countdown to halloween is now...

Get your spook on!  Catchy, huh?

Here is an easy idea to give your ho-hum boring everyday house a little haunted style.  Replace the pictures in your picture frames with Halloween images or other spooky feeling images. Granted, silhouettes aren't the spookiest of things but they did add to the over all feel we were going for last Halloween.  I found these Victorian silhouette dingbats (dingbat - name for a font that is pictures/images and not letters or numbers) at Font Space.  I also use Da Font.  Just type in Halloween in their search engine and see what comes up.  For the dingbats you might need to go specifically to that category before searching Halloween.

Can't find a dingbat you like?  Try spelling out words in your frames using a cool Halloween font.  I could use my four frames to spell help, boo!, eeek, fear - you get the idea.

My second idea for the day (yes, you get two ideas - what a bargain) is...Good Will and black spray paint are your friend.  Hit up your local Good Will or a similar store and find frames, candelabras, light fixtures, clocks, anything you like really and get some black spray paint on it - instant haunted house decor or in my case year round decor since the frames pictured below that were last years Halloween decorations are still up.  In case anyone is wondering I did take down the black plastic tile "marble" fireplace - I have to draw the line somewhere.

You would be amazed at what some spray paint can do.  I found a cheap plastic clock at Big Lots for $8 last week that I plan to hit with black spray paint and change the face to a 13 hour clock.  This will make a great haunted edition to my entryway.

countdown to halloween

Today's countdown to Halloween idea really is a countdown.  I saw this idea on Kristi's blog and I love it.

You can find the directions here.  This is a fun way for your kids to countdown to Halloween. If you are not in the crafty mood you can sometimes find Halloween advent calendars at Target or Cost Plus. Pottery Barn Kids has one this year that I am totally in love with but not enough to fork over the $100+ dollars it costs.

How cute is it?!?!  My kids would love this (who am I kidding - I would love this)  How fun to open up a door each day and find a little treat. Maybe I can pick this up after the holiday when it's on sale - I'll have to keep my eyes open.

tatted out

At the Oakley family picnic last Saturday my kids got some artwork airbrushed on their bodies - think of me what you will - I would have gotten one too if the guy hadn't been closing up shop.

The force is strong with this one
My personal favorite.  Nate's tattoo was sweet.  He was especially proud of it and showed it to everyone at church - nice, I know.
Emily's pretty little flower on her ankle.  Hers has lasted all week and is still on.
Megan with her shout out to the super heroes.  I especially love that she went to a dance after the picnic with this on her arm.  Wonder if Spidey helped or hindered her when it came to having guys ask her to dance. 

remember

countdown to halloween

Now that you have made your homemade peanut butter cups you need to share the goodness. Todays Halloween idea is "phantom-ing" or some people call it boo-ing.

Every year we go out, treats in hand for some good old fashioned ding dong ditching.  The purpose...to deliver treats and a poem to friends & neighbors without being caught. Those people then make treats and copies of the poem and deliver to more people.  The goal is to have everyone in the neighborhood or ward "phantom-ed" by the time Halloween rolls round.

This is one of our favorite family traditions.  If you haven't done it before you really should. You can google "halloween phantom" or "booing" and I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas for treats and poems.  Do you already have this tradition?  Is so, is it a favorite?

brave

Emily tried out yesterday for a solo in Madrigals to be performed at Disneyland.  She didn't tell us she was doing it until after she tried out so we were quite surprised.  We are rooting for her. We'll let you know if she gets the part.

countdown to halloween

Sorry for the lack of a Halloween Countdown post yesterday.  We have been getting hit with bad news for the last few days and feeling saddened by it all - I couldn't get myself to post yesterday.  I still can't shake the sadness but thought I would take a minute to post regardless.

So here is yesterdays Halloween idea...Who doesn't love a yummy Halloween treat?  Megan is a huge peanut butter cup fan so when I saw this recipe I knew it was a must try for our family.

Does anyone make homemade candy?  My mother in law makes the best homemade candies at Christmas.  I have made a few, very few, attempts at making candy but it never seems to turn out right.  This recipe seems simple so well see how they turn out.  If you have any easy candy recipe let me know.  I may try to bring some homemade goodness to Halloween.

countdown to halloween

So I didn't love Martha's Halloween idea so I'm sharing a Halloween product that I love.  I am amazed by the work over at Ghoulish Gallery.  I have purchased portraits from this company and they are unbelievable.  As you walk past the portrait it changes.  The one below (Isabella) is one of my favorites.

