three!

i've given a lot of thought this year to my blog. if you were to ask my what i blog about, i really couldn't choose any better words than i did on that Hallowe'en three years ago...

in which i attempt to pay attention to the "little things" in life: the smiles, the quirky quotes, the entertainment factor of a now-5 1/2 y.o. son, split pea soup, homemade halloween costumes, cool fonts, my search for the perfect monogram, beautiful food and a dizzying array of my life's "amuse-bouche."

he is 8 1/2 now,
and there have been dozens of soups (three soup swaps!),
homemade halloween costumes are "itchy"
and i haven't yet found the perfect monogram.

and... i'm almost forty.

there are plenty of "little moments" yet to be found. thanks for sharing all of yours with me!

masquerade

frightfully fun

a fun martha craft that i've been meaning to do for several years. super fun to make, they cost next to nothing, and (say it with me) it's so easy, lelly could do it!!

did you see barb's? we both had the same great idea!



i love the bad lighting effect from my cameraphone. but, hey! it captured every single spooky dust bunny on my lampshade!!

happy birthday, barb!

a subtle shift

there are four daughters in my family. it was a little bit like growing up in "Fiddler on the Roof." minus one daughter. and a dairyman father. and a matchmaker. and religious persecution. dad was the local Scoutmaster - tuesday nights were his "break" from the heady estrogen stew that was invariably brewing at home.

in my generation of cousins, the girls ruled as well. out of sixteen cousins, three are boys (and i'm not suggesting AT ALL that they drooled.) but we girls definitely had the monopoly at family gatherings.

my sisters and i are all married now (many of my cousins as well), and raising families of our own. four daughters meant four husbands, which immeditaely leveled out the playing field. then, the arrival of jack opened the doors for a new generation of boys. jack, along with cousins max and felix and nephew-due-in-january have all of a sudden turned the tables in one generation. where the men in the family used to retreat into small tightly-knit packs of wild-eyed brethren resisting the urge to run, they now have found reassurance in their numbers.

grampie, jack, matty, brother-in-law mark

jack takes his responsibilities as oldest male of his generation verrrry seriously. after all, it is he who will introduce his cousins to legions of action figures. he is the one who carries a dog-eared copy of "The Dangerous Book for Boys." his will be the Cub Scout uniform that becomes the hand-me-down.

so far, he is an exemplary leader-of-the-pack. he tries new foods, he hugs his grandparents, he negotiates squabbles between his younger cousins. he can speak at-length about The Clone Wars and Transformers, and is moving easily up through his Cub Scout ranks.

now, if i could just get him to clean the bathroom...

amouse-bouche

a few weeks ago, the girls headed over to crystal's house for Girls Night In!! it turned out to be one of the best nights in a long time (we will NOT talk about the fact that crystal is moving away this week.)

finger foods and board games made a great night in. if you haven't played Curses yet, i highly recommend that you schedule a game soon! your abs will seriously love this work out! i unearthed laughing muscles that haven't been used in forever!

of course, i love any event that involves food, especially appetizers/fingerfoods/h'or d'oevres... a little amouse-bouche! my two selections tied in well with Fall, and inadvertantly, trees (huh. no that i've written that out, it doesn't seem very appetizing...)

i brought natasha's "pine cone" cheese ball


and miniature cupcakes with caramel "acorns" on top.


i love trolling blogs for foodie ideas. any amouse-bouche you'd care to share?

no, he does not twitter

the modern day playdate?
speaker phone? check.
laptop? check.
parents lurking around taking obnoxious photos? check.




(thank goodness there was a pal on the other end, and not a girl... i don't think i'm ready for that!)

did you know (that i've been in a funk)?

that i can't reuse a pool or shower towel that is slightly damp?
that i have a hard time unloading clean glassware from the dishwasher?
that i cannot stand the sound of other people sneezing?
that even though i am drawn to coffee shops, i stick with black coffee every time?
that i am addicted to social networking, and don't remember life before blogging, facebook and twitter?
that i don't bake because i don't like to feel flour on my hands?
that sometimes i don't like to hear my own voice?
that i currently feel claustrophobic in my small town?
that i am exhausted?

a bit of whimsy

michelle allen's creations are like eye candy to me! i don't know what is more appealing... the final product, or that she often shares her journey to the final product. i am such a sucker for other people's creativity!!

she's having a fabulous giveaway right now. go on. go ahead and check it out!