Instagoodness

November Instagoodness

#Hello November #Red cup love #Happiness is a state of mind #See the good #Lovey’s first field trip #Annie #First school bus ride #Fall bird #Box boy

 #Snow flurries #Slurpees and red box snowy kind of day #Don’t worry be happy #Yo Gabba Gabba #Brobee meet and greet #Chocolate nails #Chuck E. Cheese #Laugh until you cry #Googley eyes fun #Thanksgiving craft #Teacher gifts

#Macey’s Thanksgiving Day parade #Turkey carving #Thanksgiving dinner #Blessings bags #Blessed beyond belief #Together forever #Breakfast for dinner date #City Christmas tree lighting #Parent teacher conference #Lift up and inspire #Play dough reward #November Ipsy #Girl Meets Glitter

Pumpkins And Bats And Mice, Oh My!

 

Halloween decorating was a lot of fun this year.

*********************

Our fireplace mantle in the living room. Pumpkin topiareies that I made, probably my favorite addition this year.I scored both led candles and the witch pumpkin on clearance at Kohls last year a few months after Halloween so they were nearly 70% off!I repurpose our usual candles for every holiday by just adding ribbon. Cheap, quick and always adds a lot of holiday feel to every room. Bath & Body Works Trick Or Treat candles worked in perfectly.I added a little Halloween spirit to the kitchen as well.

Lovey’s favorite decoration, Mr. Pumpkin. He talks when you press his nose. He’s a pretty fun fella’ and I can see why he’s Lovey’s favorite.Our entry table all dressed up for Halloween.

I love being greeted by a table of cheer, whatever season it may be, when I first walk through our door. It’s always the first area that I decorate and the last one that I put away until the next year. I brought the wreath in that I made last year from hanging on the front door and found it a new home on the entry mirror.I was so pleased with our stairs. Cute and just a touch of creepy with the mice cut outs. Decorating our stairs this way will definitely be a Halloween tradition from now on. 

 

The Fourth

Mister Mister made it back home from working out-of-town just in time to spend the fourth with Lovey and I.

Our all American boy! ♥I made star-spangled, chocolate dipped pretzel sticks for snacking.

The boys picked out fireworks to set off.

The fireworks stand had an inflatable gorilla out front to attract business, the nice owner took some time to show Lovey how the gorilla “dances” by deflating it half way then inflating it again. It was cute and Lovey enjoyed it.

Our fireworks haul!

Last year Lovey didn’t want  any part of the fireworks, saying that they were just too loud for him. So he and I watched from inside our house while Mister Mister set off a few. This year he was much more interested, especially with the sparklers.Our neighborhood has an annual BBQ and games followed by a fireworks show on the fourth so we headed that way with Lovey in the wagon. Afterwards, we went back home to set off our own fireworks. Our neighbors joined us with theirs too, adding to the fun and extending the light show in the sky. Once the fireworks were done and the last sparkler had sparkled, we cleaned up and made a Wendy’s run for frostys and floats to enjoy as we wound down together on the couch.

We had a great fourth, thankful for our freedom and the red, white & blue and all those who fight to protect us all, past, present & future.

…Always thankful to spend a day with the ones that I love. ♥

Chocolate Dipped Peeps

Chocolate Dipped Peeps!

They were easy to make, sweet to eat and will be a fun addition to the Easter baskets I put together for family this year. 

Whirlwind

The last quarter of 2012 Mister Mister was called to work out-of-town full-time.

 Consequently, the majority of our end of the year/holiday traditions ended up being canceled.

All be it sad and disappointed by this, we understood that it was necessary for the time being and we were thankful that he was given the job opportunity. 

Meanwhile, Lovey and I improvised, continuing to make memories because life couldn’t come to a complete standstill.

There are certain experiences, traditions and memories though of which we always want to consist of all three of us. For those things we would pick up where we left off the next year and make the most of the interim.

 Although time seemed to move ever so slowly as Lovey and I were missing Mister Mister while he was far away from home, in reality it flew by.

It left us and the upcoming back to back holidays in a whirlwind, so much so that I never manged a single holiday post!

 So this is a catch up post of our whirlwind, 2012 holiday season.    

HALLOWEEN

Lovey chose to be his favorite Red Power Ranger for Halloween.

My favorite part of his costume was his matching candy bag.

 His favorite part was well, being a Power Ranger. 😉

We trick or treated briefly in Lovey’s Nana’s neighborhood then headed home to do the same in our own. 

Halloween reminded me how much I adore Lovey’s personality…  calm and courteous. He held my hand as we walked around our neighborhood. He rang the door bells {as he is tall enough to reach them on his own this year!} and waited patiently. He would say trick or treat in the sweetest voice then once offered his choice of candies he would take only one and say thank you.

It maskes a Mama’s heart proud to hear from others how well-mannered he is.

We are not too big on candy at our house so I let Lovey pick out two pieces to reward him for a job well done. He chose a sucker and a box of dots. I checked them and he was a happy boy. I put the rest away for Mister Mister to pick out a few pieces and me to pick out a few mini chocolates then the rest to give away. Seriously, who can eat that much candy anyways?! Lovey got ready for bed and put on his Halloween pjs which he had been anxiously waiting to get to wear that night. My little cutie.

