Winter Weekend

OK, so maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but it was cold this weekend and I didn't like it. I'm not ready for winter. I'll never be ready really, but it's way too early to be thinking about pulling out the coat (which I refuse to do until I absolutely have to.)

Due to the inclement weather and 3 1/2 of the family members being sick (the half being me since I'm fighting it and haven't really come down with a full blown cold) we took a weekend to relax and really do nothing. This hasn't happened since before Maddi was born so it was really quite nice!

We played in the tent on Sunday. I tried to teach Owen to play Go Fish but wasn't real successful. We'll keep working on it:)

Owen also got a kick out of playing with sissy's bumbo. He is such a ham. And before any of you criticize him not being in clothes (Dad...), he took them off himself and quite frankly he's old enough to determine when he's cold or not. He had on fleece footy pjs and said he was roasting. Who am I to judge?

Maddi and Daddy also got in on the silly action.

Brett and I are trying to have "Date Night" on Saturday nights based on Project 52: Date Nights from simplymodernmom.com. The basic premise is great. You set aside some time each week (there is even a contract to fill out) for you and your spouse to spend time together. The goal is to find something that a) does not require you to leave the house and b) costs relatively little or no money. I love this idea because it encourages us to put some excitement into our relationship without having to pay a babysitter.

Here is our pledge (not totally finalized but you get the idea)
This weekend was our third attempt and the first successful one!
Try #1: Watching our wedding video. I began my stomach flu half way through watching which abruptly ended the evening.
Try #2: Watching our wedding video take 2. Unfortunately, due to our crazy schedules and being sick for weeks, I went to bed at 9pm (on a Saturday, I know.)
Try #3: Smores!!! Saw a recipe for making these on the grill and thought, hey, we can do that in the toaster oven. I LOVE smores so I was super excited for this date night. And determined to make it work.

The Goods

Marshmallow attempt #1 (my way)Marshmallow attempt #2 (Brett's way, much better)

Getting Ready with the chocolate!

Oh, it's gonna be good...

Finished Product. YUMMY!

What a fun project together. And now I'm hooked on them.

Another weekend project was creating Owen's birthday invitation. I haven't done a lot (or really anything) in photoshop yet so it took a little while but I think it turned out really cute!!!! His party is Dinosaur themed with the Dinosaur Train family (his favorite show) making a spotlight appearance.
Hoping for better weather next weekend so we can go apple picking.

Cute Kiddos

When I actually take time to breath and step back, I realize how truly blessed I am. A good job, food on the table, a nice place to live and a wonderful family.

And our kids are so darn cute. I dressed Maddi up in this outfit courtesy of Papo and Nonna Barbara and it was too cute. They also got Owen a Thomas t-shirt that he loved.
(note, I was hoping for full body shots of both of them, but I guess that's what I get for asking Brett to take the shot while I was frantically getting ready for work. Love you honey, but we need to work on your documentation skills...)

Maddi just thinks Owen is hysterical and he eats it up of course.

Maddi is starting to try and blow raspberries which is so cute.

More Florida Pics

More pictures from Floriday arrived:)

Cutie boy in the sand

Maddi and her beautiful quilt made by Nonna Barbara (with help from Papo)

Maddi and Papo

Maddi talking


Swimming Pool Shots

Cutie Maddi

Owen and I holding a snake at the alligator farm!

I survived...

Well, I survived Brett being out of town this past Wednesday-Saturday. And am proud of myself actually!!! All went well, nobody killed each other (read, Owen and I,) made it to work on time both days, successfully bathed both children at the same time, ran errands and managed to keep everyone fed all with relatively low stress may I add. Success!!!!

It probably helped that Friday night I was away for the Craft Social. Thanks to Ryan (Owen's Godfather) and Mary for babysitting:) And thanks to Kristin for joining me! We had so much fun.

For $25 you got to make 2 things and there 15 projects to choose from. Our goal was to learn some new techniques. We chose glass etching and silk screening.

At the glass etching station we were able to make 1 to 2 votives. One way was to have the majority of the glass be etched and the other was to have only the design be etched.

