A 5th Annual Pumpkin Patch Outing

Friday I had to get some blood drawn, so here's me waiting in the lobby of the hospital...what else is there to do but take a selfie? Discretely of course so no one sees.

For dinner this one asked for pancakes with syrup, and the other one wanted apple pancakes...so they both got what they wanted. For the record she's a good little cook.

That big one closest to you is the apple one. I just made regular pancake mix and then diced up apples. Of course we had bought the bacon thinking we were going to bring it to my aunt and uncle's last week, so we had to make it before it went bad.

Saturday was morning snuggles while Mommy made breakfast.

This is what Mr. wanted for breakfast, bread/cheese/egg/bacon/egg/bacon/egg/cheese/bread. I'm not even kidding, that's the stack he had on this thing.

Mr. had to study so I took the kids on some errands while he studied before soccer time. Of course Target was on the list of places.

We grabbed some lunch from Chick-Fil-A (my first time ordering/going there), note to self, 4 pieces of grill chicken nuggets is not enough  for the girl, but more than enough for the boy. If she had it her way, she would have eaten hers and his.


OH and I did I mention that it wasn't 100° out? It was more like 84° with some cloud coverage, made they whole soccer thing so much more bearable.

 

I knew you wondered if I took a selfie of us, of course. The girl couldn't be bothered with stopping to swallow her food.

Soccer was good, the kids weren't boiling and Baby Fox got a good run in! Successful day in 3-5 year old soccer.

After naps, we let Mr. study some more and I headed to my parents. It was cute to see Baby Fox in the stroller and Mini Fox holding onto the side...role reversal.

Mini Fox is a super drama queen when it comes to injuries, so my sister put a frozen face mask on her head when she bumped it and we made it a crown. Here Baby Fox is kissing it better for her.

And no princess it complete without her gun.

These kids really know how to play my Dad, he lets them pretty much do anything.

Sunday we headed to the pumpkin patch with friends. We got there first so I tried to get a picture...this is what I got.

 

he really wanted to do this:

Mr. found somewhere we could hang out while we wanted, bays of hay to jump off of? Perfect!

My mom bought this skirt for Mini Fox...when she was 3 months old! It finally fits...so cute right? I found that shirt at Gymboree at the after Halloween mega sale.  Do you see Baby Fox in the background jumping?

Wish I was  a little further away, but he just  jumped when I was trying to get a picture of both of them...I just love that smile that I caught.

Even though it's blurry, it's totally her personality, Ms. Daredevil, doing anything her brother can do.

Our friends got there and we went in, and I tried to get another picture of them...

Our friends daughter was helping Mini Fox across the bales of hair.

The best picture we got of the kids together.

So sad our third friend couldn't join us...she's off having a baby! This is year 5 with this tradition! I can't believe we've been going to this pumpkin patch together for 5 years! Next year there will be 7 of them in there, crazy town!

Our family pictures...not so great, please just let us get ONE photo from our photo shoot next week, just ONE, that's all I'm asking.

Hey she's smiling!

He's smiling...now can you guys just do that together at the same time?!

And then we ended the whole day with hay jumping.

After lunch and naps, I promised the kids we would go to the park, now that it's not a bazillion degrees out. He wanted to ride his scooter and she wanted to ride her scooter too, aka tricycle.

When we got there our friends from down the street were there.

The witching hour...she hit her brother and tried to steal his laptop (aka leapfrog).

Step 1: Time out

Step 2: Talk it out

Step 3: apologize to brother and hug it out.

And then we had ribs for dinner, which were delicious and Mr. ate them before I could get a picture, they were yummy. FYI Stater Brother's has them on sale right now.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Do anything extra fun?!

Linking up with Erin for Weekend Snapshot4, B Loved Boston and Champagne & Suburbs  for Weekending,  and Ashley at A Cute Angle for Monday Madness

Friday Favorites #47

Everyday when I get home from work the kids are running towards the door. I always forget to take a video, but I remembered this week! I love it, hope this never ends!

 

Mini Fox has become really interested in pictures lately. Like I showed you on Monday, she loves taking the. Now she's trying to perfect the selfie...oy.

Here's the selfie I took, I think she just needs longer arms.

Some videos that I've been liking lately.

This video makes me want to chew extra gum forever. So sweet, remember my first days of falling in love with Mr.

A friend showed me this*, we don't eat enough watermelon to warrant a gadget like this, but how cool is this? I'll let you know how my friend likes it, it's on it's way.

