Halloween Decor Ideas

OK I promised you all that I would have this post up by LAST Friday, but as you can well see; that just did not happen.

These are the final 4 (probably... wink, wink) Halloween projects I am going to do this year.

I actually thought I was already done, but I have seen so many cute ideas while browsing some of my favorite blogs, that I just had to do a few more. I just couldn't help myself, lol.

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We are all about Harry Potter at our house these days.  Ty is so into these books. We just started book #4 last week.  We read a chapter each night before we go to bed.  Its a wonderful way to wind down for bed.

Anyway, I want to thank Heather @ diykindagirl for sharing this idea. 

It's amazingly simple, but so cute, and so much fun.  Ty was ecstatic when he came home and saw this mixed into our Jack-o-Lantern patch!

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I just had to create this white pumpkin with spider that I spied over at Country Living.

I actually made this pumpkin following the directions on Country Living website, but I didn't think it look right.  So I painted over it, flipped the pumpkin over (so the stem is propping it up) and redrew the lines.  This time I made the individual curves between each vertical line, rather than spiraling it out.  To each their own I guess.

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My favorite of these four projects are definitely these Pumpkin Bats.  They are just so stinking cute. I stumbled onto this creepily cute idea while thumbing through my mom's Family Fun mag. You can get directions and templates for the eyes, ears and wings from their website.



My favorite helper. I had to get creative and use some
blue wire for the support on the wing. Ty is painting them black.


I used cheap plastic pumpkins from the dollar store, so we could run invisible fishing line through the tops of them and hang them from the pecan tree in the front yard. I also used the eye templates as a pattern, and painted them on instead of cutting them out of foam.  (I didn't have any white foam handy and I did have some white craft paint.)

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Last, but definitely not least:


OK it doesn't really count as a project but it is colorfully relevant.

Your just not fully decorated for the holidays until your toes match the season. ;)


It's another activity packed weekend for us, so I'll be back early next week. Hopefully with some new ideas to share.

Have a Great One!

New Logo!

Check out this New Logo I just created using LogoEase.  It's a free logo design software.  It was easy, fast and best of all free!

For now I'm going to be using with google and my new fb page.  

If you need to a logo for any of your projects, you should check them out.  LogoEase

Big Big Thanks!

When I first started this blog in February I said that I wasn't really sure what direction I wanted to go with it. I only knew that I wanted to start a blog.  I wanted to connect with people who have similiar thoughts, likes and dislikes. 

So, after the overwhelming number of views the 'Jesus Loves You' Jack-o-Lantern has and continues to recieve, I'm thinking maybe I should start posting more of my projects. 

I'm usually doing this stuff anyway, so I might as well share these things with others.

Don't worry, I still plan to write my mommy thoughts about parenting, life and everything in between. (I'm sure you all were panicked about that. I could feel the fear.)  I just feel compelled to add this dimension to my blog. I feel like I have alot to share in this area. (Things to share that people might actually enjoy.  haha)


So a BIG BIG Thank You to everyone who has stopped by to view my pumpkin. I hope you keep returning to see more of what is being created.

I'm currently working on four different projects, and I just finished two others last night.  I hope to have a couple more completed by the weekend to share with you.


~Lynn

Some Days I Just Think I'm Crazy

Am I the only person or does this happen to other bloggers?

So many of my blogs START out with a certain purpose, idea, or story but they END up completely different. I know my mind wanders but some days I find it nearly impossible to keep on track.

For instance, the other day I wrote the blog Just Another Soccer Mom.  Now when I started that post the story I had intended to share was how ironic I found my position.  (That position having been on the sidelines of a soccer game.)

I was going to share with you the story from several years ago about teasing my dear friend Stacy over a bracelet and being a soccer mom.  How I was so baffled by her utter pride to hold such a title.

Then somewhere, about the 3rd or 4th sentence I hung a right and ended up spewing my issues all over you. 

I'm not really sure how this happens.  I'm even more unsure of how to prevent it.  Sometimes I just wish I could type fast enough to write the monologue that runs through my head.  Now THAT, would make for some interesting reading.

It's such a shame.  It was actually a cute story.

Sorry you missed it. Better luck next time.

