Brayden's First Halloween!!!

What a fun day! Our little love bug, our little pumpkin', our little munchkin, our little sweetie pie was just the best TREAT ever!

David and Holly came down with Brayden and we had a great time... He has this new little seat they put him in to play.. isn't he precious? Love his outfit says I Love Mommy...

So did any of you figure out who

Brayden was going to be for Halloween......

Here's a clue....

We all got ready to head out to trick r'treat...

so Brayden's all decked out.. now can you tell who he is.....

Yep.. that's Brayden The Pooh!

 

Even Holly dressed up for the occasion... she makes an awesome Snow White!

We no sooner were ready to head out and of course..

Brayden falls asleep in his car seat:

Shortly after we took off to the Poway Midland Train Depo

where Jerry was volunteering as Engineer for the Halloween Event...

we had a great time!

Great family photo... except all you can see of

Brayden are his Pooh booties... oh well.

And Brayden's still sleeping after we got there....

somebody give this guy some sugar so he can wake up..

The park put on a great party... they had a few booths st up selling popcorn and cotton candy... and several more craft and game booths for the kids to enjoy....  here's a couple of darling kids making some ghost puppets...

 

It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up.. oh yes and many parents too...   even Ghost Busters was there for the occasion... not sure how many they caught... but sure worked hard!

Not sure if this is Ms. Energizer Bunny..

but sure love the little baby bunny....  she was too sweet!

These are NOT people dressed up as Park Rangers.. they actually ARE Park Rangers... it's Bob and Suzanne Emery, our next door neighbors.. they are very active in the community.. Bob is on Poway City Council and was Mayor of Poway for many years...  They both are retired school teachers.

 These two were TWIN sisters....

bet they loved tonight when they didn't have to look alike!!!

I didn't want to ask.. but thought maybe this was

Bob Cracketch and Tiny Tim.. .or guess it's Tiny Tina...

 Here's one of the Train volunteers...

Mr. Pumpkin-head was the Railroad cross guard...

Now this is a great disguise... doesn't he really look like a chihuahua ???

Two Little Bumble Bees....  lookin' for some Honey!

Here's a father-son team.. it was cute cuz the dad dinosaur

was teaching the kid dinosaur how to stretch his arms and growl

when someone took their picture...  I escaped in just in time...

This cowboy was awesome.. he was wanted was to get on the train!

Here's one of the Train Conductors... she had a pretty rough night...

but never left her post helping kids onto the train...

Now isn't this the cutest witch you ever saw....

she kept asking "Witch Way is the Candy"????

Hey Evie.. I found you your Fireman.. and he's single too!!!

Jessie from Toy Story...think she was lookin' for Buzz or Woody...

We just kept waving to Jerry as he went around and around the park....

While we waited at the train station for our turn...

Here's a great family photo.. except I kept thinking I was in Disneyland..

Then finally Brayden got his turn ... in the Engine with Grandpa....

Before they took off we got this shot together...

notice we're already missing one shoe... oh dear..

All Aboard?

And they're off..  can you see Jerry "driving"... and he kept tootin' his horn too....

He really does have fun and glad to volunteer his time at the Station..

After their adventure Brayden wanted to wander into the new Depot where they have a gift shop with a gazillion Thomas the Train trinkets... Brayden loves Thomas.. well actually is favorite is Emily... xoxoxo

And couldn't help but get this shot of another favorite Disney character... Dumbo...

he as pretty enthralled at Snow White... think there must be a connection there??

Good Night Moon.. Good Night Stars... Good Night Poway Train Station...

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Halloween
and got lots of treats.... we sure did!



My BFF Carol in Wisconsin!

It's amazing to me to think about all the friends I've developed over the years just from stamping... we span the United States even... and for most of them, from Florida to Kentucky to Minnesota to Wisconsin... even some in Texas!!!  I've met them all through various card swaps... never really getting to know them but just acquaintances really....

BUT Carol is different! She actually first met Pam several years ago, again through a swap she was in and they exchanged cards and mail and gifts for some time... Then Pam invited Carol to join our Crazy Card Club.. and that was the beginning of a great friendship with her and all the Rubba Sistas! Carol is also a Stampin' Up demonstrator.. she lives in Wisconsin so she puts us to shame when we complain about the "cold weather" or the "hot nights" here in San Diego....

Carol has a unique job that allows her to not only work from home, but also to travel often. In fact her "headquarters" is here in California.. soooo.. yes you guessed it... we've been able to actually meet Carol in person!!!! She's come a couple of times now and it's like we've know each other all our lives! She's stayed with both Pam and myself on different occasions... and come to think of it I think she's due for another trip to Southern California.. hey Carol????

I so appreciate her as she''s one of my loyal Blog readers too.. makes me feel like "some one's listening"... if ya know what I mean!

