Jack O'Lanterns

On Friday, Ella told me she wanted at pumpkins with a happy face, mad face and sad face. Daddy did a very good job following directions. It was pretty cold yesterday, so the pumpkin goop was pretty cold, too. Cohen had zero interest in the pumpkin carving and Ella made it to the second pumpkin.

December Daily Album

I am so excited about the December Daily album I made this year. I've made one the past 4 years. This year, I did a 6" X 8" and (don't laugh out loud) I got out the sewing machine. I literally had to dust it off and read the directions on how to thread it and away I went! I used the Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas collection pack. When I was done, I still had quite a bit of paper and embelishments left, so I made a second, smaller album. Why not?! This isn't all of the pages...but you get the idea!

lil' pumpkin girl

Ella always looks so cute when she goes to school. She tells me how she wants her hair- which today it's in a side pony tail with a headband she got for her birthday. She owned nothing black or orange- so I found the cutest vintage-like pumpkin shirt and leggings and of course halloween socks. So stinkin' cute!

Future Jack O'Lanterns

I've had these Halloween papers since August, I believe, and I was really trying hard to hold onto them and save the crisp, new 12X12 pages for my Halloween pictures. But, MME (http://mymindseye.typepad.com/) has a sketch contest with the theme being Fall...so I just had to cut into those pages! There's a chance to win 3 entire collections! Whoa. That would be beyond excting!

A beautiful day

Thank goodness I brought my camera along to the park today. I love these photos! I have never gotten so many pictures of Cohen smiling!

Cohen playing hide and seek.

Autumn Crafts

I saw this craft on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog: Dear Lizzy (and she found it in a magazine). The kids painted canning jars that my MIL gave me years ago. They have a grid-like pattern in them with a smooth-finish square on one side. Pefect place for a pumpkin face. I put the face on with masking tape and put out four colors of paint (so I didn't end up with a pink pumpkin jar!)

They turned out better than I thought they would! A treasure to keep forever. I put battery-operated tea light candles in them. The next day at school, Ella painted a small pumpkin with glitter and sequins and they wrapped a fall themed bow around it with silk leaves. It is so cute and so Ella. It fits pefect in between the two jars.

This is my most recent creation, using my Sizzix Vegabond. I had a lot of fun making this. I worked for hours on it one Sunday while Eric and the kids were watching football. (It's not that shiny- just the glare from the lamp and flash.)

Some layouts using Crate Paper's Farmhouse line. I love love love pumpkin pictures!

A canvas I made also using the farmhouse line, with some of our family pictures from last fall. The prompt/challenge a few weeks ago on the Crate Paper blog was the word "Home." And this is what I came up with!

...more birthday pictures

We first did a treasure hunt; the kids found gold chocolate coins hidden around the play area. Then there was a pinata...which actually took quite a while to break! The kids went crazy for the 300 pieces of candy that spilled to the ground.

Ella fluttering around.

The birthday cake. There were also cupcakes with pirate-themed liners to keep the boys happy.
When Ella first saw her cake, she squealed and said "this is the best birthday ever, mama!"

Thank goodness for my helpers, Lindsay and Steph (who I had just met that day!) They were amazing.

Ella is looking at me as we are singing happy birthday.

Waiting to open her gifts.

The kids sat in a circle and each held the present they brought for Ella. It was pretty cute.

And a GIANT thank you to my friend Leah who took so many wonderful pictures! And to Eric who built the tables for the little pixies and pirates..and who was also a great help cleaning up afterwards. I swear I had a birthday party hangover of exhaustion on Monday. By Wednesday, though I was wondering what my next big project would be....

Happy Birthday, Ella!!

Ella had a perfect day! We had perfect weather and great freinds helping out. All 20 kids had a blast for 2 1/2hrs. (I have to admit I was a little concerned after the 5 th parent told me I was brave or asked if I would be okay for that long with so many kids!). It couoldn't have gone better. Ella was a beautiful tinkerbell. Thanks to my dear friend, Leah, who took over 300 pictures...I'll be posting more!