{halloweenie 2013}

We had a "fabulous" {said in my best Orbit Gum girl voice} Halloween this year. Landon was our little Gator, I went as the Orbit Gum girl, Mike was the Chief's coach Andy Reid. 

Next year I think we will have some kind of a family costume theme, but this year Mike and I weren't planning on dressing up. I was working one day and thought, how boring are we!? We need to dress up for our Landon, so we quickly came up with some costumes. Mine came about thanks to my hairdresser.  She suggested it and I ran with it! 

Mike just thought of his when I let him in on the fact that we would be dressing up :) He didn't stand a chance.  Landon LOVED it.  He kept laughing at his daddy's pillow belly and kissing his mommy. He's just the sweetest!

I made my yummy Halloween crunch complete with candy corn.  Delish!

We brought the wagon that we got him for his birthday to wheel his around in, but he wanted to walk - or run! He was cracking me up running from door to door with only a few detours along the way.  He was following the lead of his 2nd cousins! He literally caught the hang of it after the first house.  Once he figured out that candy was involved he was off to the races!

After a while his little hands got cold and so we went back to my cousins house. She always has a great family Halloween party at her house.  We had some Chili, watched the kids play, answered the door to give out candy, and chatted before we called it a night.  It was a great "first" Halloween for Landon, meaning first Halloween that he really participated in the fun festiveness! We loved every minute of it! 

{favorites friday}

Just a few of my favorite things lately:

1. This ADORABLE elf hat I bought for my babe {the smallest babe - can you imagine if Mike wore this? Yikes} earlier this week! How cute for Christmas? Can be found here if you would like one for your little Christmas elf! But now that I look at the link, we may have bought the last one.  Looks like the shop is not stocked anymore.  You could always send the shop owner a message. 

I ordered mine in a light green {not the bright green shown}without the straps because, lets be honest, he would hate to have something tied under his chin. We're talking about the boy that wouldn't wear his first birthday hat that I specifically ordered for his birthday. So sad.

2. Leftover Halloween Candy - We will be so upset when he can actually eat the Halloween candy. Seriously. Hubby and I went to town on his candy tonight. Sorry buddy, we don't want you to damage your teeth....at least that's our story. He doesn't know any better yet. Cheers! Also we really like Twix bars...

3. November 1st - That's today! And it means the start of the "Holiday Season" for us at our house. It's acceptable now to listen to Christmas music from here on out...or maybe that's just me. The PB Kids catalog came in the mail today. I see lots of items from the catalog under our Christmas tree this year. A train you can ride on! Yes, please! Also, can we please talk about how cute those personalized Santa gift bags are! They can be used year after year. I mean really?! Too much! Hashtag PotteryBarnKidsDoesItAgain. 

I hope you have a great weekend! I'm thinking of doing a Halloween post if I get some time in our busy weekend.

{our weekend}

This weekend was so fun! On Friday, we met my dad and step-mom at Fritz's Railroad at Crown Center. How have we never been there before? he was literally having the time of his life.

My son loves "Choo Choos". Everyone that has been around him can vouch for that...the last party we were at someone said they were going to be saying "choo choo" in their sleep. Welcome to my life. 

Everything is a choo choo though so that's when it become repetitive. Bicycles, cars, trucks, trains. All are choo choos. Then we took the sky walk link over to Union Station to see the model trains, but there was a HUGE costume party going on where they were. We sat around and looked at all the crazy costumes for a bit. There were some pretty good costumes there. And it goes without saying that there were some pretty risqué ones too....so glad I never went through that faze.....

We got home super late and L was so tired he went right to sleep, woke up Saturday morning and I made some delish pumpkin donuts with a glaze & some festive Halloween sprinkles while we listened to some Halloween music mixed with some oldies {Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch, anyone?}. 

Once again Landon didn't like them at all...this is becoming redundant...

Then we did some shopping. Mike needed to get a dress suit and then we just shopped around Boardwalk.  Guess what we found in Rally House.... Oh weird.

