Cool to the Bone

Sink me, if I didn't go and do it!  These silver fingers have beckoned me for weeks to purchase them - how great is this bony hand?  It's shiny and spooky and inexpensive to boot - I bought it at Z Gallerie last week and I am thinking I may need to make another trek to purchase more...maybe it should hold a poisonous apple, or ballots for our 'Best Costume' contest!

On Sunday night we had dinner with my family and my Mom served black noodles.  Black.  Noodles.  Very apropos for the season, no?  They were delicious, but ALL of us were hesitant to take a bite.  Perhaps I should serve them at my Halloween party - take a bite if you dare!

And finally - this large clock.  I bought this from a girl who was moving away in the Spring.  It was super cheap and not really well made, but I like the lines of it...and it's been sitting in my garage ever since I brought it home.  It needs to be wound and cleaned (what water spots?), but what if I could spook it out for Halloween?

Maybe paint a pumpkin or moon on the face of the clock?  Hang a large spider for the pendulum?  Paint the clock a glossy black?  What would you do?

Brisk

This weather has been magnificent - the mornings and evenings are chilly, the days are really warm and all the colors are changing...I love it.  With all the ambitious rushes I've been feeling lately, Cody and I decided to clean out our pantry and organize our kitchen a bit.  I don't recommend this.  I mean, it's great having it all done, but it was chaos for a minute there.

Cole is walking!!  My little dude is totally mobile.  He still has his moments where he'll drop to his knees because he can get somewhere faster by crawling, but it's fun watching him take hesitant little steps.  Way to go, Cole!

Yesterday after Church we took a drive up Hobble Creek canyon to look at the leaves.  The kids watched "Ichabod Crane and Mr. Toad" for most of the drive, but as soon as we got in the thick of the trees, we rolled down their windows and they could not stop staring outside.  Cole kept laughing as the trees passed by.  The pictures I took do not even come close to the colors we saw up there - it was amazing!!

Hot oranges and yellows, fluorescent reds and greens...man, it was so beautiful.  It started to rain a little and that just made everything more gorgeous.  I LOVE it here in the Fall - nothing compares to how beautiful the mountains are in the Fall.  When we were driving down this narrow road, the trees were right next to our car so I reached out and grabbed some leaves for the boys to hold.  

Cole held his for maybe 6 seconds before he tried to eat it.  I don't know why I was so worried about him eating some of it - the kid has eaten dirt, desitin and probably $5 in change - a leaf is the least of my worries

Here he is showing me what's left of his leaf...

We got out by the stream and got out of the car.  The boys were fascinated as we were walking around - grabbing at the branches and looking at the leaves all over the ground.  Look at the color of those leaves!

Seriously, SO BEAUTIFUL!  I foresee many more trips up the canyon this season!

The Passing of a Legend

Paul Newman

1925-2008

Publicity Shots

Last night at rehearsal we took some pictures for the paper and publicity, etc.  My costume isn't done yet, so I wore this gorgeous dress that my Mom wore when she was in 'Dracula' years ago.  What do you think?

I'm having the best time doing this show!  It's so much fun and the people are a blast.  You will come see it, won't you?  I'm also designing the poster and program...I'll post pictures of those when they're finalized.

And since I didn't do my WIWW post yesterday, I will post something now - what am I wanting/loving?  This little shoes from  Old Navy.

I don't have a little girl.  You know this.  But how key-yute are these?  I held these for 5 minutes deciding whether or not to buy them.  I opted not...and now I wish I had.  I love being a Mom to little boys, but seeing these (along with the super cute girl clothes that are EVERYWHERE right now) is totally making me baby girl hungy...

The First Day of Autumn

It's Fall, people!  Today is officially the first day of Autumn and boy does it look like Fall outside.  It's cloudy, windy, chilly...all the fixing's for sweaters and boots.  With this blustery season blowing in, Cody and I are feeling all kinds of ambitious - we have many things planned for today!  Cleaning up the house, decorating for Halloween, running some errands - what is it about a new season that gets you all charged up to tackle projects?  I can't seem to stop moving and I can't stop baking - my house is full of cupcakes.  I'm loving the high we are on - I hope to accomplish MUCH this week.