Bad Hair Day

Pic courtesy of JoePix

THE BAD NEWS

My CHI (hair straightener) died yesterday morning.  Halfway through my morning routine!

Well, my Sunday morning routine anyway.  (I just let these crazy curls go wild the rest of the week. LOL!!)

Ok, its NOT the end of the world. I admit.

BUT it still sucks.


I know your wondering why its such a crappy day, if I didn't even plan to use it today.  Well, its more like a bad budget day.  See I can't budget in a new flat iron until sometime around New Year's!  (Dang medical bills)  Soooo, I just have to make due  I guess.

Curls, Curls, Curls.......................................................................................................................Everyday til then.


THE GOOD NEWS

Atleast I now have an excuse to buy the new Joico ReconstRx Vapor Iron. :-)

(Always look for the silver lining.)
~Lynn

Just Another Soccer Mom

I spent ANOTHER cold evening watching Ty play soccer this evening. Well, I was supposed to be watching but my mind was elsewhere.  To be more specific, my mind was anywhere but on the soccer game.

Mostly I was too busy people-watching.  I was amazed at how many familiar faces I saw.  Granted I know I live in a itty-bitty town and I see the people I grew up with every time I run to the grocery store.  Yet for some reason this felt different.  

I was watching a mother and son as they got ready for the game. She was straightening his socks and sending him out on the field.  I'm not sure if it was a particular mannerism or just the expression on her face that caught my attention, but I suddenly realized "Hey! I know her. We took several art classes together. I didn't realize she had a child this age."

After that, it dawned upon me, that for 6 of the 7 (other) players on Ty's team, I had a childhood relationship with at least one of the parents.  Then I realized that I knew most of the parents on the team we were playing against.  Maybe not well, but I remember their faces in the hallways at school.  This revelation continued as I observed the other two games going on near our field.  It was actually ridiculous to realize that I knew (at least vaguely) 85% of the children's parents.

To me the sad part wasn't that I hadn't realized that any of these people had children the same age (or near) mine.

What saddened me was that I felt like such a statistic. Just another soccer mom.  No one special. Only another face in the dark.

Now don't ask me why.  I don't know why that made me sad.  Maybe it was because it's October and my S.A.D. is already rolling in.  Maybe it was because my sugar level was low due to having to rush to the soccer field after work with no dinner.  Maybe it was because I was surprised to find myself no different from the multitudes of people I grew up with.  Same place. Same Life.

So I just sat there and continued to do a mental roll call.

When I glanced back at the soccer game, it was just in time to see Ty go down in a flash mob of little people.  Layer by layer, the coaches pulled the players up and out of the heap. As they neared the bottom, I saw his coach help him up and she was checking out his face. I saw his coach nod toward the bench and him nod back. As he sprinted across the field with a red mark on his chin that was already beginning to bruise, I could see he was fighting with everything he could muster not to cry.

What unfolded may not have amazed anyone but me, but it definitely amazed me.

Ty ran straight across the field.

Past the bench.

Past his Dad.

Past his Lilly.

Past his Nana.

Past his Pa.

He ran straight to me.

ME!

My beautiful, red/bruised chin little boy ran straight to my arms, climbed on my lap, buried his head and cried.

It was at that wonderful moment that I realized that I wasn't just another face in the crowd. That I didn't have the same life as everyone else.

I was holding My Life in my lap while he cried.

My Ways..... They Are A Changin'

I'm not trying to give myself a pat on the back with this post, (or maybe I am... none of this has been easy) but I have made some serious and drastic lifestyle changes this year.

In January, I quit a 15+ year cigarette habit.

In February, I sold my tanning bed.

I have all but given up soda and I have begun excercising regulary. (Of course by regularly, I mean approx. 3x per week, but I wouldn't set my clock or calendar by my schedule.)

None of the above come anywhere close to comparing with the fact that in June I ended a 10+ year hiatus from church.  (Don't judge me. It went by really fast and I had NO IDEA I had been out that long.)

I'm not sure what happened in my mind exactly, but I suddenly realized just how young my Dad was when he passed away.  I also realized how fast that age was approaching for me.  I have managed to do a lot of damage to my body and health over the years, but I am hoping that I can possibly reverse some of that.  I would like to stick around to see Ty grow up, graduate college and possibly have a family of his own.

