We had a Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween and I hope you did as well. We aren't really a family who gets "really into" Halloween but had a great family evening this year.

We started out our evening at Chic Fil A (a fast food restaurant I have fallen in love with here in VA especially their Christian roots and great food!) they had fun Halloween games for the kids and we got some yummy chicken.

Next we headed out to do some trick or treating around our neighborhood. I was so impressed this year with Eliana's excitement. She had no problem walking up to the door, ringing the bell, saying trick or treat, and saying thank you for the candy!!! Owen was excited to follow her lead and cash in on the sugar!

After getting plenty of candy we headed to the church for a fall harvest party and talent show. The kids were suppose to dress up as someone that they looked up to in order to be in the costume contest. It was great to see who the kids chose, a few chose their parents and what they had to say was so sweet. Their was also a lot of talented people for the talent show, it was a lot of fun and had quite a few laughs. Maybe next year Todd and I will bust out our "swagger wagon" rap! (if you have no idea what I'm talking about let the link take you to the entertainment!)

We ended the evening back home, put our sweet little skeleton to bed, and unraveled our sweet little peacock. And then to end the night Todd and I busted out some camp rock dance moves for Eliana :) She insists that she dances better than us but I just don't think its true! I do know I laughed and danced a lot of those extra calories off, and was reminded yet again why I love my family so much!

We had a great family evening and hope you guys are having a good start to your week.  I will be blogging next on how I made Eliana's costume :) It was quite a hit I must say, but also ALL Eliana's idea !! Can't pass up a crafty opportunity!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

First Sewing Project

What a crazy week it has been. I have started subbing at Eliana's school (a Christian pre-school that goes through 12th grade) and worked several days last week. We also have decided to commit to a 6 month gym membership (by skipping on some other things like eating out) and have been at the gym almost every day this week! It SNOWED! Yes it snowed in October (and we even lost our power for several hours), so that meant the kids and I went to the movies:) Todd has been working really hard and long hours making sure everyone is safe as they get all those turkey's ready for Thanksgiving!  but managed to find a little time to craft :)

I decided that Eliana would need a sleep mat for pre school for the days I work and she stays and takes a nap there. I may need to get Owen one as well, but for now he sleeps in a crib. I found a fun idea where you sew pillowcases together and thought I would try it. There have been several sewing projects I have wanted to do over the last few years but haven't had a sewing machine. In the last year I received a wonderful antique sewing table and machine from Todd's nanny. It is in great shape and will be something we keep for a family heirloom. Even though I have had a sewing machine I have been nervous to do a project because I have never sewn anything without my grandmother's help.  But I decided it was time to figure it out and make it happen! So we cracked open the instruction booklet and after a few hiccups and a phone call to Todd's mom I completed my first sewing project! I feel like my Grandma will be proud and Nanny would have been proud!

The sleep mat I made is 4 pillowcases sewn together, pillows inserted and ends sewn shut. I also ironed on letters for her name, and sewed a ribbon to tie it together.

I purchased the 2 polka dot pillow cases and used some extra white ones we had at home. I also bought 4 pillows from wal mart for 2.50 each. I wanted to get cheap pillows so they would flatten out a bit and not be too poofy.

I really like the final product and so does Eliana and Owen! It will make a great nap mat as well as a fun sleepover mat, and maybe a great idea for a gift!  But most of all I am excited to have completed my first sewing project.  Now let the sewing craftiness begin!

Hope you all had a great week and look forward to sharing more with you this week!

Love and Prayers - Dawn

Chicken Tortillia Soup

One of my favorite things to cook in the fall is soup, and my favorite soup to cook is Chicken Tortilla Soup. I love this recipe because you just throw it all in a crock pot and eat when your ready. And the more condiments the better! Hope you enjoy :)

Recipe:
*Chicken - cooked and chopped (at least 1 cup, but you can use however much chicken as you like. I often buy the breast tenderloin packages because they are cheap, boil the chicken the day before, chop it up and then its ready for the soup)
*1 Can chicken stock
*1 Can enchilada sauce
*1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
*1 small can chopped green chilies
*1 can tomato sauce
*2 cans corn
*1/4 cup finely chopped onion
*2 cups water
*2 tsp garlic powder
*2 tsp chili powder
*optional add ins - 1 Can black beans, 1 Can chickpeas

 - Place all ingredients in crock pot or on stove and let the soup simmer for at least 1 hour.

Possible toppings -
*shredded cheese
*tortilla strips
*chopped cilantro (a must!)
*fresh avocados


Easy and delicious, its a recipe that leaves you feeling full but not heavy! Enjoy the soup and enjoy fall, we are enjoying all the beautiful changing fall trees on the Virginia mountains!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Organization makes me happy!

So here is a little simple project that I did in a snap and absolutely LOVE!

Of coarse this is a project I saw on PINTEREST :) It was totally easy and now no more digging through my kitchen drawer to find the measuring cups and spoons! wah lah!!

