From my crew...

Happy Halloween from my posse... We are incredibly fun people!

did a lot & played a lot...

What makes a "good day?"
For me it is a day that is playful AND productive!
Playful:
You know those days when you can't help but think "I am such a good mom right now!" You got out the craft supplies, you read 100s of books, you had your kids help with lunch, you went to the park, you danced and sang and colored and...
Productive:
You think "I got SO much done today!" You super glued that broken toy, you paid the bills, you wrote thank you notes, you exercised, you vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen, scrapbooked a few pages, planned dinner AND made an extra casserole for the new mom down the street...


"Playful only" days my dishes are still in the sink, play clothes on the bathroom floor and paper piles are everywhere (why the hay do I have so many!?!?!?), but my kids can't wipe the smiles off their faces.





"Productive only" days errands are completed, my chores are checked off, and my kiddos watch a lot of shows (educational, of course!).




Fortunately for my kids (unfortunately for my house) we seem to have more playful days.
But today.... aaaaaaa.... today.... was a perfect balance.
We danced and had a family sing along (they shake/pound instruments, I sing loud and off key), we played dough (though we did loose the green somewhere), we did bubbles, we slid slides, we snuggled (a lot!), we played baseball, we built with blocks...
AND
I paid our car registration, squared away the taxes, laundry, blogged, send out Eli's Lids orders, called my grandmom, made 5 pounds of carrots into baby food, filed paper piles, finished a birthday gift, vacuumed...
Best of all the day is young! I still have time to play and do a lot more. And my Hubby will be home soon and well get to do some playing of our own!

Do it yourself Halloween costumes...

Halloween is upon us... time to scramble for a costume!! Homemade Halloween's are the best and not just because you are saving $25 per person! You are also saving the trip to the costume/party store, the 2 hour wait in line and the practically pornographic costumes displayed EVERYWHERE!!!
Here is what we did this year...

Hot Hubby and I were nerds. Hot glue some pens into the pocket of an old (or thrift store) shirt add ties and taped up glasses. Done!

I had to make the pocket on my shirt, but I just hot glued it on. We popped out the lenses from Hot Hubby's sun glasses and I just went without contacts.

This is also good for that hubby that isn't really into dressing up!

Eli was a Firefighter. Black long sleeved tee, black pants, dress up fireman hat, and a little creative duct tape. Done!

I cut the badge out of duct tape too.

You can't see it in the pic, but there are duct tape stripes on the legs too.

It doesn't translate well in the photo but everyone thought this costume was store bought.

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Cora was a Prima Ballerina. My mom found this onsie at Big Lots and we all have tights galore already. Done!

They also had firefighter and cowboy ones too. Those ones were super cute!!

Now go get creative...

Comments are great...

I have been (obsessively) checking my giveaway on Blessed Nest. The comments are great and it sure will be fun to see the winner!! The best part is I am able to click on some of your blogs (if you leave your url). I have really enjoyed reading!!! Thanks for your comments back. Isn't it fun to get comments! I read a lot of blogs and don't always leave a comment... but I'm really going to try to make the effort now because it is just so fun.
Thank you. And I'll be posting some REALLY easy do it yourself Halloween costumes later today.

New Tradition...

I love paper crafts. I love decorating. I love family traditions.
Lets combine them all for an awesome craft! Grab photos of your kiddos from past Halloween nights. Scrap one page (I did 8.5" X 8.5") for each year. Use chip board so the page is super sturdy. Hot glue a ribbon on the back to hang as a part of your Halloween decor.
I'm going to do each of my little ones individually. By the time they are old enough to care about Halloween I'll have loads of "memory frames" to decorate my walls. And because the chip board is so thin it won't take up too much space in storage for next year! I thought of doing this at the beginning of the month and I have been so excited to actually do it... I'm thinking I'll do a family shot also and do something similar with our Christmas card photos! Geeze, I could do a family shot of every holiday and never have to buy new decorations again.
I would love to see how you do this so send me a link!!

Long face...

• "Why the long face Kara-Noel?"

Well, genetics plays a huge roll and I lost my camera. Yep, gone. Where? Who knows!!!

• "It's just a camera KN!"