I have a calendar on my wall at work, which has pictures of the kids on that day a year prior. The reason I take so many pictures of the kids, so I can stare at the calendar on my desk and wonder how did time go so quickly? All of these pictures were taken last October.

Her first bike ride

Blurry, but holy cow have they gotten bigger!

]

 

Apparently we had dinner at my Aunt's house the same time last year too. Traditions huh? I'll have to tell her that.

 

 

But one thing that hasn't changed...Mini Fox's love for Binkys...granted the Monkey paci is long gone (lost at Costco) and there aren't as many in her crib now...like maybe 3 less, we're in trouble when we need to take them away.

 

 I'm not sure if you know this or not, but I like to be silly. This is what happens when I get bored at work, I send Mr. silly pictures of me.

 

 

 Oh and did you know that I wore glasses? I only need them for reading and the computer. But most times at home I boycott them, I wear them for 9 hours a day during the work week, so I like to give my nose a rest...and I'm too lazy to go retrieve my glasses where ever they might be at that moment.

 

Hope you all have a great weekend! If you're reading this 9:30am PST, think of me and Mr. we're touring another school, who knew this was a thing?!

 

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and purchase an item - I may receive a small commission.  THANK YOU!

Linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites, September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday! April and the girls for Five on Friday, and Jennie for Friday Favorites

Mickey/Minnie Mouse On a Stick

Okay peeps, get ready for the easiest of easy tutorials. Seriously. I know I always say that, but this one really is simple.

Supplies:

One Bag of 3" Styrofoam Balls (comes with 6)
One Bag of 2" Styrofoam balls (comes in a bag of 12, convenient...)
Black Spray Paint
Tooth Picks (mine are multi-colored because that's all I had)
Dowel (I just asked at my Michae's where they kept them, they were in two places, one place had smaller ones like the ones below, the other ones were really big, and not the ones we want)
Ribbon for making a bow (if you're making Minnie Mouse)
Glue Gun

Step 1:

Insert toothpick into 2" Styrofoam ball, on mine there was a small circle on the bottom of the ball, so I used that, since I didn't want that to be seen. These Styrofoam balls were actually quite dense, so I had to insert toothpick, then take out to dab some hot glue in the hole. Make two of these.

Step 2:

Take the 3" Styrofoam ball and hold it with one hand

With the other hand, insert the "ear" into the correct position.

It should look something like this.

The finished Mickey/Minnie head. If you want you could sand down those little ridges, but I didn't feel like doing that. Had I thought ahead and done these crafts months/weeks in advance I might have done that.

Step 3:

Insert dowel. Like the toothpicks you're going to want to put it into the Styrofoam first, and then take out, put glue in the hole and put in dowel.

This is what it should look like now.

Step 4:

Here comes the fun part! Spray painting of course. I almost used paint, but thought, hey spray paint is going to be much faster, and it was, I sprayed it once and let it dry for about 20 minutes, even though the can said fast drying. Then sprayed it a 2nd time just to get it coated more evenly with black paint.

Of course you're going to want to do this outside and not near something you care about.

Step 6:

This is what it will look like when you're all done, super cute and easy right?! Now if you were doing a Mickey you could definitely now paint the bottom half red, with some yellow buttons, or keep as is. Since we had a Minnie party, I made a bow, using this tutorial. I actually made my own bow maker, using a box I got from Amazon and those dowels that you see above. Pretty easy, just made the holes 3 inches apart and did a single loop of that video.

I found these buckets in the dollar section at Target, and thought it was perfect. I then used the left over tissue paper from the Minnie Mouse Wreath, and scrunched it up and put it around the dowel and this is what I got, a super cute Minnie Mouse table decoration. Oh and I also used some ribbon to cover the dowel, since I didn't like the brown stick look and I didn't have any pink paint. If you did want to paint the stick I would have done that first, before putting them in the heads.

So there you have it, a super simple Minnie/Mickey centerpieces.

Also linking up with Amanda, for Thinking Out Loud, Vanessa and Penny for Thinking out Loud, Lulia, Stephanie and Sarah for The Ladies Collective, Annie and Natalie for Thoughts for Thursday and Joey and Kristin for Stuff and Things, Angel for Wake Up Wednesday, Cara and Rhonda for Craft Frenzy Friday, and Kelly for Inspiration, Christina for Wildly Original, Tammy and Brittany for One More Time Saturday, Lambert for Create it Thursday and Lindsay for Artsy Fartsy, That DIY Party, Tweek it Tuesday, Mad Skills Party,  Fabulous Party, Weekend Retreat , Tuesday Talk and Wake Up Wednesday Linky Party and Let's Be Friends Blog Hop and  Jennie for Friday Favorites

Fall Challenge - Week 2

Hello all! 2nd week of the Style Challenge*, and I'm back with 7 more outfits. Well 5 plus 2 outfits that I would have worn had I had the chance. So let's get to it. Here are the outfits at a glance.

