Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Hello, my lovelies! Sorry Ive been slacking- we've had a rough couple weeks with the sickies, then our washer exploding, and a small power outage. But Im back in business and out of sheer frustration my house is clean from top to bottom- woo! (Except for laundry mountain, that's a whole 'nother issue!)

 

This weekend was the first chance we had to indulge in some fall family fun, so off we went on Saturday to the Pumpkin Patch with Grayson Boy's friends from play group.

 

 

The weather was about 55 and misting rain- but it kept the crowds away, which was nice.

My choices were cow or pig- neither of which were flattering. Only for this kid would I be the pig though.

He wandered all through the pumpkins saying nothing when we asked him "Is that your pumpkin?". Until he found one that once asked he yelled "YES!" Meet Bubba, the 38 pound pumpkin Grayson picked. Sheesh.

 

 

Now, look at these two pictures. Same patch- just a much bigger bean!

 

 

After we got and paid for our pumpkin, the sky started to really let loose and so we called it a day...but it was still fun going back to the same place again this year. Im all about creating traditions for Grayson- which is exactly why Ill be shoving him inside Bubba once he is all carved up.

 

 



Link up and Love The Total Home Makeover- With a Giveaway!

 

 

Meet Renee.  If you could go on a journey, leave chaos and transform yourself, your family and your home to arrive at order in just 20 days, Would You?  You bet!  That's the idea behind my book, Total Home Makeover.  When I first became a full-time home manager, I felt "lost" with those 24 hours of unstructured time.  I was a re-active home manager {re-act to this mess and re-act to that mess}.  Meanwhile, I watched others manage their homes with less effort and asked, "What am I missing?"  So, I began to research smarter ways to manage a home and found there really are secrets to the trade.  I realized that home management isn't a solo career.  In order to get my home into auto-pilot mode, I knew I needed to get all three actors (myself, my family and my home) in my boat and rowing toward order for a "Total" Home Makeover.  Then, in 2009, God showed up and started cleaning out my spirit from clutter and lies.  Epiphany:  God wasn't just an "idea or a belief", but a God who shows up, speaks and loves.  Total Home Makeover is a 20 Day Plan to Renew Your Space & Spirit, and my prayer is that God's love and presence will fill your home and sweep our nation clean.  Learn more about Renee>

The Book.  What is Total Home Makeover?  It's a 20 day plan to renew your space and spirit.  Home management expert, Renee Metzler, will teach you smarter ways to manage your home.  In this book, you will journey through three phases:

   1. Transform Yourself {daily & weekly routines},
   2. Transform Your Family {coaching, chores, tracking & rewards},
   3. Transform Your Home {room design, activity zones & organization}.

Plus, stay motivated with a daily renewal {prayer, Bible verse, journal}, a weekly reward, stories, joy tools, interactive worksheets, on-line support, and freebies.  Grab a friend, grab a book, and GET STARTED WITH 3 SIMPLE STEPS>

USA Book Tour:  Total Home Makeover has a goal to sweep the nation clean and that's why we are going on a USA Book Tour {October Stop is Pennsylvania}.  We want to help you kick chaos out the door.  Here's what you'll get each week {or each state stop}:

1. Where's Renee's {Speaking Schedule}*
2. Book Give-away {Enter to win below}.
3. Top Ten Household Tips by Featured Bloggers
4. Makeover Mondays Link-Up {A place for bloggers to link up the Total Home Makeover journey or home organization tips and tutorials.}

Where's Renee?  Pennsylvania.  I'll be hanging out in my home state for the month of October, partially because I'm finishing up a "Loved to Life" class in Harrisburg. I'll be at Barnes & Nobles, Mainstreet, Lewisburg, Pa on October 5, 2012 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm.  I hope you'll come out and say hello; I'd love to meet you!  My next projected stop?  New York in October*.  SCHEDULE RENEE TO SPEAK or VIEW RENEE'S COMPLETE SCHEDULE>

Enter to Win a Total Home Makeover {Book Give-away}
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Top Ten Household Tips by Featured Bloggers
     HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR DAY
Do you have a top organizational or home tip?  Submit your idea here.





Makeover Mondays Link Up
Embed the Video or Grab the Button & Link Up your Total Home Makeover Journey with before & after pictures, success stories or confessions or Link Up your best household tips.





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Super Hero Cape Tutorial

I can not sew, but for the sake of Grayson's birthday I learned.  Let me tell you that if I can make these capes, then so can you.