Lately I have seen very, very cheap knock offs of these portraits at stores and I have to tell you that they don't even compare to the work you get from Ghoulish Gallery.  In addition to getting a great product from Ghoulish Gallery you also get amazing service.  A few years back I needed to get a portrait asap for a friends October birthday and Tim the owner hooked me up.  He is local so he allowed me to come and leave my money in his home mailbox and pick up the portrait all wrapped and waiting for me on his porch.  He was helpful and kind and a pleasure to work with.

I think that these portraits are a necessary purchase for any true Halloween fanatic.  In fact, I think this is my year to purchase.  Believe it or not I have purchased 3 of these beauties and they have all been for other people.  I don't have one hanging in my home but should you come and visit this Halloween keep an eye out for Isabella - hopefully she will be haunting my walls.

countdown to halloween

I know Martha bugs a ton of folks (myself included) but you can't doubt her creative genius and that of her staff.

On marthastewart.com they have a countdown to Halloween with a new Halloween idea of everyday.  I am a few weeks behind with it because I just found it today but now that I'm on board I will share her idea or one of my own every day here on the blog to help us all get ready for the big spooktacular - Oct. 31st.

Here are some of the ideas I like from the past few weeks...

tombstone candy bags - super simple and way cute

This roasted turkey costume almost makes me want to have a baby.  I in no way want more children but I would possibly consider a 5th child if I could put them in this get up.  How hilarious is this costume?  If anyone does this costume for Halloween please send me pictures - I have to see it.

I have wanted to make these paper lanterns for years.  I love seeing the words all lit up.  I like the idea of there being a spooky message to welcome visitors to your home.  I like that this is a cheap idea with a lot of impact.

Have I said how much I love this holiday?  It makes me giddy thinking about decorating my house for Halloween.

love, love, love

this photo shoot from Tara Whitney

black widows, trojans and cougars

Today was the season opener for soccer.  We started our day at the fields at 9 am for some practice before Luke's 9:30 am game - Black Widows vs Red Dragons.  

The picture below cracks me up.  The Black Widows has just scored - notice the smiles on everyone but the one Red Dragon kid in the middle.  His expression makes me laugh - he looks totally outraged by our teams goal.

While Derek and I were in the parent tunnel Emily snapped this great shot of Luke running though - good job Emmy!
When Luke's game ended Derek, Emily and Luke headed off to the Oakley family picnic and I took Megan and Nate home for a quick change into Nate's soccer uniform and then we were off to the next field for an 11:15 am call time.  By the time the game started at 12 pm we were roasting - it was so terribly hot here today.

Nate looked sharp in his Trojans uniform and he had a great time playing.  Both he and Luke have never played soccer before so they are learning lots but I was impressed with how well Nate did.


Love the action shots.  Because of the heat a lot of boys on our team were not doing well. We didn't have kids to substitute in so they all got worked hard but everyone managed to finish the game and I'm sure everyone was happy to climb into air conditioned cars.
We eventually met up with the rest of the family for the picnic until 4 pm and then it was straight home so Derek could plant himself in front of the tv to watch his beloved Cougars.  It was a very sports filled day.

TIME to celebrate

I was at IKEA last Saturday and I saw this clock for $2.99.  I picked up a few because I wanted to try using them as plate chargers.  I didn't have a particular party in mind so the plan was to just store them away until I came up with an excuse to use them.

Last Sunday I noticed in our church bulletin that one of my friends had a birthday coming up and I instantly knew I had my excuse to use the clocks - I just had to figure out how to incorporate them into a theme.  I ended up with "TIME to celebrate" You could really use the clock/time theme for anything...school time, it's about time, free time, time after time (thank you very much Cyndi Lauper)

So today I had 7 friends over for a birthday brunch.  Here is the finished table.  Please excuse the bad pictures.  These were taken sometime after midnight - the lights horrible and I was too tired to deal with settings.

