busy week- ready for Halloween fun today

hi again! it's been a crazy week- i've had to sew a costume, prep & help with a pre-K class party, a girl scout costume party, school trunk or treating, a teacher conference, house decorating and now tonight is the big night-HALLOWEEN!! ;) Thankfully, Noel Mignon had a jam packed Halloween kit for sale and an amazing message board filled with fantastic ideas and tutorials from the design team!! They so saved my sanity & helped me get some fun crafty time in- LOVE IT!

our daughter has changed her mind about what costume she'd like to wear this year at least 5 times. First it was Ninja Turtle (Raphael is her fave), then it was a fairy, then it was the giant alien robot from Monsters vs Aliens, tinker bell- you name it. one day she came home and requested to be princess leia from star wars. cool! so i told her that i would sew her costume. i've never sewn a dress, let alone a princess leia one- but i figured i'd give it a go. i found a pattern from McCalls on ebay (circa 1981), took it to my local Hancock fabric store where they gave me amazing support & tips, and i just dove in. it came together very quickly and easily- i couldn't have picked a better 'total newbie' costume pattern (thank goodness!) she's worn it 2 times already this week - for the girl scout party and her school party. it's holding up great & i think she looks super cute!

ok- here's just a ton of pics- this morning we are going to the Bird Viewing Preserve at 10am to learn about 'Birds with a Spooky Reputation'- Ravens, Vultures, Owls & more- we'll get to see some of these birds up close too- cool! then it's back home for pumpkin carving & spooky meal prep before the big evening out! i'll try & post as we go today, or else i catch up in pics later!

Wishing you & your families a safe & fun Halloween!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
g
^o^

Virginia's amazing haunted house tutorial & Noel's Boo Bucket Ideas:

House Designed and step by step tutorial by Virginia Tillery
all supplies from Noel Mignon's The 31st kit except for wooden birdhouse, black acrylic paint, white paint pen & ball point pen (used on windows).
Boo Bucket ideas from Noel Mignon. my card in the Boo Bucket uses a digital stamp image 'The Boo Crew' from My Favorite Things.
these were given to my daughter's school teacher- she LOVED them! {{GIANT HUGS}} to Virginia & Noel for the total hook up- luv ya!!


my decorated trunk for the school 'trunk or treating' parade:




my little Princess Leia complete with mini-buns (she has barely enough hair but i LOVE them!)




OK more to follow very soon- i'm late to get dressed EEK!

my daisy girl scout

my dear friend Kayla is a brownie troop leader for her daughter and a wonderful bunch of girls. this fall, when my daughter turned 5, i registered her as a daisy girl scout. since there aren't any daisy troops near us, we signed up as an independent Juilette (i am her leader). Kayla has invited us to join in with her troop whenever there are appropriate meetings/special events and activities-we even get to wear her troop numerals on our uniform-- How cool is that!!! i love that my little girl and i have been 'adopted' into this amazing group of girls and their lovely families. last night, troop 355 held their Investiture and Rededication ceremony/award ceremony/Juliette Low's birthday party. it was our first ever 'official' girl scout event-and it was fantastic! here's tons of pics. Sweet Mimi's heart was overjoyed-she adored every minute of being with the older girls and starting her journey as a girl scout. i'm still beaming!! hope you're getting ready for an awesome weekend!!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

ready for her first ever Girl Scout event!


good friend and sister scout:


Getting ready to start the meeting:


opening the event/the Girl Scout Promise/Law


singing a song:


celebrating Juliette Low:


Investiture Ceremony (she received a boquet of daisies, her beginning certificate, and she was presented with her official Daisy Girl Scout pin! she was also awarded several other patches & awards YAY!)



the friendship circle:






the beautiful birthday cake in honor of Juliette Low


yum!

mmm mmm good!

WooHOO!!it's a new seasonal treat featuring my favorite vampire! it's chocolate and EDWARD!!{swoon} you can find one at a walgreen's near you! {{BIG HUGS}}
^o^
g

lunchtime fun

my sweet girl often requests that i bring her lunch when i pick her up from school. last week, she requested an all fruit lunch which made me happy! a favorite blog that i visit often, belongs to my online friend Wendy. her blog is the amazing Wendolonia she makes wonderful bento lunches for her family that she almost always photographs & uploads- you must check her space out! i have been the lucky winner of bento boxes and accessories that she's given away so i've been packing them often- it is so fun! this one is pretty boring but i loved all the bright color!

since it's so close to Halloween, i made a treat holder & a quick ATC as a surprise for her afterschool too. there was a cute diaper pouch folding tutorial that i saw on splitcoast (they have all kinds of amazing tuts-check 'em!) i made mine with an 8x8 square.




suppies: basic grey (eerie), heidi swapp flower and giant brad, staz on ink, skull stamp from MFT"s Ghoulish Label Set
so easy peasy to make & she LOVED it (i put in a fruit roll up, a chewy mini granola bar & a push up pop)
here's the ATC:


supplies: pumpkin treat bucket stamp from MFT's Trick or Treat with Who's That Girl also the drippy goo from the label set (credit above) and the bats are from MFT's Too Cute to Spook set (sold out right now), patterned paper (? sorry totally can't remember LOL!), colored pencils, Dove blender pen, chipboard letters & rick rack (from The 31st-Noel Mignon kit!)
Ok- off to make chili! {{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

oh my goodness

hello friends! i hope this post finds you and yours healthy, safe and well!

i have lots to share and will never get it all done in one post- so go on & get a beverage then come back & hang with me for a bit- we have lots of catchin' up to do!

first up as you know, our daughter started 'real' school this year- 5 half days/week of preK2 at private school. her teacher is wonderful and we all just love her. here's some pics of her ready to leave on her very first day in mid-August (dd was still 4):


at the end of her first week, we got a little crafty with the Hello Teacher Printable Kit ($6 from House of 3) and made our own patterned paper.we used our paper to wrap a giant chocolate bar. the kit has lots of cute journaling spots and sweet kid faces that we combined to make a cute tag- it's such a fun kit! here's a peek:
sorry for the crummy phone pic though ;)

i was the member of the month over at ScrappyTimes for August- i got to play along with an awesome card sketch challenge and help out on the forum boards with some questions of the day- it's a fun group of scrappers over there! Then in Sept, i was their Guest DT member and got to participate with a LO based on one of Jacqueline's (ST founder) amazing sketches:

supplies used: Patterned Papers, letter & number stickers, chipboard accents & photo corners, journaling spots: Scenic Route, Chipboard '5': Basic Grey, Studio line acrylic paint by Claudine Hellmuth (in Dash of red), red tulle ribbon (Heidi Swapp),
office store tag, white galaxy marker.

right now on the ScrappyTimes forum there's a fun Halloween challenge going on - so come & play!

As you can see, Sept also brought DD's 5th Birthday! almost every year, we head out to our favorite place- San Diego, CA for a few days of RR & Sea World to celebrate it's always a birthday weekend-gotta love that! this year, Chris' little brother Florin came with us- he was thrilled to have a surfin' buddy ;) Here's a few highlights:
of course we hit the beach:



while the boys surfed alone another day, we went to the world famous San Diego Zoo:



the next day, we all went to Sea World for the big birthday celebration!
we dined with Shamu and had a chance to talk with trainers-check out how close we were:


after dinner- there was cake of course- here's the big wish:

the eels are always a favorite- this one was particularly loved for the bump on his nose:



we had an awesome trip-wish it could've been longer!
ok- i don't want to try & cram anymore into one post-next one to follow shortly!
missin' ya! {{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^