Halloween Party at Church

The pictures don't say it all...
but they come close!

That is my shoe.
I was a "fatigued" mom (wearing camo pants and an apron along with other accessories.),
but I don't think most people got it, even after I explained.
Lame.
Oh well. I wasn't trying to win any costume prizes, obviously. :)Gwen was the most adorable bumble bee you've ever seen...
loved chasing balloons all over,
enjoyed her first trick or treating,
and walked all around the gym holding our hands.
Thanks Aunt Melinda for the costume hand me down. Everyone kept trying to give me credit and I felt bad disappointing them when they found out I didn't make it.
and Daddy (Eric) stole the, uh, "show" with his outhouse get up!
He won a costume prize!!! Hooray hooray!-- either:

1. the impromptu (1 hour before the party) costume design thing really works well for Eric,
   
2. the cardboard costume is just his thing, or
   
3. other people really enjoy bathroom humor.
   

Do you recall that 2 years ago Eric's used roll of toilet paper-- also impromptu out of cardboard--also won the costume contest? So, what do YOU think the secret to his success is?


Cuz...

I could use some pointers! :)

Not THAT necklace, Dear...it's hideous.

I am picky about jewelry, apparently. According to my dear hubby.
Perhaps that is why Eric hesitates to purchase any jewelry for me... since I am so vocal about styles I don't like. Well, Dear, this is for you. Some clarification:

I don't like fake-looking, faceted, bling bling beads

I don't like little tiny seed beads without other sized beads and
I don't like these awful drapes
I think these stones are ridiculously too chunky:

But really like these stones:

I don't go for this tribal spiky look at all:
But I DO think ethnic and cultural styles are fun:

I think these glass beads are cheesy:
But I really like these glass beads:

I think these shells are nice, but the style is a lil bit too "old" for me:

But I think these shells are lovely and trendy:

I think classic pearls are nice, but not my personality:

But I love these floating pearls (or any floating necklace, actually) as well as the non-spherical shapes and not white colors, so much more interesting:

I am extremely picky about diamonds, perhaps because they are so "bling bling". (Good to know, since they are so expensive anyway. You're safer with another choice in necklace. I won't think you are cheap, I promise.)
This pendant has all the no-no's for me: color, a cheesy heart shape, and a boring pendant chain.

But I think this simple diamond necklace is classy:

Put it together and what have you got?
A lovely combo with natural colors and variety of textures in chunky layers with a vibrant pendant-- neither too gaudy or too same-o same-o.

Something like this or any of the above "liked" selections, Dear. Any questions?



As for the rest of you... I'm curious...
do you agree with my selections, or would you prefer some of the 'dislikes' over the 'likes'?

In to EVERYTHING and lovin DESTRUCTION

She figured it out. Now she knows how to get into the diaper bag (which is also my purse), pull each and everything out, find my wallet, pull out every card or license in there, and still dig around hoping for more destruction opportunities.

But it really doesn't bother me one bit. Perhaps because of this face?: Interestingly enough, this is a fun phase of destruction she is going through. She is only interested in pulling beads OUT of the Ziploc bag and scattering them everywhere. Once the bag is empty, she doesn't play with them. She moves on to pulling apart- one block at a time- the towers of Legos I've constructed for her. Once the towers are completely decimated, does she knock any together in an attempt to build? Nope. It is back to the beads (which I have since put BACK into the bag). What a funny gal!

a few surprises in the last box

Remember in the Incredibles when Elastagirl calls her husband to announce they are officially moved in because she has unpacked the last box? Well, Eric and I have finally "moved in" to our apartment where we have, apparently, not officially been living for the last 2 years.

Amongst the loot of the last box, there were some surprises:

This tie. It was Eric's first tie ever. Cool, kinda, to see it... but I convinced him there were better ways of commemorating such things.

This pretty awesome (but not so space efficient) collection of Brazilian calling cards from his mission. Complete with a card of Bethlehem, a guy kissing a very pregnant belly, comic strips, food, and a random Japanese girl enjoying a bowl of noodles with chopsticks (is there a Japanese sub-culture in Brasil? News to me...). I was very amused. I don't want to just trash these, but haven't quite figured out how to use them in an art project yet. Any ideas? Paving a swimming pool, perhaps? :)

and...

wait for it...

THIS!

cuz of course, a box of random items wouldn't be complete without a rubber chicken foot... (what happened to the body? that's what I want to know...) :)

What does this tell you about my hubby? Did I mention he wouldn't let me throw away the bat skeleton from our old apartment in Springville? I guess I have my own collections of random things, especially supplies I'm going to use for sculpture... somewhere down the road... in some creative way, I'm sure! Could be worse though. I read about this couple that held on to their baby's first poopy diaper as a momento. Yuck! :) What strange things do you stumble upon in your spouse's drawer, in your own purse (and don't even remember putting that in there!), or in your children's pockets?

