...Another Lovely Fall Dessert!

Ingredients: 

Spice Cake Mix & whatever you need to make it
Crystallized Ginger (I used Ginger People's crystallized ginger chips) 
Left-over Coffee or Water 
Powdered Sugar

1. Simply make a bundt spice cake using your favorite recipe (or from a box mix)! Let cool!

2. Mix small amounts (about 1 tablespoon at a time) of coffee or water with about 1/4 cup powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency for a glaze.  

3. Drizzle glaze over cake...sprinkle with ginger chips & enjoy with your favorite fall drink!

...Christmas in OCTOBER!

It's October and signs of fall are everywhere...but in the back of my mind I cannot help but think about Christmas! I'm planning, thinking about what traditions we'll do this year and getting ready to make some homemade gifts.  My first goal is to make my Christmas List {I'm making a list and checking it twice}!   

If you're crazy like me...here are a few things to start thinking about to save you some time & money this coming holiday season. If you are normal just move on and in several weeks check out the video below (its DIVINE)!

Christmas Your Way eBook (free printables from Life Your Way)

Christmas Planner Page (free printables from Life Your Way)

 

101 Deals of Christmas(sign up to receive daily deals in your inbox)

A few stores participating in Lay-Away Programs: 
Sears

Kmart

(p.s. This is a little video that i saw for the first time on Rachel's blog...she's one of the gal's who organized blog sugar and she loves Christmas too...i loved it so much that i just had to share...enjoy)

....favoriteTHINGS Friday {HALLOWEEN}!

We are talking about Halloween daily around here and it has been fun planning costumes!  I used to love dressing up and now I enjoy getting the kids into it!  We have a few costumes in mind for each kid this year but most of the talk involves thoughts of trick or treating & candy from Paige! If you are stumped for Halloween ideas check out Real Simple for some great ideas for Halloween (costumes, decor & more)! And of course there is always Pinterest!  Happy planning (and pinning)!

 Dora & Boots (2009)

One of Peter Pan's Lost Boys (2010)

...pumpkin patch & preschool fun!

We LOVE the pumpkin patch & had the best time hanging out with Paige's preschool class last week (even though it is still way too hot here and did not feel like fall)!

...fun fall tradition...

For the past several years I have been carrying out a fun fall tradition of making a comfort meal and decorating for fall on one of the first cool evenings of the season.  

We did this a few weeks ago!  I would have done it on the first day of fall, but it was way too hot.  For dinner I made roasted chicken, roasted fall veggies, stuffing and that sort of thing!  For the table decor I used a white cloth I had lying around, some sheet music for place mats, candles, pumpkins and some miss-matched crystal.  I don't iron the linens or fuss over it...and Paige loves helping me set the table and make it pretty...even if it is simple! Then we put a few of our fall decorations out around the rest of the house and we are officially ready to celebrate my favorite season!

 

 What are some of your fall traditions?

...favoriteTHINGS Friday {HYDRANGEA}!

I just love these flowers...

thought I'd share a photo from my mom's yard

 the last bloom in September

...beautiful!

...favoriteTHINGS Friday {FALL}

We love Fall

...the colors...

...the flowers & smells...

...blankets & sweaters & boots...

...rain & leaves & pumpkins...

the list goes on and on and on!

...September's greenVALENTINE challenge!

Do you know about VAMPIRE ENERGY?  

This has nothing to do with Twilight or Halloween (I couldn't resist referencing these)...but energy that we use everyday without thinking about it and sometimes even knowing about it. Many of our everyday appliances are using energy 24/7.  Check it out below; if his chart is hard to read please click HERE!

 

source: http://awesome.good.is/transparency/008/trans008vampireenergy.html

Some household items can be plugged into power strips and turned off whenever they are not in use and others are just good to think about unplugging when you go out of town (even for a few days).  We've seen our energy bills go down by just being a little bit more mindful of what's plugged in.

So try to unplug more and hopefully you will reduce energy and save some money too! Woohoo!

P.S. If you want to read more...check out this article as well at life hacker!

...last weekend...

Thanks to my sister & parents we got to get away without kids last weekend...so fun!  Aaron and I stayed in an amazing hotel in Huntington Beach (right on PCH) where we relaxed, ate great food, went to the beach and basically got to talk (for the first time in a long time) without little voices interrupting!  We had fun together and laughed and remembered why we decided to get married in the first place nine short years ago.  It was amazing!

 The weekend ended with Blog Sugar (also amazing).  I am looking forward to taking what I learned there and using it to make this a blog for good, for inspiration and for fun! We'll see what that means...but for now I'm just feeling blessed!

...more than a spoonful of SUGAR!

So this weekend I had a romantic getaway with my husband and got to attend a really fun conference for bloggers called Blog Sugar! Wooo hooo!  They were both fun and much needed! 

More pics to follow...but for now I have to gush a little!

Blog Sugar was great...I learned a ton, got inspired and met some great people.  The food was amazing, the speakers were adorable & inspiring and the decor was divine!  

I cannot say enough good things about it. Thanks to all the people who helped make it happen...I know how much work goes into those things and it did not go unnoticed!  I even got to hang out with my friend Cherish {I didn't realize she was attending when I signed up}! I don't live near her anymore and miss her!  It was a great treat to catch up and meet all of her "blog friends" {she's way pop}!

The past few weeks have shown me that...

...it's fun to be FOUR!

 ...small birthday party at home...

...preschool girl again...

...celebrating the big 4 with her class that week...

 

...sunflower girl...

I'm pretty sure Paige would tell you that it sure is fun to be FOUR...but pretty exhausting too!