Five Favorites - Prodigal Son Style

Linking up with Hallie at Moxie Wife.

So I've returned... (pretend you noticed my absence?)

Five Favorites from the last several months

1.  The AMAZING "Say goodbye to my Roaring Twenties" 30th surprise murder mystery party my sister, husband, and mom threw me.  It was ridiculous.  And my friends and family have never looked so glamorous.  I thought I was going to country club themed dinner, and instead, I was blown away with one stellar night.  If I could bottle the feeling of gratitude, I would share it with all!

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Dapper Easter boys.

Dom, Wilson, Sol

3.  Lindsey's Oscar Party.  It is actually an annual highlight, always a spectacular night out.

   

4.  My baby brother Fred is going to the seminary!  So incredibly proud of him as if I'm somehow responsible.  I'm not.  Still proud.

5.  Wilson turned one!

That's all folks!  

Go see some other favorites!

Sunday Best

Linking up with Plane Pretty and Fine Linen and Purple.

Every Fall, I struggle with my wardrobe, I just don't know what to wear to be warm enough, and layer well, and which shoes.....I need to check the link-ups and get inspired.  Here's what I wore today.

boots:  Target, dress: hand-me-down, jacket worn every day almost: Old Navy, bracelet and necklace: gifts

My friend, Rachel, took gorgeous pictures of Wilson for his 9 month mark.  Here are my favorites.

Halloween! Seven Quick Takes

Linking up with Jennifer at Conversion Diary.

I love Halloween.  So anyways, I want to rehash costumes we have done over the years, because we have been getting our theme on.

1.  Halloween 2010:  Monster's Inc.  

I made Dom's outfit, bought Sol's on ebay, and Gretchen made Francesca's.  

2.  Halloween 2011:  Toy Story.  I made the Woody and Buzz outfits.  Gretchen made Francesca's.  The Bo Peep outfit was probably made by my grandma when my sister was little. 

3.  Halloween 2012:  Beauty and the Beast.  I made the Beast and Candlestick outfits.  Gretchen made the Belle and Chip.  

4.  Halloween 2013:  Peter Pan.  I made the Peter Pan, Captain Hook(out of a women's DAV jacket), baby pirate, and Wendy costume.  Gretchen did most of the work on the Tinkerbell costume, which was an upgrade from a dress up I made her at Christmas.

complete with mustache and "mom" tat.

My dad had a few helpers to hand out candy.  The neighborhood I grew up in goes crazy all out for Halloween and attracts a bunch of traffic from around the city on Halloween night. 

The boys with their adorable friends checking out the candy stash.
 These girls went as "St. Michael" unlike my unholy Disney pagans here.
I bet they just wanted to rock wings and a shield - who wouldn't?

5.  I didn't dress up for the night, but I did sport a Cat-Woman(one word?) outfit at a party last week.  I just wanted to re-wear an oldie since I had no interest in making a new costume for myself.

6.  My brother-in-law and sister wore awesome costumes to the party last week - she utilized the pregnant belly well.

  

7.  This isn't Halloween related, but my brother (who is seventeen but I still think of as a baby) was on Homecoming Court at his high school.  Here are some photos from the pep rally and game.  They also did a cute themed dance.  

siblings

Godfather bonding time.

Here's the cute dance they did too!

Five Favorites

Linking up with Grace on behalf of Hallie.

1.  This book.  We've made one every year for 4 years or so, including an animal themed one for this year, but seriously, this is my favorite.  I love to look at it over and over again.  A couple of my favorite pages below, but they do not do the whole book justice.

2.  Wilson's new trick.  He flies toy planes with sound effects.  Thank you hours of practice watching Dominic fly them around the house.

3.  Project Runway.  I'm really loving watching this season on Hulu.  I love Kate and Helen, with the super feminine looks they are turning out.  But Dom has some of my favorite looks this season for sure.

4.  NOLA(Night of the Living Art) is getting going for November 2014.  I just met with my co-chair today to start picking the next collection.  Bring it on!

5.  My coworker's reaction to a fairly typical kid issue:  At work yesterday, I had a little boy in my reading group do a sort of a 'no big deal but kind of have to pretend it is' thing of making his hand into a gun and pretending to shoot a classmate.  So, as he returned to his class, he had to tell the teacher what he had done.
Boy:  . . . excuse . . . blah blah . . . so I shooted him.
Teacher:  with what?
Boy:  (meekly makes a gun with his finger)
Teacher:  (so over the top, gasps)  Uuuaaaagh! (she grabs his fingers to hide the abomination that they reveal)
I had to leave her quickly to keep from laughing.  She is too funny and so great with little boys.

Sunday Best and Goals Revisited

Linking up with Fine Linen and Purple(What I Wore Sunday) and Plane Pretty.

Dress:  Francesca's Collection- $44  Shoes:  Target-$25
Finding out I am coordinating with my niece:  Priceless

*Update: and here we are!

Time to revisit my goals.

Goal #1:  My closet.  It is still in pretty good shape, I have kept up on the ironing and washing, but I have a couple baskets to fold and put away today.  I also need to put my shoes back in neatly.  

Goal #2:  Be on time.  Ummmmm, no.  But I have been on time to work and Sol has been on time to school and we all have been on time to church for almost every Sunday.  I did lapse last week and came in football holding Wilson with diaper bag dangling and 2 sons dragging right behind.  I disdain Sundays without the husband- still, no excuse.  

Goal #3:  Organize the boys' desk.  After a little time shopping around, I decided I wanted something custom.  My brother-in-law dropped off this little beauty.  It needs finished or painted.  I think I will do 

chevron in dark teal and maybe highlight in light gray?  Masculine without being ugly?  

Goal #4:  Less time online.  Yes, then no, but now yes!  

This week, I set concrete limits and am sticking to them.  

They are:  

Check email 5 times a day, no more.  (It beats my 19 times a day from before!)

No Facebook, articles, or blogs until after the boys are in bed- my surfing past bedtime cannot exceed 1 hour.  

I can get online with a specific purpose (eg: find a recipe, look up directions, send an email. . .) but not to surf.  

I can get online to watch a show on Hulu, IF it does not inhibit my productivity- so, I have to save it for laundry time.  

I also allowed myself a little dispensation to post today (with no real reason, I just really wanted to).  

I will go back to my regular schedule once posted.  So, yes, because I have really stuck with this this week and I have done several things around here that needed done thanks to purpose-driven internet only.  Most nights, I didn't even use my hour at the end of the day- I just did other things or went to bed earlier.

NEW GOAL TIME!

Goal #5:  Run 5 times a week or more.  I'm not designating an amount of time or distance, I'm just making myself get out and get active.  I ran yesterday and determined 2 things:  I am out of shape.  I need to stretch more to keep my ankle from cramping.  

I am NOT a runner but need to do something along the lines of fitness.  I want to run in a 5K at my church next month, which is pretty ambitious considering I get a little winded jogging about 200 meters down the street.  I hope to go today after the sun sets.  It is blazing hot out there now!