Halloween 2013

Phillip wanted me to have a costume and this was the best I could do at the last minute!

How was everyone's Halloween? Ours was great for the most part.  Phillip loved it again this year and Natalie trick or treated for the first time.  She was VERY into grabbing candy and trying to eat it before it was even unwrapped, ha!

She was not so into her Minnie Mouse ears.

We started out the evening with a spooky supper of mummy hot dogs and ghost mac n cheese.  After that it was into our costumes and out for some trick or treating.  Last, but not least, we made an appearance at my sister's Halloween party where she got to show off the adorables in their costumes.

 

With Gigi, my mom

With my sister Amy

My gluten free mummy dogs... very yummy but not so Pinterest perfect :-)

 

After an exhausting and fun evening, everyone was in bed and lights out by eight.  Now, that is what I call a successful night :)


 To sum it up:

Happy.

Cranky. And eating chocolate.

 

Wednesday Whereabouts and a Recipe!

Here's just a little of what we've been up to lately:

Snuggling in bed...

Lots and lots of home decorating...

Making the move to the crib... finally!

Enjoying my new Kate Spade Bow Earrings!!!

Rocking puppies to sleep... heart. melts.

 
Oh and btw, this boy will be starting SCHOOL next week.  Yikes.  We had been planning on him starting in the fall, but a place opened up at a school that I love and he's going to start on Tuesday.  I've been running around like a crazy person getting forms from his doctor, getting him a little lunch box, procuring a nap mat, and having it all monogrammed of course!

Amidst all the craziness, I did manage to whip up a fun little Valentine's Day snack though.  Tomorrow we will be having some friends over for a playdate and I wanted something fun, festive, and most important - easy for us to snack on.  This sweet popcorn treat is a combo of several ideas I've seen floating around, but can most recently be credited to Amanda at Dixie Delights, who always has the best ideas.

This isn't truly cake  batter flavored, but I like the richer vanilla flavor that adding cake mix gives to treats like this and rice krispie treats.  Hope y'all enjoy it as much as we have!


Valentine's Day Candy Popcorn
*Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients
1 bag popped popcorn
About 6 ounces melted almond bark
2 Tablespoons yellow cake mix (I used betty crocker gluten free)
1 tablespoon vegetable (or canola) oil
Red food coloring
About 1/2 bag of Valentines M&M's


Directions 
Pour popcorn in a large bowl.  Melt almond bark and add just enough red food coloring to turn it pink.  Stir in the cake mix and about a tablespoon of oil to thin it a bit.  Pour over the popcorn and stir stir stir! I just took off my jewelry and used my hands.  Then pour in the m&ms and toss it together.  Pour out over wax paper to harden a bit and then store in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

 

When he tasted this, Phillip kept saying "wow, wow, wow Mommy!  This is a good dinner!" :)

Fashion Friday: Valentine's Day!

I bought the cutest dress a couple of weeks ago at Old Navy with the express purpose in mind that it would be perfect for Valentine's Day. Since then though, I've seen so many cute Valentine's themed things out there.  I thought I would share in case you haven't found anything yet!

This is the dress I bought from Old Navy.  I already have it in the navy/kelly stripe as well.  I could also see it being cute for the Fourth of July!

If you're looking to splurge a bit, this Elsa top in Candy Hearts by Lilly Pulitzer is fabulous!  Maybe a bit spendy for a one use top though...

This cute heart sweater from Old Navy is only $25 and looks a lot like a certain sold out Tippi from J Crew!

It also comes in this 'love' graphic as well!

Last one from Old Navy I promise, but this cute monogrammed sweater was just too much for me to pass up at $15!  They have a few other letters, but this could also be an 'L' for love!

Last, but not least, this sweet pink shift dress just said "Valentine's Day" to me.  It's a bit more expensive, but not themey!

 

Motherhood Mondays: Christmas Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was very nice and mostly low key.  I wasn't sure how I would handle the day thinking about my brother, but as usual Phillip did an awesome job of making sure that I stayed happy and had plenty else to think about.

Be prepared for picture overload here!  A few days before Christmas we had a get together with my Dad because he headed out of town for Christmas.  Phillip gave out the handprint ornaments that we made and they were a huge hit!  We also celebrated some birthdays because there are four December birthdays in my family one of which is on Christmas Day and another on Christmas Eve!

Giving an ornament to my grandmother...

Giving an ornament to Papa (my dad)...

Natalie with my grandmother.

Kissing my grandfather... so sweet!

Me and my girl!

We spent Christmas Eve at my Mom's house.  My grandmother got Phillip and Natalie the sweetest gifts.  Phillip got a new piece for his Thomas train track and she got Natalie a little soft baby doll.  We had a really nice time and my mom made an amazing dinner of course!

Me and my mom and two sisters.

When we got home, Phillip and I got ready for Santa by putting out some cookies and milk.  He was VERY excited.

Christmas morning was spent at our house with my in laws and sister and brother in law.  The kids got way too many toys and had a great time.  I made a delicious cinnamon roll cake for breakfast that was devoured.  I'll share the recipe soon.

Coming down to the living room... he was SO excited!!  The snowman PJ's are from Smocked Threads by Cecil and Lou.

He spots the presents!

Opening his stocking.

Showing off some presents!

Natalie with JoJo and Grandad (Brian's parents).

I actually managed to get some sweet shots of the two littles by the Christmas tree but I realized as I was writing this that I never got them off the camera!  More for later this week I guess.  Tonight we are keeping it super low key.  My Dad and stepmother are coming over to watch some movies and have snacks and champ.  I've been dying for an occasion to make champagne jello shots so we will be enjoying some of those while we ring in the new year in comfy pj's :)

Here's wishing y'all a wonderful New Year's Eve and I'll see you in 2013!

Wednesday Whereabouts

We've been busy! Somehow I've been managing on extremely minimal sleep and we've been cramming in the holiday fun, ha! Here's a little photo recap of the happenings - warning picture overload!!

Riding on the zoo train with GiGi... it was cold!

The train tunnel at the zoo was filled with lights and decor for Christmas and Phillip didn't know quite what to make of it :)

I wore my new Lilly Elsa top (Bloomingdales still has this top on sale if you wear an XS!!) twice in one weekend... don't judge!  Pictured here with Seven Roxanne Skinny jeans in black and my magenta Tory Burch Reva flats(old but similar here).

A little impromptu photo sesh by the tree!

A visit from JoJo (Brian's mom).  They LOVE her!

My cutie in a santa hat, enough said.

Phillip made ornaments to give as gifts to his grandparents and great grandparents.  This was actually a total success!

We stayed off pinterest and just used good old fashioned salt dough.

We painted pottery at our local Mad Potter. 

We made a platter for cookies for Santa.

And Phillip painted a tile of his own so I could add a few finishing touches :)

No cute outfit links here... don't judge, haha!

I'm not particularly artistic so I think it turned out pretty well... especially considering my helpers!

I got terrible pictures, but we went to Zoo Lights at the Houston Zoo with Phillip's bff.

He had a great time!

By the way, do y'all like the new look around here? I've been wanting something a bit simpler for a while now.