROAR" sound she makes at home all the time trying to scare Joe and I.  So since then, she has to sit in the front row.

I did notice this morning that the bus driver pointed to the seat behind him when she got on the bus.

Well, there could be worse things to get in trouble for, but I am glad the bus driver is making her sit in the front seat.  I hope she learns not to do that anymore.  We also talked about being safe on the bus, etc.  By the time she is done riding the bus, her name will probably be on an engraved plaque on the seat behind the driver.  :)

Luckily, no holes in her clothes today.  Hehe!

Well, here is another card I created not too long ago.

I don't think I have shared this one before.  Sorry if it is a duplicate.  :)  Anyway, it is made from Fancy Pants scraps/journal notebook page and other goodies.  I don't really like how the sentiment is on the card, but every card can't be perfect, right?

Well, I hope everyone has a good night!

Darla

Look mom...

I have people tell me all the time that they think Hope is one of the funniest kids they have ever met.  Well, I would have to agree with them, although sometimes I don't think everything is funny (like they do). :)

Today was one of those FUNNY moments.  She got home from school today, took her coat off and a noticed she had a hole in her pants.  Right in the middle of her "cheek" area.  I asked her what happened to her pants.  First she told me she didn't know, but later she said she cut them with her scissors today.  I explained to her that she needed to be more careful because we were going to have to throw the pants away and eventually she would run out of "soft" pants to wear (she doesn't like to wear jeans).

The next thing I know, she has turned on the "Funny".  She put her finger through the hole and says "Look mom, it's like a puppet show."  I just laughed and said "I have to take a picture of you doing that".  :)

So here are the pictures I took of her.  

The kid just cracks me up!  And I love it!

Well, in case you stopped by for some scrappiness...

Here is a card for you to enjoy!

I made this card using the Fancy Pants flocked transparency.  I covered the back with paper to show through and the scallop punch is on the front and back.

I have been playing around with a few clear cards lately, and will share more later.

Have a good night!

Darla

Spooky (but CUTE) Witch!!!

Hope finally gave in to my many requests and decided to be a witch this year for Halloween.  Yeah!  For the past few years she has been a Disney princess (Tinkerbell and Cinderella) and also a Barbie ballerina.

So I was hoping for something different, although I would have let her be what she wanted in the end.  Well we found a cute hat and broom and she was hooked.

Here is my little cutie!

Grandma also stopped by this afternoon and brought Hope a surprise.  She made Halloween costumes for her American Girl dolls.  How cute.  She loved them.

The next few weeks are going to be so busy, but I still hope to find time to get to the pumpkin patch, etc.  I love doing all those things every fall.

Well, I am going to finish watching Brothers and Sisters.  Love that show.  

Goodnight!

Darla

Great Day for a Parade

Yesterday was a GREAT day for a parade.  The 3 Kindergarten classes at school had a parade to celebrate the end of the book they were reading this week, called "Arm in Arm".  In the book is a parade.  Hope's teacher plays the trombone, so she gave each of the kids instruments to play in the parade.  The other 2 classes watched while they marched along the sidewalk.  Then each of the other classes got their turn to march in the parade too.

Hope was one of the lucky kids to get the cymbols for her instrument.

Here the kids are practicing with Mrs. Nelson before the parade.

Here are the other 2 classes watching the parade.

This is Hope and our neighbor Anna.  After Hope took her turn through the parade, it was Anna's class turn.  So Hope handed off the cymbols to Anna.

And because it is World Card Making Day here is a card to share with you today.

I am hoping to get a little time to scrapbook this evening!  I spent last night cleaning Hope's room and sorting out the toys in the toy room.  YIKES!  It was deep from lots of playdates.  Now it is all ready for playtime again this week.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Darla