If you tackle this project make sure to arrange your cups and spoons so they don't hit anything when the cabinet door shuts. You can write the measurements on the tack if you like, and I purposely made mine uneven because I find it too much pressure to make a perfect looking line.. LOL.

What project will be next????

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Kid Fall Photos

There is a really amazing park here in Harrisonburg called "Dream Come True Playground", a park that was designed to give children with disabilities a place where they can play and have playtime experiences just like all other children.  Its a really fabulous park that we play at very often and when we were there the other day I noticed the beautiful fall trees and decided the next time we came to play I would dress the kids up a bit and snap a few pics in between play. Here are the pics we captured at the park!

I must admit that my kids can make me want to pull out my hair at times, but at the end of the day when I kiss their faces I feel so blessed and lucky to be a mom to these two kids!!!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Pumpkins Pumpkins everywhere...

As I posted in my last blog we went to a really fun pumpkin patch and while we were there we picked up some pumpkins! We usually carve pumpkins way too early before Halloween and they shrivel up before Halloween even gets here so we decided to paint pumpkins for now and then the day before Halloween we can carve them out (if we feel up to it!) It was a lot of fun and really love our finished pumpkins...

The kiddos were ready to paint, so needless to say we painted shirtless. Eliana might be angry at me for this later ;)

Finished hand print pumpkins! Daddy and Owen's pumpkin is hard to see but have both of their hand prints and it is really adorable!

Spider Web Pumpkin

 BOO pumpkin mod podged with ribbon stem

P for Prather :)

Kelly's finished pumpkin! LOVE IT

Our window seat arrangement! I see lots of fabulous fall mantle arrangements but since I don't have a mantle a window seat will have to do :) Happy Fall Everyone!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Kelly Visited!

Last weekend we were lucky enough to spend the weekend with our friend Kelly! She was celebrating her 20th birthday with us and we had an amazing time with her. We tried to fit in as much as we could while she was here and wanted to share a little of our adventures with her.

Our first adventure was DC where we walked what felt like a million miles! We walked around the white house, the monuments, and Lincoln Memorial. We encountered a lot of interesting people and witnessed a massive protest. We made it to the Smithsonian and looked around in record time before closing, and somehow managed to fit in some shopping ;) We ended our trip in Georgetown with a wait in line for some DC cupcakes, we wondered if it was really going to be worth it and that big of a deal, and must I say for everyone in our family - They were seriously the best cupcakes we have EVER had!!!! AMAZING! Needless to say we fit a lot in to our day in DC and enjoyed every minute!

Our next days adventure was at the resort here in Harrisonburg were they were hosting a Fall Festival! They had a great live band, good food, craft booths, petting zoo, wine tasting, and the best part was that you could ride the ski lift up to the top of the mountain and look at the beautiful fall scenery. Eliana and Kelly took the long (1hr and 1/2) ride up the ski lift and they said it was absolutely breathtaking! It was a nice relaxing adventure that was needed after a long day in DC!

Our last "Kelly Adventure" was at the pumpkin patch here in Harrisonburg. It was a really great time with pig races, cow trains, live music, hay obstacle courses, a huge slide, and a corn maze that Owen and Todd totally dominated at! Of coarse the best part was taking the wagon ride to pick out pumpkins to bring home and decorate (more on that in my next post). Overall a beautiful day for fall fun!

Our visit with Kelly was filled with lots more fun like - going to the movies, visiting the children's museum, eating at Jack Brown's and Taste of Thai, lots of crafting, but the best part was getting to love on her and have her around our family! We can't wait for her to visit us again and for some of our other family and friends to visit soon too (I can help you book tickets!) !!!  So thank you Kelly for visiting and celebrating your 20th birthday with us!

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Stenciled Stairs

Ever since we moved into our home here in VA I have spent a lot of time watching HGTV. One show I like a lot is HOME BY NOVOGRATZ, in there show they do a lot of innovative decorating and one thing they did on a show was stenciled stairs. I knew I wanted to stencil our stairs because they are boring and plain, I just didn't know what I wanted to stencil. I took a few weeks to ponder and then decided on the verse "We can make our plans but God directs our steps." Proverbs 16:9. This is a verse that is a great reminder for our family and especially me (the planner) but also I thought it would be a fun verse for the "steps"! LOL Todd went for it and WAH LAH! If I had to do it over I would have done vinyl instead of stenciling, but I still really love it! Here are my project pics...

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn

Pinterest

So I recently discovered Pinterest.com and it has become my new obsession. I explain it to others like having a magazine that has everything you love (house decor, recipes, crafts, fashion, etc... ) then you cut out your favorite things and pin it to a bulletin board, except its all online. I love it and would recommend you to check it out. You can find great tutorials, ides, advice, recipes, etc... Here are some of my favorite things -

Once you join be sure to follow me so I can follow you :) Have fun "Pinning!"

Prayers and Blessings - Dawn