Preschool Halloween Party at the Park…

Cupcakes for the party.  Bat rings and cool skeleton platter from Tarjay.  By the way, I LOVE Tarjay and hate Wally World.  Actually, I love the People of Walmart website and I’m always at the ready to snap a photo I can submit.  It would make my day to contribute to their Wally World wacky tribute!

It turned out to be a beautiful day yesterday…the weather was perfect.  Here’s some pics of Tinkerbell at her preschool Halloween party…

My oldest niece, Katie, surprised us and showed up at the park and Lauren loved playing with her. 

How cute are these wings and shoes with the Tink pom-pom!

 

Random stuff…

If you’re anything like me, you have stacks of tutorials you’ve printed from blogs cluttering up your computer room. I finally picked up a couple of binders and page dividers from Wally World and made up some cute binder covers. I feel so much better now. :)

I’m a Starbucks junkie, but couldn’t help but order a free sample from Nescafe to compare the new instant coffee sticks.

The people at Taster’s Choice don’t mess around when it comes to free samples! Check this out. Six samples and a coupon. Get yours here.

I haven’t tried it yet, but will very soon.

Well, tomorrow Lauren’s pre-school is hosting a Halloween party at the park so the kids can get together in their costumes. The weather is FINALLY getting nice here in AZ, so it should be a beautiful day. I’ll post pics tomorrow.

Not quite bento

Okay, so here’s this full-time working momma’s version of a preschool bento lunch…

…and Lauren is perfectly happy with it. 

She doesn’t know what she’s missing yet.  I’m so jealous of all those moms who put together really cool bento lunches.  Sadly, that’s just not me right now.  I found a great source for bento supplies here and maybe I’ll actually order a few things…we’ll see.  

Good food and some crafting…

Today I had a few friends over for an impromptu cooking night and the food turned out great. We made a huge antipasto salad with a yummy tomato-based vinaigrette and the Pioneer Women’s baked lemon pasta. Both recipes were fantastic. We’ll be having the leftover pasta with grilled chicken tomorrow night for sure.

After dinner I got some help on a project for my pumpkin carving party later this month. A box of canning jars from Wally World, candles, candy corn and supplies from around the house…

…and waala, cuteness for the party tables. What do you think?

While we were crafting away, Ruby just made herself at home.

PS...no, we didn't adopt a new furbaby. Ruby is my friend's dog who was over for a visit. Lauren loves to play with her.

New shops…

A couple of friends of mine have new shops set up on the web and I wanted to give them a quick plug. 

Click here for Stephe’s Designs on Cafe Press.  Stephe can customize a design for you and have it printed on lots of different items.  She’s super flexible, does great work and can work magic in Photoshop. 

Click here for Cactus Bloom Designs.  Michele makes beautiful embroidered note cards and really cool 3-D photo boxes, among other things.  If you need a card for someone special, check these out. 

Totally unrelated, but a pic of Lauren that truly captures her sweet, fun personality.  Her smile melts my heart and lights up a room!

Baby Shower!

Yesterday my friend Nancy and I hosted a baby shower at my place for Heather, Damon and their new son Finn. They have been waiting and waiting for a China adoption and decided last year to adopt domestically. In July they got a call that a baby boy was just born and waiting for them. Suddenly and in an instant they became a family of three!

It was such a pleasure to finally be able to plan a shower for Heather after all these years of waiting!

Here’s our home-baked chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting…yum! I made the little cupcake toppers using a digital scrapbook kit.

We hung a laundry line and filled it with little outfits and socks for Finn.

Nancy made a zebra print hooded towel…

Love this onesie…

Lemon Rosemary Chex Mix. It’s pretty yummy.

Congrats to the newest family in our China adoption group! It was such a nice afternoon of celebrating with you!

It’s beginning to “look” like Fall

There is something horribly wrong with the fact that we’re  sweating bullets decorating the front of our house for Fall.  It’s 108 degrees out there today in good ole Arizona, but at least I’m ready for Fall (my favorite time of the year).

 

 

   

Okay, now I’m off to take a much needed shower…