In fact, she has been listening.. cuz this week she shared with me the Halloween cards and bags she's made for her two kids... as a result of stories and pictures from my Blog... what an honor!

So here's a photo of what she's prepared ... she has one son and one daughter.. and I know they'll appreciate the great cards they'll be getting.. and the goodie bags too!

See those Halloween Hoot Owls... look familiar?? .. plus the two tall bags of course will be filled with trick r'treats I'm sure.... and talk about familiar... there's Shelly's card swap again too.. see how fun it is to share out talent with each other!!

Reminds me of our Stampin' Up Statement of the Heart:

Thanks Carol for making a difference in my life!!!

Jerry the Cabinet Maker!!!

I don't have to tell you guys how amazing my wonderful husband is!!!! And I am so grateful to God.. what a treasure He's given me!

So all Summer I knew Jerry's had this "project" in the works down in his wood shop... he kept it from me for a very long time... but finally had to break down and tell me about it cuz he needed input... Well guess what he made me now.... an incredible cabinet for my Big Shot and all the Sizzix dies... This started when awhile ago he made the cabinet shelves for Pam.. she had shared the idea with us when she found it on some one's blog.. so Jerry the talented carpenter that he is.. just "made it"... no plans, no instructions, no manual... it stores like 25 large Sizzix dies and the same amount of the medium size...


From that he got the idea to make me a cabinet where I could store my dies and the Big Shot... so here's what he came up with. It's not stained yet but he wanted to "load it up" to see if it was going to work before he puts the final touch on it... problem is now I'm not sure I'll let him take it back to the wood shop!!! I love it!!! 

He even made several rows where I can put all my punches.. .

both old and new style...

For the past several months he'd often come into the dining room where I stamp and just sit and watch and occasionally pick up something and look at it (like the punches) and put it back... and now it all makes sense.. he was checking out how they he could make them fit... sneaky pete!

And the upper cabinets he put in shelves for storage for my

     Sizzix Dies on the left and supplies on the right...

and the bottom cabinet is where the Big Shot is stored...

plus the table top of it is extended where I can use it as
a work surface when I'm using the Big Shot...

Am I lucky or what?

No, blessed is more like it.

xoxoxoxoxo

Halloween Owl Smores!

OK so I haven't shared a "recipe" lately... you know how much I cook these days (yea right)... so wanted to share this special Halloween treat with you... You're already familiar with Smore's... well here's a twist on it.. and it's just tooooo cute!

Cut a large marshmallow in half and place sticky sides down on a graham cracker. Cook in the microwave for 5 seconds. Add frosting and a chocolate chip for the eyes and a dab of frosting on the candy corn to make it stick...so easy!!!!


Credit goes to Betty Crocker.... no not really.. it's Barb Mullikin's creation!

Halloween Treat Bags

I can't believe Halloween is this Sunday! It's been fun this month coming up with some Trick r'Treat ideas to share with you all... hope you were able to make some cute cards and projects for your family and friends!

Today I'm sharing with you this darling Halloween Trick r'Treat bag.. made with the Stampin' Up! Mini lunch sacks in the holiday mini... Dawn Griffin shared this on her website and I thought it was so cute and easy!

Items used to make the Treat Bag: It's pretty self explanatory....


Mini Lunch sacks # 121031 ( Holiday mini 2010 )
Crop-a-dile #108362
Raven 1/2" Lace trim #120988 ( Holiday mini 2010)
Wicked Fun designer paper # 117400
Bitty bat Punch # 119279
Whisper white card stock # 100730
Scallop Edge Border punch #119882
Dazzling Diamonds # 102023
2 way glue pen # 100425
Dimensionals # 104430
White gel pen # 105021

My question is though.. would you really put your

lunch in these mini lunch sacks?

ok maybe if you're on a mini diet... hee hee hee.

Paint the Town Halloween!

I love going to the paint store and asking for empty paint cans... they look at you like you're crazy... but that's just what I do! You can get better prices at Sherwin Williams or Frazee's rather than Home Depo for them too.

Then get them home and start to decorate! Easy as that! In the past I've made several into Holiday gift buckets.. either Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can get pint size or the larger gallons.. but remember when you get the gallon size.. you have to have gallon size gift to put it in!...

I've also used the decorated paint cans with just the vinyl run-ons .. made  series of them to make a Welcome "sign".. but since it's Halloween wanted to show you one that I did at a class I gave a couple of years ago actually.. and I've kept it with all my Halloween decorations and just love it each year when I pull it out!

I think what really makes it darling is all the ribbons on the handles!

Or you can always just use an empty green bean or whatever food can..

they're smaller and easier to fill too!

Here's one of my favorites!!

And that's no trick!