Anyway, the point of this little message is that with each change I have made I find myself wanting to make more. My way of thinking is changing.  My desire to make healthier choices is increasing. I'm (slowly) making healthier food choices, like including more fresh fruits and veggies into my diet and choosing whole grains over processed ones.

But as with everything else I do, I don't stop with what's normal.  I take everything to an extreme. (On some level I wonder if I do this purposely to make things more difficult, just so I can fail?... hmmm)

For example: After I sold my tanning bed, I bought some self-tanning spray.  Before I used it, I had this hair-brained idea to research the product and it's ingredients.  Wow! Was I ever surprised?!  I couldn't believe how many ingredients were considered unsafe. There were CHEMICALS! Chemicals that I was preparing to rub into my skin, and allow them to penetrate and soak into my body!

So of course I didn't use the self-tanner. It has taken some getting used to, but I can almost stomach the pale reflection that looks back at me each morning.  ;-)

Unfortunately, this bit of knowledge has been slowly eating away at me.  I kept wondering obsessing what else am I using every day in my health/beauty care routine.  All I can say is that if you, like myself, are equipped with an over-active imagination...... DO NOT RESEARCH YOUR BEAUTY PRODUCTS!

Seriously, do you have any idea what is in the products that most of us use daily?? According to EWG's Skin Deep Database it's anything they want to because the government doesn't test product safety.

Scary isn't it? You can check out EWG's website by clicking here.

Let's take paraben.  Paraben is a very common preservative used in cosmetics and health care products. There have been several studies that these are weakly estrogenic. When tested on the skin of infant rodents, it produced abnormal hormonal effects. Particulary to males which resulted in decreased testosterone levels.  Parabens have also been found to accumulate in cancerous breast tissues.

Now where is paraben likely to be found?  How about in hand lotions, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, etc.etc.  It is used every where. To me one of the scariest things is that I willingly rubbed lotions all over my son as a baby. Lotions that, as I have now discovered, all contained parabens. 

That is only one example of thousands.

So exactly where am I going with this?  Actually I am not sure.  I'm grounded enough to realize that I can't rid myself from exposure 100%, but silly enough to be thinking about making my own products.

I switched a while back to Wen Cleansing Conditioner, to eliminate subjecting my hair to harsh sulphates.  I love, love, love this product by the way.  I'm just wishing I could have it without the few ingredients I find a little alarming.

I'm still in the R&D part of this idea.  It may come to fruition or it may not.  I'll keep you posted.


Disclaimer:  This post was not sponsored by Wen Hair Care.  I purchased my own product and I was not compensated in any way. I am also not affiliated with Environmental Working Groups.  I am just someone with opinions who likes to share them on the internet.

My Debt Reduction Isn't Working (not fast enough, anyway)

Just for the record.

Bills Suck!

I hate paying bills. 

This is not a new revelation for me.

I hated bills even when I barely had any.

I hated them before my truck (which was paid for) decided to lay down and die and I had to buy a new vehicle and shell out money for a monthly payment.

I hated them before my auto insurance doubled because now that I owe for my car, I have to have full-coverage insurance.

I hated them before I had surgery. Now I have 12 different new medical bills to pay each month because they can't just send you one. Each and every single person who walks into your room and says hi, sends you a separate bill.   They have to.   Its federal law.    At least it must be, because it makes as much sense as everything else that comes out of Washington.

I also hated them before I realized that my deductible and total-out-of-pocket had TRIPLED since last year and my surgery is costing me THREE TIMES as much as I had expected. (Also 3x what it would have if I had had this surgery when I was supposed to. Guess that part is my fault thought.)

It's not like my paycheck is very grandiose to begin with, but once I pay bills, what's left is kind of like the crumbs left in your chair after you eat a wonderful, crumbly chocolate chip cookie.

Enough to remind you that you had one, but not enough to do anything with.


Ahhh, but this too shall pass.
My car should be paid for sometime next decade and if I sell enough organs maybe I can keep the hospital from declaring me in default and trying to re-install my uterus. 


Thank you for allowing me a moment to vent. It's greatly appreciated.