Mix It Up Monday: Halloween

Instead of posting the boring everyday outfits I wore this week, I am posting some of the costumes that I, (and a few friends), wore this past weekend to the 2 Halloween parties that we went to!

The first party was Friday night and it was a Music Mania theme.  Jeremy and I channeled Rock Of Love and went as Bret Michaels and one of his "ladies", (I use that word loosely).

And my friend, Amy and her husband went as Sharon and Ozzy...don't they look awesome?!  They win the costume contest ever year.  Overachievers!

And here's me with my friend Carrie (aka Cindy Lauper) and Amy.  Carrie is the crazy lady who throws this party every year.  Sooo thankful for these fun friends!

On Saturday, we went to my sister's annual Halloween costume party.  There was no theme for this party and I was DYING to wear my 'Flo The Progressive Girl' costume!!

My husband decided not to go with a costume change.  BOOOOOOOO!

Some of my favorites from the night were the Sock Monkey's.  Super Clever.  They had monkey ears and a monkey tail and socks pinned all over them.  

And this couple never disappoints.  This year she was a drugged out, toothless, skanky looking girl and her husband was a thug.  They played the parts a little too real if you ask me :)

And this is my friend Vickie.  She looked awesome in her Madonna outfit.  I was waiting on her to belt out some "Like a Virgin', but no such luck.

I hope you all have a great Halloween and that you too got to put on some fun outfits and be silly for a night. 

Speaking of which, what was your FAVORITE costume growing up? 

Mine was a witch when I was about 8.  I had a long black dress and my older sisters did my face in green makeup and teased up my hair really good.  It looked so great that people were asking me to come in their houses to take pictures of my costume.

As always, I will be linking up with Momma Go Round for RMRS and The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday!

Stuff We've Been Up To

It has been sort of an exhausting October around here.

Fun, but exhausting.

I am waaaaaaay behind on sharing what has been going on it our lives, but I figure better late than never.

Here goes:

One of the super fun things that we did was take the girls down to Kings Island, (the local Amusement Park), for the Howl-O-Fest!  The kids got to dress up in their costumes and there are lots of fun activities for them, plus the rides are still open so we did some of those too.

Here are a few pics from that:

Addy being silly

Some of the friends we went with

Going through the hay maze

Our little cowgirl dancer

Another one of our fun adventure's was Addy's cheer Halloween party.  We did one last year and she pretty much got to invite almost everyone. 

There were 50 first and second graders at my house. 

Not sure I will ever try that again.

Needless to say, we did it on a MUCH smaller scale this year and limited it to just the cheer squad.  It was lots of fun and we had yummy food, fun games, a scary story, and a Halloween show to top it off.  Here are some pictures from the party:

Our treat bags!  Load em' up with SUGAR!!

Witch hat cookies

The jack-o-lantern with carrots

Some of our fun decorations

Me telling ghost stories to the girls...have to say my eyes look a little spooky here too :)

The girls watching their Halloween show.

We also made our annual trip to Windmill Farms for the hayride and pumpkin picking.  The girls had a blast with the tractor pulling us through muddy trails and down steep hills, and also the scary characters that kept jumping out.

They also have play equipment for the kids and animals for the kids to visit with.  But I must say that one of the MAJOR highlights of the day was the Apple Cider Slushies.  YUMMO!!

Our hayride

Daddy and his girls

Addy choosing her perfect pumpkin!  (The one we used to make pumpkin pie!)

Faith getting some help from daddy

Faith playing on top of the castle

The girls with The Pumpkin King

Apple Cider Slushies...Mmmmmmm.....

And finally, I want to tell you about our AWESOME time at The Ballet!  We got tickets from The Dayton Ballet to see Sleepy Hallow and a variation on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

It was WONDERFUL!!!

My girls really enjoy the ballet and since Faith just started ballet classes this year, she truly enjoyed seeing professionals who have been doing this for a long time.

I could go on and on about how great it was, but I think my 5-year-old summed it up best when at the end she said, "Mom, that was SO COOL!".

I agree!

And I was so glad that the winner of the ballet tickets giveaway could be there, too!  They also enjoyed the performance and it was an extra treat that after the show, some of the performers came out to meet the audience and take questions. 

The kids really loved that!