Let me catch you up on some happenings this weekend;  Friday we went to the Patch Family lunch with my parents and Grandparents.  My Grandparents haven't been feeling well as of late, so it was so nice to see them out and about.  Don't you feel that while growing up it seems as though your Grandparents never age?  It's been hard for me to see them get older over the past few years...they are incredible people.  My Grandmother loves holding little Cole - in this picture she was singing to him.

Cody's friend Tracy stopped by this weekend for a visit.  He's been living in California and is now headed out to New York to work for ESPN as their snowboarding afficianado.  No big deal. It was great catching up with him and teaching him the ways of Guitar Hero - he had NEVER played before!!  What?  He was a quick study - he and Cody aced a level before calling it a night.

Getting ready for the Winter, Cody and I have been slicing up peaches and putting them in the freezer.  Our kitchen is a sticky mess and it's hard not to eat all the peaches, but how great to have yummy fruit all Winter long!

My time is up - off to the land of projects.  I promise to post all my Halloween trimmings!  Oh, and I intend to start working on my Halloween party invites for this year...just you wait!

Megara..

To be honest?  I had no idea what to post about.  It's been a few days and I got nothin'.  SO!  I have opted to take on the Disney Princess Quiz...because...well...maybe I was curious.

Charming and witty. You are always the first person to come up with a wisecrack. Sure, you have an attitude, but that's why people love you. You keep them on their toes. Sometimes you can be misleading, but always end up doing the right thing for the people you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

What I'm Wanting Wednesday

'Impereal' heel by Steve Madden in grey patent...

Dreamy, no?  I love the ruffle t-strap.  Give me some fishnets and a tweed skirt and I'm set...

It's Time!

Thank you for the Birthday comments!  I had a fabulous Birthday, indeed.  I grabbed some lunch with Cody and the boys and we actually ran into some old friend from Orem Fire - it was fun to chat with them for a bit!  Afterwards I went to see Natalie to get my hair done (and I LOVE it - thanks again, Nat!).  That night we had a big BBQ with our friends and it was so fun to see everybody!  The food was delish and I had lots of Birthday cake.  

Kate was in town this weekend so she and I spent Saturday together and did some shopping!  First we met up with Hannah and her baby girl for some lunch.  Kate also got a Hotel Room so after we shopped a bit we headed back to the room and got ready for the evening.  Kate arranged a Birthday Dinner for me and invited the girls!  Thank you to everyone who came!!  I had the best time, I loved seeing everybody.  Tanya and Amelia accompanied Kate and I back to the Hotel after dinner and we spent hours laughing our heads off.  Sorry we got you girls home so late!  Thanks again to everyone who came to dinner - love you!

And, now - it is officially time.  It is time to get my Halloween goodness out and start bedecking.  The leaves are changing in the Mountains, the evenings are cooling off and I am so stoked to get started I can't even begin to tell you.  Invites to make!  Atmosphere to create!  Costumes to choose!  So much to do, so much to do.  So thanks again for a fabulous Birthday - I'm off to submerse myself in all things spooky.

Happy Birthday, to Me!

...29...

Sugary Updates

Wow!  Feels like I've been gone forever.  SO much to fill you in on!  I've put a few things off for a while (no time to blog about them, you see), but I'm buckling down and putting it all out there.  Nobody panic, here we go!

Cody and I just got back from our final trip to Lake Powell this Summer.  We went down with his crew from the Fire Dept. and it was SO FUN.  We had the BEST time!  The weather was gorgeous, the people were rad - couldn't have asked for a better 4 days.  We left on Monday and it was storming something fierce here - it was pouring rain and about 46 degrees.  Brrrr!  It didn't last too long, we were enjoying blue skies in no time.  We all rode down in our car - here is everyone squeezed in as we left town:

Jake and Brylee were in the back, Chase and Natalie in the middle, Cody and I in front.  They were good sports - space was tight!

