This morning we woke up to temps in the upper 40s. It's a harvest miracle! We have been in the mid 80s and humid like a rainforest for a week now and it's been miserable! We carved our pumpkin a few weeks ago and within a few days it smelled horrible. Now it truly is a scary pumpkin! Even Christopher said we need to toss it.... and it's HIS pumpkin!

Now, this is "wear" I need some help. (hahaha!) With the cooler temps finally here (and hopefully to stay) I want to add a few pieces to my wardrobe. Who doesn't when new seasons come around? On a fabulous note, we have a Forever 21 that opened up in the area and I have not made it in there yet, but I'm very exited to go inside and drool for a while. And the fact that it doesn't hurt our budget is the best part! I'm a late bloomer when it comes to fashion, so this year I feel like I'm finally ready for (close your eyes Casey!) skinny jeans and leggings. I've stayed away from them b/c I honestly did not know how to wear them and after having Sophie I've had a really hard time finding just a regular pair of jeans to fit, so going beyond that was not an option.

I see people wearing leggings all the time and they are really cute. I tried a top I thought would work while I was a Target, but I looked like I had pajamas on. Probably b/c the bottom of it was cut just like a night shirt I sleep in. So now that I feel comfortable wearing the more fitted pants, I desperately need help picking out the tops that go with them. Or the shoes. I'm a little clueless when it comes to fashionable things. I need help in the "pick it out for me" sense. And it needs to be on a Target, Old Navy, Forever 21 budget. We still need to buy the family Christmas presents after all!

Last thing I wanted to mention was we have a Papa Murphy's here now. I have never been there, never heard of it, totally new to it, but our friends that moved here from the rest of the country are very excited about this. Apparently they make pizzas and you pick them up and take them home to bake. And since we are insane about eating pizza this is huge for us!! We will try any and every pizza place we can find. When the kids are grown and we retire I dream of traveling the world trying all the best pizzas out there. I think I will be buried with my hot rod pizza cutter that we got when we got married. It's awesome!! Well, I'm off to get ready for our chilly day. We have plans to hang at the children's park and then head over for our first parent/teacher conference. Naps, then off to Papa Murphey's or Mellow Mushroom for dinner with Brandon. I'll take either..... or both please!!!

(Maybe I should rethink about buying skinny pants if I'm going to be eating all this pizza...)

Finally! Here are the photos from day three of our trip to Disney. By this day the kids were pretty tired, so we made it to Hollywood Studios in the morning. Rode on the Buzz Lightyear ride, took a photo with Buzz and Woody and then went home for lunch and naps. The park is loads of fun, but it's mostly shows and not really rides. We felt naps were much more important if we were going to try to make it for the fireworks that evening.

After much needed naps and some playtime for the bigger kids, we went back to Magic Kingdom for a few more rides, supper and then the fireworks. 


 

Today at the park Sophie was a model for Joia's newest addition to her Sugar and Spice line. Click here if you want to check it out. We had fun at Marler Park with the Newells and the Dooleys. I've realized that every Friday, for the last couple weeks, we have gone to a park to play. It's been awesome! We always meet different people there and it's always a different park, but it's always fun!

Notice her hair? It's actually pulled back. Christopher wanted a mohawk and she wanted one too. His stayed for the most part. I told her the best I could do was a ponytail on top of her head. It was one of those days I was just glad they had on clothes and the fact she wanted something in her hair was the cherry on top. It was definitely a dramatic morning at our house, but I think that naps and some alone time has helped us all.

Hope you have a great weekend and I promise I will finish the Disney post soon. I've been trying to sew again and learn how to line a bag and how to add a zipper. So far so good! Not perfect, but the kids don't notice the flaws.

See you soon!

Here are the pics from Brandon's camera on day two. (Breakfast with princesses and meeting Brandon's sister and her family at Epcot then back to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon.)

i'm so sleepy. wish that the rest of the disney photos would upload themselves.


