I just love our dog! She likes to play peek-a-boo. But, most of all, she likes to be a lazy girl and sleep (just like me;o)

~K

TV time

Grey's Anatomy. Tonight. Whoo hoo! Enough said.

Rain and Naked Body Butter

It's raining here. The skies are dark grey, it's pouring rain, thundering...I love it. We've needed the rain so badly, so it's welcome. Nothing better to me than waking up and hearing a thunderstorm. DH took all the kids to school and then left for Chicago (just for the day, for work) I'm totally jealous because I ADORE Chicago. In my imaginary life, I live in Chicago. I'm single, 25, and have some fantastic career. Oh, I'm also size 4. *SIGH* So, anyway, back to reality. Here I sit, at home all alone. Drinking coffee. Talking to my dog. Folding laundry. Listening to the rain, and basically not doing much else. It's a good day.

I am loving this new lotion that I got from Sephora.com. It's by Bliss and it's called Naked Body Butter. It's unscented, which is perfect for my sensitive skin. And, it makes my skin feel like silk. I'm afraid I'm going to use up the tube in no time, as I've been sitting here slathering it on all morning. It's a good day.

~K

A fun find

I wanted to share something fun that I just purchased on Etsy. They are called coffee corsets. Made out of fabric and ribbon and cute little button embellishments, you put them around your plastic coffee cup to protect your hand from the heat (in place of that cardboard thing that is usually there). You can carry it around in your purse or in your car and use it over and over. I cannot even tell you how adorable they are! I bought three; one for myself, and this one and this one to give as Christmas gifts. I thought a coffee corset and a Starbucks giftcard would be a nice and easy gift to give to my kiddos' teachers. I'm sure I'll be buying a few more before Christmas. Go check out Jenn's Etsy store. She is super-friendly, ships super-fast, and you will love her coffee corsets!

Dyson Vacuum Giveaway

I have wanted a Dyson vacuum cleaner for a long time. And, now they have this adorable (ok, probably weird that I just called a vacuum cleaner "adorable") pink version to help support breast cancer research. Click here if you would like to enter for a chance to win one. . Hurry. Go now. You know you want to.

Speaking of winning...awhile back I posted about the Ryka shoe giveaway. A delightful gal over at I Should Be Folding Laundry was offering a giveaway. You could also sign up to win from the folks at Ryka (they are giving away 50 pairs of shoes a day thru Oct. 25) Wow. That's alot of shoes. So, today I was going out on the front porch to watch for the school bus, and, there sat a package that FedEx had apparently delivered while I was out shopping this morning. It was a brand new pair of tennis shoes from Ryka. YAH! I was so surprised and excited. Here's the pair I won. They are so nice, I love them. Love them even more because they were free. Go here to register for your chance to win. Good luck!

Swap fun!

Yesterday I received my package for the Vintage Children's Book Swap from my wonderful swap partner, Vallen. I was totally blown away! There's this adorable book bag with several pockets that were just full of books -- Puss in Boots, A Pony for the Winter, In the Forest, Jeremy, Cinderella, Half-as-big and the Tiger, and Gems from Mother Goose. WOW! And, she also sent a cute little stack of old library catalog cards tied in ribbon, two very pretty bookmarks, and a "Read Aloud" rubber stamper. I am totally blown away and appreciate everything! Thanks, Vallen! I love the swap goodies and you are such a dear!

Some well-loved cowboy boots!

My youngest son sure does love his cowboy boots. He's had them forever, it seems, yet he still wears them all the time. They have been left out in the yard, sitting in the rain and the snow. They have been left in the neighbor's yard, only to be tugged around and chewed on by their dog. You just never know where those boots will turn up. I found them this morning tossed onto the front porch. He wears them in the winter. He wears them in the summer. They are definitely tattered and worn, but, still, he loves them!