My two sweet girls

Faith getting ready for the show

A few of the performers after the show

The winners of the giveaway!

Besides all of these fun things, we have been finishing up cheer season, getting ready for TWO costume parties this weekend for the hubs and I, (Pictures to come!), Attending a Going Away party for a dear friend of mine, Sad :(, going to my favorite festival...The Potato Festival!, celebrating hubby's b-day, celebrating my dad's b-day, date night at the haunted houses, and all of our normal day-to-day stuff.

I am tired just thinking about my life.

But I love it :)

Things I Love Thursday: Cupcakes!

Today a friend and I decided to take the girls to a cupcake shop that just opened close by.

Have I ever shared my love for cupcakes?

(It may be obvious by looking at me...)

Anyhoo,  This cupcake craze has taken over the world, and our area is just now starting to catch on.  And boy am I glad for that! 

The name of the place we visited today is Frost Cupcake Bar.

YUMMY!

Basically, they have specialty cupcakes already made, OR you can design your own cupcake with cake, frosting flavor and toppings.

A couple of the girls opted for the ghost cupcakes that had a surprise in the middle, (oreo or m&m's), but I just couldn't pass up designing my own.

I KNOW I've shared my love of Nutella with you, and can you believe they had a Nutella frosting?? 

It was divine!

Light and fluffy, yet still creamy and decadent.  Exactly what I had hoped for.  Plus, I got mine with caramel drizzle.  And when one of the co-owners ask if I wanted chocolate shavings on top, who was I to say no?!

Ummm, can you say perfection?

I was tempted to get another to take home for later, but I have a feeling my 5-year-old would have ratted me out to my husband and I wasn't in the sharing kind of mood.

I must say, this cupcake bar idea is genius.  Kinda wish I have thought of it on my own.  But since I didn't, I'll just have to keep visiting the shop.

And I can because the cupcake are super reasonable at only around $3 each, (and less if you buy a dozen or more!).

Plus, the owners said that they are trying new recipes and flavor combinations all the time, so that is reason enough right there!

If you are in The Dayton area, you will want to try them out soon!  They are located in Springboro at 153 S. Main St. and their hours are Monday -Friday 10-7, and Saturday 11-8.  You can also check out their facebook page here.

And if you DO go in, tell them you heard about it here.  Maybe they'll send cupcakes :)

I am linking up with The Diaper Diaries for Things I Love Thursday!

Top Ten Tuesday: Reality Show Junkie Edition

I have said before that I am kind of a reality show junkie. 
My husband is less than thrilled.

He will watch a few with me, but mostly, he goes to the other room to watch football...or basketball...or baseball...or soccer...or hockey...

you get the idea.

Anyhoo, here is my list of Top Ten Reality Shows in case you are looking to add some to your rotation :)

BTW, there is nothing you can say to me to make me feel worse about these choices that I haven't said to myself.  Shameless, I know.

10.  Say Yes To The Dress.  To some, this may not qualify as 'reality TV', but the with the drama that some of these brides lay down, it could rank right up there with Jersey Shore.

9.  Top Chef.  I think this show is amazing!  The stuff these people come up with is incredible, and after every show I am convinced I, too, can be a chef.  Then I get out my lean cuisine and think again.

8.  American Idol.  I know some are jumping ship to The X Factor, but I will still tune into AI when it returns.  I am loyal that way.

7.  Sister Wives.  If you haven't seen this show then you are missing out!  It is like a train wreck that you CANNOT STOP WATCHING!  Seriously, give it a try.

6. Rachel Zoe.  If you don't know by now, I love fashion.  Rachel Zoe is kind of like my fashion hero.

5.  Survivor.  I have tuned in to almost every season and I still love it.  I just watch in amazement of what these people accomplish.  I could NEVER do it, but I think it's awesome! 

4.  Project Runway.  Fashion.  Drama.  Competition.  Perfection!

3.  House Hunters.  This kind of falls into the area of 'not a real reality show', but I still think it's great.  My girls and I love to watch together and then guess which house the people will choose.  I'm almost always right :)

2.  Real Housewives of anywhere.  I watch them all.  I know, I already told you I was shameless.  But the drama is crazy good and just makes me feel so much better about my whole life.

1.  Big Brother.   This show is by far my favorite.  Any show that has introduced me to Jeff and Jordan, (who BTW should have their own show!), is all thumbs up for me.  Full of craziness, drama, and laughs, it never disappoints.

