Halloween

Another great Halloween in the books.  Lauren had an amazing time trick or treating with three little friends. 

My pretty little Minnie Mouse…

With Grandma before heading out for the night…

I was talking to a friend of mine while we were out with the kids and we were both reflecting on all the years of handing out candy and feeling so jealous of all the parents with their little ones.  It was one of those moments when we were both so thankful to finally be parents and we were just enjoying every minute of watching our kids have so much fun.  I think waiting so long to become a mom has really made me live in the moment and enjoy all the little things…nothing is taken for granted. 

Faux Roman Shade

We have one of those dated, glass block windows in my master bathroom over the tub.  It’s the only window on the west side of the house and the afternoon/early evening sun is way too much. 
About 5 years ago I made a real roman shade for this window.  You know, the kind with a pulley and strings, wooden dowels, and plastic rings that you can pull up and down?  Well, I’m kind of giving my bedroom a mini makeover and the old roman shade just isn’t in my color scheme or style any more.  Isn’t it amazing how you can love something one day and a few years later you’re wondering what the heck you were thinking?  I do that all the time.   
I bought curtain panels at IKEA a while back for my bedroom and bought an extra package thinking I may need them later.  On Sunday, I decided I was going to get rid of the ugly roman shade and use one of the curtain panels to make something new.  Remembering back to the day when I said NEVER AGAIN am I making another roman shade, I knew it needed to be something much faster and easier.  After taking a few quick measurements of the old shade and the IKEA curtain panel, I knew just what to do…a faux roman shade.  I already had three tension rods tucked away that I bought for another project and never used…perfect.  So, here’s what I did…
  
The curtain panel was lined and just happened to be almost the exact width (total luck out).  I used the hem already on the curtain and cut to size from the top.  Then I measured and marked to sew three 1” casings (one for each tension rod).  I just cut little slits close to the edge on the back side (liner side) to slip the rods through.  Then I stapled the top to a wooden board that fits in the window casing at the top.  My curtain was a tiny bit too wide, so I stapled in two pleats (one on each side of the shade) to take up a little slack. 
Here’s a side view…you can’t even see the tension rods, since I cut the insert slits in from the edge about the width of the rubber stoppers on the rod. 

I’m REALLY happy with the end result!  It matches the bedroom and it’s such a bright, pretty change from my old dark roman shade. 

   Simply Designing

Pumpkin French Toast…yum!

The other day Lauren and I decided to make breakfast for dinner and I remembered I had some leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge.  We put this together and both really enjoyed it.  Hope you do to…

2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1/4 cup milk or half & half
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
4 to 6 slices of bread (depending on the size)

Whisk together the ingredients while the skillet is heating up.  Dip both sides of bread and cook on the skillet until browned on both sides.  Serve with syrup or butter and cinnamon sugar.

Disney trip

We took Lauren to Disneyland for Fall break and had a GREAT time!  She is the perfect age and absolutely loved it.  We had three day hopper passes and spent two days at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure.  Disneyland was decked out for Halloween and the Haunted Mansion was transformed into The Nightmare before Christmas.  It's amazing the work they put into changing up this atttraction for the holiday...we rode this one twice. 

Lauren loved any fast ride including the new Radiator Springs Racers, Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn.  She also loved all the rides in Fantasyland with Peter Pan and Dumbo being her favorites.  She was thrilled when she got to ride up front with the driver on the Monorail.  I think the most fun she had was the Minnie Mouse & Friends character breakfast at the Plaza Inn on Main Street and at the Jedi Training Academy show in Tomorrowland.  She got selected to "train" as a Jedi during the show complete with brown, hooded robe and light saber.  She got to fight up on stage with Darth Vader (video below) and got a certificate at the end. 

You can see all our trip pics on my Shutterfly site.  Here are some of my favorites...