can it get any better than this?

Hope

these days it seems to be the one thing i am holding on to.

hope that i succeed in my weight loss.
hope that i will find my way &
not give up looking at any point.
hope that times will get better real soon for us.
hope that there will be great change for our country.

have it. hold it. keep it.

the other night i went to target for the first time since, i believe, about a month. we just haven't had it like that to purchase anything we haven't absolutely needed. well, the other night i rode up with a dear friend of mine to grab a couple of things we needed and i found something that made me so happy. i don't know if you know this about me but i have a slight obsession with birds. any kind. well except for turkey's and hen's, or any kinds that you could eat.

i found me a sweet cup of happiness.

it was a splurge. i felt a little guilty. i guess that's why i would call it a guilty pleasure. to have a pink owl cup to drink my coffee and iced tea in each day, bringing a little ray of sunshine on each day. i do believe i deserve that much. it's the little things. you know?

lately i have been playing around with tty frames. how fun they make photos look. even photos that might seem meaningless. lol this is a photo of a few things that sit on my computer desk.

i'm off to do some contructive things today :)
have a great one!!!

today we took the kids sledding! oh, it was so cold and windy!the plus side? it was my work-out for the day! i ha to walk up a giant hill about ten times.
but what a blast! the snow flying in your face, high pitched screams, and getting stuck in about 3 feet of snow!




we even tried to see if the dog would pull the kids on the sled. he did!!!- and thought it was like the greatest thing ever!! I took this pic when he was all tired out but both the kids and monet's friend got a ride.
once we got home i ducked inside to make hot chocolate for everyone. we had frozen fingers, toes, cheeks, and well, everything was frozen! lol









lots of projects and layouts i completed over the last couple of weeks!

have a great rest of the weekend!!!!

2 lbs!

Love Yourself in 2009

I am so grateful for Ashley Wren sharing her story.
It's been one week and one day and I am already seeing progress. Not just on the scale but in my heart and soul.

my attitude.
the way I look at food.
the time I am taking to reflect on myself.
creating new & healthy habits.

I am loving the process of becoming a better me.

6 days into the new year

it's taken me that long to get here! finally, the hustle bustle of the holidays are over and i can get back into focus.

12/16
the christmas concert. monet played the bells.i was almost brought to tears. i live vicariously through her. she is so blessed to have the opportunity to do the things i always wanted to do in school!

and jaden rocked the mic causing kev and i to laugh so hard we cried. it was NOT a solo- but as you can probably imagine, jaden thought it was!

12/17-12/23
the decorating and wrapping

12/24
christmas eve spent at my besties home. the girls had a complete blast. my lil guy followed her son the entire night and we exchanged gifts that were mostly all handmade.

then we came home to create magic, the christmas kind, that is!

12/25
i believe that this is the best day of the entire year!
this is why...

who can stand the excitment!

12/26- 12/30
jaden and daddy spent the evenings after christmas building this!

12/31
new years eve, we returned to my best friend's home to end the festivities and bring in the new year together!

the girls provided great entertainment!

and best of all,hung out in our new jammies!

happy new year! may all the best come your way. may we all stick to our resolutions and be thankful for all that is given to us!

feeling creative lately...?

me too!

it's been a short while since i have had much to blog about.
this past weekend i was bitten by the creative bug though!

I was able to complete a layout, make a little something homemade to give and began making some cards to give to some folks at the nursing home we will be caroling at this holiday season!

we are getting excited about making most of our gifts this year. budgets are a little tight this year so i thought it was about time i use up some things in my crafty stash to create and surprise my family and friends with gifts made with lots of love!

what have you been doing to keep cozy this time of year. one of my favorite things to do is make a cup of hot cocoa with a candy cane to stir, sit in m rocking chair with something in my lap to work on. i love that i can spend time relaxing and being productive at the same time.

i am also working on a project using danielle thompson's woodland book-lover's printable kit! there are SO many different ways that you could use this kit and it's utterly adorable! i will be sure to post pics when i am finished! danielle plans to post more ideas on the blog to use for this kit which i am so excited about.

have a terrific week!

the soiree

We began the halloween celebrations by marching in the school's harvest parade. some of the costumes were so creative!

When we came home we had plenty of time to make sweet treats for the party!

this is the pumpkin princess- ruler of all pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns!

tutu created by me!

What's a halloween party without mummification?

our trick-or-treating bunch!


candy hunting!

we trick-or-treated until our hands were like icicles and surprisingly the kids complained about their feet hurting before the adults!

a special thanks to danyelle, ketti & aaron, henry, tina & pat for joining us!

Happy Halloween!

today i am preparing for our second annual Halloween party. well, i did that yesterday as well, but today is all about baking some treats (we like them fresh) and the finishing touches on the decorations (a few fell down through the night).
we plan to have a mummy wrap (lots of toilet paper) a costume contest (everyone wins), and a few sweet treats (hopefully everyone will bring their sweet tooth).

