Interpretive Pumpkin Art

We feel very blessed to be involved in a church that really values children.  They go out of their way to make really fun, festive activities for the kids.  This last weekend they did a fall extravanganza with pumpkin decorating and caramel apples.  For a two and five-almost-six year old, it doesn't get much better than that.  In the two's class they colored their pumpkins.  Here is Savannah's:

Cute, right?  So I was more than a little shocked when I saw Sydney's pumpkin.  It's just...wow.  The first thing that came out of my mouth when I saw it was "What the heck is that?"

It's an Alien.

Obviously.

I didn't even know she knew what an alien was, but apparentely she knows and this is her interpretation of it.  We got lots of comments on it on the way out of church that morning.  Our pastor even commented to Sydney on how unique it is.

She was so proud of her pumpkin artwork that I felt it was necessary to display it with all our other pumpkins.  I really wonder what people will think when they come to our front door and see it.

It is really cute in it's own way and she was so excited about it.  I think next year I'll teach her how to pound the golf tees in all the way and make a shape or something. 

We are so excited for Halloween tomorrow!  I'll be sure to post pictures of the girls in costume.

Disney on Ice

Last night Chris and I took the girls to Disney on Ice, Dare to Dream.  It featured the stories of Tiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.  The girls were so excited, even though they had no idea what they were going to see. 

They had a photo booth where you could get your kids' pictures taken with cardboard cutouts of Mickey and Minnie for $15.00!  All that money for a picture with a cardboard cutout!  So I stuck the girls in front of the souvenir stand and got this picture instead.

It was pretty much the worst night we could have gone to the show.  Sydney has been sick and even missed school that day, plus it was late and on a weeknight, which means getting up early for school the next day.  It was opening night, however, so the tickets were only $12, which was the only way we could go.  The first story was Princess Tiana.  My girls have never seen that movie (The Princess and the Frog) because even though it's Disney, it has lots of voodoo and black magic, so we avoid that one.  The Cinderalla story was much better, but the Rapunzel one was amazing!  This picture does not reflect how excited they were, but it was the best one I could get.

Poor Sydney, you can tell she's not feeling all that great.  And Savannah would not look at the camera.  They had so much fun and Chris and I really enjoyed it, too.  It is nice to get to do things like this as a family, it's much easier now that Savannah is getting older.  We scored tickets to the new Portland Aquarium through Sharing Spree for $16 total!  Woo hoo!  I so enjoy these times with my girls and Chris.   

Before and After

I got this pumpkin last year after Halloween on clearance for $0.97.  So cheap!  And so ugly!  I had a whole heck of a lot of pumpkins to get for the party so I picked it up and figured I could make it pretty.

Before:

So, so ugly.  Hideous.  Grotesque.  Barf-worthy.  You get the idea.  But with a little bit of spray paint and some gold glitter, it completely changed.  Here it is again, it's the one in the back on the right.

Much better.  And just for a laugh, I thought I would share this photo. 

My kitchen was getting ridiculously covered in glitter so I had to move my pumpkin operation outside.  I sacrificed my ironing board to the spray paint and glitter.  Just yesterday I looked outside to my back yard and 2 weeks after I glittered my last pumpkin, and 2 solid weeks of rain, there is still glitter on my back patio.  I kind of like it! 

Today is Melissa's actual 30th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Bestie!  I love you!

Party Recipes

At Melissa's party, I had quite a few little yummies for people to eat.  Two of them, the Pear Bundt Cake and the Pumpkin Dip, were a huge hit and I was asked for the recipes.  Here they are!

Pear Bundt Cake:

1 White Cake Mix-just the mix, not the other ingredients
1 can of pears
2 egg whites
1 egg

Drain the pears, reserving the juice.  Chop the pears really well.  Add the pears, pear juice, cake mix, egg whites, and egg to a bowl.  Mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium-high for 4 minutes (don't skip this step, those 4 minutes really beat the egg whites so you get a light, fluffy cake).  Grease and flour a bundt pan and pour in batter.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This is nice, light, but really flavorful cake.  A friend brought it to me after I had Savannah it was just sssssoooo yummy.  I had lots of people rave about it at the party.  Let me know if you make it!


Pumpkin Dip:

The pumpkin dip is the middle tier of this 3-tier stand. 

1 16oz container of Cool Whip (this is the large size, not the smaller container)

1 15oz can of pumpkin

1 5oz box of Instant Vanilla Pudding (just the powder, don't make the pudding)

1/2 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl and chill for several hours.  Voila, it's that easy!  The recipe I found also had an optional sprinkle of cinnamon for garnish when serving, but I didn't do that, it was yummy enough as it was.  It's best served with apple slices, Nilla Wafers, and Gingersnaps.  You could totally make this the day before, it gets better each day.  You could also put it in a small carved out pumpkin for serving!

Enjoy!