 

You need:  1 yard of fabric (I used flannel and got two capes per yard)

1 piece of white or black felt

1 5x5 square of coordinating color fabric

1.5 feet of ribbon

 

 

First, fold the yard of fabric in half length wise. Cut it, then refold it in half again length wise.

Using a piece of chalk measure out from the fold 7 inches.

Then two inches down.

Then three inches in.

Once you have the neck of the cape marked off, draw outward toward the edge of the cape to create the shape. How far down you go depends on how tall the kiddo is. This one was for a pretty tall 5 year old, so I went down 30 inches.

 

 

 

Then, cut it all out.

 

 

To make the circle I used a 9 inch pie plate and traced a circle and then cut it out.

 

 

To create the letter, I used word to make a template of the first letter of the kiddos name. Then I cut out the template and reversed it on the fabric. I traced and cut it out, so that the lines from my tracing would be on the back.

 

 

Please forgive that I have 15 different pictures of the steps- I made all of the capes in a big batch and didnt always take the picture on the same cape. Oops.

 

Anywho, pin your letter to your felt circle and sew it on using a zig zag stitch set on 3.

 

 

 

Once thats attached, its time to attach it to the cape itself and sew it on with the same zig zag stitch.

 

 

 

Take the 1.5-2 feet of ribbon and fold it in half. Place that in the 2 inches of fabric at the neck. Fold it over and pin it in place. Sew it in a straight line to secure the ribbon and voila. You're done!

 

Each cape takes around 15 minutes to make from start to finish, but the kiddos loved them so much it was well worth it!

 

 

 



A Super (Why) First Birthday Party!

This past weekend we celebrated Grayson's First Birthday. It was a cool day, but the weather cooperated and the rain held off until we got everything packed into the car to come home. I shared with you all my inspiration board a few months back (see it here) and I'm excited to say that my vision actually did come together nicely! Grayson is obsessed with the cartoon Super Why, so that was the overall theme. We rented a local park with an amazing playground and had wayyy too much food. It was an awesome celebration for our little guy, and we're so thankful to everyone who made it out!

 

Our Invite- made by the amazing Rachael over at La Petite Giraffe. She did an amazing job and was so easy to work with- I had the finished proof within 48 hours of placing my order, and thats even after I asked her to make changes and added a custom item. Check her out on Etsy and see what she has to offer!

 

I made this banner to hang over his high chair- I wanted a nice back drop for all of those smash cake pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My insanely talented friend Julie made Grayon's cake and his smash cake. How cute is it that she made him the book club as his smash cake and its all 100% edible. I made the cupcake toppers to put on some cupcakes we got from Sams Club. They were really easy and took almost no time at all to create.

 

 

I made these little capes for all of the kids to go in their treat bags, but I tied Graysons to his blue high chair to give it a little pizazz. Go here for the cape tutorial and here to see how I took a cheap high chair to this blue beauty!

 

 

My other crazy project was paining the cast of characters on Luan board and having hubs cut them out. We wanted the kids to be able to have their pictures taken with them, and they were a huge hit. All total they took about 5 hours to make, go HERE for the tutorial on how I made them.

 

The kids went nuts for them, so it was time well spent!

 

 

Settling our debate the old fashioned way- ps, I totally kicked hubs ass in this poll. Hes still bitter.

Singing Happy Birthday

 

Nom Nom Nom

The aftermath- he did pretty darn good!

 

Trying for a group picture

 

This is about as good as it was going to get. Trying to get 12 little ones to sit still after sugaring them up with cake wasnt happening.

 

Grayson and Aunt Ashley

Opening presents - this was when he was actually into it. After awhile the sugar wore off and he opened the rest like this.

Happy Birthday Grayson Boy- Daddy and I love you so much!!

 

One Year Pictures

A few weeks before Grayson hit the big 0-1 we met with Jackie of JDG Photography for a photo session in the park.  In the one hour we were toghether she took well over 450 images, and edited at least 100. The results were a CD chocked full of images that made this Momma cry.

 

Be prepared for cuteness overload.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are in the Pittsburgh Area, you definitely need to give Jackie a call. She took the time to play with Grayson in between shots, and even when he was having an epic meltdown she managed to get him to smile. Shes the sweetest ball of energy and is insanely creative and talented.  Im already planning our Christmas and Easter photo shoot...no more portrait places at the mall for this lady!

 

To see more of Jackie's work check her out on Facebook at JDG Photography!