I know, I know. I really need to put the rest of the photos from our trip on here. Problem is one week in our lives is insanely busy. The next week isn't. Then it's crazy again. Then it isn't. (are you picking up on the pattern yet?) I'm not exaggerating. Literally one week has some place to be every day and the next week I don't. Just the way it goes right now. But good news! This is a slow week and I'm not letting myself buy anything except bread and milk, so that means I am sitting at home tomorrow while the kids are at school and I can update the blog again.

Or sew.

Maybe both.

See you later!

For a while I have been feeling this desire to start working again. I never thought that I would want to work when I became a mom, but the desire has not gone away. (And like they say, "Never say never.") I worked after Christopher was born and didn't really like it. Probably b/c it wasn't the best job I've ever had and closer to the worst. I have not worked since then and I really miss it. I figured I would just wait until both kids were in school five days a week and then find a little part-time job. But the feeling just kept coming back.

Well, over the summer, while at the lake, my brother's wife Caroline, told me about a company that she started working for. She brought along a couple of the products and I fell in love. I ordered two to start with and was so hooked I decided to start looking into the company. A couple weeks ago I took the dive. It's a company called Thirty-One Gifts and it has been exactly what I have been looking for. They are a Christian based company and sell fabulous products. It was like Christmas morning when everything arrived. And perfect timing too b/c we were leaving for Disney any day and I was able to really put these items to the test.

Moms, picture a cute, soft cooler that will actually fit 4-5 sippy cups, get this.... standing up!!!! (I know! I couldn't believe it either!) They have totes of all sizes. They have purses. They have scarves, key fobs, children's backpacks, luggage tags, wallets, zipper pouches, jewelry rolls with pouches, cosmetic bags, bibs, pacifier holders, stationary, notepads, coasters, aprons, baskets, coolers, and more! Do you want it embroidered? They have that too!

Each month they offer customer and hostess specials. For every $31 you spend, you can get certain items for a greatly discounted rate and some even for free! This month it is the Organizing Utility Tote (retails for $22) can be purchased for only $5. I have seen a couple of women with these bags, and I asked them if they liked it... couldn't get them to stop talking about it. (I'd post a photo, but I don't have one on hand. I want one. Badly.) It comes in 8 different patterns, has five outer pockets and can be used as an around town tote, as your gym bag, or store all your cleaning products in it for the house, just grab and go! I have to constantly go back and forth the the kitchen to get my cleaning supplies for each room and it's annoying. I want 2 of these bags.

Below I have taken photos to show you my favorite products and give you ideas of what they can be used for. These are perfect gifts for teachers, family members, friends and always for yourself! Prices start around $12 and the quality exceeds it.











If you want to check out more of the products, here is the link to my site. If you are like me and prefer a catalog to flip through, email me or post a comment and I will mail you a catalog with flyers for the current and next month's specials. I have a button on the side bar of this blog that you can also click on to go to my site and I will post the monthly specials on there too. If you want to place an order, just let me know!

Last Saturday we headed south to Orlando for a week at Disney World with our best friends, the Khan family. I have tons of photos to go through and it won't let me add more than what I have on here so I'll probably have to do this in several posts. This starts with day one. And I can only get the first 2 hours on here.      I know.    

Sophie looking all "hollywood," as she calls herself, and waiting with Daddy to ride on the cars.


Christopher and I after our ride. He laughed so hard my own sides hurt! You follow a rail around a track, but if you try to turn you bump into the railing and he thought that was hilarious. It was!


Sohie, Zachary, me and Joshua playing on the ground while Burt and Melissa take their turn on Space Mountain. The kids were great! But how can you misbehave TOO bad when you are at a place like Disney? (I know, it's possible, but the kids were really good. I told Burt we should just move there... inside the park.)

Sophie and I waiting for the Dumbo ride to start. She LOVED this ride! I think b/c it wasn't in the dark. We took her on a Buzz Lightyear ride and she put her hands over her eyes, put her head down and just sobbed. No more dark rides for her. 


This was the view from the top of the Dumbo ride. They are building a new restaurant, I think. Belle something. It was neat to see what was behind the temporary walls.




Sophie showing us again how excited she was. Nicholas in the background enjoying his treat and Joshua is napping.