Melissa's Birthday Party

My best friend Melissa is turning 30 this week.  I knew I wanted to throw her a party and last year, the week before her 29th birthday, I came up with the perfect theme.  Since she has an October birthday, I wanted to do something autumn-ish, but I didn't want to do a Halloween party and I really didn't want to do a pumpkin party; WAY too much orange (and in this house, we don't do anything orange).  So last year I was scrolling through some blogs and I found my party inspiration here.  Colleen from Fig and Ruby does some amazing parties and this one was for her daughter's 10th birthday.  I took her decoration ideas and made it the entire theme for Melissa's party.  Melissa knew she was having a party, but she didn't know the theme.  I did a pink and gold glitter pumpkin theme and I was so happy with how it turned out!
I was also very proud of myself that I was able to keep the theme a secret from her for over a year!

There were pink and gold glittered pumpkins everywhere.  I blinged up some of them with pearls, put some on candlesticks, and put Melissa's favorite chevron stripes on one.  I was really happy with how they all turned out.  I got a bunch of the pumpkins last year on clearance after Halloween, and picked up some others throughout the year whenever I came across one. 

I really wanted to do a dynamic and pretty food table and I found inspiration in this picture:

I loved all of the white elements on this table as well as the varying heights of things.  I was pretty happy with how my food table turned out, too.  Here it is!

I love those tall vases with the gold spirals in them, it really added the height I was going for and I got to re-use the vases, which were from my wedding. 

I even added some bling to the forks and the candles (the candle idea is also from Fig and Ruby), I firmly believe the details make all the difference in a party.

(you can totally see in that bottom picture how one of the jewels fell off the "0" and on to the cake.  I was so bummed, but it was still cute)

Melissa's mom brought some pictures from Melissa's childhood and the guests had a lot of fun looking at those. 

The kids had fun coloring and running around together.  I printed off some pumpkin coloring sheets and had a bunch of crayons.  I was so glad I had those to keep the kiddos entertained!

Melissa was taking a bunch of pictures and Chris kept showing up in the background of her pics, dancing and goofing off!  She got some great shots of him, but this is my favorite!

Melissa was really happy with the party, which made it perfect.  We got to spend the afternoon with her family and our friends, who all came to celebrate with us.

And finally, a picture of the birthday girl blowing out the candles on her cake.

(She was a little bit embarrassed while we were singing to her...hee hee!)

Happy Birthday, Melissa!  Thanks for turning the big 3-0 so I could plan this fun party!

Halloween Wreath

I posted a picture of my halloween wreath on Facebook a few days ago, but I wanted to post it here, too, so any of my readers who aren't on Facebook can see it (Mary, this is for you-please, please, please get on Facebook so you can see the crafty things I post!!).

Be still my beating heart!  I love this wreath, and it only took an evening to put together.  I did a flat-backed foam wreath form for this so it would lay nicely against the door.  Some of the wider ribbon I had to fold under so the next layer would fit, but it came together nicely.  The little broomstick is my favorite part, I'm totally channeling my love for Harry Potter there.  I found it online at Hobby Lobby.  Seriously, I need that store to open here.  The closest one is in Seattle and I have never been, but I stalk their website frequently and I got this little cutie last November on clearance for like a dollar.  Holla!  It totally completes the wreath, too.  Click here to see my inspiration for this wreath.  Do you make any of your Halloween decorations? 

Forward Facing

Savannah has been two years old for over 2 months now.  I seriously debated about if it was time to switch her to forward facing or not, since she's still so little.  After her 2-year check-up her doctor said she was fine to be switched so I went ahead and did it.  She was really excited, at first, but then she was silent the entire first car ride!  She's loving it now!

See what I mean?  Not sure what to think!  You know, when Sydney was this age Melissa and I left Sydney and Madison rear facing for two years and we got nothing but flack for it!  Everyone always said it was sure to scrunch their legs, and how unhappy they must be, and none of that was true at all.  We were just ahead of the times because we had access to all the latest safety research since Melissa's mom owns a child safety business.  This time around, many more people understood my decision to leave Savannah rear facing and lots of kids stay rear facing longer now.  I can't believe my baby is old enough to face forward in the car now!

Beach Trip

In August we went to the coast for a week of much needed family time.  On our last day there we had Matt, Melissa, and the kiddos come out for the day so we could also have some friend time, which was also much needed!  We had the best day with them!  The weather was perfect, the kids all had so much fun playing, and we got to hang out with our best friends.  We spent the day playing at the beach, then went back to the beach house for a BBQ, then back down to the beach for a campfire and smores. 

In our house we are very strict about bedtime and naptime.  We just don't skip naps, but I made a big deal out of the fact that that day we wouldn't have a naptime for Savannah, we would just let her play all day.  Well, I guess she needed that nap because she played hard and then crashed hard!

After dinner we went down the beach for smores and a campfire and it was such a nice way to end the fun day.  On the way back to the house we got all the kids lined up and I love this picture!

Thanks for the awesome pictures, Melissa!