So long October & hello November!

  I know, I know yes I have been neglecting my blog for eh, I would say the last two weeks now. I have ALOT of posts to catch up on this week. I have been extremely busy. I wont say too much because some things make for a few new posts. One week of my life was pretty much dedicated to building my milk supply back up. Baby Bear and I were in the bed nursing 24/7. Then it was time for this mama to get into Halloween mode.

Halloween week went well for us. We got our pictures back just in time to hand out our home made Halloween cards with a picture inside. We visited with family. We live an hour away from family so anytime we go back it is a day spent of visiting and it is always so exhausting! 

 

 

 

Funny little story here I waited until the last minute to find pumpkins to carve. Unfortunately there were NONE anywhere. I searched both sides of town and nothing. I mean even if it was last minute WHO runs out of pumpkins? Well I ended up settling for spaghetti squash and we painted those. I was very pleased with our results they turned out so good! My boys done an awesome job.

Actual Halloween day was wow just wow filled with snow. Yes snow in October! Crazy I know. It was so cold and yucky out. We just took the kids to a trunk or treat at a nearby church. It was very crowded and we didn't get to do like any other activities but at least they got candy, right?! Next year we will be sure to leave the house early and arrive early! I work in a residential assisted living facility so when I got to work I trick or treated for my kids there and surprised them with a ton of candy and cotton candy the next day.

 

So now that brings us to November! November 1st was also cold yucky and accompanied by snow. The boys had a football game. I felt so bad for those little boys almost every one was crying from the coldness, but it's just apart of the game and the season is almost over so they will be alright. My poor Broox came running off the field crying as soon as it was over but he is so tough he stayed out there the entire game despite the coldness. Braxton of course being the big tough bro he is had to make sure we knew he DID NOT cry!

 

I'm looking forward to the week of playoffs and everything else that this wonderful month has to offer. I'm sure I will have PLENTY of things to share this month. Hope you all enjoy the start of the holiday season!!

Halloween lunch idea

 

With Halloween nearing soon I decided to throw together a little Halloween inspired lunch for the kiddos. 

Here we have:

•Monster applesauce. The container actually contained 'boo goo' I washed it out and reused it. Inside is natural applesauce mixed with green food coloring.

•Piranha goldfish. I thought piranhas sounded scary since the kids think of a fish with scary looking teeth. 

•Pumpkin mandarin oranges. Just use a sharpie to draw on the face. I used no sugar added mandarin orange bowls.

•Witch hat quesadillas. These are just 2 flour tortillas with cheddar cheese in the middle. I cooked it in a skillet. Quick and easy.

•Halloween themed fruit roll ups. These are actually trick or treater sized.

•Capri sun

The kids enjoyed their lunch and was excited to share the idea with their friends at school. 

Power Ranger partial DIY idea

Last week was Charlie Brown, Sally Brown & Snoopy. This week I am bringing you Power Rangers. I don't know about you but I grew up watching this show I think the pink ranger was Kelly at the time and that is who I wanted to be. When my boys started watching Power Rangers I had no idea it was still on Tv but it was. 

 

Two years ago they wanted to be power rangers. I searched our local walmart and the only costumes available were very cheap and had no muscles built in and I did not want to spend my money on something like that. As a last resort I went online. They had the costumes for ALL the different types of rangers. As you can tell in the picture the costumes were a bit different.

 

Once that was taken care of I was left. I looked into just buying a shirt with power rangers on it but not for $20!!! People are crazy. Instead of buying something I decided to make something.

I USED to have a huge art stash but over the years it has been mostly used up, lucky me this was the year I still had it all. The only thing I HAD to purchase was a pink shirt which was only $5.

What you'll need: 

•long sleeve shirt

•acrylic paint 

•paint brushes

•cardboard box

•pen

•colored pants/leggings and boots (optional)

How to:

•cut card board box so the pieces will fit in middle and arms of shirt.

•lay out shirt and put in the card board

•get your paint and brushes ready

•get out image or pull up image on your phone

•use piece of card board box to make a strait line by using the pen. I used it on the arms, belt and the black thing in the middle (optional if you can free hand)

•flip over shirt and continue the line for the belt (optional)

•draw on the circle in the middle of the belt

•once you're done with that you may start painting following your picture or doing it however you'd like. Let front dry before doing back or the white and black outlines.