Halloween Sock Swap

I participated in a "Halloween Sock Swap" over at the Paper Crafts Magazine website. They always have alot of fun and creative swaps going on there, you should check them out sometime. Anyway, back to the sock swap...for this swap, you were matched up with a partner and you were to exchange one package to include: Halloween/fall themed socks and some Halloween/fall scrapbook/papercraft embellishments or supplies. You could also include candy and/or a homemade card if you wanted. This was a quick and inexpensive swap; you were only required to spend around $10. I received my package from my partner, Jessica, today. Fun, fun, fun! I adore the pink and brown socks that she sent. And the scrapbooking goodies are awesome, too. Several rolls of ribbon, chipboard letters, a cute takeout box, and some autumn printed brads that I am totally loving! Thank you, Jessica!! I appreciate it so much! It's funny that we both ended up going with brown & pink for our socks. I guess we were a good match since we had similar tastes. The first two pictures above are my goodies that I received. The second two pictures are the goodies I sent to my swap partner.
~K

P.S. I have been trying to figure out how to posts my pictures here differently. I would like to post them so that I can type text in between each picture...my computer skills are severly limited, but, surely there has to be an easy way to do this. Any tips? Thank you!!

Front door color???

I have been wanting to paint our front door for awhile. Right now it's a dark brown color, which is okay, but, a little plain I think. It just doesn't make the front door stand out and "pop". Here are some pics of our house -- the front door, the brick, the trim and garage. I really love red for a front door, but, I think it would clash with our brick, which is more dark brown-orangey-terracotta-y with dark brown mortar. I also love black for a front door, but, I think that, too, wouldn't really work. Our trim and garage are taupe. I love color but really have trouble figuring out how to use it. I would love suggestions or ideas. Thanks!
~K

Check out this blog giveaway

Run over and meet Jill at Who Could Ask For Anything More. She has a wonderful blog and is offering an awesome book bag giveaway. Check out her blog and leave her a comment for a chance to win. The winner receives a biography/autobiography of their choice plus a fantastic bucket tote from Vera Bradley!

~K

Shoe Giveaway!

Would you like a chance to win a free pair of EasySpirit shoes?...of course you would! Head over to Everyday Mommy's blog and enter her giveaway. You could win a lovely pair of their Wedge Clogs, perfect for fall. She has a great blog, too, so check it out.
~K

Mom's day out

Recently DH and I were having some issues. I find it difficult to not be bitter over the fact that he can more easily go out for "fun" time on his own than I can. Don't get me wrong, DH works his butt off and he works a lot. So, it's not like he's out roaming around playing all the time. But, if he wants to get together for a card game with the guys one night, he can usually just pick up and do that. If I want to go out for a dinner or something with the girls, it takes much more planning....who's going to check over all the kid's homework, who's going to make sure there's clean clothes for school the next morning, who's going to clean up the kitchen, who's going to give Zachary his medicine..etc. DH is perfectly capable of doing all this, and he does totally help out with every aspect of our life. But, I think I just find it hard to give up that control over those kind of things. So, anyway, back to our issues. I voiced my complaints that I never seem to do anything on my own just for me. Sure, the kids are at school during the day, and I'm alone then, but, I'm always cleaning or doing laundry or grocery shopping or something related to keeping house. DH and I decided that we should plan ahead so that I can take one or two days every month to go out by myself and do whatever I want. Today was my first day. I had been invited to a baby shower for a cousin that I do not get to see very often. Normally, I would take at least one or two of my kiddos with me, but today I went solo. I got myself ready and just left. No picking out clothes for the kids to wear or reminding them to brush their teeth or figuring out what they could fix for lunch...nothing. I left DH in charge of EVERYTHING for the day. It felt pretty good. I loved seeing so many of my relatives, it had been way too long. But, now that I'm back home, I see all the laundry that needs to be done and keep thinking about the bathroom that needs to be scrubbed. Being a SAHM shouldn't mean I never have a break, right? Why do I feel guilty when I do things without my family? Do any of you have this problem? How do you convince yourself that you deserve to get that time to yourself? I would love to hear your thoughts.....
~K

