I'm a lucky gal!

I got to spend Saturday with two of the funniest, most handsome, and sweetest guys I've ever met. We ate lunch outside, took a drive through the country, walked around a lovely park, and stopped at yard sales and a thrift shop. There may have also been some accidents related to a swallowed penny and a mysterious puddle on the floor of The Goodwill, but overall, it was a really great day!

December Crafternoon

I feel like I have been gathering supplies for this crafternoon for ages.  I knew we would be making wreaths, but I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I picked up a little bit of everything.  It's good to have options, you know.  I ended up making two tinsel wreaths.  They were easy and pretty fun and now I want to make more!  If I was confident about time, I'd make them as gifts for everyone.  I really enjoyed seeing all the different wreaths people made.  At our table alone, we had one covered in felt, one wrapped with yarn, and one covered in peppermints!  Here are mine-

 
So besides making wreaths, this month was also a pie party.  There were seriously so many delicious pies.  I don't think I even got to try them all!  You can see pictures on Heidi's blog.  I brought a spinach pie and a cannoli pie and Don was sweet enough to make me a chocolate marshmallow cheesecake to bring along too.  Yum!  I plan on sharing recipes for the pies and the cheesecake if Don will give it up.  I forgot to take a picture of my finished spinach pie, so you'll just have to imagine it.  It was delicious! 

I also made up goody bags for everyone filled with Christmas candy and some vintage gift tags and seals.  Don helped with those too.  He should probably be the one going to these crafternoons! 

A few months ago, we started doing a white elephant gift exchange.  This is the type of exchange where you can steal gifts away from others.  Everyone brings something thrifted or handmade that cost $10 or less.  I got to pick pretty early and I went for the one with the prettiest wrapping.  As pretty as the wrapping was, the gifts inside were even better!  I spent the rest of the exchange nervous that someone would steal my gift.  I'm pretty sure I didn't make eye contact, in hopes everyone would just sort of forget about my gift.  That's so silly, I know, but it worked!  I think everyone always brings great gifts, so I would have been happy with anything really, but check out what I ended up with!  The recipe box even has some random recipes in it from whomever owned it previously.  There was also some Toblerone chocolate in my gift, but I've already started eating that, so no pictures!

Heidi is seriously so amazing for hosting these crafternoons.  I can't imagine the time and effort she puts into preparing for these get togethers and I am forever thankful that she continues to invite me.  They're always so much fun and full of great people.  There were so many great people this time that there had to be multiple little tables of four.  On each table, besides super cute Christmas tablecloths and decorations, were pretty little glitter-filled bell jar ornaments that Heidi had made for everyone.  Thanks again, Heidi!

 

Fallen Leaves and Sunshine

Sunday was the first full day we've had together for awhile and we took advantage of the beautiful weather to play outside and clean up the ridiculous amount of leaves that had blanketed our backyard.  Oscar had fun helping with the leaves and by helping I mean throwing handfuls of leaves up into the air and jumping into any pile we made.  Ben really couldn't be bothered by gathering leaves and instead took advantage of having some of the outside toys all to himself.  Actually, both boys got bored with leaves pretty quickly and spent the rest of the time playing in what's left of the sandbox.  My boys love being outdoors, so I'm sort of dreading the cold weather that's coming soon.  For now, we will enjoy every bit of mild weather that comes our way!

Mostly Lazy Days

The boys and I spent a lot of time in our pajamas this past week.  Between the bad weather and being sick, I managed to only work part of one day out of the entire week.  We did a lot of playing, mostly with trains, but also with Play-Doh.  I could set up train tracks all day long!  There was a ton of silliness and jumping from the coffee table to the sofa (Mama doesn't actually approve!) and we even managed to get dressed for a quick toy store and frozen yogurt run.  I tried to take a lot of pictures, but my little guys don't really stay put for long, so most of my photos are blurry.  Don't these kids know I have a blog to update?!  On Sunday, I did actually get dressed and went to the loveliest baby shower, but I pretty much put my pajamas on as soon as I got home!  It's good to have some lazy pajama days sometimes, isn't it?

 I know Oscar looks freaked out, but he's just giving some love to his new Caillou toy!

A Thrifty Date With Myself!