•after I let it sit for a few hours I done the outlines on the front

•let dry over night

•finish painting the belt on the back 

•after back is dry touch up any part you feel may need it

I then paired this with some things I had around the house so I could save money. I didn't have pink or white leggings but I had black skinny jeans. I wore them with black boots. There you have it!

Monster & Ghost Pancakes

The other morning I decided to try another Halloween themed pancake idea so I chose ghosts and monster blobs. They turned out better than the pumpkins.

 

 What you'll need:

•pancake mix (I used whole wheat)

•water

•no stick skillet or cooking spray

 

Here is a video I'm how to make these. Keep in mind that you need to let the outline darken before filling in and once you fill in be sure to fill in as fast as possible. 

 

 

October baby/toddler photo idea

I LOVE taking pictures, if I had a big nice camera I'd NEVER have professional pictures taken of my kids. When I try hard I even get awesome pictures with my iPhone, so when I have a cute idea OR run across one on Pinterest I try my best to create a little space so I can't have a photo shoot.

 

A couple weeks ago my cousin sent me a picture of her little boy with a pumpkin butt!!! Cutest thing I have ever seen. I just knew I had to do this with Berran. Now the cousin is a toddler so it was a little easier for his mom to snap a shop versus a baby who HATES being on their tummy but I thought I'd give it a shot anyways.

 

I gathered some items to use as props; baby's 1st pumpkin, black basket box, fake fall leaves and used my car seat canopy to lay on the floor. Now I must say I had SEVERAL awful pictures and it took a few tries to get a good shot. I actually meant to save the fails to share but I accidentally deleted them! Luckily I did get 2 very cute pictures. One emphasizes the butt and the other the pumpkin. Thank you instagram for the quick and easy iPhone edits making us all THINK we are professional photographers. If you do this please share with me as I'd love to see your cute pictures as well:)

 

Monster Door

Once again I'm back at the crafting. Last night I came across ways to decorate your door for Halloween. I didn't want to go out and purchase stuff so I used what I could find around the house. 

•tissue paper

•scissors

•tape

•cut strips of tissue paper for the hair

•cut circles out of 2 different colors for the eyes(plastic plates would be great but we didn't have anything sturdy enough to keep them up)

•used the black to cut out the mouth pieces and the eyebrows.

•taped the pieces together and then taped up on the door

This was basically free since I used items I already had bought for other reasons. The kids enjoyed helping me and they really liked the outcome. They liked it so much they wanted to take a picture last night but I told them to wait until morning when they were dressed for school :)

Halloween Crafts

With Halloween right around the corner I thought I would share some of our arts and crafts projects. For the first two I would like to thank a lovely mama I met from the what to expect July 2014 forum and I now follow on instagram. She posted very cute canvas prints and I was all like OMGosh I have to do that!!!

 

 

These projects are good for a rainy October day or something fun to do with your kids any day. Pictured above is Braxton holding his painted pumpkin and the spider canvas we made. Now you can do this however you'd like but this is what we done...

•painted the canvas green and let dry

•painted black paint on hands and pressed on canvas for spiders 

•used the older handprints as the mom and dad 

•baby berrans hand prints were the baby spiders

•painted cobwebs 

•drew on the faces and glued on the eyes 

•on the back I put kids names, age, month and the year

Of course if you'd like you could use yours and husband/significant others handprint as the mom and dad and each kid as the little spider. Personalize it yourself using whatever colors you'd like. 

 

 

Pictured above is Broox with the pumpkin he painted and our Frankenstein footprint canvas painting. Again, you may do this however you'd like but this is what we done...

•painted the canvas orange (I suggest black)

•painted the bottoms of feet green and placed on canvas

•older kids foot prints were used as mom and dad 

•Berrans footprints as the kid Frankensteins

•paint the clouds using white/black to make gray

•lightening bolts out of yellow paint

•paint the faces on the foot prints and glue on eyes 

•on the back I put the kids name, age, month and year

I do suggest black for the background of this one. My friend accidentally painted it orange instead but it still turned out well. Personalize however you'd like :) These make for cute cheap Halloween decorations and are awesome keepsakes. 