There you have it.  There are a gazillion other reality shows out there, (and I watch A LOT of them), but this is my top ten list of favorites! 

So tell me, what reality shows are you addicted to??

I am linking up with Oh Amanda for Top Ten Tuesday.  Check out all the other lists!

Mix It Up Monday: Finally!

I know, it has been a while since I've done a fashion post.

But it's hard to remember to take pictures all the time.

Plus, my husband thinks I'm crazy when I ask him to take a picture of me all the time.

Maybe I need to invest in a tripod??

Anyhow, here's a few from this week. 

Hanging around the house and errands:

White Tank and Black long sleeved tee: Target, Red Cardigan: Garage Sale, Jeans: Goodwill, Hat: Charming Charlie

Taking my nephew for his birthday lunch (he turned 3!!):

White Tank: Old Navy, Black Sweater: Torrid, Jeans: DressBarn, Pink Scarf: ??(Super old!), Flower: Claire's

Getting ready to go to haunted houses on Friday's Date Night!:

Head Scarf/Band: A Local Festival, Black Sweater: Torrid, (shhh, same one I wore the day before!), white tank: Target, Jeans: Old Navy, Boots: American Eagle)

 At The Dayton Ballet Matinee performance of Sleepy Hollow:

Pants: Macy's, Black Shirt, shoes and cardigan: Goodwill, Belt: DressBarn, Necklace: Kohls

Running errands and going for pizza:

Black Shirt and White Tank: Target, Cardigan and pants: Goodwill, Loafers:  Elder Beerman

So, nothing really to wow you here, but it is what it is.  And FYI, my husband HATES the head scarf/band thingy, (what do you call those anyway??).  I LOVE it.  So much that I don't really care if the rest of the world hates it, I'm wearing it anyway :)

I will be linking up with Momma Go Round for RMRS and The Pleated Poppy for WIWW.  Check them out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Fostering Christmas Care

For those who read my blog regularly, you know that I haven't posted much in the past few weeks.

Well, I could make excuses...

I've been busy, I've had a lot on my plate, I've been sick.  Yada Yada Yada...

While all of that may be true, it's also true that I have just been feeling sort of blah about blogging for the past few weeks.

Not sure why.

I just kept feeling like I had nothing important to write about.

Who wants to hear the details of my crazy life?

Some days, I don't even want to hear about it.

Anyhow, as I was trying to motivate myself to post again, I got a message from a friend asking me to post on my facebook wall about a campaign to help foster children in Greene County Ohio to ALL get Christmas gifts this year.

Of course I was happy to help.  So I posted the story, and then read the blog post attached and I felt God nudging me.

This is what I should blog about today.

I know that mostly us "mom bloggers" post about our crazy life and all the fun, silly things we do.  But we also have a platform to share about the important things.

And this is important.

It all started when a friend of a friend, (who is a foster parent in Greene County), went to a picnic and allowed her little girl to take an American Girl doll with her.  Soon, many of the foster care children were following her daughter around and asking for a doll of their own.  The mom felt horrible that she had not thought of how these other children might feel when she allowed her daughter to bring the doll.  Soon after, that mom committed to buying each young foster girl in the county an American Girl doll for Christmas.  But knowing that she couldn't leave out other children, she went beyond that and committed to buying gifts for every foster child in the community.

But she cannot do it alone.  She needs help.  Our help

Please read the entire story here and then see how you can contribute!  There are many ways, (almost Ten!), and I hope that you will consider helping these beautiful little children who need a happy Christmas. 

By the way, I know this is not my 'typical' Top Ten post, but if you need a Top Ten reasons to do this, then here ya go:

10.  Because you will feel better about yourself knowing that you helped a child have a happy Christmas.
9.  Because American Girl Dolls are AWESOME!
8.  Because it's the right thing to do.
7.  Because every little child deserves a special gift.
6.  Because we are blessed, we should use our blessings to help others.
5.  Because you would want someone to help your child if they were in need.
4.  Because you can make a difference in a child's life.
3.  Because it will help you to start getting into the Christmas Spirit!
2.  Because this is a great way to spend some money.
1.  Because you can!

I am linking up with Oh Amanda for Top Ten Tuesday!