Thankful Craftiness

  Unfortunately I have gotten out of the habit of blogging, and the longer I wait, the more overwhelming it gets.  For that reason, I'm not going to waste precious time with my Mom guilt...I'm just going to dive on in and play catch up.

No Better way to get back into the blogging spirit than to start with a thankful post.
This house has been really focusing on being grateful for everything that we have.  Not just this month, but all year.  So I thought since the spotlight is on thankfulness this time of year I needed a few things to really hit this idea home, not just with the kids, but all of us.

I started with this adorable banner as a daily reminder.  I found the inspiration, and FREE printable letters here.  Then of course I put my own twist on them and mounted them to thick card-stock in the shape of flags.  I love how it turned out!

My next little project was really fun for the kids.  Lets face it though, ANY time I get out the finger paints, they are SUPER excited!

I simply printed this tree {which can be used for so many things by the way} and inserted my wording.  Then I got out some fall colored finger paints and let the boys go to town with finger print leaves.  How cute is this?!?!

Last, and certainly the most fun and meaningful, I made a little garland on our chandelier.  Nothing fancy, but worth while.  Everyday each of us writes one thing {and it can be ANYTHING! }we are thankful for on a leaf, smear a little glitter glue on it and hang it with a clothespin.   

I can not tell you how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!  You can make a fireplace garland a larger tree and "pin the leaf on the tree".  Whatever you do, this one is worth it.     

So now go ahead and show your gratitude.  

Happy Halloween!

We had another happy Halloween this year.  We have a great neighborhood full of kids, so I bought a few ginormous bags of candy and we went through it all.  We went door to door begging for sweets and let me tell you, the boys had this whole trick-or-treating thing down!  They were so fast and moved from house to house to house etc...We actually had trouble keeping up with them!  When we got home and I noticed we were out of candy, Ty dumped all of their candy into the treat basket and {much to my dismay} and to the boys delight, it was FULL again!  
Hello sugar coma?!?!

Vampire Aaron and Obi Wan Kenobi getting ready to head out.

Ty and Aaron, with their friends...

This is Aaron's all time favorite holiday and we really went all out.  We decorated inside and out and even went all out with hair color and make up.  The boy was in heaven all night.  As soon as we walked in the door after trick-or-treating, it began pouring rain.  I looked over at Aaron and he looked a little bit sad.  When I asked him why, he said he was really unhappy that he had 365 more days until next Halloween but to him it would feel like a million.  Life's rough when you're a kid...

Spooky crafts

I know, I know, this would have been nice to see before Halloween, but better late that never.  I prefer to think of it as planning ahead for next year.

So I was so excited to find this FREE printable kit of spook decor to spruce up my mantle with.  It is called the Witches Larder and it even comes with cupcake toppers, menus and place cards if you're throwing a party.  I stuck with the decor items, but it was so easy that I think I have to do a banner for every holiday now.
All I had to do was print, cut and glue!
You can go as crazy as you want with it, and I'll probably pick it up a notch next year, but this is what I did this time.  So easy and so fun!

Click here for the free printable kit and have fun with it!

I used black glue sticks in my glue gun to create the top of the poison potion.  I spray painted my mason jar lids and found some spooky jar fillers at the dollar tree.

I used mini chocolate chips for witches moles and marshmallows for Luna Moth eggs.

The banner was the best part!  I printed it on heavy card-stock and used a hole punch and twine tied with knots.

I really had fun with it and plan on adding to it next year so stay tuned...

Happy Halloween!

We have been ready for Halloween for quite a while around here.  It's one of Aaron's favorite holidays because of the decorations.  We have been walking and driving all around the neighborhood to see all the spooky houses almost daily.  Aaron said he's memorizing them so that when it's over, he won't forget how haunted they looked. 

Honestly, I'm ready to move on to Christmas...the decorations are cuter!

Ty loves Halloween too, but he's all about the costumes and candy. 

 The boy loves to dress up.

Anyway, we hope you have a spooktacular Halloween!!!

Sweet stuff

One of our favorite things to decorate, and eat, are frosted sugar cookies.  I let the boys have free reign to put as much "stuff" as they wanted on top and they took full advantage! 

Nothing like a job well done...mmm...

I'm not sure if we had more sprinkles on the floor or the cookies when we were done! Good, clean, fun is not always so clean...unfortunately. Oh well, we had a lot of fun anyway.

The Pumpkin Farm

Another fun time at our famous Pumpkin Farm.  We did the usual stuff and yes, it is the same every year, but that doesn't stop us from having a great time.

Here's the boys waiting for the train ride.

