Christa's 30th Birthday Surprise Party

This past Saturday night we threw Christa a surprise 30th birthday party and it turned out great! I have been friends with Christa since probably 6th grade and she is still one of my very closest friends- so it was really nice to be able to do something like this for her. She was absolutely surprised and had no clue so it made it all worth it in the end. All her us "girls" took her to dinner at Abuelo's while everyone set up at her house. After dinner we told her we had a night of adventure waiting for her- we made her wear a tiara, bright pink boa and a blindfold. So we drove her to a couple of places- kinda like a scavenger hunt and walked her in - made her take off the blind fold and guess where she was, etc. Our last stop was her house- we took the long way around because if you do know her at all you will know that she is such an inspector gadget and was trying to figure everything out- so we knew she would try to figure out the turns we were making- even though she was blindfolded!! We finally arrived at her house, walked her to her backyard- everyone was on the back deck- being very quiet- it was hilarious- then we took off the blindfold and everyone yelled surprise!! She was in such shock and even got a little teary eyed!! We had a great turn out and a lot of fun! So here are a couple of pics from our Wild Night!!!

The Fab 5 at Abuelo's for dinner

Me blindfolding Christa on the way out!! She's all geared up and ready to go!!

Christa, Me, Darnell & Amie at the party!

$$Garage Sale$$

Well its that time of the year! I usually have at least one garage sale a year- Lord knows I need to have more!! So I just had to add one cute pic of something that I have always done at my garages sales since my kids were small- Grab Bags! I used to go to TG&Y (which btw doesnt even exist anymore-I'm getting so old!) and my brother & I would always talk my mom into buying us Grab Bags.....Definition- little bags labeled by gender with goodies inside. ....... I have always ended up with tons of small toys ex. car tires, dressup rings, bracelets, crowns, cars, squirt guns, tons of McDonalds toys, blah, blah and didnt want to throw them out but also didnt want to sit there and price every single thing....so what I started doing is making my own grab bags....I take brown paper bags.....write on the outside - Boy Bag & Girl Bag and stuff each one 5 or 6 small toys and staple. It is a great idea for the Garage Sale visitors too.....there are always kids and they are always looking for something to buy with their change!! Now that my kids are older they can actually participate- they love to earn $ selling some of their used toys so I always give them their own box and have them fill it up.....they also even help fill up the bags and staple them. So I had to take a pic of our final product!!! Take a look......so cute!!!

C.O.L.E. Fall Fest

Friday night was the annual Chain of Lakes Elementary Fall Fest! The kids had so much fun playing all the games- I took them around to a couple and then I had the 7-7:45pm shift to serve pizza and drinks so Shane took them around after that. I could not believe all the people that turned out to the event- it was such a great time for all the kids and a super fundraiser for the school!!

Halloween Recipes

I just have to tell everyone if you havent checked out the website http://www.familyfun.com/ you are missing out on some great stuff!! I am actually going to start a new tradition this year and make a Spooky Halloween Dinner for my family and that website has some great recipes! We always have my brother's family and my parents over on Halloween night and all trick or treat together so this year I thought I would step it up a little and make a themed dinner. I have already gotten into the Spooky Spirit and decorated all over the house- which the kids love btw! But only cutesy stuff - no scary decor for me!! So I am really excited to try some of these recipes! You def. gotta check it out!!

These are the mummy pizza's...I may try those for one night during the week of Halloween!

OK- I swear I am going to do this!!!!

Ok! I am not kidding- I am really going to get into this blog stuff!! I do check everyone's out and love it but seem to never take the time to sit down and blog myself! I guess I feel like I need to add all these cute backgrounds and pics- but that will come with time...right now I will just journal a little and get into the swing of things! ......So this is a run down of the last couple of weeks..(no need in trying to go back and recapture- I am just going forward!):)
Anyway, as many of you know Shane & I made the decision for me to stop working (for now) and focus on the kids, house, laundry, etc....you know things you just about dont have time for when you are working!! So this is my official 3rd week off and I feel like I still have no time!! I really need to focus on getting into a routine. And on top of that I am also considered "on- call" for my old job....so maybe a couple of days a month when people call in sick or request vacation time I fill in. Which is nice to earn a little extra $$ and I only work 10am-2pm while the kids are in school- works out perfect! But this week I have worked M-W and already my house is a mess!! AHH!! So I am looking forward to my next 2 days off with everyone in school and work!! .......So whats on the agenda for the weekend? Well I am trying to prepare for a yard sale on Sat. and we are going out for Christa's 30th bday that night and of course church on Sunday .....so yet another packed weekend!! Hopefully, I will get some good pics and post! Ta Ta for now!! LB