On Saturday, I had a chance to have an entire morning and afternoon completely to myself.  I really cherish my time alone, especially since these days it is few and far between.  I used to love spending an afternoon  browsing antique shops and flea markets, because clearly I am an old person trapped in a younger person's body.  This Saturday, I had the chance to do just that.  I hit up a bunch of nearby thrift stores, went to one of my favorite places for lunch, and then headed to a flea market/antique mall.  While everyone else was apparently out preparing for the big storm, I was loading up on vintage glassware and dishes.  Priorities, you know?  I got a ton of stuff, but a lot of things are going to be gifts, so I can't share them yet.  Here are some of my finds... 

I'm not really sure about the purpose of this little deer hanging, but the little space on the bottom is just big enough to hold a book of matches.

I got this gravy boat for my mom, but I'm no good at keeping surprises, so I've already given it to her.  It's so perfectly fall!

 I thought these little wall hangings were sweet, but the faces Don and my mom made say otherwise!

I got these wall hangings for the boys' room.  You can't go wrong with Sesame Street!

 This guy nearly got left behind, because he was a hefty $10, but when I realized his eyes opened and closed, I bought him.  Oscar still used a pacifier at night time, up until last week when we decided he needed to get rid of it.  I have been trying everything to make bedtime easier and have been giving him my old raggedy stuffed Grover to sleep with.  Oscar gets pretty annoyed, though, that Grover's eyes remain open.  It's bedtime for Pete's sake, Grover!  Anyway, he instantly fell in love with Sleepy and is now calling him Peekaboo.

I've been seeing this kind of doll recently and this one was inexpensive enough to buy.  I'm pretty damn cheap, if it wasn't already clear.  I've previously disclosed my love for fairy tales and specifically for Little Red Riding Hood, so of course I love her!  Her dress opens up to reveal her story.

Onto my favorite finds, vintage glassware! 

 

I wish my camera would better show the colors of these glasses; they are so pretty and sort of pastel.  I love tulips and now have accidentally started a tulip glass collection.  I actually picked up a smaller tulip glass on Saturday too, but I forgot to take a picture and am just too lazy to do it now.  Take my word for it, it's cute too!

 This glass is much bigger than any of my other vintage glasses.  I will be filling it with ridiculous amounts of iced coffee!

This is hands down my favorite find of the day.  It was tucked away on a tall ledge, behind a shelf.  I wonder if someone was hiding it.  I had to actually stand on my toes and reach as far as I could to grab it.  There are six glasses and the great pitcher.  I think these sets are by Anchor Hocking. I have a set in another pattern, but I've never seen this pattern before.

I really enjoyed my alone time and loved finding so many amazing things, but the best part of my day was going to pick up my little guys from my mother in law.  I picked up some little toys for them at the thrift shops, which made them even more excited to see me!  I hope everyone is having a good week and staying as dry as possible. 

 

Weekend Recap

The boys and I spent the weekend at my grandparent's house, our favorite weekend getaway.  We had such a great weekend, complete with a parade, a large outdoor flea market, lots of playtime, and a walk in the woods that ended with a visit to my grandparent's fat little goat.

My grandparents have the best view from their back porch.  It was especially pretty, since all the leaves are changing to shades of orange and yellow.

On Saturday, we went to watch a parade that's part of a fall folk festival.  Oscar was pretty interested in the entire parade, but Ben got sleepy and ended up going for a walk with my Aunt Jan, Grandma Jan to the boys.

 Oscar and his cousin, Liam, had buckets ready to collect any candy being thrown by people in the parade.

The boys learned pretty quickly that by waving to the people in the parade, they would be more noticeable.  That guaranteed more candy!

 The parade was full of classic cars, cool old steam engines, and more tractors than can shake a stick at!

I wish I had gotten a better picture of this old food truck, because it was my second favorite part of the parade!  Here was my favorite...

It took everything I had not to run over to these little guys and give them hugs and snuggles!  These sweet horses are further proof that everything is cuter in miniature form!

After the parade, we headed to a big flea market.  Oscar got this awesome hat and a bike horn.  I picked up some gloves, a few vintage magazines, and a set of Pyrex mixing bowls.  Ben slept the whole time, so he missed out.

Before dinner on Sunday, we went for a walk, visited with Bulldog, and enjoyed the sunshine and cool fall air.  The boys had fun finding pretty flowers and leaves and when Ben got a little fussy, Oscar comforted him. 

This week is shaping up to be a busy one, so it's nice to look back at our easy weekend.  Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!