Let's Pretend Halloween Party

For those of you that don't know, Halloween is Randall's birthday. Needless to say, it is his favorite holiday. He loves to think up fun costumes and try to carve the best pumpkin and play with dry ice and all that. So for the past two years we have hosted a Halloween party to celebrate his birth and favorite day. But this year we aren't going to be in town... we will be in Cabo Mexico! So he's not too sad that we aren't celebrating in the usual way ;)

The trip was actually given to us by my generous company and we are beyond thrilled to be going! The resort we are staying at is top notch and much nicer than any place we would normally get to stay at! We can't wait! But more about that later.

Since I'm not actually planning a party this year I thought I'd share some good party ideas I came across online that I would use if I were throwing one. 

Of course you would be invited with some handmade invites like these:

(I especially like the owl one!)

And I thought these pumpkin votives would be a quick and festive. I would get lots of them since the little pumpkins are pretty inexpensive and spread them all over the house on tables, mantle, and shelves to fill the house with soft spooky candlelight!

The mice silhouettes might be a little time consuming to cut out but worth the effort- aren't they cute!? I'd just sit down with some black construction paper and scissors while watching an classic Halloween movie like Hocus Pocus and cut away. 

A few crows and cobwebs would do the trick to make a creepy scene:

And of course there would be plenty of yummy treats like these frosted sugar cookies:

So what do you think? Would you come to my imaginary party? Maybe I'll save a few of these ideas for next year!

(all pictures from marthastewart.com)

Fall Campout

Finally here are the pics from our camping trip last weekend. We headed out on Friday to Lake Ray Roberts. The first order of business was to set up the tents... Dad and Randall refused to read the instructions on the new tent, but sure enough they got it set up in no time:

It was really nice to get away. We had perfect weather. After what seemed like a month of straight rain, it seemed that everyone had the same idea to go camping this weekend since it was finally nice out. The evenings were chilly and I would get a blanket and sit as close to the fire as possible without actually sitting in it! But oh my goodness - the stars! I guess it has probably been 5 years since I last really saw the stars without all the city lights. I forgot how breathtaking it is. They look so close! It made me kind of sad to think that God intended us to enjoy this beautiful view every night, yet all our city lights distract us and don't allow us to see it. ....Guess I'll just have to move to cabin on a secluded mountainside :)

Anyway, Saturday we went into the town of Whitesboro for their annual Peanut festival. The kids really liked the parade, and we all enjoyed walking around the shops and boths on Main St.

We also enjoyed lunch at a local Catfish place while in town. 

Here is the gang:

After lunch we took naps and a bike ride.

Good thing the playground was right across from our campsite- the kids loved that.

And of course the best end to a day of camping is smores. Reese gave them a thumbs up!

Going on a camping trip...

and I'm taking with me:

-Two new sleeping bags

-One borrowed tent

-Stuff to make smores

-Bikes

-A guitar

-A good book

I'm so VERY much looking forward to spending some time relaxing with people I love and enjoying God's creation a little closer up!

Hopefully I'll have a few pictures to share when I return.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Fall Interior Inspiration

Here's some photos that have caught my eye lately. They are not full of pumpkins or leaves but they evoke a sense of warmth and coziness making me want to add some orange to my decor to get my house ready for fall!

This past weekend...

I went on a much needed girls weekend with some of my oldest friends. I hadn't gotten to spend much time with them lately as we are all so busy! It Laura's Birthday on Saturday, and we thought this would be a good way to get together and celebrate. So we headed down to Round Top, TX for the antique festival held there. I had heard about this before but wanted to go see it for myself. It was overwhelming to say the least. There are 3 small towns and all along the two-lane highway connecting them were vendors as far as the eye could see! So we just picked place to park and started walking. I actually made it out of the weekend without buying anything- I think Randall was shocked! We decided that prices actually seemed better in Canton- so we decided to wait. Here is Alex and Ashlea at a shop:

One of our favorite shops we came across called Clutter:

After we walked our feet off... we headed back to the house we had rented to make dinner, rest our tired selves and watch a movie! Here's the 1920s craftsman that we rented in Carmine, TX:

It had all of my favorite qualities of homes from that time: glass door knobs, all wood floors,&  built in bookshelves and cabinets. Each room was painted a different color and the house was filled with antique furniture.

My favorite part of the house was in one of the bedrooms- it was the wood floors painted a beautiful turquoise blue and worn over time to shown the wood grain:

Here's the quaint kitchen with Laura and Ashlea cooking us up some grub:

There was even vintage aprons for us to wear as we cooked!

As we were driving around Round Top, we saw a sign for a Book Sale at the local Library so we followed the arrows which led us to this:

...the most darling library I have seen. It used to be a church. I wish my camera could capture all the details of the wonderful ceiling, and molding, and woodwork. 

Then we had to buy a couple books in order to help with the upkeep of this beauty!

The second day we were there it rained- hard - all day. So we packed up and heading back. But not without stopping in Brenham for some lunch, Bluebell ice cream, and buttermilk pie. Here are the girls at the counter of the soda shop in the town square, acting nonchalant:

It was a great weekend and I'll leave you with this:

Twin girls you ask?? No. Dogs. In dresses. And bows. And pink sunglasses- with rhinestones. In a dog stroller. There are no words.