This craft I done on my own while bored at work. You can use any characters you want but I went with mom and dad pumpkins and their little pumplings dressed up as Frankenstein, Dracula and a ghost for Halloween. I used styrofoam cups for the pumpkins and then little plastic water cups like the kind you may have near your sink. I flipped them up side down, painted 2 coats of paint and then painted on the faces. This would make for a cute decoration or even a cute item for your child to play with (not good for a child who still puts items in mouth).

Babies first Halloween pumpkin

I seen this awesome idea on Pinterest where you cut out hand and foot prints on a pumpkin. This is good for any young child but I thought it was a great idea for babys first pumpkin. 

To do this you may either free hand the prints because it is hard or you can trace them. I wanted it to be more personal so I decided to trace them. My crafty friend was over that day and it did indeed take two people to get the tracing job done.

After the tracing was done I cut it out as you would any pumpkin design and then I painted 'Babys 1st' on the pumpkin with acrylic paint.

Charlie Brown, Sally Brown & Snoopy costume idea

Now I know this is not completely a DIY/craft project but part of it is and it is an awesome and cute idea for Halloween. One year Braxton was Charlie Brown, Broox was Snoopy and I was Sally Brown. Braxton and Brooxs costumes were purchased online. The Charlie Brown Costume could easily be made with a yellow shirt, black shorts and black paint. Why I did not do that costume myself I have no idea! I absolutely love the snoopy and I couldn't have made that myself anyways but it was well worth the purchase! As for me Sally Brown, that costume was made by me for around $6. Thank you local Salvation Army! 

The best place to start looking for stuff is your local goodwill or Salvation Army but start early because people will be trying to get their own items for their DIY costumes as well. I knew I needed either a pink or blue dress. I ran across a pink one ($3) and no it wasn't my size it was too big but I knew it would do. I really wanted one with polka dots but I would solve that problem later. I then picked out a pair of pink socks (.50), white shoes  ($2) a pair of white slip ons or keds will do and I found a little belt ($1) to put around my mid section so the dress would fit a little better. 

 

To get the Sally Brown look I took a black marker and made polka dots you can't really tell in the picture but they ARE on the dress, any marker will do. I had a pink bow at home that was attached a metal clip. If you don't have one you can find them for $1 at most stores. I teased my bangs and flipped out the bottom of my hair. Just like that I was Sally Brown. As I said before this could even be a CHEAPER idea if you make the Charlie Brown costume. I only dressed as Sally at a Halloween Party and for another event. The other times dad and I wore snoopy shirts purchased at walmart for $7 each. Sorry these aren't the best quality pictures they were taken a few years back!

Pancake art; Pumpkins

To kick off the start of October I thought that I would attempt pancake art for the very first time. I can't say that it turned out excellent but it was fun and the kids really enjoyed them and thought that they were neat and delicious of course.

What you'll need:

•pancake mix (we used whole wheat)

•some kind of squeezable bottle (we used an old pancake syrup bottle)

•water

•non stick pan

Mix up the ingredients for pancakes to the correct serving you'd like. Check out the video on my instagram (to the right) or use the link.

http://instagram.com/p/t3DCN1TdJX/?modal=true

Happy, happy HallOctober

Hello there October! With the cool air making way and Halloween right around the corner I have began my 'fall cleaning' hoorah, hoorah. I have officially switched out all summer & winter wardrobes AND straitened out closets. I've went through and found items I no longer need and sold a bunch of stuff for extra cash. May I add so much for extra cash, right when I thought I had some extra to spend I was pulled over for speeding, how lucky?! That day was definitely not my day and I was so upset but anyways back to the POSITIVE VIBES! After I went through clothes, items and organized I wiped down my walls and baseboards. I'm sure any of you with small children know how little hands seem to touch everything and leave behind prints every where, so it was nice to get the walls looking clean again. Then last but definitely not least and the most exciting part of it all, I put up the fall/Halloween decorations and I purchased the boys costumes and our shirts to match! Yay! So exciting! Now just to wrap up the cleaning this week and I'll be on my way to RELAXATION (I wish). In the mean time I'm trying to come up with some fun stuff to do with the kids on fall break. Monday we are having pictures taken followed by a trip to the pumpkin patch with my mother and little sister. We had planned to take a boat ride that morning but sadly they were booked. Wednesday I'm hoping we can make it to Red River Gorge (weather permitting) for a little hiking, picnic and nature observing. October through December is usually filled with family activities so I'm very excited! Tis' the season may the ghosts and ghouls treat you nicely. Happy October!