Let's break it down:

Day 3

I'm absolutely loving this outfit, but it's just a bit too hot to wear right now, but hey a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, outfits must be put together! I actually followed the outfit formula, unlike Day 1 and 2.  But I will definitely be pulling this one out come colder weather.

Day 4

Love this outfit too! Can we talk about these jeans? I got them during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale, so they are no longer available but these* and these* are very similar. They are the most comfortable jeans! They don't pinch at the waist and are the softest jean material ever! I would wear them everyday if that was socially acceptable. I would however, order a size down. I ordered my size and a few hours later I'm finding that I'm hiking up my jeans.

I only have two blazer, one is black and the other one is bright blue, but neither one really worked with this outfit, so I decided to switch it up to my pink leather jacket that I got from Wilson's Leather at the Camarillo Outlet Mall a few years ago. If you can go to a Wilson's Leather at an outlet great deals! I think I bought this jacket for $40!

This little lady wanted to jump in the picture...okay that's a lie she was trying to photo bomb and I scooped her up and tried to get her to take a picture with me. I have a feeling this is what our family photos are going to be like in a couple of weeks, lots of bribery!

Day 5

Loving this* white button down that I bought. Seriously if you have been looking for a white button down look no further! This shirt is worth every single penny, it's a little more than I would normally spend, but it's so soft and doesn't feel still like other buttons downs. I actually want to wear this, instead of just wearing something just to wear it.

I didn't follow the outfit formula again. I don't have a gray cable knit sweater yet, not sure if I am going to get one since I would probably rarely wear it over this white shirt, too hot! But that could be the 100° weather talking, come back in a few months.

So instead of adding the sweater over it, I just added this scarf. I really love the plaid in this scarf, and for the life of me can't remember where I got it.

Day 6

I ordered some olive jeans* (super comfy and on sale for $24.99! The olive color in person is much darker than online), but they hadn't come in the mail yet, so I subbed out for my Camo Jeans. Loving this outfit and will definitely repeat as it gets colder. If you don't have a pair of wedge booties, you have to get a pair! These were from Target a while back and were really reasonable. One day I'll buy the Toms version, but for now, my knockoffs will do.

Day 7

I absolutely love this plaid dress*. When Alison told us a plaid dress would be involved I wasn't sure if I was going to get one. I know that I'm not a red plaid dress girl, but found this black and white one and it's right up my ally.

Not totally sure if I can get away with the length, definitely not with the kids around, but for sure a great night out with the girls or the hubby.

Day 8

This is when I didn't have time to take pictures with the outfits on. So I put together a picture of what I would have worn. I'm actually surprised, I'm not sure I would have paired the olive jeans with that polka dot sweat, but I think it looks great! Apparently the olive jeans like to photograph a little lighter than they are in person, or maybe I need to get my eyes checked, either way this outfit looks great!

In case you were wondering, the outfit formula called for an orange sweater, which I don't have, I've been subbing in this polka dot one and it seems to be working with all of the outfit choices so far.

Day 9

Again I didn't have time to take a photo of this outfit, but I am LOVING my new burgundy jeans (which of course they don't have in stock any more), they are super soft and I can't wait to wear them.

I did sub out the riding boots for these flats, since most likely I wouldn't have worn my riding boots with them. I'm not sure why, but in my head it just didn't make sense. The outfit calls for the grey cable sweater over it, to me that makes more sense to wear the riding boots, but with just the button down, I didn't think so.

There you have it, 7 more outfits brought to you by Alison! Which was your favorite?

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and purchase an item - I may receive a small commission.  THANK YOU!Also linking up with Tucker Up, Because Shanna Said So,  On Trend Tuesday, Cappuccino and Fashion, Sydney Fashion Hunter, Pampers and Pearls, Happiness at Mid Life, The Pleated Poppy,Shopping My Closet, Get Your Pretty On, Let It Shine, More Pieces of Me,  Pumps and Push-Ups, A Lovely Little Wardrobe

20 Questions

Pinky from p!nkpers!stence has been all about the questions and answers thing lately, so I thought I would copy one, why because I'm sure you don't know enough about me and are dying to know...haha, not really. I just have nothing to write about and I had this in my back pocket. Speaking of which I was asking some friends the other night what I should write about today and you know what their answer was? Sex on a Tuesday...haha. #mindsingutter, #lasttimeIwilldohashtaglikethisever #promise #okaythisisthelastone

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I just thought it was cute and what's a post with no pictures?