So it goes without saying that he had a complete and total meltdown on the way out of the store. Everyone turned to look, but we just talked to each other like nothing was happening, like we always do. What? What baby is screaming and throwing their head back? Ours? No, couldn't be, ours is always an angel....

Once he calmed down from having to leave that awesome train set, we got home and I made a festive lunch for him. He LOVED it and looked at it for a hot minute, like what in the world?? That cheese was actually a wrap. On the bottom was a tortilla then deli chicken and cheese on top. It was fun to create. I am a new found lover of food art. I think I will do it for every holiday/event. 

While L napped I devised a plan to look for the train set that they had a RallyHouse. They had one at Pottery Barn but it was sold out. The one they had at RallyHouse was by Maple Landmark. Hello, perfect Christmas gift!! It's such a classic to that it could be passed down for years.  I think I will tell Santa to set it up in the living room on Christmas morning.  That Santa, so good. 

That night we took a quick trip to Chipotle for a burrito bowl that we all shared, and a trip to Yogurtini in his costume for some free yogurt for this little alligator {I have never seen such an adorable alligator}

Then we went over to our friend Tyler & Janelles house, to watch the MU game & close out the night. They lost & we are KU fans, but I was actually cheering for a win for them this time around. Guess I jinxed them. Sorry...

Sunday, we went to church, where might I add Landon was a complete ANGEL! We had a showing on the house so we deep cleaned in the morning after church, and then were gone by noon to my friend Courtney's house for the {8 & 0} Chiefs game! There was of course a mimosa waiting for me - with Strawberries in it! My friend knows me all to well. If you have to watch football all day might as well make it festive!

We were over there until about 8 or so until we had to get home to get Landon to sleep and wind down before the FESTIVE HALOWEENIE week ahead! 

I am planning on making a popcorn/chex/candy corn snack mix {Recipe Here - but Halloween themed instead of Easter} for my cousin's Halloween party that we go to every year and bringing the wagon so Landon can trick or treat in their neighborhood for the first time! Their neighborhood has so many kids which makes it super fun! 

I hope you have a safe and fun Halloween! The next holiday is Thanksgiving! Yay!

{favorites friday}

I've got a couple favorites going on lately...

1. October 25 - Holy Snowflakes! That's today, people! Do you realize what this means? Christmas is exactly 2 months from today! Yes and yikes! Yikes because it snuck up and I have lots of shopping which will commence this weekend! Yes, for obvious reasons. Where do I begin? My moms mulled wine, family time, all the coziness of snow outside and us inside with the fireplace going and the Christmas tree lights on. What's not to love?! 

2. Old Navy - Old Navy hit a home run this fall in my book. I just ordered this snazzy top online $13 total including shipping! Perfect for the holidays, right? And so stinking' cute! 

Not to mention their babe clothes I love...sometimes. But I especially love their jeans for my Landon. I have bought BabyGap before but they don't fit him right! The Old Navy ones are $10 a piece.  I bought the boot cut and the skinny pair for him. He rocks them like no other. 

3. Jack Rogers - I can't. These shoes were made famous by Jackie Kennedy. So classic. I have never owned a pair until now. I spotted them on Piperlime this week, a jelly pair for $22 and free shipping. They won't get here until February but who cares, I can't wear them in the snow. Next summer they will be perfectly classy for Florida and beyond. Score! 

4. Twice-Baked Spaghetti - thank you to my fabulous father-in-law for introducing us Bozarths to this wonder of the food kind. Um love. Best food ever. Add a couple breadsticks and a salad and you've got a meal your belly will not complain about. Landon liked it. I swear.

5. Holiday Card time - I love when the time comes to pick out holiday cards! We have used Shutterfly, TinyPrints and this year Minted. I just love picking out the design. I think I was a graphic designer in a past life. I love this stuff! Here's a sneak peek of a couple of our rough drafts...taken from the computer...lovity love. If you normally get one from us, no peeking! 

This year we were lucky enough to have our family pictures taken on the beach in Florida because my mom bought an amazing condo just about 100 feet from the beach. 

Have a great weekend! It's Friday!!

