Pumpkin Patch 2010

Tonight we brought the kiddos to Tolmachoff-Farms!
Oh, how they LOVE this place!

We met several of our friends there too! The Keilmans, The Garretts, and the Creels! I wish the adults could have socialized more, but the place was the busiest that it has ever been, so other than a few conversations, the time was spent chasing the kids around...

And petting the cute little piggy...

And checkin' out the baby chicks!

And playing with this crazy water thing, and hangin' from a rope, and sliding down the slide (about 100 times all by herself) and petting more baby chicks...

And feeding all the animals in the petting zoo...
And riding the Ladybug Cars...

And hanging out with our best friend forever...
And posing for silly pictures with each other...

And trying to get the perfect shot of all four girls together (which happens hardly ever, Christmas for sure, we are lucky if the four of them are ever in the same spot)...
And let me tell you that this was hysterical! I can only imagine what was going on in their little heads as either a mommy or a daddy of one of these little ladies is below snapping away, calling attention to smile and look at a certain camera. You can definitely see the personalities shining through!

Another great year at the pumpkin patch!

Happy Anniversay, Boo

I remember our wedding day like it was yesterday...so why can't I ever remember the number of years we have been married?! Last year I thought we were on 7 and you corrected me and this year I thought we were on 8, again, you corrected me! Then you teased me that the boy shouldn't be the one remembering this kinda stuff, it should be me! Makes me giggle just thinking about it! I got it this year, watch and see!

I stuck to the traditional gift of wool, giving Chad a new wool (well, 57% at least) jacket, while he broke the rules and got me a platinum wedding band! My ring is platinum, but we have just had a white gold band to go with it, and you know how those fade. I haven't worn it in ages, so hubs did it right and went platinum this year! I feel spoiled and very ok with him breaking the rules.

However, there is one thing that we do on our anniversary (I know I have talked about it before, but feel like I should say it again) that is more meaningful than any "thing" you can buy. Our letters. Chad's sister (to her I am forever grateful) gave us advice that she was given, write letters to each other on our wedding night, after all is said and done; expressing our feelings about the day, each other, etc. and then seal them up and stick them away until our one year anniversary and open them up then. Then on each anniversary from that point on, you get to open up a new letter, written the year before and write one for the future. They are the most incredible, emotional, beautiful, reminder of our love for each other. I wouldn't trade them for the world and am so thankful that we actually took the time to start this! I love our anniversary for this simple reason alone.

If you aren't married yet, take my advice and DO THIS on your wedding night, if you are married, START THIS, it isn't ever too late! You won't be sorry!

To my husband, happy 7th year anniversary! I love you!

Linking up with Giggles, Glitz & Glam and talking about Wedding Bliss!

A Conversation with Kyan

Kyan - Mommy, when you are a girl you have babies in your belly and it hurts!

Me - Yes, Kyan. When you have a baby in your belly it sometimes hurts.

Kyan - You mean only some girls bellies hurt?

Me- No. All girls that have babies in their bellies it hurts.

Kyan - Well, I am a boy and I won't have a baby in my belly so my belly won't hurt. And daddy is a boy so he won't have a baby in his belly either, so it won't hurt. But Lola is a girl and when she has a baby in her belly it is going to hurt. I am glad I am a boy.

***Then that was it. End of story (but I will say this isn't the first mention of girls having babies in their bellies?!).

Then about two seconds later he says:

Kyan - You have to love someone to be married to them right?

Me - Yes. You should love someone before you marry them.

Kyan - Do I have to marry my sister?

Me - No, you can't marry your sister, even though you love her!

Kyan - Ok, so I don't have to marry sister! I can't marry her, I have to find someone that I love! We have to get married like you and daddy. Then the girl will have a baby and it will hurt.

***Glad we cleared that up! Such questions for a five year old, can't imagine what they are going to be like when he is 16!?

We Are Ready for Halloween!

At the Roseland house, we are READY for Halloween! This is the most decorating that I have ever done, and it still really isn't that much, but I love seeing the house all festive and I know the kids do too!

So, want a little tour of the decor? If so keep reading, there is even a how to on making your own Halloween wreath for your front door!

THE FRONT ENTRANCE GATE:
Kyan loves the spider webs! They took forever to put up and the wind has had its way with them, I am hoping that they hold up until the 31st!

THE FRONT DOOR:
I slaved over this wreath, those flowers took FOREVER to make, but I LOVE the result! I am sad that it only gets to stay up for two short weeks, but excited to have made my first wreath for the front door! My mom kept telling me to buy something already, but I kept saying that I was going to make my own, as I was inspired by so many similar wreaths out there in blogland!
Finally, today I finished and here is what it looks like:
Super easy to make, yet so time consuming!
My first attempt with the flowers was with felt, but I hated it! So off I went to buy fabric and what a difference it made!

