Chillin with My Gnomie

He tolerated the gnome and despised the security outfit.  Poor kid.  I only posted two but the kid had 4 costumes.  I guess I got a little excited about Halloween!

So True!

A Rare Moment

Good Bye Old Friend

It may seem silly, but I am sad about it!  The time has come for me to say good bye to my old friend, my Jeep.  My husband I decided we needed something with fewer miles (the Jeep has 200k on it) and that would be reliable for a long time.  We are also preparing to take in foster children and so we need a car that will hold more than 3 kids.  I tried to convince him that we could get a new family car and keep the jeep, he didn't go for it; I married Mr. Practicality... Once we decided to get a new car we had to decide what to get.  I wanted to get something fun and sporty like a Mazda CX-9. 

We went and test drove them and I fell in LOVE!  They aren't that much different than my jeep, they just have that beloved third row seat and they are new!  I could go on and on about why this would be the best car for our family, and to be honest my husband could too, but the Mazda was not what we ended up with....

Now remember I married Mr. Practicality.  After much thought and a look at our finances we decided that we didn't want such a huge car payment.  We could afford it, but then things like vacations, eating out, and fun money would take a hit.  It wasn't worth it to sacrafice those things just to maintain my SUV status. 

So in our quest to remain practical we were given a great steal on the new (to us) car we eneded up with.  It's less than half the price of the Mazda and newer.  It isn't what I was hoping for but I am getting happier about it as time goes on...

 

Mr. P is excited about it, he's ready for it.

On one hand I don't know if I'm ready for a mini van, we have one kid for heavens sake.  I also have been an SUV/truck girl since I was 17 and so this will be quite the change.  I liked having all wheel drive, ground clearance, and a V8.  I also don't know if I am ready for the mini van mom label, you can't get away with the same things.  In my Jeep I can turn the music up loud and sing at the top of my lungs and no one really pays any attention.  Now in my van, I don't think I can do the same.  When is the last time you rolled up to a stop light and saw a mom in a van with something like Jay Z cranked on the radio and didn't laugh your guts out?!  Know what I mean?

However, on the other hand mini vans are great.  Here is a list of why this is the best car for our family:

• Great gas mileage
• Roomy
• Seats 7, load it up with friends, it's easy!
• Can fit all 3 of our dogs
• Easy to get the baby seat in and out of
• No more dinging doors in parking lots, those slider doors are great
• Comfortable to drive
• Affordable payment
• Cops don't pull mini vans over as much
• You can easily get from the front to the back in a flash
• When the seats are folded down it holds nearly as much as a truck
• And many many more reasons.

So if you see me on the road with my music cranked, give me honk!

Alphabet Soup

I originally saw something similar to this on Pinterest and loved it!!  So this is my attempt at recreating it.  It was a little trickier than I thought it would be.  I didn't want my letters to all match and I discovered that if you only go to one or two stores you are going to get basically the same letters.  I was able to create my wall by going to JoAnns, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby.  I also had a few things laying around at home that worked well too.  The "s" is a wooden snake that I glued into the "s" shape, the "i" is a mini baseball bat, and the "j" is a wooden Christmas stocking that I covered in buttons, and the "u" is an old horse shoe my dad found while metal detecting.  It was a fun project although it began to add up $$$ after you figure the letters and supplies.   I believe it cost me around $100, but I figure that is about what I would have spent on a nice piece of art anyway and it probably wouldn't have covered as much wall space as this did. If you are patient you can usually get 40% off one item at each of the above mentioned stores per visit.  So if time isn't an issue then you can grab a letter or two here and there with your 40% off.    I didn't want to put a bunch of holes in my wall to hang these and so for many of them I used the 3M Command Adhesive strips.  Those were probably the most expensive items I had to purchase, but well worth it.

Lace Pumpkins

I love these pumpkins and they were so easy to do!  I found my lace at JoAnns and just wrapped them with the lace and tied them with ribbon at the top. Once you carve a pumpkin it usually doesn't last long before it rots. I like the idea of being able to have Halloween pumpkins on my porch all month and once Halloween is over you can remove the lace and you're ready for Thanksgiving.

5 Months Old!

Hard to believe he was so tiny when he was born! There is something special about preemies, they are tough little fighters. DC was 10 weeks premature; this picture was taken at about 2 weeks old (32 weeks gestation.)