Movie trailers

If you don't know this about me yet, let me tell you...I LOVE watching movies! All types of movies. Romance, dramas, tear-jerkers, war movies, comedies...I guess it's a good way to "escape" for just a little bit. You can watch movie trailers at Apple.com. I was just checking out a few of them myself and thought I would share. A movie called Mr. Majorium's Wonder Emporium will be out around Thanksgiving. It stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman (love her!) and Jason Bateman (I always liked him too -- what was the tv show he was in way back in the day? Sandy Duncan played his aunt? I can't believe I cannot remember the name, I watched it all the time??). Anyway, it looks fun. Maybe I'll try and take the kids to see it over Thanksgiving break. But, I totally cracked up at these two, you've got to go watch these trailers if you need a laugh. Seriously, I was laughing out loud. Dan in Real Life (starring Steve Carell)and Lars and the Real Girl (starring Ryan Gosling). That's all for now. I really need to get in bed. Goodnight!
~K

Emma update

I told you the other day about how our dog, Emma, was acting a little freaky after playing with the "laser light". Well, I'm happy to report she seems to be herself again. We've kept the laser out of her sight for a couple days and hopefully she has forgotten all about it. Here's a couple pictures of her chilling out with her favorite stuffed toy, "Baby". She literally cuddles up and sleeps with Baby all the time, it's pretty darn cute!

Autumn inspiration and my dog has lost it!

I love autumn! I've just been looking around online trying to get some inspiration for autumn/Halloweeen decorating. Here's a couple things I've found so far that really strike my fancy:

These glitter pumpkins look so pretty and very easy to make; found them at MarthaStewart.com

This Autumn in the Country Cookbook from Gooseberry Patch looks great! This site has tons of fun items, check it out.

I want to pick up some Halloween pillows for my black bench that's in our foyer. This cute pumpkin pillow is for sale on etsy. And, how cute is this one, also for sale on etsy.

Fun, fun, fun....I can't wait for Halloween. Now, onto another topic -- our dog. I think she's really lost it;o) Let me explain. Last weekend, the kids and I went to a flea market. My 14 yr. old son bought one of those laser pointer light thingys...you know what I'm talking about? You point it and it shines a little red light. Anyway, he thought this would be a fun little gadget and it was only 1.25 so he bought it. On the package it says "pets love to play with the laser light" so when we came home, he tried it out on Emma, our aierdale terrier. He shined the light on the floor and started moving it around...she immediately spotted it and started chasing the light. Well, we all got a big kick out of this. She is a big dog but she was moving so fast, back and forth, chasing the light. Up the wall. Over the furniture. Wherever he pointed it, she was after it. So, for the past 3 days, he's been pointing the light around for Emma to "play" with. But, last night, I guess DS finally grew tired of their game and he put the light away for awhile. Poor Emma! She literally walked around the house looking all over the place for it. She doesn't spend alot of time in the boy's bedroom, but, that's where they last played with the light. She was pacing around in there last night, just staring at the floor. That really kinda freaked us out, because, she was obviously searching so hard. After the kids went to sleep last night, I stayed up to finish a book I was reading. Around midnight, I heard Emma rustling around (she is normally fast asleep by then) and I went into the boy's room and found her there in the dark staring at the floor. Have we permanently scarred her? I mean seriously, I think she is addicted or obsessed or something. Maybe I should go back and read the laser light package, maybe there's some kind of warning on there or something. Hmmm...we'll see how she does today. Hopefully she will forget about it.

~K

A fun blog and another great giveaway!

I am amazed daily at all the inspiring and creative blogs I read. So many talented, kind, funny ladies out there...sharing their thoughts, pictures, crafts, etc.

Here is one of those wonderful blogs that I would like to share with you -- It's called Fresh Vintage . I love to see the photos of all her great vintage/thrifty finds. And, you have to read her vintage hooker story, it will make you laugh;o) Right now, she is offering a fabulous giveaway! Go check out her blog and find out all the details!

Check out this great giveaway!

I wanted to let you know about a fun blog that I enjoy reading. It's called I Should Be Folding Laundry (now how many times have you heard yourself saying that;o) Run over and check it out; she's offering a fantastic giveaway that you don't want to miss. The giveaway is for a pair of Ryka shoes (winner gets to choose ANY pair from the Ryka website). Leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win, here's the link

Good luck!

~K