Ooops.

I broke my own rule, you know, the one that says you can't decorate for Halloween before October 1st. Well, that rule was broken because I was ready to kick off my favorite time of the year - Halloween through My Birthday (Jan 17th).

Here is what I did. Nothing over the top and I will add more Halloween outside once it does get a little closer to the actual holiday.

Front entry - I will change out the burlap to a Halloween one in a few weeks.

Front Door - maybe my favorite spot.

Pantry door. I have had that sign for close to 5 years and I finally have a door that is long enough to hang it on. Every year I have to get creative when hanging it, but this year easy.

Views from the sink counter, it was the perfect place for the candelabra and the spider candles.

The stone fireplace, the perfect place to hang spiders. I was pretty excited that I was able to have them crawl this year. The kids loved it, this morning. The wreath looks a little small, so I need to spray paint a vine wreath black and then lay the fabric wreath over it. I may add spider webbing once we get closer to Halloween.

Finally, my kitchen island. It's just a Dollar Tree cauldron with a Target Dollar section witch hat on top. I think the Boo came from the Target Dollar section too. It looks cute on the island and is something different this year.

I do have ghosts and other candles around the house and the kids love all of it. Watching them come down and see everything this morning was great. Mary actually yelled EEEK, when she saw the fireplace. Henry reminded her they are not real and she seemed relieved.

Decorating this new house, sure is fun and I look forward to adding on some more cool decorations once we get a little closer to Halloween. I know I broke the rules and should have just gone all out, but I didn't want the new neighbors to think I was too crazy. I will leave that for Christmas.

Mr. Practical

I don't often post about Charlie on the blog, I post about the family, yes, but not really just about him, unless it's our anniversary. I've actually debated all day posting but have decided, why not, he may kill me, but whatever.

In March, when I lost my job and we were trying to get a mortgage, we also needed a new car. Charlie's lease was up on his Accord and we needed to find something quick. Now, if you have been through the mortgage process, you can't do anything, because you don't want your credit to be run 100 times and plus we were down to one income so we really needed to be careful. So, Charlie took one for the team. He bought a car for a little more then a $1 (kidding, seriously), and over 120,000 miles. He figured it was the best thing to do for our family. It had dents and bumper stickers galore but he drove it. We made fun of it, but it was what needed to be done.

Like all things with Charlie, he thinks it out and does the logical thing. I mean someone in this family has too and thank goodness he does. I can't tell you how many times he has taken the high road, or not gotten stuff for himself so the rest of us can live a little easier. He works hard and deserves everything but he is always one to put others first.

Okay, back to the car. It came up in conversation the other week that it was time for him to get a car and that he would probably just get something small to get him to and from work. Then he asked me about a pick up truck and I said get WHATEVER, YOU WANT. I said for as long as I have known you, you have always wanted a Jeep, so just get one. We have the van, we don't need another sedan, get something you actually want, not something practical and for the family. In true Charlie fashion he debated and debated and then said to me, I'm going to do it, and he did.

He took me to the dealership because he was afraid he might back out and not get one. It was a long afternoon but we came home in something he really wanted, not something he had to get. The kids were beyond excited and Henry said it was the best new car ever! We drove them around with the top off and the windows out and seriously, the giggles from the back seat were so great to hear. I think that helped Charlie with his out of the box decision.

Should we have gotten another four door sedan, sure, but this is way more fun and I'm glad Charlie got what HE WANTED.

SAHM

You think you want to be a SAHM, think hard. This life is crazy and I love every minute of it but man my days are 10 times harder then when I went to work. Let's look at today for example.....

Wake up, shower, dry hair and get dressed in 30 mins. Make their beds and pick out their clothes. Get dog out, feed kids, open Mary's school folder, realize you didn't do her little person, quickly cut and create her on a paper doll, get them dressed, run around look for camera, take preschool pictures, make coffee, forget to drink coffee, run around find backpacks, load kids in car, sit in traffic, drop her off, run out of room so she doesn't cry, get home realize you didn't do anything you needed to do for her first day of school, hurry and pack her stuff so you can take it back at pick up, set up Henry for quiet time, get on conference call for an hour, feed him quietly while on call, get him ready for school while still on call, hang up, take him to the bus stop, come home, load five dishes, get back in car to pick up Mary, take her to McDonald's because, hey, it's her first day, come home for 10 mins and head out to a meeting to talk about being a classroom mom, drop off things you have created for people, get home to pick up Henry off bus, run to grocery store, feed snacks, prep for party tomorrow, clean house, remember you husband isn't coming home until 8pm and you need to feed your kids.

This is just not today but everyday - sitting down happens at 9pm. It's insane and tiring and fun and complete insanity but it's our life, my life and I'm sure its not just me but every mom out there, from stay at home mom's to working mom's, and I guarantee none of us would give it up for a minute.

Playroom Complete.

We have been busy this holiday weekend! Grandma is here and we have been working on getting the house more homey.

First up was the playroom. We hung the tv and hung things on the wall. I still need one more piece of art from Mary but other then that it's complete.

The color on the wall is Lemongrass by Behr. I also have red valences from the old playroom that would pop but I'm not sure if I will use them yet.

I love how the room turned out and can't wait to make memories in there.