Chase and Jake doing acrobatic tricks off the boat...

I was a boat driving pro!

The boys headed up the famous dune in Ice Cream Cone Canyon.  Obviously, us girls stayed behind a bit to take some pictures...while debating whether or not we were crazy enough to join them.  We were!

Jake wakeboarding - look at that water!  There was hardly anyone on the Lake, so we got to cruise around in the middle of the channel with no problems...

Have I mentioned how much I love Cody's crew?  Thanks for coming, everyone!  We'll have to do it again next Summer...

Cache is FINALLY potty-trained!  Well, he has been for a while, but I'm just now blogging about it (because I find it necessary to post about things like this...).  Cody and I were having a hard time getting Cache to commit to underpants instead of diapers.  See, he had been going in the toilet off and on for months, so he knew how, he just didn't want to.  We bribed him with toys, treats, movies, ice cream, scooters - you name it, we offered it.  He was adamant - the diapers stayed.  Finally I thought of making him a snappy 'Potty Chart' and bought shiny 'Thomas' stickers.  I presented him with said chart and started my sales pitch.  "Look, Cache!  You can put a sticker in the square every time you go potty!  And then when you fill up the chart, you get a scooter!!"  I don't know what it is about stickers, but it worked!  I had to take a picture of him with his chart all filled up - and we promptly owned up to our side of the bargain and got him a Harley Davidson scooter.  Woo-Hoo!!

I just recently created some invitations for my parents' neighborhood Lake Powell trip.  It's my second year doing them and they are always so much fun to put together!  This year I went with a 'Silver Screen' theme - each couple was represented by a famous movie star couple from the 30's and 40's.  Here's a sampling of what they looked like:

I created a slide show of pictures from old movies and Lake Powell - all in black and white.

Tickets!

Each couple got their own take board

The finished product!  The popcorn bucket contained a roll of tickets, the DVD, the Premier Tickets, a package of popcorn and a golden award.

I think they turned out pretty great.  I already have a theme picked out for their trip next Summer...

Continuing on the crafty side of things, remember me telling you how desperately I wanted an art room?  Well, I sort of created one in our basement.  Cody built this table forever ago in hopes of turning into a project table, but we ended up piling random storage on top of it instead.  Finally I spent an afternoon clearing it off and loading all my sewing goodness on it so I could spread out and have a place to work.  I have LOVED it!  It's always a mess, but I know where everything is and it's great to get in the zone down there.  I've been sewing onesies for the Gift Shop at the Hospital which has been awesome.  Now, you may have noticed that my link for my Etsy Shop is missing from my sidebar. Recently, I came to a conclusion - I simply don't have the time to devote to an Etsy Shop.  And you know what?  That's ok.  I was really bummed, at first.  I truly, truly wanted to make lots of fun crafts and put them in my little shop to sell.  But the fact of the matter is, I don't have time to do it.  With my family, thrillionaires, the  play....I just can't do it.  I think what I might do is create when I can and perhaps put them up for sale on my Blog.  Or maybe I'll start another blog devoted to my crazy crafties?   Hmmm, that's something to ponder...

I also have to mention that it was my Dear Ol' Dad's Birthday on the 4th.  Oh, how I adore this man!  My Dad is incredible - solid gold.  His Birthday was on a Thursday this year - Thursdays always remind me of him.  When we were little, our school got out early on Thursdays and my Dad would try to come home early, too so he could spend the day with us.  He was the greatest Dad anyone could ask for and is such a fun Granddad to all his grandkids.  I still need his guidance, he is always there and he is always so generous - I love you, Dad!  Happy Birthday!

There, now!  I think we're all caught up!  I have many things on my agenda in the coming week - my Birthday, re-listing our house (don't get me started), rehearsals, decorating for Halloween...here's hoping I sail through it with flying colors!