What is your road trip essential snack? You know since my food allergies, I don't really snack that much in the car. Mostly water and gum...how boring am I? But pre food allergies I would have probably said corn nuts (original flavor) and some sort of gummy snack, gummy works, bears, sour, you name it I liked it.

You've been handed two free round-trip tickets... who are you taking and where are you going? I'd take Mr. and we'd go...you know, I don't know where.  We want to go to so many places, but France and back to Europe sounds nice, maybe with a stop for a bit on the Amalfi Coast.

What was your High School Jam? Hmm...you know I didn't really listen to music that much in high school, weird right? But I was obsessed with My Heart Will Go On by Celion Dion (like you don't know who sings that)...such a great song.

Would you rather have a perfect bum, or flawless face? Flawless face. You can always get a booty shaper, nothing you can really do about a horrible face, besides a ton of make-up.

What shows are you ashamed to admit are on your DVR? I'd have to go with DCC: Making the Team. And probably Switched at Birth on ABC family.

What's your ringtone? Generic iPhone ringtone that came with the phone, I'm boring. I used to have Mr. have a different ring tone, but since my new phone got here, I've been too lazy to change it.

How old were you when you had your first kiss? Was it meh or toe-curling? 16, almost 17 (like a few weeks away), and it was definitely Meh. I actually laughed...I was just uncomfortable and he was jamming his tongue down my throat and I found the whole thing super funny.

Do you have any siblings, and if so, where are you in the birth order? I have a sister that is 5 years older than me, and a brother that is 9 months younger than me.

What physical quirk were you born with? umm...I'm not sure I have one? I have a birth mark on my stomach and when I got pregnant it moved up my belly so it was on top of my big belly, super weird and amazing to see how your body changes and stretches. I should have taken a picture.

What was your first car, and did you name it? It was a 1982 Pontiac Phoenix (hatch back which didn't stay open so I had to use a broom handle to keep it up) and I didn't, but I did name every car after that.

What would you request for your last supper? Hard question. I think pre allergies would be a different answer, but then again it's been 8 years and Mr. has introduced me to so many new foods that I can only eat a limited amount, so I'm going to answer as 8 years ago me - and this might be because I haven't eaten it in 8 years, but...

I'm going to go with Orange Chicken with mashed potatoes instead of rice from Cheesecake Factory followed by their Strawberry Short Cake...although Ruth's Chris's cheesecake could be a tie, so maybe I would get one of each. Yea one of each, yum!

Have you ever been hospitalized, and if so, what for? I've been twice and to have kids, other than that no other hospital stays, thankfully! I'd like to keep it that way.


 How tall are you? Do you wish you were taller, shorter...or are you just right? I'm 5' 3", most times I'm happy with that, except when trends happen like jumpsuits that are SUPER cute but just don't look good on someone that isn't 6 feet tall. Oh and when I want something from the top shelf and the grocery store and have to ask a tall person walking by for help so I don't look like a Kindergartener climbing the shelves (which I've done when no one is around, but it doesn't count if no one sees it right?)

Do you prefer to DIY or hire it out? If I have time I will DIY it for parties, but for our wedding, I totally hired out everything I could, even the addressing of the envelopes.

What do you eat for breakfast?  I just became a breakfast person in the last 5 ish  years, but I really like hash browns (not the shredded kind, I guess more like homefries) eggs over easy and bacon. Although this week I am having bacon fried rice, I figure I put a dozen eggs in it, and there is bacon so it counts as breakfast.

What would you do for a living if you didn't need money? I would quilt, make pretty things for people, or I would start some sort of scrapbooking company where people give me their photos and short stories and I put them into a scrapbook.

Finish this sentence: Every room needs...laughter, is that cheesy? I'm not really into trinkets and stuff, that's more my Mom's thing.

How frequently do you wash your hair? I actually have a schedule...mostly because I have to wash my hair after a workout, so I wash my hair on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Sometimes I use dry shampoo, still trying to find THE ONE, I'll let you know when I find one.

Will you leave the house without makeup? Yes. Mostly everyday for work, although lately I've been using just under eye concealer, some powder and blush. Mostly so I don't look like the living dead, my office mate thank me.

You just unloaded your Halloween haul...what candy do you go for first? Reece's Peant Butter Cups and Peanut M&M's. I guess that's two, but if there isn't one then the other will do.

Linking up with Tuesday Talk and  Let's Be Friends Blog Hop