We Escaped for Some Fun

Yes, Tanner and I dressed up for Halloween and the little kids loved Tanner because he is just too darn cute! We greeted 37 kids at our door with candy but only if they said "trick or treat," even the kids that are way to old for Halloween.

Here's the "tough boy's" hanging out until the doorbell rings again. David really got into the Halloween spirit and was playing scary music outside which unfortunately I think scared a few young one's away.


Four hours of trick or treating and we are tired, he really is cute ,even if he is a trouble maker that escaped for four hours of fun!

History Has Been Made & I Couldn't be Happier!

I am in sitting in a hotel room in San Diego for a business meeting and I've been watching non-stop coverage of the election all night long and I must say that watching history unfold before my eyes has brought many tears to my eyes as well. I am so blessed to witness such an historical event and only wish I were back in Chicago at the Grant Park rally. While I'm not there in body, I am in spirit and can hardly contain myself in my hotel room.

When you think about how far we have come as a country, you start to realize how important of a role we each play in becoming one united country. This election we just elected an African-American President and also had a female running for vice-president. WOW - this is the type of story that I look forward to telling others about in years to come. This is truly what makes me so proud to be an American!

When I logged onto this blog tonight, I looked at the picture with David and I which was taken just one month ago at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago - where Barack Obama found out he was the President-elect. That was profound to me in so many ways and I hope none of us take this historical moment for granted, regardless of your political preference.

P.S. Don't worry I voted earlier because of this trip.

P.S.S. Dave please be sure to pick up a Chicago Tribune for me tomorrow morning!

Welcome Mia Grace!

Big Brother Jake is thinking ..... hmm this may not be be so bad as long as she doesn't play with my toys and I'm sure I can get her to love the Cubbies as much as I do.
Here's Mia getting ready to go home for the first time.

My friend Rochelle and her husband Ross welcomed a little girl, Mia Grace, to the world on October 25th. She is healthy and mom is doing great as well. As you can see big brother Jake is very excited about the new addition to his family and I'm sure he will be a big help for mommy and daddy - once he adjusts to all the changes that are soon to come for him. Rochelle and Ross are such great parents that I have no doubt that they will help him through this exciting change at home. We miss you Rochelle!

P.S. Everyone knows how much I love the name Grace and someday I hope to have a little girl as cute as Mia who we will name Grace or Gracie!!!

Our last trip to the Lake

Here's Tanner and David taking a stroll down to the beach - one last time this year. It's only taken us 4 years to finally learn how to walk the dog instead of him walking us....

Oh my goodness - looks like this one didn't make it back from his last boat trip. Just kidding, it looks like everyone in the neighborhood is getting into the Halloween spirit!

Here I am with my baby Tanner, isn't he the most adorable dog ever?

OK, Dave must have mistaken the dog for a child, wait we thought he was our baby but he didn't like the ride on the lion to much. Yes, I know we are little crazy when it comes to our dog but hey you only live once so you might as well make it fun. He brings so much enjoyment to our lives.
We love you Tanner!!!

My Talented Mother Does it Again...

It's a Tanner - sized Quilt!

I saw this gorgeous quilt on flickr and I asked my mom to make it for me

little did I know that she would have it done and in our mailbox 3 days later!

I love the orange fabrics and the owl with the button eyes. It reminds me of a scrapbook page which I plan on doing shortly once I have some pictures from Halloween in hand. Yes, Tanner and I will be dressing up, and I'll post pictures next weekend. We'll be dressed up for the kids that come to our house but I'm sure we'll go for a stroll around the neighborhood as well and who knows - maybe Tanner will get a dog bone or two. Our mail lady leaves treats for Tanner all the time which he absolutely loves. With a face like that how can you resist not giving him some treats. Thanks mom for the beautiful wall hanging - we love it!!!

Two Pumpkins at our Pumpkin Patch

Here's my little helper Michael!

What a great big brother he was today.

Here's Alex working really hard to sit up.
Look at those brothers and those smiles.

Oh my... the smiles are getting bigger

and here's Alex saying "BOO!"

Today our friends Josh and Michelle and their kids came over for some camera fun. I offered to help Michelle get some pictures of her kids for a Halloween card that they are sending out soon. Michelle knows how much I love being behind the camera but it sure takes a lot to get two kids smiling at the same time while both looking at the camera! We took about 75 pictures and there were so many to choose from and the process was really a lot of fun. I love tinkering with my camera because secretly I would love to be a photographer but boy do I still have a lot to learn. Hopefully Santa will bring me a new camera lens that I have wanted for quite some time because that would really allow me to go to the next level because a photographer needs good equipment and as you can see I already have adorable subjects to take pictures of.

Sock Monkeys and 1 year olds are so Cute!

Happy 1st Birthday Dylan!

Our friends Brooke and Dave have 2 adorable little boys and their youngest turned 1 on Wednesday. Brooke and I go scrapbooking together often and so I had to really rack my brain to come up with an original gift with an adorable card to go with it for his birthday party. The other day I was walking through Target by the toy aisle and when I saw the sock monkey I knew exactly the perfect gift for Dylan but also a card that his mother would definitely appreciate. I decided instead of putting the card in an envelope that I would just hang it from the monkey because as we all know - monkeys love hanging out...! Dylan, I hope you enjoy your new toy as much as I enjoyed putting it all together for you.

To see some pictures from Dylan's birthday and to read my friend Brooke's blog please click here: http://secondtimemommy.blogspot.com/
Brooke is a great writer and if your a mom you'll definitely appreciate her stories!

Girls and their Dolls are so Precious

I got to spend the afternoon with my family in Freeport today and I got to see how much my niece Katie has changed since last time I saw her in August. She truly is growing up fast and is a very smart and adorable little girl (as you can see above). Lately she hasn't been sleeping through the night very well so it's been a tough go for Nick and Kelly because they aren't sleeping either. The last few nights have been much better but the week before she would cry for hours and hours before she would fall asleep. She got a 2 hour nap in today before we all got together and then she had lots of fun playing afterwards with my cousin Bailee who is so good with her. After playing with Bailee for a while it appears that she got tired and walked over by this rug next to the sliding glass door and just laid down. Hmmm.....I wonder if she wanted to nap again or just give her Auntie M a photo opportunity? I think you'll agree she is a great subject to photograph and I think these photos capture all the qualities that make her one of the most adorable little girls ever. I love you Katie!

Fall Decorations Everywhere

Another project that I altered was the candy jar in the first picture. I took a glass cookie jar and added some embellishments and stamped a tag for the top and filled it with candy. For some reason the candy keeps disappearing and we are 2 weeks away from Halloween. I guess we'll have to buy some more for the trick or treaters.

The other project was the "spooky spider" on the front door. This is one of the many cool wall rub-ons that are available from Stampin Up in their new decor elements collection. They are made of vinyl and easily can be rubbed onto walls, doors, and also placed in picture frames. I really want to put some stuff inside the house but thought the door was safe to get used to doing it first.

Get Crafty for Halloween

Many of you know that I am an avid scrapbooker, stamper, and now I'm branching into taking my creativity into projects at home for decoration. Knowing that fall is my favorite time of year, and Halloween is my favorite holiday, I thought I should share with you a simple project that you can hang on your wall. I had a picture frame that I loved but the picture didn't go with our decor in the new house so I took out the picture, added some cardstock and punched 1 inch squares of Halloween paper to make this fun project. I added some Jolee stickers as embelishments and I know how this cool picture to hang up. I also decided that I would change it for each of the holidays so soon I'll being working on a Christmas one since it hangs by my front door.