Scout's Halloween alter egos...

Originally I wanted to write a post about Halloween at Rustown through the years.  We didn't really get started on doing it up big until we moved to our second house.  After Scout arrived, Halloween seemed to take on new meaning - a holiday created just for him!  But going through the photo albums overwhelmed me - 18 years of Halloween and no digital camera left me feeling photo challenged...I just don't have time to scan them all in.  So instead, here's a little peak at Scout's Halloween birthdays over the years...

 My cuddly pumpkin learns to walk.

 Super Kid!

Batman cape plus mom-made Batman shirt with sweatpants = his favorite costume ever.

 Loving him a Ninja costume.  With black fingernails!

 Arrgh!  A pirate complete with Beanie Baby parrot sidekick - another mom-made creation...look close and you can see a skeleton earring.

A cop - apparently a crazy one - he picked this out entirely by himself from Goodwill.

 The year of the Spiderman obsession!  

He wore this costume as pj's for a couple of years...

 Another Ninja - and his brothers loved Ninjas, too, so there were hand-me-downs on different colored Ninja costumes over the years...!

The dawn of the teen years...Bleeding Scream and other gore has pretty much taken over...gone are the days of super heroes, pirates,cops and Ninjas...

We aren't planning on hanging out and handing out candy this year.  With an 18 and almost-15 year old, we plan on different activities.  I know I will miss Halloween at my house, but we have such great memories of some really fun times... 

Mealplan Monday #82 and my sweet nappers

Someone really should have warned me against looking through old photo albums when I am feeling blue...it doesn't have the uplifting effect on me you would think...

Scout and The Girl...then...

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Monday - Cafe Rio Chicken tacos, black beans
Tuesday - Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheesers, tots
Wednesday - Mediterranean Pesto Chicken with orzo, salad
Thursday - Scout's Birthday!  eating out
Friday - Stuffed Pepper Soup, corn muffins
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Southwest Flank Steak in the crock pot, Spanish rice, salad

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...and now...

I never thought I would say it, but sometimes I long for the days when they were little...so  I repeat to myself  "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened". 
(and is STILL happening!)

Amen to that.

The Lounge is ready

The spare room has sat pretty much in an unfinished state since The Girl's return to college.  Oh, sure I cleaned it up and moved a few things in.  But we weren't really using it for much.  I sew in there, iron, craft a bit.

 

But I haven't made it a space we could hang out in.  Until this week.  The Girl is coming to visit, so I wanted to spruce it up and put some of the stuff away - like the massive ironing board...

My sister wanted her twin bed back, so I thought the next best thing for this room would be a futon.  I found a decent one at Target along with a soft squishy green pillow.

I added my Pottery Barn napkin pillow and a silky throw.  (Futons aren't historically all that comfy, but that didn't keep me from taking a two hour nap on it yesterday...)

After I covered the rolling stool with some of that great owl fabric, I had a little leftover to make a soft cover for my sewing machine.  I like that my machine takes up so little space.  I could put it up and use the cabinet as a side table, if need be.

 

Above that I hung a small memo board.  My plan was to use that to hold pattern instructions up with, but knick knacks and photos soon found their way there...

I can't take these floating shelves down because they required huge holes to hang - remind me never to buy those again. So I just put a few items on them and hung an extra clock we had.  This was a great place for the stuffed owl to roost.

I had repainted the small pink lamp from The Girl's room, so all that was left was to spruce up it's shade.  I covered it in burlap and added the monogram back on.  I added some pretty drawer liner from HomeGoods, then  set to work organizing those drawers with craft supplies.  I plugged my owl wax tart plug-in with a fall scent and we were open!

It's not an exciting makeover, but it smells clean and is available for everyone to kick back in, read a book, do something crafty, wrap Christmas gifts, watch a video on their laptop...whatever.  Prompting us to rename it The Lounge.  And now it's time for me to clean the rest of the house, bake a cake, and wait for The Girl to arrive...