HOW TO:
So, here is where the how to comes in. Thanks to this little man, my photographer Kyan, I can show you how to make those pretty little flowers!

1. Cut your fabric into about inch and a half strips. Make them as long or short as you want, but I recommend making different sizes.
2. Hot glue the strip together, so you have the fabric displayed on both sides, better for rolling.

3. Roll the strip about 1/4 of the way down and then start twisting and turning the fabric around each other, gluing when needed to hold your flower together, until the flower is finished!
4. Repeat as needed (think I made close to 50?)!
5. Hot glue flowers onto wreath.
6. Add in tarantula looking feathers as needed.

I wasn't sure where to put the letter R and originally wanted to include it somehow on the actual wreath, but decided at the last minute to put it in the middle of the wreath, where I think it fit rather nicely. To make this part, I did something very similar in this post. The difference was that I used craft paint instead of spray paint to do the black around the R and I used paper instead of fabric (which I think is easier).

Ready for the Trick-or-Treaters!

Onto the inside of the house (even though I could stand outside that front door and look at it all day long)!

THE KITCHEN

THE ENTRY

LITTLE DETAILS:
I only really decorated my downstairs, so here are pictures of just about everything Halloween in our house, from the kitchen to the dining room to the bathroom to the living room!

I hope to make more decor next year! I love reading others blogs and seeing what they do to decorate!


BOO!
Now, onto "BOOing"! Do you BOO? Another thing I have seen all over blogland and I love the idea! What a great little thing to do to the neighbors! I was hoping to be the first to BOO someone, but the neighbors beat us to it! I came home on Thursday night to discover that we got BOO'd! Kyan was super excited to tell me all about it and even more excited to put his BOO buckets together!

We had plans to BOO our next door neighbor with three kids and the neighbor two doors down, whose granddaughter lives with them, only to discover that the first of the two houses had already been BOO'd (I think that is who BOO'd us)! So, neighbors way down the street just put up scary decor outside and Kyan wanted to get them! When we got to the door, I had to help him drop the bucket, ring the bell and RUN! Lola was with us, along with lots of neighbor kids who wanted to check out what we were doing, so it worked out kinda perfect! There were so many people around they weren't sure who BOO'd them, but I heard them open the door and yell, "Mom, we got BOO'd!" It was perfect!

We displayed our BOO's in picture frames outside, next to the pumpkins. That way the neighbors know we've already been BOO'd, and to move along to another house that hasn't!

Want to start a BOO in your neighborhood?
Click here for the printable that I used to spread the word!


That's it, we are ready for Halloween! Are you? Do you do anything special?

Paradise In Our Own Backyard

We have been waiting patiently (since the end of August) for our custom made iron furniture to arrive and today it did! It make our backyard even prettier than it already was, and I truly feel like we do have paradise right outside our very own door!

We knew we wanted to invest in quality outdoor furniture, but we knew that would come with a hefty price tag. We searched high and low for someone like Arizona Iron Furniture and we knew that they would be the company that we went with the second we walked into their showroom and they handed over 4 ice cold water bottles and could deal with a 2 and 5 year old wanting to climb on everything (and they did)!

I LOVE all of our new pieces, each for their own special reason.
Let me tell you...

THE CURVED COUCH
for snuggling up with the family in front of the fire

THE BAR CHAIRS
for a comfy spot to perch and watch the hubs cook a delicious meal and the kids play in the yard

THE CHAISE LOUNGERS
for soaking up the sun and relaxing with a good book after taking a dip in the water

THE LITTLE THINGS:
Towel Rack ~ Chad hates towels thrown over the fence, something I am notorious for, with the rack, problem solved!
Small Aloe Vera Cactus ~ I love these! I have the larger one and asked if they still had the small one available...sure did! The best part, a gift from them to us as a thank you for our order!
End Table ~ Saw something similar in their showroom, but without the umbrella hole, so I asked if that was something that could be added...no problem! They said they would figure it and and the table looks beautiful and the umbrella fits perfectly, so people/drinks can stay shaded if need be!

If you are in the market for new quality patio furniture, that is custom made down to the size, powder finish and the fabric colors, take a look at what Arizona Iron Furniture has to offer. They have phenomenal customer service (our sales person was named Ryan, who I later found out was the owner of the company!) and offer great prices to enhance the look of your backyard. I am already planning our next order for the covered patio (new dining table and chairs)!

Think I am off to relax on one of those loungers now!