I don't mind the camera too much it's that thin little memory card I would sell a kidney for... well that is a bit extreme... BUT that card has some important events on it like my kids being cute AND my daughter and godson's dedication!!!!!!! Ug, I'm just sick about it. All I have eaten today is cookie dough! Seriously. That might be the reason for the sick feeling too. I did take a multi vitamin. Pity party of one.
I also promised to share an awesome craft yesterday (it really did turn out awesome... way better than in my head). But I didn't have a camera to take a picture and share with you. Pity party of one.
I also can't really blog without my camera. Though I think I'm hysterical (ha) I know my writing isn't all that fabulous so my pictures pretty much carry the story... though my pictures aren't that great either. Pity party of one.
Good thing I was reading Twilight to pass the time since I can't blog. Too bad Twilight wasn't very good. I think I expected a bit too much out of it because of all the hype. But for me the beginning and end were the only good parts. It was a bit too much Sweet Valley High meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets every vampire movie ever made. Pity party of one.

I am pretty excited about the Eli's Lids Blessed Nest Giveaway!! I can't believe so many people are entering. I love my Lids (I really really do!), but is sure is encouraging to see other people are digging them too.

OH. MY. GOSH.
My best friend Jami just called (no joke, this is a "real time" post) and I left the camera at her house.
I'll put up that great craft later tonight.
I can breath again!!!
I'm so dramatic today. Must be the cookie dough... or the multi vitamin!?!?!

Free Lid for YOU???

The awesome gals at Blessed Nest are hosting an Eli's Lids Givaway!!!
Go to their perch anytime this week, leave a comment and a free Lid of your choice could be on your doorstep in no time.

Cracker...

Do you get those yummy animal crackers from Sam's Club? You know, the ones that aren't that bad for you (unless you melt chocolate chips and dip them in the warm chocolaty goodness). The containers are awesome and I felt horrible throwing them away so I started using them to store small toys (I'm so Green). The actual container is the perfect size but the narrow top can get flustering for little ones (and moms) when they are trying to pull out or put in a toy that just barely fits. I got out my trusty craft supplies and did a little plastic surgery (I think I'm so funny)!!!
You can too...
Cut the top off the bin. I sliced it with an exacto knife then cut it all the way around with my craft scissors. Try to cut it in one fail swoop so you don't have any sharp edges.
You can be done here, or if you think your bin needs a bit of extra cuteness grab your Mod Podgue and cute paper and have some fun!


I had intended to cover the whole bin with paper. But the clear bin is great for spying out it's contents. So instead I opted for covering up the animal cracker logo.
I used paper that would show Eli what goes inside. Footballs for the ball bin and cars for the car-train-anything-with-wheels and tracks bin. You can just to a rectangle cut and stick it on (footballs) or you can layer it up (cars). These bins are awesome for organizing sets with small pieces... polly pocket, blocks, legos, doctor kits, animals...
I had fun doing this, I should have done it with the kids because it is such an easy craft. The bin with the lid would also work great for packaging family or neighbor holiday gifts!!

I have an really amazing Halloween craft coming out Monday. I'm so excited...

Swank party...

What were you doing Wednesday?
Mmmm... playdate... get groceries... spaghetti for dinner...
Me?
Well, Hot Hubby and I drove out to Hollywood saw Jay Leno do an hour of comedy then rocked out to Foreigner then got to dance the night away. I'm not gonna lie... it was pretty fun!!

Going up to the par-tay...

Yes, I am still nursing... I have never met a cupcake I didn't like...

Not one drop of liquor in us... we are naturally silly dancers...

In-N-Out Rumor...

You may have heard a rumor that In-N-Out Burger is going to lower their prices today for their 60th anniversary.

This is NOT true!!!

Someone I know (quite well) and love works for In-N-Out and has confirmed this is just a rumor. But if you don't believe me go to Snopes and read this or go to the In-N-Out website.

So please spread the word.

Another rumor is that if enough people call and go in and ask for the discount, In-N-Out will just give it to them. This is NOT true either!!!

In-N-Out is awesome and their prices are super low everyday so go and get a burger anyway...

ha, that rhymes!!

Rice, hair & givaway...

I was on the Blessed Nest blog and today's post was on hunger. Donna had a link to Free Rice. Free Rice is a site where you answer vocabulary questions and for every question you get correct they donate 20 grains of rice... I thought I would just do a few... 1200 grains of rice later I had to stop because Eli wanted lunch (so demanding...ha). I also learned that...

bonanza = windfall
slapdash = haphazard
flotilla = small fleet

That was so fun!!!