Shared with:

Wonderful Wednesday

Yesterday was a stinker.  Tuesday are generally my Fridays, so I start out at a disadvantage.  Add to that troubles with one of my kids and a 'situation' is likely to result...So, today I made a list and got going on it, fully intending to wear myself out and get some crap done.  Call it Busy Therapy.  Here's what was planned:

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Take Bubbie to the dentist, out for breakfast and to school DONE
Stop by Tarjay and Sprouts and HomeGoods - buy a futon DONE
Assemble the futon and rearrange the spare room, cleaning it up for The Girl's visit DONE
Call the pharmacy to check on a prescription DONE

Clean up the front room after Webelos Woods
Mop the floors
Buy groceries DONE
Prep Cafe Rio Chicken DONE
Make more mire poix DONE
Buy birthday cards for Sharon and Paige
Finish planning Scout's birthday
Buy Halloween sussies for my "kids" DONE
Do laundry

Make  a great pot of soup using leftover Mexican Tinga chicken and mire poix with chicken stock - DONE
Trash and recyles out  DONE
Get a handle on the dirty AND clean dishes DONE
Mop kitchen floor
Go for my walk

Replace the Escape's air filter and get an oil change
Get Firstborn a vacuum DONE
Buy a friend a book and mail it for her birthday
Return an item to Wal-Mart and get grilling items

Get some new wax tart Fall scents - Farm Apple Pumpkin, Pincone and Birch, and Crisp Fall Leaves - DONE
Write a blog post or two...
Log receipts DONE
Check e-mail, pay bills DONE
Buy a new Sprout's card from the PTA
Adjust the timer on the landscape lights
Repair a pr of sleep socks for hubby DONE

Line the spare room's dresser drawers with pretty paper DONE
Recover a lampshade
Make a sewing machine cover
Hang new blinds in the spare room DONE
Go to the library
Go pick up a couch and coffee table someone is donating to Firstborn

Lay on my bed with a book...about to do!

I didn't quite get it all done, but tomorrow is another day...

Mealplan Monday #81 and times are hard...

The bigger the paychecks, the bigger the bills around here, but a little trip to Target to troll the clearance end caps was fun...I found a couple sprays of Threshold pear tree branches marked half off.

Which then graced the top of my stovetop cabinets in a vase I got from HomeGoods a while back.  I'm sure this will make our Hamburger Helper and freezer clean outs  taste that much better...

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Monday - Southwest Chicken (crock pot), rice
Tuesday - Lazy Daisy Meatballs, masheds, peas
Wednesday - Freezer Clean out - Maybe I will make soup...
Thursday - Chipotle Pumpkin Enchilada Casserole, salad
Friday - Roast beef, crispy smashed red potatoes, green beans (The Girl visits!)
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - order pizza out ( if I have enough Papa points and there's a good deal)

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The cat probably believes her life has taken a turn for the worst...

 Here she pretends to ignore me after I put a jingly Halloween collar on her.  Or maybe she just thinks the jingling is coming from outside of the window...she's not real bright.

 

Even if you are a pretty cat, I guess times can be hard...

Lemon Bread

This morning seemed like as good a time as any to heat up the oven making breakfast breads - it's cool out and I love serving this to my peeps in lieu of poptarts.  This is an oldie but goodie recipe from my sister- in-law.  I've made it many times over the years.  It's great served warmed up in a toaster oven for a bit, with a side of eggs and sausage.

Lemon Bread

3/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. soda
3/4 c. buttermilk
grated rind of one lemon
3/4 c. chopped nuts (optional)
Glaze:
juice of that lemon
1/2 c. sugar

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Pre-heat the oven to 350 and grease and flour a loaf pan.   Cream the butter and sugar; beat in eggs.  Sift dry ingredients and add to batter, alternating with buttermilk.  Mix well.  Stir in lemon rind and nuts.  Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.  Cool 10 minutes, then pierce the top of the loaf with a knife and pour the glaze over the top.

The sugar glaze is lemony and crunchy over the top of the bread.  YUM.  This loaf is destined for a pot of coffee and a lazy Sunday morning.

  Have a good weekend!

The blinds that aren't getting replaced anytime soon...

It was on my list of things to do this summer....

but it never got done.

The blinds that were broken in the den had been either propped up or just allowed to lay on the window sill.  Cause that's how lazy we are...

 That is, until I had had enough and decided to just pull them down.  There was no way to make them go up on both sides anymore. They are dirty, an ugly color, and impossible for my limited skill set to fix anyway.

So I just pulled the middle ones down.  Then, I took the screens off and cleaned them and the windows, inside and out.  And now you can actually see the deck and the backyard!

They were so clean you could see - really see - through the window!  This picture is is even with the screens replaced - nice!

And the amount of light coming in to the den is great!  I am actually loving this.  Why didn't I just yank that broken blind down sooner?  If Hubby disapproves, he can get started on ordering new blinds...

Scout approved.