{Falliday}

Oh Fall, I wish you could just stick around all year long. Instead, you jump right into winter with 30 degree temps last night. It's a good thing we turned on the heat last weekend! That is freezing & flippin' miserable. Not. Ready.

On a brighter note - We have had a Falliday {every day is a Falliday in the Fall - think about it, we get excited in the Fall every day like its a holiday, right? Maybe that's just me.....} this past week with some Crockpot Chicken noodle soup, some Nightmare before Christmas & Hocus Pocus {Landon actually sat still to watch these - he's a man after his own mama's heart}, some snuggling under the heated blanket, some hot apple cider, AND I discovered the yummiest sucker in the world:  Fall, in a sucker, if you will..... Lets talk more about that. After I show you a pretty food pic.......

  Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup Prep

It was at the candy table of the wedding we went to on Saturday. A Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake sucker.  Yes, it exists. I took three of them to be exact and I must order more online here. So so good! 

I almost forgot to mention that our house is on the market! It is so cold outside and although our realtor says people buy all year long, she also said that showings have been few and far between all around, but I figure if its not on the market it definitely won't sell, so we really don't have much to lose if we want to move soon, even if it takes a while. Unfortunately {or fortunately} we have no plans if it sells...except for our parents houses :) looks like that's where we may end up unless something great comes on the market! I feel so blessed to have them close by! 

We have a floorplan we think we like that is the perfect size and style for us. It would take about 6 months to build. The builder is very busy, and won't talk to us until we have a contact on our house. So not much can be done until we are under contract. Waiting game! Will be sad to see this house go when the time comes, and the future owner is one lucky duck.  We put a lot of time and energy to make this house a cozy little home and take a lot of pride in our home. 

I am excited to not have much planned this weekend, except maybe some relaxing, snuggling and movie watching in between making a festive halloween breakfast and snacks for my munchkin {and us} -Pictures to come! Some people dont like food pictures...if you are one of those people, you probably shouldnt be here, because I LOVE THEM! I love food, recipes, and pictures & put all three together, yes, please!  :) 

You can bet your bottom dollar that we will also be watching the {7-0} CHIEFS on Sunday! I now use Sunday afternoons to meal plan for the week and shop, too!

This week we have a list of probably 12 or so items to get for meals for 6 nights! Not bad, and I would say on average we are saving $80-100/week by me meal planning for our family. Not to mention, I am a planner, so it gives me peace of mind to have written down what we will be having, instead of coming home and rifling through what we have to find something. It can be a hot mess of cereal and licorice for dinner if you do it the way I used to. Yikes!  I would highly recommend it to everyone! My husband loves having dinner ready every night. These are some examples of the weeks meal plans - we are always eating fruitaround  here so don't worry about our fruit intake judging from these meals. It's like an apple and banana farm around here! Trust me! 

If you have some staple meals {grilled cheese and tomato soup/chicken salad sandwiches with sweet potato fries/sloppy joes/ baked chicken} you are off to a good start. I also will typically make 1-2 crockpot meals a week where we can take the leftover meals to work the next day. All meals that I choose are simple with not many ingredients. If I look and there are any more than 5-7 ingredients that I have to buy, I say forget it. I'll work with what I have in my pantry. Less food goes to waste and more money in our pocket! {working towards our ultimate family goal which will hopefully happen sometime next year} Cheers to that! If you are interested in some of my meal plans, I would be glad to do a follow up post as I have been doing it for about a month now! 

I hope you guys are all enjoying your FALLidays before the holidays! They're coming {YAY!}

Our weekend {10/5 & 10/6}

This weekend was a blast! Such a fallish weekend, what more could you ask for? Beautiful weather, Weston's Applefest, some hot apple cider from the Keurig, house hunting, church, and a Chiefs party to top it all off. I love weekends like this! I want fall to be here all year long, can I get an AMEN?!

Landon loved the AppleFest. He made eye contact with one of the band members when we walked past the band area/dance floor and was jamming out! All the bystanders were loving the dance moves of our little tater tot. He must take after his mom....ya know, with the good dance moves......