The original clocks were clear plastic which I thought was rather boring so I grabbed some spray paint and spiffed them up.
Instead of making a birthday cake or bringing out cupcakes at the end of the meal I incorporated them into the centerpiece - cheap and easy.
I picked up a few watches at Forever 21 on sale for $6 and hung them from colorful block pictures holders that I also found at IKEA for $2
This was a simple party to put together that didn't demand a ton of time on my part or a lot of money.
It was nice to have an excuse to plan a small get together but it was even nicer to have an excuse to get together with friends to laugh and to talk.

goooooooooooal

Our weeknights have gotten busy with soccer practices for both Nate and Luke.  I decided to take my camera along to Luke's practice this week (Derek was at Nates and he's not one to snap pictures on the sideline so pictures of Nate will have to wait)

How cute is he? 
Nate on the sidelines watching Luke's team play.  He wanted so badly to get out there with them - he would inch closer and closer to the action.

if this is what white people like then

i am so white.

Janae posted about the stuff white people like blog and I had to laugh at this post.  I have total being on time issues and yes being on time does mean being early.  And like the post points out I am guilty of earning bonus points.  I try hard not to throw disapproving looks at the late comers but come on people can you not get yourself out the door a bit earlier and arrive on time?

the trip started bright and early

So here I go with some trip posts (broken down so as not to bore the few blog readers we have) 

The morning we left started early - we had to leave our house at 4:15 am (not a great time when you don't go to bed until about 2:30 am) We had decided to have a driver pick us up since there was no way we would subject friends or family to an LAX drive at that time of the morning - aren't we nice people?  Derek looked into a shuttle but found that for $4 more he could get a limo to pick us up so he went with that knowing that the kids would be thrilled when they walked out to meet the driver in the morning.  Luke's face was classic - I so wish I had a shot of it.  The ride was nice since most of us promptly fell asleep.

We got to LAX and sat, sat and sat some more.  The joy of airport security and international travel.  Nothing like sitting in the airport for 2 hours.  The kids did really well.  First of all they were still pretty tired from the early wake up and none of them have ever flown before so the airport was kind of a big deal.  
Everyone loved the plane ride with the exception if me.  I thought I was doing ok so I didn't take any anxiety medication (which I usually take every time I fly)  I ended up having a bit of a cry fest but only during take off and occasionally I freaked when we hit turbulence.  
Unfortunately we were not on a non stop flight so we had to land in Mexico City where we did some more sitting before boarding our flight for Cancun and I did some more "I'm scared to fly" freaking out.
We eventually ended up at our resort after a long day of travel.  We ended the night watching a movie, ordering room service and getting some sleep so that we would be ready to enjoy the rest of our vacation.

makes me smile

Derek suggested that I use my free time today blogging about our trip.  Great idea but instead I took a nap. Although I feel a little bit guilty about my 2 hour nap I use the excuse that I really did need it. Since coming home from the trip I haven't been in bed before 1 am most nights.  I deserve the nap right?!?!  Besides that now I am awake and kinda blogging about the trip.

There are still a ton of pictures to look thru before I start posting but I did want to hare this one...

Every time I open up my pictures I go back to this one - it makes me smile, I love it!  It's not the best photograph ever.  The kids aren't looking their best and some aren't even looking at the camera.  Luke is blurry.  But for me this picture captures the perfectness of the day we went to see the ruins.

In photography you are often told not to shoot into the sun but I happen to like it.  I love the sun in this photo.  You get a better feel for how the sun was beating down on  us.  It was hot this day thanks to the sun and so I am glad I captured "mister sun, sun, mister golden sun" (any Barney fans?  Is Barney even still on?) because he was a big part of the day.

I love that the kids aren't looking their best.  We were dressed scuzzy, we were sweating pigs, we were hot and tired but man, we were having fun exploring.  The fact that some of the kids aren't even looking helps me to remember that there was so much to look at it and learn - every ones attention would be focused on a different pyramid, hieroglyph, historical marker, bug, etc. and we would all want to tell the others about what we found.

Luke's blurriness is jut proof that the kid is in motion a lot.  He would run up and down the ruins exploring tunnels and little hiding places. He just went and went. He nearly flew up the big pyramid we climbed (pictures coming) The only thing that slowed him down there was his mother (who was completely freaked out watching her 6 year old climb stairs built in 800 AD that were now crumbling ) telling him to slow down.