I'm getting my hair done today. I got it colored brown a few months ago and it has faded to a nice shade of orange... must fix that before Hot Hubby's swank work event!!!

Blessed Nest will be hosting an Eli's Lids Giveaway soon, so please stay posted to enter. This is the first one I have done so I'm a bit nervous!!

My Inspiration...

You may or may not know that Eli's Lids is inspired by my son Eli. He is just too funny and is still inspiring me everyday.

Here are some of his antics today...

First, he was eating meatballs and green beans for breakfast (for breakfast! his mom must be crazy!). He started singing "meatballs, meatballs" I thought that was just hysterical and started singing along... then I see what he is doing...

That's right, meatballs in my super cute new shoes. The shoes I got for my hot hubby's swank work party this week. Swank as in drive to LA get new shoes and a new silver dress. That's right silver!!! I think it is a bit much but my hot hubby likes it (wink).

Later, while we were playing he totally ate it and hit his lip. Complete with blood. Which got all over one of my favorite shirts during the snuggle-kisses-get-better-time. It was worth it... I love a good snuggle!!

Later, while I was watching our friend's daughter, Adalee (adorable name, I know!!), he was so generous and gave her his 3 most valuable possessions to play with. What a sweet boy... or maybe he is just trying to impress the ladies!

Later, he was giving me something with an empty hand saying "boog"... yep he was handing me a booger! Which I thought was pretty cool because he didn't wipe it on anything. No picture of the booger, sorry.

Then my inspiration did this...
I heart this kid!

Random baby food tips...

I haven't done a baby food blog in a while but rest assured I'm still making it. I have a few more tips to share in no particular order...

• If the veggies I blend are too thick I used to use good old H2O to thin it down. Recently I had a few cucumbers and I thought "What the Hey? I'm throwing this thing in the blender" (because that is what I always think when I see a cucumber). The result was total watery greeness. Great for thinning down thick veggies and it has a bit more nutritional value than water. Plus I'm all about giving my little gal as many tastes as possible. I have also used grapes but if you do, be sure to fish out any skins that might be floating around!!
  
• If you want to add a bit of healthy fat to make their coats gleam then hard boil some eggs and add the yoke (not the white!) into the blender. (Thanks for that tip Amber)

• We have found that in the blender vs. food processor debate the blender wins hands down. No surprise big chunks of sweet potatoes for baby!

• At your local warehouse store there should be giant bags of frozen veggies. Mine has a 5 pound bag of mixed veggies (corn, carrots, green beans and peas) for only $3.88. That makes a C$#% load of baby food!!! and the pieces are super small for little fingers when they can start to feed themselves.
• FYI - baby food should only be kept in the fridge for about 3-5 days. So only make a bit at a time. I have gotten into such a grove that it doesn't take more that a couple of minutes to whip some up. I use the frozen veggies (mentioned above) so that speeds things up A LOT.
  

No reason for this picture... except that I like it and Eli is in his Lid!

Matching is so in...

I think matching is awesome... and I don't mean cordinating... I mean full on same fabric dresses for the girls and same fabric button down shirts for the boys matching... parents included! I may have been meant to be a mom in 1983... oh well...

When I was preggers with Eli I shared my matching outfit fantasy with my Hot Hubby. He thought it was "lame" and said he would never do it. I countered back that I usually pick out his clothes for big events (don't we all) and he wouldn't even notice (till it was too late) that he was coordinating to a "T" with his son!

Kinda funny now that when my hot hubby is in charge of dressing his son somehow they are wearing the same color shirt.... mmmmm... I say.... you think matching is lame? Ha! You have been caught! He smiles and doesn't say a word... he doesn't have to... he is overflowing with pride for his boy.

Of course he wants that connection with his son. To me matching is like putting your banner over your little one. Saying this one is MINE and I love him. And I love him because he is MINE.

To our perfect (in our eyes) son and daughter, our banner over you is love!! We love you because you are ours.

Anyway, matching totally RULES!!!!!!

Comic pumpkins are cute...

I adore my pumpkins this year. I copied the "BOO" from some fake decoration ones I saw and I got the bat idea from a magazine (black foam paper for the wings, hot glued to a toothpick). But I'm most proud of my comic ones...

...because I thought up the idea myself.

Try it, you will adore yours too!!!