So This Happened Today...

I was standing outside the classroom door, waiting for my reading class to come in.

A fourth grade student walks by on the way to her reading class and we have this brief, but meaningful conversation.

Student:  What did you do to your hair?

Me: Um, I don't know, something different I guess?

Student: Oh....well, it looked pretty yesterday!  

Yesterday.  As in not today.

If I had any question at all about how my hair looked, I realized it was pretty much answered right then and there at 8:02 am.

Also pretty sure that early morning text requesting me to sub didn't leave me quite enough time to beautify.

So, yeah!

How was your hair today?!  Or yesterday, if that helps?!

:)

Autumn Celebration!

This morning for breakfast I had a pumpkin bagel topped with pumpkin spice cream cheese, along with a steaming mug of pumpkin spice chai tea flavored with pumpkin spice creamer.  All to the scent of an autumn candle.

It was bliss.

My husband asked me how on earth I was not on pumpkin overload.

I do not know of what he speaks.

I've told you before, my love for autumn runs deep!

And I happen to have a few friends who share my obsession appreciation for this blissful season and all things pumpkin.

So last Friday evening, I invited those pumpkin lovers over for a cozy night in celebrating all things autumn!  It was a joy to have these sweet, fun women around my table, celebrating the season we love!

I asked everyone to bring a favorite fall dish to share.  I made my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (a recipe I have literally been making since high school), sweet and savory meatballs, and a steaming pot of hot apple cider.  With what everyone brought we also had yummy soup, several delicious dips, pumpkin pudding and pumpkin cobbler!  

When I couldn't find mulling spices for the cider, I improvised and it turned out so well that I wanted to share it with you!  I used a quart of sweet cider, about 2/3 of a large can of pineapple juice, 4 cinnamon sticks, 8 whole cloves, some ground cinnamon, and 4 packs of this Alpine Spiced Apple Cider mix - boiled everything together, then let it simmer in the crockpot all day. Needless to say the house smelled amazing ~ if you are ever in a pinch and can't find mulling spices, try this!

After we ate and visited, we did some fall crafting!

These straw wreaths are under $4.00 at hobby Lobby, and the ribbon and picks were 50% off  ~ a very economical project!

Even Madi made a little craft!

My sweet friend Jennifer brought me this adorable candle as a hostess gift and it smells sooo good!  Madi had two of her little friends over for the evening, and she got a hostess gift as well - an adorable Halloween bow!  So thoughtful!

We had so much fun we want to do it again at Christmastime! What a treat to celebrate the seasons with friends who enjoy them with you!

Lots of Happy

Oh my goodness.  It is a good thing I had not put on any eye makeup before picking up Trevor from his last day of Pre-K on Thursday.  I walked into his classroom to find his two sweet teachers bawling their eyes out as they started saying their goodbyes. Which meant that all of us moms responded appropriately and started bawling our eyes out too!

It was an emotional thank you and farewell.

On our way to the van, Trevor was asking me why everyone was so sad.  I explained to him that it was because his teachers loved the students so much, and we loved them so much, and it has been such a great school year.  Trevor, always Mr. Positive, responded in his typical upbeat manner.  He kept making all sorts of "The good thing is" statements.


"The good thing is we can have a playdate with them this summer."
(He has already invited half the school staff and their families over for playdates.)


"The good thing is they will still get to see me next year."  
(Not one to lack confidence, that is for sure.)

And then he made this statement that is certain to be one to make me smile for years to come.


"The good thing is now I get to have lots of happy with you."

I know he has had lots of happy with his teachers this year.

And I recall lots of happy in summers past.

So to put things Trev's way, I'm looking forward to lots more happy as sweet summertime rolls in!

May The Fourth (And Fifth)

I woke up yesterday to find all sorts of "May The Fourth Be With You" wishes on facebook statuses, which made me smile.  I explained that one to Trev as we had lunch at school with Madi.  We surprised her, which was fun!

I had no idea there was a Star Wars Day.  But I looked it up on Wikipedia (and then stumbled upon "Wookieepedia," haha!) so it must be legit.  :)

But honestly, every day is Star Wars Day around this house!  Which is so funny to me.  I had no idea the intergalactic world I would enter when I had a little boy - not to mention I was unaware my house would one day be completely taken over by Legos!

 So in my world May the Fourth was like any other day.  My little fellow snuggled up next to me on the green chair after Pre-K and we sat cheek to cheek, going through a 400 page Star Wars activity book answering questions.  For the record, I have learned a lot in the past year - I did better on these than I thought!  (And it really helped when I realized the answers were upside down in the bottom corner of the page.)

And speaking of his sweet cheeks, they smelled extra good because Trev has a new thing going on...wearing cologne. It is precious.  Oh my goodness.  He often asked to put on Daddy's cologne, so Jimmy gave him an extra miniature bottle he had.  Every day, on his own, Trev uses two sprays - one on his neck, and one on his arm so he can smell it.  Absolutely adorable!  He always comes to me after he puts it on so I can get a whiff, and I make a super big deal about it which makes him feel and look really proud.  It is so cute I can hardly stand it!

Last night we had a joint Sunday School class party.  In general, one class is quite a bit older than the other (for example my mom is in one, I'm in the other), and we went head to head playing Minute To Win It Games.  It was hysterical!  Our teams - which ended up being The Young and The Restless vs. The Bold and the Beautiful - faced off in funny game after game, many the type Jimmy uses in youth group.  The whole night was filled with laughter, and it felt good to laugh like that!  A highlight of the night was when my dad (the senior pastor) had to put panty hose that housed a softball in one leg on his head and use the contraption to knock down 4 cones and 4 batons.  A girl on our team had already mastered the challenge in one minute and he said he couldn't be beat by a woman (haha) - therefore, the pantyhose went on his head and the game was on. He too completed the challenge in less than 60 seconds and we all cracked up!  Fun, fun night.  Our team lost by half of a point, and I think everyone is up for a rematch and another great time!

Today has been pretty low key.  A piano lesson, a bike ride, a birthday party, leftovers for lunch, a quick, thrown together Mexican meal at home for dinner.  Reading, napping, Wii, Netflix in between. The kids helped each other straighten up their rooms (sweet) and are tucked in bed.  Tomorrow Jimmy and I have a big youth activity to head up after church.  It's going to be some great fun in the sun after worship!  Praying for an awesome day!!