Halloween 2011

I strongly dislike carving pumpkins.

I am sure you have all now labeled me as a Halloween scrooge.

I have finally figured out that it isn't so much the carving that I hate, but it is when the pumpkins start to become a host to more living things than I want to imagine that throws me over the edge. They get soggy and turn black. No thanks. So I have resorted to finding other fun things to do with pumpkins. Last year we painted faces on them, used Mr. Potato head pieces and clipped facial features from magazines and glued them on.

This year we enjoyed hammering golf tees to make polk-a-dot pumpkins and painted a few to mimic candy corn. Since Nate and Leslie had to leave their pumpkins here from their visit (another future post), we had enough to make a snowman pumpkin! No melting!

Every year, Genworth has trick-or-treating at the office- LOVE IT! It is warm, not dark and the kids can't run too far ahead. This is my kind of trick-or-treating. (Someday, when the kids are older, my true halloween spirit will come out! You'll see!) They then serve ice cream. Kinda weird. Don't you think that is a little overkill on the sugar? Who's complaining?

Dylan was Jay Ninjago...
Depending on the night Ashlyn was either a princess or a fairy...
Corbin wanted to be a fairy too. I didn't have to do too much persuading after I slipped in the Incredibles movie. He was the perfect Dash...
Kamryn played an especially cute octopus...
Seeing her walk was the cutest!

K'nex Mario Kart & Lincoln Logs

We were lucky enough to receive more products from K'nex to kid test and review. We enjoyed our last bunch of toys. This time we got a piece of a Mario Kart track and Lincoln Logs. The kids were so excited they practically ripped open the box and pieces were everywhere. Corbin loves to play with Mario and his car. He would be happy with that piece alone. It runs on a few batteries- which we have already gone through a few sets. However, since we only have one piece of the track it is hard to tell if we would enjoy the whole track. It does look like fun from the picture on the box.

We enjoyed the Lincoln Logs for awhile. Since there are a limited number of logs that come in the box, we had a similar problem. We enjoyed them, but only till we couldn't build anything more. If we had more logs I am hopeful that our playing and creative time would be multiplied.

Photo Hall

I try to tackle just one space at a time to decorate. Decorating my own home has been a long process. Sometimes I see something I like and try to recreate it. And other times I get these almost strange ideas in my head of how I want something to look without knowing how in the world I will make it happen. This was one of those...I printed these stretched canvasses of the kids during a mega sale. I printed them in black and white to create some unison. However, our walls are grey leaving a very low "wow" effect when hung on the wall. So I found some cheap vinyl molding, let Connor cut them for me. There was a lot of deliberating on how to attach the molding together to frame each canvass. I should have talked to my dad earlier because he offered the quickest and easiest solution- hot glue! Let's just say I am in love!

One Last Time

We couldn't resist going to the beach last week while the kids were tracked out. It is now "off season" so we had a lot of space to ourselves. It was a perfect day- can't you tell...Kamryn loved getting in and out of her little lawn chair...
and playing in the sand for hours...
we made Karolina and Ashlyn into Mermaids...
Dylan and JR are now buddies...
we even had our own swimming pool...
I enjoyed getting to know Kelly better...
Peer pressure or gentle guidance?
I bet your jealous now...
Will it make you come visit?
See you next year beach!

Reclaimed Space

Connor and I used our Labor Day weekend (yes, i do know that was like forever ago) to finish a few projects:

Connor no longer teaches seminary at home, instead he teaches at the stake center. We cleaned out the room and painted it last weekend. I took his printer table and put it in the entry:

I should taken before and after pictures like my professional repurposer cousin Melissa does. But I was too excited to start to take a before picture. It also has a new silver, oval knob. I am loving it!

I also painted a tray my friend gave me:
She also helped me revitalize my mantel. The TV makes it hard to decorate.
I finally found the towels I was dreaming about for the guest bath, bright, I know.
My friend also gave me some amazing fabric leftovers. It is probably good that there was only a little of this raspberry giraffe print- I might have gone over board. I AM IN LOVE! Hopefully some more cheerful accent pillows to come.
We also refinished a free dinning room table top, and white bookshelves (for our new "quiet room").

D.C. Ragnar 2011

The reason this post is so delayed is because I am in denial that it is really over.

It wasn't hard to decide to do the D.C. Ragnar again this year since we had so much fun last year. A Ragnar race is a relay race- 12 of us ran 198 miles without stopping (meaning even through the night). A teammate created a blog for our team so that we could post as we ran. It was fun to get fan mail along our way from our readers. To get an hour by hour feed of our Ragnar and A LOT of entertainment go here. Here are a few pictures that didn't make the Fashionable Ladies Club Ragnar blog...

Some lucky few could catch up on their sleep anywhere...

Most of us don't have tattoos so we enjoyed them for a weekend...
We showered and relaxed at a local high school...
Team FLC (except one, of course, who was running) at exchange 18...
Enjoying the BBQ at 12am...
The tractor tire that was bigger than Megan and I...
At the finish line showing off my FLC style...
Ben created our logo and our shirts...
Van 1 (shhh... the best van!!!)....

Because I ran leg 3, the "you've got to be kidding me" leg, I am now a proud owner of...
And I wore it proudly to church the next day. I know you are all jealous, and No, it is not for sale.

Till next year!