On To Thanksgiving!

First of all, I would like to send my sweet Mommy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She is truly an amazing woman in so many ways. Her creativeness, wit, faithfulness, and class are few of the attributes that inspire me every day. The older I get, people tell me that I am more and more like my mother. I can only hope I become even more like her in years to come! I love you Mom and hope your day is great!

Now, I'll backtrack a little bit. Unfortunately Daniel and I weren't home together long enough to carve our pumpkins. Thats okay, at least they'll last longer. One thing I did do, was spray chalkboard paint on one little pumpkin for the entryway. This is another idea from the blogging world. I found these great chalkboard markers at the Hob Lob that allowed me to have more control over what I wrote; more so than regular chalk which took off the paint more than wrote on it. Chalk+Markers??? Who thought of this? The markers are great and wipe off easily with a wet paper towel, so I was able to change my message from Halloween, to Thanksgiving.

My mom and I had talked about a cute arrangement we saw in PB not long ago. That was my inspiration for this easy peasy little centerpiece. I don't have a formal dining room/dining table, so I can't have a huge beautiful centerpiece that would overtake the room. I used what I had at home: wide vase, pine cones, and pictures. It's a fall inspired way to display what I'm thankful for!

I also wanted to share a little project I did for a Halloween gift last week.

I needed something more than the typical candy, and thought I would try this out. It was really easy and super fun to do. I love projects like this because the possibilities are endless. You could do one in any color to match any outfit for that extra umph!

At a country fair this year, my aunt bought a bucket just like this and had it personalized for her daughter to send as a care package, as she is in college out of town. Great idea right? I thought I could recreate it.

We don't live in a neighborhood with lots of children, but our next door neighbors have a little girl who was definitely planning on dressing up for Halloween. We told her we would love her to come trick or treat at our house, because we weren't planning on anyone coming at all and hated for the holiday to pass us up. Although I had a backup candy stash in case any other kids came, I knew for sure we would have one special tick or treater. Well, thats all the incentive I needed to start this guy...
This was a learning experience for me because I was painting on a different texture and it wasn't flat. But I think after I got the hang of it, it was a fun little project. Although it was a little more time consuming then expected, (that stinkin' little candy corn) it turned out pretty well. Oh, and I was so surprised to have a few more trick-or-treaters than expected. One, to Daniel's excitement, said we were to coolest house they had been to...score!

My mom shared these SUPER YUMMY Halloween cupcakes with us this year. They are made with butternut squash but taste a lot like carrot cake! Topped with cream cheese icing, these little puppies were to DIE for!

Oh, and one more thing! My sweet friends Gerry and Jananna welcomed the newest member of their family, Catherine Grace, on November 1st. I was lucky enough to be at the hospital along with other friends and family to see this little miracle come into the world! At risk of stealing their thunder, I will only share a few of the pictures I took.

Hello, world!

Look at those sweet little piggies!!

Proud Daddy, what a sweetheart!

She doesn't like changing clothes yet, but she'll learn. :)

In mommy's hands, a beautiful thing.

Congratulations, Cornett's. She is gorgeous and absolutely perfect! I am actually kindof obsessed with her. Love you guys!

Okay, now I think I can safely progress toward Thanksgiving. Is it bad that every time I hear or see anything Christmas I get butterflies? ....EXCITED! I'm even planning on taking the final for my online class two weeks early so I can enjoy the holiday season THAT much more.

Is anyone as excited as I am?

Liv