Baby Boutique GiveAway

I don't even know the owner of this baby accessories boutique, but I think her stuff is ADORABLE! There are so many coordinating bows, ribbons, and flowers that I would LOVE to get for Gwen. I have to remind myself of the difference between needs and wants... maybe for her 4 month "1/3 birthday" celebration? :) Scroll down and check out the example flower headband on the right hand side of my blog. Anyway, so Lulu's Boutique is having a give away that I'm all over! If you are interested in checking out the cuteness, visit the blog here:

http://simplyluluboutique.blogspot.com/

and if you want more info about the giveaway, go here:

http://simplyluluboutique.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-17T22%3A33%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1

For some reason I couldn't get the Blogger "insert link" button to work for me. I'll try again later, but in the mean time I hope supplying you with the addresses and my testimonial of the cuteness will peak your interest sufficiently!

I've Never Had to Purchase So Many Batteries in My LIfe!

Whatever keeps her happy. Nuff said. :)

Baby's Room Projects

Way back in the day I promised Jennie I'd post pics of the nursery... well, I'm finally getting around to it. And it finally is shaping into a nursery, minus the clutter of gifts, crafts, not-yet-assembled projects, and air mattress (this is where all of our helpers slept). Still waiting on a rocking chair and don't look too closely at the desk area because I haven't tackled "my" side of the room yet! You'll notice the furniture is mostly brown/cream and I tried to have items such as crib sheets and changing pad cover in a nice neutral green so we don't give any future sons a complex! :) All pictures taken during nap time, fyi... :)
Changing station and dresser... we refinished this dresser that we got on Craigslist for $20. I think it is so cute now! Especially with the contrasting green of the changing table pad! I still have to hang up the organizer, but for now it just sits on top of the diaper pail. (we're going to be using cloth diapers, that's why we got the pail. But we haven't started cuz Gwen is still a bit too small for them, so don't need to use it yet and it works great as a 'shelf' right now.)
Bookshelf/Toyshelf... you'll recall the fun project of refinishing the bookshelf? $3 garage sale purchase transformed into a lil gal's toyshelf. Green baskets bought on sale at Michael's. Hopefully I'll be able to keep things curtailed a bit so that lil plastic keys and chew rings don't end up EVERYWHERE in the house! But we'll see... :)
Crib... This $200 Craigslist purchase was definitely worth the money! I love the colors, the fact that it is solid wood, and the drop down sides. The "skirt" was actually originally going to be a bumper. I bought the material to sew the 'slip cover', was given an old bumper pad from a friend (Thanks Robyn!), had borrowed a friend's sewing machine (Thanks Jenni!) and was all set to sew... when Eric and I decided that the risk of SIDS, however small, wasn't worth the bumper. But I was crushed because I really wanted to sew this matching valance and bumper... now what would make her room cute? I improvised and turned the bumper into a 'skirt' that just goes around the outside of the crib. I think the valance and skirt project turned out pretty great considering I didn't have a pattern. Just measured and went for it! It definitely helped to have friends that are good seamstresses so I could ask how to do certain things like a ruffle. Thanks quilting/sewing group!
"GWEN" Frames... I got these unfinished wood frames at a garage sale for 25 cents each and used some leftover material from the valance/crib skirt project to cover them. Then I had this pattern book for soft baby blocks that I was borrowing from a friend (thanks Michelle!) from which I got the sewing pattern for the elephant and the bee. the other patterns in the book I didn't enjoy as much, so I made up my own for the dragonfly and the frog (which is why they aren't nearly as cute, I'll be the first to admit!). I sewed them on before modgepodging things down. A lil bit of cute string attached with thumb tacks to the back, some 99 cent block letters from Michaels, and "wuahlah"! You've got cute wall decorations!
Well, there you have it. Nursery. Baby. Both cute. :)

Baby Budget 2009

So Eric and I have been working on a baby budget for 2009, just to make sure we will have enough funds to cover all the new expenses. We might need to cut back our entertainment/miscellaneous fund to take care of diapers, ya know? :P It is kind of funny trying to look at national averages for things like food, diapers, and health care and then just kind of guess how much we think WE will be spending in each area. Really, we're trying to be 'generous' with our baby fund but not extravagant. Frugal. I still think we'll be surprised by how much things end up costing us. So, a quick poll for all the moms out there: what was the most surprising new baby expense that you encountered? (and may I ask how much it actually cost you?) Also, if you'd rather answer this question... what item did you purchase that everyone told you was 'essential' and then you realized afterwards there was a much cheaper route? Are there more expensive items that you think are actually WORTH the extra expense for some reason instead of getting the generic/cheap kind?