So this picture for me is everything I loved about this particular day that we spent exploring Coba and Tulum.  I am so grateful that we were able to take this family trip!

headed back

Today was the day the kids headed back to school.  I woke up to the sound of hundreds of local moms giving sighs of relief.  I have loved having the kids home for summer but lets face it - it was time for them to go back and for me to have a bit of peace.  I can't begin to tell you how enjoyable it is to be sitting in a completely quiet house right now.

The 6 am wake up call was a bit of a bummer but the morning went off smoothly.  Megan was out the door at about 7:05 so that I could drive her to a friends house.  She needs to enjoy these next few mornings of waking at 6 because come Monday Seminary starts and she'll be getting up by 5:30 am.

She is excited to be starting high school this year.  Me?  Not so excited because people who have high schoolers should be old.  I feel like I was just in high school (despite the fact that that was 20 years ago)

Our local middle school has the easy morning schedule and since Emily is in 7th grade this year she gets to enjoy another year of sleeping in.  Classes don't start for her until 8:50 am so she headed out the door at 8:20 to meet up with friends and walk to school.  She is excited to be in Madrigals this year and to have teachers that she likes.
The boys and I left for our walk to school at 7:15 so we could take a few pictures at the school and meet up with old friends before the 7:40 am start bell rang.

  

Nate will be in a 4/5 combo which we are excited about.  I love combo classes and would always put my kid in one if giving the chance.  In fact Nate was in a 3/4 combo last year.  He has a really great teacher and lots of good friends in his class.
Luke is moving up into 2nd grade.  He is excited for school but also a bit nervous.  He did better then I thought he would this morning maybe because there were some familiar faces in his class.
So now they are all off for the day and we are looking forward to a great school year.  Not looking forward to the homework each day but we'll manage - we always do.
Since the first day is more about the fashion for the girls I thought I'd post pictures of their outfits.  Megan and her friends spent last night going to each girls house and picking out first day of school outfits. They had to pull together just the right look - not to formal but definitely not too casual, it is the first day of school after all.

Had to end with this shot - I love it.  The boys running to school. Will they always be this excited to get back to school?

sad decision

After a lot of thought I've decided to not have a Halloween party this year.  I may still do a small open house or something else to commemorate the spookiest of holidays but it will not be on as big of a scale as our Ghost Town party would have been.  I feel sad but at the same time I feel a ton of relief.

Life is busy right now.  I'm involved in (or my kids are)...soccer, primary teacher, activity day leader, a church assignment to decorate for a big women's conference, the return of school (including a high schooler) and homework, kids costumes, Luke and Emily's birthday parties, and little things here and there.  None of these activities on their own are too overwhelming but together they start to make my stress meter rise and I find it hard to carve out time for planning and executing Halloween in a way that makes me happy.  I also have a much bigger assignment then all those mentioned that I am involved in and feel the need to be completely focused on it until election day on Nov. 4th

I am helping with a coalition, Protect Marriage to pass Proposition 8 on the November ballot.  I (along with many other Californians) have been busy and will continue to be busy up until election day as we work to save marriage in our state.  Many have been out walking each Saturday contacting voters to find out how they plan to vote in Nov. Phone calls have been going out to voters as well.  More work is planned in order to get the word out before the election.

For those who are interested in reading more about this proposition and why I support it please read this article, The Divine Institution of Marriage.

I realize that there may be some that disagree with my support of Prop 8 - I respect that and would not criticize you for your stand.  I hope that same respect would be shown to me especially if you comment here on my family blog. I am happy to hear others views in a civil, kind way but please do not handle it in an ugly manner.

So as sad as I am to see the ghost and goblins take off down the dusty road of Tombstone to ride off into the sunset (man, I was excited for the ghost town theme) I feel like my time is better spent in other pursuits at the moment.

for susie doom

My mom hates anything that is even remotely dangerous - she is sure something bad will happen, hence the nickname Susie Doom.  So this first post from our trip to Mexico is dedicated to her.  I thought she would love seeing pictures of Derek and the kids cliff jumping.

Derek

Megan

Emily

Nathan

The pictures are blurry but these are the only shots I got of the jumps.I was surprised at the kids bravery (granted a monetary bribe was used) but still they were brave to jump.  Nate was the most nervous which surprised me but he eventually made up his mind to jump and just did it.