First we chose a template.
One of Kristin's votives had a "t" with stripes. For this one, she wanted the majority of the glass to be etched so she cut her design out of contact paper (use scissors or an exacto knife) and applied it directly to the glass. Make sure you run your finger over the edges of everything to ensure the design is firmly next to the glass. Otherwise the cream could leak under the contact paper and ruin what you've created.
For my mostly etched votive, I chose to place butterflies on the glass with little dots in between. For the versions where only the design was etched, you need to take a strip of contact paper long enough to wrap around the glass. You then cut out your design. My advice for anything circular would be to use a punch. And you want to make sure your knife is sharp because it can be a little tricky for more detailed design.

After this step, we painted on the etching material. It was really easy. But, you do need to wear gloves and be careful because it contains acid. I got a little bit on my fingers and it stung for about 30 seconds but luckily didn't do any damage. You want to be very generous with the cream to ensure all of the sections are etched.
You let the etching cream dry for 5-10 minutes.

Here are the finished products. They turned out great!!!! Our second set turned out really cute as well.

The next project was silk screening. At first we weren't going to do this one, because neither of us was going to invest in silk screening equipment. But, this product they were demoing means you don't have to buy any equipment! It's called Simply Screen by Plaid.

Basically it's a stencil with the screen built on and they give you a squeegee type thing to pull the paint with. It is awesome. I can't wait to sit down and think about what to make and then start putting together some Christmas gifts. Super easy and they have all kinds of foils, embellishments, etc. to really personalize anything you create.

Here is what the kit looks like. I chose a fish design and Kristin chose a chandelier.

One you take the screen stencil out of the package here is what it looks like. you can't really tell from the picture, but the white part actually has a thin screen over it. You simply press the sticky side of the stencil down to the material. At home I would probably use tape to ensure it's really stuck down, but it's not necessary. Once the stencil is in place, you put your lightest "base" color down on the top of the stencil. Then, using your squeegee, you evenly (but not too hard) press down and pull the paint towards yourself. The best part is that you can actually use different colors. Here, I layered on darker colors for the water and flower parts of the pattern. After that you simply lift up the stencil.Viola! Unfortunately all they had left was bar towels for material and they don't work as well as a flat material, but it still turned out pretty good and now I know how to do it. They say the stencil can be used up to 20 times, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort to clean it since the product doesn't cost that much. I guess it just depends on whether or not you want to reuse the design.

Here is Kristin's design ready to go. And here is the finished product. Fabulous! She added some silver on top of the turquoise which really gave the design some dimension. And here is an example of a design on a t-shirt material. You can see that it's much crisper.Can't wait for the next social. I'll definitely go back!

On Sunday my Mom and I had a wedding shower to attend. Her best friend's son is getting married here in Chicago on November 20th. It is all bittersweet because her husband died just a few months ago after battling cancer for 17 years. He was a wonderful man and will be deeply missed.

The event was beautiful and was like a small wedding. 75 women and Mark (the groom) in a ballroom. He's marrying into a Greek family so I guess everything is bigger:) His future family is lovely and the food was wonderful.

Tina's squared (both my Mom and her best friend are both Tina!)

Katie (Mark's sister), Me, my Mom and Tina

Asli (Mark's sister-in-law) and Katie

It was nice to see everyone and spend some time with my mom.

A good weekend overall.

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we went back to the lake in NJ for our good friend Allison's wedding.

The day was absolutely spectacular for an outside ceremony.

Allison and her Dad walking down the aisle

Allison and Joe (Utah)Exchanging vowsExchanging ringsYou may kiss the brideThe happy coupleCute shot of me and my honey

The reception was at the same place inside and was really pretty.

Announcing of the new couple

Robin's speech

First dance

Allison and her DadCutting the cake

Tossing the bouquet

"People at the party" as my mom likes to say.

Pat, Dale and friends

Steven and SarahRobin and Rob

Pat and Dale again

Mike and Kristen

Mallory and Erin

Lindsay and Joey

Jen, Katia and Grace

Ed and Amanda

Cindy and Mike

Brian and Sarah

Brad and Kerri

Dance Party USA!Lots of fun was had by all.

Here is our sweet little Maddi in the top Aunt Carol knitted for her. Adorable! Owen stayed with my Mom all weekend and was so happy to see Maddi when we got home. First thing he said when he saw us was "Where's Maddi?" Too cute.
Thanks Mom for babysitting Owen!

One a side note: I couldn't believe how easy it seemed taking care of Maddi a) since it was only 1 kid and b) it's not our first baby. Crazy.