Help me win a Photo Contest!!

** Only 1 day left. GO VOTE! **

I entered a picture in the Mott's Halloween Costume Photo Contest. If you will just click on the link I have provided, you can click on the "thumbs up" to vote. Simple as pie!

PLEASE GO VOTE FOR MY PICTURE!!

(and please vote DAILY)

I am super pumped about the prize.

Click on this link to vote.

Our Halloween

Every fairy needs a little Pixie Dust in her hair.

Another fun, candy-filled Halloween has come and gone. And what a great one it was! Mattie was so excited to put on her fairy costume, get her hair fixed, sprinkle pixie dust and say "trick or treat" to everyone she saw. Here are a couple pictures of our memorable night!

 It's hard to believe we just participated in my daughter's 4th Halloween. How have that many years already gone by? Sitting here in my seat I feel robbed! It can't be fair that time goes by so fast! How can I better treasure each moment? I want to bottle her smell-not a baby, not yet a girl-and save it for a day when I miss this time of life. I want to box up a few of the "biggest kiss of all" and "biggest hug of all" so that I can pull them out when she is at school and I miss her. I want to bottle her sweet voice that tells me she loves me frequently throughout our day together. How do you deal with the growing-up?! It's so hard for me! A few tips would be helpful...

I adore fall. The smell of dry leaves, wood burning and fresh apples. The sound of leaves crunching under my feet. The beautiful changing of the leaves and the sparse branches of trees. I love getting out my hoodies and sweaters and being able to wear jeans again (none of these are reasonable when it's over 90 degrees well into September). I try to savor every sight and smell, but the best part? It means the holidays are right around the corner!

Is that cheater miskeater? To like a season because it leads to my favorite time of year?!

I am looking around my new digs deciding where I will put my tree, stockings and other decor. I am looking in magazines and cookbooks for the tried and true recipes and a few new ones to sprinkle in.

What do you look forward to at this time of year? Please share!

Happy Halloween!

Hope your evening of trick or treating was memorable! Another year come and gone. I will post more about ours tomorrow! Night!

P.S. Don't forget to change your clocks!

A Yoplait Giveaway!

We love yogurt at our house. And as a mommy of a 3 year old, yogurt is the perfect, healthy, quick snack. When I was given the opportunity to try out Yoplait's Kids yogurt and a fun prize pack, we jumped for joy at our house! Mattie gobbled up every last drop of that yogurt! The fact that it's less sugar (shhh. don't tell.) made no difference!

Mattie also enjoyed the prize pack that came with the yogurt! It included spoons (she loves that they change colors in warm water!), a travel cooler (it now carries all her best "friends"), a fuzzy tangle puzzle (my daughter carries in her cooler with the "friends") and a place mat covered in fun games!

My Blog Spark has generously offered a chance for me to give one of these packs to YOU my fabulous readers!

Just leave a comment telling me what your families favorite snack is at your house and you will be entered to win!

Goosebumps

I love the feeling I get when I hear good music. It might be something acoustic, something loud with a strong beat, something soft like a lullaby, something low and bluesy. I just love music.

Growing-up I listened to a lot of Journey and Chicago. One of my favorites of Journey was "Don't Stop Believing". I remember riding in my best friend Terri's little red truck with the windows rolled down. It was February in Mukilteo, Washington, which means very wet and cold, and we were driving in view of the Puget Sound on the Mukilteo Boulevard. We cranked the music, sang at the top of our lungs and F-R-O-Z-E. We felt free and energized! A FANTASTIC MEMORY!

Listening to this guy sing almost made me cry. Seriously. All those high school memories flooded over me and I was surrounded with the ghosts of who my friends and I used to be. Listen to this guy. For me, he captured the feeling of this song.

What a talent.

You will thank me later.

Can I have your attention please?!

Announcing, the latest and greatest in meeting your meal planning needs!

I proudly introduce you to my cousins Cammie and Emily from "Pocket Full of Posies".

These two innovative women and have found a way to solve the ever present problem of feeding your family on a budget (of both time and money!). In a most creative (and wallet friendly) fashion, they have come up with a system that includes weekly meals, the recipes and the weekly SHOPPING LISTS. What a time saver for the rest of us!

Each system you buy includes the following (as stated on their site):

"The monthly pocket system is divided into 4 weekly pockets. The first pocket represents week 1 of the month, the second pocket represents week 2, and so on. 

Each pocket will be filled with a recipe pack to be used that week.

A recipe pack includes 5 recipes and 1 ingredient list.

An ingredient list categorizes every ingredient from each of the 5 recipes in the recipe pack.

Also, on the back of each of those recipes is an individual ingredient list."

How cool is that? What would it mean to you to save all that time and money? For me, that time and money is priceless. It means less attention spent with my nose in a recipe book or online searching for something different to feed my family. It means being able to save some money each month for a rainy day. I would like to tell you why this system works, in their own words"

"Why the System Works

Planning meals ahead saves time, saves money, and keeps your family consistently fed.

Why the pocket system saves time:
1. All of your recipes are in one place; no need to spend hours searching through dusty old cook books, trying to make a meal plan.
2. Your grocery list is 75% complete.

Why the Pocket System saves money:
1. Because the meals are planned for the month, there is no need to stray from your grocery shopping list each week.
2. Each recipe pack contains 1-2 extremely low cost meals for the week.

Why the Pocket System keeps your family consistently fed:
1. If you follow the Pocket System and grocery shopping each week, you will have all necessary ingredients to make each meal.
2. The meals are planned, there’s no excuse to not cook!"

So, my devoted readers, please take the time to check these ladies out. You will thank me later!

(grab a button for YOUR site while you're there!)

(Stay tuned for a coming giveaway!)

Break...

I am taking an illness induced break. See you on the flip side!

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

This song makes me want to get up and dance. Let's do it! Turn up your speakers, stand-up from your computer and D-A-N-C-E!

Happy Monday!