Blast From the Past

Sophie was over the moon with her latest and greatest Halloween costume this year - "80's Girl".  I catch myself referring to the eighties as if it were The Golden Age of my life.  My husband and I were kids and teens during this decade, so I feel like were are experts in all things eighties.  I start my sentences with, "We would of never shown our midriffs in the 80's."  or "We would of never left the house without makeup in the 80's".  Sophie must think of the 1980's as a magical time, where the people were fully made up to the nines everyday, and life was like a Molly Ringwald movie.  Maybe it was -- I'm not too sure, my memory is not as sharp as it used to be -- mostly due to the chemical warfare that I endured with my excessive grooming, ie Aqua Net.  

Owl Cupcakes

 

I have seen these cupcakes all over the internet this Halloween season and wanted an excuse to make them.  Sophie has Girl Scouts snack duty today, so we went for it!  They are so simple and so cute.

You will need:
1 Package of Oreos
3 Packages of M&M's -- you will need a lot of brown ones -- for some reason we barely had any brown.
20 baked cupcakes, iced with chocolate icing.

Split your Oreos carefully.  Use the plain side for the ears.  Take a serrated knife and saw the two sides off of the circle, (see pic).  Place ears at an angle on top and a little bit poking through the cupcake.  Attach  the eyes with icing and then place brown M&M, M side down, onto the white part with a little dot of frosting.  Place a yellow or orange vertically for the beak.

 Super cute and easy!

The Kids Are Alright

When we moved back to Hilltop it was hot mess, to say the least.  Griffin did not want to move -- at all.  He was so happy in Brenham at his Christian private school, B.C.A.  Sophie was bummed to leave, but was excited to come home to Hilltop and live in a house again, and not in a commercial building that was under construction.  Well, it was a bumpy restart here.  Sophie adjusted fine, Griffin - not so much.  Without going into the details - we are now  "accidental"  homeschoolers.  It was the BEST decision we have EVER made.  I am grateful for the wonderful years that both kids experienced in school.  Homeschool is something that I would have never considered unless for  the events that transpired.  It is new adventure in learning for our entire family.    Some days are tough.  When cabin fever hits us  we take action and go on a field trip, take a hike or go read outside.  I will include more about our homeschool adventures in the future.  

From Trash to Treasure -- Literally

Found this very old dresser on big trash day in my neighborhood. It was so heavy, but somehow the kids and I managed to lug it home hanging out of my trunk. It took a lot of cleaning, sanding, and Modge Podge, but I think it turned out pretty cute. Note to self: Don't ever try to wallpaper.

Sophie has a Parisian themed room, so it now holds her "stuff". You know the "stuff" you would love to get rid of when your child is spending the night at someones house? Surely, she won't miss ticket stubs, 100's of jelly bracelets, stickers, bits of this and that -- right?? Well, Sophie would.

So now it is housed in a funky dresser that she helped to create. Problem solved.

Sophie and The King of Pop

You would think after 40 years of being alive that I would master the art of taking a decent picture. You can totally tell that I am sucking in my gut, keeping my chin down to avoid a double one, and I am smiling like I am a weirdo. I really thought my aviators were cool, but in reality, they make me look like Micheal Jackson.

Patriotic Photo

My kids absolutely love it when I pull over on the main drive in our subdivision, in the 100 degree heat, and make them take a patriotic photo while wearing floppy Uncle Sam hats.