Check out Halloween 2011 & Halloween 2010

THANKSGIVING

Mister Mister was off work and back home two days for Thanksgiving. 

I made dinner and dessert for the first Thanksgiving spent as just the three of us.

It was lovely.  

We pulled the Christmas tree out of the garage and began the decorating for the Christmas season.

We did some pre black friday shopping that night then regular black friday shopping the the next day.

Lonnng lines but good deals that I had organized on a list weeks in advance. Yep, I’m that lady carrying a list around as I shop even through the mayhem of the busiest shopping day of the year. It helps me stay focused so that I don’t end up like Dug in the movie Up… squirrel! likely resulting in a cart full of ridiculous purchases because you know, everything is on sale. 😉

CHRISTMAS

Our favorite time of year.

So thankful that we were healthy, happy, warm and together.

We were so very blessed. Lovey received a special Toy Story stocking from his Tia K.

Hand made blanket from his Great-Great Aunt J.

A favorite new game from Grammy and Grampy.

Opening gifts with Daddy.

Cozy new blanket snuggles.

I love you too, my sweet little Lovey!

Check out  Christmas 2011 & Christmas 2010

NEW YEARS

New Year’s Eve we received a light dusting of snow, enough to pique Lovey’s interest so we bundled up and spent some time playing in our back yard.  Afterwards I made us all hot cocoa to warm us up. 

That night, out of the blue Lovey put himself to bed without our help.

 There were certainly no complaints from us.

  Mister Mister and I managed to keep our eyes open until the midnight hour, long enough for a quick smooch and an exchange of Happy New Year.

Such party animals we are. 😉

* * * * * *

Having Mister Mister away all that time made the three of us cherish our family more than ever when he was back home with us.

The time that we did have together outweighed all that we didn’t.  

Father’s Day

We had a lot of fun celebrating Father’s Day this year.

In the morning Mister Mister opened his gifts from Lovey and I.

We had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant and spent some time at the mall.

In the afternoon we headed to Chuck E. Cheese to play games and eat pizza.

I love when Mister Mister’s inner child comes out and he is fully engaged in playing with Lovey. They played together up in the jungle gym and all. 🙂

 As usual, their favorite game to play together there is driving race cars. Doesn’t Lovey look super comfortable?! 😉

Mister Mister and I had some friendly competition going on playing basketball. I never knew I enjoyed shooting hoops so much. I paid for it the next day though when my arms felt like limp noodles, quite a workout. It was so much fun though and at one point Mister Mister was only two points away from breaking the games high score. Combined, we ended up with 414 tickets by the time we were done. We felt quite proud of ourselves. 😉

That evening we cuddled up on the couch and enjoyed a piece of Oreo ice cream cake I made ordered from Baskin Robins. 😉 I know, I cheated and didn’t make a cake myself but I couldn’t resist, it looked too delicious to pass up and it was!

 Lovey and I are so very thankful for Mister Mister.

He is such a hard-working man, a wonderful provider for our family and a loving Father and mate. He means so much to us, we love him and was glad to have spent such a nice Father’s Day with him.

Easter Happenings

As usual, our church’s Easter Carnival was held the day before Easter.

Lots of games for the kids.

Bean bag toss and a sucker tree.

 

Sand digging for a prize and rubber duckie round-up.

 

Jump time in the bounce house.

 

A game of soccer.

 

 There was a clown who did magic tricks. And Lovey met up with his cousins too while we were there.

 

The egg hunt is always the main event with hundreds of plastic eggs spread about the field next to the church.

 

Mister Mister was Lovey’s spotter. 😉

 

Lovey was quick this year and managed to fill his entire basket.

Checking out the treats the eggs held.

To avoid the paint smearing as much as possible we always save the face painting / bible story booth until last.

 

On the way back home Lovey was out!

 Easter morning the Easter Bunny left a basket for small and big boys alike. 😉

The look of excitement on Lovey’s face, priceless!

And this hug, so precious!

Lots of fun goodies.

 

Unfortunately we never got around to decorating our own Easter eggs this year. So Lovey did the rest of his egg hunting with his cousins when we went to their house Easter afternoon to attend one of their birthday partys.

Cake, presents and a pinata later.

Lovey was thrilled that he got a sucker out of the deal. 🙂

 

We had dinner out and then headed back home.

How handsome are my boys?! Oh my! 🙂

 

I kicked off my heels, they lost their ties, we got into our comfy clothes and called it a day, a very hoppy and blessed day!

Easter Bunny Picture

We took Lovey to the mall to get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny this week.

The visit ended with a giant bunny hug and a high five. 🙂

Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day, my love.

Thank you for being such a wonderful one to our little Lovey.

He and I love you so much!!

xoxo

To Daddy With Love

The Father’s Day package I sent my Daddy will be arriving tomarrow. 🙂

I found this paper at Walmart and right away thought of something fun to do with it. 

Other than wrapping his gift with it, do you remember these?

I told you I would find uses for them! 😉

I cut the paper to size and applied it to one.

It made a perfectly coordinated container for a dozen of those chocolate dipped cookies that I made.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!

I miss you and I send you my love.