Of course their will be plenty of photo opts and we will go out trick-or-treating after we fill the kids (and ourselves) with plenty of sugar!

The other night we carved our pumpkins. I came up with the grandest of ideas to make the entire process so simple. you see, my kids like to come up with the most complicated (for me anyways) of faces to carve.

I sketched the face from a picture of their choice of pumpkin faces on a piece of copy paper. then I taped the paper onto the already gutted pumpkin. then using an exacto knife i cut and traced through the paper into the pumpkin with just enough pressure to press through the layer of skin.

Once i finished that i pulled off the paper and tape and proceeded to cut out the shapes with a plain ol' steak knife.
in the past my experience with pumpkin carving tools has been not-so-good. the tools usually snap in half leaving me with no choice but to rely on my kitchen knives and spoons.
anyhow, i thought my idea was worth sharing with those of you who may have trouble with pumpkin carving like i do and really aren't that hung up on being a perfectionist, whilst still wanting to please eager, pumpkin carving loving children with your most talented pumpkin carving abilities (insert slight sarcasm here). What would Halloween be without a saggy faced Jack-o-lantern?

I must add that if you happen to be so talented (like me) and happen to accidentally cut out a part of the eye that was not supposed to be cut, you can always improvise my using a stick pin, a broken kabob stick, toothpick or other sharp object to stake the part back into it's proper place. *see photo below*
i promise you will barely notice, especially when it's dark outside and your forgiving children will be so understanding because at least their Jack has an eye now (really they will think you are only slightly insane for sticking needles in it's eyes!

Have a happy, happy, happy
and safe halloween!

october

my favorite month of the year
and now for the back side of each letter...

a bit of october happiness hanging in the front door window.
now to dig out the rest of my halloween decorations from the closet!

we've been very busy and productive redecorating jadens bedroom. i painted the dresser and one of his shelves, replaced the go,diego, go! bed set with a masculine "big boy" bed set and new curtains!

i can't believe how willing he was to let go of some old toys to make room for new. of course, he has high hopes for christmas and understands that we can't keep adding to the toy collection- pretty soon toys would be running us out of the house!

there is still so much to do! we haven't even touched the summer outdoor furniture or cleaned out the sandbox yet. soon enough our things will be covered in leaves and snow! this morning we had frost and the leaves are almost all fallen from the trees in our yard.

have a great weekend!

these are a few of my favorite things [right now!]

i'm so exited that i actually bought a white pumpkin. it sits on the front porch and makes me so happy every time i see it.


almost every friday i take my kids to the ice cream/candy shop just down the street from us. it's been open for business since 1925.
www.fariellosconfectionery.com


the owner of fariello's confectionery has been saving boyland's bottle caps and coca-cola caps for me and i have been collecting various other bottle caps in hopes that one day i will make something wonderful with them!
the canisters and pear cookie jar are from aunt katie's attic in scotia, new york. [if you check out the site, on the staff page, you will see barb, who sold me those fabulous kitchen curtains at the summer flea market!!! [she's the BEST]

i am not really sure why i don't have any photos of the kids and i at fariello's, but you can be sure that i will be taking some soon- it's become our friday family treat!

thanks for stopping by and letting me share a few of my favorite things [right now] with you!

have you posted any photos of your favorite things? i would love to see!

i can't tell you how long it's been since i have actually created a layout. i think i had said this in a post or two back. but it's true. i haven't been creating nearly as much scrapbooking art as i usually do.

instead i have been making time to make the memories, to take my kids out, to get outdoors (or out of the house) and spending time with them. in all truth, i have been having the best time and i know my kids are feeling the same.

yesterday we took a drive out to camp boyhaven for a family harvest fun day. it was a day especially for tiger cubs and their families. the drive was amazing. as we were heading down the road toward the camp i was in awe. the colors of the leaves were awesome in a way i almost can't even describe. unfortunately, i was driving and had no clue where i was or where i was going to turn off (following the gps) so i didn't get a chance to take a photo. but imagine the colors in your mind... like driving through fire-y trees, trees that followed back as far as you can think, the colors ranged from deep purples to bright yellows. i believe that we are in peak, as far as the leaves changing and beginning to fall here in the adirondaks of new york.
i am thinking it's a good time to take the kids out to where the leaves are falling thick and taking some amazing photos- as soon as i learn a few pointers from courtney's everything photos for everyone part 2 class. the timing couldn't be better.

if you are like me and didn't get to take the first part of her class, you can purchase and download the pdf in the sistv boutique by clicking the link above as well.

the little ones collected some leaves and berries in a basket


learning to use a fishing pole


deep in the woods- camp boyhaven


dutch oven cooking
we baked a triple chocolate marshmallow cake on this fire pit!
yummo!


a great afternoon together!

have a fabulous monday and don't forget to get outdoors and enjoy the autumn colors and activites!