The boys had to pick the perfect pumpkin, but not before I coerced them into a couple of posed pictures.  I actually had to bribe them into posing...

Ty's getting tired and in the zone.

Look at those eyes!

Love my boys...

Ty had to have the big ice cream cone...gave me an excuse to "help" him out so he didn't get too messy.

We had a fabulous day...we'll be back next year.

Embrace the Camera: December 2nd 2010

This week we are "embracing" the whole fam.  It's a bit long, but hey it was a long weekend!  We spent Thursday with my in laws and had a lot of fun. The whole crew made it out from Colorado and a full house makes for a fun house for sure!

A little Father son action

Papa Carl sneaking in on this one...

My Mother-in-Law and her 4 boys.

Good ol' family pic.

Saturday we had a second Thanksgiving at my mom's house. It was smaller, but a good time all the same...enjoy!

My Mom, my sister Beckie, my brother Khris, and my brother-in-law Marcel.

My Grandpa and Ty.

My mom with her Mom and Dad.

My Grandma with Aaron.

Jeremy and I. {Ty took this picture, pretty good huh?}

What a great weekend we had.
A whole lot of embracin' goin' on here!

We truly have so much to be grateful for...

Link up with fellow embracers here.

Happy Turkey Day!

I would normally be doing an embrace the camera today, but I decided to get in the spirit of Thanksgiving and take a moment to show some gratitude for all the good in my life.  Warning-this could get mushy...

I am so grateful for my family.  I know this sounds generic and everyone says it, so let me break it down for you.  

First off, I have to say My husband is amazing.  He is a wonderful father to our boys and a great support to me.  He works so hard everyday so I can be home with them and I truly appreciate all that he does.  I love him so...

I am so very grateful for my sweet boys.  They make me smile everyday.  I love being their Mom.  They have truly made me a better person. I love them to infinity and beyond!

I am also so very grateful for my Mom.  I would not be who I am today with out her in my life.  I am so lucky to be so close to her.  I know I could go to her with anything and she would do her best to help me.  She has a truly selfless heart.

I am also grateful for my Dad {AKA Clark Grizwald}. He has taught me so much about life and independence.  He has also shown all of us kids how it's OK to cry...especially when it's tears of joy. Thanks Dad!

I have also been blessed with fabulous in laws.  They really care about our little family and I love them for that.  They spend quality time with my boys and it's so good to see.   

I have what you would call a tight knit family and I could go on and on and on...all of my grandparents are wonderful, I have three beautiful, sweet, sometimes snarky sisters, and I have a lovable, funny brother.  My very large and extended family is also truly fabulous. Bottom line though is that we are all there for each other.  That's a great thing.  I know that my family loves me unconditionally and I have to say I love them too!  

I have also been lucky enough to have such a supportive network of truly caring friends. 

I am such a lucky lady.  Take a moment to thank all of the wonderful people in your lives just for being great today.  I just did!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My wild little indians

Here is a fun little project Ty made in preschool out of grocery bags. He LOVES it.  He may even wear it on Thanksgiving.  I'll keep you posted on that. He is really enjoying school and growing up so fast.  So cute!

Aaron made one too! His first grade class had a little thanksgiving feast and they were all wearing their little hats...so fun! Aaron said it was his best day at school EVER!!!  Here he is being silly as usual...I wouldn't mess with him though, that weapon looks a little menacing!

aaahhh it's fall...

 I just have to say that we are so loving this gorgeous fall weather.  

I feel like we end up skipping over my favorite seasons so much of the time.  We go straight from winter to summer, then summer to winter practically over night.  

I'm left wondering if we ever truly have spring or fall here in Cali.  

So this year we have been lucky enough to get both.  

Here we are in November, almost to Thanksgiving no less, and we've got  mid 70's and beautiful blue skies.  

I'm a happy girl.  

Here's my happy boys.

awww, a little brotherly love.

i got them to pose in a pile of freshly raked leaves...i'm sure you can guess what comes next.

wow.  it really is those little things that make kids so happy.  =)

Highlights from "The Patch"

Here's a few highlights from our recent field trips to the Pumpkin Patch...

Aaron showing off his Pumpkin on the hay ride.

Aaron on the train ride.

Here is a pic of Aaron's whole class in "Jail".  It was tempting to leave a few of them in there...

I love the look on his face here.

He actually fell asleep on the bus ride home...even with all of the "singing".

Here is Ty on his field trip.

Ty and Mason...silly little animals.

Here is Ty showing off his "Green" pumpkin.

Ty and his preschool class.  Yes, it is all boys and yes, his teacher is a saint.

Silly face on the train...

I love fall! Happy Halloween y'all!