Hauck Stroller

After AppleFest we made a trip to Price Chopper to get some pumpkins! I guess that AppleFest just totally got me in the mood for pumpkins on my front porch even though the annual trip is actually next Sunday. I still can't find a mum that I love! I am being super picky this year for some reason! I can't wait to move so we'll have an actual true front porch to decorate. I'm talking cornstalks, hay bales all that festiveness - BOOM! 

Cardi (purchased overseas in Scotland, similar here) - T-Shirt - Jeans

Houses, houses, houses. We found one and we like the floor plan a lot! We'll just see what happens, of course we have to sell ours first.  I can't help but share this photo of one of the rooms in the house - I mean how cute of a playroom would this make? That's my main goal in the next house.  A PLAYROOM.  I can picture it now, a cute little teepee by the window for playing and reading in, a little mini table and chairs for arts and crafts, maybe some bean bags and a chalkboard wall, and of course my sweet Landon in there to top it all off...

When we were done with all that business, we got home and I was so tired that I didn't feel like making what I had planned for us that night {I have been a meal-planning fool lately, and I love it!}, so microwave Mac & Cheese it was! And, boy was it good! A definite surprise hit up in here! You can find the recipe here, although I altered mine a bit because I think we must have one of those "powerful" microwaves she is talking about. 

Sunday. Oh, how I love thee football Sunday! We have started "Soup Sundays" up in here, where we make a new soup every Sunday. This week is kind of like soup: Chicken and dumplings! The ultimate fall comfort food! Into the crockpot it went before we went to some friends house for the Chief's game {um, are we really 5-0?!}, and ready it was for dinner when we got home! It was delish! My husband is loving his new wife that cooks {and that the Chiefs are actually winning, he's really hit the jackpot the last couple of weeks}!

Well, I'm getting ready to check out for the night but not before I down this bowl of Pumpkin Crunch popcorn for dessert! Holy yum!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, too! Happy Fall, y'all! 

{Favorites Saturday}

Favorites post is taking place on Saturday morning this week:

BabyGap Semi-Annual Sale- ok so this goes without saying that I love me some BabyGap! They are having their sale and I swear I always have something waiting in my shopping bag in between BabyGap and Old Navy waiting for the total to reach $50 for free shipping (in case you are unaware, I very much dislike paying for shipping), until I find myself on the store buying all the things in my online cart :) Here's a taste of what's in my shopping cart right now! But I am going there today, so may end up buying most at the store

Drew Barrymore's Flower line- A friend at work had on the cutest nail polish and I asked her for two days in a row what it was. She looked at the bottle and let me know it was Drew's new line at WalMart exclusively! I had to do it in secret on my lunch break, because my husband has totally outlawed going to WalMart since he watched a documentary on it that was not in WalMarts favor....but I got it! And I LOVE it! It is the absolute perfect Fall color and I finally found a shade that looks good on my skin tone. FYI- it's called Venus Fly Trap for you curious souls.

Cool, Crisp Mornings- Lately we have been having some cooler mornings and to me this is the perfect weather. It reminds me that Fall is here! We did a big breakfast this morning and I made homemade pumpkin spice lattes {recipe here} in the Crockpot and we ate outside with our pjs on. Does it get more fall than that?

Destin, FL - this place is amaze! The beaches have sand that literally looks like sugar. It's so fine. The water is Crystal Clear and it is the perfect place for families to go to get away! My mom is blessed to have been able to purchase a condo pretty much on the beach. I would say that makes us blessed too! We also have a pool there in case we want a break from the ocean {but why would you?!}I am obsessed with her condo! Such a perfect little beach house. I of course get my post-vacation blues and start itching for the next trip when I get home. I found out in April I can get 9 days off in a row....hmmmm we will see! I miss it so much, love it there! 

My new Zara shoes - omg perfect for fall! My husband says he loves them too! I tied them on with some black skinnies and they are stunning! They came on Wednesday this week - just in time for my lunch date and shopping with my bestie and my baby today :)

I hope you have a great week and hope to see you next Friday!